The end to end all ends! Or just the beginning?

     Life has brought Kelsie and I so many gifts. Whether it wasn't easy to accept them sometimes because we were nervous or scared to go look for them, they came to us like shiny beacons in the night...I should probably leave the good story telling to Kelsie. My point is that we have had so many opportunities and it has been hard to NOT pass them up, take the easy way and just stay home for the summer. It is not easy for me to want to leave a place of comfort or go to a place where I know I might get lost or make a fool of my self. Now that I have to go back to the U.S., it's the opposite.

     I don't want to get back to where I have to actually understand, think, and talk to everyone that talks to me. Where I no longer need help with just the easy tasks (like where's the bathroom or the mall) but the hard tasks of every day life. Learning more about the world outside of you because you are so familiar with the how you are perceived by everyone else instead of going somewhere new and recreating yourself. We are once again students majoring at K-State, doing some extra things to build our resume so we can work somewhere and have a good life. That's why we studied abroad. The perception of us to the people we are trying to impress had taken over the wheel in our lives.

It's sad but true...

However...

We are back in control...we are the drivers of our own lives again because we can choose to do something different. If we want to.

Study abroad has the fixation of being a resume builder but it's much more than that because it increases the confidence, the love, and the knowledge we have in our heart, mind, and spirit. Let me tell you how.

In Europe, we learned that there are so many occupations being filled by people who can speak 3-5 different languages, students with two or three degrees with masters in another field. They live and breathe the culture of their people and take their time listening and understanding. They don't always do what is convenient and will save rather than get new things. Costa Rica even goes further, people here use one or two light bulbs at night for as little time as possible to save electricity. Those two light bulbs are above the table where they talk until they go to bed. Minimum wage is $1.50/hr and people work with pleasure. People don't have to build their resume to be happy, they just have to make enough to spend time with their families and enjoy every second that they have making the most of it. Dinners are slow and enjoyable, lunches are long, and people make an effort to help or talk to you.

Study abroad is a reminder. That your life can slow down and that you can take path less traveled or listen to those who have traveled it. Life is full of unexpected turns and for those of us that have seen them in a place where you no longer speak the language or in a place where you may not trust the people, it humbles you. You finally understand that your resume may be a piece of paper on someones desk, but you will always be that person so important to new friends or old family. You will have someone to share memories with that only they can understand and you be the person that they want to see or call in the future. Life is about networks, not resumes or experiences. I will always remember the people that made me laugh or created a place where I actually felt welcome. My wife and I are so blessed that we took the hard way, paid for this ourselves and lived experiences that were invaluable.

I very rarely say this but I am so happy that Kelsie works so hard and that I am a very big pushover. I didn't want to do any of these things at first but now I am so glad that I did this with her and I will be happy to do it again. We will miss Costa Rica and all of its glory. This is me...signing off of Speakin' Rican and I cannot wait for the next time...


P.S. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my wife and I being married for a full year. I love that woman more than anything for her smile and her intelligence. :) I can't wait for our ice cream date in America. I love you.

Passport? Check. Money? Check. Pants? Check.

Before I came to Costa Rica, about a million and one things were running through my mind. I had read through all the information I could find about Costa Rica online (and of course scared myself half to death), I had read the testimonials from other students, I had asked the program managers every question I could think of and a few thought of by monkeys, I packed and repacked my suitcase at least three times, printed my flight itinerary, looked on Pinterest for vacation destinations, and prayed to God that my trip would go well. In between the times I was preparing, I was dreaming—dreaming of all the grand adventures I was going to have.

I don’t know how it is for other students, and I’m definitely not going to pretend to be an expert, but somewhere about a week into the trip, the new wears off, and you think, “Hey, I’m about a thousand miles from home.” “Hey, I kind of miss hanging out with my parents.” And, the most common, “Hey, I REALLY want to go to Sonic and have a milkshake.” These thoughts lead to another thought. Some people call it “culture shock,” but I think it’s just a fancy word for homesick.

I started to think how great it would be not to struggle to ask someone for directions, or how nice it would be to see the wide open spaces of Kansas, or how wonderful it would feel to pull into the Sonic Drive In and have one of those delicious milkshakes. Now, as my time in Costa Rica is drawing to an end, my thoughts have taken a different turn.

I have read through all of my information about reverse culture shock. I have emailed people from my home university a million and one questions about the process of going back. I have started packing my suitcase. I’ve printed my flight itinerary. I have looked on Pinterest for Tican recipes to share with my family, and I’ve prayed to God thanking him for such a wonderful trip.

I don’t know how it is for other students, and I’m definitely not going to pretend to be an expert, but somewhere in my last week, I started to think, “Hey, I really like hanging out with my host parents every night.” “Hey, the food here is SO good!” “Hey, it’s nice to be able to take a taxi anywhere now that I can give directions.” And, I’m beginning to think that “reverse culture shock” will be a fancy word for “reverse home sickness” because somewhere between the planning, excitement, the nervousness, and the learning, I’ve fallen in love with these “tranquilo” people and this “pura vida” lifestyle.

A weekend of being whisked away...

En el fin de semana pasado, Ty y yo fuimos a Manuel Antonio. En Manuel Antonio hay muchas cosas, por ejemplo, la playa, las tiendes, un mercado de frutas y verduras, el bosque, y mucho mas. Despues de Ty y yo regresamos as San Jose de Jaco, un taxista dijo, "Ustedes deben ir a Manuel Antonio!" Y, por supuesto, Ty y yo fuimos a Manuel Antonio.
Pues, Ty y yo compramos boletas. El autobus estaba comfortable. Para andar en autobus a Manuel Antonio de Sanjose, necesita cuatro horas. En Manuel Antonio esta muy humido, y hace muchisimo calor. Despues de llegar en Manuel Antonio, Ty y yo encontramos nuestro hotel. Fue bueno, pero el internet esta roto, y huele malo.
En nuestro primera dia en Manuel Antonio, Ty y yo comimos desayuno a Subway. Fue muy bueno, pero yo olvida Subway esta muy caro! Despues de desayunar, Ty y yo fuimos a la playa! Hay muchas cosas para hacer a la playa, pero Ty y yo nadamos y "Boogie boarded." El oceano casi roba mi camera y nuestro toallas y ropa. Estuve muy enojado con Ty. Porque el no puso attencion de las ondas. Las ondas son muy grande en Manuel Antonio. Nuestro cosas todavia tienen arena en estos. Ai yi yi!
Nuestro segunda dia en Manuel Antonio, fuimos rafting con Amigos Del Rio. Estaba muy divertido, y yo disfruta mucho. Nuestro guias son muy amables, y yo aprendi mucho en el rio!
Luego, Ty y yo regresamos a San Jose, y nos relajamos en Domingo.

Last weekend, Ty and I went to Manuel Antonio.

This is a picture I took of Ty by the beach. Relatively It was a small area, but we had enough room to sit. It's really pretty, Because We're surrounded by a rain forest. About two hours after taking this picture, the tide had moved in to where Ty was sitting ... HENCE getting our stuff "whisked away" by the ocean. Apparently mom, Ty was loligagging, and our stuff Suffered ... There's still sand in the towels, even though our host has washed them twice already ... It's times like these I think my host mom's glad we do not know a lot of cuss words. ;)

One of the first things we did was rent a boogie board. The waves are pretty big, but When we went They were not too big to boogie board! If you catch a wave just right, you can ride it for acerca 75 feet, and That makes my inner-mermaid happy.

From this angle, you can not even tell I'm not a mermaid!

Thanks Mom and Dad for your undying support.

I digress.

 And now ....



MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF ALL BEACH PICTURES EVER!

Ty crashing. (Pause for laughter.)

And just so you know him crashing is not 100% commonplace, here's a picture of Ty after I rode in a really big wave. His smile says it all.

After our two hours of fun over boogie board were over, we decided to go jump some waves. If you haven't tried it, I would really encourage it... but in the midst of all of your fun, make sure your feet can always touch the ground. "Why?" You ask? Well, prepare yourself for an incredibly drawn out and dramatized retelling of a really epic (but probably less than epic) story.

It was a cold windy night and lightning bolts shot across the sky. The waves crashed against the jagged rocks of the shore. Wind gusted and eddied around my body. With my keen hearing, I picked up on a horrible sound: a baby's cry. That's when I plunged into the subzero water and swam like Michael Phelps (minus the weed) toward the source of the sound. I dove down and punched two great white sharks, and one killer whale. I then retrieved the baby, and brought him back to the shore making record time. I felt his tiny neck for a pulse, but was greeted with silence. Then, I performed CPR. Shortly after, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt showed up and adopted said baby, and paid me millions of dollars for rescuing him. His name is Shavonachashlynew. Ty and I can now forget about college and retire on a yacht.

Ha.

Anyway, the real story goes something like this:

I went out, and started jumping the waves, which is really fun. Somewhere in between trying not to drown and pretending I was a ballerina/gymnast, I started to hear yelling. Several men on jet skis were rushing out, and pulling people on, then rushing them back to the shore, while yelling at other people to get back to the beach.

I should probably get back in, I thought to myself. (No, duh, brainiac.) After jumping a last wave, I tried to put my feet down on the ground, and felt nothing. No big deal, I thought. Past lifeguard Kelsie can swim back in, no problem. So, I started the whole breast stroke and realized that wasn't going to cut it. After about five minutes of swimming and getting absolutely nowhere, I started to worry that I was going to have to let my pride suffer and ask for help. Just then a huge wave came in, and it crashed over me, and pulled me to shore like a beached whale. Then, I went back and told Ty what a great time I had, and how easy it was for me to get back to shore... He was skeptical.

We decided pretty quickly that was enough excitement at the beach for a day, and took the next bus back to our hotel... soaking wet... in our swimsuits because our towels and other clothes were wet and covered in sand. (Thanks, Ty.) 

Our night took a turn for the better when we started walking around in search of a place for supper. We found a place pretty quickly. I had nachos, and Ty had a hamburger. Fun fact: Hamburgers in Costa Rica actually have ham on them, as well as a burger! After supper, we decided to walk around. 

This is the beach by Quepo--the town close to Manuel Antonio beach. It's very beautiful, I think!

Close to this beach was a "super, rrequete, hiper, macro, mega" huge supermarket for vegetables. At least fifty vendors had set out fruit for sell. Of course Ty and I bought some and gorged ourselves later.

The next day, we signed up to go rafting with a company called "Amigos del Rio" or in English, "Friends of the River." If any of you ever end up in Quepo, I would definitely recommend them! All of the employees are super friendly, and we got a great deal that included two meals, one snack, a guide, four hours of rafting, and transport. We learned so much, and the guide even helped me practice my Spanish! We saw a lot of cool things, but sadly I don't have any pictures yet. When I get them from the rafting company, I'll update this blog and post them on here. :)

So, to sum up our weekend: despite a near death experiences, the ocean almost taking all of our stuff, and swallowing my weight in river water, I truly had a great time, and I think Ty did too. It's not hard to fall in love with Costa Rica, with such a laid back lifestyle. It's so easy to fit in here, and the Costa Ricans (or Ticos) are very welcoming. I'm loving my "pura vida" time here!

And thank YOU for reading! :)

Flock-o-2-Jaco

When it comes to being in a new country where most of the people are very nice and willing to make your stay as fun as possible, life somewhere new isn't as scary as you might think. Actually, sometimes it's downright fun! My wife has made a new blog and I am lucky enough to be a part of this one as well. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Ty and I am going to tell you about our weekend trip to Jaco and Monteverde.

I figured I should start off with the beautiful figure of Kelsie and maybe let you see a view of those crazy waves and dark sand. Now that maybe I have you hooked I will first let you know how we got there.

This was a meal that Kelsie and I got at Coca-Cola bus station for less than $5 USD. Called a "casado" the word directly translates to married and this marriage of food was something I wouldn't mind having be a part of my life forever. It has everything typically found in a Costa Rican dish. Beans, rice, fried plantains, ensalada, potatoes with vegetables, and a main type of meat. The bus stop was full of stores and places to eat. Most of the bus stops are jam packed with people. I wonder why? A few reasons: 

1. The transport is super cheap. We paid almost $10 a piece for round trip to Jaco beach two hours away. 

2. The buses are adequate. It may come as surprise but the drivers are very nice and load up on time and leave on time. It is very well taken care of and comfortable.

3. It's safer than driving yourself. Trust me. It is so much easier to be chauffeured around than trying to figure out the road signs. Only locals know where they are, let them guide you. 

Life was easy because we know there is always a taxi to save us. As we got to Jaco, Ty (the idiot) got us off at the hotel call Morgans cove casino and resort. Which was the wrong hotel of course, so we called a taxi to take us to Morgan's cove centro a mile or so away. It was very nice (both hotels). Ours had hammocks, a pool, a great location near the beach in the top picture, a/c, and free delicious breakfast. It was nestled in the trees and rather cheap. About $60 a night. Tip: always pack bottles of water or bring a filter; it's much cheaper, easier, and safer. 

On the beach Kelsie and I rented a boogie board (economical way to have fun).

 This a great picture of how spectacular the waves are and how Kelsie can jump them.

And this is me not being able to hang on to my board... I wasn't as good but Kelsie and I did ride a few waves for a good 50-75 feet and it was worth all the spills and sunburns. 

When we got back from our day at the beach, we got on a tour bus to go to this cloudy place; San Luis zip lining near Monteverde. A very nice and cool location; this place reminded me of Monty Python in the beginning where the ratio of clouds to visibility was almost one. But the views from the zip lines...spectacular. We are talking 30mph+ and 300ft above the ground, overlooking the canopy of the rain forest. It was very nice and the guides did everything plus tell funny jokes. There was also the Tarzan swing which can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlY9UlrRR_Q
There was also the superman zip line which was the greatest one of them all; they lay you in a body harness and you go down like Superman. You can view that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHjo9OjlVJU

So there you go, a weekend of fun and excitement at dont knock-o-Jaco until you try it and zippy do-dah-all day lining. And just for your (or mine) viewing pleasure another picture of the great woman who got us here today...

Look at that gorgeous smile guys! 

Surprises every day!

So, I'd like to confess to something right now: I've been a little cocky. After studying abroad for five months in Europe, I there couldn't be anything else that would shock me. I have experienced culture shock, I have experienced a language barrier, I have encountered people with totally different backgrounds and perspectives than myself. But, I wasn't prepared to feel more out of place among a group of United States Americans than I did in a group of Europeans. So how is it that a week and a half in Costa Rica managed to bring me back to humility and make me angry at the same time?

I'm going to be optimistic and hope someone other than my parents are reading this and provide a little background. I grew up in Western Kansas. My family survives on elbow grease. We all know the importance of hard work, and we are proud of what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it. We love the great country of the US, even though we'll be some of the first to complain about the state it's in today and the direction its heading. We love our neighbors as we do ourselves, and half of the time we help our neighbors work their cattle before we get around to ours (and of course, our neighbors are right there with us returning the favor). We believe in logic and cold hard facts: philosophy is a major for those who don't like callouses. A party for us looks like a case of Bud Light, medium rare steaks on the grill, jalepeno poppers over a fire, and some sort of potato salad. We don't like to fight, but if there's something wrong going on, we'll be the first to say what's right, even if it's not the popular opinion. We think children shouldn't have everything handed to them, but should have to earn money for their car/iPhone/designer clothes.

I spent my summers in high school working: lifeguard, rancher, scalegirl, waitress, fence builder. During school I alternated my time between extracurricular activities, school, and work. My parents made sure I knew the value of a dollar before I graduated, and made sure I knew that if I was to be considered an adult I would have to provide for myself and act like an adult. As a result of this, I am a God-fearing, hard-working, opinionated, independent adult.

So, when I realized I wanted to study abroad in Europe for a semester, I knew I had a lot of work to put in. (Study abroad isn't cheap!) Between my husband and myself, we managed to save up enough money between working, scholarships, and student loans to pay for a nice semester in Europe with a big trip at the end. In fact, we had saved enough money to pay for a month long intensive Spanish class in Costa Rica this summer.

It didn't take long to realize how most of the students here were raised. On the second day of class, our teacher asked us to describe the United States. Here are some of the words people used: "Spoiled." "Fat." "Superior feeling." "Wasteful." "Big." "Diverse." Over half of the words my classmates used to describe their home country was negative. I was tired of all of the negativity, so I said that the US has a good economy, which by almost all accounts is true. Even though we had a recession, as of 2014, the US has the highest GDP of any country in the world, almost doubling China's (the second highest) GDP. Almost everyone has a chance to work a good job, obtain a college education, there aren't nearly as many homeless people in the US as there are in Europe, and we have a much higher level of food security than other places. However, when I said this, at least four students in my class of eleven scoffed or disagreed with me. Okay, whatever, they can disagree with facts all they want to.

I know that everyone has differing political opinions, and that's fine, so I had hoped to find common ground with my peers elsewhere. However, between the stories of sky diving, family vacations abroad, eating habits, and much more, I quickly realized we were on totally different playing fields. When one boy in my class (Basic 2) said that he'd taken six years of Spanish, and could have taken a higher level, everyone told him just to take the easy class. "Just get an easy A," they said. "Don't stress yourself out too much so you can enjoy traveling on the weekends," they said. All variations of, "Take the easy way out." And this translates to: "I didn't pay for this class so I don't care how much I get out of it."

Another day I discovered that five people in my class of eleven are vegetarians, and two of them are vegans. One boy--the same one who's taken six years of Spanish--calls himself a "raw vegan who doesn't eat gluten." My first thought was how does he survive without bacon? My second thought was why? I discovered their reasons quickly when I was asked by our teacher what my favorite food was and why. I answered meat, because it's versatile, it tastes good, and it's good for you. The vegan girl was quick to disagree stating that meat is unhealthy. I asked her if she had ever taken a class on the subject. She said yes, she's taken many classes, and meat is unhealthy. I disagreed and told her meat is the most biologically available source of protein there is. She disagreed and said we use too many resources to get meat, and people could get everything they need nutritionally from plants. Another boy in class piped up and said he agreed with her. I said it's possible to get what you need from plants, but meat is a wonderful source of protein, vitamins, fat, and several minerals that are essential for humans. I also pointed out that it's impossible to feed the whole world with only plants because of the growing population and the lack of industrialization in other countries. (Between the times when she interrupted me. It became so bad my teacher had to ask her to stop interrupting me.) Another girl said that cows eat eighty percent of the corn farmers grow. I attempted to explain the difference between sweet corn and field corn in Spanish. Another boy said that farming/ranching is destroying the world. Our teacher finally stepped in and changed the subject.

I've realized fully what it feels like to feel 100% out of place with other Americans. If I had to bet on how about 95% of these students came to be here, I would bet on their parents. I would bet these kids never had to lift a finger. So, what is it like to study abroad when you've paid for it yourself?
It is the most satisfying thing I have ever done. I am proud of what Ty and I have accomplished on our own at such a young age. I am okay with the fact that we may have to say no to some things while we are here because we don't have enough money for it, and I am so happy that I have learned to be self-sufficient and have my own opinions based on scientific facts and the bible, because I'm starting to realize that's a pretty rare thing to come by. I am also thankful for our families for being our spare tires and not our steering wheels. They will always be there to help when we need them, and I am forever grateful for that.

So to end this blog post (read: rant) I'd just like to thank everyone for reading. It's been great to share my opinions, thoughts, and experiences with Ty's and my family and friends. :)

Train--Keel--Oh

If someone would have told me a year ago that I would be in Costa Rica with my husband studying Spanish for a month I would have probably laughed at them. Me? Travel abroad? Me? Study Spanish in a place so far away from home? Me? Find a place to live for a month with my husband?

Ha.

Ha.

Ha.

Sometimes I think Life is the best comedian, because two weeks ago on Sunday, my husband and I stepped off of an airplane in San Jose, Costa Rica. We walked (slowly) through immigration, we rode in a black Echo car to a home stay, and we met two of the nicest people we will ever meet (our host parents).  Our padres ticos lead us to our room which had its own bathroom, let us rest from our flight, and before we could say “pura vida” we were thrown into this crazy situation called “study abroad.”

Even if I had known a year ago I would be in San Jose, I don’t think I could have prepared for this. From the moment we arrived in Costa Rica, we were totally immersed in Spanish. We spoke Spanish with the immigration officers, and when we met our host parents, we spoke Spanish with them. Neither of my host parents speak English, but my papa tico knew enough to be able to say “don’t worry, be happy,” when I apologized to him for not being able to speak Spanish very well, despite the three years I spent in high school studying the language… good thing we were learning!

Our mama tica walked with us to Universidad Veritas, and the next day we went through orientation and started our classes. There are a few things I should have expected before I came to Costa Rica.

1     1)    Being lost. The streets are laid out completely differently than they are in the United States. It took about three tries, two taxi drivers, four rain storms, twenty dollars, the grace of God, and sheer dumb luck to find a market place some other students had told me about.

2     2)      FOOD. People love each other with food here. I should have known my mama tica would lavish me with delicious meals and fresh fruit! (Stretchy pants are a necessity!)

3     3)      Overstimulation. This is real. Imagine four hours straight of converting Spanish to English in your head during class.  Then for lunch, you attempt to order some type of mystery meat dish. (Tip: You can’t go wrong with a papusa!) Afterwards, you ride a taxi/minibus home with a driver who you have to give directions to in Spanish. Once at home, you walk through the door and your very nice host parents talk with you about your day… in Spanish. Afterwards—if you’re lucky—you can speak with your friend/boyfriend/husband in English while you do your homework in Spanish. Just about the time you finish homework, you have supper with your host family, where you speak (you guessed it) more Spanish. After supper you speak with your host parents a little and tell funny stories. In Spanish. Then, you go to bed, dream in Spanish, and start all over again. It’s great for learning, but I should have packed some extra aspirin!

4     4)      Enjoy everything. The Spanish equivalent of my papa tico’s favorite phrase in English, “don’t worry, be happy,” is “tranquilo,” and since I’ve been in San Jose, I’ve probably heard it about “dos mil” times. I still have two weeks left here, and I’m sure I’ll hear it many more times. It’s been a great motto for me. Even though “tranquilo” only translates to “tranquil” it means so much more. To me it means: relax, everything will work out, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

Even though this time in my life was unanticipated, I can’t deny that it’s been one of the best experiences I’ve had in my college education. Because even though Life is a comedian, Life is also a secret romantic and things tend to work out for the best. J

Pura vida.

Algunas Veces - Sometimes

Algunas veces, estoy contento. Otras veces estoy muy contento. Hoy estoy muy feliz. Por que? Voy a explicar. Por la manana Ty y yo despertamos a las siete y media. Durmimos mas que otras dias, entonces Ty y yo estamos feliz. Despues nosotros despertamos, nosotros comemos desayunar. Tenemos cereal con leche, cafe, y smoothies de freces y bananas y leche. Estan muy bueno. Despues desayunar, Ty y yo fuimos al centro de commercial esta cerca de nuestro casa. El Cencto de comerical tiene muchas tiendes. Compro dos diccionarios, perfume, y locion. Son muy baratos!

Luego, Ty y yo andamos en un taxi a el centro commercial en "down town." El taxista no sabe donde este centro commercial, entonces yo dice "esta cerca de KFC." Soy Americano! El maneja nosotras cerca de KFC, y caminandos al centro commercial! Hacemos camprando por varios horas. Compramos algunas cosas para nuestro familias y nosotros!

Despues nuestro camprar aventura, Ty y yo caminamos a nuestro casa! Y nunca estamos perdidos! Estamos mas feliz! Entonces Ty y yo necisitamos una siesta! Pues, nuestro mama Tica pregunta si nosotros queremos cafe. Yo quiero cafe siempre!

Tomo cafe y Ty tomo agua. Pues, Ty y yo fuimos a iglesia con nuestro padres Ticos y estudiante nuevo. La misa era muy buena. La musica esta fuerte y las personas son muy amables. Pero, Ty y yo no intende mucho. Esta bueno Ty y yo compramos los diccionarios!

Cuando regresamos a la casa, mi mama Tica preparar una comida para nosotros. Mama Tica siempre cocina buenas comidas para nosotros! Anoche tiene arroz y frijoles y tortillas y salat y guacamole. Esta muy delicioso! Ahora Ty y yo tenemos sueno. Era dia bueno y dia prepara Ty y yo para suenos buenos.

Some days I am happy... other days I'm really really happy. Yesterday was one of those days. It was a fun day for Ty and I, and if you read this all the way through, you'll be lucky enough to know why. ;) (Just kidding, but stick with me, because it would be horrible if no one read this.)

We started out the morning with another great breakfast of cereal, fruit, toast, and a fruit smoothie with bananas, strawberries, and milk. After our good breakfast, Ty and I ventured out into the vast unknown.

Okay, well it's not that unknown, but every single time Ty and I have gone "exploring" we've gotten lost.

Our first mission was to find a Spanish to e

Some of our host sisters - other students at Universidad Veritas--had gone, and bragged about the shops set up in tents. One girl bought a bag that had two other smaller purses in it for twelve dollars. A great buy for a souvenir in Costa Rica! Ty and I had unsuccessfully attempted to go to this commercial center two times. So, we decided to take a taxi, but, go figure, the Taxi driver had no idea what we were talking about. So, my grand solution was to tell him it was close to KFC... Whoops, my American is showing! Luckily he knew where KFC was, so he dropped us off in the general area. Since the third time is the charm, we tried again to find the market, and of course we found the place totally on accident the third time--a small and unimportant detail. ;) 

This is a picture of a store, with Ty shopping. This little market has everything from homemade crafts to souvenir shirts. The shop owners can get aggressive in their attempts to get you to look around in their shops. In that scenario... 

After shopping, Ty and I walked around the downtown area for a while. Everyone suggests going to a museum in San Jose, but honestly, we saw wonderful art on the walls! Everywhere we looked there was graffiti, but not your typical, run-of-the-mill bad-word-spraypainted-in-black graffiti; this was actually art.

Some of it was scary art.

Some was extremely beautiful.

Some of it strange...

And all of it was interesting.

On our way back to our homestay, we took a closer look at the neighborhoods. Over twenty percent of Costa Rica's population lives below the poverty level, which means they live on less than 300 dollars a month. Can you imagine? There are many things that I take for granted in the US, but one of them I never thought about was playgrounds.

This is a pretty common sight for a playground in Costa Rica. Children actually play here, and when you see children play, they are happy. At this point, I get what I like to call "First World Guilt." I feel guilty for always taking my pristine, plastic, safe playgrounds for granted, and I feel guilty that these children may never get to play on one.

But, there is beauty everywhere. All of the houses in Costa Rica are surrounded by fences, some with barbed wire at the top, but somehow beauty always seems to work its way through the rough edges. Here's some beautiful flowers growing through the fences.

This is a flower after a rainy afternoon. It was so pretty I couldn't resist taking a picture of it!

This is our view on the way back to our homestay. We turn right at the 40 KPH sign. It is our "punto de referencia" as my mama Tica calls it.

By the time we got home we were exhausted. We were basically in zombiehood before our host mom knocked on our door and asked us if we wanted a snack before we went to church with them. So, of course... YES! I mean! SI!

For the snack we had pokeballs!

Just kidding.

That's not a pokemon. It's actually called a "mamon." (I don't know the English word for it.) But it is very sweet, and it's somewhat similar to a Concord grape. It's my host mom's favorite fruit, so I'm really glad she shared it with us!

We rode to church with Cecilia, Herbert, and Isa (our host parents and a student that is living in the same house as us). The church was simple, but beautiful and modern on the inside. What struck me the most was how loud the choir was. You could hear the music from the street, and everyone in the church joined in and sang loudly along. In the US, or in Prague, mostly everyone mumbled the songs, but here, everyone sang proudly. It was really nice. Cecilia bought me a program so I could follow along with the service, but even with that I only understood about half of it.

After we got back home, we had supper together and had fun talking with our host parents and the other student. Even with our limited Spanish, and our host parents' extremely limited English--like nonexistent, we still manage to communicate well and have a lot of fun with our host family!

After a long day, we were ready for sleep! 

Look at that cute Tyburrito! :)

Thanks for reading!