Conversations with Caitlin: February 2015

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Things I Have Learned During My Time in Costa Rica: Part 1

Things I have learned during my time in CR:

1) The orange button by the wheelchair accessible seat on the bus is not the same as the red button on the poles. The orange button does not stop the bus; it sets off an alarm throughout the entire bus!

2) “Que chevre”, a phrase meaning “that’s cool” in Colombia, is not a phrase used here. Instead, ticos say “tuanis.”

3) Just because a car has a red light does not mean you can walk in front of them.

4) If a person get his by a car (or a moto), it is not the car’s fault. Watch out!

5) Sometimes, water bottles fall across the floor of the bus. It is okay to accidentally fall into a man and on the ground while picking up the water bottle and keys that were dropped during the process.

6) The Ash Wednesday service at a Catholic church in Heredia, Costa Rica is not that different from Ash Wednesday service at First Presbyterian Church in Troy, Ohio.

7) The cable to make the bus stop does not always work.

8) When you take the same bus every day, you get to know the bus driver. And sometimes, when the cable does not work and he knows you need to get off, he stops the bus in a random place so you are not too far away from your school!

9) The students in my classes here are the friendliest students ever…I hope that Queens’ students treat international students with the same level of care and concern as the students here treat me (I am sure we do!)

10) Non-Profit Organization in Spanish is “una organizacion sin fines de lucro.”

11) A meal is not complete without rice and beans.

12) There is a difference between juice and a refresco…juices are thicker. Here, most people only have refrescos.

13) Reading in Spanish is not as hard as I thought it would be, especially when I have a friend who goes over what I have read with me to make sure I understand everything!

14) “Caitlin Culp” is very difficult for professors to say. I am now “Cait” or “Catlin Colp.”

15) Every time you join a new gym, they perform an evaluation on you that consists of everybody measurement possible, questions about health, and a workout plan. At UNA, the students from the exercise science school perform these duties.

16) Now this one I already knew...87 degrees is hot, but I would much rather be in 87 degree weather than 0 degree weather.

Part 2 of Things I Have Learned While Living in Costa Rica will debut in a couple of weeks….until then, if you would like to become pen pals, my address is below!

Caitlin Culp

ISEP Apartado Postal: 86

3000 Universidad Nacional

Heredia, Costa Rica

America Central

Cafe Naranjo Coffee Plantation

Oscar, UNA student who has helped us since Day 1.

View from Naranjo.

Representing JBIP, Queens University of Charlotte

We had a painting lesson!

Actually, I painted this piece.

The top is how it was supposed to look, the bottom is how mine turned out...UNIQUE!

Last weekend at Manuel Antonio.

Meagan from Nebraska.

We love the Explanada, the meeting place at UNA.

Just reppin' Queens!

I LOVE COSTA RICA, CAN'T YOU TELL?

Cafe Naranjo Coffee Plantation

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Soy Una Tica (Posiblemente)

Yesterday, I did a lot: I took the bus to school, walked up a very long hill to the gym, was told I needed to pay first, so I walked all the way back down the hill and across campus and down the street, paid for my gym membership, did homework in the library, went to the gym and conversed with the woman working, signed up for a personal training session, exchanged money at the bank, ran some errands downtown, and came home on the bus. Yesterday was the first day that I felt like I could be on my own and be totally fine (all day, every day). I got off the bus at the MusManni and felt like I was home.

I feel like I can take on Heredia, sola; in part, because I survived my first week of classes. After making many changes, I went to three of my four classes last week. This week I will attend all four of my classes. I am enrolled in Morphology, Basics of Phonetics and Morphology, Feminist Thinking of Indigenous People, focused on indigenous people of Costa Rica, and a Learning Spanish and Costa Rican culture class. I also signed up for a tutoring program with a professor, in which I will learn more grammar and have homework assignments that will add to my knowledge of the Spanish language and support what I am practicing in each of my classes.

Today, I enjoyed eating lunch (that my Mami tica packed for me) outside in the main quadrant of campus. I am not sure if there is entertainment every day, but yesterday and today there was live music and some talent show type events going on during the lunch hour. I am enjoying being a member of the gym on campus. The gym is super small, but I feel revived after I work out. I never realized how much working out did for my body and my mind. Also, the gym has trained staff members that give new members of the gym a tutorial of how to use each machine. I have my tutorial on Friday, but today one of the men working there helped me with my technique. I am grateful to have a place to work out, although walking home today is going to be difficult because I am so sore!

There have been some issues with scheduling classes and the university being on the same page as ISEP and ISEP being on the same page as my family in the States, my family tica, and me. However, everything has finally worked out. I am getting into a routine and I belong here! My friends and family in Ohio and North Carolina are experiencing freezing cold weather and lots of snow. I am experiencing super hot days, no air conditioning, and sometimes forgetting sunscreen and dealing with the aftermath of that (although I am pretty tan now!), but I would not trade this time for anything. Have fun in the snow, my friends...I am thinking of you with a smile on my face! I will try to send some sun and warm weather your ways!

Manuel Antonio...a group of girls from ISEP went to this beach this weekend. We had a four hour bus ride and stayed at a hostel.

Learning to dance with my friend's tico cousin

Sunset on the beach with my ladies

Sunset

My new hat (it is perfect because it covers my face, neck, and ears!)

I tried to snorkel.

But the water was not clear, so I just swam.

Our hostel had a pool that was nice to shower in!

Claire's birthday celebration....we ran into Kenneth, who is one of the students from UNA that helped us schedule our classes.

Sometimes we like to play doctor after I get home from classes.

My Papi tico loves to take photos.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Fuimos a La Playa....Jaco!

Fuimos a La Playa

4:40am – I woke up at my house to a few messages from my friends that I was meeting.

4:45am – I received and sent multiple messages to my friends, each of us letting each other know when we were leaving the house.

5:00am – My dad and I walked down the street to my friend’s house.

5:10am – She and I boarded the bus that we take to Universidad Nacional (UNA, our university).

5:15am – We deliberated whether or not to get off at our normal bus stop. We decided to take the bus to the stop after our normal one and hope it took us to the correct place.

5:25am – We pulled the cable and got off the bus at a random street that we did not know. We walked one block and much to our surprise, arrived at the bus stop where we were meeting everyone to go to San Jose.

5:30am – Only three of the seven of us had arrived at the bus stop for the bus to San Jose.

5:40am – My friend called the others because my phone did not have any minutes left (in Costa Rica, you add minutes to your phone by purchasing a card at any type of store).

5:45am – All six of us were waiting at the bus stop to meet our last friend who was on the bus that was going to pick us up and take us to San Jose.

6:00am – We receive a text from our friend telling us to “get on the bus,” but there was no bus in front of us.

6:01am – Six gringos stood in the street waving our hands at our friend and the driver of her bus as the bus driver laughed at us and waved back.

6:02am -- We missed our bus to San Jose. We talked to our friend on the phone and she told us we were on the wrong side of the corner so the driver would not stop.

6:03am – We asked many different people about where we should be waiting and we walked up and down the street. We stalked every bus that passed us, but we did not know which one would take us where we needed to go.

6:06am – We board a random bus that just said “San Jose” on it.

6:07am – One of my friends sat next to a nice man who spoke English. He had traveled to Texas before and said that he needs lots of helping understanding things and people helped him, so he would help us.

6:10am -- The man pulled the cable and got off of the bus with us. He told two taxis where to drive us.

6:16am – We arrived at the Coca-Cola Bus Station.

6:17am – We saw our friend walking down the street with a woman that walked her all the way to the bus station from the stop where her bus stopped (we were supposed to be with her on that bus and all walk to the bus station together).

6:25am -- We each treated ourselves to some sort of pastry (or hamburger, in Drew’s case, for breakfast).

6:30am – We gathered ourselves and made sure we were ready to go.

6:45am – Six of us boarded the bus to a beach called Jaco. One of my friends did not purchase her ticket ahead of time, so she waited for the 8:00am bus instead of the 7:00am bus.

7:00am – We wrapped our backpacks around ourselves, yet in our laps, because bus thefts are common.

7:15am – Most of us fell asleep and continued to sleep until we were about thirty minutes from the beach.

9:12am – We arrived at the bus stop at the beach! We walked to a store, I bought minutes for my phone, and one of my friends bought sunscreen and a towel.

9:30am – We found a spot on the beach and lathered each other up with sunscreen. We proceeded to take many pictures.

9:45am – We ran into the water and had fun playing in the HUGE waves.

10:15am – We returned to our towels, backpacks, and to a man in a truck with his baby…blasting his American music. One of my friends asked him to please turn it down. He agreed to turn it down.

10:30am – Our other friend arrived and we could not hear each other speaking. The man had not turned his music down. We searched for another spot on the beach.

10:55am – We moved to a spot under a palm tree closer to the cute shops and restaurants and away from the loud music.

The day consisted of playing in the water, walking around the beach town, searching for the cheapest food, tanning in the sun, and then sleeping in the shade because the sun was SUPER STRONG.

We took a long walk on the beach, took some last photos, and then I changed out of my bathing suit on the beach! We walked to our bus stop and my friends struggled to find a bathroom before we left for San Jose.

5:45pm – We boarded the bus back to San Jose.

6:30pm -- Some of us slept and others of us fanned ourselves (we were so hot, but the locals were not) and laughed and talked the entire way home.

8:10pm – We arrived at the bus station in San Jose.

8:15pm – We found our way to other bus station where we would take the bus to Heredia (we almost got run over by a moto, but luckily I yelled “wait, a moto!” so everyone ran across the street).

8:20pm – After asking a few people which bus we should take, we boarded the bus to Heredia.

8:40pm – We arrived at UNA and separated in different directions to make our ways home.

8:50pm – Two of my friends walked with me to our bus and we took the bus to each of our homes.

9:00pm -- My host dad met me at the bus stop and we walked home.

9:10pm – Instead of showering (I have never felt so dirty), I ate dinner and talked with my parents.

Wow…what a day! I have not laughed as hard as I did yesterday in a very long time. I am so proud of myself and of my friends for not losing anyone or anything! We traveled for the first time, in another country, all by ourselves. And the trip almost ran smoothly! Now we know what bus to take, where it will pick us up, and how to purchase the tickets online beforehand. I’m thrilled just thinking about the adventures that the rest of this semester will hold!

Now, onto our first day of classes tomorrow :)