Whew! Today was a long day! More gallo pinto for breakfast then we headed for the bus stop. The bus took forever getting there and then it took a while to get to school as well due to traffic. So after we got off at the stop we only had 5 minutes to get to La Casita (where my class are is).
My classes went well. In Composition I understand the concepts and rules, but all the vocabulary that the book is making us use is foreign to most of us, and often Costa Rican words. And then we’re supposed to say if they’re masculine or feminine. A few of the words aren’t even in my dictionary! I understand how it works, just can’t apply it too well with such foreign words. Tomorrow we get assigned our first “paper.” It has to be a page long double-spaced. It’s due Tuesday, which is also the date of our first exam over the stuff we’ve covered in class so far.
In my conversation class today we were given a picture and then we had to describe it to the class. They were all cities, beaches, or mountain scenes. And then the professor would ask us questions about what we did for past vacations, favourite vacations, favourite places to go, etc.
After class I tried to get into the computer lab (it opens as 1pm) but no one was there and I had to get lunch before 2:30 because we were leaving for Cartago then. Ashley had to wait for the Internet because she’s taking an online class, so I headed to the mall by myself. I ate quickly and thought I might have 15 minutes on a computer in the computer lab. But it was completely full when I got there. But I did get a username and password, so I should have wifi tomorrow!!! I really hope so. Internet would be awesome.
At 2:30 got on the bus and sat with Mrs. Polchow, her kids, and Ashley. I finally got to be a tourist and take lots of pictures! The countryside here is pretty. The mountains are small compared to the Appalachian, but they’re a lovely green color. The trip wasn’t too far. It only took about 30 minutes by (private) bus.
We first stopped at some ruins of some church. Not sure of the specifics. I couldn’t hear the tour guide too well over the really loud A/C. Figured I’d look it up when I got Internet. They were neat. Cartago itself is a “modern” town. There is nothing colonial about it, even though it was the colonial capital. They built the capital right next to the volcano Irazu. The whole town was destroyed when it erupted in colonial times, and then there have been two major earthquakes as well. So the only thing that’s been rebuilt is the cathedral de la Virgen de Los Angeles. She’s the patron saint of Costa Rica. Every August 2nd people make pilgrimages to this place to pray for healing or other desperate needs. Some come (walking) from Nicaragua and Panama, even.
Compared to some of the other churches I’ve seen this one wasn’t one what left me breathless. It was pretty, though. I felt really awkward being inside though. There was mass or some sort of service going on while we were there, but we were still told we could walk around and take pictures. Quite awkward. In the basement of the church you could see parts of the building from 1912, 1976, and 2004. Also you can seen all the little charms that people placed here after they were healed or received whatever they needed.
Afterwards, I was walking to a street store to get some ice cream. I was stopped by a tico that wanted to talk with me. I was a bit wary since I was by myself (within sight and sound of the group, but not with anyone.) He asked if I spoke English or Spanish and I answered English and a little Spanish. then he said he wanted to practice English. He said “Hi, how are you?” Before I could say “Fine” He said “Fine” lol He asked my name, and then were I was from. He had to revert back to Spanish because he didn’t understand what I replied. Then he did a typical Costa Rican thing of putting out his hand as if to shake it then hold it while talking to you (Costa Ricans are very touchy feely people, up-close and personal) While holding my hand he then told me in broken English, “I crazy about American girls” then said Adios. A bit awkward, but it was my first encounter with a Tico other than buying something. The people in San Jose are always staring and shouting “Gringa!” at me. (Yesterday some tico yelling something really nasty to Ashley; she was fuming about it for about an hour.) But the people in Cartago waved, said hola, and one even talked to me. Much nicer.
Well, I went and got my ice cream. Eskimo brand—I’ve seen that in the States somewhere, I think in Sam’s possibly. Not the best, but it tasted good after not having chocolate nor ice cream for almost a week! lol I take that back…I have Oreos for dessert one night, if that counts as chocolate.
Ashley and I got off the bus next to the “Outlet Mall” and were going to take a look around there before going back home, but it was a dying mall that was almost dead. Not much in there other than sex shops, gyms, and banks. Speaking of which, Costa Rica is a country that is very open about sensuality, sex, etc. Sex shops everywhere. I saw a sign today that was for Levi Jeans. It had a guy and a girl’s body shown from the waist down and had written on it “Who do you want to unbutton?” Yeah… Skin-tight jeans is THE style here along with cleavage. Anyways, just a side note about the culture here.
On the way to the bus stop, we got to experience the train. There are no flashing lights or rails that come down. The train holds his horn down from a long time and traffic stops. When I was crossing the tracks I saw the light come around the corner and then the horn. Waiting for the bus took forever again, and when a Sabanilla one finally stopped I got on, but the driver said no more people could get on and started to drive off leaving Ashley on here own! It was another crowded bus ride home, but even in the dark I managed to get off on the right stop. (Ashley got home safe as well)
Got to the house quickly and then couldn’t figure out which of the three keys worked on the gate. Maripas came out of the house and I asked her “cual llave” but she said she didn’t know either, but she got it open and let me in. For dinner we had “hamburgers” … it was a chicken sandwich, which they call here a hamberguesa de pollo. It was…not so good, but when our host mom got home she made some rice and chicken legs which were good. Our host mom’s oldest daughter and her husband came by for dinner today. Boy is she loud! Getting her mom and her together makes for a lot of noise! (Mom’s loud too) Not too much privacy in this house, can’t really ever “be alone” Always the TV blaring, someone talking over it in the kitchen, etc. It can be heard through the wall and door as if you were in that room. Oh well, it’s only 4 more weeks. I’m going to very much like the quiet when I get home! Everywhere is noisy in this city. Well, I’m off to bed! G’night!
:-) Rek
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