Untitled.

I couldn’t think of a good title to describe what I’m feeling at this point in my trip.

I’m sorry that I haven’t been super up-to-date about things – it’s amazing how much time goes by each day where I am not necessarily doing anything time-consuming but the time just slips away! I have already been in Costa Rica for a month and two days, which I cannot believe. In all honesty it seems like it has been much longer than that, and the days seem long, but all of a sudden weeks have gone by without me even noticing. I have noticed that each week goes by a bit quicker, which tells me that I’m starting to get accommodated to life here.

I spent last weekend at the beach in Manuel Antonio, Quepos. We had to go to immigration in the morning, hiking backpacks and all, but we made it to the bus station just in time to catch a 1:15 to Manuel Antonio. We were supposed to stay on the bus until MA, but we got off in Quepos and I tried to tell the girls we should stay on, but to no avail. We ended up taking a taxi to Man.An. and finally made it to our hostel soaked in sweat and ready for the beach at around 5pm. We met up with the rest of the group and hung out at the beach until the sun went down, at which point we went directly to dinner and back to the hostel to shower and watch a movie around the pool. Here is a quick panorama of our view at the beach.

To say the least, it took us a very, VERY long time to get moving the next day, even though I had my mind set on getting to the National Park early in the morning so I could see the wildlife before it got unbearably hot outside (Man.An. is almost worse than Turkey in terms of the heat). I woke up a 7am, ready to go. We didn’t go to the Park until 1pm. The Park closes at 4. Don’t get me started.

I basically wasted $10 going to a beach that I could have gone to for free just around the corner. But I suppose I learned and I won’t be doing that again. Our hostel was mostly nice, but we didn’t get any free food or anything which was a pain to our wallets. But overall, Man.An. may just have been a bit too touristy for my tastes. Everything was quite expensive and it was miserably hot. I think two days there was enough for all of us.

I have realized how lucky I am to have traveled quite a bit before this trip – it has shown me the value of appreciating another culture and more importantly meeting people from other cultures to share your experiences. That is how culture is spread – you can’t learn directly about a different culture on the internet. You learn by talking to locals, because they WANT to know why you are there. They WANT to know where you’re from and why you picked Costa Rica. On Saturday night, me and some girls were sitting on a log on the beach watching someone from the hostel twirl fire (no big deal). Two guys came up and tried to talk to a few of the girls (at this point I was walking by the water with a friend), and when I came back, I saw physical leaning away from these locals, clearly uncomfortable.

After one of them left, probably completely offended by their body language, I started talking to the one that stayed behind. We had a nice conversation in Spanish and I learned that he is our age and isn’t originally from Man.An. but is trying to start his own Surf School in Jacó, a beach somewhat nearby. To gain more experience he has been spending time working at a Surf School in Man.An. until he can find his feet. I thought to myself, wow, how awesome is that. What a beautiful thing.

He asked why we were all here and I explained that we are exchange students – he wondered if we were going to come back and live here after a few years. This was totally a pura vida remark – and I was shocked to hear the immediate default reaction slip out of my mouth – “Absolutely not.” Then, I had a moment of, oh crap, that probably sounded rude – but he just laughed and was genuinely interest in why we hadn’t thought about that. I realized that we gringos tend to spend way too much time worrying about our futures to the point that we forget that we need to do what we love, too. I suppose everything is relative – for this guy, he could probably travel to a bunch of different beaches whenever he wanted and work at a bunch of surf schools. Obviously, I’m not just discovering my calling in teaching people how to surf, but I just admire people who can maintain their lives doing what they love doing. I responded to him by saying that I have my whole life back at home. He looked puzzled and couldn’t see a reason why I couldn’t live here.

I have my home somewhere else. And that’s okay. And I’m allowed to miss it. Which I do.

Anyway, the other girls were probably listening, but I was the only one talking to this guy. And I was totally blown away by such a little conversation. Most people miss out on these wonderful opportunities. One of the things I love the most about being in a different country is being able to share cultural knowledge and experience with people that live there. And I’m so excited for that in the next 4 months.

That’s right, tomorrow is the first day of March. Which means my parents come in approximately 20 days. I cannot wait to see them, show off all of the Spanish I have been learning, take them to my favorite bakery, and walk them to school (I finally have a student ID card, so I am officially a student 😀 ).

School has gotten progressively better. Two girls asked me to be in their final project group in my Film Art class, I participated in a discussion in my Women’s Studies course, and I made a bunch of Tico friends thanks to my friend Julie who found a group of them who are in an Intensive English course and are wanting to practice with us.

I am still loving my host family, and I couldn’t have asked for a better support group. I have a couple of friends who are struggling with homesickness/culture shock (we are in our “crisis period” of studying abroad), and since I am kind of past my crisis period I have tried to help them out when I can. Last night, a friend came over and just needed some ice cream for her tears. And I was happy that I could help her – it makes me feel better when I can help others.

I also realized that I NEED to find somewhere to sing/play piano/guitar. It is my therapy at home and I unfortunately don’t have it here, which I think is why I have had a bit of trouble adjusting. I am used to singing all the time with no hesitation and finding a piano in a practice room in the building next to my dorm, but I no longer have that resource. I am hoping the Ticos that I met today will help me out on that front.

Also, a quick survey – Should I save up some money and buy a guitar here, 1. so i can have a guitar to play when I want to and 2. so i can bring home a guitar and say i bought it in Costa Rica?

Thoughts?

Anyway, like I said, each week gets better. Our program is going on a field trip to Ostional this weekend, which is in Guanacaste, which is HOT. But, we are going to stay in an Inn together and go on night-hikes to watch the turtles lay their eggs! ‘Tis the season. We aren’t allowed to wear bright clothing or have white-light flashlights because it can distract the turtles – the moon is their guide and bright colors resemble the moon so it may throw them off. So, my backpack is all packed and ready to go. I am equipped with sunscreen, bug spray, itch spray, and snacks (meriendas). All I need to do is pack my toothbrush in the morning and I will be good to go. 🙂

I am excited to spend the weekend with the ENTIRE group, so I can have a few of my good friends to be my refuge. I will take as many pictures as I possibly can, although I can’t use flash so they’re gonna get pretty artsy. Just a warning. 🙂

Sorry for the long post, I’ve had a lot of time to think this week and this is the result!

I won’t have internet over the weekend so I will update yall on Monday since my class was cancelled! 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend, loved ones.

-Zeynep