Day 10 - ¡Pura Vida!

Word of the week: trip -- el viaje
Percent complete: 5%

Park in Curridabat

I'm finally getting settled in to the lifestyle that will be mine for the next 181 days.  I've probably drank more coffee and eaten more fruit than I have in the last year combined, but it's all been great.  The food, especially.  We have all been getting to know our way around as well.  The buses have pretty much been figured out, and the more we explore around the San Pedro (where UCR is) and San Jose areas, the easier it is to know where we need to go.  I haven't made it to San Jose too much yet, but have been in San Pedro quite a bit.  Having the university there, we will walk around the area looking at different shops and restaurants in the afternoons while running errands.  I'm beginning to really like Curridabat as well.  Josh and I (another guy in the Grupo de Kansas who lives in Curridabat as well) played some basketball at the local park the other day with a few Ticos... It was nice to have a taste of home in a soccer-driven country (I'm absolutely horrible at soccer so I haven't ventured into a pick up game yet).  Speaking of sports, they broadcast all the major [American] football games here as well as the NBA and a few college basketball games, so I haven't had to watch absolutely everything via ESPN Gamecast.  The KU-ISU game had my host family worried about me though, ha.  I got to try to explain football do my host dad during the BCS National Championship too (horrible game).  It was much harder than I thought it would be, because I don't exactly have a football vocabulary (nor does the Spanish language), but it was definitely something I will look back on as one of the cooler moments of the trip, as I have always wanted to try to explain my favorite sport to someone who doesn't know anything about it, and the fact I had to in Spanish just makes it better.  Having these games televised also allowed me to watch my Packers get destroyed at Candlestick.  The Niners dang well better win the Super Bowl after that...

Part of the UCR campus

Downtown San Pedro

At the bus stop the first day

We started our intensive language class this week, which is Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm every day.  It's not too bad, but it's already taken a lot of work.  We have four tests and two 30 minute oral presentations over the course of the 4 weeks, so it will definitely keep me busy.

San Pedro is a nice area that has a pretty big mall that we use for almost everything we need. I got a local cell phone this week and it has been very useful already.

I've gotten 4 or 5 "Rock Chalk"s so far during the trip.  Jayhawk Nation is as worldwide as you think.

However, the class hasn't kept us busy enough to not go on a little vacation this weekend!  A group of 8 of us (6 from the Grupo de Kansas, one host sister and another student from Cal-Berkley who is in the same class as some of the Grupo students) went to Manuel Antonio, which had some of the prettiest/most awesome beaches I've ever been to.  They had some Corona-commercial-esque palm trees with monkeys jumping all over and a multitude of other forms of wildlife.  Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio had two beaches along with multiple trails and guided tours through the rain forest.  We decided not to do one since we didn't have a lot of time, and most of us wanted to beach bum the whole time.  We ended up staying at a hostile called Backpackers (I think they are worldwide) that actually wasn't too bad.  The night life was really fun as well, and it was easy to get around.  Anyway, just take a look at the pictures:

View from Backpackers

Backpackers had a patio that we hung out on at night with people from all over the world (Chile, Canada, other Americans, etc.).  And they had awesome banana nut pancakes each morning.

Playa Manuel Antonio

I wish I would have taken my good camera with me because the beach was incredible.  These pictures turned out okay though.  The water was extremely warm too, like a heated swimming pool.

Playa Manuel Antonio

Just more of the beach.  Behind me (from the picture vantage point) is a huge rock/cliff think with a bunch of trees and vines and wildlife covering it.  Looked like it was out of a movie, but I didn't get a good picture of it...

Monkeys hanging out everywhere!

These little guys were all over the place.  Not sure what species they are, but they love coconuts.  Pretty cool to see monkeys not in a zoo!












This is probably what we looked like on the beach all day.

National Park beach

We went to three different beaches, and the next two pictures are of the second one.  I didn't get a very good picture of the third one, though.  Number two and three were both in the National Park, and we had to walk a couple miles to get to them through a rain forest trail.  Pretty awesome just to be in that environment with exotic bird calls and wildlife everywhere.

National Park beach

There was also lots of action on this beach as far as animals too.  Saw lots of lizards and iguanas and some raccoons, too.  We were hoping to catch a glimpse of a sloth, but weren't as lucky.

The group at dinner the last night

Well, I think that about does it for this week.  If you look up my Facebook page, I have more pictures posted in an album for January.  I believe that we might be going to the Isla de Tortuga (or some other beach/tropical paradise) this weekend with the Grupo advisors and rest of the group, and I'll be sure to post something about that as well!  If not, it will be the weekend after.  Until next week, ¡pura vida!

**"Pura vida" is an everyday Tico saying, almost equivalent to "Have a great day", or any other greeting or farewell.  They use it all the time!  For example, if I go to a store and buy something, I might say "Pura vida" to the employee after I pay them.  It's a very popular phrase for tourism as well.