So once up a time I'm studying abroad in Costa Rica. Now, I've been here for almost three weeks and I'm just now blogging. For that I apologize, but I guess I'll just have more to say. ^_^
So... in order to keep my scattered thoughts at least somewhat organized I've decided to make a list of firsts. Some will be exciting, others significantly less so. I'm going to try to put them in the order they transpired. Enjoy!
Costa Rica '09-'10
1) My first time skipping finals... Okay, so maybe I just took them early, but close enough. Right?
2) My first car accident. I'm still not really up for talking about it, but no fears everyone is fine.
3) My first airplane ride... that didn't end with me jumping out with a parachute. ^_^ It was actually three back to back flights. Between the second and the third I had time to work on my cardiovascular system. And by time to work-out, I mean we literally had to run from one flight to the next in order to make our flight. It was rather exhilarating.
4) My first time leaving North America... I was in an airplane, and I was probably watching the Orphan at the time. It's kind of a creepy movie, but I liked it never the less.
5) My first taxi ride... My host mother picked me up in a taxi... it would have been much more fun if a) I hadn't been insanely motion sick from the flight and b) Ticos weren't crazy drivers.
6) My first time staying with a host family... I love my Tica Mother. She's super nice, and even though she worries about me excessively, I always enjoy spending time with her.
6.5) My first time taking public transportation (consistently) For 90 cents a day I ride the public bus to and from school. Sometimes it gets pretty crowded and I get to stand. Other days I get to sprawl out and have a seat to myself.
7) My first time attending class in a foreign country. I have one class and two different professors here. They are both insanely nice. I'm learning quite a bit from them, but it's largely just a review of things that I should already know. ^_^ Oops.
7.5) My first party where I knew nobody... my second night in Costa Rica my mom was holding a going away party for her other exchange student. She had lots of people over. I hadn't even really gotten to talk to her yet. It was a bit overwhelming. I don't think I understood a word of what they were saying. Oh well.
8) My first time being hit on... consistently... Men in Costa Rica are a little interesting sometimes. They consistently shout comments out of car windows at "pretty women" and will honk at those they find interesting. They also tend to openly stare. I've received my fair share of compliments, but luckily the worst of it has fallen to some of the others.
8.5) My first time "really" experiencing illegal street vendors... They sell movies while they are still in theatres! It's so funny. When the police were coming, one on the end would whistle and they would all pack up quickly and scatter. Five minutes later they were in the same spots. It was hilarious.
9) My first foreign concert... The band was called malpais and they were amazing. They are a Costa Rican band, and are apparently they are the only famous band from Costa Rica. Everyone in the audience was singing along. It was fantastical. (--I love how prominent music is in this country. It's common to have people asking you if you dance. The other day I went to the supermarket just as it was opening. As I was walking down the aisles I kept encountering workers and they were all singing along with the radio. All of them. It made me happy.--)
9.5) My first sunset over the ocean--- Gorgeous. Jaco Beach on the Pacific ocean.
10) My first time staying in a hostel-- It was amazing. The people were super nice and I had some really good conversations with a wide variety of people.
10.5) My first holiday away from home-- I didn't really mind too much. Largely because it did not feel at all like a holiday. I still feel like it's June.
11) My first time hiking through a real rainforest-- Monkeys and Sloths and Toucans, Oh my!
12) My first time swimming in the ocean-- Tide is stronger than I thought. A lot of fun. I need to practice not accidentally inhaling water as I swim.
12.5) My first time napping in a hammock... in a public place. At the hostel. It was super cozy.
13) My first time having a stray dog nuzzle my leg... in a fancy-ish restaurant. There are stray dogs everywhere in this country. A nice restaurant in Manuel Antonio even had stray animals walking through. Nobody even seemed to notice.
14) My first time in an official Discotheque... The music was amazing. They had a live band. The disco itself wasn't very well off. Most of the people in attendance were older and the dance floor was almost a stage. Us newbies didn't want to give it a try.
15) My first time seeing a Volcano-- One day after it erupted!! Not lava... just ash.
16) My first sip of beer... My host mother gave me a sip of her beer. She wanted me to try it because it's Costa Rica's legacy. To be honest I didn't like it at all.
17) My first movie entirely in Spanish, without subtitles... Gestación. Es más o menos, pero me gusta porque puedo comprender que dice la gente.
17.5) My first time buying tickets from a scalper. Soccer tickets for only two bucks more.
18) My first professional soccer match. Amazing!! It was a national championship. ole ole ole ole brujas brujas!!
18.5) My first "real-life" discussion in Spanish-- Yay for conversation!
19) My first time learning to Salsa... don't ask me to recreate. I was literally taught a step.
20) My first time haggling-- I'm not very good
21) My first time repelling-- Yikes. Rope Burn.
21.5) My first time eating rotten berries-- I only ate 2. A friend of mine ate quite a few and they think the berries actually effected his mental state.
22) My first time visiting hot springs-- It was at night though... so I didn't get to see anything.
23) My first time trotting on a horse-- Bouncy bouncy bouncy. It was kinda fun.
24) My first time manually changing the time of my bus ticket-- The ticket man said it was fine!!
25) My first time experiencing life PURA VIDA. To me pura vida means living the life.
26) My first time writing a blog in a foreign country. Yay!!
There you have it! I hope you don't mind all of the spelling/grammatical errors. I've become a bit accustomed to thinking/writing/speaking in spanglish. It ruins the order of words and tones of sentences. I did my best to retain an utilize proper english. I'm sorry if I failed you. And by the way, I meant for the list to have scattered and crazy numbers... I just wanted to end on my favorite number(note sarcasm if desired).
I hope you are having a fantastic winter!!!
~Cola
P.S. You should be glad that I got sleep deprived or this blog would have been 4 times as long.
