Red and Black.

I had a wonderful time with my friend Anais’ Family over the long Easter weekend!  They were incredibly welcoming and fun loving people!  They also ‘rolled deep’ as we coined it… meaning they brought/bought so much alcohol, food, fruit, and even spices to cook with!  Anais’ mom is an aaammazzing cook!  I HIGHLY enjoyed all the more so American style home cooked meals that we had.  We were in a different area of Tamarindo than the last time that I was in Tamarindo so it did not feel repetitive either.  Regardless of the beautiful beach I really just enjoyed their company!  Of course I always have a “family style” surrounding with Vero and her family but as mentioned before the culture is a bit different and it was nice to feel like I was just at a friends house for the weekend.  It was also nice to get away from home and Vero (not in a mean way) because we are basically together 24/7… live together, work together, go to futbol games together, etc. and I can only imagine that she is just as sick of me.  In Tamarindo I also received some incredible news and was happy to have company (who would really understand) to share the news with.  I applied for a two-year full tuition scholarship back in February and I did not think I really had a chance because it is very competitive but I GOT IT!  I was so happy and Anais’ family were so happy for me and congratulated me which was great to have someone to celebrate with!

Rolling Deep... So much food (for three days)! ... I finally figured out how to make the pictures bigger!

           
 While we were in Tamarindo we went zip lining which I had already done once but couldn’t turn down a second chance to go.  This time was a bit different than the last and it was a smaller group so they let us do more “tricks” if you want to call it that haha

They let us go upside down!

The group! Anais’ brother Gabe, Anais’ father Doug, Me, Jessica Anais' friend, Anais, Anais’ cousin Marium.  Anais’ mother had hurt her foot the day before and was unable to go zip lining.

Anais’ friend, Jessica from High School came with her family for the week and she happens to go to Northeastern University too!  This is our “Northeastern” picture haha

I recently bought a nice SLR camera and I had played with it a bit in San Jose but had not really used it yet and Anais’ father Doug is really into cameras too so he showed me a few new tricks and helped me understand the camera more which was really helpful!  Doug, Marium and I went out one night right before sunset and too a ton of pictures of the beach and the view from the roof top deck and here are the results... 

Beach Sunset!

Views from the roof!

The Beach!

A crab in the coral.

Since I live in Pavas I am a “ligista” or I route for La Liga, a soccer team within the professional soccer league in Costa Rica.  La Liga had their play off game at their home stadium on Wednesday and Veronica, Natalia and I went to the game… boy was it a different experience than the other games I have gone to!  All of the other games that I went to were at the National Stadium rather than at La Liga’s home stadium.  So we were walking from the parking lot to the game and I noticed that I only saw La Liga things for sale (jerseys, flags, etc.) and I was just like weird maybe the other side of the stadium is the other teams gear.  Nope.  When we get to the stadium I only see red and back, which is La Liga’s colors.  There was one TINY section that was of the other team and the entire rest of the stadium was for La Liga so I asked Veronica where the other team was from and she said a town that is only about an hour away from the stadium … I couldn’t believe it!  The fans were also crazy! I almost felt bad for the other team because they were so intense!  La Liga ended up losing so we are out of the finals but it was still definitely and experience.

It is all red and black.

Fans climbing down from the fence after La Liga scored (I was not quick enough to get them while they were up)

Lazy days.  Other than going to dance class (two days a week) and Spanish lessons (one day a week) and obviously work, I have zero responsibilities and it is kind of nice!  On weekends that I do not do anything or go anywhere I am able to go on long runs, the gym and a long walk to the nicer grocery store and I must say it is nice but admittely I miss the hectic college life even classes and learning.  I have been on an NPR kick to get my daily knowledge hahaha  I am a little limited on what I can do on weekends because I do not have a car to go places but I always seem to find something to fill my time!

La Feria.  I finally remembered to take a picture of la feria.  This past Saturday was especially crowded!  I am going to miss weekly cheap and fresh fruit!  

The stands line the street.

My latest favorite fruit, Papaya!  I never realized the inside was a star before.

America.

Miami.  Not a fan of the city but I was America’s biggest fan for the weekend.  I went off the rice and bean diet for the weekend and indulged in some American food while enjoying English and a little bit of shopping and last but not least I DRANK SO MUCH--- milk!  Milk in Costa Rica just is not the same and I don’t exactly drink it very often or at all here so it was probably what I missed the most in terms of food/drinks. I also enjoyed a hearty salad a day at Panarea Bread (everyday) and I even found myself a Gluten Free Pizza in South Beach, Miami.  I was in American food heaven!   

Thank you papa Durante for working for American Airlines!  My friend Chelsea was able to fly in for a little over 24 hours before she had to get back to classes.  However, in the time that she was there she had a bit of a cultural experience… when she took the bus from the airport to North Miami, which passed through lovely “Little Havana” and if you are not familiar with “Little Havana” it is not the best part of town.  She at one point informed me that she was the only Caucasian on the bus and was excited to tell me that a “fellow white man” joined her on the bus but soon got off. Hahaha I had a good laugh at this after being the only “white girl” for the last 3 months.  Any how, I was incredibly grateful that she could come and it made me a little sad that I wasn’t home or in Boston with all of my friends but all the more sweet it will be come fall! 

I tired.  I really tired to make it 6 months with out depending upon Americans to hang out with or help me out here but at the end of the day you just get along better with the people in your own culture.  I hate to admit it but it is just the way it is.  However, I am proud that I gave it a shot and made it 3 months on my own and I did attempt to meet Ticos but it is a really difficult culture to infiltrate into.  The US is very unique compared to other cultures.  In the US there are colleges that are basically huge playgrounds for students from ages 18-23 where there are no supervisors or parents and complete freedom!  This also means that you have thousands of people to hang out with and make friends with on a daily basis.  Most of the time it is also people from all over the country and sometimes world.  It is not the same in Costa Rica.  Compared to Americans ticos have very few friends and mainly hang out with their childhood friends that grew up in their neighborhood and their family.  They are also not very interested in making new friends and are content with what they have… which made it extremely difficult to make friends here.  I also understand that it is my environment too because cities are always a bit harder to meet people.  With this understanding I decided that the next American that I ran into I would introduce myself and possibly try to reach out and make a friend.  So two Saturday’s ago when I was at the feria I heard a couple of girls speaking English so I took my 20 seconds of courage and introduced myself, and I am glad I did.  One of the girls has been in the peace corps in Costa Rica for 2 years and just renewed for another year!  The other girl, Anais (First generation Cuban-American) has lived here for a year and a half and works for a Micro lending company in San Jose.  I was surprised when Anais called me a few hours after exchanging numbers to hang out.  Since, Anais and I have gone to see the Hunger Games and lunch at TGI Fridays (yes we had to embrace our American-ness but it wasn’t even that good) and she even invited me to go with her family to Tamarindo this weekend!  I tell her that Karma is just building up for her kindness and she just accredits her kindness to “knowing what is like to be alone in Costa Rica” because that is what is was like for her when she first got here.  For me, it feels weird to have an American friend after fending for myself the last three months but I’m ready to be somewhat social again! haha

On the Walk to TGI Friday's.

Hard. Knock. Life. Two three day weeks, going to the beach, 80 degree weather… poor me. Haha This week from this past Monday to Sunday is La Semana Santa or The Holy Week in Costa Rica.  Most businesses close for the entire week and some only have Thursday and Friday off and of course my company is only off Thursday and Friday, which I will admit is better than nothing!  As mentioned above I am off to Tamarindo Thursday morning with Anais and her family and very much so looking forward to it!

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week… I will be sure to take extra this weekend in Tamarindo!