My bus ride was great. Not only was my seat magical, but they played three movies during the trip that were all good. Apocalypto, An Inconvenient Truth, and a Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson comedy called Employee of the Month. We even got served a steak casado on the bus. I took a nap during the hour of disco music they played on the bus, which was from a PBS special.
I had to run to the bank early this morning by AutoMercado, the grocery store by my house, to grab $100 out of the ATM in dollars. I then had to pay 5000 colones to catch a cab to the TransNica bus station. I checked in at 1130 and the bus left at 1200. We hit the Costa Rica side of the border around 500, where I changed 80 of my dollars for cordobas, the currency of Nicaragua (17.5 cordobas = $1). 1400 of 'em. Tons of guys heckled you as soon as you got off the bus to exchange your money but only a few of them were official with the badge. I did the math in my head several times to make sure I didn't get ripped off.
Back on the bus and another half hour to the Nicaraguan side of the border, where I had to wait in line briefly with my bag and get my passport his fancy stamp that shows I went somewhere. I even left my backpack on the bus because I had a couple of knives in it and didn't want to risk the random bag search, even if they were ok to have. Anyways I didn't get selected for a random search and they didn't go through my backpack when they swept the bus. We all had to stand outside of the bus for another twenty minutes or so before we were cleared to go. I bought a Powerade and was accompanied the rest of the way by a smelly Nicaraguan police officer who inconveniently chose to plop down next to me (even though my other seat was covered by my stuff and backpack and there were a dozen other spots to sit). One more hour and I was one of the only passengers to get off in Granada (most were heading on to Managua). I hopped in a rundown cab (twenty years old or so) and a block down the street we picked up the same cop who'd been sitting next to me.
The five minute ride to the hotel was interesting. Very, very poor area. Lots of open BBQs in yards, tons of people in the street, all of the cars were old, dirty, rundown, lots of street vendors, kids playing soccer in the dark on a concrete field, hookers, motorcycles flying past, etc.
Hotel Oasis is pretty cool. Internet here is free, there's a small pool inside, and international calls are free each day for the first ten minutes (one call only though). I'm in a bunk bed in the guys hostel room--there are hotels and hostels here. I think there are all ten of us in the room. Glad to see everybody again!
Lastly I should note I haven't shaven for a week, so I'm looking scruffy. If you're (un)lucky you'll get to see some pics soon.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Goin to Granada
So I had Sincuello (No Neck) book me a ticket on the bus up to Granada, Nicaragua for tomorrow. It leaves at noon and I should get there after dinner time. I need to load up on snacks and drinks probably. I decided to take the EXECUTIVE bus instead of the crappy, hot, no AC basic bus, because it is only $12.00 more and a heckuva lot nicer. It has AC, reclining seats, movies, music, and a little more room, which is worth it to me if I'm going to be sitting on it for seven hours. I'm going with the company called TransNica, which is owned by friends of my family.
http://www.transnica.com/
Check out their website. It's pretty funny.
Other than that I'm still itchy on my hands and feet constantly, which is annoying. No more swelling, fever, ulcers, joint pain, or sore throat though. I'm out of Allegra (Ahhhh...Allegra.....) but still have to take Nexium for the stupid chest pain/ulcer thing that is a side effect of my other drug--Prednisone. I talked to Emily this morning, and everybody went up to some waterhole of some sort to go swimming this morning. Sounds like everybody drank last night, which would explain me getting a drunk dial from Emily at 11:15 pm anoche. She ended up not going to the waterhole thing and stuck behind with Nicole, because Nicole just found out that one of her friends back home died from cancer yesterday. Tough news, but sweet of Emily to stay behind and console her.
So I'm in the midst of writing my essay entitled: "In which ways and to what extent has the migration of Nicaraguans into Costa Rica affected the economies of both countries?"
Basically Nicaragua has been nailed with natural disasters, dictatorships, trade embargos from the USA, and civil war the past 30 years. A 1972 earthquake in the capital city of Managua killed over 6,000 people and razed 90% of the buildings, making it the biggest seismic distaster in the western hemisphere north of South America. In 1975 they were finally able to overthrow a 45-year-long dictatorship under the Somoza family (three different guys). They family has assets worth over 400 million by the end of the regime. Not to mention the Sandinista rule that lasted until 1990 where the USA was actively hiring and training terrorists in the School of the Americas to terrorize Nicaraguans and their leaders in attempts to stop their socialist movement.
Today they still migrate to Costa Rica because Costa Rica has had a labor shortage. Their economy is growing so fast that they don't have enough workers to fill the new jobs opening up. So, like Mexicans in the US, Nicaraguans are taking over the "undesirable" jobs that Costa Ricans no longer want or need. These include domestic jobs, construction, agriculture, security, etc. Costa Ricans are moving up the scale and filling new jobs generated by tourism and manufactured goods, services, etc.
Since Nicaragua is so poor, the worst, cheapest, dirtiest jobs in Costa Rica are STILL more desirable than the conditions back home in Nicaragua. One recent development is the sudden rebound of El Salvador's economy, which is also beginning to see a labor shortage and a bigger demand for Nicaraguan labor. Thus many Nicas are choosing to go to El Salvador for employment instead of Costa Rica. This will inevitably result in a further labor shortage down the road for Costa Rica, and a slowing of their economy (or a greater influx of Colombians filling up the jobs vacated by Nicaraguans???).
Anyway, it's an interesting dicotomy between the press constantly blaming Nicaraguans for draining the social security system (though it is inherently flawed and only affected by Nicas about 2% a year), for increasing crime and violence, etc. However, businesses rely heavily on them for cheap, willing labor that they don't have to pay the government social security taxes on (16% to 23% of each laborers salary is matched by the employer to go towards the social security fund).
So really its the businesses screwing over the ss system!
http://www.transnica.com/
Check out their website. It's pretty funny.
Other than that I'm still itchy on my hands and feet constantly, which is annoying. No more swelling, fever, ulcers, joint pain, or sore throat though. I'm out of Allegra (Ahhhh...Allegra.....) but still have to take Nexium for the stupid chest pain/ulcer thing that is a side effect of my other drug--Prednisone. I talked to Emily this morning, and everybody went up to some waterhole of some sort to go swimming this morning. Sounds like everybody drank last night, which would explain me getting a drunk dial from Emily at 11:15 pm anoche. She ended up not going to the waterhole thing and stuck behind with Nicole, because Nicole just found out that one of her friends back home died from cancer yesterday. Tough news, but sweet of Emily to stay behind and console her.
So I'm in the midst of writing my essay entitled: "In which ways and to what extent has the migration of Nicaraguans into Costa Rica affected the economies of both countries?"
Basically Nicaragua has been nailed with natural disasters, dictatorships, trade embargos from the USA, and civil war the past 30 years. A 1972 earthquake in the capital city of Managua killed over 6,000 people and razed 90% of the buildings, making it the biggest seismic distaster in the western hemisphere north of South America. In 1975 they were finally able to overthrow a 45-year-long dictatorship under the Somoza family (three different guys). They family has assets worth over 400 million by the end of the regime. Not to mention the Sandinista rule that lasted until 1990 where the USA was actively hiring and training terrorists in the School of the Americas to terrorize Nicaraguans and their leaders in attempts to stop their socialist movement.
Today they still migrate to Costa Rica because Costa Rica has had a labor shortage. Their economy is growing so fast that they don't have enough workers to fill the new jobs opening up. So, like Mexicans in the US, Nicaraguans are taking over the "undesirable" jobs that Costa Ricans no longer want or need. These include domestic jobs, construction, agriculture, security, etc. Costa Ricans are moving up the scale and filling new jobs generated by tourism and manufactured goods, services, etc.
Since Nicaragua is so poor, the worst, cheapest, dirtiest jobs in Costa Rica are STILL more desirable than the conditions back home in Nicaragua. One recent development is the sudden rebound of El Salvador's economy, which is also beginning to see a labor shortage and a bigger demand for Nicaraguan labor. Thus many Nicas are choosing to go to El Salvador for employment instead of Costa Rica. This will inevitably result in a further labor shortage down the road for Costa Rica, and a slowing of their economy (or a greater influx of Colombians filling up the jobs vacated by Nicaraguans???).
Anyway, it's an interesting dicotomy between the press constantly blaming Nicaraguans for draining the social security system (though it is inherently flawed and only affected by Nicas about 2% a year), for increasing crime and violence, etc. However, businesses rely heavily on them for cheap, willing labor that they don't have to pay the government social security taxes on (16% to 23% of each laborers salary is matched by the employer to go towards the social security fund).
So really its the businesses screwing over the ss system!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Missing Out
So the rest of my group (with the exception of one, who went to Panama City) left early this morning for Nicaragua. It's a week long trip that brings us back home the following Sunday. Except I didn't go. I'm still not fit for travel.
I talked to Emily tonight, and she said it was officially a 12-hour trip. They left from Intercultura at 530 am and arrived around dinner time. It included a 2-hour delay at immigration, and an hour on a ferry to get to the island at the tail end of it. Doesn't sound like I've missed anything yet. They'll be staying on Ometepe Island until Wednesday, then heading south back towards Costa Rica to stay in Granada. Granada is a colonial town like Heredia, but is apparently much more beautiful with several old houses serving as classic colonial representations of the era.
Most likely, I'm going to try and make the journey and meet the group in Granada Wednesday. I'd hate to spend an entire week just lounging in Heredia, but it all depends on how well I feel. Today was close to normal, meaning I only had random red blotches on my shoulder, face, and leg, and had a swollen right foot until this afternoon. Whatever got me I don't know, but this is my theory, in order of liklihood.
I talked to Emily tonight, and she said it was officially a 12-hour trip. They left from Intercultura at 530 am and arrived around dinner time. It included a 2-hour delay at immigration, and an hour on a ferry to get to the island at the tail end of it. Doesn't sound like I've missed anything yet. They'll be staying on Ometepe Island until Wednesday, then heading south back towards Costa Rica to stay in Granada. Granada is a colonial town like Heredia, but is apparently much more beautiful with several old houses serving as classic colonial representations of the era.
Most likely, I'm going to try and make the journey and meet the group in Granada Wednesday. I'd hate to spend an entire week just lounging in Heredia, but it all depends on how well I feel. Today was close to normal, meaning I only had random red blotches on my shoulder, face, and leg, and had a swollen right foot until this afternoon. Whatever got me I don't know, but this is my theory, in order of liklihood.
- Imodium reaction with antibiotics
- Spider bite (or other type of bug bite)
- Straight reaction to Penicillin
- Catching something dirty from San Ramon
- Reaction from something contacting my skin
As you can tell, nobody has a clue what it was. I just know that I have to say that I'm allergic to Penicillin for the rest of my life, which will prove useful on countless medical forms, insurance forms, waivers, etc. for years down the road. Yeah.
On another note, the only exciting thing to happen on Saturday was that Emily moved in. She wasn't able to deal with her ever-hungry, bossy, annoying, greasy roommate that she was recently forced to share a bed with. I don't blame her. In fact, I told her from the beginning that it was going to be a problem. She spends a lot of time over at my place anyways. So she was here for a day and took of to Nicaragua. I did get babied a little bit on Saturday when I was stuck to the couch like a blob, watching tv and playing Gin Rummy. She made me soup and what not.
Off to bed. I'm going to try and work on my paper tomorrow so I can be set for Wednesday.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Week from Hell
MON 2/19
Went with the group to San José to meet with two different people to get more information for my immigration paper. I had like 3 cups of coffee during the morning, which led to an early afternoon crash. We also went to a University of Costa Rica library to look for research material (yes, in Spanish), and I ended up getting a couple books for about $6. Not bad.
The Ricky Martin concert was tonight, and it was so so. Nothing worth noting.
TUES 2/20
Met at the school early this morning to get quotes on immigration. We're going to hand out flyers early Thursday morning to bring awareness about racism and xenofobia. I got the only damn computer that didn't work, and literally sat in the lab for two hours straight without doing a damn thing. It was a waste of my time. I could've been doing ANYTHING else. Anyway I went out to lunch at this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place right across the street from Taco Bell and McDonald's with Emily and Megan. I had good enchiladas for the first time in a loooooooong time.
Worked on researching my paper with Jeff at my place for most of the afternoon, then went to Intercultura at 730 to watch a video in Spanish on Nicaraguan immigration consisting of personal stories of people. It focused more on how the little things affected them, such as having to move in with aunts and uncles where there was a lower comfort level, where they had to ask to eat food out of the fridge, watch the tv, etc. More detail-oriented things that you wouldn't really think to note.
I noticed I had a ton of bites on my arms. I also noticed that my knees were sore right before I went to bed. More about that later.
WED 2/21
I woke up at 3 am with a severely swollen right hand. I took pictures because I didn't know that the hell was going on. I then realized that my knees were swollen, which is why they hurt when I walked to my room right before I went to bed. I took some pictures, which I will post after my camera charges, and researched my symptoms on the internet until like 600 am. Back to bed, then woke up with both hands swollen.
Went with the group to San José to meet with two different people to get more information for my immigration paper. I had like 3 cups of coffee during the morning, which led to an early afternoon crash. We also went to a University of Costa Rica library to look for research material (yes, in Spanish), and I ended up getting a couple books for about $6. Not bad.
The Ricky Martin concert was tonight, and it was so so. Nothing worth noting.
TUES 2/20
Met at the school early this morning to get quotes on immigration. We're going to hand out flyers early Thursday morning to bring awareness about racism and xenofobia. I got the only damn computer that didn't work, and literally sat in the lab for two hours straight without doing a damn thing. It was a waste of my time. I could've been doing ANYTHING else. Anyway I went out to lunch at this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place right across the street from Taco Bell and McDonald's with Emily and Megan. I had good enchiladas for the first time in a loooooooong time.
Worked on researching my paper with Jeff at my place for most of the afternoon, then went to Intercultura at 730 to watch a video in Spanish on Nicaraguan immigration consisting of personal stories of people. It focused more on how the little things affected them, such as having to move in with aunts and uncles where there was a lower comfort level, where they had to ask to eat food out of the fridge, watch the tv, etc. More detail-oriented things that you wouldn't really think to note.
I noticed I had a ton of bites on my arms. I also noticed that my knees were sore right before I went to bed. More about that later.
WED 2/21
I woke up at 3 am with a severely swollen right hand. I took pictures because I didn't know that the hell was going on. I then realized that my knees were swollen, which is why they hurt when I walked to my room right before I went to bed. I took some pictures, which I will post after my camera charges, and researched my symptoms on the internet until like 600 am. Back to bed, then woke up with both hands swollen.
NORMAL LEFT HAND.
SWOLLEN RIGHT HAND.
After Rocio got back from church she took me the the clinic, and after a couple solid hours of waiting, the doctor saw me, and gave me an antihistimine (Allegra) so help with the swelling. I was hoping for more, either in the form of more medicine than Allegra, which I had bought for the trip but (obviously and inconviently) lost sometime in the last couple weeks. Or at least an explanation as to what had caused my issue. There were so many possibilities: Penicillin, reaction to food, reaction to something on my skin like laundry detergent, reaction to a bug bite, or contact with something in the ghetto neighborhood I had been in last Thursday. No way to know conclusively yet, or maybe ever.
I came back that afternoon feeling worse and had a blood and urine test. I get the results in the morning. By the evening I was super swollen, could barely walk or move, my hands were giant, and I couldn't close them for the life of me. Rolando enjoyed putting a two-liter bottle in my hand, because I could carry it around without even trying to hold on to it. I spend the evening on the couch in sweats, a sweatshirt, wool socks, and two blankets watching LOST, which was great. I LOVE THAT SHOW MORE THAN ALMOST ANYTHING!!!
THURS 2/22
Felt horrible today. My hands were still very swollen, as were my knees, feet, left eye, wrists, and shoulders. I had sores all over my body in places you would expect bed sores, which made it tough to sleep. I still had a fever, but not as bad. Mainly my feet and wrists and hands were bothering me. Very hard to walk. I couldn't make it the two blocks to the school to meet Rocio to go to my appointment, so I got a taxi. I went to the doctor to get my blood results in the morning, once again with Rocio, which were normal (por dicha= Thank God). All my vitals were normal too. We had a 1000 appt, but didn't get into the office until 1130 (Tico time forgives tardiness). He wanted me to see a rheumatologist.
"Rheumatology, a subspecialty of internal medicine, is devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. The term originates from the Greek rheuma, meaning "that which flows as a river or stream" and the suffix -ology, meaning "the study of". Rheumatologists mainly deal with problems involving the joints and the allied conditions of connective tissue."
He said my joint swelling was not typical for an allergic reaction. Right before I left I got a shot of Prednisone in my butt, which surprisingly hurt like Hell. Honestly the most painful shot I've ever had. I fell asleep in the taxi before I got home, fell asleep on the couch immediately after I walked inside, and woke up long enough to eat some papaya. Thankfully Emily got back from her day-long excursion and came over to take care of me. She made me soup and brought me Gatorade! I took a nap again around 1 pm, and headed out to CIMA, a private hospital in San José, for my final visit of the day.
Traffic was aweful, and it took an hour and a half to get there. Another hour and a half to see the doctor. A lot of stupid "polo" gringos there in their fifties. Polo means tacky, cheesy, etc. Not really a direct translation apparently, but that's the best I can do. This doctor spoke both English and Spanish, because he'd studied in Philadelphia. Anyway he narrowed my reaction down to two possibilities. First, a reaction to Penicillin, even though I have taken it before, and I'd been taking it for a week straight. However, since the swelling began as localized swelling in my right hand, and I had evidence of bites on Tuesday night, he also thought it could be a spider bite. I like the second story more.
The doctor gave me Prednisone in pill form, which I have to take for the next week. My swelling had gone down by the evening except for my hands, and I could walk again. Emily came over and we watched The Benchwarmers. It's a funny, stupid movie produced by Adam Sandler with David Spade, Rob Schneider, and the guy from Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder).
MY RING FINGER WAS THE FATTEST OF THEM ALL.
ME TRYING TO MAKE A FIST. DIDN'T WORK.
EYE AND NOSE ALL SWOLLEN.
FRI 2/23
Today I had another doctor's appointment this morning here in Heredia. Actually it was another blood test. It's 330 here right now, and I have to go back in an hour to get the results. I shot a video of their dog (cat) eating peanut butter. That's about it. I lost my frickin' Allegra medicine. Spend over an hour looking for it, so I'm pissed. I'm worse than I was this morning, which is annoying. I need my medicine!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Low-key Weekend
THURS, 2/15
Not much to report since Valentine's Day, but I do have a lot of great pictures from Thursday night. About ten of us met up at Bolevar to celebrate not having any school on Friday. It was a fun night, and I made sure to take our Rolando (Turd), the 18 year old from my family. These pictures pretty well represent the night.
Me and Max before his night went bad
Morgan C. with Max after his night went bad
Not much to report since Valentine's Day, but I do have a lot of great pictures from Thursday night. About ten of us met up at Bolevar to celebrate not having any school on Friday. It was a fun night, and I made sure to take our Rolando (Turd), the 18 year old from my family. These pictures pretty well represent the night.
Turd aka Rolanda with Emily
Me and Max before his night went badMorgan C. with Max after his night went badA few of the guys before a bunch of Jaeger bombs
FRI 2/16
I had a decent hangover most of today, and as a result, I didn't do much besides workout and do some reading for school. I was supposed to go to Playa Hermosa for the weekend with José Miguel to one of his friend's beach houses, but last minute the guy's mom decided to use it. Would have been a fun weekend, but I could use the time to catch up on my blog, research, and sleep.
SAT 2/17 *UNOFFICIAL 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!*
Watched a couple movies today, worked out, and basically copied my Friday minus the hangover. Emily and I went to dinner to celebrate our unofficial anniversary at Pane e Vino, another Italian restaurant with good wood oven pizzas. We got a liter of white, I had a huge calzone, and she got raviolini. Unfortunately, she got ragu sauce on it, which has meat. Being Americans familiar with the Ragu brand as a tomato sauce, we didn't know any better. Thankfully they took it back no problem. They probably would have spit in our food but Emily looks sort of Tica, so they cut her a break.
I say unofficial anniversary for a couple of reasons. Firstly, she picked the day--not me. I thought we were dating before the 17th--I dropped $100 on a Valentine's Day dinner. Emily explained to me that she just thought "why is this guy I'm not dating spending so much money on me?" But whatever. Call it one year officially with another five months unofficial give or take. Time flies when you're in love I guess, right?
SUN 2/18
Here I am on Sunday trying to get my research, reading, and blog updated. That summarizes my entire day. I know I have another early field trip tomorrow morning to meet another individual to discuss immigration. In the afternoon and evening we have the Ricky Martin Concert to go to as a group. I put it in pink because I'm slightly embarassed to be going, but we are leaving four hours early to beat traffic, get decent seats, and prefunk. Should be a hell of an experience.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK FURTHER DOWN FOR EDITS AND UPDATES. I AM ADDING POSTS AND PICTURES TO FILL IN THE GAPS OVER THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bajo Tejares (updated) and Valentine's Day
Yesterday my immgration group went on a field trip to a poor neighborhood just outside of San Ramón called Bajo Tejares, or something like that. It is made up almost exclusively of Nicaraguan immigrants, the vast majority of which are illegals. Our bus ride took almost three hours becuase of a fatal truck accident on the main road there. Actually, it was first a walk to Intercultura, a taxi ride to downtown San José, a bus to San Ramón, and then another taxi to the ghetto. As you would expect, my camera died on the third picture I took, so I'll have to get the pics from my buddy Jeff. It can't really be described appropriately without photographs. The roads were not paved, the houses had numerous shared powerlines, and most of the wild dogs there were so small and malnourished that they were closer to cats than dogs.
We cleaned rocks (no, no misprint) for a few hours which were then mixed with this boiled hay. The mixture was placed in camas (beds) that were the size of a foosball table with a rubber house draining two inches from the bottom. The result was a hydroponic bed for any of the five crops the community is going to grow and share. Most of the people we worked with were women, because the men were out trying to get jobs which is usually construction. Women have a much harder time finding employment, at least in the San Ramón area. We asked lots of questions about how long they'd been living there in the slum, and all had been there at least six years or more. A few were born Nicaraguans who were Costa Ricans via marriage, but the courts in Costa Rica were refusing to recognize their citizenship, said they didn't have the right paperwork, etc.
The most ridiculous story I heard was the 14 yearold daughter of a Costa Rican father and Nica mother who was born HERE in Costa Rica, AND had all of the proper documentation was not allowed to attend classes because the school did not want to recognize her because she "looked" Nicaraguan. She had been sitting in an empty classroom by herself at the school for over a week while the school "reevaluated" her documents. Amazing really.
Valentine's Day this year was awesome. I told Emily to come over after her field trip (which got over just after mine), and we settled on her coming over at 8:30. Our dinner reservation was at 9:30 at Antica Roma, an Italian restaurant. I figured it would be appropriate since we pretty much met and started dating in Rome during our first abroad trip.
So she showed up at 8:30 and I had my mom and José Miguel stall in her in the kitchen. I had Turd help me put some Mariachi songs on my Ipod as well as "Total Eclipse of the Heart"--but the version from Old School (much, much funnier if you know what I mean). Finally they let Emily in to the terrace where I was waiting with candles lit, music playing, a bottle of champagne, chocolates, and a game of Gin Rummy set up ( which has occupied no less than 2o hours of our trip so far). The plan was to finish up a game and then head to dinner, but we didn't quite finish.
Dinner was absolutely packed, even with a 930 reservation, and we didnt get seated until 1000. Dinner was great: I had chicken, she had three mushroom pasta, and we split a pitcher of Imperial. Got overbilled for something we didn't order, so when it was all said and done we left about 1115. Went back home, finished our card game, and I fell asleep. My 11 hour field trip left me with an empty tank I guess.
We cleaned rocks (no, no misprint) for a few hours which were then mixed with this boiled hay. The mixture was placed in camas (beds) that were the size of a foosball table with a rubber house draining two inches from the bottom. The result was a hydroponic bed for any of the five crops the community is going to grow and share. Most of the people we worked with were women, because the men were out trying to get jobs which is usually construction. Women have a much harder time finding employment, at least in the San Ramón area. We asked lots of questions about how long they'd been living there in the slum, and all had been there at least six years or more. A few were born Nicaraguans who were Costa Ricans via marriage, but the courts in Costa Rica were refusing to recognize their citizenship, said they didn't have the right paperwork, etc.
The most ridiculous story I heard was the 14 yearold daughter of a Costa Rican father and Nica mother who was born HERE in Costa Rica, AND had all of the proper documentation was not allowed to attend classes because the school did not want to recognize her because she "looked" Nicaraguan. She had been sitting in an empty classroom by herself at the school for over a week while the school "reevaluated" her documents. Amazing really.
Valentine's Day this year was awesome. I told Emily to come over after her field trip (which got over just after mine), and we settled on her coming over at 8:30. Our dinner reservation was at 9:30 at Antica Roma, an Italian restaurant. I figured it would be appropriate since we pretty much met and started dating in Rome during our first abroad trip.
So she showed up at 8:30 and I had my mom and José Miguel stall in her in the kitchen. I had Turd help me put some Mariachi songs on my Ipod as well as "Total Eclipse of the Heart"--but the version from Old School (much, much funnier if you know what I mean). Finally they let Emily in to the terrace where I was waiting with candles lit, music playing, a bottle of champagne, chocolates, and a game of Gin Rummy set up ( which has occupied no less than 2o hours of our trip so far). The plan was to finish up a game and then head to dinner, but we didn't quite finish.
Dinner was absolutely packed, even with a 930 reservation, and we didnt get seated until 1000. Dinner was great: I had chicken, she had three mushroom pasta, and we split a pitcher of Imperial. Got overbilled for something we didn't order, so when it was all said and done we left about 1115. Went back home, finished our card game, and I fell asleep. My 11 hour field trip left me with an empty tank I guess.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Super-recap
Ok. I´m going to try and get through the past several days in one session. I can´t stand being behind any longer.
MONDAY 1.29
First day of new classes. We are all crammed into the tiny dance room with fold out chairs in a oval. Pretty bad set up for a class, but you have to make due with what you have. Anyway, our new primary instructor is named Helen. She's British, slender, very polite, and a little boring. Our classes now start at 800 am instead of 830, but we get out at 1100 am now. It definitely cuts down on the options for going out at night, but gives you a huge chunk of your day to do whatever you want.
Our group of 25 is divided up into four separate groups: environmentalism, women's rights, indigenous groups, and immigration. I'm the last one, along with Jeff, Nicole, Laura, Megan, and Chelsy. Our group doesn't have any of the annoying strong personality types that like to get into arguments with the professors and anybody else, which is great. I know that there are some headaches already from other groups dealing with some "special" personalities of certain group members. I went to the gym to get a long workout in.
I ended up seeing Children of Men with Morgan C. at the Paseo de Flores, the brand-new mall build by current president Óscar Arias (out of his own pockets) located at the south end of town. Not only does it have a movie theatre, but also several nice restaurants, a bar, Taco Bell, Quiznos (I am going to go big there very soon), Subway, McD's, Pizza Hut, etc... Lots of nice stores too, but several are slightly more expensive than American prices. You should check out that movie. Second best non-comedy I've seen (besides Apocalipto) in over a year. Arian--I know you're in Taiwan right now, but you have to see it if you already haven't. Joe--I'm pretty sure you've already seen it since you go to more movies than anybody I know. Good movie on all accounts.
MONDAY 1.29
First day of new classes. We are all crammed into the tiny dance room with fold out chairs in a oval. Pretty bad set up for a class, but you have to make due with what you have. Anyway, our new primary instructor is named Helen. She's British, slender, very polite, and a little boring. Our classes now start at 800 am instead of 830, but we get out at 1100 am now. It definitely cuts down on the options for going out at night, but gives you a huge chunk of your day to do whatever you want.
Our group of 25 is divided up into four separate groups: environmentalism, women's rights, indigenous groups, and immigration. I'm the last one, along with Jeff, Nicole, Laura, Megan, and Chelsy. Our group doesn't have any of the annoying strong personality types that like to get into arguments with the professors and anybody else, which is great. I know that there are some headaches already from other groups dealing with some "special" personalities of certain group members. I went to the gym to get a long workout in.
I ended up seeing Children of Men with Morgan C. at the Paseo de Flores, the brand-new mall build by current president Óscar Arias (out of his own pockets) located at the south end of town. Not only does it have a movie theatre, but also several nice restaurants, a bar, Taco Bell, Quiznos (I am going to go big there very soon), Subway, McD's, Pizza Hut, etc... Lots of nice stores too, but several are slightly more expensive than American prices. You should check out that movie. Second best non-comedy I've seen (besides Apocalipto) in over a year. Arian--I know you're in Taiwan right now, but you have to see it if you already haven't. Joe--I'm pretty sure you've already seen it since you go to more movies than anybody I know. Good movie on all accounts.
I also bought some protein today at a workout store. It tastes like shit and was way overpriced, but I need it, so it'll have to do.
TUESDAY 1.30
First time I've really been sick the whole trip. Stomach bug of some sorts. I might have gotten it from drinking the water in Sámara the last day (avoided it the rest of the week), but you never know. About half of us have gone down at some point so far. Anyways, tomorrow night is Todd's birthday, so I need to save up until then. Can't miss it. School sucked today, I didn't really pay attention because I felt to bad, and went home to nap. Worked out when I woke up, but had a pretty chill night. Stomach is killing me.
WEDNESDAY 1.31
We met our individual teachers for the first time (Helen is the overall instructor and the indiv. for the environmentalism group). They're all Ticos (expect Helen of course). Mine is named Joaquin. He's got long hair, bats for the other team, and is very smart. He recently taught at a university in Denver (not sure which one yet), and speaks excellent English. We had our meeting in Spanglish for the most part and got our hefty course packs (lots of photocopied articles binded together into a book) regarding immigration. Feel a little bit better. Hit up the gym again with Emily and Turd (my new name for Rolando, the youngest) and followed it up with two hours of UNO. I love that game. Anyways, Emily came up with Turd, because he is like that annoying little brother that I never had that is a smartass and always bugging me. I think we're cut from the same cloth.
TUESDAY 1.30
First time I've really been sick the whole trip. Stomach bug of some sorts. I might have gotten it from drinking the water in Sámara the last day (avoided it the rest of the week), but you never know. About half of us have gone down at some point so far. Anyways, tomorrow night is Todd's birthday, so I need to save up until then. Can't miss it. School sucked today, I didn't really pay attention because I felt to bad, and went home to nap. Worked out when I woke up, but had a pretty chill night. Stomach is killing me.
WEDNESDAY 1.31
We met our individual teachers for the first time (Helen is the overall instructor and the indiv. for the environmentalism group). They're all Ticos (expect Helen of course). Mine is named Joaquin. He's got long hair, bats for the other team, and is very smart. He recently taught at a university in Denver (not sure which one yet), and speaks excellent English. We had our meeting in Spanglish for the most part and got our hefty course packs (lots of photocopied articles binded together into a book) regarding immigration. Feel a little bit better. Hit up the gym again with Emily and Turd (my new name for Rolando, the youngest) and followed it up with two hours of UNO. I love that game. Anyways, Emily came up with Turd, because he is like that annoying little brother that I never had that is a smartass and always bugging me. I think we're cut from the same cloth.
THURSDAY 2.1
Can't recall what we did in school today, but I know we met in small groups again with Joaquin. I think we decided which articles each of us was going to read and do a brief summary for the rest of the group. Boring stuff all around.
FRIDAY 2.2
Got up very early to visit Poáz Volcano, which was very beautiful. I got a bunch of pictures of the sulfer lagoon and the actually crater itself, which is the second largest in the world. More than half mile across. The lagoon was another twenty minutes or so, but it was well worth it. It was probably one of the few hottest days we've had in Costa Rica.
Poáz from up above
Poáz with a view in the distance
Lagoon picDidn't end up going out tonight because I want to save up for tomorrow night (Club Utopía) and the Superbowl Sunday Party at my place.
SATURDAY 2.3
Hung. Over. Don't think I ended up doing anything today expect for play UNO and workout. Getting ready for the Superbowl Party at my house this Sunday. My money's on the Colts. Payton Manning destroys Rex Grossman in every single noteworthy category as a QB, they finally fixed the holes in their run defense, and they are gonna have the two best receivers on the field come Sunday. Double digit win guaranteed. GO COLTS!
Went out tonight to a club called Utopia with José Miguel as our host. We got a private bus for $5 a person and stayed out till around 3:00 am. I had to be the one to collect money from everybody while everyone else is prefunking, which was really stressful and annoying. Nobody seemed to have correct change, but miraculously everyone paid.
I didn't really get any good pictures showing the layout of the club, but I found three that were either funny or worth noting.
Todd with Katie struttin their stuff.
I somehow convinced Max to go in the girl's baño. Haha.
Nicole and Morgan C. Not the best picture in hindsight.
SUNDAY 2.4 AKA SUPERBOWL SUNDAY
Colts won 29-17, just like I expected and hoped. Play of the Game goes to Devon Hester, who returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a TD only 16 seconds into the game. He should get Rookie of the Year in my opinion. He set the NFL record for most kickoffs returned for a TD in a season as well.
I didn't really take any pics, but the basic setup was a potluck. We had the BBQ going, and very few people opted to drink heavily due to the long night at Utopía. We also did one of those point grids (randomly drawn numbers 0-9 on each side) complete with the full 100 squares at 500 colones each. Payout was 10,000 first quarter, second quarter, and third quarter, and final score correct paid 20,000. Most of you should know what I'm referring to. If not:
Betting SquaresOf course, betting squares are essential for keeping your female guests a part of the day. Here's a quick breakdown on how to make betting squares:
Make a 10-by-10 grid. One team on the top, the other is on the side. Sell each of the squares on the grid. Numbers from 0 - 9 are assigned to each square (draw them out of a hat for the order of each row). Now each team has its own number. At the end of the quarter, if the score matches the numbers you have you win.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Sámara Recap
So I know that I´m waaaaaaaay behind, but the last two internet cafes I went to didn´t allow me to access my blog website for editing (which has happened a few times now). A brief recap of Samara first:
WED-SAT
I went surfing twice more. The waves on Saturday were awesome--absolutely huge. I actually took my biggest spills working my way back out from the shore, instead of while I was riding them in. Class ended with a barbeque and a graduation ceremony on Thursday night. Each of us had to take the mic and say a little bit in Spanish thanking our teachers or whatever. The best ones were, "Gracias" and "Pura vida." I guess some people didn´t want to talk very much.
Those of us with hotels had to leave on Friday, so myself and another guy we lucky enough to crash at a cabina/house where 8 of our girls were staying at through the weekend. Yeah 8. And one bathroom. It worked out because the only time I was there I was sleeping. I spent as much time on the beach as possible. I also got a couple leather bracelets for three bucks each from one of the street vendors, and made sure I went to the fruit store/ice cream shop where José worked. I had to see his bird Frederico perform his antics. Still waiting to get Emily´s video of him spinning in circles from a piece of string while customers are dodging him. It looked like one of those electric airplanes that´s attached to a string that´s stuck to the ceiling with a thumb tack going around and around and around...only it was a bird entertaining himself.
SUN
Bought a bus ticket last evening for $6, and caught it at 8:00 am, and it left at 8:20 (ten minutes early). The ten year-old son of the bus driver was the guy loading and sorting the luggage, and I sort of felt bad for him. He had to spend all his time on a hot, bumpy, uncomfortable bus. Anyways I quickly noticed that some people got to ride the bus for free. The catch is they had to stand in the aisle, in some cases for more than three hours in a row. There were probably close to ten people in the aisle for the majority of the trip, and I´m not kidding when I say it was HOT. By the end of the trip my shirt was stuck to my back. I spent the rest of my afternoon playing Gin Rummy with Emily, and I watched both Click and Jackass 2. Jackass 2 was amazing, and I recommend it to pretty much everybody.
WED-SAT
I went surfing twice more. The waves on Saturday were awesome--absolutely huge. I actually took my biggest spills working my way back out from the shore, instead of while I was riding them in. Class ended with a barbeque and a graduation ceremony on Thursday night. Each of us had to take the mic and say a little bit in Spanish thanking our teachers or whatever. The best ones were, "Gracias" and "Pura vida." I guess some people didn´t want to talk very much.
Those of us with hotels had to leave on Friday, so myself and another guy we lucky enough to crash at a cabina/house where 8 of our girls were staying at through the weekend. Yeah 8. And one bathroom. It worked out because the only time I was there I was sleeping. I spent as much time on the beach as possible. I also got a couple leather bracelets for three bucks each from one of the street vendors, and made sure I went to the fruit store/ice cream shop where José worked. I had to see his bird Frederico perform his antics. Still waiting to get Emily´s video of him spinning in circles from a piece of string while customers are dodging him. It looked like one of those electric airplanes that´s attached to a string that´s stuck to the ceiling with a thumb tack going around and around and around...only it was a bird entertaining himself.
SUN
Bought a bus ticket last evening for $6, and caught it at 8:00 am, and it left at 8:20 (ten minutes early). The ten year-old son of the bus driver was the guy loading and sorting the luggage, and I sort of felt bad for him. He had to spend all his time on a hot, bumpy, uncomfortable bus. Anyways I quickly noticed that some people got to ride the bus for free. The catch is they had to stand in the aisle, in some cases for more than three hours in a row. There were probably close to ten people in the aisle for the majority of the trip, and I´m not kidding when I say it was HOT. By the end of the trip my shirt was stuck to my back. I spent the rest of my afternoon playing Gin Rummy with Emily, and I watched both Click and Jackass 2. Jackass 2 was amazing, and I recommend it to pretty much everybody.
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