Costa Rica Day 26

I have officially completed my 4 weeks of studying in Costa Rica!! My final grade was a 86… so close to an A, but I’m completely happy with a B. I can’t believe how quickly this month has gone by. At times it felt like I would never return home, but as I’m sitting here tonight… it’s almost bitter sweet leaving this beautiful place. Not to confuse this with my complete excitement for returning home… but I’ve just met so many wonderful people here and formed some great relationships… it’s hard to say goodbye. 4 weeks is exactly long enough to get comfortable with people, form relationships, and then say goodbye.

After my test today, we had graduation. I got a pretty little certificate that will definitely be going on the fridge at home. When we were finally dismissed from school, I went to lunch with a group from West Georgia. We sat there for almost two hours and talked about our whole adventure here in Costa Rica. We can look back and laugh at everything now and it’s a great feeling to see how far I’ve come. There were definitely moments when I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it… times when I doubted myself. But perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned from this entire experience is to never doubt yourself. Believe. If you don’t believe in yourself, then it’s hard to accomplish much of anything. That is a life lesson that I will truly hold dear to my heart after this journey. I know that I can do so much more than I ever thought. Not that I have other plans to live in a different country… but I know that I could make it. With the love and support from friends and family, and believing in myself… anything is possible!

When I returned to the house after lunch… I talked with my mamatica for a few minutes and then laid down to read some more of my book. I read a good 20 pages or so, and then fell asleep to the sound of another afternoon shower in Heredia, Costa Rica. I’m still not a fan of afternoon naps… I’m wide awake right now.. but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open during the storm today.

I ate dinner with my family tonight. I had a delicious plate of spaghetti. My mamatica also surprised me with a gift and baked me a cake. She made me a lemon pound cake, since I love lemonade so much… I guess she made the connection with “lemon”… haha… She is completely precious. I skyped with my parents for a while after dinner. I can see the excitement and relief on my mom’s face when I talk to her now. I know that she is more excited than I am that this month is almost over.. I know it took a lot for them to agree to this, so again.. I just want to say thanks to my parents! This has meant more to me that you will ever know.. and it’s all because you believe in me and are committed to making my dreams come true.

So now, here I am… sitting in my room and a million things are running through my head. My last complete day spent in Heredia. A place that I have grown to love. A place that is marked as my first big life journey and a place/journey/adventure/month that I’ll never ever forget.

I checked my facebook messages and received one of the nicest letters anyone has ever written me. I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m sharing this with you all… but it completely touched my heart… so here it is:

“Hello sir, So I just finished reading your blog. Thank you for making me hysterical. Since I haven't been able to see your pretty face via Skype recently...I haven't been able to tell you this, so I'm writing you this note (which is probably better considering you hate crying). But I just wanted you to know that I am SO incredibly proud of you for going to Costa Rica and doing SO WELL over there. I admire you so much...I know I never would have made it. My ass would've been on a plane back to GA after one week. I hope you know what an inspiration you are to me. I love how fearless you are. In every aspect of your life...you always take risks and jump into things head first, never looking back. I wish I could be more like that...not so scared of everything. My life has NOT been the same since you left. Not being able to text you at the drop of a hat, when I have a random thought, or when something ridiculous happens that we need to discuss...it has literally been awful for me. It's really proven to me just how important your friendship is to me. Having you in my life means so much to me and I just wanted you to know that. Again...I am SO proud of you...now get your ass HOME! I love you to the moon & back!”     -Lauren

I had a feeling that this would happen… but I wasn’t prepared to shed tears until Sunday at the airport. But thank you so much Lauren for that amazing letter! You are an amazing woman and I am so blessed to have you in my life!

Tomorrow, I’m headed to spend one more day at the beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.  We are making a one day trip, so apparently leaving at 6 in the morning is a necessity. Weirdly enough, if it’s for the beach… I don’t really mind! I will, however, splurge on a bottle of sunscreen tomorrow… I don’t want to be FRIED when I get all those hugs at the airport in only TWO short-short days!!! J

♥ Fearless ♥

“Fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, being fearless is living life despite all of those things.” –T. Swift

Costa Rica Day 25

Today was my last real day of class here in Costa Rica! Man how time flies when you’re having fun! Ok, well it hasn’t been all fun all the time… but this has definitely been a adventure that I will never forget. 28 days… 4 weeks of class… 4 tests… 4 oral communication exams… and 4 weekend excursions = 1 month in Costa Rica. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world [except maybe a real diet coke right now]. But on a serious note, I will be forever thankful that I got to have this experience of a lifetime. I never would of thought I would of made it this far…but with only 3 days left… I think it’s safe to say that I successfully lived in another country.

Today, has been yet again, another typical day in Heredia. Everything now is simply a routine. But I guess maybe the most important thing to report from this morning is that my leg is looking much better. The [whatever it is] has decreased in size and some of the redness has also gone away. It doesn’t hurt as much as it has, so maybe that’s a good sign! I’m still using whatever cream my Mamatica gave me… so hopefully it will heal up soon! There is a part of me that still wants to know what I was bitten by, but then again.. maybe some things are better left unknown. That’s my only news update from this morning… breakfast was the same and then I headed to school for my last real day of class.

Except when I got to class, my teacher “had a long night last night”, so he brought in a movie for us to watch! And then we finished off the day with a little Spanish Scrabble. I’m not a fan of this game in my own language, so I sure didn’t like it when I had to spell out Spanish words… but it was better than writing paragraphs and answering questions… so I was just fine with wasting the whole class day!

After class, two other students and I went back to San Jose to visit the straw market for souvenirs. We decided that it would be much much cheaper to take the bus instead of a taxi. So here I was, on my last week in Costa Rica, and finally about to get my first public transportation experience. Not a fan. We thankfully got a seat on the bus, but I’m not sure if that was suppose to a plus or not. The bus was crowded which meant people standing and breathing over me. Gross. Not to mention it was a good 1,000 degrees on the bus and it was sprinkling [barely] raining so that meant we had to shut the windows. Not to be American and complain… but can I get some AC?! PLEASE!

We arrived in San Jose and headed straight towards the market… 10 blocks. It seems like I spend the majority of my day walking.. and then walking some more. And when I think I’m done… I walk some more. I didn’t want to jinx it so I haven’t said anything until now, but my shorts are definitely fitting looser. Maybe I can bring this new trend of walking everywhere back to the States… or maybe I’ll just hop in the Runner and she can take me where I need to go! Anyways, we arrived at the straw market and I purchased all of my souvenirs today! I want to so badly post everything I got and the prices, but that would give away some of the gifts… so I will save that for a later post. A post for when I’m sitting on my bed at home. We had a great time shopping around and then we grabbed some lunch. Yum yum KFC. I’ve never had a chicken sandwich taste so delicious. We then shopped around town for a little while longer before heading back towards the bus stop to board that dreaded bus ride back to Heredia.

When I returned to Heredia, I made the walk to the house and ate dinner with my family. Rice, beans, and chicken soup for dinner… definitely not anything I would have picked off a menu but tomorrow night will be my last meal with them so I took it like a champ. Tonight, will be spent reviewing some notes for my final test in the morning. After my test, I have graduation at 10:30! Yay for me! I would love to call it a day after that, but I’ sure I’ll have to go back to the classroom and sit around for the remaining class time. Yuck.

That’s about all I have from Heredia tonight. Another routine day but most importantly, another day closer to coming back home. A big big big thank you to my wonderful and supportive parents and grandmother. I would not be the person I am today without all of your love and support. I’m not sure what I did to deserve ya’ll, but I’m so thankful that I have you! Also, to all my other friends and family back home: Thank you so much to everyone who joined in on this adventure with me! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading everything as much as I have enjoyed writing. I’m sad to see my journey come to an end, but more than excited to be surrounded by all of you again when I come home!        

I dedicate this to all of you that have supported me on this journey. I could never thank you enough for your continuous thoughts, love, support, and prayers. I love ya’ll J

Costa Rica Day 24

I’m in the middle of my 4^th week and it’s starting to feel like I’ve been here forever. Nothing seems strange to me anymore.. and that’s how I know that it’s time to come home! So today, I’m proud to announce that the countdown is at 4 days J

Breakfast was the same this morning. However, I haven’t been getting mango lately but this morning, it was a delicious surprise. I even got ready with some spare time today, so I blow dryed my hair and put on a cute shirt, instead of my normal t-shirt and run out the door look. Not that my cute-ness lasted long… by the time I got to school I was already sweating, so up went my hair in a pony tail. Typical Heredia morning.

School today went well. Nothing out of the ordinary. We went over our homework.. went over a few more things for the test on Friday, and then spent the majority of the day creating a advertisement poster. Right up my alley. Finally, something I’m good at and have definitely done previous projects like this for class. Except, this was in Spanish… minor speed bump. We presented our posters to the class and then hung them on the wall. We then talked for the rest of class and taught our teacher some more English words. We also tried to convince him to go out with us on Friday night… I’m not sure if he was actually thinking about it or only pretending.. but we’ll see!

After class today, we had our last group excursion! Sadness. I love my group and taking adventures with them. Although the bus is still raggedy and cramped and hot and sometimes musty.. this is where most of our bonding has taken place… the many hours spent on that bus together and all the memories we created is something that I will never forget. So today, for one last time together, we loaded the raggedy bus and headed out of town about an hour for La Paz Waterfall. What another beautiful site to see! Incredible views and trail that took us right to the very bottom of the waterfall. The park also had different animals that we were able to see: Humming birds, parrots, monkeys, snakes, frogs, butterflies, a trout lake, baby tiger, and jaguars. I however, skipped out on the snake tour… just something that I really had no care to see. I also skipped out on the frog tour very quickly when I looked around and came eye to eye with an extremely ugly green frog. Not my favorite thing either. But I’m sure you can all guess by now which part of the animal tour was my favorite… of course the monkeys! J

We also got to eat lunch at La Paz today. Along with the restaurant is a resort and spa.. so we were hoping that everything would be nice. And nice, is exactly what we got. The lunch buffet was amazing!! The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I got to have lunch in one of the most beautiful settings ever. On the lunch buffet, American food!! Pizza, hot dogs [with sauerkraut], French fries, ranch dressing, BBQ chicken… oh my! It was absolutely delicious and made the whole hour drive completely worthwhile!

After our tour of the La Paz gardens, we loaded the raggedy bus and headed back towards Heredia.

My leg is looking a little better today. Some of the redness has gone down and my mamatica said it looked smaller today than it did yesterday. I’m still putting the cream she gave me and taking benodryl at night. I’m thinking about just sucking it up and going to the pharmacy after class tomorrow. Although a part of me would much rather wait to get back to the States with a English speaking doctor, I also would feel a lot better knowing that its nothing serious. So I shall report tomorrow on the findings on this thing on my leg!

Since this post is fairly short, I want to share something with you that has gained a great meaning to me while being here in Costa Rica. I used the phrase “pura vida” in a recent post and I want to share with you all the literal meaning and deeper meaning behind the catchy, most popular phrase in Costa Rica.

The most commonly used phrase in Costa Rica is Pura Vida.  Everything in Costa Rica is Pura Vida!  The simple translation is Pure Life but the saying has a deeper meaning to people of Costa Rica, and the travelers who fall in love with this beautiful country. The bank tellers, the restaurant servers, street vendors, and families will all greet you with this saying, as well as to say good-bye. In my short stay, a month that has flown by, I can’t seem to hear or say this statement enough. Used most commonly by Costa Ricans, the phrase has obtained other meanings throughout the years. Most people use the phrase as an expression of a leisurely lifestyle, of disregard for time, and truly living life. Pura Vida [Pure Life] - how simple and wonderful of a statement to live by.

I’m not sure if anything else needs to be said after that. Another day marked off the calendar. I’m off to read for the rest of the night, or atleast until this benodryl kicks in! Thank you so much for all the continued love and support. We’ve made it this far, so don’t give up on me now! Only a short 4 days remain! J

Costa Rica – Pura Vida!

Costa Rica Day 23

I’m caught back up with today’s post. However, there is nothing special or exciting to report on for today. Another typical day in Heredia. However, it’s another day marked off the calendar so in a sense, every day here is a special day.

I assume that the battery in my alarm clock is starting to go bad... this morning… I slept late because I didn’t hear it when it went off… It was only a few minutes late this morning so I guess it wasn’t a big deal. I changed the battery this morning though so maybe I’ll have better luck in the morning. So needless to say, I had another hurried morning of a quick shower and the least amount of time getting ready as possible. I headed downstairs for another delicious breakfast. I wrapped part of my sandwich up to take to class, so I ate the rest of it during the first break today.

Class today was super fun. I love my new class and the people in it. I like how this week, class isn’t so structured. Lesson for lesson by the book… yuck! I like things to be steady, but I am not one for structure. I like doing my own thing… doing things differently from day to day… I guess that’s one of the reasons that Public Relations/Marketing appealed to me as a major… Everyday would be spent doing something different… never the same old, same old routine. It took a long time for me to realize… but there is already a plan for my life. So no matter how hard I try to make my life follow a neatly constructed path, life is going to always intervene.

After class, I sat around and talked with the North Carolina friends for a while, and then headed to lunch with some friends from UWG. Some more “delicious” chicken and rice for lunch. And then, I headed towards the house. Today, was not a pretty day in Heredia. It started raining about 10am this morning and never really stopped. We had some bad thunderstorms this afternoon and I even lost internet signal for a long time. I didn’t mind though, I spent the majority of the afternoon reading my new book and taking a much needed nap J I have never been one for naps, even when I was a kid… nap time was boring to me.. naps typically make me more tired throughout the day, so I just prefer to not take them. But today, the thunder storms got the best of me and I fell asleep to the sound of rain. Which generally always does the trick for me.

At dinner tonight, my mamatica asked me if I missed home and I almost got teary eyed. She then cheered me right up and told me that she didn’t want me to leave and that she loved having me here. She even asked me to stay longer, but I quickly told her that I have class back at home starting Monday morning. Which definitely put a smile on my face. I’m so lucky and thankful to have gotten an amazing host family. This month would not have been as easy without a loving and welcoming family. I’m going to miss this place and the wonderful people I’ve met here.

And now for a medical update. I guess I didn’t really expect to live in Costa Rica for a month and not contact some sort of sickness. 4 of our students from UWG have gotten an extremely contagious virus. They have all been to doctor here and received medication. I luckily haven’t contacted that yet, knock on wood, however I have been blessed with something else. After the beach on Saturday, I noticed that I had quite a few bug bites. Nothing out of the ordinary though… I was hiking a rainforest and even the strongest bug spray doesn’t repel all of them… so I didn’t really think much about it. So yesterday morning, when I woke up and my leg was hurting I starting checking for the source of the pain. The “bug bite” that I had gotten had gotten bigger overnight and now, didn’t look like a bug bite at all. It went from being a small spot on my leg to about the size of a quarter. It doesn’t itch like a bug bite, but instead, it hurts and has the surrounding part of my leg hurting as well. I put some benodryl cream on it and went about my day… but of course I checked it throughout the day yesterday and it never got better. It even hurt when I laid down last night. So this morning, when I got to school, I asked a lady that works there what she thought about it. She told me that she didn’t think I should see a doctor just yet… but she did give me another cream to put on it.

So before dinner, I looked up a few words in Spanish, and showed my mamatica to see what she thought. Her initial reaction scared me even more… but then as she looked at it closer, she didn’t seem to think that it was a big deal. She did tell me, however, that if it wasn’t better in the morning then I should go to the pharmacy and they should be able to give me something to clear it up instead of seeing a doctor. I asked her if I needed to be worried about it, and she told me that she didn’t think so. But because I obviously got bit at the beach by something, it would be better to have it checked if it doesn’t decrease in size tonight. Yikes! Seriously? I should of known I couldn’t come away clean and healthy! I would post a picture, but it looks rather gross. So I’ll spare you all the images for now.

So say an extra little prayer for me. I am not looking forward to walking into a Spanish speaking pharmacy and communicating that I need something to prevent my leg from falling off!!

Well I’m off to do some homework now. I'm currently listening to a bar across the street play Wonderwall... and yes, in English! What a throw back to the States... ahhh :) We’re almost to the half-way point of the week… and the countdown has officially reached one hand… only 5 days left and then...

“Well I’m going home, back to the place where I belong
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I’m not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong
I don’t regret this life I chose for me
But these places and these faces are getting old
So I’m going home…”

-Home by Chris Daughtry

Good night everyone! Much love from Heredia, Costa Rica!