War Zone

...that is what my room looks like.  And what our house has felt like.  Maybe the war in which God made the sun stand still.  I feel like I have lived a million years in these last few days.

My friend John invited me to his house for lunch to get away from the situation, and there his host mom informed me that no, I am not the worst student Lucre has had, no matter what she tells me.  She talks badly about all of them.

Current situation, I am quite literally shaking the cockroaches out of my clothes (note to self, was EVERYTHING when you get home) and hacking through this packing process.  Ami.  I need you. 

Just askin' for it

Yes, the men down here tend to stare and whistle, I'm told it is a cultural thing.  This getup probably wasn't helping with the stare part, but it did cut down on whistles.

Here's the thing:  I am on a medicine that makes me burn, and when my face gets irritated like that, an onslaught of very painful, all consuming acne charges onto my face.  Not pleasant, and it isn't exactly a confidence booster either.

Problem:  I live by a beach!  It is one of the things that I can look at about Costa Rica and easily be thankful for.

<----Solution.  It is easier to be a little embarrassed for an hour at a time on the beach then to be embarrassed for weeks afterwords waiting for the super bad acne to go away.


Bring on the Arabian Nights.

NicaraguWHAT?

You might be a little thrown off by this post about my travels to Nicaragua, considering that I am a penny pinching student studying in Costa Rica.  Let me put it this way:  the best way to get a miser to do something out of the ordinary is to make it the fiscally responsible choice.  And thus is the case.  There was a horrendous mix-up with the visa process (I cannot go into more detail or I'll get myself all riled up again) that long-story-short meant I would have to pay a grand fine to leave the country unless I renewed it.  Enter Operation Border Run.  Happily for me, Tori was in the same boat so we went together and made a quick little trip out of.  Two 9 hour bus rides and one free day in the middle.  Phew.  

I have too many pictures, and I realize this, but I tried to get a smattering to show you all a little glimpse of what it was like.  If you want to see more (or get the REAL low down of this trip) you'll just have to find me in real life :)

 This is all of Tori's currency, Colones, Cordoba and Dollars.  I am sad to say that our lack of understanding about the exchange rate got us ripped of by a gleeful taxi driver (another one?  Lord are you trying to tell me something?)

Trend in Granada:  SUPER colorful buildings and balconies.

 One of the allures of Granada (for me especially) is all of the historic architecture.  

 Above:  Not bad for a highschool chapel eh?



"Oasis" was the name of our hostel.  It was recommended to me by my host mom's daughter, Janet so we went in and booked two nights, no questions asked.  I didn't realize it was a co-ed hostel until a 6'4'' German man waltzed into the room and flopped on a bed.  Oh.  My.  

 We asked this boy if we could take his picture. He responded: "Correct!" One was not enough for him.  I think he really enjoyed the attention.  Such a spark plug.  On a more somber note:  the poverty I saw in the children was really hard for me.  When we were eating at the restaurant several hollow eyed children came up to our table, and there I am with way more food than my body needs for survival heaped on my plate.  Man.  This is a problem I can shove to the back of my mind when I'm not surrounded by it.  But this trip forced it to the forefront.  What should I do?

Back to levity.  Yours truly interacting a bit with the city :)

This building looked so gorgeous with the sunset falling on it....of course my camera batteries DIED just as that happened.  Just imagine rose tinged gold filtering through the columns and painting the creamy white arches.  Beautiful!

 This is a picture of the old hospital.  Actually and illegal photo, because right after I took it, a man with a very, very large gun informed me (quite nicely) that I wasn't allowed to be within the gates taking pictures.  It is all battered because Granada is war torn from several conflicts.

Horse drawn carriages for a tour around the city.

  I quite seriously almost got my haircut at this salon.  Look at how old-timey :) 

Isn't this beautiful?  It is a reminder of the destruction of war, which is a very sad thing.  But all I could think about is how Emily Millay Price would have a field day with a camera here.

 We've arrived at the end of the pictures.  Choosing them was a very very difficult task, I have so many more!  For being as close as it is to Costa Rica, Nicaragua (Granada) had a vastly different feel, to me at least.  This last picture is a park in the middle of the city.  Very tranquil, and shaded!  My sumburnt nose loved that fact.

Arenal: it sounded so simple

Alright, I hate to rapid fire like this but I have waited as long as I can.  This blog post chronologically follows my very tearful goodbye to my mom...very...very...closely.  USAC had a field trip to Baldi Hot Springs and the Hanging Bridges of the Arenal Volcano planned starting the very same friday that I had to take mom to the airport.  No way was I sending her alone. 
A.  she doesn't speak spanish
B. I wanted to squeeze every last second out of our time together.
 Easy fix, San Jose is closer to the Volcano than Puntarenas, I'll just take a bus from there.  Easy.  Famous last word.

Check it out.

"....I stood watching her walk away, fighting tears.  As she finally disappeared from sight the security guard at the door smiled at me with sympathy and said 'awww, no lloras jovencita' (don't cry little girl).  I gave him a wobbly smile and the "CHING!" it hit me.  Go time."

I asked the guard about how to get to Arenal, he sent me to the bus station.  I was taken to San Jose.  Dropped off in San Jose, sent to look for the bus to Arenal.  Walked around San Jose ALONE asking people where to go.  CULTURAL INSERT:  people in Costa Rica want to be helpful, even if they dont have a clue where something is, they will give you directions.  Very nice people, very scary situation.  I was on a time crunch trying to make sure I met up with my group when they checked into their hotel, I had no idea where I was and I got sent in the opposite direction three times.  The penny pincher inside of me cried a little bit but eventually I grabbed a cab to the bus station.  I am not going to describe to you each time I wandered around completely lost and bumbling, asking anyone and everyone where I needed to be.  Just assume that at each consecutive bus stop I behaved in this pathetic manner.  The bus I thought would take me to the volcano went right past the airport.  An hour lost, but it can't be helped, there are no buses from the airport to anywhere but San Jose.  I was taken to a town I didn't recognize the name of, continued with said bumbling and got on another bus that took me to another town, in which I had to find another bus to take me to another town.  It made me very nervous because I really had no idea if I was going the right way or not, and by this point it was 4:30, I had missed check in, and I had been on buses since 8:00am.  I had $10 to my name, not enough to find a place to sleep, or even pay my way back by bus if I ended up somewhere totally wrong.  I have to add this picture though, the scenery and the climate made me very happy indeed.

Can you believe the colors on that mountain?

On the last bus I was on I met a kind lady named Miriam who knew where Baldi Hot Springs was.  I asked her about taxi fare (nervous about this one!) and she offered to take me for $4.  Thank you!

I arrived at Baldi Hot Springs at 6:00pm....10 hours of traveling by bus, so yes, very thankful to finally arrive.  And you know, it is just stressful not being sure, and being alone.  It was very comforting to see my classmates (even if I was seeing more of them than I wanted to...thank you swimsuit fashion...)  I had 30 min. to enjoy the hot springs and then we had an amazing supper in the resort.  Delicious.

That night we stayed in a cabin resort type place.  Tori is trying "no drink november" so we left the hot tub when she started to feel tempted and went back to my room to drink hot chocolate and talk :) 

The next morning I woke early, took my second hot shower since being in Costa Rica and went to an amazingly delicious and decadent breakfasts buffet.  I love feeling pampered like that. 

From there we traveled to the Arenal Valcano...which you can't really see because it is covered in misty clouds, and went on the hanging bridges trails.  After that we ate lunch and went home...it took us only 4 hours.  How nice :)

We have now arrived to the best and most anticipated part of any blog:  the pictures.

Hanging on a hanging bridge.

View from that bridge you just saw the goofy girl on.  Wow right?

Here is a quick snap of the trail and the backsides of the two guys I walked around with the whole day.  Face viewing shots below 

Remember Johnny?  Well here he is again, looking thrilled.  Our photographer Logan told us to look adventurous...I guess when I think adventure I think...SURFING

And this is Logan, he doesn't look like that all the time, but neither do I for that matter (thank goodness)  However, this is a good picture because it somewhat typifies standard interactions between Logan and I

quite magical no?

This is a terrible picture but look at how cool these trees are!  They are called walking trees because apparently they actually move a little as their roots grow and cling to different parts of land

You have the secret hope that each picture you are in will make you look more like a super model than the last....but I can't wait for that to happen before I post photos on this blog and show you pictures of the humans that I have spent a very concentrated amount of time with this semester.  Let me introduce you....

From left to right:  JD, Joe, and John.  That girl in the middle is me, simultaneously breaking the boy trend, the J name trend, and the blonde trend

This is John Rodriguez, he is a bio-mimicry major.  His first language is spanish because his parents are Venezuelan

Amanda Sailors.  She is so sweet you would think she is from the deep south.

Devin Genovese (which is a really cool last name)  Mexican and Italian...makes me feel pretty good about my tan ;)

Best for last:  Here is Tori's version of "can you take a picture of us?"

Beyond happy

God gave me the best gift I could have possibly imagined:  my mom came to visit me this past week!  He worked through some very very generous people to make my prayer to Him a reality.  I don't really know where to start with blogging and picturing and all of that, because she was here for a whole week, and we did so much and I lived so much and smiled so much that it would be impossible to catalog it all.  I guess I can give some bare bones details and a scattergun smattering of words, pictures and phrases that may seem random or simple, but that created the best week I could have dreamed of.

This is us in front of the Grand Hotel in San Jose, we had the BEST spiced coffee and a live pianist that played all kinds of songs that we requested.  It was beyond lovey :)

Jenga in the park!  This is me winning...;)

The facts:  Friday morning I went and picked up mom at the airport--the most anticipated and LONGEST morning of my stay here.  Time drags when you are waiting :)  Well, she finally came, and there were tears to be sure.  We hung out in Alajuela and she spoiled me.  We stayed in a hotel there and left the next morning for San Jose, found a hostel there and then explored all day (insert more spoiling here), {also insert that she is an amazingly fun person that I just love being around, no matter what we are doing}, the next next morning we went back to Puntarenas where she lived the next week of life with me, doing everything as I do, eating here in the house, going to school, running to the post office to vote (woo hoo!), and then friday I took her back to the airport and watched her walk away.  Security guard says to me:  "no lloras jovensita" dont cry little one. Good luck with that!

Alajuela (where the airport is) in front of a fountain

We had a TON of fun, there was a lot of laughter.  Which I hear is the best medicine.

She is so beautiful.

 Here comes the smattering:  Carlos our taxi driver in Alajuela, that hotel with the sinky bed, frightening front desk worker and amazing coffee, exploring Alejuela, cool breezes, San Jose!, our great taxi driver and psychedelic hostel Pangea, roomie Deborah (50+, single writer traveling the world, convinced she was being poisoned by cilantro), pizza!  KFC! AMAZING Irish Frappe in Puntarenas, DELICOUS fresa colada smoothy.  She spoiled me so much.  Warm cinnamon bread and coffee for breakfast and supper in the park by the National Theatre, the Grand Hotel and live piano music with our spiced cappuccinos, an HILARIOUSLY fun time full of laughter in the ocean in Puntarenas, walking on the beach at night, touring Puntarenas, our "movie night" documentary about Mr. Brain Wash, going to class, dealing with taxi robbery, Trigo y Miel our little bistro, games in the park, and just all of the time we had to talk and relax and just be.

Our hostel in San Jose was extremely psychedelic...and strange, but it turned out to be a really nice place to stay

Hostel from the outside.  If this were a neighborhood in the US we would have turned the other way and RAN, but...things are different here

Sunset in Puntarenas.

Mom's being here was like this sunset for me, it began a new "day",so to speak.  I feel ready to face tomorrow.  She came at a really tough time as far as stress and having to deal with money issues back in the states, but that made it all the more wonderful for me, having that support.  She is so patient with me.  I definitely do not deserve a mom like her.  I love her so much, I can't even express it.  Talking with her helped me center on my goals, and realize some things that God is teaching me through this experience.  I want to be the type of person that has learned these lessons, with the qualities that they produce, and so therefore, I really can be thankful for the stuff in my life (that I don't enjoy) that is teaching me.  I can also be thankful that the things and people teaching me are not a permanent factor in my life, I will be leaving them in 5 weeks.

Oh, in quick summary, through Lucre's eyes:

Julie=Queen Elizabeth, sweet, kind, appreciative, loves the cooking, thin, beautiful and angelic

Hooray!  She like mom!  In juxtoposition, my wonderful mom mad Lucre preplexed as to how I turned out how I did.  One lesson I am learning is how to accept criticism and the disapproval of man.  I am used to being able to ingratiate myself (and it is not working here at all). 

 God is the Giver of good gifts.  I am thankful beyond words.  I cannot believe how blessed I am.  Really.  Wow.

Withering

Here is how this post came to be:  I got cleared by the doctor today!  My platelets are finally on the rise.  This means I am out of the danger zone, but I am still quite tired.  All of this time spent laying in bed has given me a lot of time to think, it has actually been kind of difficult.  When not working on my determined goal of learning Spanish fluently, I struggle with being here.  Reading all of my amazing adventure posts, that may be difficult to imagine, but its true.  I was laying on my bed looking at my guitar case.  Before I left I painted it a little (disfigured it as Dad said) and wrote the words "Whose leaves do not wither" from the Psalm about the tree planted by the River.  I wanted to be that tree.  I have felt withered lately, not thriving, but surviving.  I got up to take a picture of the case and to tell you all about this, and when I went to put the pictures on my computer I found the pictures from Tori and I's Nigella Lawson baking date.  My spirits were lifted a little.  I've not been abandoned here.  The refreshing respiration in my life may be whispers, but they are there, and I'll make it.  

So here she is:  my breathe of fresh air of late:  Tori, and the caramel croissant pudding that we made for supper.  For all of the beautiful places I have seen, all of the grand adventures I've been privileged to experience, none of it compares to a simple dinner with a new friend and deep connective conversation.  I am sure that people are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.  

Palabra del Dia: Dengue

Well, 2 hours in the clinic and 1 blood test later proved that I had a case for feeling as icky as I have for the past four days.  I have Dengue Fever.  It sounds exotic...but it feels just plain awful.