Off to San José

So I finally got to take a trip into San José.  My brother, Deanna and I bought bus tickets last weekend because they had friends who also live in Costa Rica who wanted to meet up with us. Its about a 2 hour bus ride.  It took us a little longer because the bus we were on broke down.  But luckily we got off in a pretty area of Cartago and I snapped a few shots :)  We then jumped on another bus that was ''collective'' as they call it and not ''direct.'' We still had a good time.  My brother of course made a new friend on the bus and Deanna and I got to do alot of talking :)

 We did A LOT that day in San José including watching the ''Festival de la Luz''  which is a famous parade in Costa Rica with lots of elaborate floats, marching bands etc.  It was definitely an experience so I'm going to let the photos do the talking for me! Enjoy

There is where we got off the bus in Cartago.  That is a half built cathedral that never got finished. But is beautiful. At night all the trees inside are lit with Christmas lights!

China Town in Costa Rica. There is a HUGE Chino population here.  Its soo cool hearing them speak in their language AND in Spanish!!

This was kind of like a straw market, It seemed to be a hallway of things that went on forever!

This guy was selling hammocks and told me that he LOVED his job! lol  I just had to snap a photo of this!

Here it is around 2 in the afternoon.  People literally camped out all day waiting for the parade which didn't actually begin until 8:30pm!!

The Costa Rica version of Disney characters lol

Jamie and Deanna walking through San José and catching up!

Here is an indigenous veggie called "Cayote" its actually quite delicious. I always say that is looks like an old man or woman without teeth! lol 

mmmm. QUE RICoooo.  (My lunch in San José... complete with a freshly blended drink of Cas! All for a total of $5!

They kicked off the night with fireworks! (Fuegos artificiales)

And the parade finally begins!

I really liked this one!

                           

A scuba diving themed float. Made me think of my scuba diving boyfriend :)

                         

Me, Deanna, Eduardo and Jamie :)

At school we learned about some other forms of the word ''you" including ''voseo"' which is heavily used in Spain and sometimes in advertisements or between conversations between locals.  I finally saw a billboard that used ''vos'' form.  :::Vos elegis::: which mean ''You choose''  Normally said :::Usted elije::: or :::Tu elijes:::  (The verb elegir means to elect or to choose,  it is an irregular verb and with voseo form you don't have to apply the ''irregular'' verb rules when conjugating! WHY don't we use voseo MORE?!?! 

Back in Turrialba

The next day the city I live threw their version of the "Festival de la Luz.''  It was basically another parade with a lot more local marching bands and a few floats.  I'm going to post a picture of my absolute favorite float of the evening!  It was definitely a lot of fun.  SOOO many people were there... and I don't know why but I LOVE crowds.  I went with a lot of my local friends that I have made here including: Fabiola, Kirlin, Monse, Chingi, Peche, Gabriella and Kimberly.  I don't have pictures of everyone BUT I will get them soon so you can put some faces to these names!  

This was my FAVORITE float of the evening!  A Rawlings sewing machine!

Here is my good friend Fabiola and me :)

Thats Fabiola, Chingi, and me...  Chingi's actual name is Juan Gabriel.. but his nickname is Chingi...  I honestly forgot the history behind how he got that. 

The city finished the night off with an AMAZING firework display!  

Back to school

This is VERY cool... it is our schools very own coffee production company right in the school's back yard. Here are some coffee beans drying out in the sun!

Una Carta al Niño Jesús

Here in Costa Rica the children don't write their Christmas letters to Santa, but to baby Jesus.  So this week in school we were all required to write our own letters!  I actually enjoyed it because it was kind of like a BIG prayer request.  But this time you KNOW the person you're sending the letter to is actually receiving it! I think when I have my own children I'm going to do this instead! Feel free to read my letter.

                              

Some time for relaxation

For the first time I got to soak in some of the Costa Rica sun and do some relaxing after school today! Jaden had his OWN type of fun digging in the dirt, while the other students chose their own preferred method of having fun... lol

Yes, That is Deidre, Rysen and Chingi playing in the kiddy playground.  GOOD FOR THEM! :) lol

Field Trip!

Today we went on a field trip with our school!  Our first one ever!  Truly exciting lol.  We all met in Turrialba and had to take the 8am bus there.  We met in front of UCR (the University of Costa Rica) where we began our ''tour de portales''  a portal is a nativity.  Setting up nativities down here is a huge part of their culture and is very popular.  We viewed approximately 10 of then all over the city, in business, the court house, homes, schools.  When we return in January we plan on doing a presentation on this in culture class.  We couldn't have asked for a more BEAUTIFUL day to do this.  It was hot and sunny and gorgeous!

Jaden joined us today on our field trip!

I just couldn't choose a picture..  he is just SO cute so I put both up!

Here we are touring the campus of UCR getting ready to see our first portal of the day (Nativity)

Our first ''Portal''

Some unique storage unit on campus

Un Taller translates to ''Workshop''  its funny because it looks like the word taller in English but is pronounced   (Tah-Yer)  I though this class was pretty neat considering its outside!

annnnd the big kids go back to playing!

The teachers couldn't get us to leave! haha

Here is another portal in the courthouse

Thats my teacher, Karen, she is always very happy... we both thought this plant was HUGE and decided to take a picture of it lol

Random snowman made entirely out of plastic cups and recycled material!

OK so we went over Sonia's house and she has a garden FULL of handmade creatures like THIS guys.  She uses whatever she can find, plastic bottles, etc. She is very creative!

See if you can guess what she made these out of!

:::cans:::

THIS one was my favorite!

This is one of the walls in her house she painted with acrylic! I loved it AND it matched my shirt!

This is Sonia when she was younger with her son

Deanna and Jaden posing next to another one of Sonia's handmade creations!! Check out the garbage can hat!

Just stopping and admiring the flowers along the way...

Deidre always representing her hometown of Boston!

Jaden being a GOOD BOY and enduring mommy's application of sunblock! hehe ;)

Just some local kids playing soccer on this beautiful day!

One of the neighborhood we were walking through.  Today was just gorgeous!

 I just had to take a picture of these cute little flowers... they were so symmetrical 

Most of us enjoyed a cool refreshment at the end of our field trip.  This was belonged to Deidre... I;m just a poser.

Here they are constructing the Nativity in the Catholic church located in Turrialba.

Back to the doctor!

yet again..

Unfortunately I have been sick for the past 2 1/2 weeks with this terrible cough and chest congestion.  I was hoping that all my home remedies could fight this off without having to go to the doctor, however; today after the field trip, between the combination of the heat and all that walking I could barely breath at that point and got extremely dizzy.  Thankfully my teacher and her husband had their car and took me to a few clinics to see if they were open and could take me.  After calling a few I finally found one that was re-opening in the afternoon and decided I would wait for them to open and go from there.  As I was sitting on the bench in front of the doctors office I just couldn't help but feel so thankful for my ability to even go to the doctor here.  For some reason I've been getting sick more than anyone else here... before I came here I did specifically ask people to pray for my health.  I just knew my immune system would rebel against me, as I generally catch everything possible due to my allergies.  Prior to today's doctor's visit, I've gone to the hospital for a bacterial infection, I went to the dentist to get a filling and a tooth reconstruction due to a filling getting infected, AND I was able to just go straight to the pharmacy without going to the doctor when I got parasites as well and get my own antibiotics to kill those suckers! If all this happened to me in the states, I wouldn't have been able to afford half of what I would have to pay.  Praise you Jesus... although I HATE being sick, I'm glad it did happen in a country where I can afford the health system.
   The doctor finally arrived about 10 minutes before opening.  I immediately had a good feeling about him because he reminded me of my childhood doctor from Queens :) He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and asked: ''Come le va?'' (How's it going?)  He was so polite, and took me right away after the receptionist took my basic information.  After my consultation, he informed me that I do have an infection.  He wrote down a LAUNDRY list of meds that I was to go buy at the pharmacy.  He told me that this would knock out my infection and make me feel better ''muy rapido''  :)

There's a first time for everything ;)

   SO, I found my way to the pharmacy after the doctor, and came to learn that two of the medications had to be administered by injection.  What happens next is quite funny.  So I paid for all 5 of my medications which came out to under $20!  At the pharmacy they do the injections right there... so they called my name and told me to go the back room.  I sat down and began to roll my sleeve up for the injection... the doctor looked at me and pointed at his bum and said in Spanish,  ''I have to do the injection here''  ... ''OH!'' I replied and jumped off the table to get myself ready for this awkward experience. "Does it hurt much?!''  I asked.. and He said ''Si, un poquito." I didn't realize but I was still standing up with half of my butt exposed when he asked me to lay down.  I was already embarrassed at that point and just wanted him to get it over with, and so I just said... ''No, esta bien, prefiero estar de pie."'  (No, its okay, I prefer to stand.)  He laughed, say OK and crouched down to do the injection.  Never a dull moment with me and my medical experiences! lol

Oh yeah, and please pray for my quick recovery!! The meds are really messing with my body but I know they're just doing their job.

En fin

In conclusion

This is my last week of school before leaving for NY on Christmas night!  I'm so excited to see my family again, my boyfriend and especially my new nephew Montez!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Feliz Navidad