Cliché roller coaster analogy and what I did this week.

Remember in my last post when I was stressin' a little bit about the culture shock? Well, this week brought me right back to where I started: Loving this country. My emotions so far could probably be compared to the Wild Thing at Valleyfair. (Feel free to skip the analogy if you haven't ridden it.) Leading up to the trip was like waiting in line for the ride. I was feeling very nervous, but also excited. I kind of didn't want to go, but at the same time I was ready for it to be my turn to ride. When I arrived in Costa Rica, things just seemed to keep going up and getting better (this is the really long part that takes you to the very top of the scary hill). Then I came crashing down (going down the scary hill at a million miles an hour). I missed home, I missed English, I missed pizza, and the new culture was just scary in general. But then things started to get better as I began to adapt to this new way of life (uphill again). I realized that I liked new family and friends here, that my Spanish wasn't that bad, and that I really AM capable of trying new foods (I might regret saying this when I get home and everyone tries to get me to eat strange foods at Christmas). Then came the middle part of the ride that just goes all over the place and you don't really know what's going on. This is when I was overwhelmed with new things to do, homework, heavy discussion topics, witnessing poverty, finding my place in a household, etc. It was crazy, but I had a lot of fun doing it (not the poverty part). Now things are kind of chill. I have found some time to relax, I feel comfortable around the other people in my group and my family, I have gotten back into the swing of coursework, and I'm having a good time (this is the part of the ride where you get to catch your breath before the scary tunnel). I hope that I can continue to adapt. However, I am open to the possibility that there is going to be a tunnel like the one on Wild Thing. If I am to grow from this experience, I think most of that growth is going to happen when I step out of my comfort zone and face the idea of taking risks and messing up. And even if it scares the crap out of me, I hope to come out of it smiling, trying to catch my breath, and wanting to get right back in line.

An update on what I've actually been doing, physically: I love my classes. Seriously. The class I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the one that features the guest speakers) forces me to wake up at 6:30 a.m. But I like the class so much that I am actually okay with that! My Spanish classes are helping me a lot. I haven't learned anything new, but we are working on "cleaning" what we already know. This is good, because if my little mistakes are never corrected, then I will just keep making the same mistakes! It helps the most with my verbal Spanish. I am pretty sure my host family can't tell that I'm on my seventh year of studying Spanish, because they only hear the Spanish I speak. I am much better at reading, writing, and listening in Spanish...I think that's how it goes for a lot of people. I spent the week working on a group presentation about Costa Rica's national flower, the Guaria Morada, to celebrate Costa Rica's Independence Day (September 15). Here's a picture of the Guaria Morada:

And here's a picture of my group and our awesome 3D visual aid:

It looks exactly like the real thing, right?

Nothing overly exciting happened until Thursday. First of all, my friend Jen introduced me to a great little bakery on our way to class. I plan to go there often. Very often. In the evening, I got a dance lesson from my sister. I told her a few of my friends were planning to go dancing on Friday night, so she taught me the basic steps of Salsa, Merengue, and Bachete.

I was able to put my new skills into practice on Friday night when eight of us went to a Latin dance club. We had a blast! We danced the night away. I heard the second never-thought-I-would-hear-this phrase of the week (the first was "You look tan." on Tuesday): I was dancing with a Tico and he told me, "You're a really good dancer." He was obviously lying to try to charm me, but that's just a minor detail. Being North American and blonde has its perks; life here is like a constant ego boost!

I went to a movie theater with some friends and a host sister yesterday to see the not-so-new Batman movie. Like most movies in the theaters here, it was in English with Spanish subtitles. This is something we don't really think about when we watch movies in the United States. People in non-English speaking countries often have to read the whole movie! I lot of TV shows here have Spanish dubbed into the shows we watch in the United States. And then there are some shows and movies that are filmed in Spanish. The Batman movie was really confusing, even though it was in my first language. But I liked it!

Today, a small group of people from the program met up to go play soccer at the University of Costa Rica. It started raining just as we were about to leave, of course. But I am so glad it did, because it made the soccer game that much more fun. What really made the game fun, however, was that we played with a bunch of Tico boys. They were playing when we got there, and they let us join in. There was mud flying and people falling, but we had a great time. And don't tell Scott, but I got a Tico's digits. We might call him to try to meet up with this group again; they were so fun to hang out with!

Here's a group photo after the game:

This coming weekend, my group is going to Limón, one of Costa Rica's largest cities. It is on the Caribbean coast. It's for class and we will have to do academic activities, but hopefully I'll have some beach pictures next time I post!

Miss you all.

Summary: I am in a good place right now, emotionally. I am ready for the challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone to try to get the most out of my time here. Classes are going really well. I know everything there is to know about Costa Rica's national flower. I went dancing on Friday, read a movie in Spanish on Saturday, and played a muddy soccer game today with some of the locals. Life is good.