To Make a House a Home

If I've learned anything while in Costa Rica it is that a house isn't a home without the love of a family. I have been in houses before that feel empty and almost lonely, even with people living within them. Luckily, neither of my homes (Pinetop and Costa Rica) are just houses. I have felt the love of people both in Arizona and in Costa Rica.


Aside from the adventures that we have on the weekends, I spend the most time with my mama tica. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Costa Rican mannerisms and culture, and almost every night she teaches me something new about her home. This week, mama tica taught me about a few "tican" words, including "jale (let's go!)", "macha (blonde)", and "cosi (cute or cool)". There are actually a lot of words here that are very specific to Costa Rica, but mean something completely different in other countries, including Mexico! It just goes to show how different language can be depending on the country.

One of the most beautiful things about being in a new country is being able to share cultures. Last night, I was able to make sushi for my family (I am part Japanese). Luckily, my mama tica adores Japanese culture, and I was able to share some of my experiences and culture with her, just as she has been sharing her own with me.

It is sad that my program only lasts for six weeks. I feel as if I can only skim the surface of the rich Costa Rican culture in my time here. Hopefully I will be able to return later (hopefully with better Spanish skills), and share more of my memories and indulge in the tican culture once more.

But First- Coffee

Hi friends!

Have you ever been to a coffee farm? Today, I got the opportunity to visit one! Actually, the entire day was sort of a crazy whirlwind of different activities. First, we took a trip to visit El Jardín de Niños. While we were here we paired up with young children (1-4 years old). How cute is that? I was impressed by how friendly and excited the kids were; I got to be a kid again!

After this short segment of the day, the rest of the trip was focused around La Finca Integral Doña Rosa. I didn't understand the title when I first arrived in the little portion of paradise. However, after talking with our guides and leaders, I learned that Doña Rosa is centered around sustainability and giving back to the earth as much as we plan to take from it. For example, the stalks of corn are fed to the farm animals, like the chickens and goats, and then the animals turn these crops back into fertilizer for the earth. Learning about such a sensible and beautiful process really opened my eyes to the way that agriculture should be run throughout the world.

A part of our tour included getting to learn about the process behind making cane sugar. Since we didn't have an ox to turn the cane machine, we used people instead, which was quite humorous. It was interesting to think about all the work that goes into making sugar- an ingredient that is many times taken for granted. First, the pulp has to be collected, then heated to distill it, and finally left in molds to form into crystals. As an avid baker, I don't tend to think of all the work that went into my ingredients. I hope that in the future I can be more conscious about exactly where my food is coming from.

Finally- coffee. Every morning when I get up my mama tica has brewed a fresh pot of coffee- bless her soul. Today we got to witness the actual roasting process with coffee beans harvested at Doña Rosa. The process was completely mouth watering! As a coffee fanatic, I can tell you that nothing beats sipping a fresh cup of coffee from beans that were just roasted! What made it even better for me was being able to enjoy my surroundings while smelling the enticing aroma of fresh caffeine in a cup.

If I took anything away from our experiences at Doña Rosa it is that there is a lot of care and work that goes into things that I often take for granted, especially when it comes to food. Next time I pick up my morning cup o' joe, I will be sure to think about the lovely people at Doña Rosa!

Until next time!

Food! Glorious Food!

This is probably my favorite topic no matter where I am- food. I could seriously talk about food for hours! However, this blog is a condensed version of my experiences with Costa Rican food so far. I have already written a little bit about my encounters- the pizza in a bag, the Chinese chicken wings, and those aren't even all of them!

One of the best things about being in Costa Rica that there are so many opportunities to eat fresh fruits and vegetables! Many of the fruits we buy in the U.S. are actually imported from Costa Rica like bananas and pineapples. Yes, the summer fruits we get to eat in the United States are great. But wow. The fruits here are beyond comparison! I have had fruit with every breakfast and many lunches! Especially after coming from Arizona, the freshness is a real treat!

For the first few days, my mama tica served us a lot of "American" foods, as she was afraid that our stomachs needed to transition to Costa Rican food. However, now she is starting to feed us more "tican" foods like gallo pinto! Gallo pinto is a very common dish throughout Costa Rica, and is made of rice and beans, often with onions or chiles and spiced very nicely.

This past weekend I got the opportunity to travel to Puerto Viejo, which is a beautiful beach town planted right on the Caribbean sea. There we were able to do many cool things, like bike through the jungle and relax on the beaches with a view of the crystal clear blue sea. One thing that my friends and I noticed was that the lifestyle, even for meals, is very different in Costa Rica in comparison to in the United States. We went out to dinners and lunches while in Puerto Viejo, and each time it took about an hour to an hour and a half to get our food (for some groups it took longer)! Even when there weren't other groups that were eating, the whole restaurant process just lasted longer. This sort of meal experience wasn't a bad one; in fact I kind of enjoyed the relaxed manner in which we shared meals! However, it seems that in Costa Rica nothing needs to be rushed; people very much live by the idea of "pura vida".

I don't think I will be anywhere close to running out of new foods to try by the time I leave Costa Rica; in fact I think that I will only be scratching the surface of the bountiful flavors the have here! However, I look forward to trying new foods and getting more of a feel for the culture that comes along with meal shar
ing.

That one time I ate pizza from a bag

Yes. I ate pizza from a bag...I'll get to that.


If I had to describe the days leading up to now in one word, I would say "adventure". Every day here is an adventure! Whether it is eating the food, speaking with "los ticos" (Costa Ricans), or exploring new parts of San Jose, there is always something new and exciting to do!

The first day here I was only able to string together a few words in Spanish and hope that my conjugation of each verb was correct. My vocabulary was nonexistent, conjugation of past tense sloppy, and I had problems every time when would go from English to Spanish and back. Now here I am, a mere 3 days later, and I am already so much more comfortable! I am able to communicate (albeit roughly) with my mama tica, I am not nearly as afraid to ask for help from people I meet, and I have successfully rode the bus to the central district of San Jose! If already I feel so much more at home, I can't imagine what it will be like in 6 weeks when I return to NAU.

I have already gotten lost twice in Costa Rica (it has only been 6 days). However, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing! The first time I was with a classmate who lives in the same house as me. We were coming back from hanging out with our classmates and took a uber to the wrong place. And we repeated the same mistake when we tried to get to the university! After about an hour of asking for help and getting confused we finally found our way home- exhausted both mentally and physically. The other time I was with a classmate trying to find a poster for a project. We were fine when entering central San Jose, but when we wanted to leave it took us 30 minutes to find a bus stop, and then we got on the wrong bus! After calling yet another Uber, we were able to find our way back to La Universidad Fidélitas.

Both of these instances there were times that I felt very lost and scared. But I also realized afterward that it is okay to be lost. Rather than see it as a curse, I see it as a way to grow and experience more of the culture through methods of travel! That being said, I think I will still be able to experience the culture if I don't get lost again (which I hope I don't)!

Okay, so the pizza bag...we have a class here titled "conversación" in which we get to do activities and go on excursions to improve our Spanish and also just have fun! Yesterday we took a tour of downtown San Jose with our tour guide, who showed us the Democratic Plaza, museums, banks, and many more things! When we arrived at a store, I decided that I wanted to buy a piece of pizza. I was confused when the woman behind the counter handed me a bag. However, when I looked inside: there was the pizza! The crust tasted more like a croissant than an American pizza, and was layered with a thick slice of ham and loaded with cheese. Is your mouth watering? It should be.

I am still learning to expect the unexpected here. Like in this instance with the pizza, I was so confused by the method of delivery when I have only ever had pizza on a plate or in a box! I feel that I need to learn that these differences shouldn't be criticized, but rather be celebrated. I have now had a piece of pizza in a bag! That is not something that many people can say, and when I learn to experience the culture with an open mind I will learn even more than I have and be able to immerse myself in Costa Rica.

First weekend in Costa Rica

I chose to fly into Costa Rica on a Saturday so that I could take time to get to know San Jose before classes started. I am really glad I did! This morning I spent getting to know my host mom and host sister- their hobbies, interests, and experiences. We shared a breakfast of eggs and toast with homemade guava jelly.

So far I have found that I can understand the majority of our conversations, even if I can't catch every word. Yesterday my family took me to a Chinese restaurant, which so far has been the most interesting experience. The food we ordered at the restaurante included fried rice, a vegetable dish... and fried chicken? I told my family that the chicken tasted a lot like that found at KFC! Already I am realizing that things I think I know from the United States could be very different in Costa Rica.

I was a little bit worried about exploring San Jose without a GPS to guide the way (I opted not to get a phone plan while I am here) but exploring without one just made me more aware of my surroundings. I decided to take a walk into the more industrialized part of my host family's neighborhood in search of a supermarket. Mama tica gave me some instructions to find one, saying it was about 4 blocks down the street. Despite these seemingly simple directions, I still managed to get lost several times!

The thing about streets in Costa Rica is that they aren't straight and true like many streets you would encounter in Phoenix or other major cities. They are winding and branching and very confusing! The streets that I explored alternated between segments of neighborhood and stores. However, I did eventually encounter the supermarket! I was able to buy some shampoo and conditioner, and best of all, I was able to find my way back home!

From my exploratory excursion, I noticed many similarities and differences between the streets of Costa Rica and those of the United States. For one, there were a ton of pizza restaurants! I plan on trying one of the restaurants in the following weeks. A major difference I noticed was that there were almost no street lights! I think in total I came across two. Despite the lack of street lights (and also stop signs), it seemed to me that people still drove with high awareness.

Classes start tomorrow! I can't wait to meet all my classmates and get to know my professors!

Until next time-
Nicole

First Application to First Day

I looked down on the tiny buildings and cars that made up San Jose, Costa Rica for the first time yesterday. As the miniature figures started to grow larger as my plane descended, I felt my anticipation grow as well. So many questions ran through my head like, "would my Spanish be good enough?", "what will my host family be like?", "what if I get lost?", and countless others.

A few months ago, when I had first applied to the program, Costa Rica seemed like a distant possibility rather than a fixed future. It didn't hit me that I would be spending my summer in another country until a few weeks ago during orientation. Meeting all the other people I would spend 6 weeks with in Costa Rica made me excited... and very, very nervous.

I decided to apply to study abroad to try and improve my Spanish and also to immerse myself in another culture. Costa Rica seemed like the perfect fit for me; the program was over the summer, allowed me to stay with a host family, and is such a gorgeous country! The main selling point for me was the opportunity to live with a native speaking family. I knew that the best way to improve my Spanish was to live with others who speak it so that I am forced to interact and practice the language.

However, at the same time this was what I was most nervous for in the program. I had no idea if my grasp of the Spanish language would be adequate for communicating with my host family! I knew from short encounters with native Spanish speakers that communicating in a classroom setting is very different from communicating in the real world.

The moment I got off the plane there was absolute chaos in the airport. Luckily, I was with two other girls from NAU and we were able to figure out how to get our bags and find our guide. My heart was pounding as we neared our host families; all I knew about mine was her name and the little she told me in her email (side note, make sure to email your host family! They really like to hear from you and get to know a little about you before you come). The moment I walked through the door, my host mom, or "mama tica" wrapped me in a huge hug and welcomed me like one of her own! She explained to me that she understands some English and that I shouldn't worry if I am having trouble speaking, because she will help me.

I already feel very at home with my new host family. Within these 6 weeks, I hope that I grow close to them and learn from them about their culture and lives!