The Stuff of Life

Well, I finished out the semester with pretty decent grades and a sane mind, although it was questionable towards the end. I've officially finished my first semester back from Costa Rica, and let me tell you, I really was on vacation while I was down there. It was incredibly difficult to get back into the swing of a university in the United States. Hopefully I'm prepared for next semester now.

I'm currently doing a lot of relaxing, working, sleeping, music playing, and more relaxing...yep, that's the stuff of life. I've played two gigs during this Christmas season and paying gigs at that! It was pretty exciting. I have a band again that consists of me on guitar/piano/singing, a bassist, and a drummer. Our name at the moment is The Monotones, but who knows when that'll change, lol. When I'm not playing music, I'm a-working. I got a job at a local coffee shop about 5 minutes from my apartment, and it's pretty awesome. It should be a good one for a while.

I'm also preparing for the mission trip I'll be leaving for in about 2 weeks or so. I'm really excited, and a little scared at the same time. I've never been on a mission trip, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect. Say a prayer that all goes well if you think about it. I think it will go well, and I'm excited to be able to use Spanish again. I miss hearing those native speakers...

Well, that's just a little update for all of you out there still reading, lol! Hope all is well, and that everyone has an amazing Christmas! I'm still working on buying presents, lol...

Amor y paz,
Amelia

Planning...Traveling...

So, this has been a hectic week of even more decision-making. I had to register yesterday for my last Spring semester in my undergraduate career...yeah, a little scary. What's even scarier is that I'm fishing for classes to take, lol. I'm pretty much done with everything, but I don't feel like I'm ready to give my Senior Capstone for Spanish. (Basically just a huge presentation that takes the entire semester and is given completely in Spanish.) So, I'm waiting until next fall to graduate so I can study abroad again next summer.

Some exciting things happening next semester...

I've been accepted to go on a mission trip to Mexico the first week in January! We're going to be going to Reynosa, Mexico everyday and spending the night in Alamo, TX because it's too dangerous to stay in Mexico. I'm extremely excited to have been given this opportunity to help people and use my Spanish. I just know it's going to be awesome!

Over spring break, I will be traveling to Spain with one of the classes I'm taking! I am extremely excited about this also because I've never been to Europe! :-) The class is going to be difficult, to say the least, though. It's a senior seminar class in History focusing on the three major religions that had an influence on Spain: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. I will have to write a 20+ page paper over the course of the semester and read several books. I know, I know...it's ridiculous for me to take such a class when I'm only a History minor, but...all of my transportation, including airfare and trainfare, will be paid for! How can I pass up the chance to go to Spain for free! I think I can make myself write that paper...lol...

My tentative plan for next summer is to study abroad in Puebla, Mexico for 5 weeks in May and June, and then work. I may try to squeeze in the GRE somewhere in there, too...we'll just have to see. It's going to be a crazy semester, but I'm excited to do some traveling and take some fun classes.

Hope all is well for everyone out there! Happy early Thanksgiving! :-)

Paz,
Amelia

Changing...

Well, I know...it's been forever since I last posted. Things got kind of crazy with school, work, and settling into the new place. I feel like I've hit a lull period in school, but I'm sure it won't last long since finals are just around the corner.

Everything seems to be changing right before my eyes. For the first time in 9 months, I'm freezing when I walk outside, and it's hard to remember to take a jacket with me everywhere, lol. I guess that's what living in summer for the majority of the year will do to you.

The dynamic at school is changing. I only have two semesters left until I graduate, and I don't feel anywhere close to being ready. My Spanish is definitely not where it should be in order to actually use it in a job, and I have absolutely no clue what I'm going to do with me life once I graduate! I feel like I have to make all these big life decisions within the next year or so, and it's a little stressful, I'm not going to lie. My tentative plan is to move to Nashville after graduation and get a job using Spanish while trying to pursue music. In order to do this I have to accomplish two things, though: study abroad again so I can get my Spanish where it needs to be, and practice, practice, practice music. I'm kind of in limbo in both subjects, and sometimes I think it would just be easier to go work at a coffee shop for the rest of my life or something, lol...
I know it'll be okay. It's just a lot to stomach at once.

"A change we can believe in"...I got to vote for the first time in my life! It was very exciting, since I got to share the experience with my dad and my brother. I'm proud to say that I voted for a change I could believe in, and I can't wait to see what's in store for the U.S. over the next 4 years. Go blue! :-)

In other news, I've been doing quite a bit of research on my family tree recently, and I've discovered that I have a whole lot more German in me than I previously thought. German and Italian...possible English and Scottish thrown in there too for good measure. I just thought it would be neat to see where my ancestors come from. It also makes learning German neater. I have to take German next semester, so it's going to mean a little bit more to me.

Oh, and the next adventure I've been planning is a road trip out west on Route 66. I've always thought that would be really cool, and I plan on taking this as soon as I graduate...graduation present to myself that will probably take about 2 weeks or so. It's going to be awesome!

Hope all is well! Happy early Halloween to everyone as well! :-)

Peace,
Amelia

Back in the swing...

Hello to all! I'm officially moved into my new apartment in Cookeville, and I start school in a week! I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly this summer. I'm hoping for a good semester, but I've got a pretty full load of classes, so I know it's going to be difficult. It's just crazy to me that I'm a senior! Besides moving I've just been working a lot, hanging out with friends, and planning my next traveling adventure...a little closer to home this time, lol. My friend Brittney and I are headed to North Carolina in a couple of weeks to visit our buddy Elena that we met in Costa Rica. We decided to drive because it's amazingly still cheaper to drive than fly even with the high gas prices. It's about a 7-8 hour drive, and I'm excited because I love road trips! We're going to Raleigh, and I've never been there, so it should be pretty neat. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Well, I know in my last post I was really excited about being able to play with the new band, Phlatt Earth...things have changed since then. Apparently they all got in a fight with each other after I left practice one night, and have decided to break up. I am truly tired of being in bands with people that can't get their act together. Are there any musicians out there that just want to play?! I'm tired of the drama. I honestly think that guy musicians are worse than girls sometimes. If you're a musician, you should be doing it because you love the music, not because you're on some ridiculous power trip. Grrr...anyway, I still have a gig on the 27th of September playing my original stuff, so that should be pretty cool. I guess I'll just keep on trucking and continue writing, but this not having a steady band thing is pretty disheartening.

I'm off to purchase a few more things for my new apartment. Hope all is well for everyone! Thanks for reading!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Hong Kong, Canada, and Phlatt Earth

Hello, folks! Things are going well here in TN. Sorry it's taken me so long to post about my adventures in Hong Kong, but I've been super busy! Hong Kong was very cool! It was nice to spend some time together as a family with my mom, dad, and brother. I loved seeing another country and getting another stamp in my passport, lol. Hong Kong was different than anywhere I've been and similar to a lot of place as well. Since it's a big city, I could relate it a little to San Jose in Costa Rica, but it was a lot cleaner, and I felt a lot safer in Hong Kong, lol. It was really neat to be on a plane that my dad was flying and very cool to hear him make announcements over the intercom. I can't believe he flies those 14-15 hour flights 2-3 times a month back and forth. Being on a plane that long is really hard! I think the biggest highlight of the trip, though, was that on the way back we weren't able to get on the flight my dad was flying, we were flying standby. None of us really wanted to stay in Hong Kong for another night, but all of the flights to the U.S. had already left for the day. So, we looked at the TV monitors and saw that there was a flight headed to Toronto shortly! We were all pretty cool with that since at least we would be back in North America, so we took it. I was able to get yet another stamp on my passport for Canada, which was awesome! I had never been there before either, so it was cool to see how things work in Canada, or at least Toronto. All in all, I think it was a great trip, and I can't wait for my next traveling adventure...wherever it might take me...

In other news, I recently auditioned for a band that contacted me through myspace, and will be singing for them! We are called Phlatt Earth and we play mainly blues, but I think there's a little rock thrown in there, too. It's a pretty sweet set-up, and we're hoping to be playing gigs really soon. All of the players are really solid, and we already have 2 sets worth of music worked up. I'm really excited to see where this venture takes me. I've never played with a steadily gigging band, and I can't wait to get to sing that much on stage! We're going to record some demos soon, so I'll try to remember to post a link to them on our myspace page or my myspace page.

I move into my new apartment this week, and I'm excited to start decorating my room and getting ready for school which starts in 2 weeks. Other than all of that, lol, I've just been hanging out at home, with friends, and working. I'm working as a server at a little restaurant that just opened in Cookeville, and so far, it's going pretty well.

So...yeah, my life is pretty much jam-packed right now, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being busy! I hope everything is going well for all of you out there! Thanks for reading! I'll update again soon...

Mucho amor,
Amelia

Updating...

Hello to all! It has now been 3 weeks since my return from Costa Rica. Adjusting has been a little difficult, but I think I'm finally getting back into the swing of things. I found a new apartment and a new job, so things are looking up! I've just kind of been chilling with friends, relaxing, and starting a new diet. I've set a goal for myself to loose 20 pounds by October 31st. I think I can do it. I've just been trying to eat right and exercise! We'll see how things work out...

My next adventure around the world is going to be taking place this next weekend. I'm headed to Hong Kong with my family! This will be the first time I've been on a plane that my dad is actually flying, so I'm really excited! I think 14 hours in a plane is going to be a little difficult, but it'll be worth it once I get there. I'll try to take lots of pictures and post a few on here! I hope all is well with everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, not a whole lot has been going on. I'm sure things will start picking up quite a bit once school starts...stay tuned for more! :-)

Pura vida,
Amelia

Transition.

I've become a little bit more accustomed to life in the U.S. over the past week or so, but some things continue to be a little difficult for me. I feel extremely bored everyday. I went from the hustle and bustle of city life to the quiet, peaceful life of rural Tennessee, and I think that's been the hardest on me. Hopefully that will change soon, though. I'm in the process of apartment and job hunting with some good looking prospects in both. I think if I can keep myself busy I won't think about how quiet everything is here...

In other news, I've put some music to some lyrics I wrote in Costa Rica, and created my first post-Costa Rica song. I really like it. It's a little different than what I usually like, but it's upbeat and snappy, so we'll see how it continues to develop. Hopefully I'll be doing some jamming with some people this week and start forming a band. Gigs would be awesome!! :-)

Other than that, not a whole lot is going on at the moment. My friend Elena that I met in Costa Rica is coming to visit in about 3 weeks, so I'm really excited about that! Also, my best buddy Ellen is coming in for July 4th weekend, so I'm pumped to see her, too!

Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for reading!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Adjustment.

So, I've decided to continue blogging. I'm keeping this blogsite, though, because I feel like it signifies the start of something in my life. I started this to jot down thoughts and keep people updated while I was living in another country, but living in another country changed my life. Therefore, I'm going to keep my address as ameliaincostarica...a part of me will always be there...

Things have been slightly odd since I returned. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I'm actually back in the United States. I'm somewhat indifferent to missing Costa Rica immensely and not wanting to be in the U.S., but nevertheless, it's very strange to return home. I feel like life should have stopped here while I was gone, but it didn't of course. I don't feel like I fit in completely. Hopefully these feelings will change soon. I am enjoying being able to drive myself around and my parents' good cooking, so at least those things are going well, lol. I just feel really overwhelmed at times, and need to take frequent breaks to just chill by myself. I'm sure I'll be fine in a couple of weeks, though.

In an attempt to keep myself busy and my mind off of leaving Costa Rica, I'm putting applications to find a job. I'm also going to be playing a few songs at a restaurant/bar in Cookeville called Vinnie T's. I'm really excited! I wrote about 6 or 7 songs while in Costa Rica, and I'm excited to play them in public. I'm ready to get on the ball about this booking gigs stuff, and I can't wait to see what the future holds. I feel like it's going to be a great rest of 2008 and next year as well. I currently have about 3 semesters left before I graduate, and then I'm off to the big, bad world! I'm not exactly looking forward to that, but life moves forward and so must I.

I hope all of you who read this continue to read this and leave me feedback. I'll try to keep it regularly updated with the random adventures in my life! My next traveling trip could possible be to Hong Kong in the next couple of weeks or so, and my buddy Elena that I met in Costa Rica is coming to visit in the middle of July! July is going to be a good month! :-)

Hope all is well with everyone!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Headed back

This will be my last post in Costa Rica. I went out last night for the last time to say good-bye to some of the amazing people that I've met here, and this afternoon I'm going to have coffee with my closest friends here. I can't believe that this experience is almost over! This time tomorrow I'll be sitting in the airport getting ready to board the plane that will take me back to the life I once knew and will now continue. I feel like I've been on vacation from my "real" life for 5 months. It's time for me to go back and pick it back up again. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm so thankful that I was given the opportunity to experience these past 5 months. Forgive me if it's all I talk about for a while. It's a huge part of my life now, and I have so many great stories. If you're at all interested in hearing about them, just ask, lol! I can't wait to see all of you guys, and thank you so much for keeping up with me while I've been here. I can't thank you enough for all of your love and support. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this blog after I get back, but keep checking back just in case! :-)

Pura vida para siempre,
Amelia

La playa otra vez y una semana....

So, I'm officially coming home in 1 week! Crazy, huh? It seems like just yesterday I left to come down here. The past couple of days have been spent doing things to prepare for my leaving. I got all of my grades, and I passed everything with flying colors! I'll get full credit for all of it leaving me with very few credits left before I graduate...scary. Today I went around with some of my dear friends and took pictures of the places that I've loved while living here. Unfortunately, my camera broke about 2 months ago, so I'm relying quite heavily on my friends to take pictures for me. I really appreciate it, lol.

My plan for the next week starts of with me going to the beach one more time! Yay! We've decided to go to Tamarindo and all of the surrounding beaches close to it. I'm especially interested in seeing Playa Conchal since apparently there isn't much sand there, just shells, that sounds really cool. Other than that, I'm hoping to maybe go horseback riding on the beach. I think that would be so neat! Mainly, though, I'm just excited to spend one last trip with all my girls. I am so thankful for the wonderful bonds we've made while being down here.

After the beach, I'm sure everything will be a big blur: one last get-together with my exchange program group, packing, and saying my good-byes. One more week in Costa Rica! Ahh!! United States here I come!

Pura vida,
Amelia

11 days...

As of today, I only have 11 days left in the country of Costa Rica. It's so bittersweet. I had no clue that I would feel like this. I spent today painting graffiti on a wall today with some of my closest friends here. Don't worry, we had permission. It was in the backyard of one of my friend's boyfriend. I never knew that "graffiting" could be so fun! This is just one example of the incredible memories I've made down here. It's so weird to me to think that I won't be able to see these people everyday anymore. I've formed such amazing bonds over the past 5 months. It's going to be really difficult to say good-bye.

On the other hand, I had a Costa Rican cheeseburger today for lunch, and I can't wait to have a hamburger grilled on my parents' grill on which I can put whatever I want. Cheese, hamburger, mayonnaise, and pickles...it's going to be great! :-) My biggest concern at this point is that I'm going to have difficulties integrating back into American culture. I've been reading a lot about a syndrome called Reverse Culture Shock, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have it. I've been missing the United States as I looked at it pre-Costa Rica, but what if it looks completely different when I get back? I'm sure I'll be fine after a couple of weeks or so, but it's still going to be really weird for me.

I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family again, though. 5 months is way too long to go without seeing the people you love! I hope all is going well for you guys, and I'll see you in 11 days!! Yeah!!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Feeling Patriotic

I've been sitting in my room for the past 30 minutes watching history be made in the United States. Barack Obama has clinched the nomination for the Democratic Party making him the first African-American to be a presidential candidate for a major party in the U.S. It's a little surreal to me that I am living in a foreign country while all of this is going on. I teared up a little bit while listening to him speak making me realize how much I love and miss home. Living in the United States I've never really known where I'm from since I've moved around so much, but moving to a different country puts things into perspective. My home is the United States, it doesn't matter that I can't say I'm from one particular state. My heart is in the good ole U.S. of A., and I feel so honored to be a citizen of this great country. I'm so excited that I get to vote this year, and I will definitely take full advantage of that right. I'm coming home in a little over 2 weeks, and I think I'm ready. I'm ready to drive with the windows down and the music blasting, eat hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on the grill, feel the sun on my face while riding in my Dad's boat, watch the fireflies buzz around at night, walk into a store and be able to ask the clerk where something is and understand everything he or she says completely, and I'm ready to celebrate July 4th like I've never celebrated it before. I love traveling and I've enjoyed these past 5 months more than anything in my life, but I know where I belong. Traveling will always be one of my passions, but I know that I will always go back to the people, places, and country that I love. Hope all is well for everyone up there. I'll be back soon...

Pura vida,
Amelia

Un temporal...

Hello to all! Things are going well here as everything rapidly comes to a close. I had my last tutoring lesson today and I can honestly say that I'm going to miss my tutor. I definitely had some difficulties with her during the semester but all in all, I think she helped me immensely and she reminded me of my grandmother, Gigi, a little bit. She's 70-something years old and continues to learn about everything that she can. I hope I'm like that when I'm that old.

Things are starting to get a little sad now as we wrap things up. I've met so many wonderful people and formed bonds that I hope will last a lifetime. Right now the country of Costa Rica is in a "temporal," translation- we're getting buckets and buckets of rain for 6 days straight. The more little meaning of the word, however, means temporal or temporary. I think this is a very fitting word for what I've been through over the past 5 months. Everything in life is temporary. When I first got here, I was so homesick, and slightly lost as to how go about fitting in down here. I was treating the entire situation like it was permanent, and in hindsight I have no clue why I was worrying so much, lol. The past few years have been like a whirlwind for me and I think the biggest thing I've learned is that everything is temporary. If I'm going through something difficult, I know now that I just have to hold on tight and keep my head up high because it'll probably be over really soon. This trip has made me understand so many things that I didn't realize before, and it's just crazy to me that it has only been 5 months out of my entire life. How is it possible for someone to change so much in only 5 months? Given the right conditions and challenges, I was able to conquer some of my fears, become more outgoing, and learn more than I've ever learned before. I am truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to go through this. I hope everyone gets the chance to go through something like this. It's SO amazing!!

So, stepping away from serious mode for a second, let's go back to the raining thing. Yes, it's been raining here for 3 days straight and it's supposed to continue until Sunday. It wouldn't be so terrible except that I have to walk everywhere I go. The taxis are ridiculously busy, because no one wants to walk in the rain obviously, and it would get expensive if I took a taxi everywhere. So, I'm just kind of grinning and bearing it. I love rain, but I'm sure by Sunday I will be very tired of it, lol. I'm also 75% sure that my umbrella has a leak in it...have you ever heard of an umbrella having a leak in it, lol? Of course, that would happen this week when we're being slammed by a tropical depression. Oh well, as the Ticos say, "Pura vida!"

I'll be home in a little over 3 weeks, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! Hope all is well in the good ole U.S.A. :-)

Con amor,
Amelia

Picnic, Friends, Movies, and Piano!!! What a great day!

It's officially 4 weeks now until I come home! I'm doing what I can to enjoy what little time I have left in this great country, but it's a little difficult with so much schoolwork, lol. I have a very long diary and essay due in a little over a week and I'm nowhere near being done, not to mention I need to start studying for my finals. Whew...I'll be ready to come home when I'm done so I can just chill out and relax for a while. I try to do a little of that here, though, so yesterday, some of my girlfriends and I went on a little relaxing trip to the fancier part of San Jose.

First, we went to this beautiful little park in the middle of San Jose called La Sabana. It's actually really large and has some trails to walk on around a decent-sized pond. We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed the sunshine before the rains started in the afternoon. After we were done eating we hopped on a bus that would take us to the fanciest mall in Costa Rica. Escazu is the area of San Jose where a lot of rich Americans live so the mall is basically like stepping into a mall in California. Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce & Gabbana...these are just a few of the really fancy stores one can find in this mall. Our purpose for coming here, however, was not to spend exorbitant amounts of money on really expensive clothing, it was to see Indiana Jones IV!! Lately most of the movies that have come out down here have been dubbed into Spanish and there are just so many things lost in translation. There was no way I was going to watch Indiana Jones in any language but English, lol. We knew that there was a great chance of it just being subtitled in Escazu since there's such a large American influence there. We were correct and we caught the first showing of the day! I thought it was really great and it was awesome to just zone out and not think about anything for 2 and a half hours, lol.

Other big news: I got to play a piano yesterday for the first time in 4 months!!! There was a music store right next to the movie theater, so my friends went to buy tickets and I spent 30 minutes or so banging away! I'm pretty sure I annoyed the store workers because I couldn't help but sing as well, lol. Man, I sure have missed playing the piano. I love the guitar, but there's just something about a piano that's so pure and beautiful. I'm just drawn to it. I can't wait to get home and start writing again on my keyboard. :-)

I spent the rest of the day and night chilling with my girls, eating dinner, and watching a movie that we rented. I'm really going to miss being able to hang out with these people everyday. They're like my family down here. I've been so blessed to have such great friends down here(and in the U.S., lol) to experience everything with. Life seems much more vibrant when there are people you love to share it with. :-)

Hope all is well in the States! I'll be back in 28 days or so! Get ready!! :-)

Con amor,
Amelia

5 semanas...

Hello to all! Yes, that's right, I only have 5 weeks left until I come home! I started packing yesterday actually. :-) As much as I love Costa Rica and have loved this experience, it's starting to get to me a little bit. I love my host mom but she smokes like a freight train and I honestly fear for her health, that being said, I'm tired of walking out of my room and being enveloped in cigarette smoke...not really my cup of tea. I'm afraid I've developed a little cough just from being around it so much. I am also slightly fed up with the water systems here. I know there are millions of people around the world that don't even have water, much less running water, but nonetheless, it is annoying that the water mysteriously stops working here for no apparent reason at all. It's especially annoying when I come home from a long day of walking in the pollution that permeates my town and all I want is a shower, it will be cold, but I've gotten used to this. I don't think a shower is too much to ask for, but apparently the city of Heredia thinks otherwise. We're not in a drought, so it's not like the water's not there, and we have all of the most modern plumbing pipes that exist, so in my opinion, the water should work all the time. So far this week, the water has gone out at least twice for hours at time, today it didn't come on until 5:30 pm...

Okay, enough venting, in other news, I saw Iron Man last night, in Spanish unfortunately, so I'll have to watch it again in English when I get back. It was pretty good, but so many things are lost in the translation, and I find that I'm still not very good at watching movies in Spanish. I have no clue what was being said for the majority of the movie, lol. It was a fun night out with a few of my friends, though, so that's always nice. I spent today resting and doing a little homework, thinking about how much homework I'm going to have to do this week. I only have 3 weeks of classes left, yay!!

Hope all is well for everyone!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Fumes of the End

Hello to all! Everything is going well here. I just got back from a wonderful weekend trip to my favorite beach in the whole world, Montezuma. It was kind of bittersweet because I knew that I wasn't going to get to see in a really long time. My friend Elena's dad came down to visit and put us up in a little house on the beach, very cool, props to her dad. I really appreciate him supporting us for a weekend, lol. This time I also got to see one of the beautiful waterfalls in Montezuma and do a little swimming in freshwater, which was really nice. I think everyone had a pretty good time over all. It'll probably be a few weekends until we go anywhere again, so hopefully that will tide us over.

Schoolwork is piling on more and more daily, and I can definitely tell that I'm nearing the end of this 5 month roller coaster. Today, I was walking with one of my friends, trying to have a conversation, and was bathed in diesel and carbon monoxide fumes from a huge truck. I've decided it's probably time for me to come home if anything, just for my health, lol. My poor lungs can't take much more of this city life. I'm looking forward to walking out my front door again, and being able to breathe deeply without coughing, lol.

Sorry my posts haven't been more interesting as of late, but there really aren't a whole lot of interesting things going on. I can't go many places due to schoolwork, and the newness of this whole experience has kind of worn off. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying myself immensely, but the brightness of it all is gone.

Hopefully something exciting will happen soon! :-) Hope all is well...

Pura vida,
Amelia

Depressed because I'm happy, what?

Life is going quite wonderfully at the moment. I've never had this little stress in my life, there aren't any reminders of bad things that happened in the past, I really don't do much of anything as far as school goes...I'm happy. With this happiness though, apparently, comes the consequence of not being able to write good music. I don't know if any other musician has ever experienced this, but I can't seem to write anything good when I'm happy, lol. I'm baffled actually! Because of this I'm slightly depressed that I can't write a good song at the moment, lol...yeah, it's pretty weird. Oh well, I only have 7 weeks left, so soon I will be back in the stressful, do-everything-as-fast-as-possible world of the U.S. I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about. :-)

Seriously, though, I'm amazed at how nice things have been since I've been down here. In the States I used to cry at least twice a month over who knows what(I can't really remember), but the only times I cry here are when I'm homesick, and it's been a month or so since I've been really homesick. I'm ready to come home so I can get on with the rest of my life, but at the same time, I'm afraid that I'm going to lose this carefree attitude that I've developed as soon as I get back. I'm going to try to stay the way I am now when I return. So, if some of you notice that I really just don't care about certain things that are important to many people that live in the U.S., such as being early for everything, I apologize in advance, lol. Apparently that's what it takes for me to chill...I just can't worry about trying to please everyone. I have to do what makes me happy because if I can't make myself happy then everyone around won't want to stay around me. Happiness is infectious, kind of like a drug. Everyone should take a lesson from the Costa Ricans on this issue. The Costa Rican mottos are "Pura vida" and "Tranquilo," both of which basically just mean, "chill out", "don't worry, be happy." This is all that matters in life. Nothing is worth stressing over too much. I hope I can keep this attitude when I get back. Everything is so much simpler this way...

Paz,
Amelia

3 months in...2 to go...

Last Saturday marked 3 months of being in Costa Rica. I can't believe that time has gone by that quickly!! I've made so many amazing friends and memories here, it's hard to think about leaving! We all had a great time this weekend when we went to the country! It was actually an organized trip with our exchange group and about 7 of the girls out of the group came. We stayed at this gorgeous little hostel right next to a little river where we could go wading. We didn't wade for long, though, because I think we saw like 3 snakes within a 5 hour period, lol, not poisonous, but they don't make for the best company in the water. The food was pretty good, homemade cheese and tortillas! The first day we went to a tiny coffee plantation and had some really fresh coffee. The second day we went to a little dairy farm where we learned how they made the cheese. It was neat but I don't think we were that impressed, lol. 4 of us were from Tennessee, 1 from Nebraska, 1 from North Carolina, and 1 from Illinois that goes to school in North Carolina...we know what cows look like, lol, and a farm is a farm anywhere. It cracks me up how everyone down here thinks that all of the people from the United States come from big cities. It baffles them that the majority of people in the U.S. actually live in rural areas where they have....cows and farms, lol. Oh the silly Costa Ricans...gotta love 'em!

The rest of my week will be pretty easy. I only have 2 more classes because Thursday is the Costa Rican version of Labor Day, so no classes. I was going to go traveling this weekend, but I think we decided to just stay here and relax, maybe catch some movies or something. The next weekend I'll be going to Montezuma, my most favorite place in the world!! I'm trying to make the best of the time I have left here. Part of me is ready to come home and the other part just wants to keep traveling so I can see everything! I've already made plans for all the breaks I have during the school year next year, lol. Now I just have to find a job so I can support all those plans...lol.

Hope all is well for everyone! Good luck to all of those that have finals in the next couple of weeks and hope you have a great start to the summer!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Festival Imperial and homework abounding

Things seem to be going okay at the moment. This past weekend some friends and I went to a music festival called Festival Imperial. Imperial is THE Costa Rican beer and they were the sponsors of the whole event. I found a new band that I really like from Mexico, Cafe Tacvba, and there were several others there as well. The headliners were Incubus and Smashing Pumpkins, both from the U.S., the influence from the U.S. is just crazy sometimes. The Costa Ricans absolutely love both of these bands apparently. I'm not a huge fan of either, but Incubus was pretty good. I think if I had known more of their songs I would have enjoyed it more. Smashing Pumpkins, however, are definitely not one of my favorites. I guess I've never really heard them, but half of their concert was just really noisy and screaming, not my thing. I got out of the crowd before they started. A couple of friends and I were squashed up against a metal barrier in the very middle of the crowd, and we had been standing for about 9 hours. I told the security guard that I couldn't take it anymore and he had the medics come pull me out of the crowd, there was no way to get through the other direction. Imagine being stuck in a sea of 25, 000 screaming, pushing Costa Ricans...not a pretty sight. Anyway, after they gave me a bottle of water at the First Aid tent I was fine, and one of my other friends that wasn't stuck in the middle of the crowd came running to find me after I called her. I just seem to get myself into the silliest situations, don't I? All in all, though, the festival was pretty fun, next time I think I'll just hang around on the outskirts of the crowd, though, especially when I'm not extremely fond of the bands that are playing.

Other than that, I really didn't do much this weekend. I had to write an 8-page paper over Daily Faith and a Horizon of Participation...yeah, not fun, but I finally got it finished. Now I just have to focus on tons of assigned readings and a presentation I have to give on Thursday about Political Ethics in the U.S. Whew...I think I'm ready for school to be over, lol. It's a little sad for me to think about coming, though. I only have about 2 months left! Oh well, that means I can eat pickles and ranch dressing with my french fries again!! :-)

Hope everyone is doing well out there!

Paz,
Amelia

I'm not sure if the stamp was worth it...

So, I will preface this blog with this disclaimer:

We were very stupid Gringa girls for getting ourselves into this mess, and my God is a powerful and faithful God.

Now to the story...Elena, Amanda, Brittney, Renee', and I left our town of Heredia on Thursday evening for a city on the Caribbean coast called Puerto Limon. Upon arrival I immediately decided it was the sketchiest place in Costa Rica and I couldn't wait to leave for Panama on Friday morning. The hotel wasn't exactly 5 star, understatement...but it had beds and a lock and it was 10:30 at night, so we weren't complaining. (Side note: We later found out that one of the girls lost her shoes in this hotel and upon calling the owners several times, they told her that she would not be getting her shoes back. Great place, huh?) So, we got up on Friday morning, "refreshed", and ready to hit the Panamanian border! After 5 hours or so we were finally there, and made it through with no problems. We had another stamp in our passport, yay! We then hopped on a bus to a town on the Caribbean coast in Panama and then we took a boat to get to the main island of Bocas del Toro. Once we got there, though, we decided to stay on one of the smaller islands nearby because it was cheaper and less touristy, so we then took a water taxi to get to it. Our hostel on this island, Isla Bastimentos, was comfortable and the owner was a sweet woman whose son took us everywhere in his boat. We enjoyed a nice evening of island life on Friday night with no clue what was to come on Saturday...

We had been told that there was a beach on our island and that you could get to it by walking on a little path for about 15 minutes. So, Saturday morning, we got all geared up to go to the beach: swimsuits, food for lunch, towels, flip-flops...your basic beach needs, and we headed for the trail. We walked to the end of the sidewalk and up a huge flight of concrete steps and ran right into a cemetery...looking back, this could have been foreshadowing of what was to come. None of us doubted that we were on the wrong path or even thought for a second that we should ask for directions. Hence, we were very stupid Gringa girls. So, we're walking on this pretty steep, muddy trail tripping and falling when we come to a little stream with a log over it to cross. Elena and Brittney walk across it first and both slip and fall into the stream. Elena's leg gets stuck in mud up to her knee and both of Brittney's flip-flops break, so she is now shoeless. For some reason though, we didn't turn back. We thought, oh, the beach is really close, you can get all cleaned up there. So we kept going. At this point we had also picked up an old woman from Canada that was studying Spanish by herself in Central America and saw us walking into the jungle and thought we knew where we were going...she turned out to be much more of a hindrance than a help. So, we continue walking through the jungle on a dwindling path and don't think anything of it. Thirty minutes later we were lost in the Panamanian jungle and the panic started to set in. There were spiders as big as our fists everywhere and we expected to see a snake at any point. Everyone started to freak out a little bit. There was no way we could go back because we couldn't remember where we had come from and everywhere we looked was pretty much impassable. Having no choice, we continued to trudge through this jungle, barefoot, and praying the whole time that we would somehow get out of this. We walked for about an hour and found a sign that said: Private property of the Tom family, bought in 1987, don't touch what isn't yours. There was a little Nazi symbol underneath it. I'm pretty sure we were all pretty pissed. What the crap is a Nazi sign doing in the middle of the Panamanian jungle and how in the world will they know if someone has touched their stupid mud and spiders!? Everyone's terror was continuing to mount the longer we were in there, so I started moving as fast as I could. At this point, we were all pretty much barefoot because flip-flops don't have that great of traction in the mud, and I shudder to think of the things that I stepped in and on running through the jungle. We came to a little marsh eventually and the 5 of us booked it across it in fear of the snaked most likely living there, but the Canadian woman had other ideas...it took her 45 minutes to cross the thing!! Brittney and I were standing on a tree limb to keep from standing in the muck and the other girls were attempting to stay out of the marsh as well with little success because we still hadn't run into solid ground yet. I was pretty mad at this point because we were burning daylight, standing still in the middle of the jungle, and were still completely lost and terrified. I just started praying, "Lord, please get us out of this. Guide us to the beach and to safety. I have no clue where I'm going." We eventually got the Canadian out of the marsh, and I ran until I could find solid ground. The sound of the ocean was getting louder and louder and the trees started to thin out more and more. I finally broke free out of the jungle and I've never been so happy to see anything in my entire life. Brittney and I just started sobbing and praising the Lord. Everyone else did the same as soon as they walked out. I know all of you back in the U.S. are probably reading this and thinking that I'm exaggerating, but I assure you that this is the closest I've ever come to a near death experience. We were lost in the middle of the Panamanian jungle for 4 hours without the proper footwear and poisonous spiders at every turn. Words cannot describe our fear. By some miracle, we all came out of it with only scrapes and bruises, no broken bones or major bites. The worst part was that when we came out the policemen patrolling the beach came over to us and told us that the path we should have taken was about 50 or 100 feet away from where we came out. So, yes, we were ridiculously stupid, but God got us through it.

There were a few times when Elena pulled out her camera so I will try to post a few of those pics so you guys can see just what we went through. After this ordeal we continued to try and enjoy ourselves so on Sunday we went on a guided tour where we saw dolphins, went snorkeling, and enjoyed a different beach on a different island where the waves were awesome and we rented a boogie board to play around with.

I can honestly say that this trip was a huge learning experience, and although if I could do it again I would do things differently, I'm really glad that we went. As the title suggests though...I'm pretty sure the entry stamp on my passport wasn't worth what we went through once we got into Panama.

Hope everyone is safe and sound in the U.S. I'm super happy to be alive and out of the Panamanian jungle!! Saturday marked our halfway point, so I'll be home in 2 and a half months!
Appreciating the blessing of life,
Amelia

Panama Bound

After a long week of homework and my first test in Costa Rica, my friends and I have decided to take a little trip to Panama! It seems somewhat surreal to me, lol. If you had told me a year ago that I would be taking a quick trip to Panama I would have probably laughed. We're going to a place called Bocas de Toro, a series of islands on the Caribbean side of the country. I've heard it's absolutely gorgeous and I plan to do some snorkeling and dolphin watching while I'm there. I'm little nervous of the border crossing and how it will be different from Costa Rica, but it's an adventure! Because of this trip I've fallen in love with traveling, lol. I'm already planning trips to take once I get back to the U.S.

So, when I get back I'll have lots of pics and I'll try to post a few of them on here. Hope all is well in the U.S.! Say a prayer for mine and my friends safety in Panama if you think about it!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Love in Action

Today I had the opportunity to do some translating. It was my first hands-on translating experience. The people in my exchange program received an e-mail about a week ago telling us that if were interested, just let them know. So, today three other friends and I got picked up by a bus and taken to a beautiful little ranch/farm about 20 minutes away from our town. I was almost immediately taken aback at the kindness of the people we were with. They all worked for a foundation called Christian Foundation for Children and Aging which is was founded in the Catholic faith, but doesn't judge based on a person's religion. A lot of them were people from the U.S. that sponsor a child down here for about $30 a day. Because of this money, they are able to buy things like school supplies when they would have no other way of getting money to pay for them. I was so amazed at the love that these Americans had for the families that they sponsor down here. After writing letters back and forth and supporting them, they were finally able to meet. It was incredible. Some of the stories were just heartbreaking and I had tears in my eyes at one point. Today was a day for them to just get together and enjoy each other's company. Everyone played games, ate lunch together, and did a little Latin dancing, lol. So, our job was to translate between the sponsors and their families. It was just so amazing, there aren't even words to describe. I could just feel God's love pouring out of these people onto the Costa Rican families and children. I think all of us were extremely touched. We spoke to the founder of the foundation and got his business card. We're going to see if we can help out some more while we're down here. I feel so blessed after today. It's an amazing organization that is making a difference in the world one child at a time. Incredible...

Also, I learned that I can speak Spanish, lol! I know that sounds crazy, but most days I come home feeling completely stupid because I couldn't understand half of what was said to me, but today, I feel like I accomplished something. It was definitely uplifting and encouraging, and it made me feel like I'm actually learning the language more than I thought I was. Good day, good day...

Website: www.cfcausa.org Check out the foundation's website!

Con amor,
Amelia

Theology and The Cycle of Being Homesick

I was told when I first arrived here that I would go through a cycle of missing home and then not missing home and then somewhere in between. I've decided that this idea is crap. I still miss pickles, driving, a choice of what I get to eat, and the feeling of safety I feel almost continuously in the U.S. On the plus side, though, I have definitely grown to love my host family. My host mom is super sweet, and does things for me that I would never ask anyone to do. (Like crawling into the attic space to run an internet cable into my room so I could have internet in my room at all times. I was blown away by this because it was totally awesome and unnecessary.) My little host niece, I guess you would call her, loves to come into my room and hang out with me. She's 6 years old, so we watch a lot of Disney movies and play normal 6-year-old games, lol. I will definitely miss them when I come back to the States. I have met so many wonderful Costa Ricans since I came down here, and it makes me wonder if there are as many people in the United States that would be willing to open their homes and welcome foreigners into their houses. I've decided that I think I would like to be a host family someday. It's just so thoughtful and compassionate.

In other news, I had my weekly Theology class tonight, and normally it's incredibly boring, but tonight was different. Our professor had some of her colleagues come sit on a panel and we got to ask them questions. About halfway through class we were told to get into groups and one of the colleagues came to talk to us. The man that came to talk to us was incredible! I think he is probably one of the most educated men I have ever talked to. He was born in the poor mountains of Costa Rica, and had to walk two hours to school everyday during grammar school and then walk an hour and ride a bus for another half hour during high school. He eventually received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy and obtained a scholarship to the U.S. where he went to a different school to get a different degree. His wife is from New Jersey, and he's lived all over Europe and the U.S. He's fluent in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Latin, German, and I think he speaks a little Hebrew, too. Basically, it's ridiculous, lol. He's so well read in all types of religions that he could probably have been raised in any of them. He said that he attends a Christian church, but a lot of times things in the church make him angry, so he just has his own personal beliefs. Pretty much everything he said was extremely thought-provoking and complex. He looks at things so differently than Christians in the States. It was one of the best classes I've had to date in Costa Rica, I think. I definitely learned a lot.

So, as you can tell, things are going well, and I should be headed to the beach this weekend! It's called Cahuita and it's close to a larger beach called Puerto Viejo in the province of Limon. I'm excited. It will be nice to get away for the weekend. Oh, there's a few pics from my parent's visit at the top of my post. I think they had a really good time.

Hope all is well in the U.S. Miss you guys!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Back to "Work"

So my long vacation week is now over and it's back to my weekly schedule of school and music. That's basically the extent of my days Monday through Thursday, lol. I do a whole lot of nothing most of the time. I think I'm going to go into shock when I get back to the States and have to do actual homework, lol. Nevertheless, the daily wear and tear of Costa Rica is starting to get to me. My parents came to visit me over the past weekend, I loved seeing them, and it made me realize just how great my parents are, lol. I've definitely missed them and will continue to miss them over the next 3 months. I think I did a pretty good job of playing tour guide for them. There were a few logistical problems because of the holiday weekend, the whole country of Costa Rica shuts down on Good Friday, but we still were able to enjoy ourselves. They stayed in a hotel with beautiful gardens so we spent lots of time there. All weekend long there were processions showing the life and death of Jesus and we got to see one of them on Friday morning. It was very moving and beautiful. On Saturday I took them on a canopy tour which they loved! The canopy tour is always a hit, lol. We also toured a coffee plantation at some point during their visit which was pretty cool. We learned all about the process of growing, roasting, and selling coffee. The coffee was pretty good, too! I think my mom bought enough to last her for the rest of the year, lol.

All in all, I think my parents' visit went well and they got a little taste of Costa Rica and the town I've been living in for the past 2 months. 2 months?!! Can you believe that I've been living in Costa Rica for 2 months?! Some days it just kind of hits me and I'm just like, "Are you crazy?!" lol. I'm enjoying myself, but I definitely have days where it would be great to be in the the U.S.

So...plan for the week: go to school and play some guitar, lol. Plan for this weekend: Have a super awesome slumber party with some of my girlfriends here. We're going to order a pizza from Pizza Hut and watch movies all night. It's going to be great! I'm looking forward to it!!

I hope everything is going well in the U.S. Leave me some comments and let me know how all of you guys are doing!!

Paz,
Amelia

Montezuma and Pura Vida

I have returned from a fabulous weekend at the beach and I finally have a slight tan, lol! Brittney, Renee' and I left Heredia Friday morning in search of a relaxing, beautiful weekend, and we definitely found it. We first headed to the airport to take our plane and upon seeing it, immediately questioned why we chose to fly, lol. Little planes are a little scary...but, we arrived in Tambor after 25 minutes instead of 6 hours by bus, so we were pretty ecstatic. From the "airport" in Tambor, it was really just an airstrip but the locals seemed to think it was a pretty big deal, we headed to Paquera and our tour of Isla Tortuga. We hung out on the beach at the tour place for a while until our tour guide, Juan, took us out in the boat. The water was blue and clear, and we had an absolute blast snorkeling! I felt a little nervous at first, but after the first few minutes I had it down and we were swimming with the fishies! We did that for about an hour and then we headed to the main island. It turns out that Isla Tortuga isn't just one island. It's a bunch of islands that make up the shape of a turtle! It was amazing. Juan chopped up some pineapple, coconut, and watermelon for us and left us to explore for a few hours or so. We definitely enjoyed it even if we did have to pee behind a tree, lol...they were charging a dollar to use the port-o-potty!! We were on a budget so the tree worked just fine, lol. After a while, Juan came to pick us up and somewhere during this whole trip he found out that we were headed to Montezuma which he called Montefuma...fumar means to smoke in spanish and monte apparently means weed...more on this later...lol.

Well, after we got back, we had to go catch our bus to Montezuma. Juan told us that the bus left at 5:20...at 6:15, we were headed to Montezuma, lol. Needless to say, Juan was not on our good list after that. Standing on the side of the road in Costa Rica for an hour and a half with no bathrooms or a bench to sit on was not exactly our idea of fun, but we finally caught a bus and we were headed to Montezuma. Let me just say that it's probably the prettiest beach I've ever been to! We had planned on only staying there for one night and then heading to Mal Pais, but instead, we decided to just stay for the whole weekend! The town itself had 2 streets with lots of really great souvenir shops, restaurants, and...yes, weed, lol. The whole town appears to be caught in a time warp of hippies and happiness. Very chill, the epitome of the Costa Rican motto: Pura Vida. There were lots of tourists there from America, France, Canada...you name it, they were there. We spent two days basking in the sunshine on the beach. The water was crystal clear and blue and there were beautiful, but dangerous, rocks and boulders everywhere. Our hotel was only a 1/4 of a mile from the beach and we actually had A/C, which I definitely took for granted, lol!! Last night we ate at a restaurant called El Sano Banano(the Healthy Banana), and we got to watch a movie for free. Every night they show a different movie and last night it was Hairspray, very cute! It was a great ending to a great weekend. We absolutely loved Montezuma, and I hope we have a chance to go back. We were pretty sad to leave it this morning, and we wanted to prolong our weekend vacation as long as possible, so we hit up Burger King after we got back to Heredia, lol. I just never realized I could miss greasy hamburgers that are terrible for you, lol!

Wednesday my folks are heading down and I'm really excited to show them around! Costa Rica is celebrating Semana Santa right now so there are tons of religious processions going on all week. Hopefully we'll get a chance to catch some of them! Oh, and if anyone wants to check out some pics I took this weekend, here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2045165&l=562fa&id=52702346

Enjoy! I wish I could bring everyone down here to experience this with me! Hope all is well in the States!

Mucho amor,
Amelia

Two Days 'till Freedom...

Hello to everyone! Hope everything is going well in the U.S. Things are still swell here! I had a pretty relaxing weekend just chilling with some of my buddies here. We saw a movie on Friday night, No Country for Old Men or Sin Lugar para los Debiles en espanol. It was pretty good, won a lot of Oscars so we thought we'd give it a try. It reminded us of home a little bit because all of the characters had very southern accents. Best line of the whole movie said with a southern accent, "Well, I guess I've seen 'bout everythin'. I work at Wal-Mart." We were the only people in the entire theater laughing, lol. I guess some things just don't translate, lol.

On Saturday, we all decided to dye our hair! I ended up dying mine black which isn't hugely different because my hair is almost black anyway. I had some red highlights back in the States that looked really cool, but when I got down here, they changed to orange from the sun so my head looked like Halloween, lol. So, I thought it was time to fix that, lol. We all had a great time with it, though. My friend Brittney did all of ours for us because she had done it before, and she did a great job, lol.

Sunday night, my friends Amanda and Renee' came over so we could work on a project about the Tango. Needless to say, we were up very late because we had procrastinated all weekend...but, around 12 in the morning it was finally finished and we gave it yesterday morning so I'm pretty much done stressing for a while about school work. We have 2 more days of classes and then we're free!!! We get a whole week off for Semana Santa here, or the Holy Week before Easter. The whole country basically just shuts down to celebrate, lol.

This weekend, Brittney, Renee' and I are going to celebrate by going to the beach! Yay! We're so excited to have a little vacation. On Friday we're going to take a little airplane to a place called Tambor on the Nicoya Peninsula. It takes about 40 min by air as opposed to 6 hours by bus so we're excited to not be taking the bus, lol. We're going to spend Friday snorkeling at a little Island called Tortuga(turtle). From the pictures it looks gorgeous, so we're pumped! After that we're going to spend the night at la playa(beach) Montezuma and then the next 2 nights we're going to spend at la playa Mal Pais. It should be a very relaxing 4 days or so. I'm sure I will have plenty to blog about!! On Wednesday my parents are coming to visit so I'm really excited about that as well!! I love having visitors! :-)

Thanks for reading! :-)

Pura vida,
Amelia

Time flies

Well, my brother is back safe and sound in the good ole U.S.A. This week has definitely gone by quickly. After we did the canopy tour we ended up going to a futbol game. It was great!! The fans down here are slightly crazy, but it made for great entertainment. We were rooting for a team called Saprissa, a professional team here in Costa Rica, and they won! We bought jerseys and tickets for like $16 each, super cheap compared to the U.S.! On Wednesday, Amanda, Frank, and I went to a place called INBio Park. It was pretty cool, kind of half museum and half zoo. We saw spiders, snakes, frogs, caimans, and tons of iguanas! They were everywhere! There was a little pond right in the middle of the park and these iguanas were just chilling out next to it. It was pretty neat. Wednesday night, we went to Amanda's house to hang out. We've decided that her host mom is the coolest out of all of ours. I took my guitar and we all sang songs together in English and Spanish. She made us some amazing hot chocolate as well! It was a great end to a great week. Brittney and I took him to the airport yesterday, and I was sad to see him go. It was really nice to have someone from home visiting me. My parents should be here in 2 weeks so I'm pretty excited to see them, too.

Other than all of that, things are pretty relaxed right now. I have a huge presentation due on Monday, so I guess I'll work on that today or something, lol. I'm such a procrastinator...lol. I played my newest song the other night at Amanda's house and everyone really liked it. I think I like it, too. It has a real bluesy sound to it which is what I've been trying to go for.

So, homework this weekend...beach next weekend? Man, I love living in Costa Rica, lol...nothing's set in stone, and no one stresses out about anything. Everything is just so pura vida...

Paz,
Amelia

Playing tour guide!!

So, it's Day 2 of my brother's visit, and it's very cool to have someone from home come visit me! I picked him up at the airport yesterday, and it's been a whirlwind since then, lol. We showed him around Heredia, the town I live in, yesterday and went to church last night. Today, he went to class with me this morning, which was a trip, lol, and we headed to San Jose to the Artesania Market. It's basically a long strip of market stalls with souvenirs and such, but it's neat nonetheless. Tomorrow, we're going on a canopy tour, which I'm hoping he'll love, and then Wednesday we're going to a place called INBioparque. I've heard it's kind of like a zoo/museum, but my host mom says it's cool, so it should be fun. He leaves on Thursday, unfortunately he won't get a chance to see the beach, but I think he's having fun being in a warm climate and away from school, lol.

Last weekend, before my brother got here, a bunch of us went to see the Arenal Volcano. It was absolutely gorgeous!! We lucked out and had clear skies, so we saw the volcano perfectly. We went on a night tour and saw lava coming down the sides, amazing, and then we spent about 2 hours at the hot springs really close to the volcano. There were swim-up bars where the drinks were $10 a piece!! Of course, we all ordered one...just to say we had ordered a drink from a swim-up bar, lol. All in all, it was an amazing trip! We met a few more people from a different exchange group, one from Nashville, one from Connecticut, and one from Russia, and we had a blast with them, so yay for new friends!

When we got back on Saturday, we went to this club called La Rumba that's really close to Heredia. It was so cool to see people actually DANCING, not the bumping and grinding stuff you see in the States. All of the Ticos and Ticas (Costa Ricans) can dance so well! I wish we had all been brought up learning how to dance in America, lol.

Whew...it's been a busy few days, and it looks like it's going to be jammed packed for the next couple of days as well, lol. Hope all is well for everyone in the States! I miss you guys!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Random adventures occur daily

So, I've been in Costa Rica for about a month now, and I'm pretty much settled in. My weeks are scheduled, I'm actually on a sleep schedule here, and the weekends are anything but scheduled. This past weekend, however, my friends and I chose to just chill here in Heredia. It was a pretty relaxing weekend actually. We went out on Friday, and enjoyed each other's company and the atmosphere of a neat place called La Casona. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons we sat in a little cafe close to our school, and attempted to do homework, but ended up talking instead. The desserts and coffee are amazing here, so of course, we had to partake, lol. It was kind of nice to just not do anything. Every other weekend that we've been here we've gone somewhere, so we needed some chill out time. This weekend will be jam packed, though! A group of us are headed to Arenal Volcano on Friday, getting back in time on Saturday to go to a dance club in San Jose called La Rumba, and then on Sunday I'm going to pick up my brother from the airport! I'm excited to have my family visit me to see how I've been living. It's going to be a busy, fun next week or so.

Today I found the bus to take me to the airport, and Amanda and I decided to explore a nearby town called Alajuela while we were close to it. We ate at Pizza Hut, and it was amazing!! I know that sounds crazy, but when you've been without that greasy pizza for so long, it tastes incredible. The Pizza Huts here are quite different than in the States, as well. We decided that they're a cross between a really nice restaurant, an American Pizza Hut, and a McDonald's because there was a playplace for kids. Our waitress was one of the nicest people I've met so far here, and she complimented our Spanish which really boosts my confidence! I think I'm improving, but sometimes it's hard to tell.

So, I have 3 more days of classes until playtime, and I'm avoiding homework like the plague...no change there, lol. I'm getting along with my host family better everyday, and I understand more of what they say to me. Hope all is well for everyone! Thanks for reading! I'll have more to report later!

Pura vida,
Amelia

A Latitude of a Different Color

Yesterday evening was the birthday of one of my new dear friends. I would have to say it was one of the best nights I've had in Costa Rica. After getting her all dolled up to go out, we went out on her balcony to gaze into the night sky. Last night, there was a full lunar eclipse here. I had an epiphany while standing on that balcony. I'm young, living my dreams, and I watched a lunar eclipse from Costa freakin' Rica. Life is pretty good right now. After the eclipse we went to a nearby bar where we chilled and had some amazing cake, very different here than the States but amazing nonetheless. We spent the night celebrating my friend's golden birthday listening to some great, and not so great, lol, tunes from our past. It was pretty much the best. I have a great life in the states, but Costa Rica is a horse, or latitude, of a different color. My stress levels have definitely dropped. I was discussing with my friend Amanda the other day how everyone down here is not really worried about anything, lol. I've seen very few angry people down here. (You might think differently after being in traffic, though.) The mottos here are, "Tranquilo," and "Pura vida." They definitely live by them.

After a week of school, I'm spending the weekend doing absolutely nothing, lol. The furthest I've planned is maybe going to see a movie tomorrow. Homework is slightly overwhelming, but I think I can handle it. Next weekend appears to be jam packed, so I'm going to need this little break. I think I might go to the Volcano Arenal next Friday, dancing next Saturday night, and then my brother is coming to visit me from the States! I'm excited to show him how my life is here in Costa Rica. So many things to see, so little time...

I'm still missing flavorful food, but I'm learning to adapt. I've been here for almost a month now! That's so hard to believe. My Spanish is slowly but surely improving. I'm taking some one on one tutoring lessons that are really helping me out. I learn something new everyday, and I meet someone new every other day. I can't believe how many great friends I've made already and I still have 4 months left!

Hope all is well for everyone!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Ziplining through the rain

Hello to all! Just thought I would share a little about my experiences from this weekend. A big group of us went to check out the volcano Poas, but sadly it was completely clouded over. We were supposed to be able to see the crater with a beautiful emerald green lagoon right in the middle, but instead all we saw was a big blanket of white clouds moving around us. I thought it was pretty neat to be in the clouds, but I think I would have preferred to see the beautiful lagoon, lol. Oh well, maybe next time.

After the disappointing volcano, we went to this gorgeous little trout restaurant in the rainforest where we ate spaghetti, lol. I took some pictures, so I'll try to get a few up soon. The best part about this little paradise, though, was the zipline all around it throughout the rainforest canopy! It was so amazing to be zipping through the air thousands of feet above the ground! About halfway through the tour it started pouring rain, in the rainforest, go figure, lol, but it actually just made it that much better. You would start from a platform set about halfway up a tree and soar through the air over trees and valleys while the rain pelted you. Everything was so green and alive; I absolutely loved it! If you ever get the chance to come to Costa Rica, do the canopy tour. It's incredible! Make sure you bring warm clothing for the rainforest, though, because it doesn't really get above 60 degrees. I was pretty warm and toasty in my North Face jacket, though, so thank you, Dad!

Everything has been going pretty well in general. I'm almost over my sickness and will hopefully be able to sing again, lol. (It's always a bummer when I get sick because I can't sing for a while.) I think the biggest thing getting me down this week is the food. Most of the food here is very bland, I eat rice at pretty much every meal. I could go for a good bowl of gumbo or a pizza. A few friends and I had sushi the other day, and it was amazing just because it actually had taste, lol! Oh well, I guess it's just one of those things I have to continue to get used to.

Hope all is well for everyone in the States!
Paz,
Amelia

¡Feliz día de la amistad y amor!

Happy friendship and Valentine's Day! I was actually surprised that they celebrate this commercial holiday in Costa Rica, but alas, I couldn't get away from it. A slight difference, though, is that here, it seems to be focused more on love in general, not romantic love, which is a vast improvement in my opinion. It's not nearly as commercial down here from what I can tell, and the people genuinely love each other. Everyone here, for the most part, is pretty peaceful, very "make love not war." I like it.

In other news, I've been fighting a sickness from hell, lol. For some reason they don't believe in Mucinex and Benadryl here, or I can't figure out what they're called in Spanish, probably the latter. I finally got some meds from the infirmary here on campus, though, so I've been steadily improving. I think I'll probably just take it easy this weekend, no beach for me. We are going to see el Volcán Poas on Sunday, though. I'm pretty excited!

Weather's still great, and I'm still getting wonderful exercise. I think I'll be used to all this walking by the time I come back to the states, and won't want to drive anymore, lol. I basically eat whatever I want, and then just burn it all off! It's a pretty great system. I now have a slight tan as well since I got toasted on the beach last weekend.

Hope all is well! Thank you for the continued comments and support! It makes my day to see that people are reading my completely random thoughts!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Jacó '08 and Norwegians...who knew?

Well, I just got back from a nice relaxing trip to the Jacó beach. I went with about 10 other Americans, so plenty of speaking English this weekend, lol. We stayed a nice little place about 1/4 mile from the beach. Pretty much everyone got burned on the first day even after applying sunscreen liberally, lol, so I spent most of Saturday at the pool in the shade. There were a lot of surfers out on Saturday afternoon, though, so I went walking on the beach to see the action. A couple of the Americans had some boards so we watched them try to tackle the waves. Not bad, not bad...lol. Saturday night was extremely fun! Since we went dancing on Friday night, we decided to just chill on the beach on Saturday. There were 4 of us just sitting and talking and a guy walks us and asks us where we're from and if he and his friends can come chill with us. Turns out they were from Norway! Never in a million years would I have thought I would be sitting on a beach in Costa Rica, and have a really great conversation with Norwegians! They were just on vacation and had travelled from Peru the day before. They told us they battled 10 killer monkeys and 4 pumas in the jungle there, which quickly turned into a very big joke, lol. Very cool, I can now say that I have friends in Norway!

It's back to the daily grind of school and homework now with a trip to the volcano Poas this weekend. I'm pretty stoked about it because I can't remember seeing a volcano up close and personal, lol. I think we're going on a canopy tour through the rainforest as well, and I've heard that's supposed to be awesome!

Things are going well. I miss pickles and chicken fried steak, but love the blackberry juice here called Mora. Hope everyone is well in the states!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Toilet Paper

Okay, so, thus far, I´ve liked pretty much everything about Costa Rica, but...they are severely lacking in the toilet paper area. I don´t think I´ve been to a single bathroom that had toilet paper readily available. They have the containers, but somehow never manage to get any into the containers. It sucks. I´ve discovered that pretty much everyone carries toilet paper around with them. Needless to say, this is something I will no longer take for granted in the States.

Headed to the beach this weekend! We´re going to nearby one called Jacó. I´m pretty pumped because I don´t get to go to the beach that often. I´m just going to sit on the beach, do homework, and ¨marinate¨, as one of my new friends from Iowa says, lol. It´s going to be great!!

Oh yeah, everyone send up some prayers for those at in TN that were hit by the tornadoes, especially Union University, where my best friend attends. The dorms were pretty much destroyed. Wish I was there to help you out, buddy!

Paz de Costa Rica,
Amelia

School begins...

So, my little mini vacation is over it would seem. We started school today, and it appears that I´m going to have my work cut out for me. Everything in Spanish plus tons of homework. I didn´t expect anything different, but chilling in Costa Rica with pretty much nothing to do was pretty awesome for a week, lol. Another sucky thing about school, is that I have to walk like a mile and a half to get to one of my classes twice a week entirely uphill...I better lose some weight or gain some muscle. I have one more class today, so I´m just kind of hanging out until then.

The excursion last weekend was awesome! Fresh pineapple is amazing! Very cool to see the whole process of choosing the good ones to ship out all over the world. One we finished with that, we went to the Tirimbina Biological Reserve which was basically kind of like a resort in the rainforest. It was incredible! We toured an old chocolate plantation there and learned how to make chocolate bars. Very good...lol. The night tour throught the rainforest was amazing, as well. So much to hear and see! We walked on a 900 m suspension bridge about a thousand feet from a raging river. Awesome at night because you could look up and see incredible stars while listening to the roaring river. On Sunday, we went on another river, the Sarapiquí, and did a little boat tour. There are such amazing animals here like iguanas and crocodiles! So cool! After we got back, a bunch of us got together to watch the Super Bowl. It was weird to watch such an American tradition in Costa Rica. The Costa Ricans, or Ticos, couldn´t understand why we wanted to watch it. They like soccer, or fútbol, much better, lol.

So, I have a week of classes and then this weekend I´m going to the beach! I´m really excited! Hope all is well in the U.S.!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Pineapples, Chocolate, and Bats...oh my

Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for the comments! I love getting them! I don´t know how to comment back, so I just thought I would thank everyone in a post! Things here are going well. I had a little trouble with the ATMs but everything is okay now and I´m no longer without money, lol. For future reference, if you´re going abroad, find out which types of banks will work with your debit card. Otherwise, it either won´t work or it gives you American money! Definitely not what I needed...lol.

I´m still learning the lay of the land. Haven´t really figured out bus system at all, but I think I´ve got the taxi thing under control. Funny story, though...another exchange student and I took one the other day to get home, and she decides to strike up a conversation with him. I wasn´t really paying attention until I heard her tell him we were from Canada! Apparently this is a good idea to do because the world likes Canadians a little more that Americans, news to me, anyway...so, we drop off my friend and we´re headed to my place, and the driver starts asking me questions about Canada! Well, I know nothing about Canada, lol, so I basically had to make up stuff about Canada while speaking in Spanish for 5 or 10 minutes. Funny now, but at the time not so much, lol. I did find out that I´m a lot better at lying in Spanish than in English, possibly good to know...

This weekend I´m going on an excursion to the rainforest! We´re going to tour a pineapple and chocolate plantation, and go on a night excursion to see some nocturnal animals such as bats and certain frogs. It should be pretty cool, and hopefully I´ll have something to write about it. Hope all is well!

Peace from Costa Rica,
Amelia

Walking, walking, and more walking...

So, as the title would suggest. I do a lot of walking, lol. I walk 8 blocks to school in the morning, and then 8 blocks back for lunch, and then I spend most of the afternoon walking around the town exploring. Today, I had the second day of orientation, and all we did was walk!! I think I´ve walked at least 3 miles today. If I don´t get in shape from this, I´ll be pretty mad, lol! I kind of enjoy it, though. When you have to walk somewhere, you are more aware of your surroundings. (I have to be in order to not get lost, lol.) There´s always something new to see, and it´s pretty easy to find beauty everywhere. When you look out over the buildings, you can see mountains and volcanoes in the distance. It´s really quite breathtaking. I think the group of exchange students here will be going to see a few of those volcanoes soon...I´m pretty excited!

Last night, I went to a bar in San Jose, very upscale. It´s really weird here how the buildings are built. You can walk down the street and all you see are closed doors and barred windows, but if you walk inside...it´s incredible! That´s what my house is like, and that´s what the bar was like. There was a band with a girl singer playing and they were really good. It made me really miss being on stage! I think I´m going to take a singing class here at the university so I can keep my chops up for when I get back to the States!!

The weather here is beautiful, but it´s starting to warm up a bit. I found out today that Costa Rica is in winter right now. It´s been like 80 degrees everyday, lol. If this is winter then I´m afraid to see how hot summer is going to be during February and March! In April, the rainy season starts. My host mom says that it rains every afternoon during this time. I love rain, but even I may get sick of it, lol.

Well, that´s my update for now. Tomorrow I register for my classes, and I´m just praying everything goes well. I´m still having quite a bit of trouble understanding the local people. All the host families understand and they talk really slowly and clearly, but everyone else...not so much, lol.

Hope all is well!
Peace,
Amelia

Costa Rica!!

Hola! I´m in Costa Rica!! Hello to everyone out there! Things are going well so far. Today I went exploring with a couple of other study abroad students and a host mom. Heredia, the town I live in, is beautiful. Very windy right now, but my host mom tells me it will be very hot soon. Tomorrow I will be going to the University for the first time to begin an Orientation week. I´m excited and scared at the same time. I just know I´m going to screw something up while registering for classes, lol.

My host family is pretty nice, although I have no clue what they´re saying half the time. I just nod my head a lot and say ¨si¨ which could be a bad thing, lol. The food is nothing crazy so far. I have discovered, though, that I like Costa Rican pineapple. I´ve gone my whole life hating pineapple, and here I am, liking the ones grown in Costa Rica. I never knew there was a difference but there is, lol.

The drivers are ridiculously crazy here. I would never drive in this place, lol, and do not recommend it. There is a speed limit, but no one abides by it, and the police don´t seem to care, lol. There are very few stoplights, but a lot of stop signs. Most people take buses and there are some people the don´t even have cars. They just prefer walking or taking the bus, and so far, I´m with them, lol.

Hope all is well for everyone wherever you are!

Adios de Costa Rica,
Amelia

All my bags are packed and I'm ready to go...?

Well, I'm officially 21. Of course, I know in the grand scheme of life, that is not old, but it just got me thinking...every year I'll get another year older. Pretty soon, 30 will be looming up on the horizon! It just seems crazy to me that 5 years ago I was worried about getting my driver's license and the latest boy drama. Now I'm worried about moving to another country, graduating from college, and becoming a productive human in today's society. (Which seems to be an issue for a lot of people my age these days...) So, I know that I'm not old, but when am I grown up? I was talking to someone the other day and I said, "When I grow up, I want to be..." Then I realized, maybe I am already up. I can't really say that anymore. Time really flies. I used to dream about being 21, and now, I'm thinking it would be better to just live in the moment and enjoy the present because I know that I will not be dreaming about turning 30, lol.

On another note, I leave for Costa Rica in 3 days, and the anticipation/fear is nearly killing me. It's 2:15 in the morning, and I can't sleep. I think I'm on overload from my birthday and leaving the country, lol. My bags are packed, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to go. I know I'll enjoy it once I'm there, but there are just too many variables at this point. Will I like it? Will I get along with my host family? What will the food be like? What if I don't understand a word they say to me?! Yeah...those kinds of variables. I am excited, just apprehensive.

So, today I will celebrate my 21st birthday in the United States, and Saturday I will be living in Costa Rica. Doesn't that just sound crazy?!

Happiness to all,

Amelia

Loose ends

Well, recording was very successful. I'm pretty pleased with the results. If you're interested in listening, I posted the myspace address in my previous post, so have a listen! Other than recording, I feel like I'm just playing a waiting game. There are many loose ends that I'm tying up before I head out, and it's a tad overwhelming. In the midst of all of it, my birthday is next week, 21 years old. Instead of focusing on the big 2-1, though, I am putting most of my energy into taking care of things for Costa Rica and saying my good-byes.

I'm in good spirits, though, and pretty excited about what's to come. The weather in Costa Rica is beckoning me at this point. It is freezing in Tennessee, and after just returning from Florida it feels even colder. The tropics are calling my name...

Hope everyone's doing well!
Amelia

Florida for the weekend!

So, just in case Costa Rica wasn't enough travelling, I've decided to jet down to Florida for a couple of days. My uncle has a neat setup for recording down there, so I'm going to see what I can get done before I leave. Music is a huge passion of mine, and I'm excited to document Amelia-music pre-costa rica. While I'm in Costa Rica, I expect to write a lot of new material completely different from what I've been writing, so I'm excited! Hopefully, I'll be able to post a few of the newly recorded songs on my myspace, so check it out if you get the chance!

www.myspace.com/atritico

Hope all is going well for everyone! Leave me some feedback, and any advice you might have for someone leaving the states!

:-)
Amelia