School!

woooo, school & party

I'm officially done with my first week of school in Costa Rica. In order to fully understand my school-life, you have to know that Costa Ricans lead an extremely relaxed lifestyle. This week has been full of new experiences and has definitely not been filled with school work. In my public school, it's normal for the day to end 2 hours early just because a professor isn't there. I haven't had a full day of school yet. There are no substitutes and if your teacher isn't there, you have a free period, or if it's the end of the day, you go home. You have a lot of freedom at the school and it's incredibly easy to skip class. Nobody notices. (Not that I've skipped class)... In the classroom, there isn't much disciplin as students have their phones out on their desk or headphones in; teachers take no action in reprimanding them. Essentially, it's fully your responsibility to make sure you listen and take notes to make the most out of  the education offered to you.

People at school are so nice and welcoming. Having Nicole with me made it easier to understand the schooling system. She speaks no English but it's easy to communicate with her. I've met a lot of great people that I can see myself becoming friends with. It's still quite hard to comprehend what people are saying half the time, but I can tell that I'm improving. Being completely immersed in the language helps a lot.

There are two other students from AFS at my school, but they've been here for 6 months already. They're in the grade ahead of me. When they first arrived, they only knew the minimum of Spanish and now they're fluent. Hopefully my past lessons in the language will give me extra leverage in becoming fluent faster. Both of the girls are really helpful; telling me their first moments in Liberia, and their struggles that I can relate to. 

English is a big thing here. Many people speak it and a lot of people want to learn it. They love to watch American shows and learn about American culture. Popular music here is the same as in the US; J Biebs, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift etc. Other than the English music, salsa and merengue are very popular. People love to dance here and I'm going to be taking some classes soon in Salsa! :) 

Speaking of dancing, there's a HUGE party in Liberia right now. I went on Friday night, and it's amazing how pretty much everyone goes to it. There are loads of dance floors and DJs. As I've said, dancing is a big part of the culture here. Many of the girls at my school perform, and I know that a lot of of the boys love to salsa. 

I believe the party happens every year and it lasts for 2 weeks. There are many activities offered. There's a large stadium where bulls are let loose one at a time and tons of boys (no girls) run around, teasing the bull. It's extremely dangerous but the people here love it. I went to see it and it's scary just watching it. Many times when the bull was let loose, a man would ride it. I let out a little screech every time one of them fell off and nearly got stomped upon by the large beasts. I got a lot of looks from people. Probably because i was being a wuss. Another thing that is a part of the party, would be the horse festival that went around on Friday. It was basically 100s of horses parading around Liberia. Anyone could ride their horse around with the pack. It was crazy. Smelt like poo, but it was fun. 

So far, so good! 

Thanks for reading my lovlies!  

First Few Days With My Family

My Host Family... So far

Just to clarify with everyone, I'm living in a house with my host mum and my host sister. My host sister is one year younger than me and I've discovered over these past few days that she's quite antisocial haha. She loves her gameboy and is pretty much always in her room. She's very sweet though! She loves to draw Manga and read. She's very studious according to her mum. My host mum is incredibly kind and I already feel comfortable with her. However it's very hard to communicate with her as she does not know any English and speaks very rapid Spanish. I am constantly saying to her "mas despacio por favor" and "no entiende". It really is amazing how fast people talk. I've tried picking out different words in conversations I listen in on... It hardly ever gives me any information on what they're talking about as right when I figure one word out, they've moved on to an entirely different topic.
Anyway, these past few days have been really fun. I met my host family abuelos (the grandparents), Leylin (a cousin), and Nicole (a student at the school I will be starting on Monday). The abuelos are so nice. Abuela is hilarious, kind, and loving. She helped me clean my room today! She's so sweet and I already love her. Leylin is fluent in English and is a dentist. She helps me out when I can't understand something. Nicole, the girl who is attending my future school (Liceo Labortorio) speaks no English but is very kind and says she will stay with me throughout my troubles during school. One less thing to worry about! :D

I went to see a few of the beaches! On Monday, right after I got done writing my last blog, Leylin, Xinia (my host mum), Alina (my host sister) and I all went out down to three beaches: Playa de Panama, Playa de Hermosa, and Playa de Coco. Panama and Hermosa were the more peaceful beaches while Coco was a tourist destination, with loads of shops and people. 

I got to visit my family's two farms. Xinia and I went and picked up some stuff for the farms. (Gasoline, cow injection stuff, hay, and all that stuff that made the car smell like shit). Anyway, so we went to the first farm, called Finca Arenas. It was absolutely beautiful. Some pictures are down below. There was a fresh water spring where Xiene told me there would be fiestas and fun stuff sometimes. There were banana trees and there was a sugar cane field. I got to have some sugar cane! (Picture below of me being an idiot, eating it). It was spectacular! (cheesy)... The second farm had no name that I know of, but it was also beautiful. As we drove through, I met the sweetest family. They had moved from Nicaragua for work (recently, I believe) and were currently living on the farm in a small house. The parents had two girls, and one baby boy. He was very cute! So were the two chicas. They were a gorgeous family. They had a horse (el-caballo-con-no-nombre as I liked to call him) and I got to ride him! Pictures are below!! And I wish I got a picture of the family... The next time I see them, I definitely will! 

Towards the back of the farm, there were the woods, and at the opening, there was a huge pool that was heated by the near by volcano. It was amazing how it all worked.  

I got my lovely uniform! So pummppedd to start school!!... Not. I'm freakin out. Hopefully, all will be fine on Monday. The uniform consists of navy blue pants and a normal school shirt. I have a feeling I'm going to get really hot... I don't think there is any air conditioning in my school. So I'll come home sweating like a pig probably. Great.
Yesterday was beach day! I spent the whole day on the beach and got me some sunburn! Perfect way to start off school. The beach was so beautiful though, that I don't particularly care. The beach was called Iguanita Playa and it was pretty much empty. It was probably the most tranquil place I've ever been. Complete and utter peace.

So I love it here already! I hope my school isn't so bad.

SO DAMN CHEESY. 

Thanks for reading again!