¡A la playa!

It wasn´t long before this California native, beach-loving gal could no longer resist a weekend trip to experience her first Costa Rican beach! Four gals and one trusty male amigo piled into a borrowed vehicle, complete with a couple surfboards strapped to the roof, and headed west to the Pacific Coast to a beach town called Esterillos. Cool breezes and spectacular views accompanied us on our evening drive, which came to a completion after a brief but unavoidable (and memorable!) drive on the small town´s airport runway in order to reach our destination!
We lucked out with a beachfront cabina (a small cabin, which immediately invoked a comparison to the Swiss Family Robinson!) and a stretch of glorious black sand (= muy HOT!) beach almost entirely all to ourselves. It really could not have been any more perfect!
What could have been more perfect were my attempts at surfing! Our male companion, Josh, is a pseudo-costarricense, having grown up in Costa Rica, although he is originally from the States. A surfer dude, he graciously allowed for us gals to borrow a board and give it a go. Let me tell ya, the ocean can be a mighty aggressive body of water! I was tossed and swirled and plummeted to the ocean floor time and time again, but I did have some fun nontheless! To be on the beach, near the ocean, in the water...it´s all just something that provides me great happiness and a sense of tranquility. Once a California girl, always a California girl, right?!
Would you believe that joining this California girl in the surfing expedition was fellow Decorah, Iowa girl, Erica Spilde? We could just see the headline in the Decorah Journal...¨Decorah girls surf Costa Rica.¨ Another blessing in companionship for my first 6 months here in Costa Rica is Erica, who is finishing a two-year stint working with the Lutheran Church in Costa Rica.
A breathtaking sunset concluded our visit to the beach, all of us feeling quite content after the consumption of delicious fruit drinks and fresh fish, as well as much time in the sun and the ocean. And that, my friends, is the Pura Vida!

Mi media piña

I´d like for you to meet my ¨media piña.¨ A fellow Ambassadorial Scholar in Costa Rica, la señorita Meghan Posey, has quickly become not only my classmate at Conversa language school and upcoming colleague at the University where we will be studying for the year, but also my companion, travel buddy, adventurous galpal, and most importanly, my ¨media piña.¨ In Spanish, one´s significant other is refered to as their ¨media naranja¨ (literal translation: ¨half the orange¨), meaning figuratively one´s ¨better half¨ or ¨soulmate.¨ And so, to reference our unique friendship thus far and for the coming year, Meghan cleverly deemed us ¨media piñas,¨ which is to say we are each other´s pineapples. Sweet, ain´t it?

Meghan and I are referred to as ¨las dos Meg(h)ans¨ (the two Meg(h)ans) or ¨Meg(h)an al cuadrado¨ (Meg(h)an squared), or as was previously mentioned, I am ¨Megan numero uno¨ because of my earlier arrival into Costa Rica and she is ¨Meghan numero dos,¨ even though she is my elder. We do have a fun time introducing ourselves when together, and we seem to be constantly laughing our way through all the ¨firsts¨of our year abroad. We remind each other that ´flexibility´ is the key word this year, and we have great ambitions to make the most of this time living and studying and Rotary-ing in Costa Rica. So far, so good!

Arrival: Santa Ana

Nine days later, I am happy to report of my safe arrival into a country that is even more beautiful than I had imagined! From the many glowing reports I have received from those friends and family members who had previously experienced the beauty of Costa Rica, I knew I was in for a treat as I embarked upon a new adventure in the new year.

And so I greet you with a ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Happy New Year! It seemed quite fitting to bring in this new year of experiences in Costa Rica with the New Year´s celebration here in my ´home away from home´ for 2007!

This first month of residence in Costa Rica is in the beautiful little town of Santa Ana, located near San José. I am staying with the lovely doña Gladys, a woman of great skill in the kitchen (¡Gracias a Dios! Thanks be to God!) and also a woman who has raised a beautiful family. As the holidays naturally bring grown children, and their children, close to home, I have had the pleasure of spending much time with the extended family and friends of my host family.

I am spoiled with my own casita (little apartment) for my month´s living quarters, complete with what I like to refer to as ´my´ garden, which is a lush mini tropical rainforest (or so it appears to this American girl!) right outside my windows! Fruit trees, herb bushes, muchas plantas, brilliant pointsettia trees and, of course, multiple clothes lines which allow for nature´s dryer--el sol--to do it´s thing.

A Spanish language respaso (review) was in order for the gringa before beginning my university master´s courses in Spanish (yikes!) in February, and so it´s up the beautiful green mountainside I go each weekday for an intensive program at Conversa language school. I´m quite certain that Spanish grammar has never been so enjoyable. The school is located atop one of the highest mountains in the area, thus providing it´s pupils with a major disctraction--the view!

Week one of classes is now complete, meaning my classmate and companion, Meghan ¨numero dos¨ (naturally, I´m Megan ¨numero uno¨), and I will now be assigned to a new teacher, so that we will further be exposed to differing accents and teaching styles. We couldn´t have been more pleased with our first teacher, Amira, who taught us mucho--from the grammatical intricacies of the subjunctive to the dynamic between Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans in Costa Rica to the safety concerns for women to how coffee is grown. What an invaluable education one can receive about a country through learning the national language! Little did Amira know that she would also receive an invaluable education from this gringa--how to play Speed Scrabble!! And little did I know that even en español I can carry out a Nelson victory sin problemas! :)

Nine days later, I am quite pleased to have (finally!) begun this exciting new chapter in my life! I am enamored by this country filled with much natural beauty and many wonderfully kind people, who are refered to as ´ticos´ and ´ticas´. Nine days later, I have consumed more fresh fruit than seems humanly possible (yes, be jealous), I have spoken mucho español, I have laughed and conversed with new friends and ´family´, and I have learned a great deal about a great variety of topics. Nine days later, I´m looking forward to the many days ahead!