chocolate.

There are a few things that everyone in the program (and even my teachers at ICADS know):
*disclaimer: the following are not in any sort of order

1. I love monkeys.
2. I want to meet Enrique Iglesias when we are in Miami
3. I would love to live in Barcelona, Spain.
and most importantly #4. I absolutely love chocolate.

The unfortunate part of being a chocolate connoisseur is that good chocolate is extremely hard to come by here. I have been craving it for so long. The tiny layer of chocolate on the Chiky's just wasn't cutting it. But   thankfully, my wonderful, beautiful, kind, thoughtful mother sent me a package full of my favorite chocolate :) The package contained dark chocolate squares filled with raspberry from Ghirardelli, and the Dove dark chocolate promises. So yummy. I eat like three pieces of chocolate a day now. I need to be careful. I should start rationing them.

All that said, THANKS MOM! :)

mi hermanita.

This is my crazy sister, Daniela. She loves Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, and taking pictures with her awesome sister. 

Gracias

I am so thankful for this opportunity.

I would just like to make a shout out to all my parents. It is such a sacrifice to send me to Biola, and on top of that to send me to Costa Rica.

Mom, Dad, Scott, and Kim, Thank you. Thank you for your financial sacrifice. Thank you for your emotional sacrifice (I miss you all too!). Thank you for loving me so much that you would let me leave for four months to live and study in a beautiful country, and you don't even get to visit me.

Above all, Thank you Lord for giving my parents the means to support me. All blessings come from You.

Great.

Ayer, mi mamá tica me dijo, "Nicole, vas a gordar."

Wonderful.

So. Much. Work.

I wish I was just going to be hanging out on the beach eating pineapple all semester, but unfortunately, I’m not. This semester isn’t only going to be challenging because I’m living thousands of miles away from home, eating different foods, and speaking another language, but the workload is also a lot. Our classes here don’t function the same way they do at home, so I’m going to try my best to explain it.

There are two places where I go to class. First is at the LASP office. The staff members of the program and other guest speakers give “charlas” on varying topics. We usually have this class twice a week for four hours each. Each day is a different topic. We’ve talked about Art and Popular Culture in Latin America, Poverty and Inequality in Latin America, Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism, and Economic Systems – just to name a few. In preparation for these classes, we are required to read the corresponding chapter in the book they have given us. Each chapter takes about an hour or more to read. Each week we have a reading critique due. Now this may sound weird, but they are grading much harder than I, or any other student, thought. Also, we just had two days to write a paper about poverty and inequality in Costa Rica, based on 6 interviews we have compiled in San Jose and in Limon. We have a position paper due at the end of the course (which is in about 2 weeks). For this 6-8 page paper, we are to investigate a topic that is discussed in the book we were assigned. Some topics include sweatshops, Communism, and specific countries like Cuba or Panama. However, I was assigned a novel completely written in Spanish. And let me tell you, it is not easy to read. Everything I write has to be written in Spanish. Now, if I were to have this assignment in the United States, I wouldn’t be complaining. It’s not asking that much from a Spanish major – I’ve actually done something a little similar to this before. However, in Costa Rica, I don’t always have the resources I need. I can’t just go on the Internet when I need to look up something. I can’t just call or text a friend when I have a question. I can’t just go to the Internet café right now because I told Keith that I would meet up with him at noon to walk to ICADS. So, being in a foreign country and trying to finish your homework is not as easy as one might have thought.

We are also taking classes at ICADS (Institute for Central American Development Studies – or something like that). We have class there from 1:30 to 4:30 every day. From my house it takes an hour and a half to walk there. Now, I’m not complaining about the walk there, its absolutely beautiful – and I’m getting some exercise in! But when you get home after dark, and then you have to eat dinner and spend time with your family, it doesn’t leave much extra time to do homework. The program tells us that sometimes you are going to have to sacrifice doing work for hanging out with your family and practicing your Spanish, but I can’t afford to do that. I have to maintain my academic scholarship. And witnessing the intensity of the grading scale here, it’s going to be a difficult task to complete.

I’m sorry for this rant of complaints, but I just had to get it out. I hope you don’t think I’m not enjoying it here because I definitely am! I have made some awesome friends and my family is wonderful. I just ask that you would keep me in our prayers, not only for health and safety, but for the academic load, as well. Pray that I would consistently lean upon the Lord; there is no way I could do any of this without Him.

Pineapples don't grow on trees

And apparently neither do bananas! Who knew??

This weekend, LASP took us on a trip to Limón, a port city on the Caribbean where most of Costa Rica's imports come. It was a great weekend get away.

On our way to Limón, we stopped by three different plantations. The first was a coffee plantation. There were thousands of coffee plants everywhere. Just so you know... there is no difference between Costa Rica coffee beans and Columbian coffee beans. Costa Rica originally got their bean from Panama, which was once a part of Columbia. Therefore, it is all the same bean. It's all just a marketing tactic.

Next, we stopped by a pineapple plantation. I had no idea that pineapples didn't grow on trees. I guess I just assumed the did. The grow on the top of a plant that is low to the ground. The pineapples grow great in the valley because the water just drains through the plants. And let me be the first to tell you, it is SO good! Fresh pineapple from Costa Rica is going to be hard to beat.

The most interesting place was the banana plantation. Now I don't usually like bananas, but I definitely learned a lot at the Del Monte banana plantation. First off, bananas don't grow in trees. They are technically plants. They grow in groups of four. The grandmother stalk is the one with the bananas growing on it. The bananas are wrapped in a blue plastic bag to protect is from bugs, but to also put pesticides on it. The great-grandmother plant is the one that is shriveled up. The mother plant is smaller than the grandmother plant, and is next in line to grow bananas. The baby stalk is just a foot or two out of the ground. When the bananas are picked from the plant, they are taken to an open warehouse like building where they are sorted. There are First Class bananas and Second and Third Class bananas. The First Class bananas go to the US and parts of Europe. Second and Third Class stay in Latin America. They aren't graded on which bananas are better or worse. They are separated by what the consumer wants. In the United States, we want bigger bananas that are already yellow. Probably to your surprise, the bananas don't naturally turn yellow by the time they reach the store. They are sprayed with chemicals to quicken the yellowing process. All because that's what the consumer wants. Also, I found interesting the lives of the workers on the banana plantation. The workers are paid with a place to live and school their children. They are given houses right on the plantation. If you lose your job, you lose your house. Unfortunately, because they live right next to the bananas, their houses are also being sprayed with the pesticides and other chemicals that the bananas are being sprayed with. Various cancers and health problems are prevalent. All of this sacrifice is for the consumer.

Friday night, a group of students and I went to dinner at Burger King because we wanted a break from rice and beans. If anyone was actually in the mood for gallo pinto, BK offers it. After dinner, we walked around the city talking to different people about poverty in Costa Rica, specifically in Limón. This trip wasn't all fun. We actually had homework too.

Saturday morning, we left early to visit an indigenous tribe of Costa Rica, the Bri Bri. It is a Bri Bri custom to take care of the land. Their gods live in the trees and water, so they believe it is their duty to take care of it all. The attribute sicknesses to deforestation. The family we visited raises iguanas to try to protect their land. There were so many iguanas - all different sizes!

After hanging out with the iguanas and turkeys for a little, we headed to the beach! The beach we went to was a national park. Absolutely gorgeous. The water was so warm. The waves were so strong. The jungle and the sand met where they monkeys and sloths played. I got to stand like 3 feet away from a monkey!! I wanted to take it home :) Early Christmas present! So much fun! That night we ate a traditional meal of Limón. We ate rice and beans, but they make theirs with coconut milk. Not exactly my favorite, but it was interesting to try. There was a calypso band playing traditional music from Limón (and a few songs in English, so we could sing along). Everyone was dancing! It was so great! One of my professors, Javier, started the dancing by asking me to dance, because he knew how much I wanted to learn! I can't say that I am any better than I was before, but I had so much fun!

Sunday morning, we went to an all Black Methodist church in Limón. It was very traditional and long. They had a choir - dressed in the robes and everything! It was a great experience. When I got back home in the afternoon, I was so exhausted. I took about a four hour nap. I have lots of homework to do now, but it is difficult to get it done. Lack of resources and time. I will do what I have to do. And hopefully do it well.

Here's a picture of me and the monkey!

¡Viva Costa Rica!

Yesterday was the Day of Independence in Costa Rica! I didn’t have any class, which was definitely a nice thing because I was able to complete some homework (yes, I’m actually going to class here). I started off the day by going to my tico brother’s high school for a little presentation the students put together about the Day of Independence. Marco, along with about 6 other guys and like 20 girls, showcased a traditional Costa Rican dance. It was so cool! I would love to learn – and wear one of those beautiful skirts! I didn’t completely understand what was happening the entire time, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Afterwards, my family and I went grocery shopping together. I have never seen so many men in a grocery store before! Culturally, the grocery shopping is done together. Husbands and wives walk the aisles together. Also interesting was that they cased off all of the alcohol. Marco told me that they do that to avoid drunkenness at the parades and festivities of the day. I’m starting to like this country more and more!

Here are some more things I have learned since being here:

1.     Some sort of footwear must be worn in the house at all times. They do this to protect the floor from dirt, not protect your feet. They think it’s gross that we have carpet in our houses where dirt and bacteria just collects.

2.     Shower in the morning. Every morning. No one showers at night because it is believed that you will get sick if you go to sleep wet.

3.     Eat everything on your plate. EVERYTHING. I am defintiely not used to this. It was hard at first, for sure. Especially since I eat a heaping serving of rice and beans twice a day. For everyone who thinks I am a picky eater, I have eaten two sardines since I have been here. And my tica mom bought more at the store. Also, I eat the onions and tomatoes on my plate.

4.     If there’s a spider on your wall, don’t kill it. Only kill las cucarachas. And believe me, I didn’t hesitate when I saw one when I was getting into the shower the other day.

5.     The ticos are nice and welcoming. If you go up to a family at Taco Bell to talk about poverty, they will not hesitate to talk to you. Even if you are struggling to form sentences in Spanish.

I have been learning a lot here. And it’s not all on the streets. I’m in class for 7 hours a day! Today, for example, we talked about economic and political systems for 4 hours. This is definitely going to be a busy semester. I just hope I don’t stress out and I do my best academically.

Please pray for confidence in my work – that I will be able to complete my work to the best of my ability without stressing out!

PS. As part of class, we are going to Limón this weekend to experience a totally different area of Costa Rica. I can’t wait! It’s right on the coast – where the jungle and beach meet! But of course, it’s not all fun and games. We have work to do and a paper due on Tuesday about what we learn. But it will be work it!

I miss you all!

PPS. Here's a picture of the group and I in front of Arenal!