TMI

OK, so this week there's a lot of information and it's really long so just stick with me. I tried to organize it in a way that things won't get confusing and it's a little less story like than some previous posts. Enjoy.

Good Bye San Jose Hello Guapiles:
I finished up my last few days in Costa Rica hanging out at the language school (even though I was done with classes), spending time with new friends that I may possible never see again, and communicating with Melissa (the study abroad person here at the University) to get all the final loose ends taken care of before I left. They weren't the most exciting days of my time here but the rest was very much needed. I left on Thursday morning and shared a cab with Jocelyn. (the girl from Mizzou who is studying abroad this semester also) The trip took about an hour and a half and we were fortunate enough to have a very interesting and very nice cab driver. At one point he randomly pulls over as we're driving down the mountain and fills his water bottle up with water streaming down the face of the rock, then proceeded across the street to relieve himself. He also made a pit stop to let us buy coconuts or fruit at a local market if we wanted to. The trip wasn't cheap and ended up costing about 20,000 colones each ($40 ish). After being shown to our rooms where we were allowed to relinquish our bags we met up with Melissa and got a quick tour around the academic part of campus and were given our class schedules.

Orientation:
The next day began with breakfast at 7 followed by an orientation meeting starting at 8. Here we were able to meet the other exchange students. (8 of us in all: 3 from U.S., one from Peru, one from Switzerland, and one from the Czech Republic) We were given a rundown of the Universities rules and expectations followed by a video about the university that was, to my pleasant surprise, in English. After this we were given another tour of the academic grounds, this time by a student, and were dismissed for lunch and free time. This was nice because it gave us a chance to get to know each other a little bit. I quickly found out that I was the weakest Spanish speaker in the bunch, with all of the other having spent time growing up in or studying in a Spanish speaking country. Next we were given a tour of some of the other parts of campus. There was the medicinal plants garden, the pig farm, the cows, the lecheria (where they make milk), the water purification plant, and even a paper making factory where they make eco-safe paper from banana and coffee byproducts. The next day was simple, morning was free and the afternoon was a trip to Guapiles to purchase anything we might not already have for classes.

Campus:
This Campus is beautiful. There are plants everywhere, so I like that, and the buildings aren't to ugly them selves, and you can't beat being able to see a volcano in the distance on a clear day. The main part of campus (where the classes and dorms and such are) is pretty small. There are only 400 students which is a huge difference from the nearly 30,000 at Mizzou, but I like the change of pace. The buildings are mostly open air with large doors that can be slid open with ceiling fans running full speed when class is going on. The cafeteria is completely open and only actually has one wall while the rest of the sides are supported solely by pillars. The buildings are connected by covered walkways and the most striking feature of the campus is the raised library (there are wide walkways and meeting rooms and the school store underneath) that overlooks what can best be described as the quad, but isn't really an very usable space as it's webbed with stone walkways complimented by small bushes and in the center is a very tall tree (of which the only foliage is at the very top of the tree) surrounded by concrete and stones laid in the shape of a leaf. There's also a small store where you can buy snacks, sodas, and general hygiene items that is attached to a student building housing pool and ping pong tables, Foosball, and two TV rooms. The rest of the 3,000 acre campus is forest reserves or land for research or teaching. The professors and their families also have a section dedicated for their housing. One of my favorite places on campus is the athletic complex a little ways away from the main campus. Not a complex like the huge building at Mizzou; but a quaint section of campus with a sandlotesque baseball field, a rather nice sized swimming pool with lap lanes, a tiny room with some weights and machines, about 4 soccer fields, and a pretty nice covered basketball/5 on 5 soccer court. I also found today hidden away slightly, a cool little sanctuary with wooden pews. It is also completely open and surrounded by gorgeous tropical plants. It doesn't look like it's used much.

Classes:
So, this is the part I was dreading. My first day of classes started at 6 which meant i had to get up at 5 in order to get breakfast. (We go Monday-Saturday here and 5 of those 6 days i have something at 6 a.m. with my only slight relief coming on Tuesdays where I get to start at 7.) We bagan the 4 hour Entomology (bugs) lab everything seemed to be going fine. I think any problems I might have had were more due to nerves than not actually getting what was happening, plus the prof. would occasionally come back to my table and give me instructions in English if I had the "I'm from another country" look on my face. When we resumed the last two hours of the class at 4 I was much more collected and it went much smoother. The profe (that's what they call them here for short) even had the class come look at my grasshopper dissection cause I did so good. (Don't worry I'll try not to get a big head.) I was also able to meet a few people from class and ate dinner with them that night. One of the guys spoke really good English and kept my informed. My Tuesday class was a little more speaking intensive because it's a lecture class, but I think after a few weeks I'll be able to understand much better. All of the Profes seem really helpful and the small classes help a lot too. On Wednesdays and Saturdays we have what is called work experience. This is where we get some hands on experience. We were fortunate in that the first day didn't start until 7:25. After arriving at the meeting spot a short jaunt from the main campus, we broke into our teams and headed off to our various work locations. For the first three weeks I'll be working in the etnobotanical gardens that contains mostly medicinal plants. We were given a quick overview of the some of the plants in the garden and what they're used for. We were even told to smell or eat parts of the plant that we were talking about. (hibiscus leaves are really good, kind of acidy like a citrus fruit). After that we spent the rest of the time clearing out dead brush and leaves and basically just cleaning up the area. This was another great chance for me to interact and meet some new people. The only bad part was I ended up with two big blisters on my heels from my new rubber boots. I also found out today that there's a guy here doing turfgrass research (weird I know, who does that?), so I'm going to see if I can't figure out a way to work with him and get some experience and if so maybe even try to drop my entomology class that I've already taken back home.

Food:
Mmmmm... The food here is SOO good. We have rice and beans at every single meal but I'm getting used to it. Other than that there's usually some kind of meat (never fried), bread and salad. They also have fresh fruit, juice and milk, all of which I think come straight from the farms on campus. Needless to say I'm eating a lot healthier here than I was in the states, and with all the activities and walking I've had to do since I've been here I'm pretty sure I've lost some weight. There's also plenty of fruits and coconuts on the property that everyone just grabs at their leisure straight from the trees.

My Room:
The rooms here are simple but not too bad. I have a bed and a closet on my side of the room along with a towel rack and a ceiling fan. The room is divided by probably the biggest desk I've ever seek, which provides plenty of storage space for all my stuff. There's no air conditioning but it cools down enough at night to make it easy to sleep and it warms up early enough to make it hard to sleep in too late. The last few days I've entered my room expecting to see a new person occupying the other half of the room, but until now have been wrong. At this point I think it's safe to say that I have my own room which makes it easy to go to bed when I need to and also stay up and not disturb anyone. I was a little worried that it would effect my opportunities to speak Spanish, but with the amount of people I've been meeting and my insecurities of speaking the language slowly fading I think I'll have all the practice I want.

Que Mas:
The other day I was taking a picture of the "quad" with the library in the background and dropped my camera on the sidewalk, thus rendering it useless for the rest of my time here. I was able to get some pictures of the university before that and will post those as soon as I can find a way to get the files off my SD card. Nevertheless, the photojournalism of my trip is no more, so sorry for all of you that have been enjoying my pictures, and your welcome to those of you who felt I was rubbing it in your face with "another album" (just kidding I hope nobody really felt that way.) Also since I've been here I think I experienced my first real bout with homesickness. There were a few days that I just felt really down and didn't want to be here. That's gradually been going away as I've met people and am getting used to things here, but I'm not foolish enough to think that it won't ever pop back up again. I was told that there would be culture shock and mood changes and ups and downs while I was here, but I guess I felt like I was too strong/not emotional enough for that to actually effect me. I was wrong, and to tell the truth it sucked. I hate being presented with this great opportunity and then feeling like I'm complaining all the time, but I feel how I feel. (Thanks to anyone who let me mope to them.) Like I said though, things have turned around and today I'm super happy to be here, but I'm still trying to learn to be content in all situations and during the times when things are harder than I think I can deal with just then. I think I've also realized the blessing of having close friends near by that you can talk about lifes crap with. Without that stuff just stays in your head, there's no outlet, and it builds and pesters. Sure I have the instant messenger and skype to talk to people but I don't want to let my problems dominate the conversation (when there's always good things to talk about as well) when i may only talk to that person once or twice in that week. So, I guess I want to say sorry if I've done that to you, but also thanks for letting me. I know I've been super blessed with family and friends, which doesn't make it any easier when I miss everyone, but also gives me reason to miss everyone. I'm in Costa Rica and I'm going to try my best to be here more than just physically, but I'm glad I can be part of what's going on back home too. I just need to figure out where the balance is, and I think I'm getting there.

P.S. I have the largest feet in the country. I had to go to two stored to find boots and still settled for a pair that was slightly too small. Go ahead make your jokes.