This time, you might actually have worried about me. Last thursday, as I was sitting in a cute little Heredian restaurant called Mambo eating the traditional Tican mish mash dish of rice, beans, fish, fried plantains, salad and bread called Casados, the ground started shaking, the elderly Tica women began screaming and Central Costa Rica was pummeled with what we would learn was an earthquake that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale. For roughly 15 seconds, there was no control. Luckily, nothing fell nor broke where we were so it didn't seem quite so bad at first. If you've read the news, however, you'd know that around 20 people have officially been declared dead with upwards of 200 more missing. As far as I am aware, the vast majority of the fatalities were the result of landslides in mountainous areas that simply burried people. It's incredibly scary, we were extremely fortunate and we can only pray that the death toll doesn't continue to rise.
On a lighter note, my first full week in Costa Rica is now in the books! Everything has been incredible, my Spanish is kicking ass and my homestay situation has gotten better every day! My Tica Mama is a sweetie who cooks me great, if simple, vegetarian food with lots of rice, plantains, eggs and bread. School has been wonderful, the people are great and I've even taken a couple dance classes. This past weekend I traveled with Marni to Playa Hermosa, a small, gorgeous beach town on the central pacific coast to stay in a hostel with my Brandeis friend Maya and her brother. The hostel was a veritable surf bum paradise, with cheap rooms, untouched beach access and, most importantly, great waves. We spent the entire time either on the beach or in the hostel lobby hanging out with the absurdly random mix of people that were staying at the hostel. I met quite a few very interesting and/or ridiculous people and, to me, the experience was a bit of a precursor to my further travels in South America. It certainly has gotten me more excited for the crazy and unpredicatable nature of independent travel, spending time with a whole host of people to whom you would probably never talk in another setting. There is so much to learn from these people out there and I can't wait.
Last, but not least, I am extremely fortunate to have a host Mom who not only has cable TV in her bedroom, but doesn't mind my taking over her room for three hours to watch the Steelers game yesterday! I was so happy to be able to support the boys - who looked great, by the way - and here's to their game this Sunday - go beat the Ravens so I can go see you in the Superbowl!
¡Hasta Luego!
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Es probable que usted se haya olvidado su inglés, así que tomaré ventaja llena de mi educación de instituto que enseñó mí utilizar freetranslation. com (pero nunca fiarse de ellos). Usted suena como un optimista tan juvenil listo conquiste el mundo. ¡mantenga ese fuego que quema dentro de usted! hurra para el cliches!
ReplyDelete-Los Plantaines (aka Yolanda Vega aka Yoanna)
Hey buddy,
ReplyDeleteLest you think that your friends all forgot about you once you fell off the face of our world, I for one am on top of your posts. Sounds like a pretty chill time so far! And your Spanish seems to be progressing really quickly (meaning that you figured out how to get the upside down exclamation mark on screen). Go forth and conquer Central America - by the next time I check in with your blog or maybe the CIA World Factbook I hope to see that they've renamed Costa Rica after you.
-Akiva