You come from far away, with pictures in your eyes

I walked Santa Ana again tonight, farther this time; winding aimlessly up and down the streets. Andar a la deriva: to walk adrift. I’m falling more and more in love with this little place. I want to take pictures

Julie mentioned the other day that she could live here, in Santa Ana. We had just returned from this past weekends’ adventures, and I immediately disagreed- after seeing the countryside and the mountains between here and Poas, I know there are other places in Costa Rica where I would rather spend the rest of my life. But looking back, I could live here. There are always going to be stunning places, visually spectacular places, and those draw me in- but Santa Ana has a quaint, attractive charm. I feel safe here.

Students were playing at the music school, and I altered my route to wander by. A woman noticed my lingering as she passed and told me that the school teaches all kinds of music, she mentioned folk music and specific instruments- the girl we were listening to was playing a xylophone type instrument that’s evidently very traditional. The music it created was very sweet.

Today was quiet; others complained of slipping into a typical Monday down, but I was lucky enough to not catch it.

We’ve started Realism in my Literature class- we read a short story today “A la deriva”; which is basically about an indigenous man who is bit by a snake, goes thorough a series of tortuous reactions to the bite, and dies alone in his canoe as he lets the river carry him towards help. It’s a riot to read, let me tell you- but it fits into the morbid-ness of realism quite well. We’ll end the week with Magical Realism and dose of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which makes me happy.

Culture went really well today, Emilce was quite happy with me because I was an active part of the conversation, and I was happy with me because I didn’t freeze up over answering questions or translating in my head. The two of us bonded a bit by gossiping over the boys while they were gone for a bit; her opinions amuse me greatly.

I spent some quality time with Bruto, the family husky, this evening. He- like every other dog here- barks at anything that moves, but he’s not nearly as intimidating as he pretends to be.

But thn again, few things, animals, people are.

He’s sweet, but Mike is still my favorite… and would be much easier to smuggle out… Every morning he joins me as I get ready for school, and he’s usually lounging on my bed when I return home in the afternoons. Oh to live the life of a cat!

Mi madre aqui and I had a wonderful chat this evening. She told me all about her family, and the surrounding gossip. Her grandmother had twenty children- ten of whom are still alive today- so there’s quite a bit of information to be had. She and her mom have a wonderful relationship; they still have breakfast together every morning. I love how close families stay here, it makes me wish mine wasn’t spread so far out across the country.

I’m heading out to meet up with the group; I think we’re going to another little city nearby this evening.

Beautiful night!

Lluvia

Tremors!

So there was an earthquake here yesterday afternoon!

It actually didn't happen in Costa Rica, but in the ocean- on the news it looked like the pacific side. It was a 6.1 though, so it was felt even here. Julie, Marisa, Caleb and I were walking home during it, so to our great disapointment, we didn't feel anything. Anyone who was inside or was stationary at the time did though- when the four of us got to Julie and Marisa's house, their family told us about it- the hanging plants were still swinging back and forth, and the dogs were all freaking out.

Jeri Lynn and Mandy were sitting on their porch in Conversa, and they said all the doors started fluttering and it sounded like thunder. Jeri Lynn swears that she thought she was in a war zone.

My host dad told me that earthquakes are common this time of year- when the seasons change.

It doesn't seem like there was any damage to speak of as a result, which I'm thankful for. I just wish we could have felt it!!

Anyway, we have an awesome weekend ahead of us. We're going to Puerto Viejo for a zipline/ canopy tour/ ATV ride/ tree climbing and waterfall repelling adventure! I'm so excited!!!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Lluvia

Costa Rican 'Cooking'

ii Pejiballe !!

It's a palm fruit!

The white part is mayonnaise! This is a snack prepared by María José (she’s related to Julie and Marisa’s host family), it’s a gourd-like food she peeled and sliced and is evidently served with mayonnaise. The flavor and texture of the gourd reminded me of butternut squash- it was quite delicious actually! It’s quite a combination, whoever would have thought?



María José is helping us with our tarea….mostly Julie with her grammer. She’s got to be the most patient twelve year old…. we’re having an interesting conversation; she finishes most of our sentences for us. Thank the good Lord that laughter is a universal language.

Chao,

Lluvia

Julie and I are currently enjoying the sauna that is her room. It seems her family is unaffected by the heat…we’re just the weak gringas. To think, some people pay for the luxury of a sauna while we get to enjoy it for free. We’ve seriously contemplated finding our bathing suits, but that’s probably not appropriate family room attire.

Don Miguel, her host father, has been telling us jokes that we don’t understand, but he thinks that he’s hilarious, so we’ve been laughing appreciatively. His grandson, Gabriel, is the cutest thing, a shy six year old boy. It has started thundering, so hopefully that means the breeze will pick up.

Wow, I sound spoiled. Truly, I wouldn’t take ac right now even if it was offered.
Today was lovely; I’m absolutely in love with my classes, so that switch didn’t take long :)

I’m absolutely amazed at how much Joan knows about literature…it’s insane. He’s legitimately a literature teacher with all he knows, I feel so lucky to have this class with him! We’re studying three time periods in literature, one for each week we’re here. I had him take me through a timeline today, from the Renaissance to today, in periods of latino literature, because it’s different from English lit.

Modernismo is not the same thing as the English Modernism. Modernismo is before World War One and coincides with Realism, Naturalism and Surrealism. Modernismo is unique to Latin-American, it’s a movement that’s limited to poetry. The equivalent of Modernism is Vanguardia, but the Spanish Vanguardia has two eras istead of splitting into Modernist and Contemporary Literature as we do. Our Contemporary Lit is linked to the second half of Vanguardia, as is a latino literature called Magical Realism (realismo mágico) that spanned from 1950-1970.

I’m addicted!

Julie and I left Conversa at one thirty today so we could exchange money at the Bank, which closes earlier than we usually leave Conversa. It seemed strange to be in the town so early. Conversa offered Yoga today, which I’m a bit disappointed to have missed, but I’m planning on making the 50 minute walk to Conversa at 6:30 tomorrow. One of the students here from Ohio walked it this morning and raved about it, so I’m eager to try. I like climbing these mountains, I wish Florida wasn’t so flat.

Anyway, tengo tarea, I have to read three poems (Modernismo) for my literature class tomorrow!

Choa mis amigos!

Lluivia

So evidently, my family has a dog…. It was in the front lawn today when I got home, but im not entirely sure where it has been the other days. It looks a bit like a wolf; I’ll try to get a picture up- and wouldn’t exactly be easy to hide. We have a backyard that I’ve peaked into but never fully entered. Strange though; this place is full of surprises.

This morning I was talking with Paula and I asked her why she saved the egg shells, they’re always lined up next to the sink in the morning. Other families have composts, but I’ve not seen one at my house- and all the other uneaten food is thrown away.

Evidently, egg shells are a cure for osteoporosis! Jaime told me before how Adrian had weak bones and changing his diet helped, but evidently that dietary change was egg shells. Paula’s mother also has osteoporosis. They crush the egg shells into a very fine powder and add a teaspoon to their food. It adds calcium to the meal, and helps fill in the holes in the bones. Paula told me she is not generally a fan of natural medicine, but there is no comparison in this case. Adrian had the bones of an eighty year old man- in two years he broke one of his arms five times and the other once; but after a year of this treatment, they returned to the doctor and his bones are normal.

I think that’s just the coolest thing. I want to try; it sure beats buying calcium supplements.

School today was hard, a bit overwhelming. I’m in a Latin-American Literature class first, con mi profesor Joan (sounds a bit like John), and though I understood the majority of what my professor said, it was still hard to keep up and answer questions. I got tripped up trying to figure out what he was saying, so it was hard to respond. I share the class with another student- Peter- from Michigan. He’s been at Conversa for three or four months already, and has as many remaining. Needless to say, I was a bit intimidated. I like Joan though, he’s very knowledgeable, and he is able to keep talking even without prompting, which is nice. The class feels like an interactive lecture, I like the setup.

The second class is a culture class, again with Peter, and also Caleb. I like the professor, Emilce, a lot as well, and she was gentle with me (“tranquila, tranquila”) when I got obviously overwhelmed or frustrated. She told me that she is not my professor; she is my amiga, as are my classmates. Caleb is also a better speaker than I am, but he’s not fluent to the same degree as Peter. We went on a walk during the class, as each senda (path) has a cultural component- wooden stands each with a portion of Costa Rican history written down. She had each of us read out loud…which is so much easier than trying to pull information and form it.
I’m really glad that Paula is my mom though, she returned late tonight, but asked about my day when she got in. I told her I liked my classes, but they were difficult, and she seemed genuinely confused. She asked me why they were so difficult, because she thinks I speak well. She’s good for me; I really needed to hear that. I’m trying to not let myself feel dejected, but coming home is comfortable, which helps. I also just spent a good hour or two working on my cultura homework, so I’m less freaked out for tomorrow.

It’s only the first day, and I haven’t been immersed in Spanish to this degree for a few weeks, so I know I can handle the classes. I like a challenge, and at least I won’t be bored!

John spent a few moments this afternoon analyzing each of us while he Julie and I were in the hammocks. It was interesting, to hear his take on each person of our group. He was pretty accurate, but superficial- though he’s known us for a grand total of four days, so I’ll give him a break. My analysis was last and possibly the least accurate, though he got some points completely correct. Evidently, being the quietest has made me the most challenging to figure out.

I fell asleep to the rain last night, which was lovely, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be a repeat, which is unfortunate. It’s hot tonight, and we could use a touch of my namesake.

I’m going to read another chapter or two of Ecclesiastes and call it a night. I’m terrible about the daily readings while school is in session, so my goal is to make reading my Bible a habit this summer. For my birthday last week, I asked mom and dad for a bilingual Bible, and I’m absolutely obsessed with it. Yesterday I spent time in the Spanish section as I started Ecclesiastes; it was exciting how easily I could figure it out, especially with the English column right next to the Spanish. My brain hurts tonight though, I think I’ll keep to English tonight.

Buenas noches y te amo.

Oh! On a tangent, evidently amor is less type of love and more strength of love. I was always hesitant to use the verb amor, as in Te amo when addressing friends and family because I thought it was inherently romantic. Here at least, it seems to just be a stronger amount of love- Paula uses it with her children all the time. Te quiero is either used less in Costa Rica, or is just a much weaker term.

Pues, te amo mucho,

Lluvia

I woke up this morning before the roosters crowed, literally, and it was a bit of a shock when they did. I’d seen two or three chickens pecking their way around people’s yards yesterday, pero for some reason, I did not expect to hear their male counterparts heralding the morning. The poor things seemed to be having a disagreement over when morning should actually begin, they crowed intermittently for close to two hours.

Paula told me that the next door neighbor used to have four gallos (roosters), who crowed every hour of the night until Paula thought she would go crazy, and she told the neighbor she couldn’t sleep for the noise. Now they don’t start until 5:30, which isn’t bad since the sun is already up.

I was up at 5:30 CR time, which is 7:30 Florida time- and also when Jaime leaves for work. Paula was surprised to see me up and about so temprano, but it gets light here around 5, so there was no way I was going back to sleep. It gets dark here early as well- cerca de 6 o 6:30. Paula encouraged me to go walking early in the morning, so see Santa Ana, pero I didn’t know the area yet. There’s a walking trail to the Conversa campus that takes about 45 minutes, and I’ll be walking that as often as I can; so hopefully I’ll get my fill of early morning walks!

It’s strange to me, shoes are worn in the house here. Paula gave me keys and showed me how to work the porto (the outside gate) este mañana, y cuando regresamos a la casa, she was concerned for mis pies porque hay un small patch of gravel we had to walk over. I need to remember to keep mine on, at least flip flops, but as much as I loathe shoes that may be the one cultural aspect I don’t adhere to. Nos veríamos.

Sorry Mamí, it’s just so hard to write fully in English right now.

At 7:30 ish, Josue walked me first to the abuela’s house where I met una prima from New York. She’s been living there for decades, and caught me by surprise when she started speaking English with me. I never know who here is bilingual and who is not. Entonces, Josue took me to the Conversa bus stop (and then went on to school), passing la casa where Julie and Marisa are living. I met a woman from Utah briefly at the bus stop, but as the other students were all in classes, the eight of us stuck together for most of the day. I really like the other people in my group, we get along splendidly.

I’m the quietest in the group, it’s a shocker, I know, since that’s never happened before. It’s amusing, because I always receive the same treatment in these situations- I’m teased for being the “troublemaker”: about being watched in case of heavy partying and the like. John started it I believe, but Caleb is not far behind. I’m not in my shell, per sé, but they’re all naturally louder, and I’m not one to fight for verbal center stage. Besides, with all the tricksters and jokers that make up my family and close friends, this is just like coming home.

Coversa is muy linda, breathtaking , beautiful. The vista is incredible!! As Mandy put so eloquently: “It’s like a spa where you learn Spanish”. The school is nothing like what I expected; it’s almost a secret, a whisper, hidden away on the side of a mountain. The (sendas) paths son todos de piedras of a redish/ blueish mix of colors, and the wooden buildings blend well into the surrounding nature. I feel I could live out the rest of my life in such a place and be content- especially with horseback riding, white water rafting, active volcanoes and gorgeous beaches all within a few hours’ drive. There’s already a part of me that dreads returning to the states, I’d love to just assimilate here. But my return is well over two months away, so no use spending time on that.

Pura vida, no?

We arrived at Conversa, and shortly thereafter we met Steve y Nuria, who each gave us a short interview. I got mixed up during mine, pero es bueno. I’m in a literature class (!!!!!) y una de cultura. They loved my name- nature names are muy popular here: Estrella por ejemplo. I think I want to go by Lluvia here. (Alba, your name would fit in well)

I should probably be in a conversation class, seeing as speaking is the toughest thing for me to do….but I despise conversation classes, and I’m receiving FSU course credit for Lit and culture. There will be quite a bit of speaking in the lit class I know, so I’ll get the practice without having my entire grade based on how well I can get the grammar from my brain to my tongue.
Then we met Don David, the man who started Conversa. He was born in the States and learned Spanish in high school y college: he calls himself a gringo, but looking at him, I thought he was Costa Rican- mostly because of his eyes, his skin. He looks as though he is of Hispanic origin. He gave us a walking tour of Conversa y a short orientation.

They have beautiful eyes, Ticos, rich and deep, like wells. Deep eyes have always intrigued me; I want to know what lies behind them. I swear, I’d be content to learn the language if only to learn about them, to see their souls. I hope to meet more children here, young ones. I remember the Peruvian children were a joy to speak with.

To continue my tangent, the colors here are almost palpable in their fullness. I love it!! The casas, the flowers, the clothing, everything seems brighter here. We saw this plant off of a senda in Conversa, the leaves a green canvas splattered with flecks of pink; like a drop cloth.

I’m adding the image, the shape, the arrangement of the colors to the list of people I hope to encounter someday- it would be a beautiful personality, open and giving and young at heart.

But back to Don David. He had a list of safety rules for us to follow, tips on transportation, a warning to steer clear of the bar “Amigos” because of its unwholesome atmosphere (translation: drugs), and a deep and heartfelt encouragement to glean the most we can from our short three week stay. He seems like a wonderful man, I look forward to speaking with him further.

One element of his talk rang especially true for me. He told us to jump into the language, to take full advantage of our families, of the cooks, the security men, y todos otros. We get out of this program, quite literally, what we put in. I needed to be reminded of this- of how important it is to take full advantage of this opportunity. I’m wearing the courage bracelet Wesley gave us for the entirety of this trip; I will not be held back by fear. This evening I returned home before my host parents, pero I talked with each of them when they returned- responding to the Jaime’s English questions in Spanish instead of relying on what’s easier. Paula complemented me on my speaking, which is always nice to hear as I still don’t feel like I communicate adequately.

After a second breakfast around 10:30 of piña y tortillas con crema (Paula fed me the traditional breakfast of huevos y arroz antes de I left), we met with Ana for a specific orientation regarding our FSU program. She went over again the itinerary for our final week, and cautioned us again on safety rules and being responsible while we are here.

My favorite was the conversation warning us girls away from strange Ticos: “They will tell you ‘ohhh beautiful gilr! You are my love! …… They are lying!!”

But on a more heartfelt note, she also shared what keeps her coming back to the program, year after year, as she considers dropping it because of the energy required to tour and take care of a group of young people. “My only dream” she told us, was that at least one student who came here would make a difference in the world. She told us that this experience would stay with us forever in our hearts... as Caleb supplied- like a tattoo.

Mandy, Julie, Marisa

John and me

Afterwards was lunch at 1:00…. where a group of us watched fascinated as a hornet carried a grain of rice away from Julie’s plate. It’s the little things, really.

We enjoyed the hammocks, toured one of the walking paths, enjoyed the chill of the piscina in the afternoon heat… I believe it will be our only day of leisure at the Conversa campus. In a perfect world, I’d love to walk to campus every morning, go swimming (the piscine is well designed for laps) and then be ready for class at 8:30… but we’ll see how often that happens.

I’m back at mi casa ahora, it’s almost six. Marisa, Julie, Caleb and I walked to each other’s homes so we would know where everyone lived. We meet tomorrow at Gata’s home to tour Café …fulano. I don’t remember the name, it’s a coffee plantation cerca de Santa Ana.

The others are going out tonight, to Coco’s I believe, a local bar. I’m still exhausted and I hope to be rested up by the time school starts… four hours of Spanish a day will require all of my brain cells intact, so I’m staying in and will probably go to sleep ridiculously early. The heat is making Paula y yo listless...and I’ll probably be up just after 5 again tomorrow.

I’m truly enjoying not having air conditioning. The breeze is just delightful .

Chao mis amigos. Adios y A Dios. Actually, con Dios (o ‘venga con Dios’) is grammatically correct, but I’m still caught up in the sound of AaaDios.

Te quiero mucho <3>

Lluiva

Bienvenidos!

The girls

Flying in over San José is absolutely breathtaking; the mountains rise up and seem to stretch on forever. The man sitting behind me was telling his group- his seatmates and the woman with the aisle seat in my row, that San José is one of the most difficult airports to land in because of the topography.
Boarding the plane, the men behind me were talking about Manchu Pichu, and one was referring to the city above it, but couldn’t remember the name. I told him it was Cusco, and we spoke for a few minutes. He has never been to Peru, and I told him how much I had loved my trip and the Incan city. He asked why I was going to Costa Rica, and I told him it was with study abroad…which he did twenty years or so with FSU.

Small world, no?

Initially, I thought American Airlines liked me better than Dad; after all of his horror stories about flying with them, I was a little scared to add my own to the list of Blomgren flying mishaps. As we landed in San José, I was excited because there hadn’t been any problems….and then the connection between our plane and the terminal took approximately fifteen to twenty extra minutes.
Translated into Bruce, that would be an extra hour though, no?

Why ever let the truth interfere with a good story?

Julie and Marisa were on my flight from Miami, which was really nice. We found our group and met Ana, who is the contact through FSU and will be taking care of us and making sure our experience runs smoothly.

Our group consists of me, Marisa, Julie and Caleb staying with host families in Santa Ana, and Mandy, Jeri Lynn, John and Cliff staying at Conversa.
John was already here, so the rest of us and far too much luggage crammed ourselves into a van for the drive to Santa Ana. Jeri Lynn got better pictures than I did.

Those of us staying in town were dropped off with our families, and we also met Gata, who knows everything and everyone in Santa Ana.



My home for the next three weeks!

My host mom and dad, Paula and Jamie, were at work when we arrived, but I met Paula’s mother and the two sons, Josue (14) and Adrian (10). I never did catch Paula’s mother’s name, but I’m just thinking of her as the abuela. She was surprised that I’m twenty; she didn’t think I was any older than seventeen. She also called Paula when I got in, to tell her I was here, and she called me linda over and over again, which is always nice to hear. She walked me back to the house where Marisa and Julie are staying, and I met their host parents as well.

This is Mike, a sweetheart of a cat. I'm already in love with him

It’s interesting, people greet each other on the street here by saying Adios, but they hold out the A, so the greeting sounds like AaaaDios- or A Dios. I like it.

I met my host parents a bit later- Jaime speaks perfect English, which I did not expect. It makes the experience a bit less of an immersion than I had anticipated.

On a side note, the internet is only at Conversa, and I’m not taking my computer up every day, so I’ll post my blogs when I can. Blogger lets me mess with the dates, so I’ll post each entry on the day I wrote them.

Hasta luego,

Rainey

Loveliest of Trees

I took this picture with me to Paint-A-Pot last semester and painted the image on a plate in honor of this poem. It's a lovely image of spring; makes me want to go back to Washington DC, I remember the cherries were gorgeous there when in bloom.



Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

One of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets! This one definitely makes my top ten (hmm I should compile that), and it's a fitting start to my twentieth. It's funny, this year has brought so many changes for me, in figuring out who I am and what I want out of life, that twenty actually feels different.

I love the reminders in A.E.Housman's poetry (With rue my heart is laden also comes to mind); how here he gently points out the shortness of life, the importance of enjoying the beauty of the cherry in springtime- the idea that fifty years is not nearly enough time to enjoy all spring has to offer. Fifty years seems like forever! I may no longer be a teenager, but I still clutch to the youthful idea of invincibility; time seems to stretch forever in all directions. Costa Rica is only five days away, but that in itself is an eternity!

I wonder if he followed his own advice. The man lived to be 77, so he had plenty of time to practice.

Bienvenidos!

So semester grades are posted, which means this blog is no longer needed for my AML class and can finally be converted! I liked the name too much to create a new one earlier...
My sister Tracy is now blogging reguarly to keep the family updated on their life and the growth of my two adorable nieces Elsa and Callie, and my mom is eating it up. With my summer taking me to Costa Rica (six days and counting!), this will hopefully serve as a way to remember the trip and keep in touch. We'll see, if I like it, I'll keep it beyond that.

I'm home now, enjoying a breif repast in Sarasota before classes start up again. Spring semester ended last Friday, and Saturday we visited family in Jacksonville where I finally met Lilianna- the youngest of my three second cousins and the new additon to Angele and Josh's family.


Isn't she precious?

The older two, Hannah and Jonah, were joys as usual.

Love this family, I'd steal them if I could get away with it :) But! I did extract a promise for a visit, so they'll come see me next year. I want to bring them back to Wesley.
My cousins, Angele and Josh, graduated from FSU 13 years ago, and their last year they lived on staff at Wesley. The had been at the BCM, but the Wesley pastor wanted to start up a mission team, so he hired them. Angele and Josh are mission minded- they had already been on a couple trips- including Tanzania! They took a Wesley team to Central America that year- I think it was Nicaragua. It was cool talking to them- hearing about Wesley pre- Erik and Vance.

In other news, I turn 20 tomorrow. Crazy!

Chao