Friday - We left LASP headquarters around 9 for Limon. Along the way we stopped at a coffee plantation- I had no idea what coffee looked like on the plant. They are just little berries that have to be picked by hand. Then we stopped at a pineapple farm - I was very impressed with how huge those plants were. The we stopped at a banana plantation - It was a DelMonte one, we got to see all the plants and the processing that the bananas go through. Bananas do not grow on trees, they are just large plants. Then we went to the biggest port in Costa Rica. Costa Rica exports a ton of stuff through this one port in Limon. It was huge and beautiful!!
A little history about Limon - Most of the people there have migrated there from Jamaica, so it is a really cool atmosphere, but also very dangerous. Most of the people speak English, but are now being taught Spanish in the schools. It is the poorest city in Costa Rica and the most dangerous. Poverty is a huge problem there, the streets are filled with poverty. This is all kind of Ironic because Limon has the biggest Port of exports and imports for all of Costa Rica, yet is still horribly poor. It just doesn´t make sense.
Friday night we went around in groups and talked to the people about poverty, it was really interested to hear their own perspective. We heard all kinds of different answers about why poverty is such a big problem and how it compares to the rest of the Latin American Countries. My group talked to this one guy names Franklin. He said he was a street child and never had any parents. He took car of himself and never got caught up in drugs or alcohol, he respected his body. He is 50 years old and doing fine. Although he has had a hard time, he seems to be enjoying himself.
Saturday we went to the beach!! The water was warm, it was beautiful!! The waves were huge and a lot of fun. I could not believe how strong they were. Saturday evening we ate dinner with the Methodist youth group of Limon and had a band come. The band played salsa type music and we all learned how to salsa. The youth were really good about teaching us. It was so much fun!! It was dancing in its perfect environment. I had a blast!! I think a group of us are going to go out Thursday night to go dancing again - yah!!!
Sunday after church we were heading back to San Jose. We left around 130 with a tree hour drive mas o menos. Mas o Menos means more or less and the Ticos say it all the time. It means really they have no idea how long it will take. So we ended up sitting in traffic stopped for several hours. It was right before we got into the mountains. We heard that there was a car accident and someone died so they had to wait for either a judge or somebody important to pronouce him dead at the scene. So we all were out of the vans just hanging out and we thought about taking another route so we turned around and then found out that the other road had a car accident. so we got right back into the line of traffic and just sat there. And then a little while later we heard that there was a landslide, so there was no way that we were getting through on that road. While sitting there we had a GPS thing that said we were 20 miles away from San Jose, but that was distance between the two points, it was much longer by road because it was through the mountains. So then we turned around and took the backroads. It was kind of scary. There was a point that it was so foggy we couldn´t even see the road. I finally got home at 1130. It was 10 hours worth of traveling for a mas o menos 3 hour drive.
We really enjoyed ourselves, it was a really good bonding time. We played a whole bunch of silly games and had some really good conversations. We were all kind of hoping that we would get stuck in Limon and have to spend the night in the vans, it would have made the story a little more interesting.
It was a great weekend and a lot of fun. They said that is was a good introduction into the Costa Rican life, you never know what is going to happen.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Limon
This weekend I am traveling to Limon, I´m really excited. We are all leaving tomorrow morning (friday) at 9. It is about a 3 hour bus ride, but we are making stops along the way. We are going to stop at coffee and banana plantations, and some other places that I cant remember right now.
While we are in Limon we will have 2 converences, one is with an indeginous women, and the other is with a higher class women. They are both going to talk to us about poverty and how it has effected them and whatever else they want to say. It should be good to hear from very different people about the same subject.
We are also going to spend some time at the beach, that should be fun. I am going to have to wear a lot of sunscreen because I haven´t been out in the sun that much and I dont want to get burnt!!
While we are in Limon we will have 2 converences, one is with an indeginous women, and the other is with a higher class women. They are both going to talk to us about poverty and how it has effected them and whatever else they want to say. It should be good to hear from very different people about the same subject.
We are also going to spend some time at the beach, that should be fun. I am going to have to wear a lot of sunscreen because I haven´t been out in the sun that much and I dont want to get burnt!!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Internet...
So every once in a while I can get wireless internet in my room for a few minutes. Right now I have it but I'm guessing it will only last for a few minutes. I wish i always had it. I'm guessing it is from a little cafe close to here or something, but I don't really know.
My mom lets me use their internet which is really sweet, but I can only use it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings because that is when I am home alone and have time. I am usually online anywhere between 7 and 12 MWF mornings. If you want to chat online, that would be a good time to get on SKYPE.
I am going to put pictures on facebook Wednesday morning of all the pretty things I got to see this weekend. I also now have pictures of both of my parents here which is also exciting.
I have a ton of homework tonight, so I better get back to that. Because I am in the Advanced Language and Literature (ALL) concentration all of my work has to be done in Spanish. That can be a pretty hard, but it also means I will learn a lot (even if that means a few bad grades first).
Carol :-)
My mom lets me use their internet which is really sweet, but I can only use it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings because that is when I am home alone and have time. I am usually online anywhere between 7 and 12 MWF mornings. If you want to chat online, that would be a good time to get on SKYPE.
I am going to put pictures on facebook Wednesday morning of all the pretty things I got to see this weekend. I also now have pictures of both of my parents here which is also exciting.
I have a ton of homework tonight, so I better get back to that. Because I am in the Advanced Language and Literature (ALL) concentration all of my work has to be done in Spanish. That can be a pretty hard, but it also means I will learn a lot (even if that means a few bad grades first).
Carol :-)
Gracias a Dios
Everything is going really really well and Gos is really blessing me. He has given me everything I have asked for.
My Family - He gave me exactly what I asked for in a family. Two younger siblings for me to play with and a very loving mom. My dad is great too, but he works a lot so I don´t get to talk to him that much. My mom has been amazing at trying to make me feel at home.
My Health - I haven´t gotten the least bit sick, everything has been great. It is very normal for me to get carsick and or get headaches really easily, but I haven´t even had one headache. These roads are crazy and people driving on them are even more crazy, so I don´t know why I haven´t gotten sick. Only God can do that.
My Spanish - I have been able to communicate everything that I have needed to. Sometimes it takes a lot of jumping around because I don´t know the word, but I can always get my message across.
My Clothes - My mom washes and IRONS my clothes!!! I have been doing my own laundry since I was 4, this is crazy. I helped her with the laundry, but I have to say this is the first time I´m had my jeans and tshirts ironed.
The Food - My mom is from Peru and cooks really good food, I have liked all of it. We have fresh home made fruit juices with breakfast everymorning and often with dinner as well. It is delicious!!
This weekend a lot of my friends were going to the beach or a fair at a local town, but I decided I would spend it with my family because that is where I am going to learn the most. Next weekend I am going to be with all the other students at beaches in Limon, I figured I could stay with them this weekend.
Saturday we went to a birthday party of my mom´s coworker. They lived up in the mountains, it was such a beautiful drive. Along the way there are all these little bitty houses with things for sale outside for everyone driving by, that is the way these ¨mountian people¨ make their money. There were baskets, flowers, fruits and veggies, atisan things. It was neat. Most of the people grow there own food and raise animals to eat and are pretty self sufficient. The family that we visited had so many beautiful flowers, plants, trees and animals. They had dogs, pig, ducks, chickens, roosters, orange trees, lemon trees, banana trees, grew their own rice and beans. It was really neat to go see the way they live and be able to celebrate a birthday with them. The only problem was that the latino way for celebrating parties is to give all the guests way way too much food. I was eating constantly, I think I ate more than I ever have in my life. It was all delicious, but too much.
Sunday morning my mom and I went out for about a hour long walk-jog. We walked the first part and ran back. It was good to get some exercise after eating so much on Saturday. Then we came back to the house and ate breakfast with the rest of the family. Around 10 or so we left for Cartago to go sight seeing. It was amazing!! My family showed me this beautiful old catholic church in los Angelos, it is aparently really well known. Then we drove to a park where there was the remaining parts of a church build in the 1600s i think. It was really neat. The park was in the middle of the mountains and had a beautiful river flowing through it. After that we went and saw a giant dam, it was clearly the biggest one I have ever seen. The bridge we were on was probably about 200 feet above the river. After that we continued to drive around and see some other beautiful sights. San jose is in the middle of the mountains, so everytime we drive out of the city we drove through the mountain sides. I took a lot of wonderful pictures and hope to be able to put them online soon. I think Wednesday morning I should have some time.
Another very exciting thing is that my real mom, Lani and Becca are going to be a ble to visit!! Yah!! How exciting is that? I am going to have two weekends with them and be able to take them to do all kinds of cool things!!
Thanks for all your prayers, they are helping, things are wonderful!!
My Family - He gave me exactly what I asked for in a family. Two younger siblings for me to play with and a very loving mom. My dad is great too, but he works a lot so I don´t get to talk to him that much. My mom has been amazing at trying to make me feel at home.
My Health - I haven´t gotten the least bit sick, everything has been great. It is very normal for me to get carsick and or get headaches really easily, but I haven´t even had one headache. These roads are crazy and people driving on them are even more crazy, so I don´t know why I haven´t gotten sick. Only God can do that.
My Spanish - I have been able to communicate everything that I have needed to. Sometimes it takes a lot of jumping around because I don´t know the word, but I can always get my message across.
My Clothes - My mom washes and IRONS my clothes!!! I have been doing my own laundry since I was 4, this is crazy. I helped her with the laundry, but I have to say this is the first time I´m had my jeans and tshirts ironed.
The Food - My mom is from Peru and cooks really good food, I have liked all of it. We have fresh home made fruit juices with breakfast everymorning and often with dinner as well. It is delicious!!
This weekend a lot of my friends were going to the beach or a fair at a local town, but I decided I would spend it with my family because that is where I am going to learn the most. Next weekend I am going to be with all the other students at beaches in Limon, I figured I could stay with them this weekend.
Saturday we went to a birthday party of my mom´s coworker. They lived up in the mountains, it was such a beautiful drive. Along the way there are all these little bitty houses with things for sale outside for everyone driving by, that is the way these ¨mountian people¨ make their money. There were baskets, flowers, fruits and veggies, atisan things. It was neat. Most of the people grow there own food and raise animals to eat and are pretty self sufficient. The family that we visited had so many beautiful flowers, plants, trees and animals. They had dogs, pig, ducks, chickens, roosters, orange trees, lemon trees, banana trees, grew their own rice and beans. It was really neat to go see the way they live and be able to celebrate a birthday with them. The only problem was that the latino way for celebrating parties is to give all the guests way way too much food. I was eating constantly, I think I ate more than I ever have in my life. It was all delicious, but too much.
Sunday morning my mom and I went out for about a hour long walk-jog. We walked the first part and ran back. It was good to get some exercise after eating so much on Saturday. Then we came back to the house and ate breakfast with the rest of the family. Around 10 or so we left for Cartago to go sight seeing. It was amazing!! My family showed me this beautiful old catholic church in los Angelos, it is aparently really well known. Then we drove to a park where there was the remaining parts of a church build in the 1600s i think. It was really neat. The park was in the middle of the mountains and had a beautiful river flowing through it. After that we went and saw a giant dam, it was clearly the biggest one I have ever seen. The bridge we were on was probably about 200 feet above the river. After that we continued to drive around and see some other beautiful sights. San jose is in the middle of the mountains, so everytime we drive out of the city we drove through the mountain sides. I took a lot of wonderful pictures and hope to be able to put them online soon. I think Wednesday morning I should have some time.
Another very exciting thing is that my real mom, Lani and Becca are going to be a ble to visit!! Yah!! How exciting is that? I am going to have two weekends with them and be able to take them to do all kinds of cool things!!
Thanks for all your prayers, they are helping, things are wonderful!!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Time is Flying
I have been in Costa Rica for a whole week and I haven´t had any problems what so ever. I haven´t gotten sick, gotten lost, or anything.
Last night my mom gave me a present for my first week...how sweet!! It was a Costa Rican save the environment Tshirt. It is a little big, but I like it. She told me that everything is going really well. She has had 5 students in the past and she says I´m the nicest and have been the easisest to deal with. I´m really glad everything is going well.
So I kind of figured out my normal schedule.
Everyday I have class from 130 to 410 in the institution lengua espanola. Which is one of the best language schools in the world. I have a grammar class and conversation class. It is going well. Each class only has about 5 students. The teacher are really good and only speak Spanish to us.
Tuesdays and Thursday I have class with all the other students from 800 to around 12 at the Latin American Studies Headquarters (LASP).
I´ll keep you guys updated. I put some pictures of my house on Facebook, you might want to check that out.
I love you all!! I´ll write more soon.
Love,
Carol
Last night my mom gave me a present for my first week...how sweet!! It was a Costa Rican save the environment Tshirt. It is a little big, but I like it. She told me that everything is going really well. She has had 5 students in the past and she says I´m the nicest and have been the easisest to deal with. I´m really glad everything is going well.
So I kind of figured out my normal schedule.
Everyday I have class from 130 to 410 in the institution lengua espanola. Which is one of the best language schools in the world. I have a grammar class and conversation class. It is going well. Each class only has about 5 students. The teacher are really good and only speak Spanish to us.
Tuesdays and Thursday I have class with all the other students from 800 to around 12 at the Latin American Studies Headquarters (LASP).
I´ll keep you guys updated. I put some pictures of my house on Facebook, you might want to check that out.
I love you all!! I´ll write more soon.
Love,
Carol
Monday, January 14, 2008
Im Alive and Well
Hello everybody!! I am alive and well in Costa Rica. Sorry it has taken me a while to update you all, I havent been able to use the internet. The keyboard here is a little different so I dont know how to use some things. I wrote up a really long thing all about what I have been doing on my computer, saved it to a jump drive and was going to just put it on here, but my jump drive doesnt work in the cafe, so i have to start all over again.
My family is very sweet and welcoming. My parents are Carla and Walter, they are both 41. Carla is from Peru which is nice because that means that she cooks things other than rice and beans. I have two younger siblings. Olenka is 9 and is very sweet and helps a lot around the house. Renzo is 8 and acts much more babyish than Olenka, he is very needy, but I enjoy playing with him.
I have my own room and bathroom. I live in a very nice house. I think my family is one of the wealthier families around here. My dad works at a bank and my mom works as a social worker at a jail. My mom is always telling me to relax and make myself at home. She calls me her daughter and is very loving.
Our first assignment here was to split up into groups and explore the city. That was a good assignment because now I know the streets and where my bus stops are. I have to ride the bus to get everywhere. I live kind of far away from everything. Today was my first time riding the bus by myself and I made it to the cafe!! How exciting!! Im sure I will get lost at some point, but so far I am doing well.
I am happy and comfortable here. The first few days were hard because I had a lot to learn and it was really hard for me to communicate. It is especially hard when Im tired because it takes a lot of energy for me to talk in Spanish.
I dont know how I am going to pictures on the internet because the USB ports in the cafe dont work and it isnt safe to carry my computer. Ill ask around and see what I can do. I took pictures of my house that I would love to be able to put on here.
I love you all and appreciate your prayers.
Carol
My family is very sweet and welcoming. My parents are Carla and Walter, they are both 41. Carla is from Peru which is nice because that means that she cooks things other than rice and beans. I have two younger siblings. Olenka is 9 and is very sweet and helps a lot around the house. Renzo is 8 and acts much more babyish than Olenka, he is very needy, but I enjoy playing with him.
I have my own room and bathroom. I live in a very nice house. I think my family is one of the wealthier families around here. My dad works at a bank and my mom works as a social worker at a jail. My mom is always telling me to relax and make myself at home. She calls me her daughter and is very loving.
Our first assignment here was to split up into groups and explore the city. That was a good assignment because now I know the streets and where my bus stops are. I have to ride the bus to get everywhere. I live kind of far away from everything. Today was my first time riding the bus by myself and I made it to the cafe!! How exciting!! Im sure I will get lost at some point, but so far I am doing well.
I am happy and comfortable here. The first few days were hard because I had a lot to learn and it was really hard for me to communicate. It is especially hard when Im tired because it takes a lot of energy for me to talk in Spanish.
I dont know how I am going to pictures on the internet because the USB ports in the cafe dont work and it isnt safe to carry my computer. Ill ask around and see what I can do. I took pictures of my house that I would love to be able to put on here.
I love you all and appreciate your prayers.
Carol
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Next 24 hours
Today has been a crazy day getting everything together. One of the biggest struggles has been keeping my bag under 50lbs. I was determined that I all I was taking is a 5olbs bag and a backpack....it looks like I am going to make it.
I leave bright and early in the morning, my mom and I are leaving around 6:15 for the airport. Please pray for me as I travel tomorrow. I leave Indy at 9 and then I get to Miami around 1:30. I'll meet up with all the other students in the program in Miami and then our flight leaves for Costa Rica at 6:15. We will arrive in Costa Rica at 8:05pm tomorrow (Chicago time). Tuesday night I will be staying at a campsite with all the other students and then Wednesday morning we meet our host families.
I am a little nervous, but mostly really excited, this is going to be one crazy experience. I have no idea what to expect, but God made it very clear that I am supposed to go, so I hope that He teaches me a lot. I'll keep this updated when I can, but I have no idea when I will have internet access or phone access.
Keep in touch, I look forward to hearing from all of you.
-Carol
I leave bright and early in the morning, my mom and I are leaving around 6:15 for the airport. Please pray for me as I travel tomorrow. I leave Indy at 9 and then I get to Miami around 1:30. I'll meet up with all the other students in the program in Miami and then our flight leaves for Costa Rica at 6:15. We will arrive in Costa Rica at 8:05pm tomorrow (Chicago time). Tuesday night I will be staying at a campsite with all the other students and then Wednesday morning we meet our host families.
I am a little nervous, but mostly really excited, this is going to be one crazy experience. I have no idea what to expect, but God made it very clear that I am supposed to go, so I hope that He teaches me a lot. I'll keep this updated when I can, but I have no idea when I will have internet access or phone access.
Keep in touch, I look forward to hearing from all of you.
-Carol
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Preparing for Costa Rica
Welcome to my blog!!
I want to send out updates about this coming semester and this hopefully will be a great way to do it. Chris just helped me set this up recently to blog all about Costa Rica. I am going to be studying in San Jose, Costa Rica for the entire spring semester. I leave January 8th and fly back home April 24th. I am getting very nervous, but I'm also very excited!! This is a once in a life time opportunity and I know that I am going to learn a lot, but it is still hard to leave all my loved ones and friends. It is going to be 3 1/2 months of the unknown, I don't know a single person in Costa Rica, but within a week it will be my home. tonight I have started to pack a little and have been making lists of what I need to do before leaving. I still can't believe that I will be in Costa Rica within a week.
I don't know much about what I will be experiencing, but I do know a few things. I will be living with a host family in Costa Rica, all hosts are required to have at least one child at home. The family will be a Christian family (either protestant of Catholic). I will be taking classes, they will all be in Spanish. I am doing this program through Asbury, so I will get 16 hours of credit. I will also be traveling around a lot, I'm not sure where I will go, there are a few options. I may spend time in Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, and I heard a rumor that Cuba is an option.
I am going to try to blog about once a week. I won't always have access to the internet, but hopefully I will be able to keep you informed with what I am doing. I think that I will be able to put pictures on here, so that will be fun as long as I can figure out how.
There are a couple things I want to ask of you all as I leave for the semester. First of all I want to ask for your prayer. My biggest concern is my emotional health, I haven't ever been away from home for this long and it is going to be really hard. My family hopefully will be able to visit during Robert's spring break, it would be great to see some of them. I am also going to miss my friends, and more than anyone else I will miss Chris. I'm not upset about leaving, because I know that it is what God wants me to do, but I know it is going to be really hard at times. The other thing is that Spanish has been really hard for me recently and I think it is going to be really hard to communicate for the first few weeks, hopefully I will catch on quickly. Throughout the semester I will update this and let you know what prayer requests I have, because I'm sure I will need a lot of prayer.
I will have a mailing address in Costa Rica and I would love to receive some mail from you all. It would be great to get a note just to let me know that you have been praying for me. I think it will cost about $1.50 to mail a letter to Costa Rica, so it isn't that much. I can easily receive mail that is up to 4lbs.
My mailing address is:
Carol Fogler
Latin American Studies Program
Apdo. 54-2070
Sabanilla, Montes de Oca
San Jose, COSTA RICA
Feel free to reply to the post, e-mail me, or send me a note. I also have SKYPE which I will be using while in Costa Rica. I've heard that there are several SKYPE cafes in the city. If you have SKYPE just search for Carol Fogler and add me to your contacts. I would love to hear from all of you while I am gone. Remember to check back here whenever you get a chance.
Carol
I want to send out updates about this coming semester and this hopefully will be a great way to do it. Chris just helped me set this up recently to blog all about Costa Rica. I am going to be studying in San Jose, Costa Rica for the entire spring semester. I leave January 8th and fly back home April 24th. I am getting very nervous, but I'm also very excited!! This is a once in a life time opportunity and I know that I am going to learn a lot, but it is still hard to leave all my loved ones and friends. It is going to be 3 1/2 months of the unknown, I don't know a single person in Costa Rica, but within a week it will be my home. tonight I have started to pack a little and have been making lists of what I need to do before leaving. I still can't believe that I will be in Costa Rica within a week.
I don't know much about what I will be experiencing, but I do know a few things. I will be living with a host family in Costa Rica, all hosts are required to have at least one child at home. The family will be a Christian family (either protestant of Catholic). I will be taking classes, they will all be in Spanish. I am doing this program through Asbury, so I will get 16 hours of credit. I will also be traveling around a lot, I'm not sure where I will go, there are a few options. I may spend time in Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, and I heard a rumor that Cuba is an option.
I am going to try to blog about once a week. I won't always have access to the internet, but hopefully I will be able to keep you informed with what I am doing. I think that I will be able to put pictures on here, so that will be fun as long as I can figure out how.
There are a couple things I want to ask of you all as I leave for the semester. First of all I want to ask for your prayer. My biggest concern is my emotional health, I haven't ever been away from home for this long and it is going to be really hard. My family hopefully will be able to visit during Robert's spring break, it would be great to see some of them. I am also going to miss my friends, and more than anyone else I will miss Chris. I'm not upset about leaving, because I know that it is what God wants me to do, but I know it is going to be really hard at times. The other thing is that Spanish has been really hard for me recently and I think it is going to be really hard to communicate for the first few weeks, hopefully I will catch on quickly. Throughout the semester I will update this and let you know what prayer requests I have, because I'm sure I will need a lot of prayer.
I will have a mailing address in Costa Rica and I would love to receive some mail from you all. It would be great to get a note just to let me know that you have been praying for me. I think it will cost about $1.50 to mail a letter to Costa Rica, so it isn't that much. I can easily receive mail that is up to 4lbs.
My mailing address is:
Carol Fogler
Latin American Studies Program
Apdo. 54-2070
Sabanilla, Montes de Oca
San Jose, COSTA RICA
Feel free to reply to the post, e-mail me, or send me a note. I also have SKYPE which I will be using while in Costa Rica. I've heard that there are several SKYPE cafes in the city. If you have SKYPE just search for Carol Fogler and add me to your contacts. I would love to hear from all of you while I am gone. Remember to check back here whenever you get a chance.
Carol
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