Happy thanksgiving

so my mom left early Sunday morning for san jose for a doctors apointment leaving poor carol to cook for me and isidro, who actually is a super good cook. She made delicious arroz con leche which was like rice pudding. All day Sunday and Monday were super weird without my host mom but It did force me to talk to my dad and sister a lot more which was good.Sunday evening we received two new volunteers: Jackie and becky, who are both from Vancouver bc and also two bicycles that were donated by a local bike shop that promotes cycling all around the world. Everyone gathered around to see the new bikes being put together, even isidro paused his telenovela to come see the excitement.


Monday was more helping the volunteers and of course chatting away with them as well. Its exciting having so many people to get to know and all of them have such interesting stories. I also helped isidro shoe one of his horses and later he asked if I knew how to cook and when I said no he told me I need to learn because when I have a spouse I will have cook for him. He really missed arabella when he had to make his own lunch.

Later after class I walked into my room and on one of the boards on my ceiling was the biggest hairiest tarantulas I have ever see. Just when I thought I had seen it all. So of course I immediately ran out of the room and went to find Dylan or marcos or somebody brave enough to kill. Finally I found isidro who came to my rescue and smashed it lightly with a broom than swept it up into a banana leaf and was back to work. But he seemed to find it rather amusing when I jumped up onto my bed after the tarantula hit the ground. I couldn’t wait to tell arabella all about it when she got home later that night and of course she thought it was pretty amuzing too, man its good to have her home. Tuesday morning arabella taught me how to make pancakeas, which are so good no syrup necessary, than it was back to grouting the counters in the kitchen. We had a short class and than walked to pick some basil nearby and than walked to the soda where I had another amazing chocolate banano.

That night instead of waking of to the sound of my friendly bat I woke up to the voices of sarah marcos and arabella all whispering. Totally freaked me out cause it was one in the morning and I couldn’t imagina what had gone wrong. Turns out poor marcos had gotten a moth stuck inside his ear and was seeing if arabella could get it out. Fortunatly the doctor who comes twice a month to the town just above us was going to be there so he just waited until monring. I woke up really early the next morning and got up and because I was up early enough Arabella asked if I wanted to come help milk! Milking a cow is wayyy easier than it looks. She demonstrated how and than gave me a pitcher and went on to milk the rest oof the udders and while she managed to fill up two pitchers I got maybe three inches of mine filled. But she did tell me it takes a lot of practice so I guess I better start practicing.

Wednsday was Nicole and Dylans last day, which is crazy cause they were the only two when we first got here. We had a big bonfire complete with fireworks that marcos had gotten just for them and after a while of talking about scary movies and the local brujas or witches we went to the bar one last time with them. One guy came up to me saying he had heard I worked in Alaska and asked where and when I said Dillingham he asked if I knew tom who is the plant manager or big boss up there. I guess this guy workes on the stellar sea that used to be owned by peterpan and knows hart the QA boss and some others. Crazy small world. Thursday was thanksgiving but we went on working just like usual when marcos came walking down to the house carrying a bag that started moving and than a head popped out the top. He had gone all around the nearby towns looking for a turkey for sarah, cause he knew how important the holiday was to her and how sad she was she was missing it with her family. AWWWW. But this wasn’t your typical butterbull it was still clucking. So isidro swiftly broke its neck and than we helped to clean off the feathers than sarah and arabella cleaned and gutted and cooked the bird. It was a thanksgiving dinner to remember. Sarah and whitney creatively had made stuffing with rice and toast and there was homemade bread and corn and squash own sugar and mashed potatoes and gravy, everything made from sctrach and it was delicious. I called home and talked to my family only for a few minutes and was pretty bummed I was missing out the traditional culver thanksgiving but this one I will never forget.

Ari and I had decided to spend our last weekend in Manuel Antonio after hearing all about the beach and national park there and after inviting some people we all decided to go. So Friday night we played some more phase ten and all the volunteers but dave and whitney wrote in the guestbook cause It was their last night. Friday night was crazy, me and ari decided to sleep in one of the cabanas that are located in the middle of the jungle. After having dave and whitney tuck my mosquito net in for me and after giggling for what seemed like hours we all fell asleep in the pitch black listening to the sounds of creatures moving outside.

5:00 came way too early and after one last group photo with the all the volunteers we got on the bus. Isidro and arabella also were on the bus but going to san jose to visit their daughters. We rode for almost a half hour where we got of at a small bench or bus stop to wait for the next bus which sadly didn’t come for another two hours. But as we were sitting their here comes Jorge coming to join us. We had invited him several times and he had never really given us an answer but here he was. So we finally got on the two hour bus that took us to quepos and from there we got the shuttle to manuel Antonio. After all 10 of us had checked into the hostel we headed to the park where thank goodness Jorge was there. The ticos hear have incredible sight and senses and knowledge of their surrounding and the wildlife in costa rica. He pointed out several sloths and howler monkeys and other kinds of monkeys and animals that would have been impossible to notice. We hiked up to a view point looking over the bay and than to two different beaches where we swam in the clear warm water and soaked up some sun and than walked some more to see more racoons and large rodents.

After showering and having a delicious dinner of all you can eat spaghetti and balony we headed out where everyone got a couple drinks and than we headed down to the beach where we just talked and sunk our feet in the sand and enjoyed the waves crashing onto the sand. A guy we met at dinner also joined us and we learned that he has biked here all the way from san diego and plans to go to the tip of panama. It was incredible to hear all about his stories. The next morning we all just hungout one last time and than headed to the beach where me and Ari said good by to everyone. It was crazy that 5 of the volunteers had only been there a week or so but we had all become so close. Only whitney and dave are coming back. It was crazy taking one last pictures and saying good luck with the rest of your life and how we will all be in touch. I hope that’s true cause I already cant wait to see where these people end up and even if we never do see each other again we all will always have our good times at siempre verde in the middle of nowhere costa rica.

church, scorpions, cooking...

Every other Thursday at 3:30 is church. So after my host mom asked me if I go to church Thursday morning, I decided to ask her if I could come along. So me and ari and Arabella all walked to town to the small catholic church. It was a short simple ceremony and I actually was able to understand quite a bit of what he was saying, well enough words to get the gist. The church is very small and simple but still very beautiful. Afterwards we walked slowly backing chitchatting a bit with arabella.So thannn we gointo my room and there is a frog in there so we are trying to scare it out and arabella heard all the comotion so she came in with a broom handle laughing her head off but once again she saved the day. Ohh how I love her. Ari was nice enough to take some sweet pictures of arabella and I chasing the frog. Later that night was a bonfire. We brought out the guitar and the drum and the harmonica and sat there around the fire talking. Seco, the bartender even closed down the bar to come bringing other ticos. It was so fun and such a clear night.


So Friday once again was working on the composting toilet and class and studying and than we played phase ten and went to bed early cause we were all super excited for Saturday. What was Saturday? A tour of la iguana chocolate farm! Given by Jorge, one of my favorite ticos it started with a cocoa pod fruit thing, you should google it, and iill add pictures later. But its this huge co9lorful pod thingy that you open up and is full of these seed things that were wet and slimy and tasted pretty bitter. So they take those out and dry them and then dry them some more and then roast them and then we broke off all the schells and then ground up the cocoa beans into powder. After that we added some brown sugar and orange flavoring and ground it all together and compacted them into little cups and stuck them in the freezer. While they were in there we ate brownies and chocalate milk and talked about chocolate. It was the best morning ever. Than we ate our orange flavored choclates. They also have volunteers that help them and if I ever come back to costa rica that’s probably where ill look at first.

We were all so full of chocolate we just layed around and met the new couple who are both from Britain but live in LA. Ari and I also had an awesome convo with my host mom. She even said we talk way better as a team cause if one doesn’t know usually the other one does. It was soo fun and it felt so awesome like we actually knew something. After we got back from the river I talked to her again about Christmas and learning to cook and she said we have a busy last week. I am so excited. And we started that night with homemade tortillas which turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. After words we all headed to the bar where I got my usual. Two popi’s aka suckers and just hung out and practiced my Spanish with some of the locals.

It had been an awesome day and I get back to my room turn the light on and my friendly nightly bat was hanging on the ceiling that flew away. And than there was a spider on my pillow that I smashed with my water bottle and than the first scorpion I have ever seen was sitting on my wall. Ohh man I was so tempted to just give up and go home right than and there. I don’t think I could ever get used to all the bugs.

Un Baile!

SO last friday i was sitting in my room, studying away when there is knock and who is it? arianna and marcos our teacher come to get me for a field trip. ohh boy. so we start walking to town and of course marcos is only speaking in spanish and i come to find out we{re going to the little store to pracitice buying things, a sort of test. So we come to the first little store and hes like ok jasmine you{re going to go buy some cookies but first you have to ask to see all the different types and ask how much each on is. haha So i did alright asking, well they at least could figure out what i wanted and so im pretty sure i passed. than we kept walking to the soda which sells all sorts of things where it was ariannas turn to buy ice cream. We ended up getting frozen chocolate covered bananas which were amazing, but as we were sitting there the ground started to shake and so we ran out from under the building. it was crazy a 5.1 earthquake and Ari{s first one.
So when i got back home the two older sisters were there who both live in san jose. Geraline is married with two adorable little girls who came up and introduced themselves to me, and than the other sister gabi who is going to school. So we all just sat around talking and laughing and they showed pictures of when they went zipling in monteverde, which i cant not wait to do. Gabi had pictures of helping turtle eggs which im super bummed out cause the season is over for turtles. And we ate some delicious pan they brought. it was a fun night with all of the family. Saturday was more hanging out and we watched one of the soccer games on tv and than we had to get ready for the big dance.
Since dances dont happen very often they are the talk of the town. At about 7 we caught a ride up to San Miguel which is the next town up, about a 40 min walk for the dance. We stood outside for a while talking with some of the other gringos from town and than went in. It was crazy and soo much fun. There were people from all ages there just daning away to different types of music. We mostly stuck to dancing with our own little group but towards the end of the night we had all danced with a tico or two. Whitney, one of the other volunteers got asked by two 15 yearold to dance but her boyfriend soon cut in. It was great. So the night ended way to early and luckily we caught another ride back home. I coulnt believe i stayed up till 1. Funny how different it is time wise. But its all poeple were talking about the next day and my entire family kept wanting to know if i had found a novio at the dance. The rest of the week has been recoverring from sat night and helping with more little projects. Sarah{s kitchen is almost done and is looking absolutely awesome. and now we are working on two composting toilets. I cant wait to put that i know how to make a composting toilet on my resume. i think it will really help.
Also classes have been going really well. Yesterday i finally managed to see three toucans! they are beautiful. We also saw two macaws flying through as i was laying on the hammock. its soo crazy. that im not in a zoo seeing these. Last night we all went down to the bar to watch the costa rica uruaguay game, which was costa ricas last chance to go to the world cup. It was a heartbreaking loss for everyone.

Winter in Mastatal

So I last posted in Puriscal. The rest of the day was spend walking around the small park, getting our few necessasidies at the supermarket, getting some more colones and eating some delicious pizza and before we knew it we were back on the bus. Actually time went pretty slow especially while we were waiting to board the bus and some old toothless tico was chatting away to us. That happens quite often with us, and the only thing i can ever understand is that we are muy bonita. haha. but luckily we got seats far away from him. So once again driving over the hills in an old school bus is always exciting. WE stopped once, and walked over a small landslide they were clearing out to board another bus, yet it was faced the wrong way. And as it backed around some intense cliffs we all feared for our lives, but soon enough it found a spot and turned around and took the next spot where we had to get off and once again climb up a steep muddy old rooad in the rain and back down the other side. Man were we excited to see the next bus, untill it started to drive away. Freaking out we yelled to the other volunteers that our bus had left bu luckily it was headed for a different location. Man would that have been a great end to the day. So finally we arrived back at our houses, where we were all exhaustedd and noone felt like going up to the next town for bingo night in the pouring rain. But that night my host sister was nice enough to make me a hot plate of rice and beans and potatoes and we chit chatted about my exciting day. Talking with my family is certainitly improving.
Sunday we went with dylan nicole and sarah to the river which reminded us of charlie and the chocalate factory with all the mud in it and than just hungout. Monday we started helping the volunteers in the morning doing random projects. One is a sort of mosiac countertop in sarah kitchen which is gunna lookawesome when it is all done, others include working on the green house or planting pineapple plants. Ok those of you who have never seen a pineapple plant, they do not come off of trees like i thought, they almost look like cabage patch kids, totally fasinating and im sure my hawaiian relatives are very disapointed in me for not knowing. COld showers feel amazing after a sweaty day of work, unless there is no water which has been happening quite often with all the rain. The rest of the day i spend studying spanish, reading, helping ARabella with the meals, which is usually limited to cutting up an onion or tomatoe, or frying the potatoes or bananas, which are delicious. AFter dinner the whole family sits and watches novellas or spanish soap operas which i am totally getting into. My host dad especially gets so into them, its hilarious and than the news comes on and i know its almost time for bed.
oh heres an exciting story... so one day i was in my room reading and i look over and there is a cockroach on my wall. oh my lanta. so i watch it crawl all around and finally end up on my floor. So with a shoe in each hand i am trying my hardest to work up the nerve to just get close enough to smash it. But the one time i try it like flies away and freaks me out. ahh so once again i am trying to work up the nerve to kill it when Arabella come to my rescue and takes off one her sandles and smashes and throws it out the window and just goes on to laugh and laugh about it. I guess it probaly was prety funny, but i will always be grateful to her for saving me. ALso i know i am making tons of mistakes in my writing, but paying for internet is not fun, so i try to do as much as possible, so please forgive me. Oh as for the title of this entry, i was not aware that october and november is winter here which means insane downpour and some pretty sweet thunder storms, but also mud everywhere. The mud gets all over and actually is a nice shade. ONe day after working i heard ari ask, is this a tan line or a mud line, sadly enough it was a mud line. So those are pretty much my days. we{ve already been here almost two weeks, crazy, but i am definetly getting into the groove of the tico way of life.

Puriscal

So today is saturday and Ari and I and two of the volunteer decided to go to Puriscal which is a 2 hour bus ride away, but its the closest town with a bank and store of anykind. We figured we should get some more colones and little things we forgot like hand sanitizer and i need a mirror, who knows what ive been looking like the past few days.
So the bus stops in front of our house at 5:45am so we were all up and excited to catch it. Marcos, our teacher had said that with all the rain (oh did i mention its the rainy season here is Costa Rica) that there might be some problems with landslides on the road but not to worry theres always a way to get to another bus or get around it. So after about a half hour of driving we stop and everyone gets off. We just follow the crowd which starts to take us up this backroad which was uphill and ridiculously muddy. Than they decided to take a short cut across a farm which meant climing up rocks and intense terrain. Poor Ari slipped and fell, and i almost did more than once. So after a good 45 mins at least of hiking in the mud we came to the next bus, which took us all the way to Puriscal. It was a pleasant scenic ride until and very only guy who smelled a little odd got on the bus and decided to sit next to me and although i couldnt understand hardly anything he was saying i did manage to get that i was very bonita which he said mulitple times and the word beso which i hear means kiss. No entiendo and no was all i said and luckily she got off not to far off. So the bus dropped us off we went to the bank and than to get breakfast, which was a delicious fruit salad with icecream on it.
But thats just today. My family is super nice. Its actually Marcos family (which i might of already told you but i cant rememeber what i write). His mom Arrabella is very sweet and speaks very clear, which i think she has learned from having other students. The dad Sedro (no idea about spelling) is very pretty quiet and mumbles very bad. the only time he has actually talked to me was to point out the "chucaracha" that was running across the floor. ill get to the bugs in a bit. Than there is Carol who is 17 and goes to school here in Puriscal everyday so i hardly see her. so most mornings i wake up about 6 or so to the sound of roosters and get up and go visit my favorite composting toilet. they do have running water and toilets and showers, no hot water though. but lately the pipes have been breaking with the rain that there has been no water. Also you can only go number one in the toilets and you throw your toilet paper into the garbage can. Def a new expierance. But i must say the view from the composting toilet is pretty incredible. So i get up and eat breakfast, which is usually some fresh papaya and a quesidilla or empanada or something of that sort made with fresh cheese from the cows. Than if there is water i shower! Monday we are going to start helping the volunteers with different projects in the morning, but the last few days i have just been exploring or walking to visit ari who lives about 30 mins away.
School is in the afternoons for two hours of one on one with marcos and we get homework. To get to school you have to hike down into the jungle. Its pretty crazy. Yesterday im pretty sure my teacher pointed out a armadillo in the distance moving around.
Oh the creatures that roam around. This place would be paradise if there werent pioson snakes, scorpions or huge spiders. Also the bugs are like enlarged. Last night I came into my room and there was a frog almost the size of a chiuaha in my room. oh plus a spider the size of my hand which i tried to kill but it ran behind the dresser. so needless to say i didnt sleep all that well last night. everyone is pretty much ready for bed about 8 30. which sounds early but actually about 7 you are ready to go to bed. I spend alot of time sitting on my inch thick mattress studying my spanish books, praying that one of these days ill start to understand what they say, but who knows. Also soap operas are pretty popular in the evenings, which are pretty entertaining even though i cant understand what they say. I also started reading deception point by dan brown, which i cant wait to get back to sprawled out in one of the hamocks.
Im still adjusting to everything but its def a whole new world.

First Day in Mastatal

So Ari and I have made it to our host families here in Mastatal. We arrived in San Jose at 8 monday night and took a shuttle to our hostel. After settling in we went upstairs to their rooftop restuarant and bar and got a bottle of water and looked out over the city of san jose. After spending the night freezing we woke up and walked to the closest bank and exchanged our money for some colones. Than we took a taxi for three bucks to the bus station where we got on a fairly nice bus to Puriscal, which only took an hour. Good thing Arianna used her spanish skills to ask the guy next to her which stop we should get off at cause otherwise we could of been in trouble.
We got into Puriscal about three hours early so we ate and walked around the small town which is centered around a large church and park. Finally, we got on our bus to Mastatal, which was an old school bus that took us over tons of mountains and next to many cliffs. There are no guardrails in Costa Rica. After a quick stop because another bus had slid off the road we were back on our way only to slow down when driving over fallen tree trunks. It was the most scenic drive i have ever seen. I wonder if all the people riding the bus knew they live in the most beautful place.
About two hours into our bus ride Sarah, the teachers wife hopped on the bus to help show us where to go. Arianna soon got off at her host family and i kept going where we switched busses in Mastatal. After sitting on the bus while they changed a tire we took of, but sarah missed our stop so we took the bus all the way to the next town of Miguel, where we got off and waited at the bar, which had no electricity so we couldn{t call. but eventually Marcos, our teacher noticed we were gone and came and picked us up on the only way to travel, dirtbike.
My host family is an older couple and their 17year old daughter. None of whom speak english. So after chitchating a little bit with all the spanish i know. i had some dinner and was shown my room and the compost toilet and when to bed with a candle.
When it rains here, it pours and all the houses have tin roofs which makes the rain just echo through the house, and if that doesn{t wake you up the roosters will at 3 in the morning. So it was a bit of a rough first night but overall pretty good.
Arrobal my host mother is a fabulous cook, who wakes up at 5 to milk the cows and she also makes her own cheese. So for breakfast i had some fresh papaya and quesdillas with homemade queso. After breakfast I atempted to look decent, without showering and without a mirror, so im sure im looking quite fabulous, cause there is still no running water. I went over to Marcos and Sarah{s house where i talked to them and one of their volunteers for a while and than went back over to my house for lunch which had rice and beans, which my host mother told we will be eating alot. i can handle that.
She was nice enough to find me a bucket filled with rain water to shower with. We were supposed to have our first class today but one of my teachers good friends died so he had to go help with the funeral, so tomorrow will be our first class. But he did tell us a bit about our small town of 150 people. Its main attractions are the chocolate farm down the road, the internet cafe which i am at right now paying 700 colones an hour, the soda which is kinda like a convience store and thats about it.
Hopefully i will figure out how to post pictures soon so i can show you all these exciting places. So far i was only feeling a little homesick last night, mostly missing vern and my temprapedic pillow, but im definetly learning so much about the simple life and the costa rican culture. Ill keep you all posted as much as i can or before i run out of colones. Oh one last thing. There is only one a bus a day that comes to Mastatal and nearly half the town shows up just to see who gets off. A good source of entertainment. choas

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Jasmine has set off on her adventures to Central and South America! This is a way for her to keep her fans updated easy. Jasmine take it away!!!!!