Lo siento tanto!!!!

Hello everyone!
Wow. I am soooo sorry that it´s taken me this long to write. How long is it now? Almost 4 months I believe. Well, here it goes...

On school: school here is VERY different from school from the US. So if you´re from the US and plan on going to Costa Rica for a year abroad, be prepared for a change. My first day of school was a Wednesday waaaaaay back when I got here in February. I was really nervous, but everyone is SO nice! I had friends leaving my first class and am now close with everyone. One of the big differences of school here is that you´re assigned to a section, which means you´re with the same people all day, everyday, all year. So you better get a good section. Just kidding; everyone is super nice and I have friends who aren´t in the same section as me. You´ll have friends that are in your section, in other sections, even friends of host-siblings and friends that go to night school.
Also, everyday has a different schedule and school can last a lot longer than in the States. Back in California, school was from 7:30 to 3:15 EVERYday. Here´s my schedule here: Monday 7-5:20, Tuesday 7-11:30, Wednesday 8:30-5:20, Thursday 7-3:55, Friday 7-3:15. And although this might seem long, it´s rather often that a teacher will randomly tell you you don´t have class that day or you have free periods within those hours. I´m lucky because I can walk to school, but if you have problems waking up early in the morning, don´t worry about it. The sun comes out here everyday around 5:45 in the morning.
The school year is split up into 3 trimesters, and within each trimester (at my school at least) you have 2 sets of exams and 2 official homework assignments (whether they be presentations or worksheets). Your grade is percentages, not A-F, and is split up between participation, concept, homework, exams and absences. School starts in early February and ends in early or mid December with the bigger vacations being Semana Santa in April and a 15-day break in July (some schools get out for longer).

On family: although there were a few miscommunications at the very beginning, I love my family so much! I go out with my older host sister, Amanda, often and we have a lot of common friends. Also, I go to the pulpería (like a mini-mart) by our house with Camila, my younger host sister. However, be warned that (and I´m not sure if it´s like this in all families and it´s my opinion) you will not have much privacy of your possessions. They´re often taking my camera and other things that I value and almost losing them or not giving them back. Although I feel bad about it, I´ve resorted to hiding the more valuable things so that they have to ask permission if they want to borrow it. Other than that, though, my host-family is great. I´ve gone to San José with all of them on multiple occassions which included roller skating with Amanda one time (fun day!) and other such activities. All in all, my host family is awesome!
If you´re worried about rules, I´ve met almost NO families that weren´t totally relaxed. Don´t get me wrong; you can´t just go do whatever you want, but most likely if you ask your mom for permission to do something, she´s going to say it´s okay. Some tips: if your mom goes to the supermarket GO WITH HER! You´ll learn important words by shopping and it´s good practice for if she asks you for a favor later on...I´ve gone in the mornings to the panadería, pulpería and fruit/vegetable store (I forget the name right now) to buy bread, eggs, butter, lettuce and such stuff, and it´s kind of important to know what you´re asking for. Don´t go out TOO often or your family might feel like you never spend time with them and also, don´t be late for curfew. I have to be home during weekdays (aka Monday-Thursday) by 10 pm, which is not unresonable at all, seeing as how I have school the next day...

On money: I am sorry to say that things here are NOT as cheap as I thought they would be. I mean, it´s hardly expensive, but it´s not like some super discount from US stores. Clothes can get kind of expensive since it can be difficult to find shirts under $20 and jeans under $50. There are amazing stores though that are ridiculously cheap, but it´s like a second hand store and requires patience to find something cute that you´ll actually wear.
School lunches at my school are split between two categories: eating in the comedor or eating at one of the sodas. A soda in Costa Rica is actually a little shop (like a 7-11 if you have those where you live) with snacks and beverages and edible goodies like that. At my school, the food at the comedor consists of a glass of juice, rice, beans, something like pasta or potatoes with meat, or just a meat dish, and salad. You get a plate, cup and fork as you enter and wash it, get your food, eat and then bring your dishes to wash them again before placing them so the next round of people can use it. A ticket for the comedor costs 500 colones (500 colones= about $1). Now, the food at the soda is better quality, smaller quantity and more expensive. You can choose from all sorts of things like sandwiches, hambergurs, nachos, a full lunch plate, french fries, tacos and other stuff. These meals are from 500-1000 and up and don´t include a drink (so you have to buy that too). I usually eat at the comedor with all my friends but every once in a while we´ll go and have a delicious chicken sandwich for lunch...
Going out, however, it´s likely that you won´t have to spend as much money as you did in your home country. The movie theatre in my town costs 2000 colones for a ticket, about $4. Cheap right? Renting movies is cheap too, I´ve heard, although I personally haven´t done it yet. Let´s see, since you take the bus almost everywhere not in walking distance, it´s cheap to get to places (between 140 and 200 colones depending on the distance and bus) and although some of the pools here require entrance fees, it´s only about 1000 colones ($2). Also, a bus ticket all the way to San José on those legit buses for long travel (it´s about 3 and a half hours) is about $4 (2,070 colones or something like that).

On friends and going out: to start off, my entire section in school is one big group of friends so if you´re worried about breaking into cliques, there´s not too much of that here. I have my friends from my class, friends that I´ve met through my section who are in another class, friends I´ve met through my host-sister and friends that go to night school. Also, it´s NOT uncommon to have friends that are 4 or even 5 years older than you. I have quite a few friends who are between 18 and 20 years old. It´s just not uncommon here seeing as how a lot of those people are still studying at a night school.
As for going out, if you didn´t go out much before coming to Costa Rica (and I never did during the week because of homework. I only went out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and even that was not too common) you will probably being doing so constantly. Since I´m almost never given homework and tests are confined to week-long pre-determined periods, I can go out any night of the week with my mom´s permission.
Now, I´m sure you´re curious what type of stuff you might be doing. Sometimes, I just go to the park (it´s not like a playground, it´s like the center of town with lots of benches and trees surrounded by cute little stores and restaurants of every kind) and sit with friends or go to someone´s house to watch a movie. We go to the mall (a mere bus ride and 170 colones away) and walk around or go to the movies (also in the mall). We go to the Hotel del Sur (which is right by the mall and is more of a country club) to hang out and swim. There´s also other pools that you can get to by bus that are pretty cool and good hang outs. If your mom lets you (I haven´t gone yet), there are discotheques to go dancing on days when minors can go. So basically, there´s a LOT to do.

On food: if you don´t like rice or beans I´m sorry to say that it is certainly as common as everyone is going to tell you. The good news? You WILL get used to it. I LOVE rice (thank goodness) and eat it at EVERY meal (unless we have sandwiches or pasta or something like that) other than breakfast. I have beans at school although I´m still not a big fan, and have learned to love potatoes. Seriously, I never ate some of the food I do now and I´m so glad that I eat it. Breakfast consists of cereal (not too different) on schooldays and then on weekends we´ll have gallo pinto (a tipical Tico breakfast of rice and beans), eggs, sausage, fried ham or something like that with toasted bread. Lunch at school as I said before consists of salad, beans, rice and a main dish, and dinner is whatever we happen to have, although usually it´s rice, meat/chicken and lettuce and tomatoes. Occassionally we´ll have plantains or beans (my family doesn´t eat beans too much, but that´s uncommon for here).
As for fast food, if you fear of depprivation from your favorite fast food restaurant, have no fear. I have a McDonald´s about a kilometer from my house. We have hamburger and pizza places downtown (el centro is the downtown area), at the mall there´s a Taco Bell and Pizza Hut among other places and so on so forth. We even have a chinese restaurant nearby even though I thought I wouldn´t be having that too often.
Junk food is also easily come by, for in the pulpería by my house there are all sorts of chocolates, ice creams, popsicles, and cookies and abnoxiously affordable prices. I´m sorry to inform that the cake (for reasons I don´t altogether comprehend) is not very good and all cake seems to taste the same. There´s this really good stuff called leche condensada which is obviously a milk kind of product but it´s like a thick liquid with a strong but sweet and irresistable flavor. If you do come here and have men that pass by your house with rolling carts, it´s possible they´re selling granizados. Go buy one. They´re snow cones but WAAAAAY better.

On sports and other activities: there ARE sports available to you if that´s one of your fears. And unlike what people told me about the Tico´s mainly macho society, there are girls teams for every boys team. At my school, we have soccer (actually it´s futsala which is soccer with 6 players on a tinier and indoor court), volleyball, basketball, a drama team and a traditional dance team (traditional being like Costa Rica folk dances). There are dance classes available downtown for salsa and merengue and such (although I´ve gotten friends to teach me that for free) and gyms and clubs where you can work out. Also, by my house is the Poli Deportivo which consists of an indoor gym, an outdoor track, soccer field, tennis and volleyball courts and a baseball courts (along with lots of grass for a picnic or chilling with friends). Soon I´m going to be in a performance for a music class project and so I got to learn a traditional Tico dance, bals and everything! I´m really excited and got a glimpse into some of their older cultures and traditions (we have to wear traditonal clothing and everything).

The weather has finally had a bit of a break from the heat, but even though technically it´s winter, it still feels hot. When it does rain though it RAINS. The rain here is awesome because it comes down harder than I have EVER seen before; when it rains, it pours and I love it. If you come from somewhere even moderately cold, it is VERY likely you will never find the weather cold enough for a jacket (unless you live in San José or a mountain town). Since I´ve lived here, I have never had to wear a coat in Perez Zeledón (my town) and often just find it refreshing when other people are calling it cold. We´ll see if the weather gets any colder or any more consistent as winter bears on...

Honestly, I don´t know what else to tell you because so much time has passed since I got here, but Costa Rica is paradise and life here is good. I love my host family, my friends, the weather and everything about this country. It´s a beautiful place with beautiful people and my spanish has gotten GOOD : ))). Now that I´ve finally added this new post, I´ll try to be consistent. Keep reading : )

Mackenzie