Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In!

I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I last blogged, but I had to take a little hiatus to tackle the LSAT...so much for my New Year's resolution to be a better blogger, oops! Now that the LSAT is over (hopefully I won't have to take it again), I will be able to blog more consistently. I was studying SO much the month before my test, I don't think I've ever studied so much for anything...ever. It was exhausting. But now life is back to normal and I can really enjoy Costa Rica without the LSAT cloud hanging over me. Most of you know what I've been up to the last couple of months so I won't try and cram it all into this blog post. Basically I've been studying, teaching, watching/reading Game of Thrones, did a little traveling with my mom and tore my hamstring playing frisbee. I tried to write a lot of facebook updates to make up for my lack of blogging, so hopefully you stayed caught up through those.

I only have 2 weeks left in this semester! How crazy is that?! It went by so fast. I'm definitely excited about having a little vacation. Gibbs and Carleigh are coming to visit and we're going to do some serious adventuring. AND Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 will come out over my break and I could not be more excited about it. It's kind of bitter sweet in a way though. I mean, I've had Harry Potter premieres to look forward to for more than half of my life and after July 15th, there won't be any more...But mostly I'm just thinking about how awesome this movie is going to be. Considering how good HPDH1 was and how amazing the trailer for part 2 is, I'm pretty sure this movie is going to be epic.

Sorry if this post seems anticlimactic after such a long wait, but mostly, this post is just to let you know that I will be blogging again :-) So this one may not be that long, but it will be followed by many more, so get ready!

Rafting in CR. Probably my favorite thing so far.

Living the Pura Vida

Sorry for not writing in a while...I have no real excuse, just the normal distractions of life. And by distractions I mean I intentionally keep my days really full because there's so much I want to do while I'm here. I'll start with the most recent exciting events and then get into my everyday life (just in case you don't make it through the whole post).

Since I'm living here on a tourist visa, I have to leave the country for 72 hours every 3 months (it's basically a mandatory vacation). I'm not sure how 3 months have gone by already, but they have and last weekend I went to Panama with 7 other teachers. We went to this place called Bocas del Toro, which is a group of islands on the Caribbean side, really close to the Costa Rican border. I think one of the islands there was used to film one of the Survivor seasons. Anyway, Bocas is basically a collection of beautiful semi-deserted beaches that belong on postcards.

It took us about 6 hours to get to the border, where we got off one bus, filled out some forms, walked across this rickety old bridge into Panama, filled out some more forms and got in a van that took us to the ocean where we took a boat taxi to the main island, Isla Colon (everything over here is named after Christopher Columbus, despite his less than reputable actions in the Americas). We got to our hostel around 4 and Denise made us all a delicious pasta dinner. Our hostel was right on the water and after dinner I laid down in a hammock on the hostel dock overlooking the water and the other islands and took a nice peaceful nap. If I haven't made you jealous yet, then I'm not telling it right.

On Saturday we went to Starfish beach, so named for all of the giant starfish in the water. We spent a relaxing day at the beach, talking, swimming, reading, trying not to get sunburned (some of us were more successful than others) and just enjoying the natural beauty around us.

On Sunday we all split up. Denise and I went back to Costa Rica to Puerto Viejo to spend a day/night there. I'm going to try and explain Puerto Viejo, but I know I'm going to fail. It's one of those places you just have to experience for yourself. The culture there is like Reggae meets hippie meets the Costa Rican Pura Vida. It's basically the most chilled out place I've ever been and it's right on the Caribbean coast with a beach that looks different every 100 meters. We spent our day on Playa Negro, where the sand was completely black. Our hostel in Puerto Viejo was also a unique and almost indescribable place. It's right on the beach, the whole place is made up of colorful tile mosaics, there are hammocks and tents everywhere and the place is full of the kind of people you would expect to see sleeping in hammocks in a Costa Rican beach town. It was awesome for a night. I might not want to stay there for a long period of time, but for a night it was an awesome experience.

We met up with a couple other teachers who were on their way to Panama and we went out for a nice dinner. None of us really eat out in restaurants a lot, so it was a nice treat. We each ordered one of the specials, had the 2 for 1 cocktails and Denise and I ordered some desserts, pecan pie and a brownie sundae. Delicious.

We took the bus back to Heredia on Monday morning and I've been working ever since. I'm at about 25 hours of class time a week, plus meetings and planning time I end up at work at least 40 hours a week. I've also started getting more serious about my triathlon training. I do yoga every morning, run 3-4 times a week, do 3 strength training workouts and I swim 2-3 times a week at this great outdoor Olympic sized pool that's really close to my work. I also found people to play Ultimate Frisbee with every Sunday, which has been awesome! And tomorrow I'm actually running a 10k due to the insistence of one of my students. Her school is hosting the race and she knows I've been training and pretty much told me she was signing me up for it and didn't really give me much of a choice.

Other than that I've been hanging out with people, you know, trying to be more social. I just finished the first book in the Game of Thrones series and I'm now rereading the Fountainhead. Oh, one of my students who loves reading English books told me about a used bookstore so I went and found a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Spanish for super cheap. I got a little tired of memorizing verb tenses so this is my new Spanish learning project.

So yeah, the reason I called this post Pura Vida is because I can feel this place having quite the effect on me. Pura Vida translates to pure life, but I really don't think it's something that can be understood through a translation. I had read the phrase in Lonely Planet before I got here, but it's taken me a few months to fully grasp its meaning. It's really a lifestyle and it's a lifestyle that's so incredibly different from the culture in the U.S. I don't think I'll ever be able to reach Tico levels of Pura Vida, but everyday I can feel it become more and more a part of who I am. I wish I could explain it, but I've already written too much. I'll try to put it in words at some point in the future, just know that I feel more and more relaxed everyday and life is just more beautiful.

Pictures coming soon.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Reader, I had the unfortunate luck of catching the flu (or some illness that causes flu-like symptoms). I woke up Thursday feeling under the weather, but I thought I was just tired from my busy week of Spanish classes and working. Halfway through class I got really feint and my students could tell I was not okay...they probably noticed before I did actually (I can be pretty stubborn about admitting something's wrong). But by the end of class there was no denying it, so I told my boss I didn't feel well and decided to take a cab home since I felt like I was about to pass out. In retrospect this wasn't the best idea because I was a little nauseated too and I'm prone to motion sickness on a normal day...I'm pretty sure I gave the cab driver way too much money (my memory of the whole thing is a little fuzzy cause I was pretty disoriented at the time), but I was so ready to get out of the car I just handed him some cash and fumbled my way inside. I didn't have the energy to change or take of my shoes or find the appropriate medication, I just curled up in my bed and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fall asleep for a while and I spent a miserable two hours huddled in the fetal position, transitioning back and forth between burning up and having chills. I finally managed to sleep for about an hour and when I woke up I was able to look through my medicine and find some Tylenol (according to my Intro book, "take an Aspirin" is pretty much the cure for everything) and go back to sleep. I had also managed to change into pajamas, which were way more comfortable than my work clothes. Obviously, I was in no position to work, so I was forced to take the night off.

I was confined to my bed for the rest of Thursday and most of Friday. I did try going for a walk on Friday because I was feeling better, but that was definitely a mistake. I got a block away from my apartment and I started getting dizzy and I felt really weak so I had to turn around. Saturday morning I woke up feeling okay and went to work since I only had one 3 hour class. I felt fine until I had to walk up the stairs to get to my classroom. The climb was too much for me in my weakened state and I could feel the lightheadedness coming back. Fortunately, my good friend Patty came to my rescue with some Theraflu and a hug, which were exactly what the doctor ordered. The combination of the two helped me get through my class and back home to my bed and my book (I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, which is being adapted into an HBO series that looks amazing!).

Today I finally feel like I'm not sick. I still feel pretty weak, making it up the stairs is still a challenge and I don't have my appetite back (this is the most distressing aspect of being sick btw...food is not appealing to me, how crazy is that?!), but the not feeling sick has been great. I went for a walk around the block and even ventured to the Hipermas (aka Walmart) to do a little shopping. Hopefully with one more good night's rest I'll be back to my normal self by tomorrow or Tuesday.

I've decided to see this unfortunate situation as a sign from my body that I should slow down a bit. I'm not going to take Spanish this week and I'm just going to focus on teaching. I'm also going to switch up my workouts and go for some more relaxing exercises like swimming and yoga instead of running and weight training. I was really enjoying my busy schedule, but apparently I'm not as young as I used to be...seriously. I'm also still adjusting to Costa Rica. I have only been here 2 months, even though it feels like I've been here much longer. So I'll put on the breaks for a bit and give my body a chance to catch up with my mind. Don't worry, a little virus can't keep me down for long, I'll be back to my normal ways in no time!

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...

Nope, it's just me ziplining through the rainforest.

Last weekend I went to the Monteverde cloud forest with my friend Patty and it was legen...wait for it...DARY! It was my first long distance trip (4 hours on a bus winding through the mountains on unpaved roads) in Costa Rica, and by long distance I mean relative to the size of Costa Rica, in China a 4 hour trip would be considered an extremely short distance to travel. Anyway, it was amazing. We went ziplining, went on a night hike through the jungle (the highlights were seeing sloths, coati, a pit viper and a tarantula) and spent the rest of our time wandering around and just enjoying the beautiful scenery. Oh, we also went to the serpentario because Patty really likes snakes (...why did it have to be snakes?)

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I've been incredibly busy the past couple weeks with traveling, work and taking Spanish classes so I haven't had time to do much else. Time has been flying by, I can't believe it's almost March! And I don't really see things slowing down anytime soon, which is a good thing. I'm having such an amazing time with everything, I just wish I had the time to write everything down and share it with all of you.

Chasing Waterfalls

Hola Reader! I apologize for not posting sooner, but I've been really busy. Last Sunday I took a day trip to these awesome waterfalls with one of the other teachers (Patti). The trip was planned over Karaoke the night before and we pretty much had a perfect day. Everything just fell into place for us, including getting picked up by a nice Canadian couple in a car while we were waiting for a bus that may or may not have actually existed. I guess this counts as hitchhiking, but it didn't really feel like it because they were foreign tourists as well.

Since I actually did something last weekend, I got a little behind in my lesson planning and grading and I spent all week trying to catch up. I'm still getting used to the books, so lesson planning takes a little longer than I would like. I'm also still in that beginning overzealous phase that comes with starting a new job, so I've been working a lot. In a good way though.

For Everything Else, There's Mastercard

Reader, I have a confession. I passed up on a very blogworthy experience today in the name of responsibility. There's this National festival going on called Palmares and it's apparently a huge party that lasts a couple weeks and it culminates in a day of live music, food, drink and general mayhem. Well, today is the last day of the festival and I had planned on going, but at the last minute I decided not to go. I'm not really a fan of huge crowds of people, but I would have sacrificed my general comfort for the experience and the resulting blog post. Basically, I was going to go for you Reader, but I just couldn't justify spending that much money. Things are surprisingly expensive down here. Food is almost the same price as it is at home, with a few exceptions (bananas, beans and coffee). I got paid a little bit last week, enough to get me through until my next paycheck if I budget wisely, so that's what I'm doing. I do have money in my American account, but I really don't want to revert back to that. I have to learn how to live off what I make here and it's unfortunate that you, Reader, are the one that will suffer the most. It's pretty common knowledge that I have just as much fun staying in as I do going out, sometimes much more fun. But I know reading about my misanthropic lifestyle is way less entertaining than reading about crazy social exploits with the local culture. So for this, I apologize and promise to make it up to you...or at least try and make my antisocial lifestyle sound more interesting when I write about it.

So, while doing exciting things usually involves money, there are certain experiences I can have that are, for lack of a better cliche, priceless. For example, having perfect weather everyday...priceless. I mean, it's January and I can go outside in shorts and a t-shirt, how awesome is that?! Also, finally solving a logic games problem set within a respectable time frame...priceless.

LSAT update: I finished the chapters dealing with basic and advanced linear games and today I moved onto grouping games. I've worked through a bunch of actual LSAT logic games and I usually get all of the questions right. The hard part is answering the whole problem set within 8 minutes and 45 seconds, which is the recommended time allotted to each logic game on the LSAT. Getting them all correct doesn't really matter if it takes you 15 minutes and you don't have time to finish the rest of the questions.

In other news, I did finally get to a beach on Friday. I went to one of the Pacific beaches that's about an hour and a half away with my housemates. It was a small local beach, nothing breathtaking, but it was definitely nice to get out of the city and see the ocean. The water is really warm and the sand is black, I think because of the volcanoes (I either slept through or didn't go to the geology class that talked about different kinds of sand). It was pretty cool to see black sand, definitely a first, but sadly not priceless. It cost me 3 bucks to get into the beach. Most of the beaches are also National Parks, so there's usually an entrance fee. It is really nice being close enough to take a day trip to a beach, especially since I don't have consecutive days off.

Speaking of, my job is still going well. I love most of my classes/students and I'm now up to 18 hours of class a week. I did have a little run in with the Present Perfect this week in my intermediate class. Most people couldn't tell the Present Perfect from the Simple Past without a Google search, but having taught English for over a year, I have developed (example of the PP) a decent understanding of this rather difficult tense. Well, I had just introduced the tense to my class on Tuesday and on Thursday I had one student refuse to do any of the activities because she did not completely understand why/when you use the Present Perfect. It was an incredibly frustrating experience for both of us. It's definitely not her fault though, the PP is just really hard to understand, especially when it's being explained to you in a language you have just started learning. Other than that, things have been pretty smooth sailing in class.

Here's some other random information you may or may not be interested in...
Currently reading: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society (I needed something to lift my spirits after the Hunger Games)
Recently watched: Roman Holiday, Iron man, The Waitress and Raiders of the Lost Ark
About to watch: Boardwalk Empire
Most played artist on my iPod recently: Alicia Keys
Most anticipated moment of this upcoming week: Monday night's Castle...it looks awesome

I'll leave you with my favorite Dove chocolate quote from last week:
"Always bring your own sunshine."

P.S. The inspiration for this post comes from the fact that I got a bank account setup here and a Mastercard debit card to go with it. So when I get paid at the end of the month, I will be able to experience some of the "everything else."

P.P.S. I had some requests for more pictures with my posts and I want you to know that I'm not ignoring that request, although this picture-lacking-post may lead you to believe that. I have something special planned for my next post that will involve a lot of pictures. So check back in a couple days for a visually stimulating experience.

For the Cool Use of Logic in the Face of Fire

Today was a monumental day for me. Why you ask? Because today I started a journey that will inevitably shape my entire future. In some ways, I've been on this journey for a while, but now it's much more real. Before today I was floating unwittingly along, hoping that I would stumble onto the right path. Well, as luck would have it, I discovered that path a few weeks ago and today I took the proverbial first step that often proves to be the hardest.

Today, I started studying for the LSAT.

Yep. Law School. That's my future. And the fact that I'm making such a public announcement should tell you how certain I am about this decision. Hopefully after a few minutes of reflection you will realize, as I did, that this path is perfect for me. So perfect in fact that I have an unusual confession to make: I honestly enjoyed the hours I spent studying for the LSAT today. I know, I know...I'm weird. I'm in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, I'm an hour away from the beach and I actually enjoyed spending today studying for one of the hardest standardized tests ever conceived. I feel the need to justify this, so here goes.

It's recommended to start with the Analytical Reasoning section of the LSAT, which is more commonly referred to as the Logic Games section. So, what exactly is a logic game? Remember near the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when Hermione and Harry are faced with Snape's obstacle? I'll refresh your memory. There's a line of 7 potions and a list of rules imposing conditional relationships between the variables. For example:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide You will always find some on nettle wine's left side; Second, different are those who stand at either end, But if you would move onwards neither is your friend...

Hermione mentions that figuring this out has nothing to do with magic, but logic. Fortunately, Hermione is awesome and has no trouble solving it so Harry can save the day. Well, Snape's obstacle is an example of a linear logic game and is actually what I spent all day learning how to solve in the most efficient way possible. (Hermione and I have always been kindred spirits and as I'm sure you know, she ended up pursuing a career in Magical Law Enforcement. Yet another reason this is clearly the right path for me. I wonder if the wizarding world has the equivalent of the LSAT...) Anyway, we used to do logic games in Target in elementary school and I always loved solving them. They were like fun brain workouts. And they still are. I'm not sure if that explanation makes me more or less weird...oh well.

I know the studying process is going to get a lot more tedious and the questions are going to get much harder, but I will probably still enjoy it. So you can now look forward to updates on my studying progress in addition to my abroad experiences. I'll leave you with a random bit of wisdom from one of the many Dove chocolates I ate today.

"Believe in yourself and everyone else will do the same."