Presentations and stuff

The last 2 weeks haven't been all that eventful which is probably why I haven't felt all that compelled to write something. However, I'll give a bit of a recap of what all I've been doing.

During the week of my last blog post (2 weeks ago) we went to the U.S. embassy for a field trip. It took a while to get through the security area and once we got inside, we chilled out in the lobby for some time. We were then taken down to a little presentation room and had two embassy staff people explain a little bit of what they do. We asked some questions relating to the topics we have been studying and/or were currently researching for our presentations but the majority of their answers left us feeling pretty dissatisfied. Someone from my group asked about the idea of Free Trade (we had our presentation on economics the next week) and we were told that free trade generally benefits everyone. It seems like a pretty understandable opinion from someone that is uneducated, but what was a bit annoying was that as students, we have a better grasp on the issues associated with free trade than people working at the U.S. embassy. They were friendly and it was a cool experience but yeah...

Later in the week we had a musician come and play music for us while also giving a brief history of the music in Latin America and how it is a mix of mostly European, indigenous, and African styles. He was good and friendly and it was overall pretty neat.

In my Spanish class we had a 3 page paper due over our experiences so far in Costa Rica. It was much easier than the 6 page paper from the week before.
This past week we mostly worked on preparing for our presentations for Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I did a short presentation over the Costa Rican civil war of 1948 that lead to Costa Rica abolishing their army, giving voting rights to women, and adding a lot of rights for blacks. I felt like it went really well.

On Thursday my group presented over the economic relationship between Latin America and the U.S. and we had to address what economic system Jesus would have wanted/supported. Our thesis was that economic systems are bound to be corrupt and defective if the people in them are corrupt. So while a truly Christian society may look almost communistic, it isn't really possible unless the people involved are on board. So yeah.. that went pretty well too.

In the evening I made Tres Leches with my friend Nathan and my host mom. It cost about $14 U.S. to make it but it is incredibly delish. I really want to make it for people in the US. It's essentally a normal cake with whipped cream on top except instead of being dry or even moist, it is soaked in condensed milk and just dripping with goodness.

On Friday we officially 'graduated' from our ICADS/Spanish Language class and we no longer have to walk 45 minutes to class every day! We're also done with the "Core Seminar," which involved the field trips and random history/culture talks twice a week.

Today I went, with 4 other people, to the Children's Museum!

Museum from afar

It was way bigger than I expected and actually was built in what was once an abandoned prison. It was definitely an enjoyable time.

After the museum we stopped by Wendy's and I had my first true American food in over a month. I ordered a double queso burger with bacon... and realized that they gave me someone else's cheese burger (it was covered in onions and mushrooms) after I had already eaten too much. It was a pretty big let down. I tried eating it with the mushrooms and onions but peeled them off and as I figured, it was much more satisfying. It's pretty sad that I missed out on bacon :(... I haven't had it once since I've been here. The Wendy's fries tasted the same, which is a good thing.. and I got a coke too. It's weird but Costa Ricans pretty much only drink juice it seems... carrying around water is a 'Gringo' thing to do... so I have had very few soft drinks since I've been here. I mean, I'm sure it's healthier so I'm not complaining.

Pristine Costa Rican Wendy's... pre-burger defilement

After Wendy's we stopped by a discount store... it was kind of like a dollar store except stuff was more than a dollar at times. I bought 3 blank paper notebooks, some crayons, and a super thin towel for Nicaragua.

Oh yeah- I won't be updating until I get back from Nicaragua and Spring Break trip, which will be probably ~2 weeks from now.

So for Nicaragua, we are leaving Monday and are only allowed to bring our backpacks. We will be staying in the city of Managua for the first 3 days, learning/taking tours and doing stuff that they won't tell us about until we are on our way (that's usually the way it works here...). After the first 3 days, we will be taken out to live with a family for 5 days. The families are supposedly 'in poverty' and it will be pretty uncomfortable living I assume. During those 5 days, we will just be chilling with the families and getting to know them.. and usually a lot of students get sick... so that sounds exciting :p. I've also been told that it is one of the best experiences that students leave with. So I'm a little anxious but definitely pumped to go. For combating the likely sicknesses, we all were told to buy a handful of certain meds: I have this one pill that you take in the morning and it is a bug repellent.. I guess it uses the skin pores? I've also got some laxatives, some anti-lax (immodium), some pepto, and some allergy stuff. Fingers crossed that the bug repellent pill + bug spray will keep me from getting Dengue fever. Just kidding! But seriously.. After our 5 days with the families, we will go to Granada for a couple days. Although I've never lived out of a backpack for 2 weeks nor lived with a family that has very little, I am certain that this will be an awesome experience.

Immediately after our Nicaragua trip, our spring break starts and lasts for 4 days. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to end up doing but it's looking like I may be getting dropped off in Guanacaste with a group of people on our way back from Nicaragua. Guanacaste is one of the prettiest/touristy providences (Northwest part of the country) and is supposed to be really beautiful. It will potentially be kind of sucky to not get a freshly washed batch of clothes before Spring Break but maybe we'll be able to find a laundromat or something in Guanacaste.

After Spring Break, 2 weeks of Spanish Language and Literature study begin for me, living with my original family. Then after those 2 weeks, we have a final month of internship/living with a third family.

Thanks for reading!

ps. This past week I got hired to be an RA at South Hall Complex East next year!