One of the most interesting things we did was teach some teachers from the parish school how to play the violin.  We brought with us a donation of eight violins for the school as well as the music teacher from Holy Trinity to help teach.  Although I didn’t exactly teach how to play the violin, I did translate for the teachers.  To my surprise, the teachers picked up really fast on how to play!  Before I knew it they had already learned two songs in just a few hours.  We also organized a basketball camp for the kids during the week.  We took with us about 25 basketballs and spent several mornings teaching kids drills, technique, and games.  It was so much fun to see how much the kids were enjoying playing basketball.  Once again, I spent my time translating instead of teaching.  I have never translated so much before and I was surprised to see how much I learned in such a short time.  I also realized that translating is mentally exhausting.

Basketball camp...

The church at San Lucas Toliman

All the kids from the grade school. They put on a little dance to welcome us. It was great.

Melissa and I on Lago de Atitlan.

In addition to the basketball camp and violin lessons, we also held an after school program for grades one through six.  In the afternoon, the kids came for a few hours to learn some songs, do some arts and crafts, and play some games.  My patience was tested more than a few times during this after school program, but it made me appreciate how much teachers really do work.  I can also assure myself that I will never be a grade school teacher.  I was rewarded in so many ways by helping with these projects, but the way in which I was most rewarded was being able to do these projects with amazing people.  I met so many awesome people both from the states and from Guatemala, and I can say with confidence that the best part of the trip was being able to work side by side with beautiful people from two very different places.

Arts and crafts during the after school program...

The water balloon toss during the after school program.

After our time volunteering came to a close, we took a short trip to La Anitgua for two days.   It was sort of a mini vacation inside our big vacation.  It was wonderful to be back in Antigua for two days.  I spent these days wondering around the cobble stone streets, visiting places I have missed, and eating so much food.  Almost my entire budget was spent buying food from places that I missed.  Hot chocolate and cookies from Cookies etc, Banana bread from Doña Luisa, ice cream, Tortrix, limonada con soda, Saritas, and La Posada de Don Rodrigo for our final dinner.  The best part of being in Antigua was wondering around with Melissa.  Melissa and I have made so many great memories in Guatemala, and it was great to recreate some of those memories.  At the end of my trip, I asked myself the same question that I ask every year: will I end up coming back to Guatemala?  Its funny when I look back at my responses every year, because I always tell myself that it probably wont happen.  I tell myself things such as “I have so many places to see in the world” and “who knows if I will have enough money,” but somehow I always end up in Guatemala.  I am sure that I will be back to this country I have grown to love, it’s just a matter of when.

La Antigua, Guatemala

Erupting volcanoes in Guatemala!

Ruins in Antigua

The cobblestone streets of Antigua...

After my fantastic trip to Guatemala, I was surprised to find out that I had a first-class ticket back to Costa Rica!  I have no idea how I got it, but I sure didn’t pay for it.  I enjoyed the best plane ride of my life with free rum, free beer, free dinner with actual silverware, and so much legroom.  The only letdown was that my flight only lasted an hour and a half.  Oh well.  When I got back in to town, Mauricio picked me up from the airport and took me back to his place for a welcome home party with all of my tico friends.  It was so great to spend my first night with my friends that mean so much to me here.  We spent the entire night eating, drinking wine, and having great conversations.  Things got a little crazy late that night, but we all ended up falling asleep in the living room as the sun was rising.  It was a wonderful, crazy, and great way to spend my first night in Costa Rica.  I eventually ended up back home at Marias house the next day.  It’s so great to be back home with Maria again, I have missed her a lot.  Today I started my first day of classes, and I can tell that the semester is going to be great!

FIRST CLASS!!!

The best part by far is being able to see my family, the people that I truly have missed the most.  As I stepped off of my plane in Kansas City, it was somewhat surreal to see my mom waiting for me.  After more than six months of having Skype conversations, it really was a strange feeling being in the actual presence of my mom.  She has been the person that I have missed the most, and being able to be here with her has been awesome.  I have missed the calming energy of just being with my mom.  It’s the times when we are together, whether its just talking or doing nothing at all, that I cherish the most about my mom.  I have been thinking that I need to get in as much “mom time” as possible to last me the next semester.

As far as culture shock goes, I think I can say that I have experienced a strange culture shock.  I first noticed the culture shock when I was waiting in line at customs in Houston.  Surrounded by “my people” in the American citizens line, I realized that some of the stereotypes that ticos make of Americans really are true.  I was lucky enough to stand behind a family of five who had just gotten back from vacation in Cancun for the week.  Dad was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, mom and daughter had matching braided and beaded hair, and the two sons were fighting over who would get to wear the unnecessarily-large souvenir sombrero.  Welcome to America Jordan! Needless to say, I was pretty amused by this.  The other thing that was a shock was hearing the Texan accent while waiting for my flight to KC.  I spent my time eavesdropping in on a Texan guy chewing and spitting his tobacco.  Gross. I thought to myself “I would end up in the redneck terminal.”

After a week at home, I have realized that Kansas City is almost exactly the same, which is a good and a bad thing.  It is really nice coming home after such a long trip and seeing that nothing has really changed, except for the weather that is.  I forgot how humid that Kansas gets, and I cannot wait to get out of it.  The house is the same, my room is the same, my family is the same, and mom still does not cook.  Everything being the same makes my transition back home an easy one for the most part.  I have also been able to catch up with a few of my friends since I have been back which has been somewhat of a shock for me as well.  I have realized that my friends have not changed much either.  It seems like the only conversations we have are those of gossip and drama.  It’s so strange listening to this drama that I have not been involved in (thank god) and thinking about how trivial it is to me.  I don’t think I realized how dramatic some of my friends could be.  This is not a judgment of any sort towards my friends, just an observation of how my perspective on life has changed since I have been gone.

Being in Costa Rica has changed my perspective on a lot of things.  I now have a global perspective on my life.  When I think about how things work here in the states, I also think about how things work in other places I have visited.  Having this dual viewpoint on how life goes on in two different places has challenged my views on what is normal, how I act, how I think, etc.  When I think about the problems some people have here, I think about how differently people deal with the same problems in other countries.  A lot of “problems” here are just the way things work in Costa Rica, and a lot of people don’t realize that.  I have become a lot more “tranquilo” and laid back about a lot of things that really bothered me before like traffic and punctuality.  I have embraced the “pura vida” way of life and cannot wait to get back in to the groove of things.  I also miss speaking Spanish every day.  English just seems so boring now.

With everything being said, I am so glad to be back home.  I am looking forward to seeing more of my friends and spending more time in Lawrence.  I miss you a lot Costa Rica, but I’ll be back soon enough.

Academically, this semester has been really strange for me.  It has been the longest semester of my life at just over six months, but at the same time it feels like I have not really been in school for very long.  Taking so many adventures, going so many places and trying so many new things has made the time pass very quickly.  I’ll be honest though, this semester has been the easiest semester academically speaking, but although it has been easy for me I can honestly say that I have learned so much more than I would have back at KU.  I have become much more independent, much more ambitious and much more outgoing.  I have gotten used to adapting so much to change, and I know that this ability will stay with me for the rest of my life.  Plus, my Spanish has improved dramatically.  I am really excited to see how much more my Spanish is going to improve in the future.

I’ve been on a few trips since my last post.  A few weeks ago, my friend Hollie and I tagged along with one of my good tico friends Mauricio to his mom’s house in the mountains.  Mauricio’s mom lives in a small little pueblo of about 4,000 people called Pejibay (peh-he-ba-yay).  As soon as we arrived, Hollie and I soon realized that we were the only gringos in the entire pueblo.  I got to experience a new side of Costa Rica that I have never seen before, the rural Costa Rica without all the tourists.  Pejibaye is a beautiful pueblo.  It is situated in a valley so the entire pueblo is surrounded by mountains and lush tropical plants.  We soon came to find out that the only thing to do for fun in such a small town is go out to the only bar in the pueblo.

We had to use this zipline cable car to cross the river. It was awesome.

Costa Rican nature...

The most beautiful river I have ever swam in...

Our final day in Pejibaye was spent in a biological reserve close to Mauricio’s mom’s house.  We went with Mauricio and his cousin to spend the entire day wondering through nature.  We ended up spending a few hours swimming in the most beautiful river I have ever seen in my life.  The water was so crystal clear that I actually drank it, and it tasted good!  Standing in the river, feeling the current pass around my body, and breathing in unspoiled mountain air was one of the greatest feelings ever.  I have so much more respect for nature after coming here, and it’s something that I am looking forward to appreciate more in the states.  The rest of the day we spent hiking through trails, picking limes off of trees, and having great conversation.

This past weekend, I took my final weekend trip of the semester with some of my favorite people here in Costa Rica.  My friend Carlos’ aunt has a little cabin on a beach called Playa Grande. My best tico friends Carlos, Krissia and Mauricio along with Hollie and her friend David headed off to spend an extended weekend at the beach.  This weekend was by far my favorite weekend trip of the entire semester not because we went somewhere exciting, but because I spent it with people I really care about.  Thinking back on the weekend, we did a whole lot of nothing.  We spent every day at the beach and almost every night skinny-dipping at the beach.  It was so awesome to be stupid with my best friends here.  Our final day at the beach, we headed to Tamarindo for the afternoon.  When walking home from Tamarindo, we witnessed the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  I know I have said this before, but this one was the best because I was with the people I care about most here.  Basically, this trip was the perfect way to end the semester.

Probably my favorite picture I have taken here. Spending our last day at the beach.

Mauricio and I during the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.

Sunset...

One thing that has really sucked about the end of the semester is having to deal with saying goodbyes.  I know that I will be coming back next semester, but I still have to say goodbye to my Grupo de Kansas friends who will be leaving me.  It’s a strange feeling knowing that you may not see someone for the rest of your life.  After spending almost six months with someone and sharing some of the most memorable experiences in my life with them, its not easy saying goodbye.  It’s a bittersweet feeling because I know I am coming back to my amazing tico friends, but at the same time I will be leaving my gringo friends behind.  Every time I think about December, I get sad.  I have made a life for myself here, and I cannot imagine what its going to be like packing that life up and going away to my life back in the states.

The final Kaldi-Monday coffee date...

Farewell dinner at KJ's house...

With that being said, I am excited to go back to the states for a while.  I have missed a lot of things since I have been here, mainly my family and friends.  What really makes me excited is talking to my friends back home in the states and knowing that I will be seeing them very soon.  I am most looking forward to seeing my mom.  It has been such a long time since I have seen her, and I cant wait to give her a big hug.   I am ending my first chapter here, and getting ready to begin the next.  I can not wait!

A picture from one of my past 4 weekends at the beach. My friend Mauricio and I backpacking on the beach.

Wednesday afternoon, I headed to the airport (for the second time in two weeks) to pick up my dad.  After waiting around outside for about a half hour, dad and I were off to rent a car.  Soon enough, we were at my house and were greeted by my lovely mama tica who was already preparing dinner.  After dropping off our things, we headed out to grab a late lunch before dinner.  Later that night we enjoyed a great meal with Maria, Ligia, and Catalina.  It was great for me to share my tica family with my dad, although I could tell he was lost most of the time.  It is difficult trying to translate every conversation for someone else.  Dinner was great (like always) and we had great conversation the entire night.

Dad and I with Lago Arenal in the background.

The next day we were off bright and early for Playa Tamarindo.  It was such a pleasant change not having to take a long, crowded, and un-air-conditioned bus ride.  I made sure to enjoy this short-lived luxury while it lasted.  We eventually ended up in Tamarindo, grabbed a quick lunch, and ended up staying in a different hotel than we originally planned.  I once again made sure to enjoy another temporary luxury, the pool.  We spent the day doing nothing, drinking beer, sleeping on the beach, eating, and watching the sunset (which was probably the best sunset I have ever seen).  By the end of the day we were exhausted and went to bed early.  I did my best trying to sleep through dad’s snoring, which was very difficult.

Bob Sparrow (like the bird) and I on the beach...

On day three, we took the rental car out for a spin and ended up on two different beaches.  We first headed to Playa Brasilita, which was not as spectacular as I thought it would be.  After a failed effort of trying to get to Playa Conchal, we ended up at Playa Grande, which was a major highlight of my trip.  The beach was also a national park, which meant that there were no ugly hotels that lined the beach.  We enjoyed the natural pristine beauty of the “big beach” and I collected some awesome seashells.  Dad got a nice sunburn to remember his trip, and I managed to soak up some more rays and maintain my tan.  After the beach, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool, having drinks, and smoking Cuban cigars.  Ironically enough, my friend KJ happened to be in Tamarindo that evening, so I had the chance to experience some of Tamarindo’s nightlife.

Sunset in Tamarindo

On day four, we awoke and set off to our final destination: La Fortuna.  The drive from Tamarindo to La Fortuna was incredible.  We winded up and down mountains, saw some awesome scenery, saw Volcan and Lago Arenal, and got some great pictures.  I was really excited that we got to see Volcan Arenal because the last time I went, it was too cloudy to see anything.  Although we only saw it for a few minutes, it was worth it.  We also stopped at an outlook point where we could see Lago Arenal and beautiful mountainous scenery.  When we finally made it to La Fortuna, we went to five different hotels trying to find a place to stay.  We ended up in an amazing bungalow hotel, which was well worth the money we paid.  We enjoyed our own private bungalow, Jacuzzi, buffet dinner, and a few drinks together.  A great time was had by all.

Volcan Arenal... It exists!

It was really great having my dad here.  We got to have some great conversations, share new experiences together, and most importantly he now knows first hand why I have fallen in love with Costa Rica.  He also brought me a huge box of Reeces peanut butter cups.   Que rico!  I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend and was really glad that dad had the chance to come visit me.

Two weekends ago, I headed to Montezuma for the weekend to enjoy a beachin’ good time. I found myself traveling with two of my early start buddies, Taylor and Natan, and the guest of honor for the weekend, Natan’s boyfriend Matt.  It was great traveling with my early start friends, because it reminded me a lot of my first month here.  I did a lot of traveling in January, and remembering those times was nostalgic in a sense.  We had a super tranquilo weekend of lying at the beach, hiking to see waterfalls, and enjoying each other’s company.  It was a pretty typical lazy beach weekend, but we did do some hiking to see some waterfalls.  I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking from here.

Waterfalls in Montezuma

The four of us, in our shitty hostel.

Montezuma!

In other news, my little brother Christian arrived in Costa Rica on Wednesday to come and visit me for the week.  It’s nice to have a real family member here, and reminds me of being home in a strange way.  When we get into little arguments it reminds me of being at home.  Anyways, I picked him up from the airport on Wednesday and have been showing him a good time ever since he arrived.  We have headed out to some bars, been around downtown San Jose, and most importantly been to the beach.  We spent this past weekend at lovely Manuel Antonio.  I will be honest, I was not too excited to head to Manuel Antonio for the second time, but I really enjoyed it.  I guess I did not remember how beautiful it is in Manny, but it was great to be back.  Side note, I am really tan.

Little brother's firts night in a bar.

I guess I could say that this week has been somewhat of an adjusting period as well.  First of all, I am still getting used to my new haircut.  Every time I see myself in the mirror, I forget I have short hair, but I love it.  I guess you could say it’s growing on me (no pun intended).  There is also a new group of exchange students from KU who arrived on Wednesday as well.  I am slowly but surely meeting them all, and remembering what it was like my first few weeks here.  It’s funny seeing how they all act and knowing that I acted the same way my first week here.  I was basically a lost puppy for the first month here. Finally, I am adjusting to having my brother here.  I am really having a great time with him, but it is strange not having any alone time for myself.  I guess I am just so accustomed to having time for myself every day, and when I don’t get that it’s different.  With everything being said, change is good, and I enjoy change.  Pura Vida.

By the way, I have decided that I want to collect post cards.  I really enjoy sending them, and have been slacking in that department a little bit. Maybe if you sent me a post card I would send you one back, *wink*wink*.   My address is under the “Contact Me” tab.

Aside from the relationships that I have been forming, the idea of knowing how much my Spanish will improve is enough of a reason for me to stay.  Seeing how much my Spanish has improved over these past five months, and knowing that it could double makes me so excited.  I am also exposed to once-in-a-lifetime experiences all the time in Costa Rica, and I would hate myself if I passed those up.  Four day weekends, the beach, the rain forest, living in a big city, good weather, good nightlife, etc. are just the icing on the cake for me.

Although I am looking forward to the good things to come, I will also be missing out during my time here.  I am missing my 21st birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the 4th of July, but these sacrifices seem so small to me.  I will also miss my family and friends a lot.  I have gotten used to coping with homesickness, but that’s something easily cured with Skype.  Other than that, I really can’t think of any other negative reasons of staying here.  For me, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

As of now, the plan is for me to make a short trip back to the states after this semester ends.  I will most likely be back for two weeks during the middle of July, which I am very much looking forward too.  On my way back to Costa Rica, I will be making a stop in Guatemala like I do every summer now.  I’ll be back in Costa Rica just in time for the semester to start on August 9th.

Every time I talk about staying another semester, I get more and more excited about it.  It just feels so right for me to stay.  I am once again embarking on a journey with many unknown chapters, but I am so excited to discover what else Costa Rica has to offer for me.