:)
Check out Frannie's blog!!!
I’m finally in Costa Rica! The flight was long a grueling with a lot of challenges. We were told that we were getting our visas in Costa Rica but the person checking me in wouldn’t let me board without one or a plane ticket back within 90 days!! So luckily we found out it could be refundable and my mom was nice enough to put it on her card for me so I could get on the plane!!! I didn’t run into any other problems getting into the country but I couldn’t sleep at all so by the time I landed in Costa Rica I had gone 24 hours with barely any sleep. Luckily the excitement of being in a new country gave me some energy.
As soon as I had grabbed my luggage my host family picked me up and took me to their place. Felipe had painted a sign with my name on it, it was so cute!!! Felipe is my hermano, he is ten and so nice, we like to play cards with each other. My mama’s name is Celia, she is very nice and provided me with my own room and bathroom and it constantly feeding me!! I finally learned to say I'm full, so she understands that I don't need any more food! My hermana Carla is 31 and nice, I haven’t talked to her much yet but she makes sure I know how to get around town and what taxis to use and so on. No one in my family speaks any english so right now I’m having a very hard time communicating with them, but it's been fun trying to figure each other out.
Our first night out was so much fun, we had a huge group, around 20 of us, and we went to the local bars and watched futbol and drank cervesas. We had a local tico (one of the hermanos of a classmate) show us a couple bars, the Ticos are very nice here and really funny!
I also have been running in the morning (surprisingly) but its so hot and humid with a TON of hills here that after a 25 min run i'm literally dripping in sweat!! But it is so much fun exploring the city on my own and learning my way around the town, (no I haven't gotten lost surprisingly! Luckily in Costa Rica every house is completely different from the next) Oh and by the way all you men out there that make fun of women for not knowing street names and only knowing landmarks, in Costa Rica they don’t have ANY street names they only know how to get places by landmarks!! For example an address for a house would be something like, Santa Lucia, 500 metros (blocks) este of the orange trees 200 metros norte from the school, the blue house. So we know what we are talking about when we go by landmarks not street names!
There is also a crazy two week long fiesta going on right now in Barva (a suburb of Heredia) where people wear masks and try to hit people on the streets with pig bladders while everyone runs away, its kind of crazy but so much fun to watch. I actually got hit once, which was kind of gross but cool that I was apart of the festivities.
Every night they have live music, parades, fireworks, and some many other things to do it has been amazing. Tuesday night a group of us went out and enjoyed the festival and then went to a near by bar. We met local ticos that could speak english and we hugn out all night! I even met my future husband (he just doesn't know it yet) Don't worry mom he is a keeper, he owns a bar, real estate, speaks four languages, can dance, plays the guitar and sings, is really funny, and very cute! I fell in love. Too bad he has a girlfriend :(. I'll win him over by the end though haha!!
Well thats all for now! It's hard to write on here becuase I only have internet at the school and it goes in and out but i'll try to keep this as up to date as I can.
Hasta Luego!
Sierra
P.S. it takes way to logn to upload pics on this thing so check out facebook for pictures
Ok, so it's Thursday August 19th and I am all moved into my new apartment. I will be living here for the next 4 months. :) I got into NOLA Tuesday night, checked into Harrah's downtown (my dad is a high roller and gets rooms from there for free anywhere in the country). After we checked in, we headed out to Mother's, a famous southern resturant right in the heart of downtown. I got greens, red beans and rice and crab! I TORE THAT PLATE UP!!!! ha haWe later headed down to the French quarter (a few blocks away) and even went down Bourbon Street, where it is a party Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday....ha ha ha. It was wild to say the least. The next day we again walked down the French quarter, got beignets for breakfast and checked out the Mississippi River Walk, tons of art gallaries and numerous book stores. I stupidly left one of my text books on the plane so my dad and I checked all the book stores for any copies. Unfortunately the book is no longer in print..SOOOOO, ya.
We went to a lot of bars and even went to Pat O' Briens (shout out to Paige...we are checking that bar out when you get down here! HURRICANE WHAT!) Needless to say, I was feeling really good after that drink and so was my dad after 3 bloody mary's! One of the nights we headed down to another NOLA area with a lot of jazz clubs/bars and saw Walter "Wolfman" Washington! He was GOOD! WOW. I love me some jazz! Being so close to the music just puts me at another place and you just feel good. Seeing my dad get down was entertaining as well. I swear that old guy has a black soul. So today was move in day. I live in a four bedroom apartment with 3 other people (obviously) Two of the girls are from New Orleans and they are both in a historically black sorority and are on the step team (holla to Feet of Nature, the step team that told me to "fall back"). The other girl, who I share a bathroom with, is from Oregon, so we got that whole west coast thing going for us. :) I got my own room and it is decorated with all Target stuff. I only brought clothes in my suitcases so everything from the bedding to school supplies are from Target...I really feel like a freshman again and it is kinda exciting. A freshman that can drink legally...Now that sounds really good. While we were moving in, it stormed like a crazy madman for about 30 minutes and everything around the apartment was flooded. It was nuts. Oh and don't worry, I brought the girls with me (Destiny's Child) so they can watch over me when I'm living down here.
Ok, I know I am all scattered about, but driving around University of New Orleans there on tons of houses where you can see the water lines from Hurricane Katrina...it is awful. There are even dorms on campus that are closed down because of the damaged caused 5 years ago...
This experience is going to be LIFE CHANGING. LET'S GO.
Much love,
Skylar
p.s. my backyard is Lake Pontchartrain
I leave tomorrow for Costa Rica! I can't believe it is actually here! I feel like it would never get here and now that it has I feel like I'm so unprepared and not quite ready! Hopefully I have everything I need and haven't forgot anything!! By the way you think Skylar's room was bad check out mine!
This weekend is technically my last weekend in Nevada because next weekend I am being a celebrity and flying down to orange county Saturday morning, going to Disneyland that day and then flying home Sunday afternoon. boom, boom BOOM! ha ha. That means that I need to pack everything this weekend and as of right now, Saturday at 1:41 p.m., I haven't done a dang thing! Just thinking about everything I have to do is so overwhelming, so why not do nothing at all??! Ya, that sounds good to me.
But seriously, I leave in 10 days and I only have 40 more hours of work left this upcoming week. It has been so fun much explaining to people that I am studying in New Orleans this Fall, but now that I am so close, it is finally becoming reality and it is freaking me out! I actually just woke up from an anxiety nap. GEEZE! I guess it is the fact that I will not no anyone there. Most of these study abroad programs people from your school go to that particular county as well, so even if your are freaking out, there is always that person or people that are from Chico (or wherever) that understands your situation. NOPE, not for me. I'm literally getting dumped in the South, where I will not know anyone at all, except my adviser for the exchange program. We have literally sent each other over 40 e-mails, so this basically makes us best friends. I got an e-mail the other day that said that our student orientation is the day before school starts and we will be heading out to Lafitte, LA for some swamp tours on an air boat and afterward eatwe will Louisianan cuisine! I peed my pants reading this!
This move is going to rock my world and change my life. AHHHHHH Wish me luck. Here is the amazing apartment complex I will be living in. I will have 3 other roommates, and yes, I get my own room! YAY
Much Love
But seriously, I leave in 10 days and I only have 40 more hours of work left this upcoming week. It has been so fun much explaining to people that I am studying in New Orleans this Fall, but now that I am so close, it is finally becoming reality and it is freaking me out! I actually just woke up from an anxiety nap. GEEZE! I guess it is the fact that I will not no anyone there. Most of these study abroad programs people from your school go to that particular county as well, so even if your are freaking out, there is always that person or people that are from Chico (or wherever) that understands your situation. NOPE, not for me. I'm literally getting dumped in the South, where I will not know anyone at all, except my adviser for the exchange program. We have literally sent each other over 40 e-mails, so this basically makes us best friends. I got an e-mail the other day that said that our student orientation is the day before school starts and we will be heading out to Lafitte, LA for some swamp tours on an air boat and afterward eatwe will Louisianan cuisine! I peed my pants reading this!
This move is going to rock my world and change my life. AHHHHHH Wish me luck. Here is the amazing apartment complex I will be living in. I will have 3 other roommates, and yes, I get my own room! YAY
Much Love
Alright so I'm the last one to post and yes Skylar it was because I couldn't figure out how to do anything on here, hence the e-mail Brandy had to send us on Facebook to explain.
So I leave in 13 days!! Ahhhh! So excited!
With that being said I just have to talk about my last night in Chico, since it is the town all three of us are leaving.
Since it was my last night in town I decided to go out with my friends Jeff, Chase, and Haley. We started out at Buck Night at Rileys. All drinks are $1 so needless to say we were able to get drunk fairly quickly and decided to head over to 90's night at La Salles and this is where our night became interesting. Chase had reached a point of no return by the time we had reached La Salles so while we danced our asses off to Backstreet Boys and TLC, Chase danced and tried to get on every girl in sight. After watching him make a fool of himself at the bar we decided it was time he went home.
The 3 of us wanted to stay out though so we flagged down a cab forced Chase into it (which was no easy task) gave the cab directions and 15 bucks to drop Chase off. We then continued to the next bar. The next couple bars consisted of shots, beers, and more shots, or at least that's what Jeff and Hayley had, I decided to chug water instead, until we were kicked out since it was 2am and the bars were officially closed.
The three of us decided to walk through campus on our way home which resulted in Jeff and I racing and losing Hayley and his flip flops. While I tried to find Hayley I told Jeff to find his shoes but instead Hayley found him, his shoes and then me. Jeff then began to yell at me telling me I had left him which was pretty hilarious.
Instead of dropping Hayley off at her apartment which we walked right past on our way home we decided we should have a slumber party at Jeff's but when we got to his apartment Jeff realized he didn't have his keys. I began pounding on the door hoping Chase would wake up and open it but after ten min, Jeff remembered he had a key in his wallet (good job Jeff).
Once we got in we ran to Chase's room to wake him up only to find out he wasn't there! (Remember we had sent him home in a cab earlier that night)
The next couple hours consisted of all three of us calling everyone we knew to find him as well as his phone over and over. (I called around 80 times no joke) After calling the Oroville Jail and hearing that he wasn't there we decided to give up and if he hadn't shown up by 8 the next morning I was going to callthe police .
At 7 I am woken up to a still drunk Chase, with one flip flop on, a t-shirt torn to shreds and a very large scratch on his stomach. Chase had woken up naked on the floor of an empty apartment and only realized he was in the wrong place when he peed in the toilet and there was cleaner in it (the nofurniture thing wasn't a tip off?) When he walked outside he realized it wasn't even the right complex!!! He had no idea how he had gotten there but it sure made the morning after an interesting one for all of us!
With an goodbye like that I cannot wait to see what is going to happen in Costa Rica!
P.S. Sky I'll post in green :)
So I leave in 13 days!! Ahhhh! So excited!
With that being said I just have to talk about my last night in Chico, since it is the town all three of us are leaving.
Since it was my last night in town I decided to go out with my friends Jeff, Chase, and Haley. We started out at Buck Night at Rileys. All drinks are $1 so needless to say we were able to get drunk fairly quickly and decided to head over to 90's night at La Salles and this is where our night became interesting. Chase had reached a point of no return by the time we had reached La Salles so while we danced our asses off to Backstreet Boys and TLC, Chase danced and tried to get on every girl in sight. After watching him make a fool of himself at the bar we decided it was time he went home.
The 3 of us wanted to stay out though so we flagged down a cab forced Chase into it (which was no easy task) gave the cab directions and 15 bucks to drop Chase off. We then continued to the next bar. The next couple bars consisted of shots, beers, and more shots, or at least that's what Jeff and Hayley had, I decided to chug water instead, until we were kicked out since it was 2am and the bars were officially closed.
The three of us decided to walk through campus on our way home which resulted in Jeff and I racing and losing Hayley and his flip flops. While I tried to find Hayley I told Jeff to find his shoes but instead Hayley found him, his shoes and then me. Jeff then began to yell at me telling me I had left him which was pretty hilarious.
Instead of dropping Hayley off at her apartment which we walked right past on our way home we decided we should have a slumber party at Jeff's but when we got to his apartment Jeff realized he didn't have his keys. I began pounding on the door hoping Chase would wake up and open it but after ten min, Jeff remembered he had a key in his wallet (good job Jeff).
Once we got in we ran to Chase's room to wake him up only to find out he wasn't there! (Remember we had sent him home in a cab earlier that night)
The next couple hours consisted of all three of us calling everyone we knew to find him as well as his phone over and over. (I called around 80 times no joke) After calling the Oroville Jail and hearing that he wasn't there we decided to give up and if he hadn't shown up by 8 the next morning I was going to call
At 7 I am woken up to a still drunk Chase, with one flip flop on, a t-shirt torn to shreds and a very large scratch on his stomach. Chase had woken up naked on the floor of an empty apartment and only realized he was in the wrong place when he peed in the toilet and there was cleaner in it (the no
With an goodbye like that I cannot wait to see what is going to happen in Costa Rica!
P.S. Sky I'll post in green :)
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