HOME!

HELLO!

I have indeed arrived home just a few short hours ago. It was a long day of travel, and very emotional to say goodbye to all of my close friends. I'm glad to be home, but it's weird at the same time. There are things I'm doing that I forgot that are normal here. Like flushing toilet paper, or having hot water come out of the faucets, or drinking milk out of the refrigerator, or walking around barefoot in my own house. It's strange to do these things again, because I have been used to not doing them. I'm very glad to be home though. My mom, dad and brother were all at the airport to greet me and it was a wonderful reunion. It's weird to not speak Spanish too. I already miss it a lot. Anyway, I hope to see YOU soon!
Thanks for reading.

Mucho amor,
Britney

well hey, it's December

Hello all.
I have failed miserably this past month at keeping up on the blog. I apologize. Things got busy, and they still are, but for those of you who only have this way of communicating with me, I figured I should let you know that I am just fine and preparing to come home on SATURDAY! A few short days from now. The weekends have been great. Lots of adventures and a lot of great friendships that I am going to miss very dearly. I hope I get to see some of these people I have spent the last 3 months with again, it's weird to not know if that will happen or not. Different than anything I've ever experienced before. I'm going to miss my host family a TON, especially my mama tica. She's wonderful and full of joy. She told me a few weeks ago that she's taking a computer class next year (starting in Feb.) and wants our (my roommate and I's) emails so she can write us when she learns how to use the computers and internet. (She's 64, if you didn't know that, so she has no idea how to use them yet.) Although there are a lot of things I will miss, at this point I'm really stoked to go home. I don't think I've ever been this excited about anything before. I'm FREAKING PUMPED to be in a familiar place. I'm going to miss Speaking Spanish all the time. You will all be hearing a lot of Spanglish and you'll have to get used to it, because I'm not stopping it. I want to continue using the Spanish, so you will be hearing it. :) I'm excited to see you all and know that it will be great to be back. We're all talking about what we're going to eat first and things like that. I'm going to work on my presentation for Wednesday. Have a great day and I'll send out a message when I get back into the States saying that I got home just fine.
Have a wonderful Holiday Season and see you all soon!!

Mucho Amor.
Britney

p.s. 119 hours until my plane leaves the ground!

Vamos, Vamos Morados, Esta Noche, Tenemos que Gana-a-a!!

¡Hola! ¿Quiubo? Fue un buen semana. En la semana pasada hice cosas tipicamente de la vida. Hubo clase, tarea, amigas y divercion. Pero, en miercoles, mis amigas y yo fuimos al cine y vimos una pelicula se llama "high school musical 3." Tuvemos la oportunidad que verlo en espanol, y por supesto hacemoslo. ¡Que divertido! Nosotros reimos mucho.
Este fin de semana pasada en viernes, las nueve chicas fuimos a una restaurante con una abuela de unas de las chicas. La abuela estaba viajando por Costa Rica. Yo disfrute la interaccion. Tambien, mi compañera de cuarto y yo fuimos a Volcan Poaz en sabado por el dia. Hizo frio, pero muy extraño. El volcan es activa, y tiene un lago de agua caliente en el crater.
Pero, ayer (domingo), fue el mejor dia. Cinco de las chicas (incluyendo yo) fuimos a un partido de futbol del equipo Saprissa. Saprissa es un equipo de San Jose del color morado. Me gusta el partido mucho. Compremos camisas de Saprissa para los boletos y sientemos con los fanaticos. Cantamos y gritamos todo el juego. ¡Que bueno! Saprissa gana 5 a 0. Una de los canciones fue "Vamos, Vamos Morados, Esta Noche, Tenemos que Gana-a-a!!" Es muy possible que nosotros vayamos un otro partido este semana.
Tambien, es el punto de mitad. Exactamente mitad fue sabado. Tengo emociones mixitas. Estoy disfrutando esta vida, pero querio regressar a mi familia y amigos tambien.
Tenga un buen dia!
Chow,
Britney

Hello, What's up? It was a good week for me. Last week consisted of typical everyday things. There was class, homework, friends and fun. But, on Wednesday my friends and I went to see a movie. We saw "high school musical 3." But of course, there was the option to see it in Spanish, so we did. It was really fun. We laughed a lot.
Last Friday, nine of us went out to dinner with one of the grandmothers of one of the girls who is studying here. Her grandma is traveling around Costa Rica and wanted to meet us. I enjoyed the evening.
Also, on Saturday, mi roommate and I went to Volcano Poaz. It was cold, but very fun. We walked to the top of the active volcano crater and looked in at the lake with hot, hot water in it. It was quite a day trip.
But yesterday was one of the best days. Five of us went to a Saprissa soccer (futbol) game. Saprissa is a professional soccer team of San Jose, they wear purple jerseys. I really liked the game. We bought jerseys, which were our tickets into the game and we sat with the fanatics. The ones who sing and shout the whole game. We also sang and shouted with them the whole game. How fun! Saprissa won, 5 to 0. I was really glad. One of the songs was "Go, Go, Purples, Tonight, We have to win!" It is very possible that we will go to another game this week. They are cheaper than we thought they would be.
Also, this is the halfway point. Which is crazy. Exactly halfway was last Saturday. I have mixed emotions, it is very bittersweet, because I'm finally getting used to living here, but I want to see my family and friends too. The time is passing very fast.
Have a great day and thanks for reading,
Britney

Me Encanta La Vida Costarricense

hola a todos! Fue un buen fin de semana. Espero que ud tuvo el mismo. Dos fin de semana pasada mis amigas y yo (5 total) fuimos a Cartago y Orosi. Fue una adventura porque estabamos en los autobuses solamente y no sabiamos mucho del area. Estaba bien. Encontramos un buen hostel muy barrato y cosas muy divertidos. Cartago tuvo una fiesta de las vacas. Fueron muchos personas, bailando, y comida. Orosi es una pequeno pueblo en las montanas. Comemos en una pizzaria fue muy bueno y nos gusta mucho. Escalamos un catarata en el bosque. Estaba concelado y no lo tenia personas en nada lugar. Escalamos por una plantacion de cafe. Fue en serio escale en el bosque. 

Esta fin de semana pasada fuimos a Manuel Antonio, una playa en el costada de Pacifico. El tiempo fue muy bonito todo el fin de semana. Vi monos, cocodrillos, perizosos, racoons, iguanas, komodo dragones y otros animales muy fantasticos!  Las playas fueron muy bonitas y ticos vendieron cosas extranas. Cosas que materiales de la pais como arretes, pulseras, y vestidos. Me gustaba todo. 

Mi trabajo de voluntad esta muy bien. Me gusta los ninos mucho. Son mas o menos 25 ninos de dos clases. Yo estoy trabajando con Mariala y aproximamente 12 ninos de los edades 4 y 5. Los son fantasicos!

Empiece una nueva clase de espanol este semana pasada, con una nueva professora. Ella nos deja mucho tarea todos los noches de la semana, pero nada en los fines de la semanas. 

Mis amigos son buenos, es muy divertido viajar y estudiar con ellos. Pero, estoy muy emocionada para regressar a los Estados Unidos para Navidad y ver mi familia y amigos. 

Espero que usted tenga un buen noche o dia. Muchas gracias por leer. Dios le acompane. Adios!

Britney

Hello everyone! It was a good weekend. I hope you had a good weekend too. Two weekends ago my friends and I (five of us in all) went to two small towns, Cartago and Orosi. It was an adventure because we were on the bus without anyone else and we didn't know the area very well. But it worked out. We found a really good and cheap hostel for the night in Orosi. Cartago had a cow parade while we were there. There were a lot of people, dancing and food. Orosi is a small mountain town tucked away in the green rainforest. We ate in a really awesome pizza place that was a lot of fun. We also climbed up a waterfall, to another waterfall in the jungle. It was hidden and there wasn't anyone anywhere to be seen on the trail. We had to hike through a coffee plantation field to get there. It was literally hiking through the rainforest. Awesome.

This last weekend we went to Manuel Antonio (with ISA), a beach on the Pacific Coast. The weather was beautiful all weekend. Perfect temperature. We saw monkeys, crocodiles, sloths, raccoons, iguanas, komodo dragons and other wonderful animals. The beaches were really extravagant and the ticos were selling all sorts of things. They had jewelry made of things of the country, like earrings, bracelets, and some dresses too. I like a lot of them. 

My volunteer work is going very well. I like the kids a lot. There are about 25 kids between 2 classes. I work with Mariala and about 12 of the kids who are 4 and 5 years old. They are fantastic!

Last week, I started a new Spanish class with a new professor. My new professor gives us a lot of homework during the week, but none on the weekends, which is really nice.

My friends are good. It's a lot of fun to travel and to study with them. But I am very excited to return to the United States and see my family and friends for Christmas. I hope you have a good day (or night) and thanks for reading. 

May God be with you,

Britney 

Pura Vida

HEY Everyone!
I know I said all my posts would be in Spanish and then in English so I could practice, but I don't have a ton of time today, but I wanted to keep you all updated. So here goes:
Two weekends ago the ISA group went to Arenal Volcano. It is an active volcano and we even got to see the top glow orange at night, although there were no eruptions while we were there. My roommate and I, Maree, got up early early and watched the Sunrise on Sunday morning. It was beautiful. We could see across Arenal Valley and even Arenal Lake. Que bonito! We bathed in the hot springs, tried out the waterslides and just had a relaxing time.

Last week was a bit crazy. One night, Maree and I were on our way to dance class and two guys pulled up on a motorbike, one hopped off, asked us for our money (we didn't have any cause we were just going to dance) and patted our pockets down. It was not a great experience and Maree and I turned around and went home. We're a lot more cautious now, and way more aware that we are in a big city, even though it may not look like we are all the time (there are not many high rise buildings or anything like that). I've been taking way more taxis everywhere, even to get home from school, because it's about a 20 minute walk. Taxis here are cheap. I can get most places for 2 or 3 bucks at the most (which is 1000 or 1500 colones). I'm a bit shaken up, but other than that just fine. I'm glad an incident like that made me more aware of my surroundings, instead of having something else more drastic happen.

Last weekend, about 15 or 20 of us decided to go to Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean Coast, near Panama. It's the border town. We had a 5 hour bus ride there (merely $10) and we were in paradise. Beaches, and just a bunch of fun. It is a small Rastafarian town with a lot of Jamiacan influnce that is very obvious when going down the streets. The whole town lines the beach. It's all dirt roads too. We stayed in a hostel called Rocking J's. Only 6 dollars a night. What a deal! There were some bugs and such, but with bug spray most of us only got bitten a small amount of times. Saturday consisted of finding bikes to rent for the day and cruising the town in our swimming suits (it's really hot and REALLY humid, we were sweating the whole time we were there) and then finding a spot on the wonderful beach to hang out for the afternoon. We played in the water and laid around for a few hours and then I returned with a couple of the girls I was with to the hostel to take a nap in the hammocks that were on the beach. It was the best nap I've ever taken. We watched a lightening storm roll in across the Caribbean and went dancing; then we called it a night.

I started work at the Orphanage yesterday. It is more like a YMCA type of thing though. Daycare for kids who need it. There's a psychologist (or a few) that work with the kids too. I'm working with Mariala and the 4 and 5 year olds. They are adorable, and one of my favorite ages of kids anyway. We fingerpainted yesterday, had snack and then played. The kids favorite games are, run the plastic cars into each other (similar to the driving style here) and pile up on the slide. It was wonderful and I can't wait to go back next week.

Classes are coming along nicely. I had a Photography test today and I have my Spanish final tomorrow. I'm taking 3 Spanish classes while I'm here, and tomorrow is the last day of the first one, which means I'm a third of the way done. I can't believe it. Crazy. I feel like I'm just getting settled. I'll start taking Advanced 1 next week.

My roommate is sick from last weekend, as are 6 or so other people that went. It is a huge blessing that I am not sick and that I have had a really great week. I'm starting to really enjoy it here, and feel more at home and more like I live here. At the same time, it will be nice to get back to the states in December.

Hope you are all doing well.
Mucho Amor,
Britney

Ticos y Ticas

Hola!

¿Como fue tù semana? Mi semana està muy bien porque tuve mucho divertido y cosas para hacer. En el fin de semana pasada nosotros fuimos a Monteverde, en el norte del pais. Esta lugar es muy bonita y verde. Es como las picturas que ven en el internet o otros lugares. Nosotros fuimos en una Canopy Tour. Es muy cerca de un ave. Fui muchos meteros arriba de los arboles. Y tuvimos una "free fall" y una "Tarzan swing" tambien. Fueron muy ricos. Me encanta la Canopy Tour.
Despues de la Canopy Tour fuimos a el hotel para almorzar y despuès fui a una tour de cafè. Era muy interesante como el cafè primo y el cafè secondario. !!Y!! Vi una Toucan tambien! El proximo dìa fui a una National Reserve del bosque. Era muy tranquillo y vi cosas muy bonitas.

Esta semana tenìa clases todos los dìas. Tengo la clase de español cuatro horas cada dìa y tengo una clase de fotografìa dos horas dos veces cada semana. Me gustan las clases, pero cuatro horas es demasiado. Cuando regreso a los estados unidos clases por una hora o dos horas seràn facîles.

Ayer, fui al cine con tres de mis amigas. Era muy divertido pero la pelìcula no fue bueno. Està bien, cuesta dos dolores. Siempre lloviendo aqui, pero està calliente, màs o menos. Tomamos taxis frequentamente, es muy facil y cuesta pequeño.

Este fin de semana vamos a Arenal, en el norte tambièn, por el volcàn y los hot springs. Estoy muy emocionada para este fin de semana. Me gustan mis amigos y el programa tambièn. Necesito estudiar por una exàmen mañana. Gracies para leer. ¡Hasta luego!

Britney



Hello!
How has your week been? Mine's been great because I've had a lot of fun and many things to do. Last weekend we went to Monteverde, which is a bit north in the country, about 5 or 6 hour drive. Monteverde is very pretty and very green. It looks like the pictures you see in the internet or other places. We went on a Canopy Tour. It is as close as you can get to being a bird. I was many feet above the tops of the trees. We also had a "free fall" and a "Tarzan swing" too. They both took the air out of you when you dropped. They were really fun and I loved the Canopy Tour.
After the Canopy Tour we went back to the hotel for lunch and then went on a Coffee tour. I really liked the coffee tour and we learned about first class coffee and second class coffee. AND! I even got to see a Toucan! Awesome! The next day, Sunday, we hiked in the National Reserve. It was really calm and I saw many beautiful things.

This week I have had class every day. I have Spanish class for 4 hours each day and a Photography class twice a week for 2 hours each. I like my classes, but 4 hours is a lot. When I get back to the United States classes for 1 or 2 hours is going to be easy.

Yesterday, I went to the movies with 3 friends. It was really fun but the movie was no good. But it's all good because the movie only cost 2 dollars. Everything's cheaper down here. It's always raining here but is pretty much warm all the time too. We take taxi's a lot because they're cheap and make it easy to get around.

This weekend we are going to Arenal, also in the north, for the hot springs and to see the volcano. It's an active volcano, and I'm excited for this weekend!! I really like my friends here and the program I'm with too. Ok, I have to go study for a test. Until next time! Thanks for reading.

Britney

Estoy en Costa Rica!!

Hola! Ahora estoy en Costa Rica. Me gusta muchas cosas de la cultura y mi familia. Tengo una amiga que vivir con la misma familia. Ella y yo son amigos buenas por que es necesario cuando vivo con ella.
Ayer, mi Señora y Maree (mi compañero de cuarto) y yo fuimos a el Mercado Central. Es muy divertido para ver la cultura y mi Señora habla con los persones. Ella comprò helado para nuestros. Comì helado con chocolate.
Hoy nosotros de ISA (la groupa internaciònal) fuimos al Centro de la Cuidad de San Josè y caminamos en las calles que no tienen nombres. Muchos de las calles no tienen nombres. Es sòlamente de las dirreciònes de meteros.
Mis clases empiecen mañana. En la mañana de hoy tuve una exàmen oral para los clases. Y cuando yo regressarè a mi casa buscarè la lista de las clases.
Mi familia es muy amable. Tienen dos hijas. Una vive en la casa y ella tiene 30 años, la otra se casò y los dos tienen dos hijos. La comida es muy bueno, especiallamente las fruitas. La Señora cocinaba para desayuno, almuerzo y cena. Todos los dìas tenemos una siesta. Me gusta las siestas.
Siempre lloviendo en los tardes, y ahora lloviendo mucho, es como una monsoon.
Es necessario que yo regrese a mi casa.

Dios le acompañe,
Britney



Hello! I am now in Costa Rica! I like a lot of things about the culture and the family I am staying with here. I have a friend that lives with the same family I do. We are good friends because we live together. She is really nice.
Yesterday, my host mom, Maree (my roommate) and I went to the Market. It is very fun to see the culture and watch my host mom interact with the other people. She bought ice cream for us. I ate chocolate ice cream which was very good.
Today, the group of ISA students (the international company I came with) went to the center of the City of San Josè and walked on the streets that do not have names. Most of the streets do not have names here. You get places by getting directions in meters.
My classes start tomorrow. This morning I took an oral exam for placement and on my way home I will check the list and see where I placed.
My family is very nice. They have two daughters. One is 30 and lives with us, the other is married and they have two children. The food is very good, especially the fruits. The Señora cooks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every day we take a siesta. I really like the siestas.
It always rains in the afternoon, and right now it is raining a lot, just like a monsoon!
I need to go home now, but I am having a ton of fun and I like it a lot.

May God be with you,
Britney