daredevil, i know.

2.09.10

Wow! 2 posts in a row!! This just means I'm procrastinating, obviously. Well I have class in 6 minutes and guess what? I'm not going. I don't feel good and I'm tired and I have an assignment due by midnight. See guys, i DO have homework here. It's actually for my class with Ticos, which is a really good class (Aesthetic psychology) but I don't like the people in it. It's all girls and one boy and the girls are conceited and stuck up. Anyway let's not talk about that.

I had a quiz today, super easy. I'm going on a fieldtrip this weekend for my Environmental Impact and Social Awareness class. Everyone goes on cool trips here, like the rainforest, beach, etc. I don't remember the last time I went on a field trip :/ how sad.  Anyway, not gonna lie but I'm pretty jealous of TCNJ's snow day tomorrow. Although I'm not complaining about this weather at all, it's gorgeous.

I went grocery shopping today (because host families only provide breakfast and dinner) and it reminded me of how much I hate grocery shopping. I'm so much better at shopping for clothes. Which reminds me, things are not as cheap as I expected them to be here. I guess with all the tourism, prices get hiked up. But there hasn't been anything where I'm like "Wow what a deal!" For lunch, we usually go to this great little soda (small restaurants) down the block from our school called Las Lenitas orrrr we go to this little stand in our school plaza owned by the cutest little man.."Don Ro." I usually get a hamburger because they are super gooood and pretty cheap. OH and might I add I found a snickers bar yesterday for only a little over a dollar! Yes, it's exciting because all the good chocolate is expensive here :( So if any of you (which all of you should) want to bring joy into my life, mail me lotsss of chocolate and candy! :D

MMM dinner is almost ready. Thank goodness because I'm hungry. Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned this, but tourists are only allowed to stay in Costa Rica for 90 days (I'm here longer than that) which means we have to leave the country for 72 hours.. So we're probably going to Panama, Nicaragua, and El Salvador :) I want to try to go to Colombia since I'm so close, but it's more expensive than if I were flying from the U.S! How crazy.

Well my avid readers, I will write next time with more interesting news. In the meantime, here are some pictures from  past trips ( in case you haven't stalked my facebook yet :D)

Pura vida queridos amigos!

Angy

Random cute monkey with a banana I gave him :)

Manuel Antonio National Park

LOL

self explanatory

Costa Rican elections>US elections

Facebook | Videos Posted by Ryan Powell: If Only U.S. Elections Were Like This [HQ]

2.8.10

So it has come to my attention that I should actually keep up with my blog. But theres just not enough time and I forget things easily. So here goes..This is going to be a long one..You stand warned..

Ok where to start..Well 2 weekends ago, was our first free weekend. A couple of us went to Volcan Poas which is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica. What really stands out about this Volcano is thatBut it was pretty misty that day so we were literally in a cloud and couldnt see the crater. INTERRUPTION!!!! An earthquake just occurred, and did I feel it?? No. Everyone else did (my neighbors, even my host dad in his room), but where I'm sitting in the living room with the rest of my family? Absolutely nothing!! There has been 3 earthquakes while I've been here and I've felt nothing!!! Gods protecting me a little too much lol. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok anyway, it was all misty so we couldnt see the crater. But we were able to see a lagoon, which was pretty cool as well. After that day, we walked around downtown San Jose for a little, met some cool girls from Belgium on the bus, and called it a day. The next day, Sunday, I went to Puntarenas Beach with a couple of girls. Puntarenas Beach is not a touristy beach at all. It's where all the Ticos go because its one of the closest beaches. Most tourists go to Puntarenas to take the ferry to get to the nice beaches. The beach wasn't that bad, but seriously, I'm used to the Jersey Shore, enough said. We saw a dead rat & dead stingray on the sand though. Haha it was pretty nasty. Towards the end of the evening, the tide washed up soo far that it wet all my stuff! Pretty upsetting but I was able to salvage my bag with my camera in there. Then on Monday, ISA took us on a day trip to Cartago, one of Costa Rica's 7 provinces. (That number could be wrong, don't quote me on that). Cartago was Costa Rica's first capital. We saw the ruins of Cartago, They tried to build the church 3 times and each time, and earthquake destroyed it. Then we saw the Basilica which was an amazing cathedral. We ate lunch at a local mall and got back to our town, Zapote, in time for class. The next day, Tuesday, I started my first intensive month class. It's from 8am-12pm EVERY SINGLE DAY. For those that know me, you already know how happy I was about that...............yes, sarcasm. But honestly, it hasn't been bad at all. The teacher is soo laidback, just as every other teacher is. For example, today we spent an HOUR AND A HALF, talking about how everyones weekend went. Then, we had a half hour break (every 4 hour class does), then we watched a short video, then went to the computer lab for an hour to "work on our presentations" due on Friday. I actually have a quiz in that class tomorrow...I should probably start studying.......

Anyway, in that same class, oh yea it's called Cultural Heritage (and its in Spanish), we watched a film on Friday called "Voces Inocentes." It's about the civil war that happened in El Salvador around 20 years ago. It was so so so depressing, especially because it was based on a true story. I cried so much at the end and the teacher had to hug me saying "lo siento, lo siento." Haha. I definitely recommend it.

Ok this past Thursday we went to "El Pueblo." El Pueblo is like a bunch of barres/discotecas. It's like a mall but for bars haha. We had a lot of fun dancing and just hanging out. Theres a great nightlife here, and its so cheap!

On Saturday, like 15 of us went to Jaco Beach. It's the other close beach. Only 2 hours. We had a good time and the sun was scorchinggg!! I surfed for a little and managed to get up after my 3rd try! It was so exciting! Definitely trying that again. We took the 5 o clock bus back and got back to San Jose around 730. Then 4 of us walked around and saw the pre-presidential elections festivities. Everyone was driving around, honking their horns, and waving their flags. It was so awesome because its not like that in the US at all. Every different political party has different colored flags. The only time I've seen something similar is the heritage parades in the states. Then I finally get home that night, wanting a nice hot shower, and there was no water! The water had been out the wholeee day. I almost cried. It finally came back at 11pm. The next day, we just hung out at home since it was the presidential elections. I went with my familia tica to vote. There were so many people and everyone was repping their political party. The 3 main candidates were Laura Chinchilla, Otto Guevara, and Otton Solis. I don't know enough about any of them to tell you who I would have voted for, but a lot of people were voting for Laura. I ended up getting a Laura banner and an Otton hat, haha. I was walking around with both on, and was getting pretty strange looks. Then later on that day, almost all of ISA met in Stan's Irish Pub to watch the superbowl. YEAAAA SAINTS! I was pretty indifferent towards the teams but my sister (my real sister) enlightened me and said we couldn't root for the Colts because of Peyton Manning (and everyone knows I don't like the Giants and Peyton is Eli's brother sooo yea, how about that reasoning?) Haha. It was a good time. Except for the fact that I lost my keys somehow! I haven't told my family yet cuz Im scared lol. The thing is that ISA says if you lose your keys, you have to have the locks changed and stuff. I highly doubt my host family will make me go through with that, but still. Ugh. Anyway, Laura Chinchilla won!!! First female president!!!!! Its so cool to be able to be here for such a historical event.

Ok well I should really study for my quiz..But thanks for reading and I will realllly really try to update more often. But this intensive month class is killing me.

I love & miss you all. Seriously.

Pura Vida,

Angy

Scholarship winners bid farewell to College

Scholarship winners bid farewell to College

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1.25.10

I have a lit essay to write in spanish due in 2 hours, but I'll do anything to procrastinating hence me writing this blog.

I have been here for almost a month! I have yet to feel really homesick but maybe that's because this trip is still in its "honeymoon stage." You know, when everything is good in the beginning. Anyway let me update you on my adventures since last weekend.

Last weekend we went to La Fortuna Waterfall and Volcan Arenal. We got there on Saturday afternoon, and the waterfall was spectacular. The water was super cold but it was well worth it. The hike to go down there was around 450 steps. Now, that doesn't seem like a lot at all, but on the way up, it was horrible! Shows how out of shape we all were cuz we were panting and gasping for air. But in our defense, it was all uphill and we were in flip flops. After the waterfall, we were supposed to go to our resort, but instead had to wait for like an hour and a half because something in our bus broke..What a waste of time. But the shuttles from the resort came and picked us up.

The resort was absolutely amazing. Seriously, the nicest place I've ever stayed in. It was called "Los Lagos." We changed into our bathing suits upon arrival (in the evening) and made our way to the pools. We could choose between the regular pools and the hot springs. For those of you that don't know what hot springs are, they are basically pools/bodies of water heated up by the volcano. It was like being in a jacuzzi. There was also a wet bar which was pretty cool. There were really cool slides as well. Some genius from our group came up with the idea of basically going the slide in a "train." It was pretty painful, and I got slammed into by one of the guys from our group, ha, but no big deal. Then besides the like big hot springs, there were littler ones. They were like little caves with alcoves and everything. It was so nice. We stayed there for a while and finally made our way back to our rooms. The next morning, we had breakfast, went to the pool for a little bit more, and explored our resorts crocodile/ant/butterfly/plant farm. It was breathtaking. I couldn't believe that one resort had all of that. Then it was time to go home and we made our way back on the 5 hour bus ride.

Everyone says "when do you go to class?!" or "where does the studying aspect come in?" lol but its definitely there. But thats not interesting to write about which is why everyone always just hears about my weekend adventures. Although the highlight of this past week was definitely the fact that a couple of people in our ISA group started a bible study. Veritas University offers a bible study but its in spanish and mostly everyone here isnt that fluent so a couple of our group members decided to start one on their own. It was Monday night and there was like of us there. It was great & I'm so happy to see what God is doing here in Costa Rica.

This past weekend was absolutely amazing. We left San Jose around 1 pm, and arrived to our hotel in Manuel Antonio around 6. or 7. I don't have a watch here and I never know what time or date it is. We had dinner and settled into our hotel. It was actually probably later than that because we went to the beach as soon as we got there and it was really dark. Our hotel was on the beach so the beach was our backyard. It was sooooo humid/hot! And the water was warm, seriously the warmest water I've ever been in. It was seriously one of the best moments I've had. Swimming in the beach, under the stars, with great company. Saturday morning, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. The interesting thing about this park is that it protects the beach as well, so its more of a marine national park. We saw a sloth pooping which was pretty entertaining. The guide said that sloths only come to the ground once a week to poop, because theyre the lazy..What a life..Its like the slowest moving animal. Anyway, we got to the beach, and it was an amazing time. The waves weren't huge, so we were able to swim pretty far out. A couple of us swam to some rocks that were pretty far away but the rocks were pretty slippery and sharp. Soo as I was just sitting there, the tide was so strong that it knocked me over and dragged me across the rocks. Not being dramatic or anything, but I remember thinking if I was going to wake up in a hospital bed from hitting my head so hard. But I was ok, just a couple scratches all over and a bump on my head. Anyway, then most of our group, was doing a snorkeling tour, but like 8 of us weren't. So we decided to keep exploring the park, and went to "Puerto escondido" which ended up being a private beach basically. We were practically the only ones there (it was such a dangerous hike down!) . But it was beautiful, I just couldnt get enough of it. We spent like 3 hours there, just hanging out with the hermit crabs. Oh yea, on our way to that hidden beach, we saw monkeys!!! They were right above us. My genius self decided to give one of them a banana (that I had smuggled from breakfast). As soon as I took it out of my bag, the monkey turned his face towards me and started running to where I was.. I was afraid it would attack me so I peeled it halfway and just threw it to the ground. The monkey came, and started eating it right in front of us. It was sooo cute, I took some good pictures which I have yet to upload. After that, we walked back and it was so hard to walk back with wet flip flops! But we grabbed a little snack, went to our hotel, cleaned up, and went to a place called Daiquiri's for dinner. We sat on the roof and we were overlooking the beach. What a sight. We were soo hungry and the food was so good! After that, we went back to the hotel, and we were all just so drained. A couple of the guys started a bonfire on the beach, so we were just hanging out there for a little bit, and then i went back to my room. My room went to sleep at like 9:30, such grandmas I know! But it was such a long eventful wonderful day. The next day, Sunday morning, we were on the beach watching one of the girls in our group surf (she's #11 in the state of California!). My friend Cecilia and I didn't have our bathing suits on cuz we weren't planning to go into the beach (since we were sunburned and wanted to stay out of the sun), but it was just sooo appealing and we went in in our clothes. Stayed there for a little, went back to the rooms, and then it was time to board the bus again. It was such a long bus ride. We stopped at another beach, Jaco Beach, to have lunch and I had such good passion fruit ice cream! And then made it to San Jose at around 6:40. Me and my housemate got home, had dinner, and I was just chatting with my tica sisters for a little. I was so tired, but didn't end up going to sleep till like midnight -_-

I think that pretty much resumes my past week! Now, I have an hour to start & finish that essay so I'll write soon friends!

Pura Vida,

Angy

P.s. i think everyone should send me mailllllllll :)

1.20.10

So I have been here for 18 days already..That blows my mind. Time is passing by so quickly and before I know it, Im going to be on a plane going back to the states. This is going to be a short blog, I will write a real one tomorrow filling everyone in on my amazing weekend, but I figured I should update. A bunch of us just got back from seeing Avatar in 3D..It was amazing. Everyone goes to the movies on Wednesdays here because its half off meaning that instead of the normal price (1800 colones or $3.75ish), its 1000 colones, or a little less than $2.

This weekend we will be going to Manuel Antonio National Park. Its a national park, duh, and a beach. The beach is supposed to be beautiful and the weather is going to be amazing and I CANNOT WAIT! Its about time I get some color in me..This weekend will be the last planned ISA (international studies abroad) excursion and after that, we will have to plan stuff on our own, blah.

Anyway, i went to this store today called Pequeño Mundo. Its like a BJs/Costco/Sams Club thing and its super cheap! I bought a bathing suit for like $7. Anyway its 1 in the morning and Im pretty tired. I have to try to get up semi early because my host family makes fun of me for sleeping till 10 am. Because according to them, thats "sleeping so late/all day"...how weird!

Till next time amigos!

Angy

1.14.10

HOLA!!

Wow, I'm really bad with keeping up with this blog. But I've been pretty busy and overwhelmed, so it's reasonable enough. Anyway, this past weekend we went to Monteverde. It was a breathtaking sight- a beautiful mountain range was visible everywhere you looked. The ride to Monteverde (the cloud forest) took around 6 hours but thank goodness the bus seats were comfortable. What's funny/weird is that to get from San Jose (where I currently am) to Monteverde, it's only 93 miles yet it took 6 hours to get there...That's because Costa Rica doesn't really believe in highways. The last few hours were full of winding roads barely wide enough to fit the bus we were in, it was actually pretty scary! On Saturday, we went ziplining in the forest. The tour guides were a lot of fun and it was such an amazing experience over all. The resort we stayed in was absolutely beautiful and the food was delicious (we had a buffet style meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Saturday night we went to a local discoteca and we had a lot of fun dancing! Our tour guides that morning just happened to be the dj's there haha. The next day, Sunday morning, it was raining so hard that we had to cancel our hike to the nature preserve where we would have been able to see thousands of different animals :( But it was too dangerous to try to drive there with the rain & wind.

Enough about that weekend..This weekend (Saturday & Sunday), we will be going to Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna. La Fortuna is the name of the town we are going to and it is also the name of a beautiful 200 foot long waterfall. We will be swimming there and I am so excited for that! Arenal Volcano is one of Costa Rica's active volcanoes and we will be staying in a beautiful 5 star resort that has a view of the volcano. There's a lot of cool tours that we can do once we're there (canyoning down the waterfall, visiting caves, kayaking, etc) but they are all wayy to expensive so unfortunately I will not be doing them. But, a bunch of people aren't doing them either so we're all just going to figure something out.

Tonight, Veritas Universidad (the university I go to here that is so conveniently close to my house) had their first party of the year. It was called CRASH and there was dancing, free food, & drinks. It was SO much fun. I had class from 6-8 today but our professor said that he would let us out by 7 so we could enjoy the party...In reality, he just didn't want to be in class either because he went to the party as well and the first thing he did was buy a beer..Haha. It's so weird to see how laid back everyone is here..I mean, it's not all the time that you see students and professors dancing and drinking together in the school's courtyard.

My classes are all going very well, I had my first class with Ticos this past Tuesday. Not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous for it but it turned out very well. The professor is pretty young and very friendly and upbeat. It's also a very interesting class (Aesthetic psychology) so we'll see how things go.

Well I am pretty tired, today was a long day. I only had one class (the 6-8 one) but I was out most of the day. I will try to update more often!

Pura Vida,

Angy :)

Beautiful view from my hotel room in Monteverde

One of the zipline cables! This picture doesn't do the scenery justice.

Gorgeous sunset on our way to Monteverde

WATCH THIS. such an amazing experience

Oh si!

My address is

Angy Plata

ISA

PO # 101-2010 Zapote

San Jose, Costa Rica

Centroamerica

if you love me you'll send me mail............just saying..

1.5.10

Hola amigos!

Firstly, the weather is still amazing. Secondly, no bungee jumping anymore tomorrow because it conflicted with too many people's schedules, butttt it will happen soon enough. Like I said before, this weekend we will be going to Monteverde. It's a cloud forest, with over 5000 species of insects (blech), 30 different types of hummingbirds, 2000 types of birds, and thats all I remember from the presentation lol. But I'm doing the canopy tour there which consists of ziplining and rappeling. (Basically I'll be 300 feet up in the rain forest just swinging around and what not)..Estoy muyyy emocionada.

I had my first class yesterday, but because of scheduling conflicts, I had to change it. So I finally got my schedule done today. I'm taking a literature class (ka;dsjfkda i dont want to) but I'm excited for my class with the ticos to start next week. I know spanish and all, but I know it's definitely going to improve by being here. Yesterday, mi universidad was offering free dance classes. Haha so all of us girls went and you can just imagine how that went. Mi familia tica took pictures and videos and they are hilarious, but i am not THAT mean so I won't post them, although they would seriously make your life. After dance class, mis hermanas ticas y yo watched "my sisters keeper." What a nice bonding moment..lol. Oh yea, mis hermanas are 15 and 20 so theyre really cool.

Yesterday morning I had crepes for breakfast, it was sooo good!! Evelyn, mi mama tica, makes such a variety of food allll the time, its great. I wish I would have taken a picture because it was just so pretty lol but I'm sure I'll have other opportunities for that. Umm lets see what else, I'm pretty bad at writing these blogs. I have class at 4, the film and literature class... -_- And tonight, a bunch of us are going to see a movie because on Wednesdays its only 1000 colones (2 dollars). I went food shopping yesterday, EPIC FAIL because I never go food shopping, so I just picked random stuff.

I'm going to try to post a picture of mi mama tica and her daughter.

That is all for now!! I'll write after I get back from my weekend excursionn!!

Gracias por leer amigos!

Pura vida (the most tico term in the world..it means like "ok/cool/bye/etc etc etc"

Angy

OH. i forgot to mention that they emphasize safety so much here haha. we had like 2 different 3 hour presentations, and a big chunk of it was safety..all the gringas are a little paranoid but im like im from passaic, i can handle all that. haha. And the food is great, my mama tica (tica is what they call costa ricans here) cooks us great food and sets it so nicely on the table..shes great..everyone thinks that shes one of the students or something, and when they find out shes my mom theyre like omg! haha. I will post pictures of them and of my room soon too :)

Alsooooo, one of my mama ticas sisters, Yose, who is 15, likes twilight too!!! we're gonna watch New Moon tonight! How perfect.

So today was a pretty long day. We had to take an oral placement test, and the lady was like "why are you taking this test, there's nothing we can teach you" haha. So one of my classes start tomorrow (because its in spanish but with international students) and the rest of my classes start next week (cuz its with costa rican students)..Our university is like an architecture/design/art school so its pretty cool. We also went on a tour of downtown San Jose today..it was cool, but nothing really new to me cuz its like Colombia.

Soooooooooooo this Thursday i am going..............BUNGEE JUMPING!!! eeeep! i know. I'm soo excited but nervous at the same time. I figure I won't tell my mom until i'm alive after it haha.

Okkk that's it for today :)

First Night!

Hi :)

So my host family is awesome so far. (thanks Katie!). The host mom is 27, she has a husband and an 8 year old daughter, Caro, who is adorable. She made me a present today and wrapped it and everything...so cute. I've been up since 3 a.m unfortunately. But on the bright side, it was 79 degrees today. LOVE THIS WEATHER. amazing, seriously...and everything is soo green. Next weekend will be our first excursion to Monteverde, it's like a forest reserve or something. Should be fun. Anyway so tired, and I have to be up early for an orientation! Let the adventures beginnnn :)