The Final Day and Beyond

So I know that I have put off writing this for way too long.  But I haven't been able to sit down and make myself admit yet that it is over.  And I didn't really feel like crying, which is something that I am bound to do by the time that I am finished typing this.  But on a sleepless night, when Costa Rica is on my mind, maybe a bit of closure is what I need to get to sleep.  I will give you a playback of my final day in Costa Rica.  And it counts as one day instead of two because I never actually went to sleep.  But more on that later.

Friday morning, I woke up and I got ready for what was, essentially, my final day in Costa Rica.  Of the three of us that were still in the house, one of the roomies had decided to go back to the beach, and I had been unable to go because I had class.  Which turned out not to be class.  Nevertheless, the two of us left in the house decided to spend a morning getting rid of our excess collones.  We couldn't spend them at home and converting them would be a chore, so we decided to do what any girl would do in that situation;  go to the mall.  We puttered around the Mall San Pedro that morning, and the clock just continued to tick away in my head.  My lone roomie who was left went to spend her afternoon with one of our program mates.  Which left me all alone to pack.  That sucked.  A lot.  Flaming balls of nasty a lot. And it only killed about 45 minutes.  The rest of that afternoon is a bit of a blur, and I can tell you that I accomplished very little that was productive.

Of course, true to the rest of the time I had spent in Costa Rica, we went out that night.  With the exception of a few who were a part of an 8 week program, a mass exodus of American students would be occurring in a few short hours.  And that was the atmosphere at the local bar.  A kind of bittersweet feeling was trying to be drowned.  I don't know if any were very successful in that.  Everyone who was still in Costa Rica for my program showed up and it was great to see everyone for one last time.  I might be wrong, but I doubt that it was actually the last time that I see some of them.  A six week trip to Costa Rica makes some strong friendships rather quickly.  And we had all shared to much to simply let it go.  There were some tear filled goodbyes.  But my sister tica, who had joined us after she got out of class, decided that we didn't need to sleep before we went home.  Which wasn't a stretch, since it was midnight before we left the first bar and I had to be on a bus to the airport at 4.  So the roomies and a sister tica took one final trip out together to a dance club called La Nena.  It was a cool place and the music was pretty awesome.  My sister said that she was in love with the DJ, kind of a love at first sound kinda thing.  And by the time we called it a morning at 2:30, we all decided that it had been a great final night in CR.

Back at the house, everyone decided to stay up.  Well most everyone; I had to leave at 4 and my tico magnet roomie had to leave at 5.  So there was no point in going to bed.  We sat around and reminisced and tried very hard not to cry.  But finally, the time came when I saw headlights heading up the road toward the house.  My tico brothers were still up, in questionable shape, but still up.  My sister tica hugged me goodbye and went directly upstairs so she didn't have to watch me leave. Which did not make getting in the van any easier for me.  Hugs and kisses all around and my bags were loaded, and my time there was over. (as promised I am now crying)

The bus was running a bit late for the airport, and tico time does not apply there, so we were all a bit nervous about catching our 6:15 flight.  Thankfully, we made it to the gate with a little bit of time to spare.  And security in San José was a bit strange.  After you paid your exit tax, you had to go check in using an actual person (strange concept, I know).  Once done standing in line forever, you head to security, which looked a lot scarier than our security here.  From there you went to a your gate, where they were randomly searching checked luggage.  Which didn't make a lot of sense because once through the gate we went down a hallway where everyone's baggage was opened and checked and everyone was wanded.  I felt safe, I guess.  Finally, I was on the plane.  I shared my row with a very nice woman and her 8 year old daughter.  But really, the whole time I was trying not to cry.  Breaking down on an airplane is bad form.  It was funny that the customs sheet that I was given was in Spanish.

We landed in Denver early, which did us no good because customs in Denver does not open until noon.  Who knew huh?  However, since there was no line, other than those in my flight, it was a fairly painless and quick process through that part of the airport.  Back through security and I was finally able to sit down for a moment.  The chatter around me was no longer in Spanish.  The signs were in English.  And it was weird not to have to order food in another language.  I turned my phone on after it had been stuffed in a bag for 6 weeks and charged it to call home.  After leaving a message, my phone rang and it was my dad calling to tell me that they would be in Omaha to pick me up, something that I had not expected to happen.  Now at this point, after 36 hours without sleep among other ailments, I was a little emotionally unstable, and I might have lost it in the Denver airport.  Which is guaranteed to get you stared at.  The rest of my trip was uneventful.  I remember even trying to write this as I sat in the airport.  But I could not.  The words just wouldn't come and  the wound was too fresh.

Here I sit, about two weeks removed from one of the greatest experiences of my life and I know this;  it has changed me.  For good or for ill; well it really depends on the day.  I do now have a penchant for dance clubs and adrenaline rushes that I would not have known about previously.  But more and more often, I miss the person that I was able to be in Costa Rica.  She was always there, only now she is not so happy to be contained.  She is a bit wilder, a bit more carefree than the me that meets daily life here.  And yes, I know that I am referring to another personality, but I am not quite certifiable yet.  In general, I have felt like I was in a bit of limbo for these last few weeks.  I will endeavor to find an outlet for that other me here that won't get me into trouble.  Well, too much trouble at least.  I think that I might have left a bit of my heart down south in CR, so I will have to go back someday to get it back.  Until then, thank you so much for going on this journey with me.  Until the next adventure....

Day 41- El Penultimo Dia

I started packing today.  Which is quite possibly the saddest opening statement for this blog that I have written.  And it has been raining all afternoon and I think that I might be running a fever.  So overall, not a great second to last day in San José.  But there are some good things that came of today.  I went, for one last time, to the artisan's market.  Gotta love the look on the vendors' faces when they speak to you in English and you respond back in Spanish.  I get to have a lot of interesting conversations that way.
After that, we went to La Cafe Musa Confusa, which is a hidden little gem of a restaurant close to Veritas.  It's decor is very cool, with abstract paintings of all sorts of famous American actors, like Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn.  A very cool place for lunch.
I was scheduled to have class again today, so I came home with my purchased items and began to pack.  Which I hate doing.  I don't really know why I hate packing so much, but I do.  I loathe it.  And then it was back to Veritas at 2:45 for my 3:00 o'clock class.  Which, as it turns out, never happened because the teacher left our final papers with our final grades on them in the main office.  Final grade of a 98 in my Spanish Lit class :)  But then I had to raise back to the house to beat the rainstorm that raged all afternoon.  I showed up my tico brother on Wii Mario and then I took a nap.  A very long nap.
I tried to go out tonight, but I was just not feeling it.  So I came back to write to all of you and then to go to sleep.  Tomorrow is my last day in Costa Rica.  I am ready to be home, but I am not ready to leave this place and the people that I have met here.  I wish I could be in two places at once, because then I could be with everything that I love all of the time.  And I could double my multitasking.  But alas, it is not to be.  See everyone soon.

Day 40- Almost There

After a few more hours of work this morning, I was able to hand in my completed final project for my spanish literature class.  Yay, go me, and all that stuff.  I met up with some of my friends from spanish class for a very enjoyable lunch.  And then I got out of class early. :)  I also paid for my transportation to the airport on Saturday.... 4 am is the time that they are going to be picking me up.  Ugh, not looking forward to that.  Anyhoo, I am essentially done with class, although I do have to go tomorrow to get my final grade and do some finishing up type stuff.  I now have basically 2 days left in Costa Rica to enjoy as much as I can.  But all the responsibilities I have back in the states are starting to creep up on me again.  I also started repacking today.  I hate packing.  Above all other things, I hate packing.  But it is a necessary evil, I suppose.  We are going to go out tonight (big surprise I know) and enjoy the night life for possibly the last time together.  One of my roomies, we shall call her Tico Magnet, is going back to Jáco for the rest of the time here.  Which is only about a day and a half.  Bittersweet feelings.  Tomorrow, I am going to go back to the Artisans Market for the third and final time.  And I must say, if I haven't been able to find something for you by then, you are not going to be getting anything.  But for now, good night, and I will see you all in a few days. :D

Day 39: Racing to the Finish

I am both glad and sad that last night was the final night at Cuartel.  In some ways, I will miss the atmosphere.  But there are those other aspects, like creeper ticos, which I will not miss at all.  Another fun, if sweaty, night, and the case is closed on Cuartel for this trip.  I had a slightly productive morning working on part of my final project.  Which I then worked on again when I got to Veritas.  And then I had some more class.  And then worked on some more when I got home.
While taking a break from answering the 20 some questions for the first part of the project, I was talking with all sorts of people from back home.  And I am ready to go.  I always miss home when I am away and this trip has given me a taste of what I will feel when I become a big kid, with a big kid job, and live by myself somewhere new; it will be very, very hard for a while.  But I also feel more prepared for that step now.  Big thoughts in little Costa Rica.  It must be all this free time I have now that I don't have 4 hours of spanish class every morning.  I will let you all know how the final project turns out.

Day 38- One Last Cuartel Night

I definitely pissed off the sun god this weekend because today my whole body, save a few spots, is lobster red.  One of these days I am sure that I will remember to reapply sunblock, but yesterday was not one of those days.  So this morning, I gingerly rolled out of bed and made my way up to shower (I got to sleep in today!....well until 8), and I scared the crap out of myself when I looked in the mirror.  I really hope that the redness tones down a bit through the day.
I spent the morning reading the 30 pages for my literature class that conveniently did not make it to the beach with me this weekend.  I just didn't want to get sand in it, I swear.  I finally got to do something sort of productive when I had class at 3.  In which our teacher gave us our final project, which will be the second grade of the class.  And it is due Wednesday.  Gotta love tico time.  So after I finish this, I have to start working on that project.  Riiiigggghhhhttt :)  It is Monday night, and Monday nights = Cuartel nights.  Gotta go get a groove on one last time before I have to leave Costa Rica.  I will keep you posted :D

Day 37- Just a Little Beach Time

This time next week, I will be back in the good life of Nebraska.  I will have probably just spent the entire day sleeping in my own bed and hopefully getting to see everyone that I have been apart from for the majority of the summer.  Oh, and cuddling the heck out of my cat whether she wants it or not.  But I will be leaving behind so much, which to be honest, for the first two weeks I would have been glad to leave.  For instance, it will no longer be possible to get on a bus for a 1.5 hour ride, and be at the beach for the weekend.  Nor will I be able to look up and see the mountains in the distance.  Or have the oddest conversations with my tica family in Spanish.  I told you that sitting and listening to the ocean makes me think big thoughts.  Must be why I am so introspective while writing this tonight.

We had a great weekend at the beach, although you would think that after 22 years of life I could remember to reapply sun block after swimming.  Sadly I did not and now I look like a lobster.  I am sure that it will transition into a great tan, but for now, I am my own personal heat lamp.  I have class once again tomorrow, but it is only my literature class.  Which means I don't have to go to class until 3!  I am very excited to be sleeping in a bit.  See everyone in a week!

Day 36- Weekend Getaway

For any of you who ever decide to travel to Costa Rica, I offer you one word of caution;  There are two Playa Hermosas within this country.  Not only that, they are on the same coast- one is near Jaco and one is in Guanacaste.  Which is a fact that I was aware of, and that I had taken into consideration when trying to find a hotel for today.  Too bad the website for the hotel was under Jaco when it was in fact in Guanacaste.  This was discovered this afternoon, after a cab driver took us on a $16 (super duper expensive here) journey looking for a place that was actually miles away.  It is also sad that I had already paid for the other motel and would not be getting that $70 back.  Pura vida and all that jazz, short story is that we found a room at the correct Playa Hermosa.  We got some beach time in this afternoon, up until the waves tried to pull me out to ocean, which was much, much scarier that bungee jumping.  So we played it safe for the rest of the afternoon by swimming in the pool.  For supper, we went to a small supermarket and got stuff to make PB&J.  Don't judge us, it has been weeks since any of us had had peanut butter.  After teaching one of the roomies how to play poker, we all called it a night.  I know, a real wild evening, but we were all really, really tired.

Day 35- Hard to Say Goodbye

Today was one of my roomie's final day in Costa Rica with us.  She is going to be spending the next week or so traveling around with her family.  To top that off, my final was today for advanced class too.  It was just a day full of endings, and endings are hard to deal with sometimes.  I know that when she gets wifi, she is going to be reading this, so this post is completely for her, because so many of my great memories are completely due to her.
According to her(this is paraphrasing), "Sam, I am always the responsible one at home, like you, so for this whole trip we are going to be different.  We are going to have as much fun as we can.  And we are going to get a little bit crazy."  The first Monday here, she talked me into going to Cuartel, which was not even in the same zip code as my comfort zone at the time. (My personal bubble was forced to be non-existent for a night)  The funny stories that we will always have, but should probably not be posted due to content, are too numerous to count.  Miss JRC, you made this trip for me, I love you, and I will forever be grateful that you were my roomie for this experience.  Even if I didn't return the email you sent before we got here :D <3

Day 34- Out with a Bang

To indicate how great of a night it was, I will provide you with some of the dialogue that you could have heard between the three roomies and their sister tica:


"You think he's creepy too?....Yeah....Should we tell her that?...No, she's picky, so leave it alone."


"Are you girls American?.....Sí, somos de los Estados Unidos....Do you speak English?....Sí hablamos inglés."


"I love a guy with a faux hawk!...Sweety, he has a real mohawk."


Ahhhhh....what a great last night in San José for my roomie :)


But this morning, we were all moving, well a bit sloooooowwww.  Which was okay since it was a religious holiday in which thousands of ticos walked to Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles on a religious pilgrimage.  The walk from San José where most of us live would have been around 5 hours or 22 kilometers.  The few members from my program that went came back very happy but also sun burnt and very tired.  


Today I cooked dinner for the family, and since it was a special occasion, we had to go grocery shopping.  Which was a challenge.  But the chicken parm turned out nicely, as did my chocolate cheese cake.  Not the best things that I have ever made, but pretty darn good.  My mama tica had been nervous because apparently the last time one of her exchange students made something, it was awful.  That was not the case tonight, and now I have to get studying for my test in the morning. 

Day 33- Inversion

This morning was my final oral presentation for my advanced class.  I guess it went well, but we will have to wait and see.  But, only one more day of advanced, gracias a dios.  Finally I will have the chance to sleep in a bit, although whether or not I will be able to is debatable.  Tonight may get a little crazy because it is the last night in Costa Rica for mi compañera, which is making me very, very sad.  I have made so many of my memories here with her and it is breaking my heart that she has to leave early.  But as this trip has taught me, I will enjoy every last minute that she is here, and make even more memories.  We are also planning on cooking for the family tomorrow night and playing some games with them.  Well, I am going to cook and the roomies have volunteered to be helpers :).  My time here continues to get shorter and the surrealism is setting in again.  This isn't real life.  Well it is, but it can't be my normal everyday life for much longer.  Soon I have to leave and go back to my real life, which I am both looking forward to and dreading to no end.  It is a unique feeling that unless you have experienced it for yourself, I don't really think that I can explain it.