Transitions

This summer marks my first summer in 5 years not spending it in Costa Rica and my first summer in 6 years not traveling abroad.


I’ll let that soak for a moment. For myself, mostly.
 

This is normally the time of year that I am prepping to leave the country in a matter of days and spend my summer working in the pura vida.  This year, I am deciding what I will do with all of my time in which my feet are planted squarely in the U.S. Don’t get me wrong, I know this summer will be wonderful. It’s just going to be very different.


Not better, not worse, just different. 


It’s what we preach at CPI to all of our groups that are experiencing culture shock.  Am I experiencing culture shock? No. Well, at least not yet. I also haven’t been to Poultry Days in 7 years either. I have no idea what I’m in for.


I think it’s transition shock, actually.  It’s being unsure of what to do after having done something for so long and had it as such a meaningful part of my life.  I would work for nine months in the States and then three months in Costa Rica. It was a standard protocol up until now.  It’s a strange feeling to remove and change such a big part of my life, but I’ve prepared myself for it for a few months now.

 
I have always said that I would go to Costa Rica for as long as my life allowed it. I have such good friends that I will dearly miss seeing this year.  I love speaking Spanish every day.  But my life became amazingly busy this summer and something had to give.  That being said, I fully intend to be there next year. If nothing else, just to visit friends and spend my nights in a hostel with other worldly people.


If this sounds melancholy, I don’t mean for it to be. I have a great summer up ahead.  I have lots of running and grad work to do. I am in my best friend from high school’s wedding and couldn’t be more excited for it! I am spending time in Georgia and then with my family at our lake house on Lake Cumberland too.  Quite honestly, I am excited to be a part of family trips to the lake and celebrating my dad’s birthday with him for the first time in seven years.  It’s usually the small things that I miss the most in Costa Rica anyway.


So here I am signing on and signing off simultaneously for the summer.  Another odd feeling. Another transition. No strange encounters with Ticos, no horseback rides of my life, no coffee ice cream in a cloud forest and no gallo pinto—the breakfast of champions.


I plan to find my own adventures this summer and should there be anything noteworthy, I’ll post.


Until then, pura vida mae.  : )

 

Jessica Lynn

South Georgia in the Summer

Those country songs aren't kidding when they sing about "driving' through Georgia in about July on a day hot enough to make the devil sigh..."

Just got back from a wonderful stay in Georgia (and on the beach nonetheless) :)

Adam and I did so much during my stay that it would be hard to recount everything, but here are a few pictures from the trip! It was wonderful seeing him, his family, learning about the "war between the states" by visiting historical sites, bumming on the beach and eating tons of great seafood!

Awesome wrap up to my summer adventures 2012. :)

Pura Vida,
Jeesica Lynn

Travel Recap

*This post was really overdue! I thought it had published about a week and a half ago…

Well apparently having your Sky Miles number printed on your boarding ticket gets you bumped up to the Sky Priority check-in line in Costa Rica. The gentleman checking my boarding pass looked it over and said, "muchacha, Ud. va por aquí con este numero." (Muchacha, you go over here with this number) and I headed to the Sky Priority lane ahead of about 20 other people. Guess who was número uno to check-in to Delta Flight 414 today? :)

Because I beat the morning rush by being at the airport at 4:30 a.m., I was also one of the first people through security and first people in the Cafe Britt shop wandering around looking for sweet treats to bring home to family and friends. :)

Finally I headed to Gate 2 and was pleasantly surprised to see that Juan Santamaria airport has fixed the bottleneck they usually cause by having a second security checkpoint immediately inside of the jetway. There, they check liquids, run the wand over you and perform a basic pat down. In the past, this caused a mess in the Jetway as everyone was trying to board. This year, the security checkpoint was backed up well before you ever get to the boarding gate. This way, you can go through it before you are even called to board. Good work, SJO, good work.

Of course, by being the first person to clear this checkpoint as well, I got to people watch for a while. Naturally, there was one U.S. gentleman who became rather indignant that the officials were going to confiscate his pointed, metal nail file. In a wild flurry of hand gestures indicating what the item was (like the Ticos have never seen one before...) he finally gave up and huffed off. It was amusing and I'm glad the Tico stood his ground. Sir, I do believe you can purchase another one for $0.99 at Walgreens back home.

Finally, to add to my in-flight perks, I was asleep when the complimentary snack cart came around, and I was parched, so I asked the attendant if I could still get my standard apple juice. She returned with the entire apple juice can and a handful of snacks. I think I'll sleep through the snack cart again next time... :)

Pictures below: Leaving Costa Rica, the rebel rouser wanting his nail file back, and my snacks :)

Pura Vida,
Jessica Lynn

Happy Heart

This summer FLEW by here in Costa Rica.

I can't even begin to count the memories, ups, downs, and over all gladness and gratefulness that I experienced. In has been yet another incredible summer!

My work here this year varied between managing my group group, and taking on supervisor/managerial duties. I was entrusted with a lot more responsibilities this year (and LOVED it). I truly enjoyed the supervisor end of things. I never thought I would be good at that kind of position, but as I realized quickly, I actually preferred that type of responsibility. I guided, trained and oversaw chaperones of groups for our department as well as met with professors/chaperones of groups coming in to discuss their own itineraries. It's amazing that I kept all of their itineraries straight in my head. Arelys has three times as many to keep straight...I wonder how she does it? :)

Why I'll always come back:
I tell people this is my summer home, and it's the truth. Costs Rica is a home to me now. I have very dear friends down here that I am ever excited to see and spend time with. There is Muni and her family, and then my boss, Jonle, and her family whom I adore. Some of my favorite memories from the summer involved those people and just spending time in the office or at their homes with them. I am ever grateful that they accept me back every year to work for CPI and mesh into their daily lives. My trips here wouldn't be the same without them. :)

I think the Dutch girl is very wrong in her conviction about not continuing to visit the same place and to see other places. She's not the first to say that and others question my travels as well saying, " Don't you want to get out and see other places?" The short answer is, yes, of course. And I will. I already do. I think the frustration in their line of questioning is that maybe they've never spent long enough somewhere or been outside the walls of their resort or even their own country to have built the bonds like I have. Anyone can visit a country and the see the people in it. I know the people in it.

There is something to be said for that, I think. :)

As I head back to the U.S. to embark on the next part of my travels, I will make my usual adjustments and forget that my toilet paper goes back in the toilet now and that "gracias" and "buenos días" will get funny looks from people.

Feliz verano a todos! Happy summer everyone.

Chaito,
Jessica Lynn

Delicacies

Here's a rundown, in no particular order, of some Costa Rican treats. These have been discovered by me and others along the way!

1. Chocolate milk from Dos Pinos and Jet bars--when Kristen came to visit a few years ago, while she was in the shower I ran out to get us a snack and this is what I ended up with. She's been getting a Jet bar from Costa Rica every year since... :)

2. Sesame nuggets!!!! Kristen can relate.

3. Coffee flavored ice cream in Monteverde

4. Costa Rican coffee... I'm a coffee snob these days.

5. Gallo Pinto--national dish of Costa Rica. Made with? You guessed it. Rice and beans. Me encanta!

6. "Trits" an ice cream invention that you're sure to love. Vanilla/chocolate swirl ice cream sandwiched between two crumbly cookies.

7. Imperial. Need I say more?

8. Homemade baked goods from a local panadería with dulce de leche. :)

9. Tamales made by the local church organization in Monteverde!

Vamos a la Playa!

I finally got to the beach.

It's been difficult to be working 50 meters from the beach and not be able to just go out and sit along it. Every day I see it and want to relax on it, just for an hour, nada más. So today, I did. :)

The only reason I managed it is because I finally took a lunch break. Most of my lunches this week have consisted of a run over to the minisuper to get an apple and come back to school. I was determined today would be different. Having taken care if absolutely everything on my list of things to do, I informed the front desk I was getting lunch today and then proceeded to go buy my apple and simply continue on the road leading to the beach. It was glorious. For an I hour I laid there in the white sands with no phone calls, questions, or wild goose hunts to locate someone. I'm not greedy so after the hour was up, I headed back to school--completely satisfied and a little more tan than before. :)

Now...if I could just convince myself that I should take lunch at that time every day, I'd be all set!

I did forget to mention that today was the perfect day for it because the sun was still shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight this afternoon!

Pura Vida,
Jessica Lynn

Hot Tamale

Holy Toledo, it's hot here today.

I walked to school today (25 minute walk) at 9:10 a.m. and was sweating like no other. Why did I pass up the free transportation? Well, I decided to go to the bank and pay my impuesta de salida (exit tax) today. It's so much easier to do before getting to the airport regardless of when you fly out. I always like to do it ahead of time and because I didn't have much going on this morning, I decided today might be a good day to take care of it. And it was...except for the heat. I should have taken a picture of my shirt by the time I got here!

I forgot to recap my weekend because Saturday was Pool Day and it was amazing! I started off the day relaxing with Jonle by the pool where she lives eating frozen watermelon (it was last day of the detox!). We waited there until Muni and Jonle's son arrived from Monteverde. It was so great seeing them both!!

From the pool (where I got sufficiently burnt :( ) we showered and headed to the mall MultiPlaza. This.place.is.huge. It has three levels and probably 300 stores. Muni wanted to do some baby shopping and I ended up buying a dress from Mango (a Spanish based company). I need to remember to shop there more...

We were at the mall for the better part of the day and were considering going to a movie at one point, but as the day wore on we all were too tired to manage it. We ended the day with dinner (remember the gnocchi picture?) and a stop at Price Smart where Muni and Jonle shopped and I stayed in the car with Jonle's son making up rhymes. It was hilarious! Her son is almost 9 and we were trying to create a Dr. Suess book of our own.  Given how crazy our rhymes were, I think we succeeded. : )

Finally around 9:30, we headed home and on Sunday morning I packed up and headed here to the beach!

Today I transfer back to the Central Valley at 2:00 p.m.!

The picture of the pool is actually from this morning while I was waiting for the bank to open.  Conveniently, the place where I'm staying has a wonderful pool area. : )


Arroz y frijoles,
Jessica Lynn