Day two! Today we woke up early and had a delicious breakfast prepared for us by our Mamatica, and then walked to our school Veritas (a small art school) to meet our director Lisa. We started walking towards the downtown area and had a tour.
This is a monument of when Costa Rican soldiers beat an American army for ownership of the land (I think the battle happened in the 1800s) and Lisa is in the corner:
Along our tour we saw the Teatro Nacional as well as a Cathedral (below) where they were holding Mass. Lisa told us the coffee plantation owners imposed a tax on themselves in order to fund the Teatro Nacional.
Then we took a bus to Cafe Britt, where we had a tour of the plantation and factory where they harvest the beans.
Ryan, Jess, and I on the bus:
Jess and I on the plantation:
Jess, Karen (from Norway) and I:
Our very cheesy, hilariously goofy tour guides:
Then we had delicious lunch (rice, beans, tilapia, meatloaf, lentil soup, and juice):
We went to the gift shop afterwards and bought lots of fresh coffee. Mom and Dad, I'll be sending you some soon! It was all sent to my apartment. The tour was interesting. Did you know it takes three years for a coffee tree to grow, and after that you can harvest fruit from it for up to 25 years (but the tree stays alive for almost 100 years)! The beans come coated in a sweet substance that we all sucked on and it was so yummy! The beans have to go through a few shelling processes, and then be washed and dried before they can be shelled one last time and roasted. We had a lot of free coffee, and as someone who isn't a coffee drinker I can honestly say it was all very tasty!
We went out again to the fiesta, but this time with friends! Kali, Steph, Michelle, Mary Rose, Tiana, Deana, Jess, Ryan, Drew, and our new Tico friend Andres all came. It was a blast! We took the bus, which was a lot of fun. The busses are very nice (padded seats that can lean back) and are very cheap - only about $2! This is Ryan, Michelle, Jess and I on the bus:
I found out that sometimes, in the bull fighting, they will put a ribbon on the bull's horn and whoever gets it will get 100,000 colones (abut 200 dollars). We didn't get to watch the bull fighting though, but I'm not even sure I wanted to watch it in the first place!
I wanted a drink, and I saw a sign that said "Chiliguaros" so I asked Andres (who is only 16) what was in it. He said tomato juice and alcohol so I figured I tried it. It turns out he failed to mention the tabasco sauce that was also in it! It was so spicy, but I drank it anyways!
When we got home we ate dinner with our other sisters, Morghan and Brandy, and then they decided they wanted to go to the festival, so we went back! This time we took a taxi, which was a little scary at first just because of our lack of fluency in Spanish, but it was actually quite easy!
We saw a ride called Tagada, in which this large circular bench is whirled around very fast and bounces up and down. But here's the catch, there are no seat belts! The game is you just hold on! And occasionally, people fall off! There is always a very large crowd watching and cheering. It's like a bull ride for 30 people at a time! Here is a video:
All the addresses here are in landmarks - even though the streets are labeled, no one knows what each street is called, and the houses do not have numbers. Our address is, roughly, 50 meters north of the meat market in Barrio Cordoba". This makes it hard to give directions. We just told the taxi driver "La carcinaria en Cordoba por favor" and he took us to the meat market, and from there we could walk home.
Today was full of making friends, and tomorrow will be full of learning about my program and my school for the next 3 weeks!
This is a monument of when Costa Rican soldiers beat an American army for ownership of the land (I think the battle happened in the 1800s) and Lisa is in the corner:
Along our tour we saw the Teatro Nacional as well as a Cathedral (below) where they were holding Mass. Lisa told us the coffee plantation owners imposed a tax on themselves in order to fund the Teatro Nacional.
Then we took a bus to Cafe Britt, where we had a tour of the plantation and factory where they harvest the beans.
Ryan, Jess, and I on the bus:
Jess and I on the plantation:
Jess, Karen (from Norway) and I:
Our very cheesy, hilariously goofy tour guides:
Then we had delicious lunch (rice, beans, tilapia, meatloaf, lentil soup, and juice):
We went to the gift shop afterwards and bought lots of fresh coffee. Mom and Dad, I'll be sending you some soon! It was all sent to my apartment. The tour was interesting. Did you know it takes three years for a coffee tree to grow, and after that you can harvest fruit from it for up to 25 years (but the tree stays alive for almost 100 years)! The beans come coated in a sweet substance that we all sucked on and it was so yummy! The beans have to go through a few shelling processes, and then be washed and dried before they can be shelled one last time and roasted. We had a lot of free coffee, and as someone who isn't a coffee drinker I can honestly say it was all very tasty!
We went out again to the fiesta, but this time with friends! Kali, Steph, Michelle, Mary Rose, Tiana, Deana, Jess, Ryan, Drew, and our new Tico friend Andres all came. It was a blast! We took the bus, which was a lot of fun. The busses are very nice (padded seats that can lean back) and are very cheap - only about $2! This is Ryan, Michelle, Jess and I on the bus:
I found out that sometimes, in the bull fighting, they will put a ribbon on the bull's horn and whoever gets it will get 100,000 colones (abut 200 dollars). We didn't get to watch the bull fighting though, but I'm not even sure I wanted to watch it in the first place!
I wanted a drink, and I saw a sign that said "Chiliguaros" so I asked Andres (who is only 16) what was in it. He said tomato juice and alcohol so I figured I tried it. It turns out he failed to mention the tabasco sauce that was also in it! It was so spicy, but I drank it anyways!
When we got home we ate dinner with our other sisters, Morghan and Brandy, and then they decided they wanted to go to the festival, so we went back! This time we took a taxi, which was a little scary at first just because of our lack of fluency in Spanish, but it was actually quite easy!
We saw a ride called Tagada, in which this large circular bench is whirled around very fast and bounces up and down. But here's the catch, there are no seat belts! The game is you just hold on! And occasionally, people fall off! There is always a very large crowd watching and cheering. It's like a bull ride for 30 people at a time! Here is a video:
All the addresses here are in landmarks - even though the streets are labeled, no one knows what each street is called, and the houses do not have numbers. Our address is, roughly, 50 meters north of the meat market in Barrio Cordoba". This makes it hard to give directions. We just told the taxi driver "La carcinaria en Cordoba por favor" and he took us to the meat market, and from there we could walk home.
Today was full of making friends, and tomorrow will be full of learning about my program and my school for the next 3 weeks!
Ugh .. Text me a plate of that food!
ReplyDeleteUgh .. Text me a plate of that food!
ReplyDelete