Italy in NY

My ideal job would involve traveling and eating. Until I can figure out how to get that gig, I can only afford $2.25 for the subway and traveling the world within NY. Not a bad alternative, especially when the annual San Gennaro festival in Little Italy comes around.

Word association- Italians... :)


It's not a festival without the freak shows...

and the healthy competition...


I wasn't about to compete with this!

and the FOOD!


No holds barred! Even the piovens came out!

Meat on a stick! It seems like every culture has some kind of meat on a stick and it's all good.


Sausage heaven!


Gotta have your veggies!


and dessert... Fried everything- even deep fried snickers!




Something to wash it all down with...

and smokes.



The patron saint of San Gennaro. I was focused on the food and never learned why they place money under the statue.

A random cemetery in between the buildings on Mulberry St. There was something strangely beautiful about it.

Manuel Antonio, CR

In Manuel Antonio National Park, on the way to the waterfall, I noticed a couple looking very intently at some leaves just off the path. They explained that there is a frog in this area that lays its eggs on leaves. The tadpoles mature on the leaves and then drop into the water when they are ready to be on their own. This one was still in its early stage. I could see the tadpoles moving around.

The one on the left was ready to drop. The one on the right had already started.

Even the rocks love Costa Rica...


Muchos monos!







The 3 toed sloth seems to have this eerie grin, like it's up to something.



Pura Vida, indeed!

San Jose routine

In between my weekend escapes to warm, tropical places, I have a fairly monotonous schedule during the week. I've only been here 3 weeks and I've already fallen into a routine. I learned the word for schedule in class- horario.

Entonces, este es mi horario.

Wake up at 7AM (those who know me, won't believe me, but it's 9AM in NY so it works). Shower and then breakfast is waiting for me at 8AM.

Get to the bus stop at 8:30 and pay only 200 colones for the bus (about 40 cents). Start class at 9AM.





Short break before lunch, then an hour for lunch at 12. I've been trying to vary my meals. I even ate Taco Bell at the mall and then realized why I don't eat it at home either. Back to class until 3PM. After classes, I hang out with other students that I've befriended. They are from Germany, England, France, US, and Oklahoma!

After school, we may go downtown and walk around. We have a route. Up and down the same main road, passing the same buildings. Stopping at the Artisan Market, even though we've been already many times.




Or we go to the mall nearby- yesterday we watched Karate Kid at the mall in Espanol. No subtitles or nothing! They coat the popcorn in caramel and I can't stop eating it.

It rains a lot in San Jose, so sometimes we play cards at school or just go home.


It's also very crowded. (mucha gente)


On Wednesdays, I go to the Cooking class at school. Yesterday we made empanadas.


I get home around 6PM and do my homework or write out more flash cards. Then we have dinner around 7 or so with various members of my "tico" family and usually end up talking for awhile afterwards. I usually understand about 50%, but it's been progressing. I was actually able to laugh at the same time as everyone else yesterday during our conversation! After dinner, I study or read my book (I'm reading Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali) and sleep around 11PM (1AM in NY- so I am basically on the same sleeping schedule).

This is mi vida en Costa Rica, as a "tica." I do know how lucky I am for this experience and I feel very blessed for it all...

As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida!

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

In San Jose for a month for intensive Spanish classes at CRLA. 5 hours a day for 5 days a week for 4 weeks and at a home stay with a Spanish only speaking family. The school is great and the family is wonderful, but the weather, not so much. Escaped the bustle of the city to the Carribean coast of Puerto Viejo to find the sun.

Here is it! :)


and here's the moon... if you look closely.


We rented bikes and rode the 12 KM along the coast to find beached for swimming, sunning, and snorkeling. Along the way, we heard a terrible noise and looked up to find it was monkeys in the trees.


A random reminder of home...

Even the dogs have fun here.


As they say in Costa Rica, "La Pura Vida."

A brief pause before heading back to the city to learn more Espanol and to try to not get hit by a car...

El Morro Fortress- Old San Juan

We walked the whole length of the fortress wall to find that there was no staircase on the other side. It was painfully apparent that it is the biggest fortress in the Caribbean as we walked all the way back.



Notice the group of cats on the bottom. They were all over the place! Muchos gatos!