Pants!

I am alive!

The game last night went splendidly and my friends and I did not fall prey to the droves of football crazies that paraded through the streets with, what some might call a "$h1+l0ad!", of cops. Saprisa, my and my mother's favored team won with a score of three-nil against La Liga, the team that calls Alajuela--my hometown--home. On another, somewhat related note, somehow the president of La Liga, who also happens to own most of the rest of Alajuela, has invited whomever wishes to from our group to come and watch a practice sometime next week. Even though they are not really my team, I feel I owe it to my adoring fans to go and report back on how a professional football team in Costa Rica practices. I also hope to wear my Saprisa jersey there and give em some guff for losing so bad in el Clasico... which my father says is a bad idea. What do you think?

Next weekend is the class trip to Limon and somewhere else involving a archaeological site or somesuch nonsense. Long live free, pre-planned vacations though!

Once I get the means, I will post some real pictures up here, but for now enjoy the wonderful wanderings and photography of Joseph, a fellow Tico-in-training.

Until next time-—live life free!

A Fuego Lento

I hope you are enjoying life and all that jazz; I am cruising along nicely here. The group of students from Washington is going home tomorrow so I have been busy hanging out with the select few students of that heritage that deserve my attention. A few of my friends played at the Lion's club last night, so I went out with them and danced the night away. Of course, I was completely shunned by all whom I asked to dance with me, even the table of Costa Rican women who constantly stared at me for the rest of the night... but I survive yet.

Spanish classes are going wonderfully, and after only three weeks I already feel relatively proficient in my understanding of speech and writings. I listened to my mom and my friend Jazmyne talk for a good amount of time the other day and hardly lost track of what was going on. That is, until my brother brought out his collection of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and we began to become immersed in a life that I recall from my days at Shinders.

This weekend is el Clasico, which is the football (soccer) game between San Jose and Alajuela. Apparently it is very dangerous for people to be wearing either jersey after the game because droves of bloodthirsty fans of the opposing team will beat them until they feel the victim has learned a lesson. Despite these cautions, I look forward to the event immensely.

I can hardly believe it has already been a month. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is coming up in the first week of April, and though my plans to go to Cuba have fallen through, I still plan on spending a week on a beach somewhere enjoying the tropical climate. At some point I will find out if my traveling companions will allow me the use of their camera in order to illustrate a bit more about my trip so far, but at the moment just satisfy yourself knowing that I will attempt to collect all the photos of every person for your personal viewing pleasure at a later date.

Assuming, of course, that I actually come back. It is nice to hear from those of you who have said something, and it is also nice to hear that those of you who have not are not really my friends.

:P

¡Pura Vida!

A Verb Is Where the Action Is!

I hope you all enjoyed my poem last week. It was painstaking and a difficult labor to perform, but I feel the results were worth it. You people keep clamoring for pictures, so here you go:

Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So I close out my longest entry ever with...

What?! You didn't say pictures of my trip! Be more specific next time!

Un Poema De Luke

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
Costa Rica is sweet,
and I bet you wish you were here too!

Each morning at dawn
I snooze while the sun doth rise;
no matter how "late" I sleep
by six in the morn I open my eyes!

After a quick shower and breakfast with my mom,
it is off to school I go,
where my brain is filled with words
that make my head go to and fro!

Some days I have other classes
taking place in the afternoon,
but so far they are much more simple
and I do not feel like quite so much of a buffoon!

I look forward to the weekend;
this one past was mucho fun:
we went to the beach
and I was sad when it was done!

I played Backgammon with some rastafarians
and fell into the ocean;
I got second degree burns on my shoulders
(on which my mom put some lotion)!

I think these verses are neato
and I sure hope you do as well,
but at the moment I must go meet a Tico,
for he somehow thinks me swell!

It has already been three weeks
and I know not where the time goes;
here is hoping I have more adventures,
where time goes not fast, but rather slows!

Keep it real,
keep it fresh,
I shall see you in a jiffy,
perhaps with some tanned flesh...?

:)

¡Otorrinolaringólogo!

¡Hola mi amigos!

I hope this entry finds you well. My stay here in Costa Rica so far has exceeded even my loftiest of expectations. My host family, Xenia, Boliviar, Alejandro, Leo, Cheespa, grandma, and [the other one whose name I cannot remember] are wonderful Ticos to be paired with. I have yet to begin any actual schooling, as this past week consisted of a few tours of the area as well as a trip to the Ecolodge San Luis & Research Station near Monte Verde.

It has been a busy week for me, where: I woke up at 5:30 in the morning to go bird watching (for the first time), milked a cow (for the first time), hiked every day for at least 10 miles a day, played football with my host-brother and his friends, visited the national museum in San Jose, jumped from a ledge into the pool at the bottom of the most beautiful waterfall I have ever had the privilege of viewing, ate the greatest food from the greatest kitchen known to man, played volleyball, learned about plants and their families at the Plant-o-rama, got sick of being stared at by the natives and dyed my hair black so as to fit in a bit more, spoke with naturalists from all over the world and made a fool of myself for not remembering that the Netherlands and Holland are the same place (and that I have been to them), lost my pencil at least six times (but luckily I have found it every time so far), helped a nice Ecologist trap, examine, and release birds living on the coffee plantations, went to a sustainable, shade-grown coffee plantation and got a tour from a native Costa Rican, improved my hackey sack skills, saw the biggest and awesomest rainbow I have ever heard of (!), had deep, thought-provoking conversations while staring at the night sky, wished on a few shooting stars, and probably I whole bunch of stuff I have forgotten already.

My trip to the lodge allowed me to see countless exotic (and not so exotic) wildlife, including but not limited to: bats, a praying mantis, a Clay-colored Robin (Costa Rica´s national bird), some cows, some sort of parrots, many chachalatkas (a turkey-looking bird), the biggest beetle I have ever seen, a few horses, a plethora of Hummingbirds, a Coral Snake (ooh! Poisonous!), plus many more. Unfortunately there was not a monkey in sight wherever I would go, even though some of my cohorts were privy to the shy devils nearly every day.

I start Spanish classes Monday morning, where I will ideally progress with such speed that both my teachers and host family praise me as the genius I am. Tomorrow is a day for a game of football against the Ticos, though I do not expect to put up much of a fight considering the ten year-olds can run circles around even the best players in my group. I hope you are enjoying whatever activities you choose to pursue, and drop me a line if you would like some sort of specific gift from Central America. I would not know where to start otherwise, you see.

I shall see you later, so do not die beforehand!

Thank Goodness for French People

I touched down at 9:49 PM (Central/Standard Time), a return to the earth that signaled a 12-hour journey had come to a close. Though the trip was—for the most part—unremarkable, I finally felt free of the anxiousness and apprehension that had built up over the past few weeks. My new friend Yvan (ee-vahn) and I made our way to customs to enter what so far, is the awesomest country I have ever been in (NOTE: May be slight exaggeration in response to the drastic change from inclement to tropical weather). Unfortunately, his luggage was left behind in Houston, which meant that two non-native English speakers, he and the claims counter attendant, were forced to attempt to communicate in its halting and awkward prose.

Flash forward to outside the airport, where the tour guide-type person that Yvan had procured to take him to his hostel was nowhere to be found. Being that I had no reservations or any idea where I was supposed to stay once I arrived in San Jose, this boded unfavorably for our chances at having a clue what to do next. Thankfully, a nice non-English speaking "taxi" driver hassled us enough to convince us our rapidly dwindling options were, in fact, singular in nature. We accepted his offer, and he proceeded to lead my new friend and me to—rather than one of the nice, official-looking orange taxis in front of the entrance—a back-alley-ish parking structure which contained his decrepit blue van.

A frightening, harrowing drive and subsequent escape later, the beacon of hope and wonder that was Case Yoses stood before us! They were gracious enough to grant me accommodation even though I had not contacted them in advance, and now I find myself at a slow-ish, Spanishly-keyboarded computer reminiscing about the days' activities. No clue what is happening tomorrow, but Yvan wants to get his bags and depart for the coast where he plans on surfing an abandoned stretch of pristine beach front property for six weeks. Sounds delectable, I know—but alas!—I must find other means of entertainment for three days until I meet my, hopefully, amicable and gracious family, where I shall be staying for the next two months.

Wish me luck! and until we meet again!

Prologue to Costa Rica

In order to better serve my adoring fans I have decided to relocate my updating mechanism to this particular website. In less than two weeks my journey into Central America begins, and I have come to the conclusion that despite previous assertions to the contrary, I will most likely not be returning to Minnesota.

Instead, I will take a Tico woman as my wife, obviously making sure her family is of wealthy stature, so that I may spend the rest of my days sipping drinks out of coconut shells on the beach of my illustrious estate. I will also have a cocoa farm, from which I will derive a substance most beneficial and fitting of my newfound position in life. Cocai-... "Chocolate" rather. I meant Chocolate.

If you wish to join me on my excursion, please do so. I will need all the able-bodied help I can get if I am to live in the luxury that I feel I deserve. Thank you for your time, and I wish you good day.

Update: I have relocated all of my entries to this site as of 02 July, 2007, so be happy or something.