Mis experiancias en Costa Rica

Here is another paper I had to do in Spanish for my Spanish Class on my experiences in Costa Rica. I had my mom check it over for me and ended up getting a perfect grade on it! My Spanish teacher was so impressed she said that she had never seen a perfect before! It was really great to know that I did so well! This is the corrected version; I hope that you all enjoy trying to understand what I have done so far in Costa Rica! Remember Google translate works, but it is not perfect!

                Mi primer día en Costa Rica fue un día largo porque estaba muy cansada ya que mi vuelo salió muy tarde en la noche. Cuando yo llegue a Costa Rica era la una de la madrugada. El siguiente día conocí a mi familia tica. Estaba muy emocionada y también nerviosa porque los iba a conocer y no hablaba muy bien español. Me encontré con mi madre primero y cuando llegamos a la casa estaban  mis hermanos, mi abuela y mi tía Janet. Traté de hablar con mi hermano y hermana pero no les entendí mucho. Sin embargo, entendí que a  mi hermano, Fabián, le gusta el mismo animal que a mí, los elefantes. También, el cumpleaños de él es un día antes de mi cumpleaños. Tenemos muchas cosas en común. Cuando llamé a mis padres, fue un poco triste porque los extrañaba. Pero, mi mama, Adriana, entendió porque yo estaba triste. Ví una película en inglés y después me sentí mejor. Por eso digo que mi primer día en Costa Rica fue muy largo ya que estaba emocionada, asustada, y un poco triste.

                Mi familia es muy especial y son muy simpáticos conmigo. Son divertidos y me aman. La primera semana en Costa Rica fue una semana interesante porque aprendí más sobre de mi nueva familia y no tenía muchas tareas. Jugaba mucho con mis hermanos e íbamos al parque para jugar baloncesto. Me gusta jugar con mis hermanos porque ellos son muy cómicos y divertidos. Siempre cuando regreso a mi casa, mi hermanito grita mi nombre y corre a la puerta para abrazarme. Después, él siempre dice, “¿Kitín, quieres jugar conmigo?” o “¿Kitín, quieres ver la tele conmigo?” A veces, yo juego con él, pero a veces tengo muchas tareas para LASP e ICADS y no tengo tiempo para jugar con él. Mi hermanito tiene seis años y mi hermana tiene diez años y a ellos les encantan jugar.

                Durante mi segundo fin de semana, fui a Guanacaste con mi familia para visitar a mi tía Yadi. Mi primer viernes de ICADS no fui a clases para ir a Guanacaste con mi familia muy temprano en la mañana. Entonces, tuve mi examen el jueves y también hable de mi familia tica el jueves. Fuimos a Guanacaste y llegamos en la tarde a la casa de mi tía. Fui a la playa Panamá y nadé con mis hermanos en el mar. Tomé muchas fotos de mi familia, el mar y las aves. Al siguiente día, fuimos a Playa Hermosa en la tarde. El domingo, mi abuela llegó a la casa de mi tía en la mañana y regresó a su casa en Guanacaste en la tarde. Ví la televisión con mis hermanos y leí un libro que necesitaba para mis clases de LASP. Regresamos a San José en la mañana del día lunes. Había olvidado que tenía una cita en LASP esa mañana y estaba muy preocupada, pero no tuve ningún problema y no me preocupé por nada. En realidad fue un día pura vida.

                El próximo fin de semana, fui a Limón con mis compañeros de LASP. Salimos viernes en la mañana en un bus después de hablar con Epsy Campbell sobre la pobreza en Limón. Fuimos a las plantaciones de café, piñas, y bananos. Aprendimos que las piñas no crecen en árboles y que los bananos crecen en plantas y no en árboles. Cuando llegamos a Limón fuimos a entrevistar a la gente. Dormí en un hotel en Limón en un dormitorio con mi amiga Sarah. Tuvimos que compartir una cama pero somos muy buenas amigas y no hubo ningún problema. El sábado fuimos a la aldea de los BriBri para una charla con Gloria, una indígena BriBri. Ella habló sobre las iguanas en Costa Rica y el proceso de conservación de las iguanas. Ella recolecta los huevos de las iguanas y las cuida. Ella es una buena mujer y tiene muchas ideas para conservar la naturaleza. Después de la charla con ella, fuimos a la playa para nadar,  relajarnos y almorzar. La playa es muy bonita y divertida. Nadé y tomé muchas fotos de los monos. Un mono trató de comerse la basura y le tomé una foto muy cerca de su cara. Costa Rica es un bonito país, me encanta tomar fotos de todo. En la noche del sábado, fuimos a “Black Star Line” para cenar y bailar. Hubo un concierto para nosotros. Bailamos mucho pero yo estaba cansada porque cuando voy a la playa me da mucho sueño. El domingo, fui a la iglesia en inglés. Después de la iglesia, regresamos a San José. Fue un buen fin de semana en Limón y aprendí mucho.

                El fin de semana pasada, fui a patinar el viernes en la noche con mi amiga Sarah, su hermano Fabricio, y su amiga tica Joselyn. Soy muy mala patinando me caí dos veces. Pero fue divertido. El sábado, fui con mi familia a la Sabana para jugar. Mi hermana patinó y yo corrí con ella. Después, caminamos alrededor del lago y escalamos un árbol. Antes de regresar a casa, jugamos Frisbee. El domingo, fui a una iglesia católica con mi tía Yadi y cociné galletas con mi amiga Sarah. También, mi mamá me enseñó como hacer patacones ya que a mí me encantan los patacones. Fui a TGI Friday’s para ver la Super Bowl con mis amigos de LASP y sus hermanos ticos.

                Estoy muy feliz de estar en Costa Rica porque tengo una familia perfecta para mí. Gracias a Dios por tenerlos en sus planes para mi viajé a Costa Rica. Aprendo mucho todos los días y entiendo mucho más español que la primera semana. Esta experiencia es la mejor experiencia de mi vida. Estoy muy contenta por el tiempo que voy a estar con mi familia tica.

Tortugas Del Mar

I gave a presentation in my Spanish class on sea turtles this last week. While I probably sounded like a third grader giving a presentation I think that it went really well! It is crazy to think that I can talk for a solid ten minutes in Spanish on sea turtles! Imagine what I am capable of saying!  I am going to include what I said in Spanish for those ambitious enough to want to try and understand!

Hola me llamo Kristine Tunnell y voy a hablar sobre de las tortugas del Mar.

Las tortugas del mar nacen en la playa. Bajo la arena ellos rompen el cascarón del huevo y mueven sus cabezas para escaparse el cascarón del huevo. Entonces, por primera vez en su vida caminan por la arena y después corren hacia el mar. Las tortugas bebes saben dónde está el mar porque ellos mueven cerca de la luz, porque el agua del mar reflecta la luz. Pero, porque muchas personas viven cerca de la playa y hay luz afuera de sus casas, a veces las tortugas caminan en la mala dirección.

Cuando las tortugas corren hacia el mar, hay muchos depredadores que quieren comerlas.  Los depredadores de las tortugas bebes son las gaviotas, los zopilotes, los perros, los cangrejos, y muchos otros animales que viven cerca del mar. Las pobres tortugas no pueden defenderse y no pueden caminar muy rápido. Entonces, muchas tortugas moren antes de entrar el mar. Pero, las tortugas son tan fuertes,  ellos entre el mar. Con sus aletas, que le sirven para caminar y nadar, va dejando huellas en la arena y nadan en el mar para la primera vez.

Las tortugas tienen cuatro aletas, una concha sobre el lomo y una cola pequeña. Muchas personas piensan que tortugas son verde, pero en realidad, las tortugas son más o menos café y tienen algas sobre de sus concas, entonces ellos se miran verde.  Las tortugas del mar comen caracoles, estrellas de mar y pastos marinos. Y aunque no tienen dientes, pero ellos muerden la comida con su pico, que es muy duro. Cuando las tortugas entre la mar, ellos buscan para las otras tortugas grandes y pequeñas.  Las tortugas del mar viven con muchas otras tortugas del mar y crecen por más o menos 25 anos.  Ellos están casi todo el tiempo en el agua.

Después de 25 años, las hembras quieren un macho en sus vidas. Pero las tortugas no tienen esposos, ellos solo quiere bebes.

La hembra puede poner huevos cuando tiene 25 años a 50 años. Las hembras usualmente ponen 110-115 huevos cada vez y ponen huevos cinco veces durante una temporada de anidación. Entonces, una hembra puede poner 550 huevos en un año.  Las tortugas que van a ser mamas salen a la playa durante la noche para poner los huevos.  Algunas se sienten inseguras y avanzan con temor un pocito sobre la arena. Pero más salen del agua y se sienten confianza y usan más tiempo para poner huevos. Los huevos viven mejor y los tortugas bebes crecen mejor cuando la hembra pone huevos después de la cresta de la arena.  Primero apartan la arena con sus aletas para hacer una poza grande. Luego ellas cavan otro hoyo más pequeño dentro de la poza. En ese momento empiezan a poner los huevos. Cuando terminan de poner los huevos las tortugas tapan el hoyo. Luego borran todas las huellas del nido para que nadie pueda descubrir los huevos. Después, las hembras se sienten cansadas y regresan al mar para comer o para descansar.

Los huevos de las tortugas tienen más depredadores. Los perros, los puercos o los cangrejos remueven la arena para buscar por huevos. Cuando descuben un nido de tortuga, se comen todos los huevos.  Pero el depredador más importante son los hueveros. Los hueveros son gente que recolecta huevos de tortuga para venderlos después. En Costa Rica hay muchos hueveros.  Pero ahora, Nancite, Tortuguero, y Ostional parque nacional, y algunas playas en el Osa Pénensela son mas importante por los nidos de las tortugas del mar y son protegidas. En Costa Rica, hay tres tipos más importante de las tortugas del mar: laúd, lora, y verde. Todos son en peligro de extinción. Entonces, muchos parques nacionales son patrullados para protegida los nidos de las tortugas del mar. Porque no quieren los hueveros tomar los huevos.

Las tortugas del mar son más seguridad en el mar. Pero, cuando bebes es posible por un gran pez se las coman. Usualmente, las tortugas del mar pueden vivir por 100 años. La vida de las tortugas del mar es tan difícil pero como en buscando al Nemo ellos viven una pura vida.

Gracias para escuchar a mi presentación y espero que les gustan.

I officially graduated my Spanish class on Friday! Five weeks of class every day and I am a lot better at speaking and understanding! Defiantly still have a long way to come, but I am impressed with how much I have learned! 

Faith

Faith in Costa Rica from what I have experienced thus far is very different than what I have experienced in the United States. In General, Tican families have faith, when they pray they know God is going to do something, they have experienced his provision. American families have a religion, when they pray they are following the motions expected of them. Tican families are in need, they often times can’t make ends meet and trust in the Lord to provide for them through others.  American families have everything they could ever want or need and more, yet they are never satisfied. Tican moms give up everything for her children, they live very simply so that they can care for her children. American moms give of themselves for their children, but don’t know what it means to live simply or in want. I feel God and see him here in my Tican house, in how I am living, and in what I am doing. I feel very far from God in my life in the United States. My faith is being challenged, my religion is being challenged, my beliefs are being challenged, and I am currently a very different person than I was when I arrived in Costa Rica.

            The other night my Tican mom told me story after story of how God has provided for her and her family, how God has given and taken away, and how life is so hard, but that God is in control of everything. What is amazing to me is that she can say that the Lord is in control of her life with such belief and true faith. In the American families I know and in my own, we like to say that God is in control, but I don’t think any of us actually believe it without any shadow of a doubt. Faith in my Tican family is real and life giving. Faith for me and many families in the States is a hobby.

How is it possible for a twenty year old to be inspired by a six year old’s faith when she has attended church her entire life? I honestly think that it is because for a lot of people faith is a hobby. I can honestly say that a lot of my faith has been a hobby, a way to make friends, something to do with my time, another class to take, but I don’t think it has ever been real to me in the same way it is real to my Tican family. I thank God for this time in my life in Costa Rica with such an inspirational family and the way he is truly changing me and showing me that in order to continue growing closer to him, I must live differently. Honestly, that scares the crap out of me because it is not going to be easy but my Tican mom’s life is not easy. Most women in the United States live an easy comfortable life but don’t truly know God. How do I want to end up? I can honestly say I would rather live differently and according to my beliefs growing closer to God than have an “easy” life. I don’t think I could have said the same a month ago. Like Archbishop Oscar Romero said, “The great need today is for Christians who are active and critical, who don’t accept situations without analyzing them inwardly and deeply”. This is the kind of Christian I want to become and the kind of Christian I want to teach others to become.

            However, what is hard for me to see is that the church here is not that much different than the churches in the United States. In the three different types of services I have been to in Costa Rica the only difference I have seen is the language. The Catholic Church is very similar to the one I went to in the States, the Methodist church was very similar to my Grandmothers, and the evangelical church was very similar to my own church back home. It is no wonder to me that so many Costa Rican people are drifting away from the church since it is not constructed to suit their needs and beliefs. In the article “Faces of Latin America” Duncan Green says, “In Guatemala, as in most of Latin America, old belief systems are breaking down, producing a kind of religious supermarket where worshipers shop around between Catholicism and the different Evangelical churches”. I see this reality more in the United States then I have here, but I can see how the consumerism church is present here in Costa Rica as well. In our culture of materialism and consumerism, church is becoming another thing to please me rather than being a place where I commune with God, encourage others, and learn. What is hard for me to see is that as the world is becoming more globalized, the people are becoming more selfish and disconnected from others. Green stated, “[The church] can offer both a supportive community and a strong sense of purpose and identity”.  The church is a place where we are to commune and live life with other people, but it sadly has become a place to encourage me and please me without my doing anything for it in both the United States and Latin America. It is interesting to me to see how the value of consumerism is affecting our entire lives, in my opinion for the worse.

One of my goals in life is to realize that the church is not just a place I go to in order to grow in my faith and feel better about myself, but that the point of the church is it is a place for me to serve others and use the gifts God has given me for the good of the church. That if I don’t like something about the church it is my job to go about making a change. While the church should give to me, I must go in with the mindset that I will make a difference in the church. I am tired of church hopping and continually being unsatisfied with church. It is time for me to pick a church and know that I can do something to change it to make it better.

            Lord, help me to live a simple life grounded in you always so that I may have true faith. Lord may I live my life according to my beliefs and actually do something to go against this consumerism culture. Even though I know I will stand out and probably seem stupid or crazy at times, it is really is important to me to live in every way according to what I believe. God help me to be the person you created me to be, help me to impact the church with the gifts you have given me, and help me to continually live according to your will. Thank you for this time to step away and realize that my faith is a hobby. Help me Lord to see you for who you truly are and to truly believe in you. Help me Lord to rely on your provision and your direction. My life is completely in your hands. Let me truly live as Christ.

Pineapples don't grow on trees?

Limon is such a wonderful beautiful place. On our way there we stopped at a commercial coffee plantation, which looked like a corn field with coffee plants, and talked about how coffee has affected the environment and economics of Costa Rica. We also stopped at a pineapple field, which was very surprising for me, since I thought that pineapples grew on trees. In fact they actually grow on plants and only one pineapple will be produced per plant per year. And three of four pineapples grown in Costa Rica are eaten in the United States. Isn’t that crazy! We lastly stopped at a banana plantation before arriving in Limon. It was incredible to see how the employees worked so quickly and how much water was used to wash the bananas. All of the bananas that were not big enough for the United States or didn’t meet the United States requirements were thrown into a truck to be sold to the Costa Ricans. That was kind of hard for me to see. We have such strict requirements on how our bananas have to look. In fact at the pineapple plantation we were told that if Americans didn’t demand their pineapples to come with the top that no one eats, the farmers could use tons less chemicals for bugs! What also was interesting is that banana trees are technically plants. One banana plant grows, produces its bananas, and then dies. However, they have many baby plants surrounding them that grow up and produce bananas when the oldest one dies. Seeing all of these plants made me wonder if they could be grown anywhere in the United States and if they were.

At the banana plantation, they had workers in the more so factory part were they were cleaning, cutting and wrapping the bananas to ship out. The place we visited was a Del Mar plantation and they have many different brands and size requirements for all the different countries they ship to. Then there were the workers out in the field who would go out, cut down the bananas with their machetes, and carry them like a sack of potatoes back to the road where there was a cable with clips on it to clip on the banana stalk. Then there was a man who had the job of tying a cord around his waist and running the banana stalks from the field to the factory part! What a job banana runners have! Also, most of the banana workers are immigrants from Nicaragua. Basically in Costa Rica they have feelings toward Nicaraguans and relationships with Nicaraguans just like the Mexican/ United States Immigration racism problem. Lots of Nicaraguans come to Costa Rica and work as construction workers, or in farms, or doing the cheap labor jobs! What was a little confusing to me as to whether it was good or not, was the fact that the banana factories have houses and schools and stores for their workers. Basically like working in a mine back in the day. All of the women who worked had the detail oriented jobs like inspection and the men had the more manual labor jobs. Most people that I have talked to feel bad for the people who work in banana plantations because they say that the workers don’t make much money and work really hard. This kind of makes me think twice about bananas.

When we got to Limon we stayed in a hotel on the main street. When we walked down the street to go and interview people about poverty, we found that the street dead ended right into the ocean. It was a really beautiful place and was much more diverse than San Jose. There were a lot more African decedents and a more relaxed culture. I ate dinner with some friends and ate a hamburger and French fries since I was really starting to miss home! It is funny because they eat ketchup and mayonnaise together with their French fries.

We spend the next day on the BriBri tribe reservation talking with Gloria about how important Iguanas are to their culture and what their culture is like. In their reservation they are basically breading Iguanas, collecting the eggs and helping restore them into the environment because they are endangered and mean so much to their culture. That is where I got such incredible pictures of Iguanas! One thing that she said about their religion that I think everyone should learn from is that, “The land is our survival, and animals are reflections of God.” When they go into the forest that is worship, entering God’s creation with respect is worship. It was really interesting to get to talk to her and hear from her.

I shared a room and a bed, the only room that had to share a bed, with my friend Sarah. We have quickly become best friends through being vulnerable with each other and spending time together! She is a great friend and I have been learning so much through our friendship. I am so thankful that God placed us both here in this program together!

After visiting the BriBri tribe, we went to the beach! We had a ton of fruit for lunch and empanadas. It was so delicious. However, my little white faced monkey friend kept trying to steal the trash, thus the wonderful up close pictures I got! When walking down the beach I got the picture of the crab, and other howler monkey. There were also a few raccoons that tried to get into our trash! Who knew raccoons were in Costa Rica too! Just like squirrels…they are everywhere!

After playing in the waves, walking on the beach, and just chillin we headed back to the hotel. After a shower and leaving the beach in the shower…we went to the Black Star Line building and had traditional Limon food. They cook a lot of things in Coconut milk so it is a little different. We also had a live band play for us and got to dance. Being exhausted from the beach, I didn’t dance a ton but I enjoyed the music! It was a group of African decedents and they sang and spoke mostly English, but at times they sang Spanish. One thing that is different about Limon is that the African decedents used to speak English all of the time, it was their first language, but lately they have been losing that to Spanish. 

The next day we went to a Methodist church in English in which a homeless man came into the service stood in the front and raised his hands up, and then he left. The choir tried to motion to him to sit down but no one said anything to him. I don’t know how to handle that situation but I don’t feel like it was handled correctly. After church we headed back to San Jose.

That Just Happened?

Yesterday when I was walking to class with my friend Sarah, we passed by this interesting guy who looked like he was high. When he passed by me, he took the extension cord he had in his hand and slapped me in the ass with it! Luckily, my backpack was in the way! That was the absolutely most interesting experience I have had so far! After getting hit, I literally stood there and was like...wait, what just happened to me? My friend Sarah looked back with her mouth completely opened and was ready to beat him up!

Later after class in ICADs we asked one of our teachers how to say what happened with the appropriate words! The more fowl words to make it funnier when we told her brother! She told us that there were a lot of words for one's rear...but she eventually wrote down the word we were looking for and told us to eat the paper if anyone asks! It was hilarious!

I have never been hit on so many times in my life! When walking down the street, many times Sarah and I will get hissed at, whistled at, called beautiful, pretty, asked how we are doing in English!  It is ridiculous how often this happens. One day we walked by these guys and they said, "Hello Mamisitas"...and Sarah not paying any attention says, "Oh Hi"! Yesterday on the walk home we got called at 7 or 8 times at least! Not to mention the incident on the way there! When we passed by one place, this guy called at Sarah, "Hi beautiful, pretty, you in the orange!" She didn't even hear it! It is just ridiculous! Men will pass by in a car and stare out the window and basically fall out as they pass by to watch us the whole time! So anyway, besides feeling violated at times...I guess I have to believe it when people tell me I am beautiful! LOL!

On our way to the embassy for class on Thursday morning, we passed by these two guys and when the girls passed they were rating us...10, 10, 10, 10...It was hilarious! My friend told me that her friend says that an "11" is a girl who is a ten that also makes breakfast in the morning! I guess that makes me an 11...right Casey! ;) Anyway, just wanted you all to know that here...I am the exotic one that can't blend in as hard as I try!

Life is Good

I went to the park today with my family and got to play Frisbee! My sister was practicing roller blading and so I got to run around the roller blading track with her and encourage her, which was really fun! I got to help my little brother ride his bike and just be outside! It was such a wonderful time to spend with my family and build relationships with them. I also climbed a tree! My siblings joined me and we pretended to be monkeys in the tree! It was a great day!

This morning I actually had a conversation with my aunt and got to hear more about her and I thank God for placing her in my life! My Spanish is improving every day and I truly enjoy talking with my family and understanding what they are like!

When we got to the park today, my aunt Janet fell when she got out of the car and it was hilarious to my mom! She was laughing so hard she was crying! That is pura vida!

Yesterday night I went to a roller skating place with my friend Sarah, her brother Fabricio, and Fabricio’s best friend’s sister. It was hilarious to try and skate since I am better at roller blading. I fell twice, one time because I lost my balance, the other time because Sarah cut me off! LOL! The second time a guy in charge blew a whistle and immediately helped me up! Oh no, downed gringo alert! There were some people there who were amazing! They could be like professional roller dancers! It was fun to get to know Sarah’s Tico brother a little better! He is a really nice guy and I look forward to doing more with them! I was supposed to go play soccer with them today, but I wanted to spend time with my family! They asked me to go bowling with them tonight…and I should have gone with them…but I just want to spend more time with my family because I don’t have much more time with them and every moment matters! I hope to take Pris and one of her friends to go skating next weekend since Pris loves to skate!

Sarah might come over tomorrow to make cookies with me for my family! And Pris and I are going to have lessons in cooking with my mom! Should be a wonderful day again! I am enjoying my time here, but am realizing that I defiantly don’t have as much time as I wanted! But my aunt had a great point this morning when she said that every little moment with the family matters and is a memory to have with each other. And that I am here with this family in this place because God wants me here and I have the most wonderful experience to learn 3 new and different cultures! What a great opportunity to stretch and change the person I am! This family is changing me and making me into a much wiser and better person. Thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity!