| The Central Valley |
Monday July 14th, 2008 10:07 PM |
I haven´t written in a while, but I did post a bunch of pics here and here. Since I last wrote, I´ve gone to San Mateo for ziplining through the rainforest, La Paz Waterfalls and Butterfly Garden, INBioparque in Santo Domingo, the Fiesta Casino in Alejuela, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Lorenzo, volunteering in Fatima south of San Jose (there are 10 different Fatimas in Costa Rica, so it´s important to specify exactly which one), fishing near Birri, soccer in Heredia, the cinema in Paseo de las Flores, and a bunch of talking to people in San Joaquin. We were going to go to Volcan Arenal this past weekend but decided against it since it´s too expensive. Perhaps another time. My tican family thinks we gringos are crazy because we´re always going somewhere on the weekends. The families here don´t really go out that much. A day out is a big event. Oh, and the weirdest thing. At the grocery store (at least at Pali) they don´t put your food in plastic bags. The bags are there at the checkout counter, but we assumed it was a bag-your-own groceries type of store. At first we didn´t realize why the workers looked at us rudely when we took some plastic bags - later we found out they charge 2 colones (4 cents) per bag. Oops.
Probably the neatest thing I did since I last wrote was the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. It´s a bit touristy, but truly beautiful. The gardens are located in a valley between Volcan Poas and Volcan Barva. We were going to go to Volcan Poas but it was already too cloudy by the time the Volcano opened to the public, so we just did the gardens. Oh, and Debbie warned me about the rain but I figured it would be similar to Florida, just a little worse. I underestimated the rain here; I have never seen rain like this before. It usually rains fairly hard for 1-3 hours every day and light rain for another 1-3 hours every day. It´s crazy.
Richard, one of the other students at my school, is really cheap – even cheaper than me. He wears prescription sunglasses even at night, simply because he lost his regular prescription glasses and is too cheap to replace them. He also has a broken umbrella and wears the same clothes every day. It´s very entertaining. We call him ¨codo¨, which is a slang term in Spanish for cheap. Even though he´s cheap, I think he´s quite well off – he owns a plane and doesn´t seem to be concerned if he has a job or not. His priorities definitely are on other things besides money. Ricardo and Johnathon left today and Mike has replaced them. Mike went to school at Pura Vida in March for 3 days and has returned for 3 weeks.
My spanish is coming along pretty well. I´m fairly comfortable talking to strangers and asking basic questions. I still have trouble reading the newspaper, understanding conversations that I´m not actively participating in, and understanding the television. But I still have two more months. =) |
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| Wednesday July 16th, 2008 02:49 AM |
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Codo says:
Hola peludo. Yo no puedo buscar la tienda de lentes, porque esta muy obscuro aqui y yo no puedo encontar la puerta.
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| Tuesday July 15th, 2008 09:56 PM |
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Wade says:
Amazing, huh! I knew someone out there was cheaper than me...it just took time finding them. =)
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| Tuesday July 15th, 2008 06:53 PM |
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Tony Wilson says:
I think what you are doing is great! As well as educational and you can also learn to manage your pesos. Not to mention that you were able to find someone even cheaper than you! Whoa....what a feat that was! lol
Have a great time and bring me back a present! Adios Gringo!
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| ¡Que Dicha! |
Tuesday June 24th, 2008 10:58 PM |
 I had done a lot of studying prior to coming to Costa Rica which was very beneficial but there´s a huge difference between processing Spanish when reading it and processing Spanish when listening to it. I was embarrassingly slow at answering very basic questions, but I´m getting better now. One of my favorite times of the day is eating dinner with my family. It´s great for my Spanish plus we don´t talk about verb conjugation and sentence structure, but instead talk about family, movies, politics, etc. Beatriz´s favorite actor is Denzel Washington and watches Prison Break and Grey´s Anatomy. Jimena likes Dora (used to like Barney but not anymore). And nobody likes George Bush. It´s not just 80/20% or 90/10% split in the population, it´s everyone. It´s almost like a fact, rather than opinion, that he´s a bad president. And the Ticos say it´s not just Costa Rica but Latin America and Europe as well. The consensus is quite amazing. I think they would be very surprised to see the number of Americans who approve of Bush. The recession here may be a part of it, the food prices and gasoline prices are having a dramatic effect on the economy here, and they blame the actions of Bush after 9-11 for these high prices. Besides politics, the other topic of interest is, of course, soccer and the World Cup qualifying matches. Only 3 teams from North America are guaranteed a spot (a fourth wildcard spot is possible but includes south american teams as well) in the World Cup and with Mexico and USA as the favored two teams, Costa Rica is definitely not guaranteed to make it to South Africa in 2010.
This week I toured Heredia, went to San Jose, and then all day Sunday did a ¨Tour of the Pacific¨, which included the Avocado Mountains, Tarcoles River, and the white beaches of Punta Leona. The Tarcoles was a 1 1/2 hour boat ride down the river for wildlife viewing. I was surprised to see many of the birds in the Everglades are also found here. Herons, egrets, ibises, among others, common in Florida are also here, including the endangered wood stork. However, we saw several birds not found in Florida like the tiger heron and boat-billed heron. The birds were neat but the big crowd-pleaser, of course, was the enormous crocodiles, especially since the tour guide got out of the boat to feed the crocs. With a chicken, he lured the croc within a few feet of the boat and a few feet from himself. Much bigger than the alligators I´m used to seeing, these guys were gigantic! It´s quite amazing but the pictures tell everything, which I´ll post soon. However, the thing I found most amazing was the macaws. At first I thought they were howler monkeys. Extremely loud, raucous noises coming from the trees, which grew louder and louder, and then six brilliant scarlet macaws flew out of the trees over the river, each flying in pairs. It was a magnificent sight! I loved it.
I met three other students: Hellen from England, Richard from Atlanta, and Jonathon from Maryland. Richard and Jonathon joined me on the Tour of the Pacific. I went to Longhorn Taberna with Hellen and her tican mother (Marie) to watch Costa Rica play Grenada. I think Marie had a great time as I don´t think she gets out of the house often. It was nice to finally meet some people but in a way is bad as I´m talking more English than I should. Although, writing this blog is probably not so good either as it gets my brain thinking in English instead of Spanish…oh, well. My tican father, Lestyn, drove me around town in his Isuzu on Friday night. We drove through some of the bad areas of town, full of drugs, knives, and guns. Lots of people just loitering around in the streets trying to look like gangsters. I was told, one thing to watch out for is two people riding a single motorcycle. One will drive and the other will try to rob you. Les said it´s very dangerous and he carries a pistol with him at all times. I was a little shocked at this and asked him if he had his gun with him, and, yes, he did. We also drove by the nice areas of Santa Barbara, San Roque, San Rafael, and Monte de la Cruz. We saw about four car accidents on this short excursion, apparently, lots of drunk drivers on Friday and Saturday nights. Along with the poor condition of the roads, massive potholes, it is no surprise Costa Rica has the highest per kilometer fatality rate in the world.
On Monday during breakfast, Jime´s face was hurting and Beatriz took a closer look then screamed, grabbed Jime and ran out of the house. I didn´t know what was going on, had no idea where they went, and had to go to school. That afternoon, I saw Jime, and the left side of her face was all swollen. She has paperas, i.e. the mumps. I hope my vaccination worked! Also, Beatriz has never had the mumps so we hope she does not contract the disease either, especially since she isn´t vaccinated. We´ll keep our fingers crossed.
Some of my favorite foods are picadillo chayote, platano maduro, pure de papa, and gallo pinto, although I´m beginning to get a little tired of beans and rice. Many times I have beans and rice not just every day, but multiple times per day. Casado is also very popular. Fresh fruit and fresh vegetables are a staple here, and, like beans and rice, are common to have multiple times per day. During el tiempo de descanso at school, we always have huge amounts of fresh pineapple, mango, and papaya. Refresco de cas is also popular. Cas is a small, citrus fruit, of which San Joaquin is known for having many cas trees. So, if you don´t get enough fresh whole fruits, you can always have it in a drink. You will not be hungry for fresh fruit in Costa Rica! |
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| Thursday July 03rd, 2008 10:19 AM |
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Kristin says:
!Que bueno!
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| Thursday June 26th, 2008 04:07 PM |
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Sook says:
The Jacana is right! Good memory. . . http://www.tropicalaudubon.org/specialty.html It's a good boid site.
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| Wednesday June 25th, 2008 05:37 PM |
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Wade says:
Northern Jacana, perhaps. Also liked the gray-necked wood rail.
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| Wednesday June 25th, 2008 10:05 AM |
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Sook says:
What was the name of that bird on our last trip (that you were so fond of)? Your travels sound amazing so far! And the fresh fruits. . .mmmm. If you get a chance, try the mangosteen (and don't be cheap like me). Be safe. :) ylsr
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| Writing from Ana Beatriz´s Home in San Joaquin |
Monday June 16th, 2008 10:04 PM |
Hamid, the school director was waiting for me at the airport, so everything went smoothly on my arrival in Costa Rica. After a brief tour of San Joaquin, he dropped me off at my host family´s house. The house is located on one of the two main thoroughfares of San Joaquin, easily within walking distance of the language institute. At the house was Moma Rosa, her son Roy, and his senora. At first I thought it was her daughter but I later found out that she only has two kids, one of which lives in a different town. She said there was no hot water in the shower, now, but there would be in the morning, or at least that´s what I gathered. Remember, the homestay families do not know any English; suffice to say, our conversations are limited and slow...but that´s the whole idea behind the immersion program. My teacher doesn´t speak English either. After unpacking and after the rain stopped, I walked around the city. The old part of San Joaquin is really nice, and some of the houses are pretty amazing, even by American standards, but unfortunately, these homes do not need homestay students. I stopped by the internet cafe, which is only 300 colones per hour (about 60 cents), briefly, and then bought some items at the super market, namely extra food in case I get hungry, a washcloth, soap, shampoo, anti-perspirent, etc. Basically, all the things I forgot to pack; I guess I didn´t think they were that important. =)
As Costa Rica´s timezone is two hours from Florida´s, I was exhausted and went to bed relatively early. In the morning (this morning), Mama Rosa made rice, beans, tortillas, eggs, and tea. I feel a bit bad that she does all the cooking and I simply sit down, eat, and then get up and leave. I may try to help out but I don´t know if she would find that offensive or not. I guess I should just consider it part of the homestay service, but I feel bad nonetheless. Anyway...after breakfast, I spent about 5 minutes trying to get the hot water working in the shower, but to no avail. I should have asked Mama Rosa but I was naked and too lazy to get dressed again, so I just jumped in. It really wasn´t that bad, and afterwards felt very refreshed, even more so than with a hot shower. It´s the during-the-shower part that´s not so fun. I guess I didn´t fully understand the conversation about the hot water. Oh, well...
My first day at the language school went well. Marienella is my teacher and Elena is the accountant/secretary. Along with Hamid, we four were the only ones at the institute today. More students are coming later this week. After talking with Hamid and asking about my likes and dislikes of living with Mama Rosa (my only dislike was the noise from the street), he mentioned a homestay that may suit me better. I took the offer. The new homestay with Mama Ana Beatriz is a lot better. Mostly, it is much quieter, but it also has television, a computer with internet, my own bathroom, and overall just feels more homey. Did I mention internet? Her daughter, Jime, is about three years old, and her husband, Les, I have not met yet. My first day at school was very good. Hamid, Marienella, and Elena are extremely nice. Hamid took me to lunch today at Amistad ($3 for a dish of meat, squash, rice, beans, salad, and a drink) and drove me to Sharon Lobo´s house in Birri de Santa Barbara. Sharon is a good friend of Debra´s and since she is leaving soon for two months, I wanted to visit before she left. She married a tico, lives in a beautiful house, and has five kids that she home schools. She definitely loves Costa Rica, but as is usual, every place has its drawbacks. Theft is common and she´s had thieves poison her dogs and try to break in her house even while she was at home. Crazy! When Debbie and my Dad arrive in September, I´m sure I´ll be seeing a lot more of Sharon and her family.
Anyway, so far so good. I had a brief spell of loneliness and doubt that this trip was a good idea. Not being able to communicate with the family, feeling a bit like an intruder in someone else´s house, etc. However, after going to class, meeting Ana Beatriz and Sharon, and everyone´s generosity and hospitality, that all passed. I feel fine, and now I wonder if it was computer withdrawal that was inflicting me. I´m beginning to wonder if having a computer is a good thing or a bad thing? =) |
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| Tuesday June 24th, 2008 09:32 PM |
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Ali Karrels says:
Very cool first 2 days! I remember my first days in Turkmenistan were crazy, so I imagine its something similar. I agree with Carrie, I am sure they will enjoy learning some English from you as you learn Spanish from them. Have a wonderful time and cant wait to read more updates.
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| Wednesday June 18th, 2008 08:03 PM |
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Carrie says:
Enjoyed the commentary, maybe you could return the favor by teaching your host some simple English words.
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| Monday June 16th, 2008 11:28 PM |
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B says:
Man it sounds like you got it easy now!
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| Visiting the Arants |
Saturday June 14th, 2008 10:48 PM |
Dad opted to fly back to Austin instead of drive (thankfully!). Thus, Herschel is driving us both to the airport early tomorrow morning. I'm finally heading to Costa Rica. After the SoBe Interational Triathlon, Dad and I drove up from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta stopping in Gainesville for some dinner at Maui Teriyaki and some much needed sleep in Valdosta. We stayed in Locust Grove visiting Candee, Herschel, Lauren, and Elliott for a week. Candee's blessings continue as Elliott is another wonderfully happy baby; he cries only occasionally but otherwise seems content and happy with his world. He basically eats, sleeps, and poops. And don't think it's all dominated by eating and sleeping, he's potent for such a little fellow. He was kind enough to give me a little gift while sitting on my lap. When it happened, it was completely unexpected. It was nice and quiet in the room, no warning for innocent bystanders, and out of nowhere the loud eruption and rumbling that came from this 10-pounder made me jump right out of my seat. He seemed to think it was quite normal, and I could almost discern a look of concern and puzzlement on his face due to my reaction. Herschel found the whole incident rather humorous; I think Elliott did too. Elliott's potency was no match for the diaper. Despite the super-absorbent technology advertised on television, diapers still need improvement. I now have respect for the guy; maybe I'm even a little jealous. =)
Lauren is in the prime of her "terrible twos and threes" yet is a pleasure to be around. Overall, she's well-behaved and is such a sweet little kid. It's great now that she's talking and making complete sentences, and interesting listening to her learn the English language. One afternoon, as some thunder clouds rolled in and the tops of the trees started to sway, she said "it looks like it is going to wind".
She loves Barney, likes music class and Pump It Up, enjoys chicken but not so fond of Grandpa's cooking, and loves her little brother. Thanks so much to Candee and Herschel for the hospitality and I can't wait to see everyone again for Christmas. A video of the kids was posted and pics will be added soon. Since we're waking up at 5am, I'm signing off now. I'll write again from San Joaquin. |
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| Elliott Wade Arant |
Tuesday May 13th, 2008 01:43 PM |
 On Sunday, Sook was driving to Tampa to visit her Mom for Mother's Day and got into an accident on I-75. Someone swerved in front of her, almost hit her, and she lost control of her car; no other cars were involved and she is ok but her car flipped onto its side and a lot of damage was done to her Scion. Thankfully, no injuries but another scary incident.
Yesterday, I picked up my car from the towing company. The car was situated in a way that the passenger side of the car was facing us when we arrived. The car looked fine. I could see the airbags had gone off, but the damage did not look bad. When I saw the driver's side of the car, I was shocked how bad it was. I would never have guessed it to be that bad. It looks like I'm pretty lucky. See pictures here.
More bad news, but on a global scale: disaster struck China in Sichuan province with a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that was felt over 1000 miles away. The team we work with at Motorola is in Nanjing Jiangsu Province fairly far away from Sichuan. Nonetheless, we hope the best for the Chinese during this disaster.
Despite all the bad news, I'll end the blog with some great news: Elliott Wade Arant was born yesterday evening at 6:02pm. Candee was in 11 hours of labor starting at 7am and then Elliott was born at 9 lbs. 2 ozs. Everyone is doing fine. Elliott has bright blond hair.
Also, Rowan is now over two months old and is doing great. You can view Holly's blog here. |
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| Thursday May 15th, 2008 10:02 AM |
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SR says:
I had an Apple IIc too! And I played Transylvania and some Olympic game. . .teehee.
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| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 09:42 PM |
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Leslie says:
I like Elliott's middle name....he must have a cool uncle!
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| Car Accident |
Sunday May 11th, 2008 01:17 PM |
I was released from the hospital last night after being in a car accident on Friday. Thankfully everything is fine. My head and neck still hurt a bit but my memory and brain seem to be functioning normally, i.e. normally as in "the same as before the accident". Hehe, I don't want any smart alec comments on my blog =). I blacked out and my memory from when the accident occurred until about 6 hours afterwards is very spotty. As such, I will try to recall what I can remember:
At around 4pm, as I was leaving Motorola on Marcano and turning left onto University, a car driving north bound on University hit the front left of my car. I remember seeing smoke (which was probably from the airbags), trying to move the gearshift into park, trying to open my door (i think it was stuck), and vaguely remember thinking that I need to get out of the passenger side door. I assume I climbed over and got out of the passenger side of the door but not entirely sure. Nonetheless, I got out of the car and was sitting in the grass on the side of the road. I remember trying to think what day it was and was concerned because I could not remember. Not even close; as in I didn't know what month or year it was. The next thing I remember was being inside the ambulance. I only have a snippet of memory from there. After that, I was in a hospital bed in a room at the ER (at Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation). I do remember my doctor was an Indian guy whose name was Venkatasamy or some such. My nurse was Greg. I vaguely remember other doctors and nurses coming in and asking me questions, taking blood, etc. Apparently during this time I had a catscan but I have no recollection of that. I think it was around 6:30pm my friends arrived and my memory was improving a bit. I vaguely remember trying to make jokes and whatnot; probably my reaction to stressful situations. Mike, Byron, Shea, Meredith, and Jackie were all there and Kelly came later. Apparently, a police officer came to the house so Byron knew where I was and that I had been in a car accident. Everyone said I was repeating myself and my short-term memory was almost nonexistent. I also remember Phillip calling but Shea was there and answered the phone. It was a call to the hospital, not my cell phone. All my stuff, including my cell phone, was still in the car at Interstate Towing. It's still there as they are closed until Monday.
Since I had a concussion and was not acting normally, the doctors told me I would have to spend the night at the hospital and have more tests done in the morning. They moved me out of ER to the fifth floor. I was not allowed any food and at first was not allowed water. At about midnight I tried going to sleep. I remember being slightly paranoid about the saline drip injecting air bubbles into my bloodstream. That, along with the noises from the medical equipment, and someone down the hall moaning all night, I didn't sleep so well. I vaguely remember someone coming in at 3am, I believe they took blood but not sure. Another nurse came in at 5:30am. Someone else came in with breakfast but I just fell back asleep. Finally, I got up around 8:30am (I think) and ate some full-liquid-diet breakfast. Yum. To conduct tests, I was moved from my room to the downstairs labs by the transporter (such a cool name for a not-so-cool job). I had another catscan and five neck x-rays. All tests came back negative and I was told I would likely be released from the hospital. By this time, I felt a lot better, my memory was all coming back, and I felt normal again. Byron and Shea stopped by with my glasses just after lunchtime. Speaking of lunch, I had gelatin cubes, pudding, and strained soup. Mmmm-Mmmm. As soon as my primary care doctor reviewed the x-rays, they would release me. Since we weren't sure how long it would take, Byron and Shea went to the car dealership to look for a new car. I listened to some hip-hop from Jackie's iPod, watched some Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on USA and they finally released me at around 5:30pm. Byron and Shea were still at the car dealership so Mike picked me up.
Just wanted to give a special thank-you to all my friends who helped out during this time. Please do not feel hurt in some way because I did not call you. I did not have my cell phone with me (and I still don't have it) so I didn't have any phone numbers. Plus I wasn't exactly coherent through this whole thing. Everything now seems fine. I slept 11 hours last night and, except for a slight pain in my head and neck, everything is good. |
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| Monday May 19th, 2008 04:14 PM |
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Kristin says:
What a harrowing ordeal! I am very glad to hear that you will be OK.
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| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 09:44 PM |
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Leslie says:
WOW! Glad you are ok. Now you can justify getting that new car.
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| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 01:31 PM |
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Ali says:
So sorry to hear about your accident! Hope your doing better now, take it easy for a while.
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| Tuesday May 13th, 2008 10:11 AM |
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SR says:
I'm glad you're ok, EP! What a weekend, huh? We can go car shopping together! (although, I'll probably just get the same car again. . .is that lame?)
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 11:23 PM |
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Dad says:
You can buy a new one when you get back from CR, we'll rent for Candee, OK and Austin, maybe, what you think? Call when you get your phone.
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 09:08 PM |
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DD says:
Wow, I'm glad you're OK. Did they catch the person that hit you?
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:43 PM |
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Candee says:
Glad to hear you are okay. I wish I could have been there with you in the hospital. Our phone numbers are 770 xxx xxxx or 404 xxx xxxx [edited] in case you need them before you get your cell phone back.
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:24 PM |
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Carrie says:
Glad to hear you're OK, let us know if you need anything.
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:04 PM |
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Wade says:
Yes, I had my seatbelt on, and a small bruise on my left shoulder to prove it - the only exterior mark that showed I had been in an accident. I have no idea what part of my head was hit, I assume the back part, which is where it hurts the most, but that's just a guess. It was my car, the RSX, which kind of puts a damper on our plans to drive it up to Atlanta; I saw the police officer yesterday and he said it was totaled.
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 06:53 PM |
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Dad says:
Knock some sense into ya! Who's Car? did you have a seat belt on? Where did you hit, front, back, side? Take care!
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 04:22 PM |
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Aunt Mary B. says:
Glad you're okay. Frightening indeed.
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| Sunday May 11th, 2008 02:33 PM |
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Rohit says:
God... that was frightening!
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