Dear Ellie, friends and family,

I couldn't agree with you more about how different studying abroad seems to be for each person. Looking at your pictures and seeing the things you do couldn't be farther from what's been going on with me over in England. But even in the same country, no two students will have the same experiences. I've made a completely different set of friends than most of the other Americans studying at Reading and because of this, have also gotten involved in things I would have never dreamed of doing.

Example one, rugby. I've joined the Reading University Women's Rugby team. Pretty funny, huh? The great part is that I'm not actually bad at the sport, despite never having seen a rugby match in my life and not knowing any of the rules. It's a great workout and the girls are a lot of fun. I plan to go on rugby tour to Munich with them in March, which is going to be absolutely amazing.

I also stayed in London with my friend Dani at her mom's house. It was great getting to see a part of the city that I otherwise never would have gone to. We took the tube into central London one night and wandered through Covent Gardens and did a sort of pub crawl that ended at this fantastic Irish pub where we met officers of the Royal Navy. Needless to say, drinking with them was definitely an entertaining experience I won't forget.

We celebrated Halloween at Wantage with pumpkin carving, and I found out that although England gets into the Halloween spirit, they have a bit of a different take on the holiday. For the British, it's all about the fright factor. You should prepare to be scary here rather than dress up as anything. In an effort to adapt I became a witch one night (complete with broom, hat and long black wig) and a ghost the next.

I've also been getting involved in my hall by becoming JCR Secretary. The JCR are a group of students who are elected to help run most of the social events in the hall, including the formals (which are awesome!), as well as keep the students living in the hall well-informed and taken care of. The space for secretary opened up unexpectedly, and since a lot of my good friends are already on the JCR, I figured it would be another great experience. So far, it has :)

I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and can't wait to hear more about Costa Rica.

Much love xx

Lauren

The Reading rugby girls!

Dog walking in the English countryside surrounding Reading.

English sunset.

Hanging out under Big Ben.

Stealing really cool hats off the Royal Naval officers with Dani.

Our pumpkins in the Wantage courtyard. Mine is second from the right!

My friend Blanche and I going out for a Reading University Snowsports

social dressed as robots!

I found a Tardis (from Doctor Who) in London!!!

Dear Lauren and readers,

England looks absolutely amazing. Makes me miss it and my grandmother, especially the stuff about London. Sorry for not writing for so long. So much has happened here. Classes have sped up so I've been busy with that as well as experiencing as much as I can. I still haven't embraced the "learning spanish" bit as much as I should have. I need to study a lot on my own to improve and I just haven't sat down and really set my nose to the grind stone.

It has occurred to me how vastly different our experiences abroad will be. There is a certain amount of "grouping together" that arises when people study abroad. We treat it like it is something in common... "I'm studying abroad too!" or "My (insert relative) studied abroad also!" But in reality experiences in different countries can't be compared. You are seeing ancient brick buildings and hogwarts-esque halls. I am seeing rainforest and coffee plantations. You are eating bangers and mash and drinking ciders. I am eating rice and beans and drinking tropical fruit juices. We are living in worlds so different. One thing I know about this experience is that it isn't enough for me. I absolutely love Costa Rica, but when I return home I won't be able to say "oh yeah, I studied abroad" like it is a done deal. Experiencing one culture is great, but among my many bug bites is one from the travel bug. I want to be a life-long voyager, learner, experiencer. Well... those are my musings of the moment...

I've been having stupendous adventures here. I looked back and realized that haven't talked about anything since we went to Jaco. There is certainly a lot to write about, so here goes. We'll see how far I get before I have to go...

In general I've been getting closer to my family, though still not as close as I would like. I don't know why it seems so hard to connect with them at times. (Well, it could have something to do with language, but I do feel like I have improved a lot). But anyway, I feel much more connected when more of the family is over, which happens occasionally. After the Plant Taxonomy class day trip to the botanical gardens (way back on september 18th) a bunch of the family was over for lunch, dinner, and quite a few games of bingo, for which Nena had prepared prizes of various little things. I won a handkerchief, mini mug and bath squishy thing. Here is a pic of my winning card (we ran out of markers so had to improvise with whatever was handy).

The next weekend the group went to La Fortuna (home of the famous Volcán Arenal, which is a huge tourist attraction because you can often see the lava.... except that it completely stopped errupting a few months before we arrived. Who knows how the town will fare now that the main attraction is gone). Highlights of La Fortuna included white-water rafting; lunch on a beautiful site with a view of the volcano and brilliantly colored birds at a feeder not 12 feet away; buying the makings for our own ice cream sundaes at the market and creating sweet masterpieces at the hostel; taking a night-hike down a road through the jungle and getting to hold a red-eyed tree frog; soaking in the free hot-springs at night just outside the entrance to the expensive hot-spring resort; swinging off a rope-swing into a pool of water at a beautiful swimming hole; swimming under and sitting behind a waterfall at said pool; finally getting a clear view of the volcano without clouds.

PS: why is this blue all the sudden?

Alright, time for bed. (Hmm, back to black. Computer seems to be doing whatever it wants)

More tales to come. Dulces sueños a todos.

Love,

Ellie

Dear Ellie and Readers,

England is still as exciting as ever. I can't believe I've been here for almost three weeks now! I had the urge to travel this past weekend, so my friend Blanche invited me along with her to celebrate her friend's birthday in Brighton. We woke up at 7:30 and spent all day on trains, buses and tube meandering our way down to the ocean side.

We stopped in London on the way and ventured from Paddington Station to King's Cross to look for Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter reference, for those who don't know). I was so excited when we found it that I literally giggled with joy. Unfortunately, due to construction throughout London to improve the train and tube stations before the Olympics this summer, they had actually moved the wall and attached half of a trolley to the outside of the station temporarily. Killed the magic of it a little.

We also took a quick detour to admire the muddy River Thames and the regal Tower Bridge. The Thames actually flows through Reading in a less brown state, but in London it reminded me of the same cold, dark, gritty river portrayed in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Speaking of which, the walls of the tube station at Baker Street are tiled with Holmes' profile (picture below). Fun fact of the day for you there.

When we finally made it to Brighton we were exhausted but determined to enjoy the ocean air, some fish and chips and ice cream cones on the rocky beach. We were lucky enough to have a wonderfully sunny day. Blanche's friend took us through an area with some shops which reminded me of the streets of Berkeley with their odds and ends bohemian wares.

Altogether it was a very adventurous weekend - the first of many I hope.

Much love xx

Lauren

Train tickets to Brighton through London.

My first Telephone box - with the Brighton beach in the background!

Fish and chips by the sea.

Brighton beach

The Tower Bridge in London.

Wooo Harry Potter!!

The Baker Street tube.

Dear Ellie,

The past 9 days have been absolutely insane for me. I arrived in London on Sept. 30 safe and sound, and made it to Reading without a problem. I made English friends literally the minute I stepped off the plane, and my nervousness that had built up the few days before my departure immediately dissipated.

I've settled nicely into my tiny but very charming dorm room. My window faces the back of the old court building, and even though it's not the gorgeous courtyard view that some of the older students were fortunate enough to get, it's pretty beautiful. Almost all of the buildings here are aged and built in red brick with green vines crawling up the sides and cute little red, black or blue front doors. Sometimes I find myself wandering aimlessly through residential neighborhoods just to look at the houses.

I start classes on Monday, but my first week has been sparingly academic. I have partied every night since I've been here ― and it's been absolutely amazing. My first night in Reading I went to an English pub and ordered bangers and mash (aka sausages and mashed potatoes) and my first pint of pub beer. Both were delicious. I was also introduced to the revolution that is alcoholic cider. My new favorite drink is a cider black (cider with blackcurrant juice, which is a sort of syrupy sweet grape juice).

Most other nights we've been out have been “fancy dress nights,” which are basically costume nights, because the week before classes is Fresher's Week. Themes have included Noah's Arc theme, for which I went as a panda, caveman theme, for which I went as a caveman, and What's your occupation?, for which I went as a British policewoman in a borrowed costume. You should've seen the looks I got with an American accent in that costume.

There is so much more I want to tell you, but it's time for me to get ready for my 9^th consecutive night out. Wish me luck!

Much love xx

Lauren

The courtyard of Wantage Hall, my dorm.

First pint and meal at English pub called the Queen's Head.

My bedroom and view.

Party in the student union, the club on campus.
International students of Wantage Hall formal. (note: Trevor and Sam are in there)

Building on campus.

Wantage Hall dining...where I eat my meals.

Dear Lauren and Readers [and Amah since I heard you have been following :) ],

I have not written in quite some time, as I've been busy. I wrote most of this blog last Tuesday the 20th. It recounts some of the happenings of the previous week. I will post again soon about my most recent adventures.

Start of older blog:

I have reached a point where I feel I can communicate fairly well.

I am currently sick, which is no fun at all. I got over the feverishness, but can't seem to shake the deep cough. The only think I want when I'm sick is my family (and maybe close friends) to take care of me. There is nothing more comforting than having your head in your mother's lap, or on one particular occasion, getting a giant get-well card, soup and flowers from friends. However, it is not practical to hop on a pane for a week (though I dreamed that I did just that) so I am here suffering through. Today I asked our program coordinator Claudia about it and she gave me the name of some medicine I could get at the farmacia, but first she wanted me to try rábanos (radishes). By the time my class was over she had had someone purchase some for me and she instructed me to slice them thinly, sprinkle with sugar and let sit to extract the liquid. Apparently radish extract is an active ingredient in most of the commercial cough medicines anyway. I drank that before my second class and hardly coughed at all for those three hours. Success for home-remedies! I'm currently waiting for another radish to 'juice', because my cough is coming back now.

This past week or so has been quite fun otherwise. Wednesday night we went downtown to watch the lantern parade. All the children had made candle lanterns in celebration of the Costa Rican Independence Day, which was Thursday. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all share this same holiday, and there is a torch that goes through all of these countries lighting torches in each town. We saw the runners carrying it through San Ramón Wed morning. Very cool, here is a photo my friend took.

Thursday I was feeling lousy but still mustered the energy to go see the parade with marching bands from all the schools. Very fun to experience another holiday. Here are some photos:

The kids are all so adorable

I can't resist taking photos of them

That night I wrote a not-so-great paper and prepared a not-so-great presentation from my sick bed, for my Friday morning class. Thursday night was my worst night of sickness, and Friday morning I somehow convinced myself (with the help of my friends) that I was well enough to go on the planned trip to Jacó beach. All thirteen of us went, which was very cool.

Jacó is a super touristy surfing destination, which I did not attempt since I wasn't feeling 100%. The beach was nice though, and the water here is so warm! Almost too warm for me, as I've always liked cold water. I enjoyed my night and day there, though it really was extremely touristy. All the prices were in dollars and the people spoke English. For lunch a bunch of people went to a pizza place, but Hannah and I wanted less expensive comida tipica so we found a soda and got casados. This is like the value meal of Costa Rica. It has rice, beans, protien, some sort of picadillo or ensalada (or both), and some plátano. Yummy! We went back to San Ramón (we travel everywhere by bus, which tends to be a long process) on Saturday evening. I had a fieldtrip with some of my classmates for my Plant Taxonomy class the next day.

Alright, I promise to post more updated info soon!

Pura Vida!

Ellie

26 days in

¡Hola!

Today is day 26 of my beautiful Costa Rican life.

Bit of a scare this morning as the events of last night unfolded. A group of students (5) went to San José last night to see the Red Hot Chili Pepper's concert, and one girl got separated from the rest. The 4 stayed well after the concert looking for her and eventually had to come home. We spent a very tense hour trying to sit in our class while the program coordinator Claudia called all the hotels and hostels in the area. Eventually (miraculously) she found her, and drove to San José to pick her up. I felt so much stress, then so much relief, and I didn't even know about it until 8am. I can only imagine the stress level of those who were at the concert. I heard that they didn't really sleep. Tomorrow morning we get a safety talk from USAC. I think this was enough of a shock to ensure that we will all take necessary precautions so that nothing of this sort happens again.

I really enjoy the 12 other students on my program. We have become quite a family, which is why we were all so worried. Part of me feels a little bad, because I didn't come here to make american friends, but the other part says "screw it! these people are support!" Besides, I do have some good tico friends now too. Libia invited Hannah and I over to dinner the other night. It was so much fun to talk and laugh with her! I think that my tico friends will be my best opportunity to learn spanish.

Hannah and I spent a good deal of time today trying to figure out trips to take on weekends. I am so blessed that she is on this program. She mentioned that we have similar goals for travel: wildlife, culture, and beautiful locations for adventure. She read my mind. I have found a dear friend in her and will happily continue the relationship for years as she is from CA.

Fun note: the other day I was served the only thing so far that I would not eat. It was a soup with garbanzo beans and ...cow stomach...

Eeeuuchh! It seemed to be entirely fat and membrane. Totally inedible. I consumed most of the broth and and the garbanzos, but left a pile of stomach high and dry in the bowl. Often I clear leftovers from my plate into the trash (usually its a bit of extra rice), but that day I left it so she would get the message. There's been no sign of the dreaded substance since, so I hope I will be done with it for good.

My host family doesn't really eat meals together, which is disappointing. I often eat alone, or sometimes Nena comes to sit with me. I have no idea when that woman eats. I think she snacks as she cooks and then eats small meals in front of the TV later on. She watches a lot of TV. Her three activities at home seem to be cooking, cleaning, watching TV.

The other night my host sister's invited me out to celebrate Cendry's birthday (30th!). It was alright, but everyone spoke very fast, and I was already tired, so it was hard to focus on the conversation. I hope they don't think I'm too weird, just sitting there, zoning out. I really do want to socialize with them, but it is just so hard with the language barrier! I never realized how much I rely on words to express myself and share who I am. I feel like I haven't learned nearly enough Spanish for the amount of time I've spent here. I had lunch today with my friend Hannah and her host family. It was incredibly nice of them to invite me into their home and I enjoyed the delicious meal, but found myself insanely jealous of her relationship with them. They speak very good English, and she hit it off with them right away. They also have two young children, and so they eat every meal together. I would love to have that strong family connection. I guess it is something I would have to work on and initiate myself.

Last night I was blessed by the appearance of a gecko! I have often heard them in the evenings (their call sounds like someone making kissy-face noises) but had yet to have the chance to see one up close. He was hanging out on my ceiling for hours, and it was comforting to know that the mosquitoes that always manage to find their way to my bedroom had something else to contend with aside from my half-hearted drowsy swipes.

I had another evening visitor the other night. There was a very loud humm as something large and black zoomed in my door and crashed landed on my floor. I quickly captured the fellow, photo graphed him, and set the dear thing free outside. You may think he's ugly, but I grew quite fond of my beetle-friend.

Saturday I went out with my friends to a club called nightfever (no clue why it is in english). It was "ladies night" so the girls got in free and got free drinks between 8-10pm. A very economical way to party. I really haven't "gone out" with the group much, because it typically isn't my thing, but I really had a blast! The club had a dance floor that I graced for hours. I absolutely love to dance. Medicine for the body and soul. Our tico friends Sergio and José joined us and they are both good dancers (I actually have yet to met a tico who can't dance). Sergio is a truly beautiful person. He told me that night that he was gay (which is quite obvious, so it it was cute and funny). Now I have a close friend who is gay in two countries! Sergio loves to dance and told me that I was a very good dancer and a quick learner. Way to stroke my ego :) He can feel free to dance with me anytime! Latin American dances are so fun, and all about the hips. I've never met guys who can move their hips as well as the ticos.

Today I had a chance to jugar fútbol. The group has played a couple times, and haven't gone. I've never been into sports and I honestly didn't even know the rules. I think I've played like once or twice in elementary school. Part of me was afraid to play because I didn't want to let people down. However, the group is so much fun and not at all judgmental and I had a blast! I don't now how much good I really did, but I definitely enjoyed myself, which is what it is all about. And I got some exercise to boot! I will definitely play again (I think they want to make it a bi-weekly thing). Who knows? Maybe when I return I'll be a fútbol champ!

Finally went to the market last weekend with Nena. So cool! They do it every Friday night/Saturday morning, and it is where Nena buys all the groceries for the week. So many interesting fruits and vegetables, and all so inexpensive! Please enjoy!

Two long rows like this grace the lot of "Centro Agricultural" the market's designated spot

Nena buys the squeaky white queso

Nena buys delicious Pan Dulce (kinda like cinnamon rolls, but not really).

Efforts of many chickens somewhere

Kinda random and seemingly out of place fishies

The red ones on the right are mamones chinos. Super yummy! I mentioned them and Nena bought some :)

This woman's shirt cracked me up. And I couldn't share it with anyone at the time....

Platanos (plantains). The material for many a tasty dish

See what this girl has?! Man with machete and piles of coconuts, I want one!

:) Delicioso