Mon 28th September

Today was a painful day for me. First, when I was taking the bad food out into the field, I got electrocuted on the fence with its full shock. It caught me by surprise and the shock was so hard I dropped the handles of the wheelbarrow. Later in the day, Luis and I were picking fruit from trees that were as tall as a coconut trees. The only difference was that these trees were covered with 2inch spikes around the whole tree all the way to the top. I couldn’t believe how sharp each and every one of them was but I was careful not to touch them. To get the fruit, Luis and I had to lift this long bamboo pole which was as tall as the tree and took two people to handle it. We would bring it tip of the pole to the fruit and pull at the fruit until it dropped from the tree. It was hard to balance this huge pull and a couple of times we lost control of it and it came crashing down to the ground. Everything was going fine until we reached the last tree. This tree was on a hill and so it was hard to balance this huge pole. We lifted the pole and started aiming it towards the fruit. We were almost to the fruit when we lost the balance of the pole and it started to tilt and began to fall. I was trying to save the balance when I lost my balance and my whole right side of my body fell into the 2inch spikes on the tree, all of them going into my body. It hurt so bad and was actually like 1000 needles going into your body. I had to pick most of them out, but some were too deep to pull out. As the day went on, the right side of my body became stiffer and harder to move because I was in pain. Later I worked out after the Lecheria. Then went home and made dinner with my family.

Sun 27 Septmeber

Sunday I woke up and around 11am we went to a barbeque for the family residents of the EARTH and some teachers. The meat was amazing and I couldn’t stop myself from eating because it was so good. Later I went and chilled with Tonio at his dorm. We talked in English so he could get some practice with his English for HW. After we went to dinner and then played some pool. Later I went home, watched Grays Anatomy and then went to bed.

Sat 26 Septemeber

Sat I woke up at 5am to go to work at 6am. Today was the students experience day so they were there when I arrived. I started helping Luis again with the pigs and cleaning and feeding them when an ambulance came cursing down the road. It went past the Lecheria down to the field where the students were cutting Pasto. About 10min Later a student came up and told us that a boy from Ecuador was cutting Pasto when he wasn’t careful and cut right into his boot. The machete went right into his foot and that’s why they called the ambulance. After that I got a phone call from David telling me that he needed my help in the Tilapia fish farm. So I left the Lecheria and went to help him. The fish farm was about a block away from my house. This was a pleasant surprise because then I didn’t need to bike a long way to get home. When I arrived, there was a big small loading truck and people putting big plastic bags of fish into the truck. David greeted me and then explained what needed to be done. This was his student project for this year. He had to raise Tilapia and then sell them to get money for the project. A buyer had bought 40 plastic bags worth of fish that needed to be packaged and put in the truck. The other students working on this project were in the fish pool using fishing nets to catch the fish, and then give them to David to put in the bags. First I helped him get the fish in the bag, then fill the bag with air with a machine, then tie the bag with a big rubber band so the water and air wouldn’t escape. After an hour or two, I got into the pool with the students and helped them get the fish. The net covered the width of the pool and we started walking from one end to the other to catch all of the fish. It was hard because the fish knew what was going on, so they were doing everything they could to get free. They would try to jump over the net, swim under and get caught in the net, and wedge their way through any opening they could find. After a couple of hours of hard work, we were done. When I got home, Wendy was making Gino Pinto with coconut milk. It was delicious and I had a second helping later on that day. Then that night my friends and I went to the two bars in town celebrate our birthdays. We danced all night and it was super fun!!!

Fri 25 September

Today I helped Luis in the swine pig farm with different actives that needed to get done. When I got there, he put me right to work on cleaning the pig stalls with water, then feeding them sugar cane. The pigs get super loud when it comes to feeding them. They almost sound like dying animals in great pain before they get there food. Luis told me that food fills the pig’s heart with happiness and they don’t need anything more. Once all of the pigs are fed, the whole farm is silent because the pigs are too busy eating to make noise. Once and a while you will hear a snort or two of happiness or two pigs fighting over their eating spot, but other than that it gets quite. After work, I ate dinner at the cafeteria and then watched Fast and The Furious 4 again with Carla, Virginia, and Tanner. Then biked home and went to bed.

Thurs 24 September

Today I worked on the usual things in the morning and was half way through milking the cows when John Carlos needed my help. We took a truck to this field where there were piles of this sugar cane I believe. We loaded it up and took it to the pigs. Once we got to the pigs, Luis put me to work and I got to know him a little bit better. Luis was in charge of the pigs and very good at his job. He is a short skinny tico who always has a big grin on his face because he’s joking about something. He always has a joke or something to tell me and will explain anything that I don’t get and keep trying until I do. I helped Luis with feeding the pigs and then with putting the rest of the food into a metal container. This metal container was like a huge pot and there was a flame under it. EARTH has a program were every building recycles, so all the wasted food is put into heavy duty plastic bags and taken to the pigs. After the food is put into the container, water is added to make it into a stew. Salt and different minerals are added and there ya have it, high class food for the pigs. After work I practiced yoga at my house for about 45min and then felt relaxed. Then, I went to the cafeteria for dinner. Then around 7pm, went to my first class of Karate. It was nice but im pretty sure fighting is not my thing. I just wasn’t that motivated to do anything that involved high kicks which made your body sore after. After class I went to bed.

Wed 23 September

Today was the day that the students came to help at the Lecheria. Every wed and sat the students come to do there work which is called Experiencia. When I arrived I helped with the food, and then started to meet some of the students. The people that were going to help me milk the cows were: Roberto, tanchi, Pablo, and Sophia. They learned quickly and it was fun to work with them down in the pit. After milking, we cleaned the whole milking station. Later Toto and I went and dropped off a chainsaw back to the garage and I got to visit with my old workers John and Mark. After work I went home, took a shower, then went on a search to find out where Tonio lived. It took me only 15min to find him because I just asked around and then got directed in the right direction. Tonio, Tanner, and I chilled for a bit, and then we went to dinner. After dinner, we went to Yoga and it felt so good to stretch out after a couple days of hard labor. The instructor was a lot of fun and I felt super relaxed after. Once yoga ended Tonio Virginia and I ordered a pizza and ate it outside of the Bibliotheca. Then I biked home and went to bed.

Tuesday 22 Spetember

Today was a good day for me. When I got to work I already knew the routine so I went start to work. The other men and I fed the cows and then milked them. I cleaned up all by myself which was nice because it meant that the guys already trusted me and it was only the second day. After cleaning, my friend John Carlos invited me to go look at the pigs (serdos). The pigs were all dirty with mud and really big too. I had never seen pigs that big before and they were almost as big as huge dogs! I asked Luis the man in charge of the pigs, Why are the pigs so dirty with mud? I thought pigs were supposed to be the cleanest animals in the world. Luis told me that the mud is the pig’s way of shielding itself from the sun and keeping it cool. Almost like a sunscreen for pigs. After work I went to work out for a bit and then went to dinner at the cafeteria. Then, I went to Angelo’s room to get the movie Fast and the Furious 4. Tanner and Virginia had eaten dinner with me and I invited them to watch the movie. Angelo had the movie on a USB and gave it to us to put on a computer. Virginia let us use her comp while she went to the Library to study for a test. Tanner and I watched the movie right outside of the library. The movie was great and I was tired after all the action, so I went to bed.

Monday 21st September

Monday I woke up bright and early after a long weekend of sleeping in. Today was my first day in the Lecheria (Dairy Farm). When I got there at 6am, I introduced myself to a couple of the workers and told them this was my new place for two weeks. They were happy I was there and put me straight to work. First I worked with a man named Mauricio. We shoveled the cow food into the food box thing that the cows ate out of. The food consisted of chopped up pineapple and bananas. It looked horrible but smelled really nice. It was a pleasant to smell this instead of the manure while working. After shoveling that into the huge eating bin, I went to my next project. Mauricio gave me a white plastic apran and introduced me to my next instructor. His name was Junior; he was in charge of milking the cows and running the machines to milk them. He told me the process on what I needed to do to milk the cows. We were located in the barn in the milking station. The best way to describe it is; there are two sides with four slots on either side. There are doors for each slot that can be opened and closed by sliding them into the slots and out of them. Junior and I were located in a lower section in the middle, looking up at the bellies of the cows. Over our head are medal pipes that take that milk to the big holding cylinder, and other tubes for the sucking machines. The milking machines had four suckers for the four nipples on the cow. The machine was like a vacuum, but sucked two nipples one second and the other the following second to create a rhythm. First, four cows enter on either side and then we close the doors so each of them are separated. Second Mauricio checks the numbers on the cow’s ears and then brings in the baby who has the matching number of that specific cow in the slot. Then Junior and I start with one side. First we wash each of the four cow’s nipples and make sure there’s no dirt on them. Second we open a small side door to let the baby put its head into the slot and suck on its mother’s nipples. This gets the milk flowing out of the nipples. Then after a minute, we close the side door and then wash the nipples again, and dry them off with news paper. After that we put on the machine that starts sucking the milk out of the cow. Once the cow is finished, we take each of the machines off the cow and open the doors. Then we do the same process on the other side with other four cows. While were working on the other side, four more cows are let into the first side. One side takes about 5 to 7mins, and there are about 60 or 70 cows. I think it’s a bunch of fun and the people are super nice. After the whole, milking processes is done, we clean the whole place and spray and brush it down with water. Also we clean out the tubes and the machines and make sure everything is sterile. After that whole process, I ate lunch with the men and tried to understand what they were saying. It was extremely difficult to understand them because most of them talk in slang and slur most of there words. After lunch we washed 21 metal milk jugs that were used for transporting the milk to the cheese and milk building. After we cleaned them, we filled them up with milk and loaded them onto the truck. We drove to the cheese and milk building and then had to take them off the truck and carry them one by one to a scale to weigh them. It would take two people to carry one jug. A man from the cheese and milk building helped me carry them and then another man recorded the weight of each jug. After that we would poor the milk of each jug into a huge tub that was used to make cheese. The average milk jug weighed 47 kgs. That is about 103 pounds!!!!!! After dropping off all the milk, we went back to the Lecheria to bring the cows to there field and then the day was over. After work I ran into Dadine, a friend I meet the previous week. She invited me to come see her tree farm that was her project for this year. She had to grow trees and then sell them. It was cool seeing all the trees she had grown. She told me that was the easy part. The hard part was getting people to buy them. If a person would buy one, that tree would be planted in southern Costa Rica. After the tree farm, I went to dinner at the cafeteria and ate with my friends. After I chilled with Tonio for a bit, and then went to the game room. There I saw that the movie Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift was playing and decided to watch it. There I met another person named Anjelo, and he invited me to watch the newest Fast and the Furious movie the following night. I told him yes and then I went home and went to bed.

Sunday 20th September

Today I woke up and had breakfast with my family. I chilled around the house for a while, and then decided to go to Andrea's house to see what time we were leaving for EARTH. When I got there, Sandra, my first teacher at Conversa, told me that she was out to lunch with some friends and would be back later. Then Sandra invited me inside to talk. We talked for a while about EARTH and my whole trip. She told me at the end of our conversation that I had improved and she was impressed with my Spanish. At 540pm I returned to the house of Sandra and picked up Andréa to go to the bus. We took a bus to San Jose, then a taxi to the bus station. When I got home I had some cereal and talked with my family at EARTH. Then I went to bed.

Saturday 19th September!!! My Birthday!!!

Sat I woke up fully rested and happy because it was my birthday. I ate breakfast and then talked to my parents for a while which was nice! After the talking on the phone, Derrick and I went to a shoe store and I bought some new Pumas Which I love and are for dancing! Later in the day I took a nap and then got ready for another quinceañera. I when I got to the party I saw that there was a gringa girl who was at the party. It turned out that she was from Canada and her name was Raquel. We talked for a while and then I asked her if she would want to go dancing with me at the Disco Tec called La Rumba that I had so much fun at last time. She said yes and got ready to go. We took a taxi to La Rumba and danced the night away. It was super fun, and the music was really good. At the end they started playing Grease and Raquel and I got down and I think we were the only ones who knew the dance moves. I would like to side track and thank my cousins from St. Paul for helping me learn the dance moves to grease. Every time my family would go to there house, we would perform grease for our parents. So my birthday was awesome and I had a great day!

Friday 18th Septmeber

Today I woke up and I was exhausted from the night before because when I got home from swimming it was 1am and I had to wake up at 5am. So with only 4 hours of sleep I went to work. The whole day we went to cut King's grass and other plants for the Toro. After work I went home and rested for a bit and then got on the EARTH bus going to San Jose. When I got to San Jose, I got off the bus at a random stop because David told me that the other bus that I needed to catch to Santa Ana was the other direction. After I jumped off the bus, I got a taxi and took it to the Santa Ana bus stop. From there I took the bus to Santa Ana and went to see my family. I said hello to everyone and they told me there was a quinceañera that everyone was going to and I should come. We went to the party and I danced for a bit but was super tired. After dancing, Derrick, his friends, and I went on a walk for a bit and then came back to the party. We went upstairs to where some of the primos were playing video games and I crashed for a bit. I was in a light sleep until a huge boom woke me up. The noise kept going on and we looked outside to see that a drumming core came to the party to perform for the birthday girl. It went on for a good 30min and by the end, my ears were ringing. Once the party was over, we went back to our house and I went to bed!!!

Thursday 17th Septmeber

Today was a bit different for me at the stable, first we went out to collect king’s grass from the fields and cleaned the stalls and feed them. After that, Mark told me to saddle up because we had to go and get the Yeguas and bring them back to the stable. I got a new horse this time and he was very fast and had a lot of energy which was awesome but a little bit scary. When we got to the field where the Yeguas where resting, Mark told me I could go and heard them and he would wait and make sure everything was going alright. So I opened the gate and went in to get the Yeguas. I made a huge U turn to come from behind the horses so I could direct them out through the gate without any of them running away. It was easy and I got them out in a hurry. After that we had to go through one more field to get back to the road. This time my horse took off galloping very fast and then I got a little bit scared. But I remembered what Mark had told me in the past. He had told me '' If your horse starts galloping out of control and won’t stop the normal way, slowly start to pull the reins to one side so the horses head will slowly turn and start to slow down because he won’t be running in a straight line anymore.'' So I did what Mark told me and it worked. After that I had no problem with my horse and I felt even more confident about riding my horse. We brought the Yeguas back and then watched to see if any of them were interested in the black stallion Orlejas. This time the one Yegua that Mark wanted to be interested was!! So Mark took her out to the corral, and then brought out the stallion. They did there thing and then Mark brought the stallion back to the stable. But right when mark was bringing the stallion back, another Yegua was interested tambien, so we went through the whole process again. After work I went to work out for a bit, but then saw Tonio. I talked to him for a bit and asked if he wanted to chill and he asked if I wanted to come to the Cafeteria with him. I met another one of his friends also. Her name was Virginia and she was also a second year. We went to dinner and decided to eat outside. When we were eating my group was talking about a river that was close to my house and asked if I wanted to go swimming at 11pm. I told them I was game! So they told me to meet them at the bank at 11pm. After dinner Carla, another one of Tonios friends and I went to the game room to play ping pong. That was a lot of fun and I’m happy that I keep meeting all of Tonios friends because they are super nice and really outgoing. After ping pong, I went to Tanners dorm and we watched Forgetting Sara Marshall dubbed in Spanish and with Spanish subtitles for the full learning experience. After the movie I saw that it was 1020pm and I need to go get my suit. I told Tanner where to meet and then I left for my house. At 11pm everyone met up at the bank and then we left for the river. It was Carla, David, Virginia, Tanner, Me. We left our bikes at the starting of the dirt road, and then started walking down the pitch black road to our destination. When we were walking it got even darker, and everyone had to start holding hands because we couldn’t even see our own hand in front of us. The students went first because they knew where the path was. Then Tanner and I were in the back trying not to fall on our face and keep up. Finally we got there and Tanner pulled out his bike light and we stepped down the rocks to the ledge we the river was. Virginia brought candles and lit them so we would have some light. It was really cool because it was dark all around us except for the dim light from the candles. The river looked like the Amazon because there were tropical trees and vines hanging down from them to get it the full jungle effect. Also it looked even scarier, because it was dark water and I hate when I can’t see what’s in the water. I got in the water slowly because I was scared because I didn’t know if there was a drop off or not. I swam for a bit but couldn’t handle it because I felt like something was going to eat me. After I got out, David showed us the rope swing and how to use it. It looked super fun but I didn’t want to it at night. Virginia, Tanner, and I talked at the edge of the water for the rest of the time while everyone else was swimming. After swimming we walked back through the scary and dark forest and then said our goodbyes. After that I hit the hay.

Wed 16th September

This morning it was hard to wake up after sleeping in the past few days, but once I turned on only the cold water for the shower I was fine. The students were there for their field day every Wed and Sat. I helped clean and polish the saddles with the other students and meet some more of them. After we were done with the saddles, we went and cut the kings grass for the horses. While we were cutting and hauling the grass to the truck, John was talking to me and how he someday wanted to learn Spanish. I taught him some phrases that he wanted translated, and then kept working. I swept the stable and we called it a day. After work I went to the gym to work out for a while. After that I went up to the game room to play pool and ping pong. I played for a while, and then everyone started going to dinner. I thought about it and called Wendy to tell her I was going to eat at the Cafeteria tonight. I walked past to see if I could see anyone I knew but I didn’t. Right when I was about to lock up my bike, Tonio walked up with his friends Jennie and Jensi and asked if I wanted to sit at there table. I was relieved and happy that I had found someone to eat dinner with. Also that the school was small enough that I was lucky to run into someone I knew. We ate dinner and I talked with them about there days. Tonio told me he had to leave soon because there was a Yoga class at 7pm. I told him I wanted to come and he told me where to meet him so we could go. Tonio was late and it was already past 710pm when I decided to go on my own. A staff worker showed me where the building was and I sat down right when the class was doing their first stretch. The building was small and away from the other buildings. It was in the shape of a square and had open doors on all four sides to let air through. Also there were a lot of ceiling fans to cool down the room too. The instructor was a small Latin man who was wearing a white yoga outfit and he was really good. He had music relaxing music playing from his Ipod and every so often would change it. He was really into his work because I would show the stretch, and then make us hold it while he walked around and helped people get the correct form. Everything went well and was super relaxing but suddenly changed at the end. The last move was the hand stand. I started going up and I had it for a couple of seconds, but then all at once I lost my balance. My tall and lanky legs crashed into the window that made a huge noise to interrupt everyone while they we concentrating on holding their handstands. People fell from laughing and the whole place was a mess. I wasn’t too embarrassed but I was more thankful I didn’t break the glass. After Yoga I saw Tonio had made it in there and I was glad he didn’t wait for me. Tanner and I went to his dorm so he could show me where he lived. We then walked to Daniels dorm but he wasn’t there. We heard music in the distance and decided to see what was going on. When we got to the building it sounded like there was a show going on. We walked in and sat down to a dance performance. Students from EARTH were doing different dances from their countries and performing it to the public. It was really fun to watch and I enjoyed it a lot. After the performance, I went home and then went to bed.

Tuesday 15th September (Independence Day)

Monday I woke up around 9am, had breakfast, and then sat around the house. I played pool for a bit at the game room and then biked around for a bit. Later in the night I went to go play futbol but found out that it had started at 430 and it was 615 when I arrived. But my friend Sebastian stayed when everyone else left and played futbol with me for a bit. It was nice of him to do that and it shows how nice the people at EARTH are. When I got home my parents were watching the Happing, with Mark Walberg. We watched and laughed because it wasn’t very good and then ate dinner. After that I was tired and went to bed.

Monday 14th September

Today I helped with the horses and once again fixed another fence thanks to the Buffalo. After work I went and worked out at the gym for a bit, then played soccer in the gym with a group of people for about an hour. After I took a shower, ate dinner with my family, and then went to the game room to see what was going on. When I got there, there were a lot of people and it was because people wanted to play ping pong. After a while I saw my friend who I had met the day before at the pool. His name was Tonio, from Mexico. He told me since there were no classes the next day; people were going to the bar to dance tonight and asked if I wanted to come. I was so excited because it was the first time anyone has asked me to come at EARTH and I finally made a friend!!! Tonio told me that he and his friends were going to take the bus that left around 9pm and I should meet him there. I told him I would see him there and biked home as fast as I could to get money. When I was biking back I saw the bus a little bit in front of me and I didn’t want to miss it. I biked as hard as I could, then ran like a mad man to lock up my bike, and then rushed over to look for my new friend. When I got there he was no where to be found and the bus was filling up fast. I waited for about 5min and the bus left. A little bit after Tonio arrived and told me not to worry because the buses just start at 9 and then go all night until 11 to the bar. We waited under the Bibliotheca because Tonio I think had a cold and was telling me that he would get sick because it was raining a bit. Finally his friends came and we got onto the next bus. Also in the bus were the two American students who I had met the previous days before, Daniel and Tanner. We got to the bar and it was starting to fill up. There was a small room where the bar was and then through a door way was a big dance floor!!! I could wait to get dancing. After the room filled up, the music started and unlike America, Everyone and I mean everyone got on the dance floor and got there salsa on. It was so much fun and there were so many people to dance with. It went until 2am and the music varied from salsa, to the YMCA, to reggae, to everything else. I had so much fun and went right to the shower after the dance because it was a workout. Then I went to bed.

Sunday 13th September

Today I finally slept in until 9am. It was nice but I was ready to get up. I had blue berry waffles for breakfast and talked to Delaney who was over for breakfast also. After that I asked Daniel if he could show Sara and I how to drive stick shift in order for them to let me use there car if they are not around. Daniel took us out and it was very easy to pick up from the previous times before. We practiced around the campus and then in a grass air field that wasn’t being used anymore. Sara didn’t want to try, so I drove home. After that, I found out that we were having another work colleague over for dinner. His name was David. I decided I was going to make my famous Coco de Flan that Gata taught me how to make. I had burned the sugar last time and I was determined not to do it again. Wendy helped me a little and it turned out great. After cooking David came over and we had a wonderful dinner. The Flan was a big hit and it made me happy. After dinner, David left and no later than 10min, all the lights were off in the house and we were all asleep.

Sat 12th September

Saturday I woke up at 5 once more because my week goes from Monday to Saturday. The difference is, Saturdays we only work from 6 to 11 which is really nice. Wed and Sat the Earth students do there field work. That means they go to different places around the campus that there class assigns them too. Today the class and I first washed the horse pads that used for under the saddle. Then we went to the place were we cut Pasto (horse grass), and they learned how to cut it and then feed the horses. John and I waited at the place as the students got the first ride to the stable. When our ride came, we loaded the different type of grass specifically for the Toro who they call the Cornell! We drove to the lecheria and grinded up the Cornels food so it would be easier to eat. The lecheria smelled very weird because that’s where they keep the cows. It smelled of cow manure and of sweet molasses. It stung the noise at first but then I got used to it. When I got off work I went to work out and meet another pasante from DePaul. His name was Tanner. We talked for a while in Spanish and he invited me to come to the movie on the campus, Angels and Demons, with Tom Hanks. I believe it was the sequel to The Devin chi Code. Tanner said he would meet me at the bibliotheca at 730pm and then he would show me how to get to the theater. Sara came with and it was nice. The movie turned out to be way too long and we were tired when we left the theater around 10pm. When we got home, our family friend Delaney, who was over for dinner was baking cookies, Wendy was just finishing up with her chicken gumbo, and Daniel was watching some action movie. I was half awake but I wanted to try that good chicken gumbo. I am glad that I stayed up because it was amazing and Wendy is a fabulous cook. Right after my bowl of that, I went to bed.

Friday 11th September

Friday Mark and I went out to the different fields and fixed numerous fences that had been broken because of the buffalo. It took us about 2 and half hours to complete the task. Every time we thought that we were finished, we would find another broken section when we checked the perimeter. At one fence, Mark found this fruit that he told me was really good. When I chomped into it he said not to bite into the fruit that deep because just the outside was good. The core is filled with worms that were crawling out of the fruit after I bit into it. I couldn’t believe what just happened and throw the fruit as far as I could and spit out what was in my mouth. Mark look surprised and then laughed because he waited to tell me that there were worms in the fruit after I took a bite. After work Sara and I went to the Cafeteria for dinner. I had not been there before so I was excited to meet people and try the food. When we got our food it looked good and we found a place to sit. The food was Bueno mas o menos and it made me happy that I am living with a family of good cookers. After the ok dinner, Sara and I went to the game room and there I saw my friend from soccer. We played pool for a while and talked. After Sara’s friend Sebastian drove us home, we watched T.V. and then went to bed.

Thursday 10th September

We worked in the stable for a while doing the normal chores, cleaning, feeding, and moving the animals around, then Mark told me to saddle up. He told me that he, William, and I were going to a piece of land that they needed to check out. I didn’t really know what they were doing because I didn’t quite understand what Mark said. We went for about a 30min to get to the destination, passing different fields of fruit trees and students working in them. When we finally got to the place, it felt like we were in the middle of no where. There were no buildings, no people, and it was a huge plain with tall grass. We went around looking at different areas, the men planned while I tried to listen in to catch words about what they were saying. We stayed there for about 20min and then went back to the stable. After work around 5pm, I went down to the soccer fields because I heard there was a pick-up game. When I got there, there were only four people there. Then two minutes later another man showed up. I introduced myself and found out that there were three students, and two teachers. We played a 3v3 game for about an hour or two which was really fun and good exercise. Then they told me about a soccer tournament that were teams made up from the students and faculty of the school, and told me I should join a team. My next mission in the next few days would be to talk to the athletic director and ask him how I could get on a team. After soccer, I took a shower, ate some din din with the family, and then watched the movie 3 10 to Yuma. The movie was a good new western movie and I would recommend it. Then I went to bed.

Wed 9th septemeber

Wed was the first day of classes for the students after their two week holiday. There were about 15 of them who came to the stable in the morning. The teachers told them about the rules and not to bring food or smoke in the stable. Then most of the students were assigned to work in a field to plant grass that was for horses. John and I went to help them, because Mark said we didn’t have much to do in the stable. I met a 4th year girl Marlene, who was the head of the grass project and other projects for the horse. We measured out more land, and then put bamboo stakes in it to mark the different sections. The students worked hard on cultivating the dirt, then planting the grass. After about an hour, John and I went back to the stable. We took a quick break, and then a man named Toto, who is crazy, picked us up. He worked around the different farms and drives around a truck all day, blasting love songs on his radio and singing them!! We drove down the main road and then stopped next to a huge field of the horse grass. Toto and John cut the Pasto with machetes and then I picked it up and put it in the truck. After work I went and worked out at the gym @ EARTH. I met another gringo whose name was Daniel. We talked for a while and I found out he was from Missouri and was here for a semester. After working out I took a shower and went to bed.

Tues 8th Septemeber

Tuesday I woke up @ 5am in order to get to work at 6am! I helped John clean and put food in the stables and Mark with curing the horse who had cut herself. After working for a couple hours Mark told me to saddle up a horse and get ready to go. We left for one of the fields that had 10 yeguas that needed to come to the stable. When we got there none of the horses where anywhere in sight, but Mark whistled and less than a second later 10 horses emerged from over a hill and came galloping toward us. I was cool to see them run really fast because it seemed like I was watching Animal planet or Planet Earth. We steered the horses down the road and back to the stable. When we got off our horses, Mark told me to come and watch the horses with him. He explained that all the horses were girls and he brought them in to see if any of them were interested in the two stallions that were already in the stable. He told me that there was only two that he wanted to mate because the others were either already pregnant, or he didn’t want to bread one type with another. It was interesting to here about all of this because I had never known before how complex the whole mating deal was. I asked how do you know when the girl is interested in the boy. Mark said if the girl goes next to his stable and does dance and shows a lot of interest, and then pees, then she is into him. None of the horses were into the stallions, so we left and brought them back to the field. As we were leaving we could hear the stallions making angry noises because they were mad that none of the girls wanted them. After work, when I got home, my brand new bike was waiting for me. I decided to go exploring some more and test out my new bike. I first went to the security building to register my bike. Then I biked all the way to the front guard stand at the only entrance to EARTH. It took me 15min to get there and after adjusting my bike, it took me 10min to get back. I took a shower and got ready for dinner. Wendy made egg burritos which were delicious, and then I went to bed.

Monday 7th September

Monay I woke up at 6am to get ready to go to my first job at EARTH, 40 horses. I ate breakfast, got dressed, and on my rubber boots. Wendy drove me to my destination which was about 5min away from the house. We arrived at a stable and went in to meet the workers. There was only two people working for forty horses. The first man I met was named Mark. Mark had been working there for many years now and he had taught Wendys kids how to ride horses and mantain them when the kids were younger. He also knows the most about horses in the whole college. The second man I met was John. John was younger and talked twice as fast as Mark so he was hard to understand at first but after a while I was able to understand what he was saying. The first objective of the day was to help Mark by holding a horse who had cut itself on the butt. It was a Miure or in spanish a Yegua. She had been taken to San Jose to breed, but on the way home she got scared and cut herself by freaking out in the trailer. After that I swept the floors and washed them with a hose. Mark taught me how to clean a horse, put on a saddle, out a bridel on the horse, tye knots to keep the horse connected to a pole, and the scariest one, clipping the horses nails. First you tye the horse up, then you slowly move your hand down the horses leg, by doing this you wont scare the horse if you just reached for its foot. Then you tap the back of its hoof to lift it up. If the horse doesnt move, Mark told me to lean into the horses leg while lifting up on its foot. After you have the front foot in you hand, you use these big clippers and cut the nail off one clip at a time. After that you have to put the hoof between your legs and then file it down with a huge filer. Its hard work but its was fun. After that Mark and I went to another field and rounded up some horses to bring back to the stable. When we needed one of the horses, Mark had a lasso and would swing it around his head just like a cowboy. I was amazed at how good he was at it too. He could catch any horse he wanted too. At lunch break, as we waited for Wendy to pick me up, Mark taught me how to use a lasso! It took me a while but I finally got the ruteen down and practiced on a tall tree stub. Wendy picked me up around 100pm and then I had some lunch. She went back to work and I went for a bike ride. The bike they let me use was way too small and the gears werent working. I decided to perchuase a bike so I could get around EARTH on my own. When Wendy got off work, she took me to the town bike store where I talked with the guy Jose for a while, then bought a dark blue GT moutain bike. Jose said he would drop it off at EARTH the next day after he tuned it up. I found out from Wendy that Jose was very lucky to have EARTH because that is where he gets all his business from. He goes into EARTH frequently and fixes bikes, gives tips to people, and rides with a group on the weekend. He invited me and I said I would love to go! After that whole experience I was tired and knew I need some sleep because from then on, I would need to get up at 5am in order to start work at 6am.

Monday August 31- Sunday 6th of September

Pedro, Me, Pechuga

My class

Monday was my final week at conversa and it made me said because have had such a good experience there. My last and final teacher was called Emilse. She always would joke around through the week with the English worlds she liked the best. For example she would always say " Yes Maaan" and "So what mannn". It almost seemed Rasta to me. Tyler was my partner in crime for this week so I looked forward to it very much. The week plan was to go over stuff I had already learned and strengthen it because you can never have too much practice. This week was special because we went to a secret spot which was located in front of the big house a Conversa that looked over the valley, and we would have class there. We would pull up a table and brought over really comfortable wooden rocking chairs and would talk. The best part about this week was how Emilse taught us. She would have us do a little work from the book but then we would just sit and talk about things for 2 hours or more, completely in Spanish. I found that the time we spent talking really helped improve my comprehension a lot. On Tuesday we went to our secret spot, but the topic of the day was my favorite and turned out to be a really good conversation. The topic was about spirits and ghost. We talked about different stories and if we believe in ghosts and then about the movies SIGNS, and THE VILLAGE. Also this week a group of 4 girls arrived from U.S. and were staying in my neighborhood for 3 months. They were becoming teachers so they came done to help student teach in some of the schools in Santa Ana. They were very nice and we took them to different places so they could get accustom to the place. On Thursday night all of the gringos went to the restaurant/bar to play pool and eat food. We met up with Carlos and his friends who were already there when we arrived. We played a couple games a pool and decided to play one more and leave. The last game was the going good until I threw the white ball to Pedro because he needed it. It bounced on the table, fell on the floor and bounced down the stairs to the first level of the bar. The bar tender started yelling calling me stupid and another waiter from the restaurant came up and said who threw the ball. Everyone pointed and said the gringo. I was very embarrassed and knew what I had to do. I walked down stairs and started looking for the ball. After 10min of looking, all of my friends were down there with me looking because we had no idea of where it went. We finally found it stuck between a wall and the staircase. After that we left because we were all embarrassed. As we were walking out a fight started to the right of us. There were two drunken guys arguing over a bike and then one of them threw a punch. Not even 2 min went by before a police car showed up. They were quick and broke up the fight, took the bike and then drove away. Friday Sonja, Peter, the 4 new gringos, and I went to a Rumba (nightclub) to go dancing. We got there and sat and chilled for a while to see how things went in this club. Then we hit the dance floor. It was so much fun and thanks to Famous Dave’s Salsa night back in Minnesota, I knew what I was doing. The music was nice and everyone was having a good time. Pedro and I decided to tell whoever we danced with that we were 20 and it worked. The first girl thought I was 22 and half tico (Costa Rican), and I don’t know how she bought that since I was whiter than she was. After dancing the night away for 3 hours it was time to go home. Saturday was the big soccer game, Mexico against Costa Rica. Everyone was getting ready and there was a lot going on in town. You could feel the energy. When it was getting closer to the game, our friend Pechuga (a nickname which means chicken breast) picked us up and we went to Howard’s Bar. When we got there it was pretty crowded because it wasn’t the biggest bar. I was happy because it felt like everyone was really into the game and when something good would happen or something bad; the crowed in the bar would erupt in cheering or anger. It was fun for a while until Mexico started man handling Costa Rica, and then the final score was Mexico 3 and Costa Rica 0. After the game my crew wanted to go home and go to bed so we ordered a taxi. When I got to my house I discovered that I had forgotten my keys and had no way of getting in. I decided with out putting much thought into it to scale my 10 foot fence and before I knew it I was over it. My next objective was to get into the house. I knew where my parent’s room was and knocked on their wall from the outside. Benicio came to the door and let me in. Thank goodness!!! Sunday was my last day in Santa Ana. A new student arrived from Montana to live with my tico family. Her name was Samantha and she was 23 I think. I showed her around the city and showed her where the bus stop was and everything else she needed to know. After that Pedro, Pechuga, Samantha, the 4 new girl gringos and I went to Conversa to play ping pong and go swimming. We had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful last day. After that I went home and got packed and ready to go. It was Derek my brothers 15th birthday and the whole family were starting to celebrate when I was finished packing. We danced for a bit and I danced with some of my tica aunts. Then I said goodbye to whole family and left. When I got to the front Gata was waiting with the Conversa taxi, also Sandra my first teacher was waiting there with her daughter, who was coming with me because she goes to EARTH. We arrived at the bus station and Gata said goodbye and left. Andrea the daughter and I got on the bus going to Earth and sat together talking the whole way in Spanglish. The trip was nice because I had someone to talk to; also it only took 1 hour and 45min to get there. We got in to EARTH UNIVERSITY around 8pm and pulled up to the Bibliotheca. I got my luggage and waited for my new mom. She pulled up and was very welcoming. Her name was Wendy. We got to the house and put all my luggage in my new room. The house is located right on campus so it is close to everything. I met my new father Daniel and found out that my new sister was already sleeping because she had school early in the morning. They showed me around the house which was very nice. They have a dog named spike and two cats that I don’t remember. We talked about what I was interested in doing at EARTH for my 5 month stay and then hit the hay.

Sunday the 30th of August

Sunday we woke up, packed up and went to breakfast. After breakfast we went to the snorkeling booth to go on our trip. We found out for 5 dollars more they would take us to our ferry and then we would have more time and wouldn’t have to go back to Montezuma. We paid, and then got on the boat to go snorkeling. The boat fit about 10 people comfortably and had a huge motor on the back. We zoomed through the water like it was butter and got to see the beaches we had previously walked to get to the waterfall the night before. It was so beautiful to see all of the beaches and islands from the boat. We went past an island that looked like the shape of a turtle and then another island that had an arch that looked like a rainbow. We were almost to our destination when our driver stopped the boat without warning. We had no idea what was going on but then saw what the guide was pointing at. It was a huge sea turtle that was swimming at the surface of the water. It was so big and it reminded me of Finding Nemo. Before we could reach for our cameras the surfing turtle from Finding Nemo dove below the surface and out of our site. We finally arrived to the rock that we were going to go snorkeling at and got ready to jump in. Before we jumped in the tour guide threw in some food and hundreds of colorful fish came up to the surface. We got all our gear on and jumped in! It was so amazing! The water was so clear and there were so many fish to look at. We swam for 45min, diving down to try to touch the different schools of fish. It was hard to say under for long because the pressure hurt my ears. After snorkeling we went to a beautiful beach, were out lunch was waiting for us. We had fish and chicken with a huge platter of different fruits to choose from. We ate and then went swimming. Pete and I found a cliff and jumped of it a few times until we saw Eleanor waving at us from the shore. We swam in to see what was going on. She told us that Ashley had caught a wild boar and we should come check it out but I didn’t believe her one bit. Sure enough when we got there, Ashley was petting this young boar that was spread out, sleeping below her feet. We found out that the Boar was a pet and lived on the island and loved people. After being messaged for a while, the Boar got up and walked to the cooks who gave her lettuce for lunch. We saw that it was time to go and boarded the boat once more. This time the water was a lot rougher and the waves were like jumps that made the boat splash which got us soaked. We arrived at the ferry just in time to get tickets and get seats. It left shortly after and we on our way home. After the ferry, we looked for the coach bus that was going to San Jose, but couldn’t find it. We went to the only bus that was at the ferry parking lot and asked where our bus was. The driver told us this was the bus. We didn’t have to pay hardly anything and it didn’t make sense because the ride to Montezuma cost 12 dollars but this only cost 50 cents. Something didn’t feel right and we decided to talk to the people on the bus to see what the deal was. An old man told us that this wasn’t the bus that would take us to San Jose but it would take us to the bus station. We also talked to some Italian men who said they would tell us when to get off. We went through about 5 stops and then the men told us it was the next stop. Our stop came and we got off. We looked around but there was no bus station to be found. We asked a local where it was and she told us we were about 5 blocks off. We had about 20min before the bus was going to leave so we walked for about ten blocks until we finally found the station. We bought the tickets and got on the bus just in time. We were on the bus for about 4 to 5 hours and finally got home.

Saturday the 29th of August

Sat morning we woke up around 8am. We were hungry so we decided to have the complementary cookies that the hotel offered. When we got the cookies they turned out to be small wafer crackers and weren’t that good for breakfast. Justin and I went to the market and picked up bread, nutella, and orange juice for breakfast. After breakfast we wanted to go to a water fall close to our hotel. To get to the waterfall you would need to work your way up a river for about 30 meters and then cross it. The lady at the front desk warned us not to because you have to cross a river and the water was too high from the hard rain the night before. We took her advice and went with caution. When we got there the river was moving pretty fast and there was a lot of water. We started to climb the rocks on the edge and work our way up the river. A local asked us if we needed a guide but we didn’t want to pay him, so we turned him down. We went as far as we could go before Tyler said it wasn’t a smart idea to go any farther and it was a good idea because someone would have gotten hurt. After that adventure everyone decided to go to the beach because it was beautiful outside. Also I wanted to get some surfing swimming trunks because I wanted to become a surfing bro!! I bought some awesome shorts and we were off to the beach. When we got there, it seemed like no one had ever been there before because it looked so beautiful. We all jumped in the water it was the perfect temperature. Also the waves were huge but even better there was no under current so I felt safe. Pete taught us how to body surf which was the coolest thing ever! You start out by going out until the water is up to your neck, and then wait for a huge wave to come. When the wave gets close, start swimming as fast as you can and the wave will lift you and then you can ride on top of it will carry you all the way to the shore. After swimming for a while we decided to have lunch. We sat outside at a small restaurant in the small two block town and had tacos, rice, and beans. While we were eating the town drunk started yelling and swearing in the middle of the street about Brazilian people for some reason I still haven’t figured out. Seconds after this started the towns people brought out a hose and sprayed him down until he ran for the beach. This must have happened before because the town’s people knew exactly what to do and did it quickly. After lunch and the wonderful show we decided to walk to the other waterfall but heard it was a bit farther than the first one. We talked to a local about how to get there and he told us it was a 2 to 3 hour walk down the beach and we would have to climb over rocks. We thought about it and then set off for the waterfall. We walked for about and an hour and one half over huge rocks and long stretches of beaches that were gorgeous. When we got to the waterfall fell onto a bunch of big slimy rocks that didn’t look to safe but after walking for an hour and one half we didn’t think twice. We climbed the slimy rocks and got to put our heads into the waterfall. After playing in the waterfall for about 15min we decided we should head back before it got dark. We were tired of walking so we decided we would go to the only house around for miles and ask to call for a taxi. When we got there a man was sitting on a log looking out at the beach. We asked him if he could call us one. He told us the only way to get here is by the beach or by water and the water taxi wouldn’t come because there was a huge storm coming and it would be too dangerous. Out best bet would be to walk back to Montezuma before it got dark and before the storm hit. Our new objective was a race against a huge storm that didn’t look to pleasant. We thanked the man and started our walk at a fast pace. We walked for about 30min and saw that there was a horse trail that looked like a detour around a huge mountain of rocks we had to climb. We took the horse path and before we knew it, we were walking up to our knees in mud and other gross stuff. We finally made it out of there and had to walk into the water to wash all the mud off. When we looked out to the sea, the storm was even closer than we expected and it was getting dark fast. We worked hard to climb over the rocks as fast as we could and walked until it hurt to walk. We finally reached the Montezuma beach and walked into town looking like a bunch of tired, dirty beach bums that had a mud fight. We all took showers and went to dinner. After dinner we planned out what we would do on Sunday and decided to go snorkeling. We paid for the trip and then went to our hotel and went to bed.