Amanda Abroad

Soccer Game

On Sunday I went to a soccer game between Saprissa (a San José team) and Heredia (another province). It was quite an experience.

Waiting in downtown San José before going to the game.

Advertisement for a phone company (Kolbi) and cirque de sole that is coming in the end of May.

The mascot

The section we were in, everyone sang there entire time and people had brought instruments in with them. There was even a giant drum. Also everyone jumped up and down together and the stadiums shook.

For a country without an army, the police were ready for all kinds of craziness. There were also police on horseback. Lucky they weren’t needed.

Apparently they have problems with people throwing things so you can’t bring in anything that you can throw like change. Also they don’t give you drinks in bottles, they pour the drink into a plastic bag.

At the beginning of the game they handed out balloons to everyone. People wave them around for a while and then just let them float away.

The game ended 0-0 and the crowd was super happy. We can only imagine how they would have acted if Saprissa had won.

At the end of the game people started climbing on the fence. Our section was the last to leave and everyone was still singing the entire time..

P.S. Bimbo is a bread company that endorses Saprissa, which is why it is on all of the jerseys. My host mom laughed so hard when I told her what bimbo means in english.

Caribbean Coast

We had Friday off because Obama was coming and most of the public transportation would be closed for security, so on Thursday after class we took a bus to Puerto Viejo which is on the Caribbean coast. The bus ride was 5 hours, but well worth it.

Some tattoos for the bus ride

We got to Puerto Viejo around 7 and went to get some dinner. There are 3 types of rice and beans dishes in Costa Rica: gallo pinto, which is when the rice and beans are mixed together, arroz con frijoles, when the rice and beans are served separately, and rice and beans (in english) which is only found in the province of Limón (where we were) and it has a coconut flavor. So of course I had to try that while I had the opportunity and it was delicious.

After dinner we took a taxi to our hostel, which was at a different beach called Punta Uva, about 15 minutes away. I ended up doing all the reservations for this trip and the place that I found was great. It was kinda like a giant tree house, filled with bright colors, hammocks, and all kinds of beach related decorations.

So that first night we went straight to the beach even though it was dark and we sat around talking since this was our first real time together to catch up since being apart for 2 months.

In the morning we were all awoken early to howler monkeys screaming. I had been used to this in my study site, but it was quite a shock for some of the others in my group. We then went off in search of breakfast but everything was closed so we ended up buying food from the grocery store and cooking. Then it was off to the beach again.

The cat that slept with me the first night.

There were bats on the wall. We thought they were fake until one flew away.

We ended up splitting up into 2 groups, one went snorkeling on the beach near us and the other took bikes to a beach that was further down called Manzanillo. I went with the bikes and it was so much fun. There was a beautiful look out and some amazing reefs that came right up to the beach.

We hummed out the periwinkle

We got ice cream for lunch and then bought food to cook for dinner once again. Then that night we watched V for Vendetta at the hostel and then headed to the beach for a bonfire, s'mores, and night swimming. There is glowing phytoplankton in the ocean so every time the waves crashed we could see these little sparkles of light; it was so magical.

The next day (Saturday), I woke up early again due to the howler monkeys so I walked to get some fresh bread and then went to the beach where I met a friend who had also woken up early. We walked along the beach aways followed by the dog who lived at the hostel, stopped and went swimming, and then turned around.

I got a tan!

Then we checked out and took a taxi to Puerto Viejo. We got lunch there and wandered around looking at all the brightly colored touristy shops. We then took the 4 o'clock bus back to San José and we were all exhausted by the time we made it back. This afternoon we are off to watch a soccer game (soccer is a really big deal here so we couldn't leave without having experienced it).