 | Line in the sand....
2008-05-05, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So when I first came to Costa Rica, I had some rough moments adjusting to some of the changes that I experienced. For example…prior to coming here, I could not shave unless I had hot water. Now, I... |
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| "The Gringo Nod"
2008-05-02, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I now have a few more weeks under my belt and things are coming along well…… OK, let me rephrase that……I am busting my ass trying to get this whole language thing down. My reading ability and vocabul... |
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| The Sheets of Death.......
2008-04-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Even though my last weekend was pretty brutal…I have since found out that I was very fortunate to be out of town.
My laundry days are Tuesday and Friday. The general routine is to hand over all... |
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| The Long Journey Home.....
2008-04-21, Nosara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | As I woke up the morning after the rodeo…….I knew that they day was going to be long and rough. I started to collect my belongings and noticed that I did not have any cash left. All I had was 700 C... |
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| Yo Adrian!!!!
2008-04-21, Nosara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | After no luck with the first two hotels that I tried in Nosara/Guioness…..I stumbled across a sign that read “Room for Rent This Way.” I walked down a gravel path, over short bridge to small bungalo... |
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| The Day I thought I was Lance Armstrong
2008-04-21, Nosara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So this weekend, I packed up my gear and headed to Nosara…which is approximately 35KM from my house. The only catch……I went on a beach bike. Not a mountain bike….or even a 10 speed….but a heavy as... |
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| The Battle between the Campuses
2008-04-18, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | This week we started to receive transfer students from our sister campus in Heredia. It did not take long for the new students to start in on how much superior the Heredia campus was in comparison t... |
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| Who am I......Howdy Doody?
2008-04-16, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I have mentioned before how tough my first two weeks were…..about the material and my lack of grammatical knowledge ect……however there was one thing that make my first two weeks next to impossible……an... |
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 | Don't Throw Stones Buddy.......
2008-04-11, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So I was inundated with new school material this past week…..therefore I was unable to get anything good posted this week…..but I hope to get some more posts here soon.
I did want to post this one... |
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 | The Worst Wingman of ALL TIME!!
2008-04-06, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | If you are really into people watching…..I personally think that bars are the best place to partake. Some say that airports and malls are better…but that true only if you want to observe. If you wa... |
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 | Papa's gotta brand new bag
2008-04-05, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I have mentioned previously how hard it is right now for me to communicate. And it really sucks when you go into a room full of people that don’t speak the same language as you and it takes maybe 10... |
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| Bill Gates Can Kiss My Ass!!
2008-04-05, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So I have a solid two weeks under my belt and things are coming along nicely…..well almost everything. Let’s not even get into the sheer mass of new grammatical information that is dumped on me ever... |
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 | Dallas Comes to Costa Rica
2008-04-04, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I just want to include a little disclaimer before this next journal entry. Some of my dearest friends live or reside in the Dallas area…..but (and I am sure they will even have to agree) at times i... |
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| Talk about Southern Hospitality !!
2008-04-04, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Over the past two weeks, I have started to create a few habits. One of my daily rituals is to stop by the Supermercado on the way home and pick up 4 beers. One is for me, one for Melvin, one for A... |
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 | Sombody stole my shit!!!!
2008-04-02, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | About six months ago, I was traveling with my good friend Adam, and he mentioned how nice it was to have a travel partner. Initially, I thought it was a compliment directed towards me… …but he elab... |
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| I got crabs!!!
2008-04-02, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Well…..I am sure this post will get a decent number of reads simply because of the title. It will have to do as they took down my pics of the local Costa Rican paper with the women on it…..my apolog... |
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| Setting Goals
2008-03-31, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So today I had the opportunity to speak with some of my family members as well as some of the more tenured students at the school. I wanted to get any feedback or advise that would add to the succes... |
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| Detroit comes to Costa Rica
2008-03-31, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So I have been putting off trying to learn verbs for a week now…..but after last week I have come to the realization that some memorization is going to be necessary in order for me to progress. So t... |
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| Hasselhoff and the Germans
2008-03-31, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | At the school where I am taking classes, there are tons of students from all over the world……so I am essentially bathing culture. One thing that really sucks about the US is that there is little to ... |
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| SEX SELLS!!!!!
2008-03-29, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So one of my new Spanish exercises is to get the daily paper and slowly but surely work my way through all the stories……pretty much one word at a time. The most popular paper by far has to be La Te... |
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 | My first meaningful project is underway....
2008-03-28, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I am starting to really get settled into my new school, home, ect……and I think that I have found my first big project. If you recall, Agustin (My Tico father) is a horse trainer/owner. Normally, p... |
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| Something I have not felt in a long time.......
2008-03-28, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So this was my first weekend of being in Costa Rica with no travel…….and it was phenomenal. Not sure if anyone reading this can relate…..but try to reflect back to your childhood….……It is the first ... |
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| Miracle in Costa Rica - Old Man River Passes!!!!
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Not sure if this is a good thing……..but I passed my first test……. OLD MAN RIVER PASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now let me clarify one thing…..passing a test is one thing, but being able to follow along with t... |
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| Where the rubber meets the road......
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I knew that there had to be a catch at some point. If you have been reading my journals to date….you should recall me talking about getting my ass handed to me each and every day in class. It has ... |
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| The conclusion of my first week.
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | OK….so I have one week of school under my belt….and the only word that I have to describe it is….tiring. Not sure if you anyone has been in a foreign county where they don’t speak the language…..but... |
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| School/Life Schedule
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So I have started to develop somewhat of a stable schedule for my week…….
4:30-530AM (Thanks to JesusChrist SuperCock) wake up and get about 1 hr of Rosetta Stone studying in..
5:30-630AM Run/W... |
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| Don't I feel like an asshole.....
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So today in class we had an exercise that required us to talk about our host family. So I get up in front of the class and start my presentation. When I said the name of my Costa Rican mother, my ... |
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| Ashby earns his keep.....
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | OK….so I have been in my new home for 5 days and the opportunity to move from “gringo with the bob Marley tunes” over to a member of the family arose. When I first arrived at the house….I noticed th... |
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| Regulation of the Frenchies
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So after my second day of classes, I had a conversation with my teacher as to whether or not I was in the appropriate level….as my first two days were unbelievably hard. It end up that the other gir... |
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| Waste Management
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Something that I have been noticing in Latin American countries is the prevalence of trash…….EVERYWHERE. Costa Rica is such a beautiful country. Not sure about the exact percentage…..but I think t... |
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| The conculsion of my first Schoold Day......
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | Today was a super long day for me….. I was up at the school by 7:30, took my placement examination, and was dropped right into an intermediate class. This is all good stuff….but I soon realized that... |
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| Costa Rican Weather
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So during my preparation for this trip, I read a number of blogs about the weather and what to pack, ect…… Apparently a group of old women have taken responsibility to post shitloads of bogus info on... |
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| My First Day of School - Jesuschrist Super Cock
2008-03-24, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | OK….so here I am getting ready for my first day of School. I have never been this excited to attend school. It could be that I have changed my opinion about learning….or it could also be the fact t... |
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 | Costa Rican Food
2008-03-23, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I have come to the realization that I will be dropping some pounds over the next few months……and I will attribute this to the food in Costa Rica. The food is not bad…..nor is it memorable. I have no... |
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| The Learning Begins.......
2008-03-23, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So I can begin to tell that the older members of the family…..almost avoid me. Not because of anything that I did….but just for the simple fact that communication at this point is pretty much non-exi... |
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 | My Host Family
2008-03-22, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | I am all unpacked and settled into my new digs. I am still trying to figure out what everyone does around here…but it looks as if everyone has multiple jobs …..except for the mother. She runs a prett... |
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| First Day of Travel
2008-03-22, Samara, Costa Rica. By: ashby74 | | So today was my first day of travel….nothing too exciting to start the day other than a very early flight out of Austin down to Houston and then onto Liberia. Since there was no one else heading to S... |
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 | White water rafting the Rio Toro
2008-03-17, San Jose, Costa Rica. By: mira | | Today was the last of my adventure activities for this trip. I can honestly say, even before I started today I was exhausted, sore and bruised... so then I went an multplied the pain I was in.
The... |
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| Another , why am I doing this moment....
2008-03-16, La Fortuna, Costa Rica. By: mira | | I'm scared of heights. It is a fact that is well established, so why may you ask would I go rappelling down a 70m waterfall... Just because it was there to be done. Todays canyoneering activity requir... |
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| Lava and hot springs
2008-03-15, La Fortuna, Costa Rica. By: mira | | After the canopy adventure yesterday I slowed things down and went on a night walk. I was quite impressed because my main goal on this trip was to see a sloth and 2 minutes into the walk I saw one. I ... |
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| Crossing over to the adventure capital.... Costa Rica!
2008-03-13, Monteverde, Costa Rica. By: mira | | Another border crossing into... Costa Rica! There is an obvious finacial difference between Costa Rica and its northern neighbours. Everthing costs more here, but there is also the good infrasturcture... |
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 | Flying through the canopy
2008-03-14, Monteverde, Costa Rica. By: mira | | Today was the first of the adventure activities for this leg of the journey. Firstly I'd like to say I'm not very good with heights... in fact I'm scared of them. Which makes my choice of activity tod... |
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 | this week and next
2008-02-25, Samara, Costa Rica. By: loganberry | | so my brother is here this week, and on wed. we will head over to volcan arenal. on monday my friend allie gets here and we will head over to cahuita and puerto viejo on el mar caribe. i will be the... |
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