October Update

school and routine

A lot of this month has involved preparing to shoot our short film, Apertura. We worked on green screen (my first time) and filmed a practice version of our opening scene to see if the visual effects we’re planning on using needed any extra work.

In my sculpture class my vase is taking shape, although it has transformed into more of a pot now.

One of my Grupo de Kansas friends and I went out to eat empanadas and coffee milkshakes on a Friday before meeting up with some more friends to see Joker at the movie theater.

This past month has included lots of outings like this, with Grupo de Kansas and UCR friends, which have been great to relax after each week of school.

protests

This past week of school has been a little crazy.

On Thursday, October 17th I got a text in one of my class group chats with a photo and this caption, “Listen I think they’re taking the building.” and then, “Seriously I don’t know what’s happening.”

In the photo the building was packed with students, and in the next they were boarding up the doors with chairs and desks.

Later I found out it was part of a series of protests against the defunding of public universities in Costa Rica. As a result classes were cancelled for most of the week. It was jarring to me at first but I had friends at the UCR who were part of the protests and they talked about it like it wasn’t anything to worry about so I didn’t worry and just enjoyed having school off.

The first day back at school the main protests were over but the Social Sciences building was still being occupied. As I walked out of my class I heard music, and made my way towards it. It was a brass band playing under the General Studies building which was covered in protest messages, and people gathered around to listen. After the first song the conductor stated that this was their own form of protest. I stayed and listened a little longer.

jacó

When I got the first text about the protests I was coming back from the airport, picking up someone very special. My boyfriend came to visit last weekend, and we left the hectic city for a beach weekend.

I’d never been to Jacó before and didn’t know what to expect, only knowing that it was the closest beach town to San José. After a 2 hour bus ride we got to our Airbnb and spent most of the afternoon indoors, hiding from the rain. When it let up we went for a walk on the beach. The post-rain sunset was beautiful, and we even got to see a rainbow. We watched dozens of surfers ride the waves until the sun went down.

Feet still very sandy, we made our way to a sushi restaurant our hosts recommended.

I got a california roll with salmon and garlic and eel sauce. This dish marked the first of many amazing meals on this trip.

The next morning we walked down to the beach to lay in the sun and jump in the waves for a while. After a delicious taco and burrito lunch we walked back to the loft and rested through the hottest hours of the day. We headed back in town for dinner at a more upscale restaurant where we had steak and some amazing pork ribs.

For our last day in Jacó we decided last minute to try to make it to Manuel Antonio. We caught the noon bus and got to the park at 2:00. Knowing it would close in just two hours, we speed walked to the beach, spotting a snake and some crabs along the way. Once there, we set down our towels and then spotted a crowd gathering. We followed them to see the group of monkeys in the trees. After rushing for our phones to take a few pictures and seeing a monkey crack open a coconut to drink out of, it started to pour. Frantically, we grabbed our things and rushed under the nearest cover. It rained for about 10 minutes, and most people rushed back onto the trails and out of the park. We stayed, though, and were rewarded with an almost empty beach.

We left our things on the beach and ran into the waves. We jumped around and body surfed, getting a good amount of water up our noses, for about an hour before deciding it was probably time to go. But not before taking one self-timer selfie, set up precariously between my backpack and a sandal.

As we left the park it started to get dark and the sky started to rumble, threatening us with a storm. I was already a little creeped out being the only people on the trail, and the “Danger: Crocodiles” sign didn’t soothe my worries. As we fast-walked away from the sign, Brendan looked up into the trees. Howler monkeys. Not wanting to be noticed by these famously loud and aggressive primates, we kept up our brisk walk. Brendan, apparently a gifted animal spotter, also spotted a cute little guinea-pig-like critter in the trees.

Once off the beach it really started pouring again. Luckily I had my backpack cover and one umbrella, which we shared. On paper it wasn’t an ideal situation, but I enjoyed the little adventure.

After a long journey back to Jacó we cleaned up and went out for dinner – sushi again. It was a great last night. In the morning we made one last culinary stop at a hole-in-the-wall place where the chef made traditional Costa Rican food with a different menu every day. We had meat loaf and chicken with garbanzo beans, veggies and rice. It was so good.

Shnit

This month also included SHNIT, an international short film festival. I spent a good amount of this weekend going to the Magaly theater to watch shorts from Costa Rica and across the world. I got to go once with my UCR buddy and her friends, and once with my friends from class. It was a great time.

homesickness

This month has been especially hard in terms of mental health and homesickness. Study abroad can be very lonely, and being on social media only seeing the good parts of people’s lives back home can make it worse.

I want to be transparent about the fact that this blog is mostly full of the best and most interesting experiences of my time abroad. And those things have been amazing, and I’m so happy to go on this journey. But there are many days where all I want to do is go back home.

Still, I’m grateful to be making memories here. My time in Costa Rica is more than halfway over. I have a month and a half left to keep making the most of it.