Culture shock returns

I remember standing on the beach in Nosara last summer during the second week of Spanish lessons and finding that my mind was completely blank. I didn't have the vocabulary to let my mind wander in my new language, but my whole brain was resisting the impulse to return to the familiar flow of English. I would have to pause while writing emails, especially to my bilingual teammates. Was a ready to communicate to them in their Mother tongue? Would I still completely embarrass myself? Was I being weak by sending them the meeting agenda in English and just sandwiching it between my newly learned Spanish salutations?

Six months down the road not a lot has changed. Culture shock is not just about being frustrated by a new language. It is the constant nagging that you might be doing something wrong: Are my shorts too short? Should I smile and wave at a sweet looking old man who says "Hola, amor," or is he being a creep? I don't know.

In the US I'm a pretty social person. I always spend time with friends and I am not intimidated by meeting new people. The isolation that comes from a combination of language and culture barriers tends to wear on me quickly, making me feel like I'm doing something wrong or suddenly failing at something I know I can do. I feel a lot like I did last night while Oscar was giving me a surfing lesson: I was paddling and duck-diving with every bit of power in my body, but a glance back on the beach would always reveal that I was barely staying in place.

When approaching a biological study in a new country, it is tempting to push these kinds of problems aside and focus on my bugs and my books. Fortunately (and unfortunately when I'm having a particularly hard day), everything I do here relies on my social networks: the farmers who let me into their fields, the carpenters who build me insect boxes, the local students who have the best connections for affordable housing. I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of good people who have been helping me out and making things a lot easier.

Times like these I give extra thanks for my Liberal Arts education... for experience travelling in other places that were challenging in different ways... for being taught that communication is one of the most valuable skills...for emails and Skype sessions and phone calls and letters home... for my Puerto Rican brothers that will always translate, even if they tease me for it...and for the fact that Friday is pizza and movie night in our little yellow house on the hill and the movies at least have English captions and the pizza tastes just like home.

Lesson #1 of studying abroad: buy a guitar ASAP.

It might take a couple leaps and bounds to get my blog from Fall 2012 in Idaho to Spring 2013 in Costa Rica. Not only is the physical relocation always a bit of a mind-blower, but I feel like the season of my life has changed almost as much as the scenery.

When I arrived in Costa a few days ago, I got to skip the usual taxi->bus->bus->taxi because I flew into Liberia, a town in the Nicoya Peninsula where I live. My friend/co-worker Oscar picked me up on his way back from a surfing trip. I felt like I was coming home more than going to an exotic location. Oscar and Simon welcomed me with their usual Puerto Rican flair and I've been pretty happy ever since.

The dry season is certainly distinct in Hojancha. Where the mountains used to be dressed in extravagant tropical greenery, there are now patches of dusty brown nudity. The walk to the grocery store used to be hot but manageable... I now find myself considering fashioning a hat out of a shower cap and ice cubes just to ensure survival on the 1/2 mile through blazing sunlight.

Yesterday, Simon and I went to the beach. It was magnificent despite the sunburn that penetrated many layers of 55 SPF. We also did a circuit workout on the beach. No matter how fit you think you are, you will never succeed at a workout with a college athlete in the late morning Costa Rican sunshine after a few weeks of drinking dark beer and catching up on movies.

But here I am! And on Monday we go to the field and start this science business. I can't wait.

Missing my Idahomies already, but it's time to learn more about the Pura Vida!!!

PS did I mention I'm prob renting this adorable house with some students I met?

Shooting for the sky

This semester has been fun. Really, really fun. In fact, I tend to have "weekend hangovers" on Mondays... not just the kind that resulted from a few too many at Oktoberfest in Leavenworth this weekend, but the kind that you get from not working for two days and then coming back to work realizing you "could have" done so many productive things.

With friends like these... HOW DO YOU GET ANY WORK DONE!?

I tend to have this feeling after almost everything I do, I guess it is the (very small bit of) perfectionist in me. Kind of like how I left Costa Rica this summer having learned so much, but wishing I had done so much more. So this blog is a public commitment towards making achievable goals for the rest of the semester so that I have tangible successes and CAN'T beat myself up about my last semester in Moscow.

What I am proud of:
-I am getting A's in all of my classes. I love grades how grades can just give you a simple, comfortable "you are doing something right!"
-I am in better shape than I usually am this time of the year. Ran 9 miles on accident the other day... doing plenty of trail running and a few races. Also took a 1 month yoga course and have been hiking. It's nice to know your body is capable of almost anything your friends can throw at you!
-I am happy with singledom now! I can go to bed without wishing I had someone to call, I can go to a party without wishing I had someone to hang on. I can look at my ex and think "you know what's great? that we aren't dating anymore."

What I want to achieve in the 2 months I have left:
-Run a half marathon
-Order all of my field equipment
-Have a written plan of action for the field
-Hire 2 field techs
-Write a rough draft of a review paper

Aaaand goal #1: FINISH THIS STATS HOMEWORK.

Love ya'all.

Sara

How was your summer?

Hi, trusty 5 or 6 readers! I figured now was a good time to post considering it has been *one year and two days* since my first post! There is good news and bad news about this past year:

GOOD NEWS:

1. Still feeling love from my Ole crew

2. I've had adventures in Costa Rica, learned Spanish, met new people/friends. and DONE RESEARCH!

3. I'm FUNDED! I get to finish out my Ph.D. without worrying about funding. I got the Borlaug fellowship, and I'm so proud/happy!

4. I get to start Idaho with a bunch of awesome friends.

BAD NEWS:

1. Sort of starting over (remember my tumultuous spring)

2. Still confused about my research (story of a Ph.D. student's life, really)

3. Moving back and forth constantly makes it hard to set roots. I read my very first post and felt a little weird. Yes, I have achieved many of those goals/expectations I had for myself, but I still feel very similar to how I did last summer. Like there is so much that I don't know about my future and I'm still just... Starting Out.... again!

Bienvenidos a Hojancha

I love Hojancha. So much. We climbed up on rutted dirt roads, and above the pastures and forest and tree plantations we could see the whole countryside. The people are kind, the houses for rent are gorgeous, and the promise of my project is sinking in. I'm so exited. As I type, I am sitting at a hostel on the beach in Montezuma (where I just randomly ran into an Ole that I graduated with last spring!!) and honestly, I just keep thinking.... I can't WAIT to go back and start my work in Hojancha. Here is a picture of my life right now:

I'm in Costa Rica! A lot has happened in the last WEEK. I can't believe it has only been one week. But first things first...

I left Moscow after the worst finals EVER. Honestly, the grades turned out just fine but I was just kind of stressed and overwhelmed. Take studying and add in moving, a day with a nasty hangover, and a few hilarious twists of fate and you have one wild week. The last day in the 'Scow I was trying to clean my bestie's apartment with him, finish a Stats project, fix a car that we managed to almost destroy, and pack all of my stuff. Thankfully, it ended with me, Becky, Troy, and Audrey in Spokane for my last night, trying out every happy hour in the downtown area and running through fountains in the sunshine. Could not have asked for a better goodbye from the West.

At home, I tried to mix enjoying the sunshine and Bass Lake and snuggling with Sheila and cooking with my family with finishing a proposal. What a lousy time to finish a proposal. But home was amazing, of course. My little brother is the most awesome upcoming farmer in the mid-west. Also, I ate fried cheese curds and drank Miller Lite at an outdoor bar... twice. I love home... WI in the summer is pretty amazing.

A few days later, I left on my evening flight from Chicago. Chicago was amazing for a few reasons:
1. My sister is still my other half
2. Cuban food outdoors with live music and Mojitos
3. Plenty of time to relax, work on some stuff for school, and re-pack, re-pack, re-pack.
4. I got to see my sister's life! Finally, after hours and hours logged on the phone where I had to make up all of the places and people in my head.

So I got on the flight and hung out in various airports and planes until arriving in San Jose at 5am the next day. If you want to hear a funny story about a red-eye flight, just hit me up. It was NOT the best sleep I've ever received.

When I got to San Jose, I had a few tasks: get colones (CR $$, jaja I know funny name...), take a taxi to the SJ bus stand, take the bus to Turrialba, and take a taxi to CATIE. Luckily, I had been practicing the phrase: "Necesito ir a la estacion de autobuses que viajan a Turrialba" throughout my many flights, so I got to CATIE by 10am. After a run with Mo, a delicious papaya snack, and a few faculty meetings, I was finally able to relax with Zayra's family, have a pisco sour, and get some sleep!

I spent a few days at CATIE before venturing west to the coast with my friend Mo. It took us a good 12 hours of bus riding, but we got to Nosara and eventually found a beautiful language school. If you ever want to learn Spanish in Costa Rica, I would highly recommend Nosara Language Institute. We are taking two weeks of intensive Spanish lessons (its just the two of us with one instructor) and getting a homestay (two meals a day included) for $550. In addition, the owner of the school is really awesome and has hooked us up with surfboards, bicycles, rides places, and great connections. He is a really inspired guy who uses the Spanish language program to fund his non-profit English courses for Ticos.

In addition to language classes, I have been really busting my booty to get in a grant proposal due tomorrow... I only need one letter signed and I will be done! Hooray!

I also took surfing lessons the other day with a hottie named Adrian. It was pretty fun staring into his beautiful eyes and... faceplanting into the waves for an hour and a half. What can I say, I don't perform well under pressure! I'm going to go on my own tomorrow and probably surf some gnarly olas.

Bees? Not yet. More on those later. Hoping to get out in the field next week after we pick up our car... and I can't wait! More adventures yet to come... and I'll add pictures ASAP.

PURA VIDA!

Well, here we are: finals 2012. I wish I could say that I am feeling excited, happy, and successful this week, but alas, the general gloom is still settled a bit on my heart. Combined with stress, it's not working out real well for me. But is it normal to feel great on finals? Let's do a flashback:


Finals Spring 2011: This was a very mixed-emotion time. Leaving Olaf was one of the saddest, hardest things I've done, and I knew I was leaving behind a relationship that really made me happy, on top of that. The stress of graduating really got to me, too- I remember freaking out when my family was all at Olaf. But I also got a 4.0 this semester and it bumped me up to my goal GPA for graduation, plus there was so much celebration in the air.








Finals Spring 2010: A confusing, but happy time. Getting ready to move to Oregon to participate in an REU, not encumbered by any relationship but with a prospect that was making me giddy, and a lot of new friends that I was very excited about. Plus I was going to move into WB in the fall- how awesome was THAT going to be!?







Finals Spring 2009: Thinking back this far is difficult. I had just found out I was going to India in the fall.... and I was taking vertebrate bio and doing a hilarious failure of a final project with Erin Seybold... I was living in Rand, but my roomie was living with her bf so I remember being lonely at times... but I was dating a SWEETHEART of a guy and I'm sure that I was excited to get home to be with him. It was my brother's high school graduation... here is a pic of me with said sweetheart and my bro's friend.



Finals Spring 2008: Oh yeah, drama spring. This was the year that I was struggling to finish CH/BI, the course of my nightmares, I was breaking up with Bryce (who is still one of the MOST important people in my life) and I had broken a guy's heart and was regretting it (the sweetheart from Spring 2009). I was also about to start my first summer at Camp Sturtevant, which I may not have known it, but that would be life-changing, positive experience for me!




So anyway, the point of this blog is: my heart got broken this semester and I'm still reeling. But drama happens, and every finals is like a door to another stage of life. Looking back, I can see how big every step was and it makes me think... what awesome stuff is headed my way? Maybe I wont just survive, maybe I'll thrive.