Last week was my final week of my second class. Time is surely flying by! I wish I had more time here, I am most definitely not ready for my return home. I am officially half way through my study abroad experience and I could not be more thankful to have had all of the experiences I've had thus far. There's been a lot happening here in San José the past few weeks: there is always so much to do! School has been keeping me very busy, and my last class kind of kicked my butt a little bit! As most classes do, we all became very acquainted with each other and time progressed. Conveniently, as my February course came to an end, I found out that 5 out of 8 of us were continuing on to our next class together.
Everything has been simply amazing. Adventure after adventure! I've made several Tico friends here in San Jose, and I hope that I'll have the opportunity to return back to Costa Rica for visits in the future!
The week of my birthday was kind of interesting. I officially broke up with my boyfriend of over two years. Aside from the slight heart ache, I had the best birthday of my life! My friends took me out to dinner, and of course for some celebratory 21st birthday drinks. I've made so many close friends here that I really hope to keep for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, all of my best friends here leave at the 3 month mark.
I went to my first professional soccer game! It was a really interesting experience, and I learned a ton of new Spanish phrases. For the most part, they were pretty vulgar! Here in Costa Rica, as well as most other Latin American Countries, take 'Futbol' extremely seriously! The game we went to, was supposed to be the most intense game of the season: Saprissa versus América. Saprissa is the nations ranked number one team for Costa Rica, and América is the number one ranked team of México. Costa Rica's biggest rival in soccer is Mexico, so you could imagine the intensity of the crowd. You could compare the rivalry to Michigan vs. Michigan State, only hundreds of times more crazy!The day after the soccer game was my 21st birthday! It was a really interesting experience celebrating such a huge birthday (according to the USA), in a country that celebrates their big birthday at 18. It was also interesting because my boyfriend broke up with me that day. I was out to eat with my two best friends here and he called me and that was it. Needless to say I was hurt, but having such amazing friends and being in the most beautiful country on the planet set the stage a little different. My friends took me out and helped me celebrate, leading to one of the best birthday I have ever had. I couldn't imagine having celebrated with any other people.
The great thing about studying abroad is meeting all sorts of new and incredible people. I've made the most amazing friends on this journey, and not having this experience would not have pushed me to be the person who I really am, and I couldn't thank the CMU study abroad office, my parents, my friends at home, my friends here, and most importantly myself, any more. I hope each and every people who has this opportunity, jumps at it in full force. I will soon return home a changed woman, someone stronger, someone who can stand on her own without the help of others.
PURA VIDA CHICOS!
