Wow. I did not think that my homecoming would be so soon! It seems like I just got here! First things first, a run down of my last weekend in Costa Rica.

On Friday, my class went to El Museo de los Niños (The Children’s Museum) here in San Jose. It is a lot like OMSI where there are tons of things to touch and interact with, and it was SO much fun!! They had so many different themes, and it was broken down into different rooms. For our class, we had to focus on two different ones, so I chose to focus on the Ancient Egypt exhibit (I know, very surprising ;)) and an exhibit on Dr. Clodomiro Picado (the doctor who worked for years developing antivenins and worked with penicillin). It was absolutely incredible. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me, so the pictures will have to wait until my friend Jes comes over here to download them.

On Saturday, a bunch of the ladies here and I went to Cartago. Cartago is a smaller town here, but it is home to the Basilica de La Negrita, la Vírgen de los Angeles (Virgin of the Angels). She is the patroness of Costa Rica. It is absolutely incredible. I have never seen anything that comes even close to as beautiful as this basilica. It was an amazing experience. In the basilica, there is a natural spring that runs underground that is said to have healing powers, and people who have been healed send in little tokens to show their appreciation. There were thousands of the tokens under the church. It was overall a really humbling experience.

The Basilica. It is huge!! 

People crawl to the altar as a show of respect 

One of the stained glass pieces in the church. There were a ton and they were all so beautiful 

 

The Sanctuary. It is the most beautiful holy places I have ever seen 

 

The main altar. We didn’t want to disturb the people praying. But the artwork is so detailed and beautiful. It’s incredible.

La Negrita. A replica of the statue of the patroness 

One of the cases of tokens that the healed send in. There were many of these cases 

One of the walls of cases 

A close up on some of the tokens

Kelsey at the spring below the church

After the Basilica, the girls and I went back home to collect our stuff and get ready for an incredible night. We traveled to a hostel in Barrio la California in San Jose which was absolutely gorgeous. We had a private dormitory to ourselves (which was awesome) and the hostel itself was really nice and clean. It had a pool, computer station, kitchen, and a bar/restaurant all inside the hostel area. It was phenomenal. We went to dinner in the hostel, then back to the room to get all dressed up for a dubstep concert (5 live DJs) that was happening in a bar right around the corner. The bar had a great atmosphere to sit around and shoot pool or talk, so that’s what we ended up doing all night. It was so much fun!

Kelsey and I dressed up for a night of great music 🙂 

Anne and Sky 🙂

Sunday was pretty much a hang out day, so that was a good end to our weekend :). We went and got breakfast at Spoon (a really nice little cafe that reminds all of us of Panera at home) then did all of the homework that we neglected through the rest of the weekend. Overall, very successful weekend :).

Now for the coming home portion of this. My interactions with the host culture here were a lot like I expected them to be. My host family was so supportive and friendly, and the people here are just as laid back as I believed they would be. The only exception being when they drive, and that’s just down right terrifying sometimes! I really did not meet anyone who was very rude, but some of the students that attend Veritas are a little bit stand offish. I think that comes from the fact we are not Costa Ricans and we are taking classes in their school. I always wondered why the exchange students at WOU would always cluster together, and many of them do not branch out, but now I understand completely. It is a really scary prospect to have to talk to someone that you don’t know in a language that you are learning or that isn’t native to you. I will definitely be trying to branch out once I get back to WOU because I understand just how awkward it can be.

I’m actually really nervous about coming home. I have been out of the loop with my friends, family, and school mates for 2 months, and I am curious how that will affect some of my relationships. I know that I have changed as a person since coming abroad and have a much better understanding who I am in relation to who I want to be. It has bettered me as a person and I know that I am not going to return the same person who left. I am excited to see all of my family though! I am grateful that we have almost an entire month to get back into the swing of an American lifestyle, and to accumulate our experiences and go through them (both alone and with other people). I am so happy to have had this opportunity. It has bettered me and changed me (Not to mention my Spanish is LOADS better!!).

5 more days <3

Hasta pronto!!
~Megan