Viva La Costa Rica!: Adios San Jose!

After an amazing night last night, today was another day filled with lectures at the hotel. This was our last full day at the hotel before we head off to the beach! The best thing about lecture days is that we get to sleep in just a teeny tiny bit longer! The most adorable thing happened at breakfast today. I was making some waffles and I only wanted two mini-waffles and the machine made four. Well there was this older woman who came up to the waffle machine while I was making mine and she looked at the machine. I tried to ask her if she wanted the other two. She spoke Spanish so I couldn't really understand what she said. When they were done I decided I'd bring her two waffles at her table to see if she wanted them. When I gave them to her she told me, "Gracias" and smiled really big. A little later I was going to refill my glass with water and she came up to me and told me how good the waffles are and how much she enjoyed them and then she gave me a big hug! It absolutely made my day! Our first lecture was with Mr. Manuel. He is an entrepreneur here in Costa Rica. He stressed the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and thinking outside of the box to achieve whatever goals and dreams that you may have. He told us about how one day he offered two of his sons the opportunity to start their own company so that they could pay for school and that he would help to get them started. Mr.Manuel helped them to establish an online website that ships Costa Rican products to anywhere in the world. He wanted to create this type of business because there would be no accounts receivable or inventory to keep track of. As an accounting major this was adding up in my head and seemed like a brilliant idea! His simple idea of having customers order products, purchasing the products for them, and then shipping it to the customer has grown into a business that can probably be sold for half a million dollars. Here in Costa Rica that is quite a bit of money! I really enjoyed his lecture and maybe one day I can create a unique company of my own! Our second lecture was from Ms. Lisa. She is an economist here in Costa Rica. She explained to us how the economic model of Costa Rica has changed since the colonial times to how it is today. It was very interesting to learn about how much has actually changed in their economy. I also learned that Costa Rica's markets depend on the United States' market quite a bit. She had also done separate studies on why Costa Rica is the happiest country in the world. Costa Ricans are known to live their lives content with what they have and always having a positive outlook on life in general. Their love for their family also plays a major role in the amount of happiness Costa Ricans have! After our second lecture it was time for another fancy Costa Rican lunch! I'm telling you ALL we do is eat over here! Lol, the food is quite tasty and I guarantee you the elliptical is waiting for me back at home! The desert was a mint chocolate mousse cup today. Mint chocolate is my weakness! I'm pretty sure I was in heaven. :) Our third lecture of the day was the director and founder of the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation. She joined the Peace Corps many years ago and that only added to her love of helping the less fortunate. Since then she has worked in the slums of La Carpia, which has around 34,000 citizens. She explained to us about the poverty that is found in this area and how she has worked to make changes in this community. It was very hard to hear what these people dealt with and I couldn't help but feel bad for those people. I realized how blessed I truly am. This foundation helps children, mothers, and fathers by providing them with medical care, food, cloning, and basic necessities. This guest speaker really touched my heart and I hope to be able to give back to my community one day like she gives back to La Carpia. Our fourth guest speaker was a writer, a past dean of the University of Costa Rica, a chemist by day, and many other talented things. He actually spoke French! It was like a little piece of Louisiana was here with us. He was very entertaining and had a unique way of sharing and telling stories of the many experiences that he has had over his lifetime. Our fifth and final guest speaker of the day talked to us about the African descendant culture of Costa Rica. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica has major African American influences in their culture. He spoke about how Costa Rica was named after the color of the beaches. Christopher Columbus in 1502, thought the beach looked like it was made of gold. They referred to it as "rich coast," which means Costa Rica. I also learned that there was slavery in Costa Rica. Slavery began in 1542, but it wasn't as severe as it was in the United States. They were often brought here to work in homes. The houses that were built by the African Americans were very similar to those found in Louisiana. Their houses were built like plantations houses built on stilts with high pointed roofs to help with the humidity. This speaker had a great way of presenting his information in a way that we could relate to which made his lecture very enjoyable! After our lectures, we all gathered to meet in Dr.Lanier's fancy suite room that she was upgraded to and we were able to watch the sun set! We then set off to the Jazz Cafe! After almost going to the wrong Jazz Cafe due to a misunderstanding with our taxi driver, we finally made it! The food was great and the live music was actually really good too, even though it was in Spanish and I didn't know a single word they were saying. Tonight was really fun and tomorrow we set off bright and early for the beach! I cannot wait! I'm pretty sure that the five hours of traveling on our bus will be we'll worth it! :)

Learning the lingo... Leer means read.