Today was so great. This morning, the moos got me out of bed again. I made my way over to the student union, where the wifi was working! It was so exciting. Then we had a feast for breakfast: pancakes, rice and beans, fresh fruit, homemade cheese, and fresh coffee. Needless to say, it was delish. After breakfast, I had Environmental Sociology with Dean. I'm seriously obsessed with the man. We had this really interesting discussion about the exponential growth of the world's population over the past 200 years or so. I won't go into it too much, but basically we are at our breaking point--with as big as our population is, the world cannot sustain us for much longer. Dean talked about the Chinese limitations on how many children you can have, and that he didn't feel that he had the right to have more than 2 children. As we got deeper and deeper into the discussion, I just found myself really reconsidering a lot of my views about the world slash reevaluating thoughts about my own future. It was great. So our homework was to check and see what our carbon footprint is. Apparently, it would take 6.4 earths to sustain our current population size if we all took the form of Sarah. Yikes. You should look at yours: http://www.myfootprint.org. Actually, mom, would you do it as me because I think you could do it more accurately than I did it.. gracias. So then I had my English class with Jeff. Today we had each picked out a poem from our anthology and we talked about those, and then we discussed what a poem is. At the end of class, we did this fun exercise where Jeff wrote down the first line of three different poems on three different sheets of paper and then passed one to each of us and we had to write a second line in response to the first line. Then we covered up the line Jeff had written so the next person had to write a line in response to the line we had written. After we passed it around a few times, we unveiled our masterpieces and read them aloud. Two turned out pretty good, actually. The third.. not so much. After class came lunch--rice and beans, pork, veggies, and salad. I dined with Dean again. We are well on our way to becoming bffs. After lunch I had Spanish with Carla, and Kathy joined us. As much as I enjoyed my one-on-one time, I love Kathy enough that our little trio worked out. Carla is all about homework, though. It's kind of rough. After Spanish, Tess took Ann and I under her wing tutoring two local girls in English. Tess will help us out for the next couple of classes, and then let us do our thang. The girls' names are Susan and Jennifer, and they are gorgeous and 15 and too cool for school. Today we worked on translating Aretha Franklin's "Respect," and Ann, Tess, and I full-on rocked out when we played it on the computer. As most of you know, I can bust a move. Susan and Jennifer were beyond embarrassed and so freaked out, but they will come around. After tutoring, Ann and I made the hike over to Dean's house for high tea. Cayman joined us shortly thereafter. It was so great. Dean and Kathy had teas and cookies and trail mix waiting for us at their palace. Their house is ginormous and backs right up to the edible garden. They have three extra beds in addition to a fat master bedroom, a kitchen, a massive living room with two dining room tables, 2 full bathrooms, and an office. Seriously? Why is that not mine? They said I can come sleep over whenever. So we sat on their back porch and just chatted for a couple of hours before we had to head back for dinner. They are just so sweet and so interesting. We did a bit of exploring in the edible garden, too. I tried munching on sugar cane, but it wasn't ripe yet. Dean told me to put sugar on it. Then we ripped a plantain off its tree, but it was hard as a rock so we didn't even bother biting into it. There were some baby pineapples growing, too. So anyways we headed back to the comedor for dinner at 6 and had rice (no beans!), pasta with this alfredo-esque sauce, salad, veggies that Abby chopped up (rockstar alert), and chocolate chip cookies, which I then, of course, polished off with a steaming cup of joe. Black joe. Then we had a carbon offset talk that Quint led. He just gave us a run-down of the program he has going on here--all of the reforestation efforts and how we can kind of begin to start making up for the fact that our lifestyle requires 6 earths.. After the talk, our crew headed back to the bungalows and just had a fat bonding sesh. I love these girls! Ann is super sweet and beautiful and great to talk to. Tess is so cool and mature and has been here a few more weeks than we have so that makes her that much more awesome. Plus she has a lover [he-who-shall-not-be-named-at-the-present-moment] already. And then there is Tia. Oh my gosh Tia. She is so freaking awesome. She plays rugby and is a nude model and has 3 fat sunflowers tattooed on her right thigh and loves Latino men and is so open and real. Our group is amazing and study abroad is amazing and I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to do this. Okay I haven't started my homework and I am waking up early tomorrow morning to go milk a cow (ah!) with Cayman so until tomorrow,

peace love and high tea

and a shout out to k yang!

Hey hey. I feel slightly obnoxious, what with this being my third entry of the day, but it's whatever. Let me tell you about the night I had. I'll start with dinner, which consisted of beans and rice (of course), delicious chicken, salad, veggies, and the most delicious banana bread I have had in my life (besides yours, momma). But the food was completely overshadowed by the company. Tonight, Abby, Cayman, and I sat by Dean and his wife, Kathy. Love them! He wants to have us over for "high tea" tomorrow. He is freaking hysterical, and she is probably the sweetest woman ever. After dinner, I had a cup of fresh coffee- black (yes I am awesome). Then, we went on a night hike. Sarah #1 (there are three Sarahs here, and I happened to be the last to arrive so I am "Sarah #3," but do not worry I am planning my coup d'etat so that I may be given the title I deserve) led Abby, Ann, Dean, Kathy, the Holland couple, and me through the forest. We saw so so many leaf cutter ants. They were just going nuts getting leaves to grow their fungus with. There are about 9 million leaf cutter ants per colony, and we saw 2 or 3 different colonies on our hike. We also saw a fatty spider and some really cool plants and trees. My favorite was the swiss cheese plant, which is a vine that has all these leaves with holes in them. There are three theories for why the holes are there: to let sun shine through, to protect from the wind, and to fool insects into thinking that the leaves have already been chewed. Some fun facts: all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. The stars here are BEAUTIFUL! Also my bug bites now have white rings around the fat pink splotches around the teensy red dots. Sweet. I have pics. And one last one: the showers are strongly lacking in the hot water department. They aren't cold like Jamaica showers cold, but they aren't warm by any stretch of the imagination. Apparently the women's public bathroom has really hot water for showers, so I will save that for when I really need it. Who am I kidding? I will probably "need" it before the week's over. Okay I have some homework to tend to, so that's all she wrote. And the wifi still is not working, so I'm sorry for those who have been desperately anxious to hear from me. I will post as soon as possible!

peace love and dean rojek.

I am absolutely exhausted. I thought we got to siesta here. What the heck.

Also my bug bites are growing. The pink part, not the red dots. They are getting grosser by the hours. I feel like the hardcore is wearing off..

I ate a guava from a tree before my last class. It was weird. It's like the texture of a not-quite-ripened pear. Sort of dry-tasting. I kind of liked it, though. This woman who works on campus showed us how to pick the ones that are green with a touch of yellow, and instructed us not to eat the pink middle because that's where the bugs are. And yes I did keep eating it after she said the bit about the bugs. It's fine.

This morning we came across a fat cluster of caterpillar-looking things that actually turned out to be beetles. It was so bizarre- they were all intertwined and moved together in their little clump. Then, when they feel a vibration, they all immediately freeze up as a unit. Apparently, they move together to make themselves appear to be a bigger creature to ward off predators, and then they stop when they feel any potential predators nearby. I took a video of it on my camera, but it's pretty unlikely that I will be able to post a video with the internet here.

It's been really cold today. I just put on my fleece because I can't take it anymore. It didn't rain so much today, though. I mean it rained but I was expecting more. So woo woo. But in case you were wondering, it is still outrageously beautiful even in the rain.

Today was the first day of classes. After lunch, I had Environmental Sociology with Dean, then Spanish with Carla, and I just finished up English with Jeff. Sociology is my biggest class. There are 5 of us in there. Then Spanish is one-on-one, and English is me, Cayman, and Ann. My Spanish class was basically tea with Carla, with friendly getting to know you chit-chat that happened to be spoken in [broken] Spanish. We take off our shoes to go into the classrooms here, so I spent most my classes being barefoot. I think all UGA courses should be like the classes here: ridiculously small, no shoes allowed, and professors are addressed by their first name. But that's just me.

There is a couple on campus from Holland. I got to chat with them a bit between classes. They are just in Costa Rica for three weeks on vacay. They speak no Spanish, and tried backpacking but it didn't work out. It was taking too long to get from place to place or something. But anyways the moral of the story is our campus houses anyone who wants to come stay here. So you should come visit me.

It's about time for dinner, and I know it's going to be incredible. I'll let you know what we ate later so you can envy me.

peace love and bug bites.

Que pasa kilebasas? I'm sitting at the student union waiting for lunch to be served. This morning I was woken by a cow at like 6. It was cute. Then there were these super obnoxious birds that were screaming their heads off. Not so cute. They were so loud we thought they were monkeys. So around 7 I got out of bed and readied myself for the day. I put on my awesome hiking boots, shorts, and all my water-resistant gear, and headed over to the comedor for breakfast. Breakfast did not disappoint. We had fresh fruits from the campus botanical garden, fresh coffee, rice and beans, ham and eggs, and plantains. Deliciousness. Then we had a campus tour and basic run-down of how we live here. Before going, we staked claim on rain boots in preparation for the muddy trails on our walk, and I got the coolest pair. There is a skull and crossbones on the left boot. It's really hardcore, like me. And I added my own touch to them with my hot pink duct tape. It's okay if you're jealous. At 10, we went on a walk through the botanical gardens with Lucas, the sexy garden man. He was so sweet. For every student that comes to campus, 10 trees are planted as part of the reforestation efforts that UGA does here, and Lucas was going on about how he cares for each and every one of those trees and how no tree is ever lost to him. Presh. Then after a walk around the garden we headed back to our bungalows, where I realized what a mistake it was to wear shorts today. I have around 20 bug bites all over the backs of my legs, and I put on bug spray this morning! They are these weird bites that are like a really teensy red dot surrounded by pink splotchiness. Just another level of hardcore for me.

Whatever. I think they are finally going to feed us. So chadios for now.

peace love and good morning moos.

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS HELLMANN! don't die.

5 hours of half-hearted and yet still completely overwhelming packing.

4.5 hours of sleep.

3.5 hours on a plane.

4 hours on a bus.

And it was all completely worth it. I am now sitting at my laptop in my freaking adorable bungalow on campus. This country is unbelievable. Flying in, I was blown away by how untouched so much of the land is. Everything is green and alive and beautiful. The view from our windows and front door in our bungalow is incredible. It's all mountains and trees and green, and today there was a cow not 10 feet from our door. Apparently there are three milk-able cows on campus and one baby. The baby cow's name is Cow. The others don't have names, yet.. Good thing I got here when I did.

So let's talk about the ridiculousness of my travels. In typical Sarah fashion, I waited until the last possible minute to start packing for this trip. I came home from my sushi feast at Nagoya fully intending on just getting it over with, but one glance at my empty bag and the various mounds of stuff surrounding said bag, and I lost my nerve. Defeated, I flipped on the Georgia game and prolonged my procrastination. On commercial breaks, I would reluctantly sort through a pile of laundry or climb the stairs to grab something from one of my rooms. After the game, though, I had no choice but to just get it done. And so it began. With a lot of help from mom, I managed to find everything on my pack list and then some. One bag quickly became two, and the two bags were packed tighter and tighter until mom made me start making sacrifices. Before I knew it, it was 1 in the morning and I had two 35-pound duffel bags and a backpack to look forward to carrying in the morning. So then came sleeping, and then waking. Waking was pretty rough, but I managed to make it to the airport at 7:20. I checked in with this woman who was so impressed with my worldliness. When I explained that I was going to Costa Rica to study abroad for a few months, she kept saying, "Ooh! That is so diversified!" Seriously, she said it at least 8 times. She was freaking out. It made me laugh. So then I made my way over to security. And I wasn't aware of this before today, but as an "elite class" passenger, I had a special line for check-in and security. I was feeling pretty great about my life, I'm not going to lie. Cayman, Abby, and Ann had already beat me to the gate, and the rest of the crew joined us slowly but surely. After a good Starbucks fix and lots of excited talk about the trip, we started boarding. My elite-ness kicked in again here, and I was just loving it. Everyone is so nice in first class! And the food--for lunch, I had butternut squash ravioli and salad and key lime pie. I made friends with the first class flight attendants and Rotary man who sat next to me. Dad, I think you may have created a monster. I never want to go back! Haha- kidding.. kind of.

So we get off the airplane, make our way through customs and all that good stuff, and then the first thing we see as we are leaving the airport is this creepily realistic-looking guy who is painted on the glass door holding a sign saying, "Dear Tourists, Here in Costa Rica sex with children under the age of 18 is a serious crime. Should you engage in it, we will be glad to drive you to jail. We mean it." What?! The sign was on the inside of our bus too. Weird. But I managed to carry my bags from the airport to our bus on my own. Apparently I didn't look like I was managing because the bus driver offered to help me, but whatever I did it just the same. Go me. Our bus was super hardcore. The drive was ridiculous. It was four hours of mostly windy unpaved roads with various obstacles--dogs, fallen boulders, mudslide-looking things, etc. I somehow managed to nap for about 20 minutes, and then after that I had my energy back. We stopped to eat after an hour on the road, and met the cutest

 couple who cut up all this fruit for us to try. We had this one that was covered in red spindly things, but when you cracked it open it was this little pod of deliciousness. Another they gave us salt to sprinkle on it, and it didn't taste like a fruit at all. And then came one of the juciest pineapples I have ever eaten. We bought a bunch of random goodies to taste, and they were all pretty weird. Abby picked the best stuff. I put my trust in her and followed her lead on lunch selections, and I was not led astray. It was delish. Then we got back on the bus and stuck it out for the remaining 3 hours before arriving on campus. It's so beautiful here. I wish you all could see it. We were given room keys and headed to our bungalows to settle in. Dinner was at 6, and it was fabulous. I have great expectations for meals to come. I'm pumped. Plus coffee/ tea all day long. Oh baby. After dinner we got a nice power point presentation and the first bit of our orientation. Other fun facts: there are guava trees all around and so that's what it smells like. Also, you can't flush toilet paper, which really grosses me out. And they make the best salsa here. I love salsa. Our internet has been messed up so I won't be able to post this til later. So there it is, peeps. Day one.

peace love and elite-ness

shout outs to meems, my twinkie, and dave, my boo.