Good bye EF LA, hello EF Playa Tamarindo!

Today is Monday which means I should have been working at EF LA and instead, I took a placement test and explored the surrounding area of EF Playa Tamarindo. It´s nice to be out of San Jose and on with my adventure.

Yesterday I took a 6 hour adventure from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo. I call it an adventure because the trip began with my sister and I being picked up at our hostel exactly at the time the EF staff had told us the transfer service would greet us. We thought it was terrific that they were on time and we assumed the rest of the afternoon-evening would be the same. We were wrong. We headed to the airport to pick up a student and due to flight delays, we ended up waiting there for nearly two hours. The San Jose airport is small and since they don´t let greeters stand inside the airport everyone stands outside a series of large windows. The EF greeter who wasn´t wearing an EF shirt proceeded to write the student´s name on a piece of paper, borrow some tape from someone who was at the airport greeting someone else, and then stick the sign to the window! He then walked away since we still had about an hour before the student´s flight was meant to arrive. Hilarious! How was the student supposed to know who had put up the sign? With so many other greeters, how was the student going to see the very plain and ugly sign? My sister and I felt like we had to stand there and look out for someone who could potentially be a student from anywhere in the world (we were guessing the person was German because of the name, but based on looks, that meant nothing and we weren´t sure out name guessing was correct anyways). Somehow the plain signed work and we all spotted each other. The journey from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo took a little over 4 hours. The roads were paved most of the way but the last hour or so the road was made of dirt and bumpy. The entertainment system was fairly good...we watched Madonna music videos most of the way...until the music system died, along with the lights on the van. We were taken to the school at which point the student went to her room at the residence and a taxi was called to take my sister and I to our host families. We assumed the van with no lights was deemed unsafe on the unlit dirt roads.

The taxi driver thought he knew where my host family was. He stopped and I got out and put on my backpack and a woman came out of her house and she clearly had no idea what was going on. It turns out that I was nearly in the woman´s yard before we realized she wasn´t an EF host family and had no clue who I was. Terrific. Luckily I had the number to my host family and the taxi driver called it and we drove for a few more minutes and then stopped where someone was standing. My host family is very nice! They live in a nice house in Santa Rosa. My sister lives in a different host family down the road. I´ll write more about my host family later. I´m actually proud of my Spanish skills...I spoke no English last night and understood almost everything the family said.

This morning my host mom dropped me off down the road at the EF bus stop. There´s an EF shuttle that picks up students from their host families! It´s great! We got to the school at about 7:30. I´ll write more about the school later. I will mention that it´s beautiful! It looks like a resort. There´s a pool in the center of the school! My sister and I are the only students from the United States. It feels great to be the only Americans! Sadly though, everyone speaks English with each other when they´re not in class. It´s good for everyone else because they get to improve their English and their Spanish but it´s kind of a bummer for me since I want to improve my Spanish. Okay, I will write more tomorrow. I feel bad that I´m sitting on the computer and not in the living room interacting with my host family!

I promise I´ll write more detailed posts later.

¡Pura vida!

After a very long hiatus from travel writing, I have finally found myself traveling again and that means I´m finally doing some writing! Three days ago I embarked on my first vacation from the real world. After almost exactly a year working as the Housing Director at EF International Language Schools - Los Angeles, I have finally put on my backpack again and set off on another adventure. This time I´m in Costa Rica with the purpose of improving my Spanish by taking a two week course at the EF Play Tamarindo school. No, EF did not pay me to go, and no, this vacation is not free. I did get a nice discount though. I hope to improve my Spanish and I also hope that by being a student and living in both the residence and in a host family, I will be ale to improve my own work back in Redondo Beach. I forgot to mention that I also plan on doing as many adventure sports as possible, interacting with locals, making international friends and having the time of my life.

As always, my adventure began on the airplane. From LA to Panam City I sat next to an older gentleman who was traveling with his wife. They are both avid travelers and have been to many different countries. I found out that although they love traveling, they have no desire to go to Africa or the Middle East. When not traveling the world (they go on 3-4 trips per year), they own and operate a pizza parlor! Pizza parlor owners hold a special place in my heart since my first job was at the pizza parlor that y friend´s dad owns. Thank you Krumeich family for that! Anywho, the guy on the plane kept me company between my intermitant naps on the red-eye flight. My luck continued with the flight from Panama City to San Jose. I ended up sitting next to a Colombian-born Jew who has lived in Costa Rica for ten years and who is married to a Lebanese-Catholic Costa Rican woman and who works in the family business of developing hotels. I can honestly say that he was the most interesting person I´ve ever spoken to on an airplane. We spoke about life in Costa Rica, adventure sports, Costa Rica, Israeli and Lebanese food, the hotel and tourism industry, we exchanged family history and in the end, he gave me a list of places to go while in San Jose, and he gave me his card and told me to email him when I plan my trip to the Arenal volcano next weekend so that he can make sure I get into the hot springs for free. He apologized for not giving us a free night in his hotel; he said that if it weren´t high season, he would have. He was incredible. I guess I should mention that I am traveling with my sister. She booked the flights and didn´t pick our seats so we each ended up in the middle seat in the same row, with the aisle between us. Thanks to her not choosing an aisle seat for both of us, we were forced to meet new people. I almost wish we end up separated again on the flight back because it was great.

So far, here is my impression of San Jose
-I´m staying at a hostel called, Kaps Place. It´s cute and quiet and I ended up there because a friend reccommended it. That friend is actually the one whose parents own the pizza parlor. Thanks Katie!
-There´s a lot of traffic and too much pollution for me.
-Gallo pinto (rice and black beans) is an amazing breakfast.
-Tamarindo juice is very good but strong (tamarindo is a fruit).
-So far, I don´t have the urge to live in San Jose...I determine whether I like a place or not based on if I could see myself living there.
-From what my airplane companion told me about the rest of Costa Rica, I imagine that I´ll have a really hard time leaving this place...the odds are likely that I´ll want to live hjere. I should start preparing myself for reverse culture shock now.
-I´ve noticed that many of the woman are overweight. A large number of women have simliar-looking stomachs. I´m curious to find out if it´s just San Jose or if it´s nationwide. I have noticed an alarming number of frid chicken and ice cream places...I assume that´s the culprit.
-San Jose is a really easy city to navigate. Avenidas go one way and calles go the other. It resembles New York in that sense.
-Sodas are cheap restaurants that offer great lunches at an amazing price.
-I´m ready for LA PLAYA...San Jose is not for me!

¡Pura vida! as they say in Costa Rica

*I wrote this in my journal a few days ago. I´m now in the provence of Guanacaste. I´m typing on the computer at my host family´s house in Santa Rose and I just tried to do spell check but it must be set in Spanish mode since it highlighted every word. I´m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes in this post!

When the Past Merges with the Present...

Cheers to friendships molded during pivotal life moments.

If I were to choose the most memorable year of my life thus far, I'd say it was the year I spent living abroad. I can write countless paragraphs about my experience, but the purpose of this post is to highlight the special relationships I formed during that year.

Just as high school sports teammates and college roommates bond over life events, so do people who meet while living abroad.

There's something magical about experiencing something with someone in another country and then seeing that person in a completely different country or context. What makes it so special? Maybe it's the commitment to the friendship, regardless of distance. Maybe it's the connection that we make between location, events, and conversations. I'm not sure. What I do know is that reflecting on the memories and the connections will eventually cause my eyes to fill up with tears.

Although my eyes are currently void of tears at the moment, they were not so dry the past two weekends. I traveled to Canada and Santa Cruz to be present at my friends' weddings.

In Canada, I was thrown back into reminiscing about the best time of my life. Israel. Kibbutz Yotvata. 2006. People from around the world. Chopping tomatoes for hours. The onion factory. Late night visitors. Hebrew. Laughter. Desert hikes. The list goes on. My friends who got married had met on the kibbutz. While they found their future mate, I found friends for life. When asked if I knew the bride or the groom, I could proudly say that I knew them both and that I was there when they met. That of course led to a discussion about life on the kibbutz and usually a comment regarding how great the experience was. Four years after going our separate ways we're still friends. I met their family members who they had talked about while in Israel. Their real-life worlds collided. I'm confident that we'll always be friends and that our friendship will travel the world. As I sat in my seat on the airplane from Vancouver to Los Angeles, I thought about the fact that I didn't know when I'd see my friends next but that the mini-reunion had served as a reminder of the best time of my life and it was an experience that can now be added to my list of special moments.

The following weekend I drove 7hrs to Santa Cruz, California. There, I was thrown back into reminiscing about Greece and the first days that my adventure abroad began. Vrahati, Greece. The house a group of teachers shared. The bed two strangers/soon-to-be friends shared. "Delaying the Real World" - the book a fellow-adventurer and I had packed in our suitcases. Gyros. I drove to Santa Cruz for the fellow adventurer's wedding. Another friend who lived with us in Greece flew out from Texas to join me as a bridesmaid in the wedding. Again, people asked us how we knew the bride. We told them we met in Greece and that my friend had lived in Greece and Italy at the same time as the bride and I had lived in Greece and New York at the same time. We spent the weekend laughing and slightly wishing that we weren't all so transitory. I drove the 7 hours back to Southern California and spent a good portion of that time reflecting on the weekend and the special bond. I definitely shed a few tears. The wedding was amazing and the time catching up with friends were priceless.

"I wish we could be everyday friends," said the friend who had come out from Texas. I agreed and loved the concept of an "everyday friend" as opposed to a friend you have an amazing time with in the rare and special moments that you get to spend time with each other.

Everyday friends. Maybe one reason why I sense the special bond I share with my friends that I met abroad is because we're not currently everyday friends. However, I know from living in New York that having my abroad friends as everyday friends is still really special.

In the end, all I can say is that I feel fortunate to have AMAZING friends in my life. Friends who will always appear in my daydreams of good memories. Friends whose journeys through life will continue to weave through mine.

L'chaim (to life) and to all of my friends - my everyday friends and my transitory ones!

Full Circle

I've decided that sunsets will always make me smile. So will the beach and the coincidences (or whatever you want to call it) that make up my life.

The photo to the right represents my reality. It was taken a 30 second walk from my apartment.

Not visible in the photo is the house I spent my school breaks in as a child and the flowers I played "forget me not" with as I walked to the beach. Unseen are my fondest childhood memories and the laughter emanating from my grandmother's house. This photo was taken in Redondo Beach and to the left of the photo is Palos Verdes.

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to live in Palos Verdes or Redondo Beach. My family sold the house my mother grew up in years ago but my attachment to the area never died. Maybe it was the fact that I grew up in a farm town and Palos Verdes was completely different from the place I called home. Maybe it was the relaxed beach vibe or the amazing breakfast place called "Eat at Joes." Who knows. All I do know is that I moved away from Southern California in 2007 with no desire to return to LA, but with a yearning to one day be able to afford to live in Palos Verdes.

Fast forward a few years and here I am, living in Redondo Beach (5 minutes from Palos Verdes)! After applying to jobs and internships around the world, I got hired as the Housing Director at an international school in Redondo Beach! Somehow, I've come full circle. I've been here 4.5 months and I still have moments in which I can't believe I live here. I truly appreciate where I live; I ride my bike on the weekends, try to catch the sunset over the Pacific as often as I can, and smile when I think about how wonderful it would be if my grandmother were still alive and I could go to her house for dinner. What's great is that I'm not the only one who appreciates the beautiful place. Daily, I see people watching the sunset. I love the fact that people appreciate where they live. Maybe I'm sensitive to this because the only other time I had a similar feeling was when I lived in New York.

Although I appreciate where I live, my job is stressful and I spend the week doing everything I can to stay sane. On the weekends I try my best to make the most of the location and my current life situation. I've also finally started working on my Masters capstone (thesis). It's a slow process but by next November I should have my Masters degree in International Education!

While this blog is boring in comparison to some of my others, I thought it was time I updated this site with where I'm at and what I'm doing. I wish I could share my most recent travels but I don't have anything to share. For the first time in my life my travels are limited to a small amount of vacation days and I no longer have the freedom to jet off on an adventure whenever I have the urge. I guess I've finally joined the real world. Luckily, my real world consists of being surrounded by international students, the pacific ocean, majestic sunsets, and the clean ocean air that my mother never failed to mention during my childhood visits to Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.

What's Next?

"You can never know where your journey begins, nor where it will take you in the end." Patrick Symmes.

I came across this quote today while sitting in a Los Angeles Borders, reading Chasing Che - A Motorcycle Journey in Search of the Guevara Legend. The quote struck me and I pulled out my pad of paper and a pen and jotted it down.

Ohhh the journey. My journey has been full of twists and turns and I feel fortunate to have friends who still value my friendship in spite of my infrequent visits. I have been trying to take advantage of my time in California and seeing friends and family. Everyone wants to know where I'm off to next.

I often have people telling me they don't know how I do "it." I'm not completely sure how to define "it." Are they referring to my minimal fear of the unknown? Or is it the simple lifestyle which involves packing all of my belongings into suitcases and an oversized backpack and moving thousands of miles away from where I once called home? Perhaps it's the career moves I've made, based on my passion and instinct? Who knows. So what's my next "it?"

Your guess is as good as mine. It seems that I've spent the past few years gathering experience and education and have finally found what I want to do with my life. Terrific, I've found it so that means an end to the search is near, right? Nope! Surprisingly, there are a substantial number of jobs in the international education field but they are about as varied as could be. Each job will set me on a new path. I've actually found the variety quite refreshing. It theoretically means that I'll never be bored. Now that's exciting and exactly what I was hoping for! Wherever and whatever my next job consists of, i plan on sticking with it for a substantial amount of time. Yup, I plan on settling for a while.

I'm not quite sure where the settling will take place, but it'll happen and when it does, I'll be on yet another path. I'll be sure to write another blog when any development occurs. Until then, I'll keep searching and hoping. Part of me would love to just take off and ride a bike through South America. However, my minimal funds and determined nature are stopping me. I'm pretty sure that biking through South America will be my first official vacation as a working professional though. Anyone interested in joining me on that adventure?

So, this blog probably sounds like many of my others. I obviously love talking about the ever-famous journey! Please don't ask me where I'm off to next. I do not know where my journey will take me in the end, nor do I know where it takes me next.

The Life of a Traveler/Adventurer

I've been writing a lot of academic papers lately and felt like writing something different. It's pretty self explanatory:

The life of a traveler/adventurer is...

full of restlessness, excitement, laughter, and wonder.

full of beauty, contrast, and reflection.

full of new flavors, scents, music, and scenery.

The life of a traveler/adventurer is...

sunrise to sunrise.

mountain peaks to ocean floors.

windstorm to snowstorm.

The life of a traveler/adventurer is...

long conversations.

long train, bus, car, ferry, and plane rides.

long-lasting and rich.

The life of a traveler/adventurer is...

about the people, culture and stories.

similar to that of a nomad's.

reflected in words, facial expressions, photos, art and songs.

The life of a traveler/adventurer is...

more important today than yesterday.

more about the moment than the past.

more life-changing with each journey.

Go. Explore. Enjoy. Share. Create. Respect. Learn. Discuss. Peace.

Highlights of My Most Recent Travels!

I figure it's about time that I start up this blog again. Although I didn't post my most recent travel writing blogs on this site, I'm going to pick up where I left off with those. They're posted on my Facebook page.

On my most recent trip abroad I traveled to Germany, Spain and Italy. I had an amazing time and the trip rejuvenated me. Since I stopped sending out emails about my experiences halfway through, I've decided to post a list of highlights.

The list is in no particular order. I'll try not to make the list too long.

Germany - Frankfurt and Berlin
Frankfurt
*Twin reunion with Paloma and Greece reunion with Lindsay.
*Eating lox and bagels with my sister at her small kitchen table situated in the hallway of her Frankfurt apartment.
*Ice skating for 30 minutes on Christmas evening in Frankfurt.
*Working out nearly every day I was in Frankfurt at my sister's beautiful gym full of people.
*Diversity. Having someone not believe Paloma and I that we weren't Turkish.
*Nutella cereal for dessert!
*Snow.
*Making dinner with my sister like old times.
*ISF - the international school Paloma works at. Almost wishing I loved teaching so I could live and work there and travel during the MANY breaks they get!
*Drinking and dancing at LIFE (a club) on a Wednesday night.
*Relaxing while Paloma worked.
*Eating bbq chicken nachos and drinking a strawberry margharita with AFTER 8 MINTS on my last night in Frankfurt.

Berlin
*EF reunion with Franka.
*Christmas markets, gluwein (mulled wine), BIG pretzels and sauteed mushrooms.
*The most AMAZING shwarma outside of Israel. Huge thanks to Franka for knowing the best Egyptian place in Berlin!
*History.
*Contrasts - there was a huge menorah in the middle of a plaza in Berlin.
*Franka's cute, Ikea apartment.

Spain - Barcelona, Sanlucar La Mayor, Sevilla, Granada, and Malaga

Barcelona
*Speaking Spanish even though the dialect is Catalan.
*The great hostel on Pl. de Gracias.
*Eating patatas bravas and drinking sangria.
*Shopping at my favorite European store, Bershka. I bought a Spanish style bohemian shirt. I haven't worn it yet but I will!
*Afternoon picnic on the pier.
*The curves and colors of Gaudi's buildings.
*Taking photos at Parc Guell (Gaudi's famous park in Barcelona).
*Afternoon naps and late nights.
*The hole-in-the-wall cava bar = pechuga de pollo sandwich (2.50 euro), cheap rosado cava (1 euro something) AND a BOTTLE of cava for 2.10 Euro! **Cava is similar to champaigne
*New Years Eve = walking along the beach of Barcelona with my sister and our friends from the hostel, opening a bottle of the AMAZING cava every hour, on the hour. Joining the multicultural masses at Pl. Catalunya for the countdown and attempting to partake in the Spanish custom of stuffing grapes in the mouth for the last 10 seconds. SEEDS.
*Falling in love with Barcelona.

Sanlucar La Mayor
*EF reunion with Javier
*Javier's cozy house and his loving parents!
*Home cooked meals - thanks to Javier's mom. Everytime we entered the house it was meal time!
*Warmth. Literally - they had circular heaters UNDER every table!

Sevilla
*Moorish architecture.
*Wandering the streets with Javier and his two friends.
*Plaza Espana in all its glory.
*Umbrella photos.

Granada - La Alhambra
*Arches, tiles, stone and engravings.
*Picnic lunch on a bench looking out at a courtyard.
*Javier's med school friend Nestavo.
*A confirmed love of Arab architecture.
*Traffic jams and moving 1 mile in 1 hour through the streets of Granada with Paloma and I controlling the music in the back seat with the ipod hooked up to speakers. Javier singing the California song as he sat in the driver's seat.

Malaga
*Asking for ticket info. in Spanish.
*The sandwiches that Javier's mom made for the bus ride and delicious oranges from Javier's tree.
*Stuffing our backpacks in lockers at the Malaga bus station and darting through the streets to check out the sales at the mall that happened to be open on a Sunday!
*Arriving at the airport in Malaga unsure if it was where Ryanair departed from. Realizing it was the right place and then being too early and then nearly last in line.

Italy - Treviso, Venice, and Rome
Treviso
*Via Lingua Corinth reunion with David.
*Realizing I'm not a fan of Italian espresso at the cafe in the supermarket in Treviso.
*David's posh, modern apartment.
*Dealing with my dislike of cats.
*Eating two main dishes at a restaurant in Treviso.
*The lit up streets of Treviso.
*Saying Grazie.

Venice
*Trying not to take the same photos I took last time I was in Venice.
*Seeing a cat on a leash.
*Visiting the Jewish section and buying a present for my grandfather for the first time - a glass figure of a Jewish old man.
*PIZZA
*Realizing I can only handle so much of certain people/things.

Rome
*UCLA journalism reunion with Silvia!
*The gross hostel across from the train station that we didn't want to spend any time at.
*Wandering the streets on a Friday night looking for a busy place to eat and ending up at an empty restaurant eating pizza.
*Waking up early to beat the line at the Vatican Museum. Paying only 8 euro.
*Getting nauseous while looking up at the Sistine Chapel.
*Speed walking the streets of Rome to see everything in a day. Taking photos of streets and piazzas, the Castel Sant' Angelo, the Trevi fountain, the Colloseum, the Pantheon, and the bridge.
*Silvia's friend Leon, the English teacher/baker.
*Trestevere at night - aperitivos! We bought drinks and got FREE appetizers!
*A CUTE bar/restaurant with couches and chandeliers.
*Wearing everything I brought and still being cold.
*Listening to vendors trying to figure out which language to speak to me. Italian? Spanish? French? English?

*Watching "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" on the plane ride from Frankfurt back to the states, and CRYING!

*HUGE thanks to Paloma, Lindsay, Franka, Javier and his parents, David, and Silvia for opening your lives to me on this trip! Thanks for the fun times, the food and the bed! You are more than welcome to come and visit me.Wherever I am!

I am addicted to traveling. I love adventures and I love wandering the streets in foreign lands. I think I'll take a break from Europe for now. Hopefully my next trip will be to North Africa or Latin America. No clue when that'll be. I want to live abroad again but for now, I must finish my masters degree at SIT. Eventually I will live in another country again. Until then, I will focus on helping others experience other cultures in far away lands.