Memories Are Made of This: trip

Showing posts with label trip. Show all posts

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Holla! Amigos! Part 1

So I've been in Costa Rica this past week fulfilling my Cross-Cultural requirement for Asbury. Asbury you say? Didn't you graduate a year and a half ago? ...Yes, well...almost. This stupid Cross-Cultural requirement has been haunting me like Great Caesar's Ghost. Basically I was required to pay lots of money to go outside the country to "experience" another culture. I might be a tiny bit bitter, but we won't go into that. Every trip that came along, either fell through, or was at the wrong time. Luckily, my dad let me tag along with him on a business trip. His company has a plant/branch in Costa Rica that he visits a few times a year. I might have spent a lot of time by the hotel pool, which is totally Cross-Cultural by the way, but I did have a chance to do a few cultural things.

I stayed with my friend's Rob, Yami, and their 2 girls Natalie and Heidi. Rob is from the states, and works with my dad for the plant in Costa Rica. He and Yami graciously offered their home to me for a few days. Yami and the girls showed me around their beautiful town, which included a trip to a volcano, their coffee farm, an oil painting lesson from Yami, and lots of beautiful countryside.

Small view of town

- Side story -
When Rob and Yami first met they couldn't talk. Rob didn't speak a word of Spanish and Yami didn't know a word of English. I asked Yami how they communicated and she slyly laughed and then made kissy noises.

The Volcano

(left to right)
Natalie, Yami, and Heidi

By the end of my stay I wanted to ~~stuff these two into my suitcase and illegally take them home with me~~ stay for forever. Her girls are simply fun, we had a great time together. Yami and I found a common love of tea, painting, and loving on her girls. I'll post more pictures and write more about our adventures later!

A few things that I've learned about Costa Rica so far:

* Traffic lights, signs, and rules are simply suggestions not regulations.

* Motorbikes have a special lane.
Which would be in-between you, and the car next to you.
Like this:

* Costa Ricans' always back into a parking spot, and can parallel park like nobody's business. Please come teach Americans your parking skillz asap.

* I hopelessly suck at understanding Spanish. I'm mentally exhausted everyday from just trying to understand what the heck people are saying. Hence why this post might be anywhere from boring, vague, or confusing.

* Loose fitting clothing doesn't exist. The tighter the better.

* Ceviche is amazing.

via

* You have to beg for your check at dinner. They just aren't in any hurry, and don't think you need to be either!

* There are no street signs. All directions are given in landmarks. (Women's paradise!)

* Dad and I rented a car. When we picked it up they explained to us that they would be moving the car rental location Wednesday. We called to get directions (that in itself is funny) only to tell us that they hadn't moved yet, but would for sure be moving the next day. Needless to say, we have called everyday only to hear the same thing, they would for sure be moving the next day. It is now Saturday night and they stilled haven't "officially" moved. All this to say, they don't get in a hurry.

* It's completely normal, and OK to stop in the middle of the road, shut the car off, get out, and take a picture.

Buenos Notches!

Monday, April 16, 2012

New York City Saved My Ass

The first time I visited New York City I absolutely hated it.

I was on my senior trip in high school. I was adamant that I wasn't going. After many weeks of begging and groveling, my friends talked me into taking one for the team, going to New York, making some good memories, and experiencing the Big Apple. I couldn't think of a worse place to live. It was so overwhelming. Every minute I was surrounded by people, lights, cars, and billboards, the more my grievance I felt. To be honest the trip was complete waste of time and money. Looking back a lot of the things we did, were stupid. We could have done most of stuff we saw in the middle of Ohio for goodness sake. By the time I got home I vowed to never visit New York City again.

Fast forward 3 years later.

I wanted to graduate a semester early. Evan was on his first deployment, and when he arrived home in April I wanted to be completely done with school, not to mention I could save lots of money. So, that summer I signed up for a Communications class over the summer. The class was a trip to New York City. I was less than thrilled, but it got me 3 credit hours in a weeks time. I dreaded another entire week in city hell. I convinced myself to prepare for the worst. This time around New York was a completely different place. It was thrilling, exciting, unique, and historical. We ate at a little hole in the wall restaurant in Little Italy, haggled in China town, were dazzled by Broadway, ~~stalked~~ met Will Ferrell, shopped till we dropped, appeared on TV, stood on top of the Empire State Building, and did a thousand other things that completely changed my opinion on New York. I loved all of it, and I didn't want to leave!

At the time I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now. I knew I was overweight, but I wasn't exactly motivated to change for a long period of time. Diets would last for a few weeks, until I'd cave and eat half of a chocolate cake. It was a vicious, degrading cycle. This is when New York saved my life. The very place I had once despised, became my liberator. Looking back losing weight all started in New York for a number of reasons. In New York there is a law that requires all restaurants to show the amount of calories in all food (on the menu) and on all packages. I immediately become very aware of what I was eating. I quickly noticed myself picking up a regular black coffee instead of a sugar infused latte. Up until then, I was unaware of just how many calories were packed into the food I normally ate. Secondly, in New York you walk everywhere. Even if you're taking the subway, you walk to get the subway. I had blisters all over my feet since I wasn't use to walking so much. Despite the pain of walking, I loved it. You had time to observe and appreciate your surroundings, instead of whizzing past them in a car. I ate lots of yummy food like Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes, pasta, etc. but I balanced it out by spreading it out, instead of eating everything I wanted at every meal. When I had pasta for dinner, I chose fruit for dessert. When I had soup for lunch, I had a cupcake for a snack. I stopped overeating. (Which I usually did --no joke-- daily) In New York who wants to stuff themselves, and then be forced to walk 10 + blocks home? I learned that lesson fast! At the end of the week I noticed I felt lighter. I stepped on to the dreaded scale and noticed I had lost almost 5 pounds! From then on, I started walking, picking better food choices, and letting myself have a treat every other day, before I turned into a chocolate crack addict. It started by accident, but snowballed into one of the greatest things to change me, not only physically, but mentally too.

Dear New York,

We started off our relationship kind of rocky. At first I thought you were obnoxious, loud, and your hygiene was less than satisfactory. I judge you too quickly, and for that I'm truly sorry. Yeah, you can be a little over the top and exorbitant, but I think we can find a middle ground. Your positives more than outweigh your negatives; I should have seen it sooner. For example, your the best cook I've ever met, and the clothes you find are out of this world! You are the most unique person I've ever met, and I totally mean that in a good way. I promise I'll visit again, sorry I stayed away for so long.

Love, Meredith