THE END :)

Time flies!  I finished up my last week of work, packed up my room and said goodbye to my Tica family.  I feel like I just moved in and had my very first night with my new family.  As a farewell dinner my Tica mother told me that she wanted to cook me a special Costa Rican dish that was part of the culture.  I had carne, salad, rice and cooked vegetables but there was also a side dish that she really wanted me to try.  I looked at this bowl of garbanzo beans and this round circle of what I thought could be meat and decided to be adventurous!  How bad could it be?  I told her not to tell me what it really was until I had finished trying it.  I HATED it, it was too chewy and gross.  I told her thank you very much but I do not like this at all and proceded to ask what it was.  She responded, “pigs foot”.  At that point I wanted to immediately throw up but I pulled myself together and told her that was so terrible!  She agreed and said what was worse is that people make a “hummingbird soup”.  Lets just say, at least I gave the pigs feet a chance and I am so glad that I wasn’t forced into trying hummingbird soup or else I would have been so sad.   I walked around the house for one last time and said goodbye to my Tica family.  I told them that “mi casa es su casa” and if they are ever in California that they are more than welcome to stay with me and my family.  

Appreciating the Simple Life 

There are many different interpretations of reality depending on where you are in the world.  In the United States our reality is fast-paced, technology dependent and always focused on the present and even more, the future.  In a typical day of a Costa Rican you are loving your job; a typical job that most Americans would hate waking up to do every day.  Trust me, there were days where I sat there and repeated “I love excel, I love excel, I love excel!” with a fake smile on my face because my brain was beginning to hurt from inputting numbers and doing tedious math problems.  But at the same time I also realized that I am lucky to have a job and better yet, have a job in a foreign country.  When leaving the house Costa Ricans make sure they have their umbrella, keys and spare change for bus fares.  If they forget their cell phone it is not the end of the world and they can survive throughout the day until they get home at night.  In the US, many of us would turn around after being on the road for 20 minutes to go back home to pick up our phone because we cant survive hours without it.  I have always been a firm believer of “laughter is the best medicine” and I can say that now, I appreciate the ability to laugh more than ever.  There were many times that I wanted to get mad or frustrated because of situations that occurred but in that moment all I could honestly do was laugh.  No matter where we went, my group and I always seemed to find ourselves in what we liked to call an “adventurous situation”.  These mishaps occurred frequently and instead of freaking out we took a deep breath, focused on what our next move would be and took a step back from what was happening to laugh.  If we could live the life of a Costa Rica dog on a daily basis all of our worries would suddenly be gone.  I have never seen so many happy dogs parading around the streets, perfectly content just because it is a new day.  This brings me to my next point, relaxation.  We get so wrapped up at work and in our daily activities that we never give ourselves a break.   Take a break and give yourself time to see everything going on around you.  A little “people watching” can actually turn your bad day into a good one just by viewing random acts of kindness.  When coming home from my Tamarindo weekend I looked outside and saw how beautiful this country was.  While sitting on a bus in the pouring rain I saw a teenage boy give his little sister his umbrella because to him it was more important for her not to get wet.  This little deed done by this teen made me smile and appreciate how lucky I am to be given the opportunity to visit this country.  After being here for 2 months and living the daily life of a Costa Rican I have learned to appreciate the simple things in life and not to sweat the small stuff.  No matter where you are in the world, tomorrow will be a new day and yesterday will be old news so appreciate the joys in life and surround yourself with positive people who can make your day that much better.


"It is unbelievable what you will discover in life if you just take the time to look around." -Unknown.

Now I am heading back to the United States reflecting on my trip and I cannot believe how fast time flies and how much I have grown from this experience.  I honestly feel like I can be thrown into just about any situation now, as long as it does not involve my fear of spiders and needles.  I need to understand that Spanglish will not be accepted in the states and I do not need to think ahead of time before asking simple questions because I can ask questions in English without getting puzzle responses.  I do not need to send smoke signals (kidding, obviously) to inform someone that I am running a little late because I can conveniently use my cell phone.  My backpacking trips can be put to rest for a little while, umbrellas are useful but not needed on a daily basis, clear nail polish cures itchy mosquito bites, bring a parka to the office to avoid hypothermia, when greeting someone it isn’t necessary to kiss their cheek, and “tico time” (arriving late somewhere) will not be accepted by friends, family or my job in the United States.

So here I am with a lengthy blog full of stories about my travels, over 1,000 pictures from the past 2 months, and beginning my career search in the states with hopes that my career path will one day give me the opportunity to afford a vacation home in Costa Rica so I can share my love of this country with my family and friends. 

Thank you to all of my avid blog readers who took the time to check in and read about my travels.  I hope you enjoyed my Costa Rica blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Pura Vida!

last week of work- "Facebook Fun Week!"

This is my last week at work and we decided to make it a fun one!! Each country has a "Facebook Fan Page" that Aerocasillas uses to inform fans of online sales, promotions, etc. We decided that it would be fun to do an interactive "Facebook Fun Week" to engage customers in their Facebook fan pages. We created a 3 day period full of fun games, contests and prize give-aways. Each day there was going to be a product contest, photo contest and aeroworld contest. The product contest rules were to find the lowest price including shipping to our Miami warehouse and post to the country's Facebook wall. The items that we had the fans find each day were: a 10 mega pixel digital camera, portable DVD player and 16G USB flash drive. The person to post the lowest price first automatically won the product of the day! We had 13 countries participating and so we had to go and sort through all of the data from each country to ensure we had the correct winner. The next contest we had was the photo contest. The first day the fans were asked to take a picture of themselves and their most recent online shopping purchase and post the photo to their country's fan page. The second day they were asked to take a picture in front of any Aerocasillas/Aeropost counter and upload the image to their country's fan page. The third day they were asked to take a picture of themselves "lying down" and post to their country's fan page. This contest was really funny especially on the third day because people posted pictures of themselves laying down in the most random places! The final contest was called "Aeroworld" which we used to engage customers in other country's fan pages. The first day we had them post their favorite shopping website to the Trinidad/Tobago fan page, the second day we had the fans say hello to the Panama fan page and the third day we had the fans visit the Santa Domingo fan page and answer the question, "In exactly 3 words describe a time when you could not stop laughing."

Fans really got into the contests and were posting things all day and night! It was great to see fan interaction being that we were the first ones to put on a social media campaign for the company. There were a few mishaps but we wound up solving all of the little loop holes as we went along. We learned that it is important to pay attention to detail and be careful because once you post things to the Internet they can not be deleted, the undo button is very hard when it comes to Facebook. As the creators of the fun week we answered questions (all in Spanish), sent out prizes, released winners, informed customers of the latest contests and interacted with fans all day long. All of the participants of the photo contest and Aeroworld world were entered into a raffle the next day to win $25 to Amazon. We chose 4 winners for the photo contest and 3 winners for the Aeroworld contest, and the winner of the product contest won the actual product that they had to find. It was a great way to promote our company and several customers reaped the benefits of great prizes! We now know things we can do differently for next time and ways to make our upcoming campaigns more sucessful. Overall it turned out to be a great campaign!

Buffalo Soldier--Caribbean Weekend!

 This past weekend we went to the Caribbean! The Caribbean side is so different but so cool! Our home stay families live in San Pedro which is a city about 10 minutes from San Jose and near our homes is the University of Veritas. We have student ID cards and are considered a part of the university but we only use it as a meeting place, occasionally use the service, etc. This past weekend we joined their group to travel to Puerto Viejo. There were a total of 57 students including us traveling on a tour bus to the Caribbean. The dynamics of the Veritas group were very interesting and reminded me of high school (even though everyone is a college student or recent graduate). They all attend Veritas together and travel together on the weekends so obviously we looked like the new kids. The question of the day was, "Are you guys new?" We explained multiple times that we are not students at Veritas and were working for the summer. We thought it was really funny when they tried to act like they knew everything about Costa Rica when they have only been here for 2 weeks and we have been here for over a month and a half; I feel like a Costa Rican! 

 We arrived in Puerto Viejo after a 5 hour trip and checked into our hotel where the 3 of us girls shared a room. We went out to dinner and I ordered a "casado" which is a typical meal of Costa Rica. But being that we were on the Caribbean side I should have known that the typical cuisine that I was used to had a "soul food" flair to it. The Caribbean side has a lot of soul food an Caribbean cuisine; one girl was obsessed with this restaurant called "Jammin" because it reminded her of her mother's Caribbean Jerk recipe. Bob Marley was a god in Puerto Viejo, his picture was posted everywhere we went! On Friday night we went to this hostile/bar called Rockin' J's! This place was a sight to see; the entire area was covered in paintings, mosaic pieces and touristy collector's items from all over Costa Rica. The hostile had hammocks to rent for $5 a night that included a locker to put your stuff, campsites, 3 restaurants and a live band. We heard it was a must see for Puerto Viejo so we definitely checked it out before heading to a bonfire on the beach and another bar called Tex-Mex.

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to our complimentary breakfast that included 3 different kind of croissants: chocolate, cream, and ham and cheese, I wasn't really a fan. Our adventure for Saturday began early when we headed to Cahuita National Park where we took a trail to a private beach to catch some sun rays and snorkel. The trail was awesome! We saw monkeys swinging in the trees, different birds and crabs scurrying across the path. The beach was beautiful and we were the only people on it (well, our 57 person group). They divided the group into two and had 2 boats to take people out to the pretty reefs to snorkel. We saw lots of fish, pretty coral and big fish too! The water was pretty clear so we were able to see all of the different fish and creatures!

After our snorkeling tour we went to a private island where we had fresh fruit from Costa Rica and then headed back to the beach. After our day at Cahuita National Park we went back to Puerto Viejo for lunch, ice cream and we watched the beautiful sunset. I could really get used to this...On Saturday night we went to a few local spots and hung out with some of the Veritas students. Sunday morning we headed to the Viewpoint which is a white sand beach that also had a little hiking trail. We decided to lay out on the beach rather than take the hike. :) It was a beautiful day and the ocean was actually kind of warm! After the beach we went to a Caribbean restaurant, had lunch and then headed back to San Jose. Another great weekend in Costa Rica, pura vida!! :)

workaholic

          My boss sent me to the counter to interact with customers and take note of improvements that needed to be made with customer service and evaluate things we are doing well. The counter is located 2 minutes from my office and so I spent 3 days with my new co-workers. We have been over there before but it was only to view the process of the pick-up counter and this time I was using the computer system, helping the "personal shopping assistant, and interacting with all of the customers. The counter uses 2 computer systems to check the status of packages, pay fees and view accounts. Most of the customers were patient with me because I was obviously new the system and not as quick as the employees. Having a conversation with someone in Spanish is difficult when you are trying to communicate about their package and explain why they owe certain fees. One of the employees actually had a bad experience with an American woman. This woman was shaking because she had to pay for shipping on her product and said that "Aerocasillas never informed her of these fees". She was so mad that she threw her passport on the counter and started raising her hands in the air, someone had a bad day. Lets just say that she was not the best representation of a true American citizen. I also helped the "personal shopping assistant" help customers purchase packages online. If you do not have a credit card or your credit card does not allow you to purchase items in the United States the personal shopping assistant is at your service! Each counter has their own assistant who uses the company's credit card and purchases items for the customer and then the customer pays in their country's currency. This system is very helpful and is also used to help those who do not understand online shopping or our business. Working at the counter was fun because I got to meet different people, see what items customers were purchasing and make friends with the employees.

          We have also been working on marketing strategies and preparing for a social campaign for Costa Rica. This past week we evaluated competitors prices and systems of delivery in comparison to ours. My boss realized that Aerocasillas prices were either similar or not comparable to other competitors in Costa Rica. We did a write up on our top competitors and realized our overall service is the best! Other competitors charge for every time you send a product, high rates per kilo, expensive delivery fees and Aerocasillas' has a one time monthly fee and package deal. After evaluating the surveys about a month ago, I knew that we were better than our overall competitors because our clients who have used us and another service said that our service did not even compare to our competitors. Unfortunately we had an airline crisis that took place about 3 weeks ago and our cargo from Miami had been delayed because our freight service suddenly went out of business. We alerted all of customers and explained that their packages may be a few days late due to our freight situation. We were able to find another airline to deliver products to all of the countries while we searched for another cargo carrier. Unfortunately the new airline we found is more expensive and we have to raise our rates starting August 1st. Our rates will not be a giant increase but will be necessary to pay for our new cargo carrier.

Tamarindo Weekend!

This weekend we traveled to the fabulous beach town of Tamarindo! Unfortunately we arrived to the bus station 2 hours early and the person in front of me got the last ticket and there was only standing room available. From San Jose to Tamarindo is a 6 hour trip and spending that time standing was not going to happen. So we met a friendly middle-aged American named Robert and we all decided our best mode of transportation was to take a cab. After bargaining the price of a cab down we finally hit the road. Thinking that we would make good time at least an hour or more before the bus would have, we thought wrong. Our cab driver took the long way, got a flat tire, we had to back-track, Robert started his party early and a had a few too many beers, we got stuck in construction and finally made it to Tamarindo 7 and a half hours later. So what do you do in this situation? Honestly, we had to just take a step back from the situation and just laugh.

The small beach town of Tamarindo is very Americanized and we stayed at the hotel called La Palapa which was really nice! Each room was loft style and we had our own private terrace right on the beach, cant complain. On Friday night we went to dinner which was right on the beach and watched the sun set, it was so pretty! After dinner we headed back to our room to get ready for the night at "The Monkey Bar". This bar was really fun, had great music and everyone was really friendly. I saw someone pass by me in an ASU shirt and I couldn't help but say "GO WILDCATS!" After talking to my new sundevil friend, we realized how small this world is. He knew a ton of kids I went to school with and he is here with 15 ASU kids studying this summer in Escazu. On Saturday we woke up and went to breakfast and then headed to the beach. The beach was packed with people and we enjoyed the sand between our toes. In the afternoon it started to rain a little bit so Hannah and I got massages on the beach for 15 dollars!! It was paradise, the waves crashing and the rain coming down. What did you do this weekend? :)

 Saturday night we went out to dinner at our hotel for Hannah's 21st birthday and then got ready for the night! We went to this bar called "Aqua" where we ran into everyone we met at the beach and the night before. Tamarindo is a small town so we saw all of the same people and went out with them. Our last day came so fast, on Sunday we woke up and went to the beach for a little bit, had lunch, watched the beginning of the World Cup game and headed to the bus station. After a 6 hour trip we finally arrived in San Jose and got ready for another week of work.

cuatro de julio :)

This weekend we stayed in San Jose and decided that it was time we roamed around and saw the city and all it has to offer!  There were so many people out and about; it was so incredible! We wandered the streets of San Jose and found an indoor main market that had the most interesting souvenirs, fruit and animal parts (yes, the weird pieces of the animal were just sitting in the glass containers).  We then wandered and found an art market, which was full of souvenirs and any Costa Rican item you could imagine! So naturally, we did a little shopping.  After we went to the art market we went to lunch at a restaurant that was right along the pedestrian walkway and watched the World Cup.  We figured it was a good day to see an afternoon movie because all the movies play in English with Spanish subtitles but the line was so incredibly long.  I have never seen a line so long to see a movie, it wrapped around the entire floor of the mall!  I’m assuming it was so busy because soon after we left it started pouring rain.

Happy 4th of July!  We attended The Fourth of July Picnic sponsored by Aerocasillas and the American colony at the Imperial Brewery.  We woke up bright and early to catch the bus to the nearby city called Alajuela, where the event was held.  We have never taken this bus before so when we got on we sat toward the front and told the bus driver where we needed to be dropped off.  The bus driver arrives close to our destination and tells us to get off here and so we get off the bus to see that we are stranded in the middle of the freeway!!!  Haha honestly all we could do was laugh and make the trek towards the nearest exit while buses and cars were zooming past us, I felt completely safe at this moment...not.  We finally arrived at the picnic!  

The picnic was for Americans and each American was allowed to bring two "Ticos"; overall there were about 5,000 people in attendance.  I had to work for the first hour in the morning at the Aerocasillas booth where we handed out free magazines and catalogs with information about our company.  People go crazy over magazines!  The difference between Americans and Ticos- Americans will take 2 or 3 magazines and Ticos will load up an entire bag full of at least 15 magazines and come back for more 10 minutes later.  Ticos also think that blonde hair and blue-eyed girls are really dumb; so of course they took advantage of the free magazines and came back multiple times or sent their children back thinking we wouldn't notice.  

After working I was then was able to spend the rest of the day celebrating!  At the picnic they had games, tons of food and drinks, live music and various performances going on throughout the day.  My boss put on a Magic Show!  Oh my, I laughed so hard because he was by far the worst magician I have ever seen; at least he was entertaining! His worst tricks were the card tricks because he got them wrong every time and in his words "the younger the crowd, the easier it is because they do not pick up on my mistakes".  I definitely had my fair share of all-American food.  After sampling everything we decided it was time to ride the mechanical bull.  I have never rode a mechanical bull before so it was definitely an experience.  Surprisingly I lasted a long time and so many people crowd around to watch the participant get flung off the mechanical bull! Today I have a few bruises from the wild ride, but it was worth it!  We listened to the concert for a while and then the picnic ended around 1 pm.

Getting back to San Jose we were dropped off downtown where we stumbled into another art market.  Of course today was "25% off for you today only! Such a deal!"  Two blonde girls are dead targets for souvenirs and we were bombarded by all of the vendors.  Apparently Costa Ricans bother the Americans with souvenirs and the Chinese with fruit and vegetables.  Wandering around the art market we found a vendor who had the "typical Costa Rican dress" and of course I insisted on trying it on.  The outfit consists of a full skirt, apron and blouse.  I tried on a few skirts but of course none of them were long enough for me.  He did find one that was long enough but it was meant for a 350-pound tica woman and he told me that I could sew it to be smaller if I wanted to.  Do I look like I know how to sew?  Absolutely not.   I felt bad because I was leading this vendor on and he assumed that I was going to buy one of the outfits, unfortunately I do not have an extra 85 dollars for a tica skirt. It was fun and we have pictures to prove it, he thought we were absolutely ridiculous!  After an eventful day we headed home to end our fabulous weekend.

Workin' for the weekend.

Man oh man!  Things have been so chaotic over here in Costa Rica!  My boss has had us working away on projects in hopes to complete his long list by the end of this month, we shall see.  We finished all of our Spanish Powerpoint Presentations and they were sent to all of the Spanish countries.  So far we have had great feedback and each country likes having their results in a simple, layed out plan versus pages and pages of excel sheets.  After completing the presentations we were asked to present one of the presentations to the head team of Aerocasillas.  We were able to explain the graphs and the overall results of each survey question.  I think this is survey and analysis by coutnry is a great tool that can be used to improve the countries overall strategy and goals.  Our new project has begun and of course I am excited because its arts and crafts!  We were asked to come up with 3 score board ideas to represent 6 countriey goals for 2010.  The first score board needs to measure packages moved per month and so I came up with the idea of a giant bar graph that is measured in 4 quarters of the year ( I will post pictures later).  The second board needed to measure the amount of new clients added per month and so I created a monopoly board and called it "Aeronopoly".  Our third board needed to represent the number of affiliations and so we created a puzzle board.  I left all of the math to my co-intern to create the charts! :)  Once we finish I will post pictures so you can see exactly what I am talking about!  Our boss is a very visual person and so he likes to see the big picture of the company in a creative way, which is right up my ally.  This week we also met the founder of Aerocasillas which was quite a treat.

A few more things that amuse me in Costa Rica (yes, once I see something I immediately write it down):

 -The technology system is so different here.  In order for an iphone to work they have to have someone replace the software to be compatible with the Costa Rica Network.  Cellphones are a monopoly in Costa Rica and they do not have numerous providers like the United States does which is why it is unlikely for foreigners to buy a cell phone here and count on it working. (if you can believe it I am still surviving without a cell phone or a watch).

 -The language here is completely different from what I learned in school and I pick up on new phrases and words on a daily basis. Costa Rica is famous for their slang and unique way of speaking. As a visitor this is very difficult to pick up on.

 -Slamming doors.  Apparently Americans slam taxi doors so loud and slam doors when they leave.  Taxi drivers are not happy about their doors being slammed.

 -When getting on to the bus there is a “bar” before you pay the bus driver and if you stand by the “bar” for too long they can charge your twice or charge you and the person behind you.  So make sure you have your change ready when getting on the bus!

 -I have never appreciated the fact that the sun sets later in the states and now I do, more than ever!  The sun sets at 5:30 and it is pitch dark at 6 pm, this is something that I don’t think that I could ever get used to…I appreciate the extra hours of daylight in the evenings.

 -Ticos answer the phone as “ahh-low”.  You need to ask for ice because they usually serve water and soda without it.  Canned peaches are a delicacy.  They are used on cakes, pies, etc. but the price increases depending on the amount of peaches are on the desserts.

 -What Tico’s consider “Barbies”: blonde hair, blue eyes, and light skinned Americans. We laugh because everywhere we go is a sea of brown hair and of course, we are the outcasts.  

Zip lining!

This weekend we went to Puntarenas to do a Canopy Tour.  We started out riding horses to the top of this giant waterfall and took 25 zip lines down to the bottom.  Horseback riding was quite entertaining.  The horses follow the same trail every day and so they definitely had a mind of their own.  They were very competitive about who was in front of them and would randomly speed up the pace to catch up to the front of the line.  I named my horse Pepita and she was such a diva!  Anytime a horse got near her she would snap at them and put them in their place.  I thought she was hysterical.  We went horseback riding for about an hour until reached the top.  It was time to get suited up for the zip line tour!  

They gave us a harness, gloves and a helmet.  They taught us how to stop, where we should place our hands and how we should have our feet when zip lining through the jungle.  Zip lining is SO FUN!  We went zip lining over a giant water fall and also repelled backwards down a huge cliff.  We reached our halfway point where everyone took a break and swam in the waterfalls. The water felt great because it was pretty hot that day! 

After swimming in the waterfalls we continued on and went down the other 12 zip lines.  One of the zip lines was my absolute favorite because it was so long and it felt like I was gliding through the jungle, it was incredible!  After we completed our zip line tour we went to lunch and watched the US vs. Ghana World Cup game and unfortunately they lost L.  Most of the people on the tour were Americans and so everyone was pretty bummed with the outcome.  I also learned that the last World Cup game that the US lost was also against Ghana so I am pretty sure the players think it’s a curse.

After lunch we headed to the beach for the rest of the weekend.  On Saturday night we went out and met a group of guys from Florida who were in Costa Rica as a reunion to surf together and we went out with them for the night.  Lots of dancing and clubbing, Costa Rica style!  On Sunday our body alarm clocks woke us up at 7:00 am and we went to the beach and caught some rays before heading to the “Taco Bar”.  The “Taco Bar” was soooo good!  It was an outside taco bar that had swings for seats, the best-blended papaya smoothie/drinks and the best mahi fish tacos in town.  After a late lunch we headed back to San Jose to end a great weekend. 

More cultural observations!

A few more Costa Rican cultural observations:
-Brushing teeth- the dentist here probably never have to worry about their patients getting cavities because Costa Ricans brush and floss their teeth at least 7 times a day. It isnt just a simple brush either, people will be in the bathroom brushing their teeth for at least 10 minutes. This obviously is not a bad thing but it amazes me!
-Machas- Machas are fair skinned people with light hair and so, I am a macha. My co-intern and I had the receptionist call a local taxi company for us and said to look for "dos machas" standing on the corner. My program coordinator has been greeted by Costa Ricans as "Whats up macha?" because he is a light-skinned American.
-Tips- It is not required to tip your waiter at a restaurant unless the service is incredible!! So the grand total on the bill is what you owe, unless you are feeling generous :)
-Invasion of space- my co-intern and I went to a restaurant on our lunch break and we were greeted by our very friendly waiter. He took our order and then proceeded to stick around and ask us if we were Scandinavian (yes, it happens all of the time). After taking our order he stood about 2 feet behind my chair and jumped into the conversation as much as he could...I did not know that we invited him to have lunch with us. Even when we ignored him he still was pestering us with questions.
-Tamales- Tamales are so delicious here but I was a little taken back when I saw what they looked like. The difference about our tamales and the tica tamales is that the tica tamales are wrapped in banana leaves versus corn husks. Funny story about John F. Kennedy visiting Costa Rica: JFK went to a local restaurant in one of the beach cities and decided to order a tamale. After he was finished the restaurant asked him what he thought about the tamale and he said that the "lettuce on the outside was really hard". Apparently no one at the table informed him that he had to remove the banana leaves before eating the tamale. So the JFK story is always brought up when someone orders a tamale.
-Fruit: The fruit is so much bigger here and there are many different varieties! For example, there are about three different types of pineapple and two different kinds of mangos. They have "mangos" which are exactly like the mangos that we can find in the US and there are "mangas" which are about the size of a small watermelon. All of the fruit is very fresh and very cheap. Every Saturday is "Market Day" so everyone is out in the streets of San Jose selling fruit, vegetables, or whatever they feel someone might need.
-My address: I finally learned how to read my address from a friendly cab driver! Yes, I know...I have been here for 3 weeks. This is my address: "De la casa Italia 100 m sur, 200 este, 200 sur and 75 este." So from the old Italian restaurant on the corner I live 100 meters south, 200 meters straight, 200 south and another 75 meters straight. Try finding your way home from that, I dare you!
This weekend I am going zip lining over waterfalls and headed to the beach! Cant complain, pura vida =)

A weekend in Jaco!

This past weekend we went to Jaco!  One of the girls in my group knows a local woman who lives in San Jose who offered to take us to the beach but unfortunately she got sick and wound up in the hospital.  We then resorted to plan B and headed to the bus station to catch the next bus to Jaco!  The bus cost 4 dollars each way and was about a two hour trip until we arrived in Jaco.  The bus was really nice, similar to a large charter bus in the US and sat 50 people.  On our receipt there was a number of our assigned seat to the bus…we soon realized that they sell 10 more spots on each bus and the extra 10 people have to stand the entire way!  The bus was a little bumpy and so the extra passengers were holding on and swaying every which way in the aisle.  

At the bus station we met a new friend named Jorge, who was traveling alone from Mexico for the weekend and headed to Jaco as well.  We invited Jorge to join us for the weekend; the more the merrier!  After a two hour trip we arrived and walked from one side of town to the other side, which only took about 20 minutes.  There is one main street full of street vendors, shops, restaurants and hotels.  We finally found our hotel called “Flamboyant” which was right on the beach.  We changed quickly and made our way down to the beach.  The beach was not a white sandy beach but was covered by smaller rocks instead; the weather was perfect!  While laying out on the beach we were approached by a local named Freddy who taught surf lessons on the beach and he told us about the local surf competition that was happening that afternoon at a beach about 5 minutes away called, Playa Hermosa. 

Why not check out a local surf competition?  We grabbed our stuff and shared a cab with Freddy to Playa Hermosa to spend the afternoon with the locals.  The surf competition took place in front of the restaurant and bar which was called “The Backyard Bar”.  We found a table right on the beach, ordered dinner and watched the surf competition.  The waves were huge!!   We got to meet the #1 pro surfer in all of Costa Rica and meet the other participants as well.  We watched the sun set and then it started to rain, not just rain….it was the closest thing to a hurricane that I have ever seen!  Everyone headed up to the Backyard Bar indoor patio and bar where we watched the awards ceremony for the surf competition and had a few drinks. 

Most of the people at the bar were from the United States or other countries which was kind of fun because we were able to talk to people from other countries and find out why they ended up in Costa Rica.   The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at this local breakfast place and watched the World Cup.  We spent the day laying on the beach and by the pool.  Later that afternoon we we did a little shopping and explored the town before heading back to San Jose.  Our bus left at 5 pm and we headed back to work to get ready for another week of work!  A relaxing weekend by the beach was just what I needed to end the week. 

Here is the country of Trinidad- one slide show of many.

2010 Trinidad Presentation

View more presentations from liannef.

The most incredible man I have ever met.

Throughout my internship I will be attending a few seminars with speakers from big companies in Costa Rica.  This week we had our first seminar and went to the Franklin Covey office where met our speaker, Randall Arias.  Randall grew up in Costa Rica and works as the manager of Franklin Covey for the country of Costa Rica.  We arrived a little early and so he tested me on my Spanish and said that I am doing incredibly well for being in Costa Rica for 10 days!  Woohoo!!  After everyone arrived he introduced himself to the group and began his story.

Randall was born with a very rare disease where his feet were attached to his back and he did not have any joints in his arms.  This disease is so uncommon that there is not even an English translation and at the time the ultrasound was not available so there was no way of knowing it existed.  His surgery took place when he was 2 days old where they had to break his legs and detach them from his back.  As a young boy his family was his main support and they never made him feel different or out of place.  He still was able to travel on vacations and be a part of everything with his brothers and sister. Until age 10 his arms still stuck out straight in front of him after undergoing about 20 surgeries at this point.  His parents then searched all over to see if anyone had the resources to help him and they finally found a doctor in Mexico who could perform the operation.  At age 10 his parents took him to the airport, took him to the gate where his plane was leaving and sent him on his, alone.  At this time his mom was terrified to fly on an airplane and his father needed to stay in Costa Rica to work in order to support his family so he ventured on to Mexico.  When arriving he was picked up by a representative from the hospital and went into surgery the next day.  After surgery on his arms, which took about 10 operations, he was able to touch his face for the first time and walk with special crutches.  Randall stayed in Mexico for a few months after that to go through physical therapy and recover and for about 3 years after the surgery he made annual visits for check ups. 

He completed high school and did not know if he wanted to go to college; but all of his friends were going to college so he decided to go too.  Randall was accepted to the University of Costa Rica and did not know what he wanted to major in and so he decided to follow his friend who offered to take him to school.  At this time there were no ramps or wheelchair access to buildings and so his friend would carry him up the stairs just so he could go to school.  After 4 years, Randall graduated in law but decided not to follow the law career path and so he hopped around from job to job.  Randall owned several businesses and sold them all when he wound up meeting Mother Teresa.  After meeting Mother Teresa, he quit his job and left everything behind to follow Mother Teresa and help others around the world.  He traveled with her for 4 years and met his wife, who was also traveling with Mother Teresa.  Soon after they got married and now have 3 children.  He gave a piece of advice that I really liked, “Never give up on yourself and never compare yourself to others because we are all unique.  You have time to make mistakes.  If you are not satisfied with what you are doing now, try something new.  Venture out on your own and see life from a new perspective.  In the end you will see that the most satisfying opportunity is right in front of you.”

Incredible story, isn't it?  We have a lot to be thankful for.  

The projects have begun!

Back to work! Today we met our boss named Jeff who works as the logistics manager for Aerocasillas. He is always traveling but works in San Jose for most of the time. When we first met he immediately said that we will be doing a lot of projects for the summer and we are going to try and get them done before we return to the states. Some of the projects that he would like us to work on this summer are: improving marketing through the company website, utilizing social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, creating a recycle campaign, making videos, analyzing every country’s statistics and figures and marketing new ideas based on Internet retail sites. On Monday, I was assigned to break down our current website and compare our site to other online retail competitors. I noticed that our competitors had a new look, updated their site frequently, had links to big upcoming events on the main page (Father’s Day and the World Cup) and had enough resources to answer any question that the customer may have. I also got to spend the day doing a little online shopping (can’t complain) to search for the most affordable websites and separated them by gender and category. They wanted us to see what if feels like to be a customer of Aerocasillas and go through the process of online buying so we created our own "employee account". We were given a gift card to shop on Amazon and I bought a pair of shoes! I guess unpaid internships have a few perks along the way. :)

Our first project has begun! About a month ago each country sent out a survey to their customers asking them to rate their satisfaction with Aerocasillas. The survey consisted of about 30 questions, which asked customers to comment and rate the customer service, online process, delivery, etc. Some countries had a large return rate of surveys and others did not. Each of the surveys were sorted by country through a survey maker website and converted to an excel file. One more thing I forgot to mention...every computer is loaded with Spanish Microsoft Office. I can now add to my resume that I am bilingual in Microsoft Office. It has been a little difficult to navigate being that the set up is a little different and of course, not in English. My co-intern and I have been reviewing the excel file to analyze each country by making suggestions, reviewing averages, personal comments and highlighting the good areas and the bad areas that the company needs to improve. Once we have reviewed all of the information we need to make a 20 slide PowerPoint and attach the excel sheet of information for each country. There are 24 countries total, so our goal is to have the project done in 2 weeks. Customers were able to take the survey in Spanish and English and there were over 2,000 Spanish surveys and over 8,000 Spanish surveys that were submitted.

First things first, I needed to go through every country and read each survey question and understand what all of the numbers meant, summarize comments shared and find key information to improve the company. After reading through each country's surveys, I began my next step of calculating the Net Promoter Score (NPS) for each country based on the survey results. I am not sure if you are familiar with the NPS system but the score is determined by the answers on whether the customer would recommend the company on a scale of 1-10. Grouping customers into three clusters of promoters (who scored either a 9 & 10), passives (who scored either a 7 & 8) and detractors (who scored either a 1-6) we are able to see the results on each company. The final score is determined by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters and we are able to determine if the company is performing to the best of its abilities. The United States average is an NPS of 10 so anything above a 10 is good. I actually just calculated the NPS for Haiti and they received an NPS of -22, so its safe to say that the Aerocasillas in Haiti needs some company reconstruction. It is interesting to see how the company works internally to determine all of the data. We have completed one of our PowerPoint's, I'm not sure if I can add it to my blog but I will see if I can do that later.  We showed the final presentation to our boss and he was very impressed.  He told us that we exceeded his expectations and he is more than satisfied with our work.  I guess you can say that we started off on the right foot!

Arenal Volcano & Hot Springs Weekender!

I added pictures to the blogs below, so definitely check it out! :)


Saturday morning we left to begin our adventure to the Hot Springs, Arenal Lake and Arenal Volcano.  In Costa Rica they have a main highway which takes everyone to the various cities across the country.  Unfortunately there was a terrible accident in which a giant tour bus hit a taxi and shut down the entire freeway so we were forced to take the bumpy back roads and arrived to our destination just in time to watch the England vs. USA soccer game over lunch.  After lunch we shopped around and explored the town; it was so hot and humid!  We checked into our hotel and headed out to explore and see the Arenal volcano and Arenal Lake before the rain came.  When the rain arrives the volcano is completely covered and you would not know it was even there!  Most of the volcanos are still active in Costa Rica.  We met a group of guys that said they saw the volcano have a mini eruption the night before and they were able to see a little bit of lava flow because it was a clear night.  

Getting out of the rain just in time, we headed for Baldi Hot Springs!  This place was absolutely incredible!  There are about 25 different pools, 3 wet bars and 3 water slides.  We picked the perfect time to go because it was raining and the temperature cooled down so we were able to relax and enjoy the hot springs.  We went down all of the water slides and sipped on tropical drinks to end our Saturday afternoon.  Funny fact about the water slides, the engineers who built the slides originally constructed each slide without a cover so the top of the slide was exposed.  The engineers did not take into account the amount of force offered by the slides and several people were injured because they flew off the slides.  Needless to say, they had to close the slides for repair.  We left the hot springs and had wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant and got ready for a night out on the town!  We met quite a few Americans at the local bars and were able to talk to them about their experience in Costa Rica!

Baldi Hot Springs Website: http://www.baldihotsprings.cr/

On Sunday morning, we were going to hike the volcano and go swim in the waterfalls but our plans changed when it had been raining all morning.  The hike would not have been too fun with rain pounding in our faces and the waterfall would have been pure mud due to the amount of rain.  So we settled on plan B which was to go to this resort called Los Lagos.  Los Lagos had a walk though which had native animals of Costa Rica and we saw crocodiles (the ones we saw were apparently “smaller” than usual) which were so scary!  After the crocodile spotting we learned a tip just in case we ever encounter a crocodile- run in circles and do not run in a straight path because crocodiles are very fast when they have a straight shot but the key is to fool them and run in a zig zag motion.  
We also saw beautiful butterflies, poisonous frogs and turtles!  After the walk through we headed for the hot spring area where they had springs and water slides that were similar to Baldi Hot Springs.  After another relaxing afternoon we headed back to San Jose and returned early evening for work in the morning!

TGIF & The World Cup

On Friday we went to the Aerocasillas pick up center.  At the pick up center we sorted packages by client number and opened the center at 9 am for customer pick up.  The pick up center used the same system that we have seen the past few days and we were able to log into the customer accounts when they gave us their client number to see which packages or mail needed to be picked up.  We met all types of people thoguhout the day picking up their packages including a woman who was 77 years old and spoke 7 different languages!  The Aerocasillas workers at the pick up center were very nice and helpful; they helped us use the computer system and appreciated our extra help.  On a typical morning they have around 100 total packages delivered but on Friday there were 300 packages delievered and ready for pick up!  The Costa Rican government imposes a lot of taxes on various products that enter the country; but twice a year they allow the citizens two opportunities for a tax free purchase.  The customer needs to print a form from the online website and attach a copy of their credit card and drivers license.  After the form is complete the customer turns it into the Aerocasillas pick up center.  The customer is able to wave the fees of the product if the form is completed.  Customers typically save the opportunity when buying expensive purchases because the taxes can add up so quickly.  Electronics in Costa Rica are very expensive; a digital camera can range from $600-750.00 and so ordering a digital camera on Amazon.com can save a customer almost 300 dollars!  By having the product shipped from the US, paying for taxes will still be significantly lower than the standard Costa Rican price.  There are so many websites online that offer great discounts for Central American customers!

The World Cup.  

Friday morning was the opening ceremonies for the World Cup.  The World Cup is like Christmas morning for Costa Ricans!  My home stay mother is a high school teacher and she said that on the morning of the opening ceremonies it is required by the government to allow the entire classroom to watch the first game.  At the pick up center we met two world cup fanatics who explained in detail the way the world cup bracket works.  There are 8 separate groups with 4 countries in each group with a total of 32 teams.  The teams play within their groups to begin the elimination process.  Teams are awarded 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss.  After each team plays within their group the elimination towards the final round takes place all month and the winner is given the World Cup! The United States beat Costa Rica in the qualifying games and so Costa Rica is not one of the countries represented in the tournament.  Surprisingly they do not have any hard feelings towards the US and are actually rooting for us!  The US played England on Saturday morning and tied, keep it up USA! 

The first few days of interning.

After my early morning wake up call to meet another intern at the bus stop at 6:30 am my day began!  I caught the first bus, which took me into downtown San Jose, and then we caught the bus that went directly to our company.  We met our mentor at the bus stop and she guided us through a whole day of orientation!  Orientation = slideshows in Spanish for hours. I am interning at Aerocasillas, which is an Internet retail company.  The company assists Costa Ricans as well as other Central American countries to buy products online and deliver them to the customers.  In Central America people do not have the ability to order products online as easily as we do in the United States, which is why they create an Aerocasillas account to receive packages.  We learned about the company and how certain fees were added on to the products shipped from the United States…we then had to calculate the cost of products with the new fees, which was very difficult for me.  I am the worst at math and I told them if they were to assign me math calculations their company would fail, so that ended quickly. :) 

Our second day of work started out at the process center.  We were able to see how each package was processed and how the Aerocasillas system worked.  Customers purchase an Aerocasillas account, which has a yearly fee of $20.00, and then have to pay for taxes, duties, etc. depending on the product they purchase.  At the processing center we observed how packages were accounted for.  Employees weight each package, open each package, account for how many items are in the box, the cost of the product, tracking number and take the invoice out of the package.  The package is then sealed and sent to the delivery department to be delivered to customer’s homes or for pick up at the office. Aerocasillas also delivers mail to the customers and magazines from the United States, the mail is also weighed to determine the price and the customers are billed later.  The Aerocasillas system is pretty slick and they are very organized.  They ensure the best service and have a way to track where the package is at any given time.  

Day three has arrived!  I am officially a city girl because I have the bus system down and am beginning to find shortcuts to make my mornings easier. Today was our final day of orientation and I can honestly say that I can fully explain this company to anyone.  We are going to see how the pick up center works tomorrow and I will finally begin my marketing and public relations internship on Monday!

A few more Costa Rican Observations:

-Costa Ricans eat mayonnaise on everything…. legitimately everything. This will be one thing that I will not add to my diet.

-The streets of traffic throughout San Jose remind me of a school of fish. No one follows the lines and a giant bus has legitimately come so close to running over smaller taxis that I am in on a daily basis.

-When you are anywhere at work you are given a “breakfast break” of about 25-30 minutes.  Many people bring breakfast, lunch and dinner with them to their jobs because they are gone all day.

-Prostitution is legal but street vending is not…hm, something is wrong with this picture.

TGIF tomorrow and excited to adventure to the Arenal volcano this weekend! Buenas noches.