La Peña Bar and Restaurant

La Peña Bar and Restaurant.

I have been there just few times, but it was the best experience I had talking about restaurants.
This great restaurant is surrounded by a nice garden, this bar and restaurant takes the traditional Costa Rican cuisine one step beyond with its preparation and presentation.You can enjoy all these delicious dishes on a brick terrace outdoors ina fresh setting.
This is a bar and restaurant that offers traditional food for very reasonableprices. Dishes include fried plantains, beans, chicken, beef and variousrice based recipes. I ate fried plantains and I really recommend this dish, it is delicious!
There are also a number of vegetarian options, mostly involving eggs.
From the windows of the restaurant, you can enjoya pleasant view. The atmosphere is very relaxed and it is easy to spend a few hours over a coffee here.
On Friday nights there are Cantares performs. Also, I went there one Sunday and a wonderful buffet is offered, with a wide selection of dishes, so you can try a little of everything.
It is collated in Santa Ana, 8 blocks to Cruz Roja.

Andrea is a nice girl who lives in Palmares and work as a preschool teacher in San Agustin School. She started as a teacher assisstant and then got a job as an english preschool teacher, job that she prefers because she has more freedom to work at her own rate.

She grew up in Palmares, and when she was in High School, she and her family moved to Guanacaste. After that she stared the university in San Jose and during this time she got pregnant and her son Alejandro borned. Nevertheless, she finished the University. Now she's a Master in Education. She's studying English and she thinks that she will pass all their life studying, because that's something that she loves.

"The real love is the love of your family" she said when she talks about her son. He's her reason to live. "I don't know what I´d do without him" she said. Alejandro is four years old and he's a little naughty kid, also he is very smart for his age.

Andrea loves to be fashionable, buying new clothes, perfumes and accessories. "I love to be a woman" she said, because all the fashionable things that women can use, but I think that's because she can use her feminine power to manipulate men.

Andrea is a very versatile woman, with many goals and a lot of energy to do whatever she wants.

Jean Carlo's Profile

Jean Carlo:

Jean Carlo is a 23 years man who lives in Zarcero. He has lived there during his whole live.
When Jean Carlo was little he traveled with his father buying cheese all around Costa Rica, “I traveled a lot with my father, for that reason I enjoy traveling” ; he said when we was talking about his live.
Jean Carlo is an outgoing person; he likes to go out with friends, especially, out of Costa Rica. “If someone invites me anywhere of Costa Rica, I check my time and money, and I just go”; he said; that justify my theory about Jean Carlo’s outgoing personality.
Jean Carlo hates routine, few years ago he worked in a bank as a cashier, he told me that he hated that job because he had to do the same every week. Now he works in a physical therapy center where he have to do different things every day, “Some days I just do anything, some days I have to do a lot of things” he said explaining why does he love his work. He is very happy working there because of the schedule flexibility and the variability of his responsibilities.
Finally, Jean Carlo remembers his past very well, what he likes most about it is his university because he stared knowing people and friends. Now he has a lot of friends and coworkers, so he can go out with many people.

Never Land Planet

Life on Never Land Planet.

In Never Land everything can happen.
Never Land people are friendly, sociable, extrovert, intelligent and honestly, they really value love, religion, fashion, beauty and relationships.
Never Landers, also, like to study and improve their selves with new knowledge. They are responsible with studies and work.
These people like new things for that reason it is covered with new buildings, highways, parks, gardens and shopping centers, keeping nature at the same time. There are recreation centers and clubs because Never Landers love to have fun.
Everything is clean and well organized there.
There are no dirty animals in Never Land, no abandoned dogs or cats on streets. People there prefer children rather than animals.
In this planet everybody enjoys wearing new outfits every day, people don’t use the same cloth in some weeks, they always try to combine their shoes with accessories and cloth. Also they really use body lotions, make up and perfumes because they smells good and had a great appearance.
In Never Land simple details are important, everything is planned with anticipation.
People are very intuitive, they have a sixth sense that allows people to know if something is right or wrong, this presentiment lets them know people feelings better.
Never Land is very similar with Venus it is beauty, people are intuitive, sensitive and value relationships.
In Mars people love work and so in Never Land, but in Never Land it isn’t a priority.
Never Landers are more interested in fashion and love, Martians couldn’t care less about romance and relationships.
Mars habitants prefer technology and people in Never Land objects and things are not important.
Rather than wear uniforms (like in Mars), they prefer to use different outfits each day (like in Venus).
Never Land people prefer work than novels (like in Venus) they are sensitive but not as much as a psychology.

Universal Behaviors I Observed;

-People marry for many reasons, including one or more of the following: legal, social, emotional, economical, spiritual, and religious. Yesterday I went to a marriage ceremony. I saw one of my best friends getting marriage with her boyfriend; they went to the church together, the churchman blessed them and after that a little party celebrating the occasion. It is a universal behavior because that happens in all over the world. Ceremony and celebration might change drastically in each place, but the behavior has the same objective.

-I was in a delicious fast food restaurant and I saw people doing line for get their orders, immediately I thought that it is a universal behavior because in all the world people line-up. It is like an organization rule to get what you need in a populated place, people in line (first-come, first-served) wait for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.

Cultural Behaviors;

-I went to work training; it was a meeting with an important psychologist to talk about children and their needs, the event was at 6 pm, but it started at 7:30 pm because the “important psychologist” arrived late. I think it is a cultural behavior because in this country is common observe how important events start late. That happens from small meetings through big concerts and political events.

-That example is something that happens to a friend, so I didn’t observe it, but I think is a great cultural behavior.She was invited by a Russian friend out to dinner. At the end of a wonderful meal her friend asked if she would like a banana. She politely declined and thanked him, and explained she was most satisfied with the meal. But the whole while her mind was racing: "What do I do? Do I offer her a banana even though they are as close to him as they are to me? What is the polite thing to do?".
The cultural behavior is that in Russia, when a man peels a banana for a lady it means he has a romantic interest in her.

Personal Behavior;

-One day during my English class children were seen a movie, at the end of the movie one of them started crying a lot. He was crying because of the movie. I think it is a personal behavior because is his own way to react to different life circumstances. Also it is personally because this reaction can change individually and doesn’t depend on culture.

Costa Rican people culture and behaviours

Costa Rican people behaviors:

• Women have to cook and be in the kitchen while men just wait for her to serve the food: this is just one “machismo” example, in Costa Rica chauvinism covers more than an 80% of families. This behavior is usual; in most of the cases is common to see the wife serving food while her husband waits on his chair, so happens with cloth washing, dish washing and so on…
Cultural value: Chauvinism. Of course those behaviors don’t represent the whole Costa Rican population. Men and women are expected to act differently from each other, and to respect their roles. A large proportion of Costa Rican women are professionals and hold important positions in both businesses and the government, but they still retain some traits that are traditional and conservative.

• Holy week free of work and school: In Costa Rica Holy or Easter week celebration is great because in most of cases schools don’t work and so many companies around the country, that makes an excellent opportunity to go on vacations and share with family. However, some people choose to stay at home and to join religious celebrations that include masses and processions. Nearly everything shuts down from Thursday to Monday, which is why it's a good idea to stock up on goods before then, and to avoid traveling, since some transportation services also stop completely.
Cultural Value: Catholic Believers.

• Give seat to pregnant women on a bus: when you travel on a public bus is usual and nice to see people giving seat to a pregnant women that is a good example that represents Costa Rican’s hospitality, but that behavior doesn’t happen just on a bus, you can see it in a bank, stores, markets, etc… and that isn’t just for pregnant women it is so for old people and disabled people. There’s an important law to respect people needs; Law No 7600 Equal Opportunities for Persons With Disabilities.
Cultural value: Friendliness and hospitality.

English... What I like about this Language....
I like English because is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. As in most parts of the world in Costa Rica it is a big opportunity to get job and it opens many business doors. That English is used almost everywhere is only one of the many advantages of learning the language.
I like everything about English, but I think that it can be difficult to learn if you start practicing it late… If you are in an English environment since you are a child learning English skills would be easier.
My strongest language skill is pronunciation, it isn’t difficult to me, and also fluency I have no problems talking English because I’m not shy. My weakest skill is grammar most of the time I forget simple English grammar rules such as adding letter “s”, plural things, tenses and so on.
I really want to improve grammar and vocabulary. Grammar because, as I said, most of the time I have problems in this area, especially with tenses. And vocabulary because it is a large area with many things to know, I think that English vocabulary never stops.
Well, in my opinion talk with a native speaker is the best way to learn English, also by internet or watching English movies.