Panama

So we finally arrived in Panama City. Let me tell you how the journey went:

It was plain.... great! I never imagined a bus to be that comfortable. Honestly, I've never experienced such great comfort! Even I had legroom and was able to sit comfortably. We were traveling in an executive bus with food and drink included. We departed from San José at 11 p.m. and took off to the Costa Rica / Panama border. Alberto fell a sleep right away but I was looking out the window and took my last, imaginary pictures of San José by night. It was incredible to see the illuminated city from the mountains top - something I will never forget. I soon also fell asleep and enjoyed my comfortable chair. Both Beto an me woke up when we arrived at the border. It was already 5 a.m. and we had almost slept for 6 hours - wow. When we were standing in the line Beto told me that we had to wait for an hour until the border actually opened. It was already getting warm and the sun was shining. Waiting for one hour? We just woke up from a 6 hours long baby sleep. We decided to get a coffee at the bar opposite from the Passport control. We crossed the border by feet, I had never actually done that before :). Next stop was the Panama immigration where I had to prove that I have booked a ticket to get out of Panama. I thought, great now lets go back into the cold bus and roll... but noooo, we had to grab our bags and get to customs control. Every single bag was supposed to get checked and after a while the customs officers said, that in order to check the bags, everybody has to get into the small room we were already standing in. It felt like two hours until the officers finally started to check the bags. When it was my turn he wanted to see my passport and asked from which country I was - Alemania. Ok, you can go. Ok, you don't want to check my bag?! Again I was "favoured" because of my European passport - great success for me. I encountered my first cockroach in Panama - so Costa Rica doesn't have any :P.

Back in the bus it time for a breakfast. Afterwards we were disappointed that we haven't ordered the gallo pinto at the bar, because the breakfast consisted only of a soft toast and one cookie. I headed back to sleep right after the breakfast and woke up for lunch out of a box. When we finally arrived at Panama City we were met by an incredible heat. Since the air condition kept our bus on a nice temperature, when we headed out it was unbearable. We took our luggage and went to the close by shopping mall and grabbed some food and coffee until somebody would pick us up and take us to the university.

There we met some members of LC USMA and were impressed how hot it still was - at this time it was already 7 p.m.

The time in Costa Rica was incredible and the people as well. THANK YOU!

We're off!

So, now it's our turn to leave. We'll take the bus down to Panama... the bus. The BUS? The journey will take approximately 17 hours. Pough! I've been on bus journeys several times but never has one been that long. I don't know how it will turn out to be, but hey we're young and we can still do these things :). I will tell more when we arrive tomorrow. Good night or Good morning to you guys in Germany!

Accessment Center, the second.

What? Oh yeah, I was an observer at our last AC and got to know how the whole procedure works. On Saturday it was time for my second experience and it was actually interesting to see how it's done over here. you have 5 stations which a team of 5 has to complete. But first you apply for the AC and have an interview. If you then decide on going abroad you have to pass a review board which will allow you to apply for internships around the world (hopefully only for Hamburg). We presented the cooperation to the new applicants and actually met two willing to go to Hamburg soon.

Goodbye?!

Well yeah, not for me, but a member was having his goodbye party at a club close to university on friday. It was actually the same club that Beto said goodbye before he left for Germany. We had some nice talks and dances and I was, once more, impressed by the way latins just dance. I mean, I was dancing for more than 3 years and took several tests, but I don't know if I could ever get it to look so good. It seems that it's a way of being: you grab a girl listen to the music and off you go :). Very interesting - I should try to get it to look so good when I'm back in Germany taking my classes :) (hint to Kira).

That was nice :).

So the first company meeting went very well. Amway, an American company, just established an office in San José and has agreed on a meeting with us. We met the HR-Manger and had a very nice talk. There were four of us at the meeting: the VP Sales & Delivery, Byrol, the OCP for the conference Jump, Daniel and Alberto and me and were able to convince her about the advantages of AIESEC both for conferences and the internship cooperation between Germany and Costa Rica. After the meeting we headed back to the University and talked about how we proceed with future company meetings and the promotion of TNs/EPs.

At night we met the VPOGX elect, Susan and talked about the Hamburgs TNs for potential interns. We later headed down to Eljuan ( :P ) and had a couple of beers with some interns and members.

Our next day started with some work as we were preparing an information sheet for the next company meeting at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. Our contact unfortunately had no time but eventually fixed a meeting with the general manager instead. He was also German and sounded interested but told us that the company at the moment could not offer any internship. He gave us the contact to the Costarican / German Chamber of Commerce.

Great things can happen

Last week was all about acclimatization and experiencing the country, this week is all about the work :). The last days we planned the next steps and sorted all the TNs CAS has to offer, I called the german company Heidelberger Druckmaschinen and got an appointment on thursday and today we have the first company meeting. The current VPICX / ER will accompany us. Yesterday we were lucky to arrange the two first internships especially for Hamburg. One is a technical and the other an educational (re-raise) trainee ship. Both required good Spanish and are already open for application. If you're interested just send me an email.

The volcano

Costa Rica has numerous volcanos and yesterday we took a trip to one of the most famous ones. As I said before, the roads in Costa Rica are great and so was this one. Our way took us through the mountains and famous coffee-plantages. It was incredible to see the city from up there and the weather was great. Not too hot and not too cold. Unluckily the wind was not too good so all the smoke from the crater was blown in our direction. But we got a glimpse at the lake and half the crater. The way to the lagoon seemed like park walk through the exotic part. All kinds of flowers and trees on each side dripping water (almost like in a rainforest). The place was very exotic in my eyes and we even saw a bird :P. After the walk we were very hungry, I was craving for frijoles molidos (mashed beans) the whole morning. Beto said, we would have lunch at Rosti Pollo, where you get chicken and of course my favorite costa rican dish. The night was pretty calm and we had some traditional food at a restaurant near by.

The trip to paradise

So, when Alberto told me about going to the beach I was really excited! The stories I heard from Daniel were still in my head and I couldn't wait to get to the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica. We took the car and picked up Lawina, the indian intern and were off on a 3 hrs road trip to Manuel Antonio. It's a National Park at the Pacific Ocean and supposedly a very beautiful place. On the road I realized what how the streets in Costa Rica actually are. I mean of course it's not an Autobahn, but hey, you don't have to stop because of big holes or broken bridges. The closer we got to the Pacific, the warmer it got and when we arrived in Quepos the shorts were back on track :). Our dinner at Chicken Bros was interesting and the first encounter with a bug in my food was a nice welcome to paradise :). The hostel we stayed at was actually pretty cool :). It was very cheap (10 $ p.p) and the rooms had nothing but beds a shelf and a fan, backpackers paradise as it called itself :). We drank our first Pilsen and then took off to a party close by with a lot of foreigners and the always needed locals with dreads or long hair. Later that night we enjoyed more Pilsen (at that point warm) and talked for a couple of hours. When we went to bed we realized how warm it actually was and couldn't wait for the incredible sweaty night ahead, omg!

The next morning was, as suspected, really hot and not even the fan was helping. We rushed out of the room to get a nice breakfast with gallo pinto, eggs and fruit. We then headed out to get to the national park Manuel Antonio and the beaches. Foreigners, as always, have to pay more for the entrance, and I was very lucky to get my change back only in coins... (omg, they have big coins), well at least we have som cash for the toll on our way back, I thought. The park has lots of plants of course and is supposed to be home to various animals. We did not see too many animals but were lucky to see a green snake, which is very rare. Being very excited about getting to the beach, I confused a corrugated sheet of roof as the blue water and was really confused when I saw the house beneath it. But it was not short afterwards when we arrived at the actual beach. My first thought really was: wow, this is what paradise looks like. Blue water, palm trees everywhere and a nice beach (and of course the girls in the bikinis :P). We rushed down to the water and I was really pleased by the water temperature: not too cold but also not too warm. After our fist dip we walked to the next beach, just on the other side of the peninsula and I met my first iguana that day :). The other beach was even better than the one we enjoyed before. It was almost completely empty and had much higher waves and the water there was a bit warmer or at least if felt that way.
We stayed for about an hour and I enjoyed the scenery so much it burnt a picture in my head. I guess now every time I go somewhere the beach will not live up to my expectation. At appr. 1 we headed back to the hotel and took a refreshing cold shower, oh wow that felt good! On our way back to San José, we stopped at a bridge where crocodiles can be spotted and I saw my first real life crocs. (Finally I know what Crocodile Dundee was talking about :P). Back home we freshened up and celebrated Albertos sisters birthday with the family, a great way to experience the family life.

Our next stop that night was a AIESEC party at the MC house, where I would finally meet the members and interns of LC UCR. We obviously bought some sixpacks of beer and headed down to the party. Tatiana was so kind to give us a lift to the house and joined us for some beers. We met a lot of people and were experiencing the latin way of dancing. In the end AIESEC partys are a bit the same, you drink talk, dance (here it was the normal way :)) and eat special food made by the interns.

First day in San José

Today was the first complete day in Costa Rica. We had a nice breakfast with typical Costa Rican coffee. Then we went downtown to get a look at the city. Alberto took me to the famous places in San José. I have to say, that the city appears as a very small one. Even though approximately 1.7 million people live here you never have the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the people. It's very personal and nice to walk through the streets looking at the buildings and people. Thanks for that!

After the tour we had a typical costa rican lunch at Rosti Pollo with my first original frijolitos. We then went to the university where Alberto showed me the LC UCR office. I was very impressed how small it actually was. No potential meeting area like the LC Hamburg office.

The students at Universidad Costa Rica appear to like partying, cause close to the area there are numerous bars and clubs, where they go almost everyday. We had some beer and then went to meet Tatiana and her american football girls from the U.S. Her company Costa Rica Soccer offered us dinner and some interesting entertainment :). We're now back at Albertos hous watching some football. I'm still a bit tired and feel sleepy, maybe I should get some rest ...

En Costa Rica

My flight was very enjoyable! I chose the Big Seat and it really payed off. In general Spirit Air is like Ryanair, where you have to pay for treats on the plane but you can also choose where you want to sit and pay extra for a First Class seat. The respective flights only took two hours so I was only able to sleep for a little bit. I thought it was going to be a hard afternoon in San José, but it's actually fine! I took a refreshing shower after the exhausting trip. We actually watched the Champions League game Manchester United and Bayern Munich (we're in the next round, oh yeah). Tonight we'll get out and grab a beer I guess.

That's it for now, Costa Rica is calling! :)

So, after dinner, we took the car and headed down to the stadium and watched Saprissa vs. Santos. It was great to finally be seeing a latin football game live. We actually saw a great free-kick goal and in the end Saprissa won 2:0. After that we met with Tatiana and had a beer. I was really tired and happy to get some rest back at the house!

Let me see New York

I arrived smoothly at Newark airport at 15:30 and thought, oh well, let's get downtown and check out the Big Apple. Since my flight wouldn't leave until 6:30 the next day there was plenty of time to spend in the worlds most famous city. Well, at that time I didn't know what was still ahead of me. After a five minutes walk through the airport, I arrived at the customs and passport control. Well, it's not that bad I thought, it'll be like 20 minutes and then I'm out of here. Ha, "Pustekuchen" almost 2 hours were spent in the damn queue. Oh mama that was annoying! But after being questioneds I was finally taking my backpack and rushed out to get the bus to Port Authority. Warm air met my face when I set foot outside the terminal. Wow, it's summer :).

The bus took us on a 20 minute trip to Manhattan. I saw the Statue of Liberty and New York City skyline, what a great feeling to finally be here. I got off at Port Authority and then made my way on 42nd Street eastwards towards the Chrysler building and Grand Central Station. It's kind of weird walking down the streets of this huge city. I had only seen theses sceneries in movies or sitcoms. Now I was strolling down 42nd, passing Times Square, the Chrysler building always at glimpse. Wow! I was so overwhelmed that I was just walking for approx. 1.5 hrs (my 20 kg backpack and 5 kg hand-luggage always at hand) looking at as much as I could before I would leave to La Guardia airport for my flight to San José. That's where I am right now. I was trying to sleep from 21 to 3 but an irregular on - off sleep in an uncomfortable chair was the best result. Now I'm waiting to check-in my bag and taking off to Miami, where I change planes. Let's see how the Big Seat of Spirit Air treats me :).

My trip to the other world

Well they say time flies, and that's how it feels right now. I'm sitting in FRANKFURT (I thought I was flying to Munich) waiting to board my Lufthansa flight LH 402. I was told that no emergency exit seat was available, but lucky as I am, the lady at the Gate offered me the last available emergency exit seat. I just prepared my Excel-Spreadsheet with all the TNs Hamburg has to offer. While I hope that these TN Takers will offer our new Interns a wonderful time in Germany (I'm sure the LC will do so) I also hope that during the next two weeks the cooperation will kick-off and offer us numerous internships for Hamburg LC members.

Let's rewind to a time, when I thought I had done enough, and the next step should subsequently be a P position in the LC. But wait a minute, why was at studying again? Because i want to attain a degree for my professional life. Not any degree, the good old Diploma. And there it was again: my Schweinehund was biting me inside, almost pissing in every corner of my belly. Wake-up bitch, you ought to study! Oh, well, what?! I was so involved in the AIESEC world that I had forgotten the real purpose of my living in Hamburg, attending college, using all the discounts. It was not because of the "glamourous" AIESEC world it was so that I could learn for life! For life! Wow that feels important :). So I decided against the P position and wanted to concentrate on my studies. But what would a life without AIESEC look like? After being part of the OC of the 1. Energy Forum in Hamburg (FIÄH) and my work as team leader in ER i thought: "well that was quite some time with a lot of experience gained." The EB at that time (rock-it) was announcing to be willing to sent someone away to start a LC-LC cooperation. I thought: "Wow, what an opportunity! You get the international experience and can still work for your LC in Hamburg. The rest is history and right now I'm sitting on a Boeing 747-400 enjoying a cold beer and listening to Foo Fighters. My plan on starting a cooperation with CAS (Central America South) was not just taken out off the sky. Our beloved intern Alberto from Costa Rica had such a great impact on me and my, at that time, new roommate Daniel gave me the inspiration to choose Costa Rica as a potential LC partner. A great side effect being Alberto as MCVPX in the CAS region (Costa Rica and Panama) just made the whole process much more interesting.

But what the heck is a LC-LC cooperation? Basically it goes down to several points. Our concentration is on eXchange, meaning that both LC UCR and LC USMA are providing internships for Hamburg interns and vice versa. As Hamburg is one of the most successful LCs in Germany we have a great knowledge of the essential factors in establishing, matching and realizing internships.

That's it for now. I'm just thinking of going down to Times Square, taking off my clothes and start dancing with the naked guitarist. Yeeha! My flight to Costa Rica is tomorrow morning at 6.40 am (First Class!)

Let's hope for a great and successful two weeks in the land of cocain..... bananas.... mexicans? ...... I guess dreams would be the best description :P!