I tried to post this two nights ago but the internet kept crashing so pretend this is tuesday night

Who was nervous about living with this family? It couldn’t have been me! They are seriously so so so wonderful. They are unbelievably welcoming and caring and put so much of their energy and heart into helping me feel comfortable here and learn Spanish. They talk to me about pretty much everything, and my madre made me a map of how to get to school and walks me there very slowly to make sure I know the turns. When I had to go to Walmart yesterday to get toiletries (which are, unlike most things, UNBELIEVABLY expensive here) almost the entire family came with me. Oh, and you all know how I don’t approve of Walmart, but apparently it’s their only big supermarket here and things are cheaper there and that’s where they took me because Walmart bought out their entire chain of supermarkets. It figures. It’s really sad how fast food and American corporations in general have so powerfully seeped into almost every other culture.

Anyway, I don’t really know where to begin. Or, for that matter, where to end. But the produce here is SO AMAZING I eat pineapple and avocado and mango and bananas and plantains and watermelon pretty much every day. I’ve also tried leechee fruit and pipa which is like coconut and then this really huge kind of mango, and there is a market right near my house and school. I don’t start classes until Tuesday which is good because I’m still getting accustomed to the 20-25 minute walking route to the university and to the campus which is pretty big, especially when compared to that of American. I love this city, and the weather is much less humid and rainy here and the perfect temperature. I’m very tan too.

So I got my host family members little gifts that I gave them as I met them. I got my host padre a Yankees hat and he really liked it! I made my host mom earrings, and she wore one pair yesterday and one today. I made Maria, my host sister earrings too, and she liked them a lot as well. She is so nice and easy going and always smiling and is working really hard for her school right now (she goes to a private college that isn’t on break right now like the school I am is) so I only talk to her and see her in snippets. She helped me find my stuff in Walmart yesterday. I met my host brother yesterday morning after I woke up and gave him his gift of a Yankees sweatshirt which he loved because apparently he leaves for work early in the morning and it’s cold outside and he needed one. He also is going to cooking school and works as a chef at a restaurant and makes the best food EVER. When they said he was studying “gastronomia” I thought they said “astronomia” and was really confused as to why someone who was one of the best cooks ever and who had just cooked me a gourmet VEGAN meal served like a 5 star restaurant was studying astronomy. It took me a while to figure that out. Typical…He’s super friendly and outgoing and walked me to school yesterday. He likes to walk in the street rather than the sidewalk and drivers here are just slightly insane. He also likes to walk in a zig zag to get to the university so he doesn’t have to stay on one street for too long, which, as you can imagine, confused me just slightly, since when I walked with his mom she gave me a million landmarks and slowly explained the three turns I had to make with her. He made probably twenty and then was like, “it’s easy, you just have to make a right here then a left here then another three lefts then a right then go straight then another left then a right…” you get my point. It was not easy. Even if I didn’t have a horrible sense of direction. But he practiced speaking English, which he’s pretty good at, and I responded in Spanish. Oh, and when the dad came to pick me up he had, you guessed it, a different way to get back. But I think I know the route now.

So yesterday I had a pretty bad headache and congestion, maybe from being wet and in the sun so much and on the boat this weekend, so when I went out last night to see Harry Potter (in English, thank goodness, because I had only seen the first three so I barely understood what was going on in this one in English…) I came back early and passed out. I ran in a little park near here early this morning before my entire day of touring the city and the school so I was fried by the end of today as well. There are a lot of places to get gym memberships and to take classes for really cheap, but I think I’m going to continue to run and do strength stuff in my room until I work out my schedule (which is what Traci, one of our leaders suggested). I also really really want to find a yoga studio! All in time, I guess. Mi hermano here said we would take dance classes together because he used to do traditional Latin American dance but wants to refresh himself, and I want to learn. But I will make such a fool out of myself. Such a fool. So we’ll see how that goes and if it happens how long it will take until he refuses to associate with me anymore.

So I need to find a good balance between Spanish and English. I speak only Spanish with my family and everything, but I speak a lot of English to my American friends. Because it’s just so difficult to really get to know people better and to tell stories in Spanish. But I need to be able to do it! Oh, and guess what people!! A bunch of us are going to San Jose on September 12^th to see the CHILE PEPPERS perform. Ready, set, be jealous. Also, my host brother went out and bought me soy milk. And they asked me what I typically eat for breakfast in the US so they got me granola and tea and mi madre made me the most adorable breakfast of fruit arranged all gourmet like with garnish. And fresh juice with a lemon in the glass. And granola and soy milk. And tea. And gallo pinto (beans and rice). It was so precious and thoughtful and wonderful. And my host mom is a baker and made the most amazing desserts because someone ordered them from her for a party and she had extras. And she paints too! And my host dad cooks as well, and his whole huge family cooks amazing food apparently. Dude I better keep running or I’m gonna get so fat.

And my host mom never feels good when she eats meat and doesn’t eat it much and told me I’ve inspired her to be vegetarian! She wants to try it! Which is a huge step for someone here. And tonight we had this wonderful conversation about religion (the family is very religious and Catholic, as are most families here) and how it should bind people together supporting each other and people need to find and appreciate what’s similar between their different religions rather than always fighting against each other.

She also told me that Marco, my host brother, lived in a village in Argentina for a while with seven other boys, and they all worked and had to pool their money at the end of the day and split it evenly and learn how to portion it out so that they had enough for each thing in everyday life. SUCH A GOOD LESSON. I think it’s mostly important because it shows the benefits of a communally focused attitude. Communism fails because no one is motivated to work since they won’t benefit any more from working harder. But here since it’s on such a small scale if someone works harder and makes more money, each person will see the benefits and have a little more at the end of each day. But Cold War status American opinion would be like WHAT?! COMMUNISM?! As a lesson?! It’s Communism!! That’s a horrible idea!! Let’s go in and teach them what’s right and what’s best! Capitalism!! I mean, when I was talking to her we didn’t go into all that political stuff, just the importance of understanding the concept of sharing and helping other people.

 She also told me all about her mother and how much she admires her. She is 80, lives on her own in a house next door, walks everyday, sings, gardens, and cooks, and has always been adventurous and an amazing healer for people and animals. She seems magical-I only met her briefly yesterday, but she was wonderful and looks about 20 years younger than she is. So, anyway, I am having a marvelous time and getting more and more comfortable here. Clearly I need some practice since yesterday I tried to pay the cab driver 13.000 colones (which is 13,000 or 26 dollars) when it really was 1.300 colones (less than 3 dollars). It was a ten minute cab ride. Thank goodness he was honest enough to correct me and not steal my money. Well, mi hermano left me a note in English asking me if I was running tomorrow so he could come with me and what time “for know what time to put the alarm” and I left him one in Spanish telling him I’d run at seven. So I think I’m going to stop now so I have time to try to put my pictures on photobucket and go to sleep so I can get up early. I really want my Spanish to get better and not to fail my classes! Buenas noches a todos!