Rain, mountains, and flowers, oh my!

The past 24 hours have been packed full of adventures. I'll start at the beginning...

Last night I was able to meet the rest of my host family which was my host brother, sister and her daughter. They were all really nice. It's been very hard for me the past two days though because everyone here tends to speak over each other which means for me, everything gets muddled into one giant mess of a conversation and everything is that much more difficult to understand. After stepping off the plane Friday I realized just how little Spanish vocabulary I knew and I have struggled to catch on the past few days just because I don't know the vocab.

After meeting the rest of my host family last night though I was able to go to a soccer game with Ferenc, my host brother and absorb a bit more of the culture here (and learn all the cuss words). It was nice because after a day of feeling really discouraged and overwhelmed by everything here Ferenc spoke broken English to me and worked on his English. Which gave me a chance to know what was going on completely and not have to struggle with anything. After the game he asked if I would want to go see one of the best views in the city and to this my initial reaction was "oh goodness, he's going to take me to make-out point and for some reason he thinks I've been putting the moves on him....". I decided I didn't care and just wanted to see the city in which I'm living for the next six weeks, no matter if my host brother thought I was putting the moves on him or not.

So Ferenc drove us up a mountain to a spot where you could park by the road and look out at basically all of Costa Rica since it's so small. It was there that something finally clicked in my brain and I decided everything was going to be wonderful because I was going to choose to make it that way. I've been struggling a bit and very overwhelmed but it was there looking over the beautiful city that I get to call home for a short period of time that I knew everything was going to work out and be alright. After sitting there and talking for a few hours we headed back to the house where he asked me if I wanted to go to the bar with him, I did say no to this seeing as I had been up since 5 and it was at that point 12, plus I knew I should probably get to bed so I could get enough sleep for whatever adventures my host family had planned for me the next day.

After a wonderful night, and a good nights rest I was ready for whatever Costa Rica had in store for me when I woke up this morning. Which happened to start with a giant breakfast spread which my host mom prepared for me. It consisted of the following: Pancakes, eggs, toast, pineapple, papaya, coffee, and juice. After breakfast I was able to hold a full conversation in Spanish with my host mom (which is the first time I've had a complete conversation in Spanish since I got here) about wanting at one point to help her cook because I love to cook along with talk about what we were going to do for the day. Flory (my host mom) proceeded to tell me that I could help her cook one day and said we were headed to Sarchi for the day. Which at that point, I had no idea where that was or what going there entailed.

Sarchi ended up being a city about 30-45 minutes away and up a mountain. It was beautiful. We stopped at a tourist stop to see a wagon that was a replica of the ones they use to use to carry the coffee, wood, etc. up and down the mountain with cows (The picture is below). We also stopped and talked to the venders and looked at the trinkets. There were a lot which had turtles on them, and if you know me you know I LOVE turtles which is one thing I definitely know how to talk about in Spanish. My host mom found a necklace with a turtle on it and asked if I liked it, when I replied with yes she proceeded to put it on me and buy it from the vender.

Side note before I proceed: Today I was very taken aback by how generous my host family is. I could not believe all that they've done for me and I'm sure will do for me. It's amazing that there exist such people that will let a complete stranger into their house, who hardly speaks their language, and then proceed to feed them, keep them safe, show them around their country, and welcome them into their homes. I am so grateful for what a wonderful family I was placed with and will really cherish the time I get to spend with them.

Continuing on with my day; after we stopped at the tourist spot we went to a botanical garden, Jardin botanico, further up the mountain. It was beautiful, so many crazy flowers, plants, fruits, etc. Though the garden was beautiful, I think my favorite part was the drive there and seeing all the houses, farms, etc. and the little place we stopped for lunch afterwards. I was able to order my own food and drink; after being stared at by every single person at the restaurant when I walked it. That's another one of the difficult thing here, every single person stares at you when you go any where, and much of the time if they're male they then proceed to whistle, yell, honk, etc. at you which at first was really upsetting but now I'm slowly starting to get use to it. It'll be weird to come back home and NOT get whistled at while I walk down the street....

Anyways, I really enjoyed lunch. The best part by far was when it started raining while we were eating on the covered patio. I had yet to experience Costa Rica rain storms and it was absolutely wonderful. I was able to have a conversation again with my host mom about my likes when it came to food along with what I like to do back at home. It was really nice to finally be able to communicate and get to know my host family. After it stopped raining we headed back home and had afternoon coffee and bread. I love that my host family enjoys drinking coffee as much as I do and drinks coffee all day every day.

Tomorrow I start classes (bright and early) and actually have to do what I came here to do and not slack off. We'll see how classes go! Now off to watch the Heredia soccer game with my host family...

Until next time,
♥SEJ