Smiling in Costa Rica

Today my mom (Costa Rican mom) said something that would make my semester worth it if it ended today.

I went with her to see her mother today a little south of San Jose. I love my mom and love spending time with her. I am definitely closest to her in the family. Anyway. We are standing at the bus stop downtown, and she just kind of says nonchalantly, "Hannah, estoy muy contenta con usted." -Hannah, I am very happy with you. And I wasn't sure what she meant, so I said wishfully, "Con mi espanol?" Haha. What a joke. No, not my Spanish. But even better, "Con su persona"- with your person. Wow. That meant so much to me. I told her again how happy I was to be living with her family, and that I have the best family out of all the other host students. It really has been such a blessing to me.

Haha, and the funny thing is, when I first picked my host family (we drew our families out of a hat...), I was very nervous about it because I thought that my host sister was a boy! Haha. Because my dad is Chinese, all the kids have Chinese names. So all it said was Chuck- 25, Beiy-Sim-20, and Diego- 2. And I felt like I would probably feel awkward and out of place in a house with three boys. Well, as it turns out, I have one sister who lives with us, and Diego- my host nephew- is the cutest kid in the world and I love when he comes over every day. And an older brother, Chuck, who is married to a former LASP student from Seattle! So I totally scored the best family in San Jose.

Anyway. Other things from my week. As a stream of consciousness, this is what my week looked like.

I had a colony of ants living on my bedroom floor for several days. They also decided to inhabit my MacBook. Yes. They were living in my computer. Every time I opened my laptop several of them would be crawling across the keys and OUT OF the keys. I would just kill them, but after a few days of wondering where they were coming from, I searched under my desk and found the little colony. I debated for a few days telling my mom, but when I did, she pulled out a handy bottle of ant killing spray, and within an hour they were all gone. Today a few more crawled out of my computer, but hopefully this will end soon. :-)

I was lighting a candle the other day, and because I am incompetent at using matches, it took me a few tries to light the match. I was doing it too gently. By the time I lit the match, it collapsed in two and the lit part fell on my leg. So I have a nice little red welt/streak on my leg now.

I think I am getting better at hearing and comprehending Spanish. I really hope so. That is my biggest prayer right now. I just want to know Spanish so badly. Every day when I am here I am just dying more and more to fully comprehend it. I read the paper in the mornings in Spanish and look up words I don't know, I read my Spanish Bible, watch TV with my family, watched the presidental candidates debate tonight on TV ! (the election is in February!) obviously talk all day long with my family... I hope hope hope all of this is slowly building up in my mind. But there are days when I wake up and feel like I have regressed. Other people report the same thing, so it must be normal. Even one of the Spanish profs here said that you get worse before you get better. Definitely experiencing that some days.

Eating: I eat so much. The food is great. That is really a blessing- my host mom cooks delicious food and I really like the food here. Of course, I eat way more carbs than any person should, but its great. Today for breakfast I had a papaya smoothie (I have either papaya or pineapple or watermelon everyday for breakfast) and some homemade (made by yours truly) limeade for dinner. For lunch I ate several kinds of bread and for dinner rice, beans, and pasta. So I am definitely eating and enjoying everything!

The other day we were talking about things we missed- one thing that I didn't realize I miss is being able to just walk outside so easily and just really trust (or hope to trust) the people on the street. Here, once I am in my house at 6 pm, I really don't leave. Also, everything here is behind gates. I feel a little imprisoned. Both of my schools here and my house are both behind a tall fence with a lock. It is kind of sad. Whenever you see kids or dogs playing in their yards, they are separated from you by a high metal fence. Security isn't the greatest here... they tell us not to take pictures or bring our cameras with us because they will probably be stolen or at least highlight the fact that we are Americans and probably have cash or money on us. So I haven't taken any pictures yet. :-( So I definitely miss being able to walk outside freely and not live so fenced in. Also, I miss being able to walk down the street without getting tons of "piropos-" that is the Spanish word for cat-calls. I am not trying to sound snobby or cocky, because every single woman here gets a fair share of them. You will just be walking and guys will honk or yell out their windows anything. It isn't flattering at all. Blah.

Other things... um, I am reading this fascinating book on Nicaraguan history called "Blood of Brothers." I am writing a paper right now about US-Nicaragua relations. Very very interesting. The book is written by an American journalist, but he definitely criticizes the US's actions throughout time in Nicaragua. There are some things we did here that are embarrassing to read about, especially since some of the things happened in the past few decades. For instance, the fact that the US supported the Somoza dynasty which was completely oppressing and later on even brutalizing the people... however, the Somoza family was anti-communist, which was appealing to the US during the Cold War. So I'm learning a lot about Latin American history and politics. However, it is making me love my major, which is a blessing, because I frequently feel out of place within my major.

Well, that is my week in a nutshell! I will try and take some pictures of my family and the place where I have language classes. But I am doing very well. Missing you all, and hoping that life is treating you well. Love you very much!