I am obsessed with my new fam.

The walk to school this morning kicked my butt. At the end of the driveway, I looked at the road ahead of me and all I could see was uphill. I was panting within 5 minutes, sweating within 10. I literally had to stop and take a breather halfway up the freaking hill. I am a sorry, sorry excuse for a human being. It took me 30 minutes to get to campus, and another half hour to regulate my breathing and to stop sweating. Writing this for all to read really makes me feel sad about my life.

Oh another thing that made me feel sad about my life was my discovery that I can't make a bed. I thought it would be nice for me to have my bed all made up, but it just looked a hot mess. I guess that's what happens when your mother never makes you make your bed.

On a less pathetic note, I did not get lost. Woo woo!

Classes went well today. I got back my first paper in Environmental Sociology (A-) and my first composition in Spanish (100%). Go me.

I had English lessons with Jennifer and Susan today. I wrote up my very first lesson plan for it. We went over food, so I had a whole set-up with play food that Sarah 2 randomly had in her office and with stuff Geovanny stole for me from the kitchen. Jennifer brought in a recipe for watermelon rice pudding. It sounds delicious. It also sounds like it may get you drunk. Susan's recipe was for pizza with tomatoes, ham, and cheese. I was starving by the end of the hour, and the comedor was out of snacks! What? Don't they know that we estudiantes depend on those snacks to get us through our day? You can't just take something like that away. you just can't.

Well technically they had snacks today. We just ate all of the zucchini bread before lunch was over. But whatever. They should replenish.

After lessons, Tess and I walked back to mi casa because I am on the way to Tess's house (um, yes, Tess's walk is longer than mine. By about 15 minutes. And no she did not complain. It should come as no surprise that I tend to be a tad dramatic.). Tess wanted to come meet my awesome madre, but no one was at mi casa. I let myself in with the hidden key and Tess was like why don't you come over to my house and meet my mom? I wasn't too keen on walking more in the rain and then walking back home in the dark and in the rain, but food was promised to me so of course I caved. So 20 minutes down the road with more hills, we finally arrived at Tess's house. When we got there, her madre was fixing dinner, so I excused myself 10 minutes later when she went to serve dinner so that I could get back to mi familia. I made the trek back in the anticipated dark and rain only to find that my house was still empty. I could have sworn that my momma told me this morning that she had a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning so no one would be home on Wednesday night, but maybe I had misunderstood?? I called Tess's house to explain what was going on and to get the number to the campus. The campus number was busy, so I called Tess back and she said her madre said I could stay there. So I packed my bag and made my way back over to their house in the pitch black and stupid rain. Tess's mom fed me like I was pregnant with twins, and I ate what I could. Then came cookies and helado. Delicious coffee helado with nuts. Oh baby.

Tess's madre called up Lindsay to explain what was going on, and Lindsay was just as confused as I was because she had spoken with Marielos earlier that day about the doctor's appointment that she also thought was on Thursday. That made me feel less dumb. Then Marielos called. She and Olivier were at the casa. They had run to town to buy a few things and forgot to leave me a note. So Olivier came and picked me up in his car and I told him my lengthy story about my afternoon. I was pumped that I could articulate everything that had happened. Then when we got back to the house Marielos had me close my eyes and she led me inside saying she had a surprise for me. When I opened my eyes, I saw that mis bebes had arrived! One hundred baby chicks. I love all of them. I only had like 15 minutes with them before Olivier took them out to their little heat lamp casa. But they are freaking precious and I want to steal one. Or three. I'm going to get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning with Marielos so I can go feed them. Then I will just hang out before classes.

Tonight it was just me and mis padres because the boys are already at their grandparents house for the doctor's appointment. It was so great. We just had this wonderful conversation about all sorts of random things. We talked about drinking and soccer and what makes their marriage work as well as it does. I wish I could speak Spanish as well as I can understand it, but I manage. I told them I think that I have the best homestay family. I totally do.

I'm really looking forward to coffee in the morning. Mi familia has the best coffee ever. No lie. It's grown right around here and is totally organic and natural and amazing. I told Marielos about how I drank like 5 cups a day last week and so I'm trying to cut back and now it's a running joke. I have a running joke. In Spanish. How cool is that? So cool.

Oh and also today Marielos called me su hija. Ah!

I do have one problem with my homestay: flying bugs on steroids. I stay up later than the rest of the fam so my light is the last one on. There are no tops on the walls so every bug in the house gravitates to my beacon. I killed three of satan's spawns with my poetry book last night, and then just went to bed with my covers pulled up over my head. Not before I searched my bed, mind you. No cigarette burns on my lips, so my efforts were not in vain. I have yet to kill any sizable ones tonight, but I am not opposed to using force if given reason to. Obviously.

Missy has pretty much stayed away from me, but she did push open my door a minute ago, which freaked me out. The door is locked now. I really just do not understand the appeal with cats. Ew.

Oh and also my biological mother is out of the doghouse in case anyone was wondering.

ciao.

peace love and mis bebes.

So far so good. I got to my homestay at 4 this afternoon and I was kind of freaking out. On the ride over I quizzed Lindsay on the names of all my family members and asked what the heck I was supposed to do in the 2 hours before we ate dinner. Fortunately for Lindsay, I was the first to be dropped off in our truckload of estudiantes so I only had time for a few stupid questions. She hopped out of the truck, said hey to Marta  and Marielos, then got back in the truck and peaced out. Marta was on her way out when I got there because she has classes tomorrow morning at university. So she and Olivier, mi tico padre, left and it was just Marielos and I for the afternoon. It was surprisingly not awkward at all. We talked for the first hour and a half straight. Like legit conversation. She understood all of my broken Spanish and even some of my misplaced French, and I understood most all of what she was saying. I think that I am going to love being here. Marielos is a fabulous cook and says she will teach me how to cook some things. She mentioned tortillas.. She also told me she will teach me how to dance because she LOVES to dance. She also does a lot of embroidery and painting and jewelry-making, and is really good at all of it. She has two birds that she loves. They are named El and Ella (he and she). At some point in our conversation, she took me to the backyard to see their chickens. They sell chickens to the community. They have like 500 out there. It's crazy. There are different sections for each age group in the shed. There's a little room with a heat lamp for the babies (which are currently mia), then four caged-in areas: one for two weeks old, one for three weeks old, one for four weeks old, and one for the ones ripe for the pickin. Marielos let me help feed them. I didn't want to feed the oldest ones because they are psychotic and violent, but I fed the two-week old babies. They're cute. Marielos picked one up for me to hold while she went and got their water. Then she explained the process of preparing the pollo for sale. They have three plastic milk jug-looking things stapled upside-down on the fence with the bottoms and necks cut out, and she explained to me that you shove the chicken in there face-first so you can chop their heads off. Bah! Then they stick the headless chickens in a vat of boiling water to loosen the feathers slash make sure they're good and dead. Then they pluck all the feathers off and clean it up. It's a whole family affair and they do this every Saturday. Unfortunately for me, I am not around on Saturdays, but Marielos said we might can do it during the week this week because she has a woman wanting to buy some on Thursday. Woo woo!

So I think I might have fleas. Mi familia has two dogs and a cat. I didn't touch the cat because cats are gross, but I did play with the dogs a bunch. The cat's name is Missy and the dogs are Sassy and Boni (like bonita). The dogs are adorable, but there's going to be hell to pay if I have freaking fleas.

Olivier's dad came around at one point. He was there to get las drogas from Marielos (nothing sketchy, it was packaged medicine). I tried talking to him but could not understand a word he said for the life of me. He spoke really quietly and barely moved his lips like his teeth would fall out if he opened is mouth too wide. He didn't stay long, but he lives just down the road so I'm sure I'll see mi abuelo again soon.

Marielos showed me some pictures of the fam and what her future house is going to look like, and I showed her pictures of my family. She couldn't get over how young and beautiful my momma is :) Oh, and they have a picture on the wall of the three kids and two of the guys I danced with at Bar Amigo! Marielos said Leo is her bff. It's a very small community, getting smaller each and every day.

My brothers came home a little after 6 from collegio. Kevin is 18 and Kaylor is 13. Yeah definitely a boy.. oops. When they came in we did the kiss thing. I love the kiss thing. They were both really nice to me but we didn't talk all that much. Olivier came home shortly thereafter. I know that this family has had so many students pass through, but I totally felt like I made them feel awkward at dinner. I don't know why, but no one was really talking. And as much as I enjoyed my convo with Marielos, I was not about to lead a dinner conversation. I was kind of worn out. But, whatever, dinner was delicious. Rice, beans, salad with lots of tomatoes, and plantains. And salsa lizano, mi favorito. We drank this disgusting thing that was like water with this weird dairy-esque powder stirred in. Ew. I hope no one saw the faces I was making each time I swallowed. They didn't offer me anything else and that's what everyone else was drinking, plus Marielos said it's good for the stomach, so I just suffered through it. Tomorrow night I may have to go back to my new love, though: tico tap water. After dinner we watched a little TV before I excused myself to go study. Which is what I should be doing now. Ugh. Dean, why all the reading?!

Tomorrow morning I will be making my first walk to campus. By myself. I know I am going to get lost. It doesn't matter how simple the walk is, it is a thirty-minute walk involving more than one road. Thank you, Gunters, for my fabulous sense of direction.

Wish me luck. I will most definitely be needing it.

hasta manana.

peace love and the kiss thing.

buenos tardes, muchachos.

Katie Yang has suggested that I write too much about myself and not enough about mis amigas. So here's an update on my peeps:

Cayman dropped creative writing today because she was taking more classes than the rest of us were and it was crazy stressful for her. So she discovered a downfall of the small classes: the awkward situation that presents itself when you have to go up to your teacher and tell him that his class of three is now a class of two, and then have lunch with him an hour later. Yikes. But she already seems happier so yay for her. Our homestays start today, and the advice she received was if the oldest son, Ronald, tries to molest her, kick him. So that's exciting. Also she posted pictures on facebook. It took her like 2 hours to upload an album so you should check it out.

This morning Abby woke to find her clothes under siege. An entire colony of ants made their way into her laundry bag last night and literally ate her clothes. I am talking full-on holes. Shirts, pants, sports bras, you name it. Eaten. She is our volunteer superstar, of course. She has taken on more projects than anyone else combined I think. We won't be roomies for the next two weeks, which is sad. I will miss waking up to her beautiful shining face. And I'm sure she will miss me keeping her up at night with my coughing fits.

Tess thinks she has the flu. She gets nauseated whenever she tries to eat anything and is tired all the time. Poor Tess. She even skipped out on our waterfall adventure. I love her just the same, though.

Ann is super stressed out about starting homestays in addition to everything we already have going on, but she will be fine. She's so sweet.

Tia is crazy as ever. I love her very much. I think she has been included in my blog a fair amount lately so that is all. She's awesome.

This morning I woke up and FREAKED because I had a bug bite on my lip. Bad news. My first thought was the kissing bug, which Zack talked to us about at the butterfly garden. If it had been the kissing bug, though, it would have looked like a fat cigarette burn and would have killed me in 30 years.

Okay I am leaving for my homestay now. Wish me luck!!

hey hey.

We just got back from our waterfall hike. It was freaking awesome. Just a ways down the road from campus there is this sweet trail that leads you to this massive waterfall that is absolutely breathtaking. For once, I was dressed appropriately, in shorts, chacos, and all things water resistant. We had to wade in a couple of rivers, and running water covered parts of the trail, and then it rained the entire way back. Tia actually jumped into the freezing water when we got to the waterfall. She is one crazy gringa. Dean thinks she OD'd on rice. It's a good possibility. After our hike, we had lunch with the woman who owns all the property up until about 50 meters away from the waterfall. She and her family are responsible for the upkeep of the entire trail. She was so sweet and fed us delicious bananas. She invited us to come back whenever. We can help with picking the oranges and limes she grows, or just come back to walk the trail again. I intend on indulging in both. For lunch I had pb&j. Oh my gosh so delicious. I have missed peanut butter so very much. And it has only been one week. Yikes.

The Ecology group got back to campus last night. They are from all different schools and they all seem really cool. It's weird that we are like sharing campus with them now. We had breakfast with them this morning and they have challenged us to a volleyball match. They have been talking a lot of smack, but they'll see what's up later this afternoon when we play. Rutledge and intramurals have me conditioned to dominate. Losing is not an option.

This morning's breakfast is a new fave: huevos con tomates, el pan tostado, la mermelada misteriosa, el gallo pinto, las frutas, y el cafe. Delicioso. After breakfast we went and sat in on a lecture about Costa Rican geography with the Ecology program, then we set out for our hike.

Last night was way fun. It began with the Quaker school pizza night and talent show at 5. We got there right at 5 and were super awkward because everyone knows everyone else in their little community. But whatever all of the pizza was homemade and amazing, and all of the parents were awesome hippies. We basically spent our entire time there eating and people-watching. It was great. We came up with nicknames for all of our favorite people. Creepy? Slightly. Don't worry about it. The talent show was like a community-wide thing. It was a very eclectic bunch of performances. There were cute little 3rd graders acting out a story, some bluegrass music, poetry readings, a darth vader with star wars music on the piano, and a crazy banjo man. My fave was this older couple that did the Cajun two-step. Oh my gosh they were so precious. They were all smiley and giggly at each other and just so adorable. It made my heart melt. We told our taxi driver to come get us at 8 so we ended up having to leave at intermission. We took two taxis on the way to school, but we only needed one on the way back because it was downhill. Love me some tico taxis.

So we got back to campus at like 8:30 and we were all pretty tired. I miserably watched espn.com as the dawgs struggled through the second half of the game against bama. Dean, Kathy, and Jeff had been watching the entire game. It's a really horrible way to watch if you have not yet had the experience--watching little instant messages pop up about penalties and interceptions and all sorts of bad news. Depressing stuff. At some point I walked off to go to the bathroom and passed by the K/Carlas, Tess, Tia, and Geovanny. They stared at me and made me feel awkward then Tia asked me if I wanted to go dancing. I said why not, and a second later Geovanny was on the phone getting a taxi for me, Tia, Tess, and himself. 15 minutes later, we were in a cab on our way to Bar Amigo. I freaking LOVE Bar Amigo. 3 hours of crazy loud music and dancing and fog machines left me a sweaty mess absolutely reeking of smoke and all things bar. It was SO much fun! I made new friends and danced the meringue and then just danced like the crazy gringa I am. I was shamelessly breaking it down and loving every second of it. I mostly danced with Geovanny and his friends, but the first guy who grabbed me to dance is a sophomore at the University of Maine. Seriously? He was a cutie but he couldn't dance so he had to go. But yeah it was just a crazy fun night and I can't wait til next time when we get the rest of the girls to come with us.

Umm the rest of the day was cool too. I'm trying to remember what we did.. Okay I just consulted with Abby and now I remember. So in the morning we had french toast and all the other standard breakfast staples and then after breakfast we had our homestay orientation meeting. We just went over the basic do's and don't's of homestays and then found out who we are staying with. I will be with a couple and their 18-year-old son (weird?) and their 12-year-old daughter. Wait I think it's girl. Crap. I can't even remember that. And you know I do not even vaguely remember their names. I guess I will just figure it out tomorrow when I'm dropped off at their house. Ahh! I'm a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. The whole Florie experience just sort of screwed up my feelings about exchange programs, but I'm sure it will be great. Right? Right.

At 10 we went to the botanical garden to plant trees with Lucas. It was so great. Lucas is so cute and Dean was just cracking jokes the whole time. I don't know what I am going to do with myself when he leaves. I planted 3 baby trees before it started pouring on us. It was just before lunchtime anyways so we went over to the palace for high tea with Dean and Kathy. Then we had lunch and then free time until we left for the Quaker school at 4:45. Free time was spent reading for my classes and trying to nap [to no avail].

I'm really glad we went to Bar Amigo last night because otherwise my first Saturday in Costa Rica would have been a fat snoozefest to read about. Plus it shows how awesome and spontaneous I am. So go me.

Okay sorry that was so awkwardly ordered and confusing, but I don't much feel like going back and fixing it. So just deal.

peace love and pura vida

Hey.

Today was a very very long day. Bear with me.

This morning we woke up super early for our 6:45 am breakfast. I put on some bumpin tunes to get Abs and I moving. Apparently, our fellow Bungalow D residents had not woken up before Rihanna came blaring through the paper-thin walls. Oops.

Super delicious breakfast, but what's new. El cafe, las frutas, los huevos, el pan, el gallo pinto, y la marmalada. After breakfast, we got into our taxis that read "TOURISTAS" across their backs. Nice. We [slowly] made our way over to the Quaker colegio on the tico roads made of rocks and potholes. The school is way cute. It's a private school for pre-K through 12th grade, and there are 95 students total. The assistant director of the school, Risa, took us on a tour. First we went and saw the pre-Ks and kindergartners. Freaking precious. The woman who teaches them does Montessori-style teaching and alternates weeks speaking in English and Spanish. I want her job. Can't you see me doing that? So anyways we sat in on the high school "town meeting," which is where the students discuss various topics pertaining to school policies, after-school activities, etc. There were two "clerks" who led the meeting, and it was like pulling nails when they tried to get any feedback whatsoever. Everyone was just too cool to care. This one clerk was so adorable. I felt bad for him. Oh and also there was a Jesse Pisor look-alike taking minutes. I wanted to give him a hug because Jesse is my favorite person to get hugs from, but I resisted. After the town meeting we went into the Quaker meeting room, and Risa gave us the lowdown on Quakers. Would someone please tell me what the catch is? Why do we think Quakers are weirdos in the US? She explained it as being a way of life as opposed to a religion, with a focus on peace, pacifism, honesty, truth, etc. They have these "meetings" where they spend an hour in silence, and if you feel so inclined you may stand and preach a message. This message is not pre-planned, and may or may not include references to Jesus or even to God. Quakers can be Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, whatever. They have these meetings every Wednesday morning from 9-10 and every Sunday morning from 10-12. We are going to one. Tomorrow night, they are having a pizza dinner and a talent show so we will most definitely be hitting that up.

After the Quaker school we had like a half hour before our taxis came to get us so we ran over to the cheese factory for a mid-morning snack. Oh yes, at 9:30 in the morning we were all stuffing our faces with ice cream. I had mint chocolate chip. Oh my gosh it was so good. I really want to go back and try the "fried cheese." Apparently it's delicious. As are their milkshakes and cheesecake and just about everything else they have.. Yikes. There was one question mark, though. They sell "choco cheese." What. It's packaged like American cheese, but it's brown and makes me want to vomit. Apparently they just started producing it last year in hopes of appealing to tourists. Lo siento makers of delicious dairy products, but this tourista thinks that shiz is loco.

Insert more off-roading in old school taxi bus here.

We had one more esquela to stop at before lunch. It was a public professional and technical colegio. Unfortunately for us, we arrived just as the entire student body was getting on buses to leave for a band performance they had this afternoon. We didn't let that rain on our parade, though. We had a tour with the cutest little man named Heraldo. He was great and got so pumped whenever he said anything in English right. We got the history of the school and a basic run-down on the Costa Rican public school system. In Costa Rica, most public schools go from February to December and most schools only have half-days. You are only required to go to school through the 6th grade, and public schools only offer up through 11th grade. You know how I love fun facts. So we went on this nice little hike on a trail they have on campus. I very intelligently donned my rainbows this morning as we were getting ready, so hiking was good for me. We saw the most ginormous tree on the trail. It's this monster tree that actually starts out as an innocent-looking vine, then finds a tree to latch onto, and then conquers. Badass.

For lunch we went to Lucia's. For our appetizer, we had tortillas with beans, veggies, and the freshest guacamole and salsa ever. Then I had the eggplant con queso. It was so incredible, except thinking about it now really makes me nauseated. It was rich like you would not believe. And I just went to town. I was apparently really having cheese withdrawals. Jenny J, I think only you can appreciate this. So yeah I ate my weight in cheesy goodness, felt like I couldn't eat another bite, and then had cake. And not just any cake. Tres leches cake. I was kind of freaked out when they brought me a cake that was leaking slash forming a puddle on my plate, but then I took a bite and did not look back. Sometimes I wish I had self-control.

After lunch we went to the butterfly garden. It was pouring rain, but the whole first half of our tour was inside with all of the gross bugs and insects (two different things, remember?). Tarantulas, beetles, and cochroaches--oh my. Not to mention the praying mantus that ate a pregnant fly. As the praying mantus was going to town on the mama fly, all of these maggots were just pouring out of its mouth. Sick nasty. Then our guide Zack goes, "Oh man. Check out the babies playing with their dead mom's wing. That would be like if you were born and your mom was being eaten by a lion." Really, Zack? Really? Zack was crazy passionate about all of the different bugs and insects, and it made me want to find what the heck it is that I could be so passionate about. At one point, he grabbed a moth off of the wall and put it on the web of this huge spider in one ridiculously fluid movement so that we could watch the spider eat. And eat she did. She raced over to the panicked moth and wrapped that baby up in silk, but not before injecting it with her venom to kill it. It was pretty sweet. After that we went through the actual butterfly gardens, where we got to release the butterflies that were ready to be released. Very cool.

Then we went to this weird conservation talk. I think it was a conservation talk anyways. Something about the children's rainforest? I wish I could tell you what happened, but I'm pretty sure we all nodded off at one point or another. Yikes. I felt bad for the very strange man who was doing the power point. But I mean he seemed to be having a good time. He laughed a lot--at himself. Plus he had on this great hat. It was like a houndstooth newsboy cap. How can you not be having a good time in a hat like that? What mostly freaked me out about him though was his really disgustingly long pinky nails. All other nails were normal lengths, and then there were those pinkies. Ew. I don't want to talk about it. They had snacks, so I guess that was nice. He also had a semi-cool story about how he came to be in Costa Rica. It sounded to me like he was a fat hippie back in the day. Unfortunately, 43 years later, he is giving power points to sleeping audiences. And doing cocaine--question mark?

After the thrilling power point, we all decided that Bar Amigo was probably not going to happen tonight. Well, Tia and new Sarah went to town in hopes of watching the debate on tv, but the rest of us came back for dinner and One Tree Hill. We started season one tonight, and I am loving it. It's about time I understand the incestuous relationships of Lucas, Nathan, Peyton, Brooke, and Haley. Quality stuff right thur.

There is a new fam on campus. The momma teaches at the University of Utah, and so Dean found it appropriate to jump up and give her a cheer-- arm movements and all. The man just gets better every day. I can't get enough of him. Dinner was good but I wasn't that hungry and I don't want to talk about what we ate because I feel sick. I know exactly why I am feeling sick, too. Last night, the hot chocolate made me SO sick-- to the point that it woke me up in the middle of the night. Then tonight, because I have no self-control, I talked myself into having half of what I had last night. Did I take the hint when I went to pour the hot chocolate and the spout was clogged with cow fat? Of course not. Did I take the hint when I went to take my first sip and had to stop and spoon out a piece of skin/ cow fat? Of course not. I went right on drinking until that last quarter inch that was chunky enough to make me stop. So gross. Tonight's dessert was rice pudding. I still am not sure if I liked it. I think I did. I mean I finished it. I just don't know how I feel about the texture..

Wow I just re-read that and I sound REALLY fat. I'm going to go drown my sorrows in cake or something.

Deuces.

peace love and choco cheese.