This morning I walked to school with a couple of cows. After the hill, there is this stretch of road that goes to the Ecolodge (campus) and for the past two days a couple of punk-age cows have just been hanging out on that road. When I first saw them I was terrified that they were going to charge at me and kill me. But then I kept walking and soon realized that they were terrified of me. They turned and started walking away from me, looking back and giving me the eye every so often. So it was more of a me walking behind them and them running away from me, but whatever.

For breakfast I had a fat plate of plantains. I ate them all and loved every second of it.

I sat with my parents for like an hour talking about past students they've had and stuff. They gave me the perfect lead in to ask about coming back to stay with them after my program. So I asked and they said yes of course there will always be room for me in their house. Yay!

Insert classes/ lunch.

It rained all afternoon. I tried to wait it out to walk home, but then I realized that I could potentially be waiting until November. So I walked home in the rain just before it got dark with Tess and Tia. We were toying with ideas of what to do once the program is over. My personal fave is orbit around Costa Rica via bus. I'll keep you posted.

I got home and mi madre and I ate dinner together. The boys didn't like what she had made or something. Or they had already eaten? Why is my Spanish so weak? Then they gave me a mug of hot milk. Drinking straight-up milk normally makes me want to die, but this hot stuff was surprisingly decent. Except my stomach was a hot mess like as soon as the stuff hit my lips. Then mi padre gave me this glass of like hot liquid flan. Thick hot sweet milky something. It was good but I couldn't finish because my stomach was horribly angry with me.

After dinner we watched the movie "Mirrors." It was really good. Except after the movie I was really afraid to look into the bathroom mirror.

Oh and also Maria Jose gave her final performance last night. It was the craziest thing because Latin American Idol comes on at 7, but so does the news. So the news came on a little early, and every time Maria Jose started a song, the news would cut off and it would show her perfomance instead. Ridiculousness. Maria Jose was sick all week, but she pulled it out. Mi madre was crying. Literally. Tears down the woman's face. The winner will be announced tomorrow night. If Maria Jose doesn't win I am afraid of what mi madre will do.

Um so that's my day. Snoozefest, I know. Lo siento.

peace love and picaflor picaflor (playa playa)

This morning mi madre made me an omelet to put on my tortillas. It was so delicious. It was just my parents and I for breakfast, and we sat there for at least an hour talking. Mi padre was telling me about how he can't work at all this week and maybe not even next week on a project that needs to be done by December 1 because he was running two power tools on their one teensy power box at the site and then it stopped working. The family car also stopped working this weekend while I was away. So we can't make a family trip to Bar Amigo til it's fixed. Sad times!

After breakfast came the hill. I made it to the school in 25 minutes. Go me. I had also packed a shirt to change into. Go me again. It's just a matter of time before I master this stupid hill.

In Dean's class we have been talking a lot about the atrocity that is bottled water (my love). I am going to have to give it up for the greater good, I'm afraid. Sad day for Sarah. Sad day indeed. But honestly, it takes 3 gallons of oil to produce one of those stupid bottles that are intentionally made thin and fragile so that you can't reuse them. Then we only recycle 20% of plastic bottles, leaving about 1.5 million tons of waste per year. Ridiculous.

Lunch was a grave disappointment today. It was some sort of beef stew with over-stewed veggies floating in beef fat. And beans and rice. So I ate beans and rice, and a couple of tomato pieces when the salad finally came out. Thank goodness for Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif Bars. And for snacks. They had the delicious jelly biscuit things and peanut butter cookies. The kitchen staff is amazing.

In English lessons today we played Pictionary (Melanie, this is another game for you and I to dominate at). We went over parts of the house, which had the potential to be a very boring lessons, but Tess and I are awesome so it wasn't. I initially thought of charades, but I think we will save that for Thursday when we go over animals.

I walked home with Tess a little after 5. It was dark and rainy by 5:20. Yay.

When I got home mi madre asked if I was ready to dance. I said of course I was! And I told her that I told all my friends about dance lessons and that they were really jealous. She thought that was funny. We chatted some about our days before the boys got home. When Kevin walked in, he did the kiss thing with me but then he was like "tuanes" (which he explained is like "pura vida") and did like a handshake/ pound thing with me. This obviously means that we are now bff. Mi madre and I were hopeful that Kaylor would be in a better mood today. Our hopes were in vain, I'm afraid. He got home all smiles and kiss-things, and then when mi madre asked if he was going to dance with us he got all fussy again. He went to bed right after dinner so that no one could harass him about dancing. Weak sauce, Kaylor! Kevin cooked us dinner. It was amazing. It was just spaghetti but he made this sauce with fresh tomatoes and cheese and a bunch of spices. It was way good. I actually finished the serving they gave me, and I was proud of myself and made sure everyone at the table knew. Then Kevin pointed out that I had left a few grains of rice (yes, beans and rice do function as a side dish to spaghetti here). Bia bia.

We were all really tired tonight for some reason. So everyone but Kaylor sat and watched the 7:00 news and I was already nodding off. Mi madre asked Kevin if he was up for dancing, but he had mentioned earlier that his back was really hurting him and so he said tomorrow night instead, which was fine by me. We kind of had dessert tonight. It was these kind of sweet pita strips with strawberry jelly. Kevin told me to eat without shame, so I had two. He is just on my case, that one.

Now I need to pass out. Homestays are exhausting.

peace love and crunchy peanut butter clif bars

hola muchachos.

I knew it was going to be a good day when they served pancakes for breakfast this morning.

Deany Weany scheduled a high tea today at 3:30. He and Kathy are fabulous hosts. We had teas, juices, cookies, cracker/ pretzel things, and cheeses. Oh yes. Today was the day to try Choco Cheese. Choco Cheese does not deserve to be called a cheese. Just try to imagine: reduced fat Kraft American cheese slices, with a hint of chocolate. And as if the texture and taste weren't enough, Choco Cheese is brown. Brown like mud. Or poop. Not like cheese. Not by any stretch of the imagination is this horrible violation of nature like cheese.

Not that I actually expected to like Choco Cheese, but I expected to be able to see how someone could possibly like it. Beyond sheer curiosity, I cannot imagine another reason why anyone in their right mind would purchase this heinous excuse for a cheese. I guess they keep in on the shelves for the crazies and the suckas in the TOURISTA taxis. And for our guide from the cheese factory. Questions? Questions?

After high tea, we went back to our homestays. Lindsay decided to be a rockstar today and give us rides home in the truck. Go Lindsay.

I got some quality one-on-one time with mi madre when I got home. She is like the cutest woman ever. I am obsessed. She showed me my babies' new home. It has two lights and much more space so no more babies will die. Yay. Then I sat in the kitchen and did some homework and chatted with mi madre while she cooked dinner. Dinner was some delicious tico version of chicken fried rice. It was delicious, but of course I failed to finish the gargantuan portion that was served to me. Kevin and Kaylor, on the other hand, did not leave a single grain of rice on their plates. And Kaylor is sick. What the heck.

After dinner, I had dancing lessons with mi madre and Kevin. Kaylor refused to dance with us like a little punk. I would have been mad at him, but he makes the cutest angry face. It's like a kissy face--he just sticks out his lips as far as they can go. Freaking adorable. He said he was too sick and tired to dance, even to a single song. I was disappointed because mi madre was going on and on about how great of a dancer Kaylor is. He ended up passing out on the couch. Hopefully he won't be so lame next time.

Mi madre has SO many dancing CDs. She loves to dance. Tonight we worked on my meringue and cumbia. First I would watch mi madre do the steps with Kevin, and then she'd pass Kevin off to me. Kevin gave me a hard time for looking at my feet too much and for forgetting to keep dancing when he was doing a turn or something, but he was nice about it. He's a good brother. I had worked up a sweat by the time we'd finished. It was so much fun. They got to experience my hyena laugh for the first time, so they are fully initiated now.

Lessons ended when Kevin couldn't dance anymore because his knee was hurting him too much. I think he messed it up playing soccer, but I could be making that up because I can't focus on my dancing and on my Spanish at the same time. So then the three of us watched the news. There was this one terrible story about how every 20 minutes, a tica gives herself an abortion. Abortions are illegal in Costa Rica because the government is still tied to the Catholic Church, but apparently that isn't stopping anyone. It was this super graphic segment with re-enactments of two girls' stories, and there were all these horrible scenes with bloody bathrooms and girls sobbing and all that. It was awful.

Okay I can't end on that note.

In happier news: today they had delicious cake and pancakes out for snacks. And in Spanish, Kathy brought me plastic spoons to eat my jar of peanut butter with. And I get to do the kiss thing every day with my brothers. And I haven't totally forgotten all my French yet. And I'm in Costa Rica. Pura vida.

ciao.

peace love and Kaylor's kissy face

hello world.

Today is my two week anniversary in Costa Rica. Craziness. It feels like I have been here so much longer than two weeks. Our halfway point for classes was on Thursday, so we only have 8 more classes with Deany Weany and Jeff. Then we have our week-long midterm break in Montezuma, and then we'll start up with Ecology. Our program is way too short.

This morning we had breakfast at 6:15. We had all the staples--coffee, eggs, fruit, gallo-pinto (beans and rice), toast, and then Geovanny busted out the peanut butter and jelly to go with our toast. He's my hero. I stole the half-eaten jar of peanut butter because I'm b.a. Also because I'm a fatty.

Then our TOURISTA taxis came and picked us up at 6:45 for our 2 hour drive to our "rafting" trip. The first hour of the ride was standard ridiculous tico roads, and then the second hour was on paved roads. It was so weird. Dean put it best when he said, "My hemorrhoids have never felt so good!" Jeff was cracking jokes today too. Mostly about our tour guide from the Monteverde Cheese Factory. Her name was Sarah and she was this awful woman with a lisp who demanded us to ask questions after every sentence she spoke. "This is where the trucks deliver milk. Questions? Questions?" "This is cheese. Questions? Questions?" "This is a room. Questions? Questions?"

So anyways, because it's the rainy season, Lindsay was worried about sending us on an actual hardcore rafting trip because the rain makes it too hardcore, and so we were sent on a class I/II river. Fat snoozefest. I mean it was fun and I laughed a lot. I was in the boat with Dean, so I was entertained. But it was really more of a pleasant sightseeing float than anything else. We saw a lot of really cool animals--about a million jesus christo lizards (the ones that run on water) and iguanas, about 5 white-faced monkeys (our guide called them "Michael Jackson monkeys"), 3 howler monkeys, a bunch of different birds, and 4 crocodiles. Yes, crocodiles. The first one we saw was just like 3 feet and our guide Jose was like shh, sometimes they swim up to the rafts. I was like you must be joking, but stayed quiet with everyone else. Then Jose saw a jesus christo lizard and tried to get it to move for us, and so he splashed his paddle when we were like 2 feet away from the frickin crocodile. I was freaking out, but the crocodile stayed put. Then the next one we saw was a fatty--like 5 feet. Again nothing happened. By the third and fourth ones I really wanted one to come swim at us, and then not eat us. Some freaking excitement would have been nice. We stopped for a fruit and water break halfway through. We really needed it after all that intensity.. but whatever the pineapple and watermelon was delicious. After an hour and a half we got out of the river and drove back to where we started to eat lunch.

Lunch was delicious. Not in the non-beans-and-rice sort of way, just in the normal delicious food sort of way. They fed me strawberry ice cream so they have a special place in my heart.

The rain held up for us all morning. This morning on the drive over Kathy said "oh it's so nice out hopefully it will hold up for us," and Dean was like, "in your dreams." Ha. He tried to freak Ann out again today in the boat using his paddle. He tried to freak me out too, but he needs to understand that my own father has made me immune to such "What's that thing crawling up your arm?!" jokes. Thanks, dad.

So 2 hour ride back was pretty horrible. I was tired, but not tired enough to pass out so I couldn't fall asleep and now my neck is sore. Cayman, Abby, and I were really looking forward to a delicious snack when we got back, but instead there was a fat basket of wet flan. Not a delicious snack. Not even close.

Now it's 4 and I need to do something productive with my life.

peace love and frijoles chivas

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my homestay family? This morning at breakfast I told my fam that I was going to Bar Amigo tonight, and mi padre was like I don't know how I feel about you going...Are you going to be a good girl? I told him of course I was, and so he gave me his permission. It's okay if you're jealous that I have the cutest tico dad ever. They made fun of me again this morning for not eating enough. Mi madre called me a little bird because I only had one [half-plate] serving of gallo-pinto and one tortilla [the size of my plate]. Then I went to leave the house and had my weekend bag with me and mi padre was like why aren't you staying here this weekend? I told him I had stuff planned all weekend with my program and he was bummed. Then mi madre and Kevin told me to have a good weekend and sent me on my way. Mi padre was working in the driveway when I left so I yelled at him, "Adios Papa!" Homestays are great.

I was looking a HOT mess when I got to campus this morning. We were supposed to be leaving campus at 9 to go to Gilbert's farm, and I left my house at 8:37. So I had 23 minutes for my 30-minute [uphill] walk and I had my weekend bag with me in addition to my backpack. So panting/ sweating was increased tenfold. I still can't figure out why I thought it was a good idea to shower this morning. I dropped off my stuff in Abs' and my new room (D1) and ran back to the comedor to fix my packed lunch. Geovanny came up and asked me how I was doing. I was still sweating and red in the face and gross, so I told him caliente but not in the way he was thinking because I couldn't remember the right way to say it. He laughed and told me 'con calor' and gave me a cookie for my lunch. Love him. Then we sat down with Lindsay and she told us she can tell we are all freaking exhausted, so she's going to ease up our schedule. So no more crazy-full days like yesterday. Woo woo!

We walked over to Gilbert's farm in Finca la Bella at like 9:45 with Lindsay and Lucas. We spent the morning listening to Gilbert tell us the history of Finca la Bella, and then he showed us his coffee plants and fed us delicious oranges. We ate our lunches there (more pb&j--so good) and then headed back to campus for a free (gasp!) afternoon. I wrote a paper for Deany and was hoping to spit out another before dinner, but that didn't happen. Oh and apparently there was a fat landslide on la trocha (the main road to Santa Elena) and so there will be no going to Bar Amigo tonight. Sad times! Cayman and I told Geovanny that we will just have to bring Bar Amigo to us. It's more likely that we will get some quality One Tree Hill time in, but who knows things could get crazy.

I was feeling sick to my stomach all afternoon so I was pretty nervous about eating dinner, but Geovanny talked me into it. We had pasta with alfredo and rice. Love me some starches. I just had some salad, beans, and pasta with the sauce. Then I went into the kitchen to get some more water and Geovanny was scooping ice cream for dessert. I knew I shouldn't have it, but I was like Geovanny, how good is the ice cream? Like even though I have been sick to my stomach all day, should I eat it? He just handed me a bowl. Then I ate it all. Crap.

Then Cayman and I ate the bread they had out. It's like a cornbread but with cranberries in it. So good.

Now I kind of feel sick again. Why do I have no self-control??

peace love and free afternoons