Oh man...where do I even begin? The whole homestay experience is REALLY cool! It is so important to have an open mindset before going into it and to keep a positive outlook! I am forced to speak only Spanish and keep my little translation dictionary close by in case I get stuck. My family is so awesome. They have been hosting students for 22 years so they got the hang of the whole bad Spanish thing. Their house is like the size of my den at home, which makes me so appreciative of everything I am priveleged to have that I really don't need. What baffles me the most is that we go to bed SO early everynight! 8:30!!! I mean, I am definately tired by 8:30 after everything we do all day, but I am SO not used to that.
Last night was funny- I was helping mi madre cook dinner and it looked so good...it was rice with a bunch of veggies mixed in and then the trouble came... She pulled out a can of tuna and said "Me gutsta tuna mucho! Y usted?" (I like tuna ALOT, do you?) At that point, I couldn't say no, I said "mas o menos" (it's okay) But she dumped the can of tuna into the rice and it was game over from there. I hate tuna, but I ate it anyway. This is what I mean about open mindset and positive outlook...it's all part of the experience right? :) More about the food, I am getting used to drinking my coffee black because that is the only way they serve it to me. You just have to go with the flow. AND today, for lunch I had something very similar to Vienna sausages... yum ;) Enough about the food though, my family cooks very well but everything is just different.
Mi madre helps me with my Spanish homework every night. She wants to... as soon as I get home, she asks me if I have homework and she is always so eager to help. Last night after homework, I showed her pictures because she wasn't home when I showed the rest of my family earlier. She loved seeing pictures of my family. "Que lindo!" I also showed her pictures of me skydiving and our house at Christmas time...her jaw dropped and all she could say was "MUY LOCA!!" She is very easy to talk to and talks especially slow for me with lots of hand movements so I can understand. In about 2 hours, we are going to the wedding (it's for one of her friends who works in the kitchen with her). I am SO pumped. It will be cool to see what a wedding in Costa Rica is like, plus some of my other friends are going with their hometay families. Also, a lot of the UGA staff will be there and we have grown close to all of them. Everyone is like a huge family here. I don't have much more time to write because I have to walk back to my house and get ready.
Pura Vida!
(Side note: in case yall are wondering what "Pura Vida" means, it's just like THE phrase of Costa Rica. It means "Pure Life" which is the lifestyle they live. You say "Pura Vida" for hello, goodbye, when someone asks how you're doing, or when you're just excited. ) PURA VIDA!
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