COSTA RICAA!!!

 Hello everyone! I´m sorry I haven´t had a chance to write earlier- for those that wait so patiently ;)

I don´t really know how to start...Costa Rica is amazingggg!!!!!  I will just write some bullet points because there are a million things I could talk about.

-It is TRUE that there are no "real" addresses here....it´s always like "This neighborhood, 100 meters past the supermarket, 500 meters east, left hand side, beige house". Seriously! The night we got dropped off was (very late) but very entertaining because the busdriver would have to call the family when we were nearby and they would help him find the house.

-I feel VERY at home here! Maricruz and Henry (my host parents) are very nice and generous and it isn´t hard to talk to them.

-Everyone calls me SOOsan  :) Ximena (hee-may-na), the girl, is already my best buddy and Jose Andres is the CUTEST baby in the whole world! I feel so lucky!

-I have my own little bedroom and bathroom...there is a small area that is outside but covered inbetween my room and the kitchen. (therefore I wake up about 6:30 am due to the children :) But guess what!?? I go to bed around 9-10!

- Dennys is VERY popular here...and obviously Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell...

-All the girls wear long pants everyday despite the humidity and heat.

-I went on a coffee field tour the other day, and the landscape is sooo beautiful here! There may or may not be some coffee on the way...;)

-I don´t really think i experienced culture shock...I haven´t been sick yet...which is good I guess! I guess I don´t really think about my "past life" very much when I´m in such a different world!

-It is nice and sunny and hot in the morning and then about 12-1, without fail, the clouds come without fail and it downpours...DOWNPOURS...usually the rest of the day. Today is the first day, and pretty rare, that it didn´t rain!

-Tomorrow i´m going to take the bus by myself for the first time! It´s harder than it sounds...:) Usually Henry takes me to school in the mornings. It´s only about 5 minutes away.

-Saturday-Sunday we went to Orosi, the village that Maricruz grew up in. Her parents and most of her 9 siblings still live there (it´s cool, theres a foresty backyard and beyond that they added on more rooms, and a covered kitchen area. One of my favorite parts were the hammocks that were outside (in the covered area). Ahh...so relaxing! Orosi is a small town in a valley with huge mountains all around! It was so pretty. I went on a swinging bridge over the river yesterday. Also swam in the hot springs swimming pools nearby. Some of Maricruz´s younger brothers liked singing and playing American songs for me, haha. I felt very at home there. Oh, also, Maricruz´s mom told me the average number of kids they have (or had, when she was younger)  there is 10-15!

-"Pura Vida" is the common Tico saying...it serves as a greeting, or as a "don´t stress out" or "it´s ok" or "relax"...etc. My Tica mom always tells me ¨Relajate" (relax!) if I get up from the table too soon, or if I ask to help with something, or if I seem in any kind of hurry :) It is a very peaceful lifestyle, even in the city!

-Today I started my Spanish classes. I´m with 2 other girls and a teacher. It seems like it will be fun! And since it´s so small, we can do different things and go outside a lot (which obviously I´m a big fan of if I can tomar el sol...sunbathe :)

-I was a little nervous going into the trip because I didn´t know anyone, but it has been good and I made a friend that I sat next to on the plane, Jill! She is really nice and not into the partying like most of our group. I´m really thankful! And we´re in the same group (Biodiversity of conservation) that goes on excursions.

-There is a LOT of barbed wire here...the spirally kind on top of the gates. Usually means a sketchier area. Most of the better areas around here are gated, and there´s a man that sits in a little shelter hut thingy and manually lifts the barricade (the kind that are in parking lots, airports,e tc.)

-I blend in a lot more here than Mexico because here there are a variety of looks due to the Spanish influence--a lot more pale skin, pale eyes, pale hair. A few Ticos have asked me questions thinking I was Costa Rican! Or just assuming I know Spanish..:) haha.

-I don´t really have much sense of time or day because my phone doesn´t work, there are hardly any clocks at the Uni, or in the house....but somehow I always manage! 

-I haven´t been going through FB withdrawals like I thought I would!

-Henry brought in a little elipitical machine that I can use!

-The food is very good, pretty simple, but good. Rice and beans, all three meals. In the morning, some kind of delicious fruit (s) and or cereal (corn flakes). For lunch and dinner, chicken is most popular with a simple salad. Yesterday we ordered Pizza Hut (McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut deliver here :) which was good, and today we had hamburgers. For drinks, there is usually Fresco (juice mixed with water). ETC.

-I´m sorry I don´t have pics this time but I´ll try before Friday when I leave on an excursion. Hopefully it won´t be too complicated.

-Maricruz gave me a pair of pants that didn´t fit her anymore and they fit perfectly and now I look somewhat like a Tica :) (BTW Ticos are Costa Ricans, it´s what they call themselves.)

-Everyone dries their clothes outside on a clothesline.

-I watched Santa Claus 3 in Spanish on TV yesterday with Xime :)

-Ok...sorry this was kind of a boring post but there´s just so much to say I´m a little bit overwhelmed! And sorry if my grammar was bad...I rarely even think in English :) Feel free to ask me questions if you have them :)

-Love you all and hope you´re day is nice and sunny :) Please pray that the Lord will continue to give me strength to be doing everything and to love everyone who I´m surrounded by.

Pura Vida!

Susan