Not sure where I am finding the time, but I get these odd bursts of wanting (and possibling being able) to write!?
I left you last with Saturday's events, so now, being Monday, I will try my best to recall yesterday and today.
Yesterday started out nice, I slept in a bit and went downstairs at about 9. I wasn't sure what to eat because in my contract with the program it says I am provided food for all meals everyday except Sunday. So I didn't eat. I made myself another coffee and did some email-checking.
At around 10 Patricia called (la tia de mi novio) and said she would arrive to pick me up at about 1pm.
I decided to take my chances and go for a walk around the neighbourhood, to try and find the Auto Mercado (super market) to get some food. I brought 20$with me, thinking it was worth a bazillion dollars apparently. When I arrived at the checkout I had the embarrassing job of taking items out of my list. One of the objectives of the trip was to get some colones (Costa Rican money) in return so that I would have some... So when that didn't happen, I was left over with about 50 cents, cookies, cheese and crackers (all part of a balanced diet). Awesome!
When I got home Patricia had already arrived and her and Jenn were habla-ing away in Spanish.
Jenn had told me earlier that her spanish was pretty bad, so when she was talking away and laughing with Patricia, I got all nervous because if she thought she was bad, then I felt whatever I would say would just be super poor! (kinda like the homeless around here.. damn.. we'll get to that later). I don't know why, but everytime someone who speaks spanish speaks to me, I freeze up and somehow convince myself that I have no idea what they are saying, and absolutely no idea how to respond. Aghhh.
We left the house, my belly full of all 3 cookies I managed to scarf down on the way back from the store, walking pretty quietly to the bustop. I found myself saying "repitita por favor mas despacio" more than too often, so we often caught ourselves in silence.
The buses here in CR are honestly made for short heavy people. And really, not everyone fits the bill! I mean, you gotta be short to fit confortably within the confines of the seat, and then you gotta be heavy to have enough inertia to keep yourself in the seat! Crazy drivers.. gotta love em.
We went in to the main center of town like Saturday, but this time to buy Dyna a gift for her birthday, as this was the occasion for today. Dyna is one of mi novio's cousins and she was turning 7.
Later we walked for a bit and took a taxi all the way to Hastillo 4 where mama lives. When we arrived at the house of abuela, a sense of comfort and homeliness ran over me, as if I were visiting babcia back home. You know that feeling?
Apart from the extreme language barrier, I had a great time at the house. I met mi novio's grandma and grandpa (finally) and they are a pleasure. Mama reminds me of my own babcia, and Fernando is pretty quiet, but I can tell he is a good man to his girls. I gave the kids their gifts and we ate and sang happy birthday to Dyna. I even got to play Princesses and Castles with Dyna. Everyone was sweet and welcoming, and some even tried to speak Ingles!! I am most impressed with the fact that Dyna's sister's name is Dayna. Go figure.
After the party we went to Patricia's house, and I met Fabian, her 25 year old son who works in Homicide. Fabian speaks some english and we conversed a bit about my plans. He has offered to take me camping on the beach (HELLS YES!!) and possible rafting (I haven't decided on this one... rafting for me is like, you do it once, and ya, thats enough).
In an attempt to communicate more with Patricia, at the house she had Internet, so I pulled up Google translator (THANK YOU PATRICK, for this idea) and started conversing. So cool. Technology was back on my side! Forget the escalators.
Jenori, Patricia's sister and mi amor's other tia, lives around the corner to Patricia, so I went there to get a ride home from Christian and Marilin, cousins about to have a baby. (They are not related, Marilin is the cousin, and Christian is her novio). I am excited because she will have her baby while I am here!! :) I am attending a shower for Baby Rauel this Saturday.
While at Jenori's house, I admire all of her plants, amazing tropical arrays of i-don't-know-whats to wow-those-are-pretty. She even had a Papaya tree growing in the backyard. CooooOOOOL. I don't love papaya.

So, finally, after a night of awkward conversation and alot of smiling politely, the day was over and it was time to go home.

Today was pretty boring, but very full.. We started with 4 hours of intense language training and then the day fizzled out in to homework and mini orientation presentations. Maria took me afterward to Mall San Pedro, and gigantic mall, similar to the Eaton's center, so that I could finally exchange some dinero. woot!

Best part of today though, Jenn and I making popcorn and rum-pina smoothies and getting more full than drunk!

Here's hoping the adventure continues and I can work on this pasty white skin of mine!

Good night!