Hello Everyone!
This should be dated March 8, 2011. I’m writing this on word before transferring it onto the internet. Sorry for disappearing for a while. It turns out that I ended up at a house without internet, which I’m assuming that you’ve figured out from the lack of posts, e-mail, and facebook updates. Well, not only am I in a house without internet, I’m in a town without internet. Hahaha. But just before you start to freak out, the next town is only a mile away and I can get to an internet café pretty easily…the only issue is time. I don’t have time for anything these days! I guess I could always try to use the internet at one of my peers’ houses after one of our training sessions that takes place in the larger towns. We’ll see.
So about the time thing, Peace Corps training is no joke. They pretty much have every hour planned out from 8-5 everyday, and the time that I’m not training, I’ve got tons of homework that I have to do. Add that to hanging out with my friends and bonding with my host family, and getting home before it gets too dangerous out at night, and there really is no time for anything else. It’s really kind of crazy. I don’t have time for sleep. My sleep time has been severely cut. If you know me at all, you know how big of a sacrifice that is for me, but I guess I had to start waking up before 10 eventually. I just wish that it wasn’t before 7 everyday. On the bright side, I’ve only been with my family for 4 days and already my Spanish has improved immensely. I still need to work on my grammar though. But I really have to give it up to Berlitz, man, they totally helped me brush up on my high school Spanish. I ended up in the Intermediate Spanish group, which is way beyond what I expected. See Mom, I really was doing work all those days.
So, I guess I should talk about my family a bit. They are super nice. They can be a bit over-protective, but they are just so welcoming. I guess I should be more descriptive, huh? I live with a mom, her daughter, and her granddaughter. In the back lives her son and his wife and their daughter. I don’t see the Andres’ (the son) family all too much, but they are really cool too. Today, he told me he always wanted a little sister and that he should think of his house as mine too. It was really sweet. Adriana (the daughter) basically loves all my clothes. That’s right everyone, especially you Pres girls!, I am fashionable here. Everything I wear from my shoes to my sunglasses are a huge hit. My days of being a slob are over. Which is hilarious because I didn’t really buy anything new to come out here.
Anyway, I already have some stories for you guys. The first night that I moved in with my family, I was in my room contemplating getting ready for bed even though it was barely 8, when my host mom came in and asked me if I wanted to go with her to buy milk. I’m thinking, “Well, I’m exhausted, but it would be good to explore my new town. I should go.” So, after agreeing to go, we walk up the street in a different direction from the town. I find out we’re going to her brother’s house. I figure, “Cool, I just got here. She wants to introduce me to her family. Quick stop before getting milk.” Then after some small talk, we get into the car and I think, “Oh man, we must be going to a supermarket that’s far if we need a car to get there.” So then we pick up a neighbor and I’m starting to get a bit confused. Maybe this neighbor also needs to get stuff at the market. He jumps into the car and we start to drive. My confusion grows as I realize that we are definitely not going to the store since we passed about 50 of them on the way to where we are going. We finally stopped at someone’s house, and I realize we’re at a party. It was pretty hilarious. Super fun, but I was exhausted and had no idea what was going on since I speak minimal Spanish. We didn’t even get milk that night.
Oh, but there is one good thing about where I live. Another PCT (Peace Corps Trainee (oh get ready for all the acronyms, because the PC seems to really love them)), Claire lives on my street. It’s pretty cool considering we’re the only ones in our town, but it’s even more cool that she’s pretty awesome. It would be terrible if the only other person who I can speak to normally was someone I didn’t get along with. So, we basically hang out when we have free time or have to go over homework together.
Oh and yesterday I introduced Claire to Scrabble Slam and then we introduced it to my host sister and her boyfriend. That’s right people, I just introduced Scrabble Slam to Costa Rica! We have to play in Spanish of course, but it’s actually an amazing way to learn some Spanish words and bond with my family at the same time. I lost all 3 games that we played.
So, I think that’s about it for now. Oh, about my Spanish, I feel like my sister’s dog Bentley all the time: Staring really hard at people trying to figure out what they are saying. Then I just flash that Suba grin that my family is known for and say, “Si.” I have never been more agreeable in my life, and that’s saying something if you know me at all.
Oh, and I almost forgot, while I am super happy and busy here, I hope that everyone at home, especially my family knows that I think about you all the time and I miss you tons. I definitely was having a tough time a few days ago when I realized that I was missing the 40 days thing for my Dad and that I might not be able to skype in. So, don’t think I left and forgot about you. My time here is going to be filled with ups and downs, and I’ve already started the ride.
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