Beautiful weather, beautiful people, great food, I must be in Costa Rica. I still can’t believe it. These past few days have gone by so fast; I haven’t had time to think. So many new sights, sounds, and experiences, it’s hard to process. For a kid who had never left the northeast before coming to Costa Rica, the experience so far has been nothing short of amazing. After all the planning, packing, organizing, etc., I barely had time to stop and think about the fact that I was leaving the country for the first time in my life (ok, I’ve been to Canada, but I don’t think that counts), and I wouldn’t be coming back for three months. So when I touched down in San Jose on Sunday, I didn’t even have time to be nervous. All of a sudden I was being dropped off at my host family’s house and being introduced to my home for the next three months. But so far, thankfully, everything has gone well. Even my Spanish, which I have found out still has a long way to go, hasn’t been terrible. I think, or better yet, I hope, I have been able to accurately communicate with my host family, although there haven’t been any shortage of laughs from them at my expense (at least they find my language efforts comical and not offensive). In any case, everything I read about Costa Rican hospitality and friendliness has turned out to be accurate. I truly have been treated like a part of their family from the second I walked in the door, and it has made everything that much easier.

So, more about my new family. There are, I think, seven, or possibly eight, people living in my house (I will explain later). First, there are my assigned host parents, Hilda and Carlos, both of whom are in their seventies. Originally, I thought these two were going to be the only ones I was living with, but it turns out, much to my surprise when I woke up on the first day, a few more. Also living in the house, or more accurately, an extension of the house, is their son, Eduardo, his wife, Laura, and their three kids, Paulina, Paula, and Nicholas (my guess at their ages is, in order, twelve, nine, and three). I would guess Eduardo and Laura are in their thirties. That gives us seven people. However, they also have a maid from Nicaragua, and I have never seen her leave or arrive at the house, so either she comes really early and leaves really late, or she also lives here. At this point, I’m going to guess she lives here too (she also eats meals with the family, so the evidence is really pointing to her living here). Anyway, it’s a great big Costa Rican family (well minus the maid, she’s Nicaraguan) and they couldn’t have been more welcoming. At almost every meal the whole family sits down together at the dinner table and talks, laughs, and genuinely seems to enjoy each other’s company. Eduardo and Laura only have one day off from work every week, and they spent it all hanging around the house, cooking, eating, talking, playing with their kids, and enjoying time as a family. It was really nice to see. Family is definitely a big part of the Costa Rican culture. The people here don’t have a lot in the way of material objects, but they enjoy what they have, and generally seem to have a good outlook on life.

I have a lot more to write about, but I’ll have to save it for next time.

Hasta luego!