Funny Story

This morning I caught up with my friends from the U.S. One of them had a very funny story to tell me, and because he isn`t following my blog, I can tell it. My friend speaks almost no Spanish, and his first days here were very hard for him . AFS tells foreign exchange students to smile, nod, and say yes for the first few days with the family, or at least that is what my friend thought. When he met his family for the first time, he was enthusiastic and happy, even though his family seemed rather sad. He didn`t have a clue what his family was saying, so he continued to nod and smile.
The next day his host family invited him to church. He thought it was rather strange, going to churh on a monday, but he went. When he got to the church, he continued to nod, smile, and be genuinely friendly, even though the people seemed very sad and confused by his actions.
Then my friend noticed the coffin in the middle of the church and he understood. The day before his host parents had been explaining to him that his host grandmother had died, and they had invited him to the funeral. Needless to say, he will not make that mistake again.

Life and the Beach

As of tomorrow I will have been away for a month, and I would like to say that I am completely settled in. I know how to walk to school in under 10 minutes, be at home by curfew, buy things at cheap prices, and live without an iPod and cell phone for a month, what was previously thought to be impossible. Life here is beautiful. I am not sure how, but there must be five more hours in a day because there is always time for everything. My host family and I are getting along very well, and I have made friends both in the youth group and school. The people here are very friendly and I don`t find myself bored very often. 

Monday I went to visit my host grandparents and then my host aunt and uncle. With my host sister, dad, aunt, uncle, and cousin I spent 20 hours (from 2 am to 10 pm) in a hot car going from city to city so that the family could work, and finally the beach. Tilaran signifies wind and water, hence it is colder than most of Costa Rica. Hence, the majority of other cities in Costa Rica feel like an oven. I was not exactly thrilled to squish 6 people into a four person truck in the very hot climate of Costa Rica, but it was worth it for the beach.

I spent hours and hours in almost deserted beaches, and was thrilled to swim in the clear water. The water warm and the beaches are clean. There are lots of tourists in the area, and it is easy to tell who they are because they speak English. Also, by the beach are a variety of animals. There were wild monkeys in the trees and a huge spider. If the spider bites you and you are not allergic, it gives you a bad burn; if you are allergic, you die. Fortunately, the spider did not bite me, considering it was about two feet from my foot. Other than the trip to the beach, I have spent most of my time with my friends and family here in Costa Rica. I am excited for the rest of my year here and plan to update my blog when I can. ¡Hasta Luego!