More Family!

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I hope this to be the first of many entries that include this new part of my family. This is the family of Rogelio, the son of my host mother (who is actually a great grandmother, or bisabuela), and I can´t say enough great things about these people. I met them in the typical way I meet everyone in Costa Rica: I came home in the middle of a party (there´s almost always a party going on during the weekends), and they knew exactly who I was and I had no idea who they were. This family is slightly different, though, in that they all know at least some english, and I was greeted in this manner. The two brothers, like their father - who was educated in the states - speak very good english, vastly better than my spanish, and we speak to eachother only in our second language and help each other learn.

The family, although I lack good photos to show you, is bright and loving and full of life. Within 4 minutes of my return from Manuel Antonio, the night before my cousin´s baptism, they invited me to thier "finca," or farm, and I was wisked away without even unpacking for the night. We were to return the next morning for the ceremony.

As I spend more time with families of Costa Rica, both my host family or families of friends, it becomes more and more difficult to take pictures at will because we are often in settings where photography would not only be strange, but slightly rude. I apologize for the lack of photos, but I hope there will be many more to come!

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Photos

New brother # 1
Federico! This guy is crazy fun and, not too surprisingly, the Costa Rican equivalent to my best friend, Chris Sears, from the states. This guy is loud and constantly joking; he´s a great story teller and is ALWAYS the center of attention. He surfs, as the photo...suggests, but I must give justice to his brother - you´ll meet him in a second - who surfs about twice as much as Fede.

New brother # 2
I hope Andrés can forgive me not having any more-complete photos of him, but this gives you a good idea of how cool this guy is. As the older brother, he always drives, and is always the first in the waves.

Just Like Real Brothers
Like I said, just like my best friend.

(only picture I have of) La Familia
This is just so you don´t think I made them up. We had a late-night barbeque with some friends out at their finca.

Enter Into Paradise
appropriately ornate gate. What follows is even cooler.

La Finca
Although "finca" translates most readily to "farm," it is also used as "country house" or, in this case, "our freaking-ridiculously-awesome house up in the mountains." This is their home away from home, and it is truly as spectacular as it looks.

Yep. La Piscina
It doesn´t get much better...