Costa Rican Homestay-Upper San Luis Valley

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My home stay family: Doña Erminda and Don Francisco.
Coffee farm in the Upper San Luis Valley in Puntareñas, Costa Rica.
I did my two weeks of homestay with is elderly pareja (couple), and they are the sweetest people ever. They have all together 12 children and around 40 grand and great-grandchildren. It's a traditional family where Don Francisco goes out to work on the farm and Doña Erminda takes care of the household necessities.
It's a cute little house and the farm in the backyard has a trapiche, coffee plants, banana and plantain plants, sugar cane, fruit trees, etc. Doña Erminda kept the house really clean, except my room, haha, which she never ventured to clean while I was there...hahaha. She would spend the whole day cleaning!! And her grandchildren would drop by and the cats and dogs... yes, it was a warm and welcoming home. The food she made was delicious, and she was very happy that I always ate everything on my plate!! She said it was the first time she had a student who ate her food so contently and ate everything she offered, it made her feel very happy. haha. I also enlisted the help of my host parents and the community to help find earwigs for my independent research project. It was all very fun! Not to mention that I had good friends in homestays nearby that we could hang out like Jame and T and Lindsey. It was very fun. We went to a baby shower..and my friends helped me hunt for earwigs in the dark, since I was afraid of those bugs and afraid to be alone in the dark. I know, why did I choose the project then? But, I am a scaredy-cat, so I might as well attempt to do things even though I am scared. Anyway, it was a very unforgetable experience, from hiking up La Trocha, to hiking to the waterfall, and the howling wind and later heavy rains on the tin roofs.

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