La Familia Quesada – Portilla

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Well the kids in my host family warmed up to me fairly quickly. They were shy at first and then Mariana, the 4 year old, saw me working on my computer and asked me if I had any “juegos” (games). After that it was like I was babysitting. We played in their playroom where they have tons of toys, and lots of dinosaur figurines. All the boys love “dinosaurios”. I really like having kids around because sometimes they are easier to talk to in Spanish than the adults!

Also the water is out here for most of the day L Mayra, my host mom, said that almost a million people have been affected by the construction they are doing on the pipes. Yikes. But it should be all fixed by Monday.

Woke up today with all of my blankets on. It gets colder during the night then I thought! No more La Selva humidity. Then I realized that my room doesn’t really have any windows – there are like these plastic blinds that close but the air still gets through. It wasn’t too bad though. Then I decided to try going for a run. And I think that will be the last time I do. I’m not sure why but it seems more fume-y to me here. The car exhaust sewer smells are very strong. But I’ve talked with some of my friends and I think we are going to try and exercise at the University after school each day.

Today I met up with my friends in San Pedro, the closest town, where there is a mall. Ryan lives the closest to me, so we decided to walk there and meet up with everyone. I think we may end up walking to school each day. It’s only about 30-40 minutes and its fun. The bus is very cheap too so maybe we’ll do that on some days.

Today was strange because I sort of felt like I was in America. I haven’t been to a mall in so long it was weird. I usually don’t enjoy malls in the states either – overwhelming my senses. And it was no different here. We thought we could maybe find a couple clothes to buy (realized most of the clothes I packed work in the field more than a university classroom) but everything was just as expensive as in the states. Although everything else is a lot cheaper. I got lunch at Quiznos, a smoothie, and saw a movie for only about $10. We all decided to see TED, and it was in English! It made me miss Teri, Hugo and South Carolina! Because that’s where I first saw it. Actually the whole day made me a little homesick….it was so weird to hang out at a mall, see an English movie, and then walk outside and be in Costa Rica! Don’t worry though, I’m not ready to leave yet! I’m really excited to get better at my Spanish and go to school.

I have been getting better at speaking already, I can tell. Mariana and Emilio, the kids here, are helping me the most. Mariana always wants to play on my “computo”. And today she got “nuevos zapatos con luz” – shoes that light up. Also she and Emilio always “hacen pados” (pass gas) with no shame. They always say “pados” and it reminds me of the story of Roy and Pa J

I’m sure I will have more to report after my first day of school tomorrow! I have to get up early because we have an oral exam which they will use to place us in classes where everyone is around the same level.

Love you and miss you familia!

Kelsey

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Photos

emilio
this is the toy room. emilio likes to climb on the shelves. he is about 7 years old.

mariana y emilio
brother and sister. son locos.

la calle donde vivo
i'm staying at a house on the left side of the street and my friend ryan is about two houses down on the right