Life here so far

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Okay, so this blog has been a long time and coming. It was hard to get used to using the computers here and just basically adjusting to a completely different life. To add to my earlier list of the differences between US and Costa Rican culture (I think I will make this a permanent section in my emails)... If you kiss a guy here, he's automatically your novio (boyfriend). And word passes around quickly, so pretty soon your Tica mom is asking you about your new novio. Just FYI, I do not know this from personal experience, but from that of my friends and roomie. The Tico guys are pretty agressive, so if you give them your number, they will call and call and call at all hours of the day and night until you talk to them. Last week when we went dancing at Castros, Sarah talked to a guy for literally no more than 5 minutes. Just talked. He was excited that he had facebook, so she thought, why not give him her name... she'd have an international facebook friend. well, 30 minutes after that, he sent her a message on facebook. then 2 hours later another one. In 2 days, she received 7 messages from him. It was quite amusing!

Also, everything here undergoes a diminuation of -ito, -ita, or whatever form is correct for the word. that is why my nickname is Julita. Or why my mom asked me if I wanted a cafecito (café or coffee), which was in fact, a rather large cup of coffee and not small like you would expect with the -ita added on. Ahorita (ahora = now, but since this is tico time, it means in about an hour or so). Momentito (in a minute, etc.) Its pretty awesome 😊

I've definitely noticed that my spanish has improved a TON. I can communicate much more clearly and understand almost everything, even people who do not speak clearly or when trying to listen in a noisy place. I never thought that would happen when I forst arrived! Actually speaking is my biggest challenge, but I'm now able to have long, complicated conversations with people. It's pretty cool. And people i've talked to have said my spanish is really good, so hopefully they weren't just being nice and saying that 😊 It's also funny that it doesnt seem strange anymore to hear people speaking spanish... Only strange to hear people speaking English. I've only been here for 2 weeks, so I'm excited to see how my spanish improves by the end!

Tomorrow we're leaving for Manuel Antonio, a national park and one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. Estoy muy emocionada. Although, I've heard you have to be really careful to watch your stuff. Not because people will steal it, but MONKIES will steal it. Haha! We'll be back sunday night.

Yesterday was my day of bad culture shock when I realized how far away from home I am. And yesterday my brain was so tired that it was one of those days when I wanted to ONLY speak in english. The language barrier seemed too much. But things are much better today. Just needed a day like that. Now, I'm SOOO glad to be in Costa Rica. I really love it here. And I absolutely love my new friends. I'm so glad I made the decision to come. I've already thought about how it might feel to come back home, and I'm already imagining that the US will feel extravagant. Who knows... I'll let you know in 3 months 😊

¡Ciao amigos!

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