(no subject)
In the midst of my culture shock I´ve finished Slaughterhouse 5. There is a part where a character in the book says that everything you need to know about life is in ¨The Brothers Karamazov¨ and that everything isn´t enough. It makes me happy that I brought both books, despite the fact that my backpack is pretty heavy. I am thinking of starting Ü.S.! by Chris Bachadelar next. His last book, Bear v. Shark, although pretentious, was funny. And I think I need something funny. Not that Slaughterhouse 5 wasn´t funny in its ridiculousness, but I need something more laugh out loud.
I am meeting Courtney in just a couple hours, and I am desparate for the company. Everything will be better when we both get to Orosi.
Now that Courtney is here and we are in Orosi it is a million times better. It rains a lot, but it is so much cooler than it is in Baltimore that I don´t really care. It just rains in the evening every day, so it is not too much of a problem.
Yesterday Courtney and I went with a big group up to a waterfall with this crazy local guy named Nano (at one point he put on a plastic cape and yelled ¨Super Nano!¨), he was so funny. The group is here teaching English, there are so many of them but I think they will only be here for a few more days. I much prefer meeting independent travellers than big groups, but they are all pretty nice. We´ve also befriended a couple in the hostel, one of whom is starting law school to do public interest work just like me. So that´s pretty cool. The town is so beautiful, and we got a great view from the mountains on the hike yesterday. I am a bit exhausted from the hike, which was all morning and involved some muddy parts, during which I was grateful for my boots.
My host family is really nice, I spent my first night with them last night. There is a divorced mom, who speaks only Spanish and is very patient with me. She seems to get the vegetarian thing, which is also a big relief. When I told the kids that I hadn´t eaten meat for about 6 or 7 years, it was funny to see their jaws drop. She has two sons, a younger one who must be in 2nd or 3rd grade and an older boy who is about 20 and is gay and is super bored with Orosi and wants to live in London. The older son speaks nearly perfect English, and I am trying to help him with his job. He has to be able to pronounce a bunch of words for a dental insurance call center for MetLife. It is weird and difficult to explain American insurance.
Their whole extended family lives on the same block practically, the grandparents, 2 mentally challenged aunts and a sister her husband and their baby. I visited at least 5 different houses with them yesterday, all related to the host family. The house is nicer than I expected, it´s very clean, and I have my own room, so it´s a pretty good deal. I am already learning a lot of Spanish and my classes don´t even start until 3 p.m.!
Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the volcano on a tour, and today I am just going to take it easy. Friday is the big kick off for the world cup, and it´s Costa Rica v. Germany. I am sure Germany will win, but it will be a really fun party here. Everyone gets off of school and work for it.
The Internet here is sort of sketchy, so I may not be able to post as much as I hoped, but I will try to when I can. I was hoping to upload some pictures, but I will probably have to wait until I am in San Jose in a couple of weeks. The internet is working better now, earlier in the day when less people are here, so I will try to keep in touch this way, but if I don´t respond to your emails, please don´t worry, it just means I couldn´t get through. The town is very safe, and everyone wants to welcome new people here. As soon as we got off the bus, several kids in the central park yelled ¨hello!¨to us. It was very cute. They all want to show off their English, which is a mandatory part of school here now.
I am meeting Courtney in just a couple hours, and I am desparate for the company. Everything will be better when we both get to Orosi.
Now that Courtney is here and we are in Orosi it is a million times better. It rains a lot, but it is so much cooler than it is in Baltimore that I don´t really care. It just rains in the evening every day, so it is not too much of a problem.
Yesterday Courtney and I went with a big group up to a waterfall with this crazy local guy named Nano (at one point he put on a plastic cape and yelled ¨Super Nano!¨), he was so funny. The group is here teaching English, there are so many of them but I think they will only be here for a few more days. I much prefer meeting independent travellers than big groups, but they are all pretty nice. We´ve also befriended a couple in the hostel, one of whom is starting law school to do public interest work just like me. So that´s pretty cool. The town is so beautiful, and we got a great view from the mountains on the hike yesterday. I am a bit exhausted from the hike, which was all morning and involved some muddy parts, during which I was grateful for my boots.
My host family is really nice, I spent my first night with them last night. There is a divorced mom, who speaks only Spanish and is very patient with me. She seems to get the vegetarian thing, which is also a big relief. When I told the kids that I hadn´t eaten meat for about 6 or 7 years, it was funny to see their jaws drop. She has two sons, a younger one who must be in 2nd or 3rd grade and an older boy who is about 20 and is gay and is super bored with Orosi and wants to live in London. The older son speaks nearly perfect English, and I am trying to help him with his job. He has to be able to pronounce a bunch of words for a dental insurance call center for MetLife. It is weird and difficult to explain American insurance.
Their whole extended family lives on the same block practically, the grandparents, 2 mentally challenged aunts and a sister her husband and their baby. I visited at least 5 different houses with them yesterday, all related to the host family. The house is nicer than I expected, it´s very clean, and I have my own room, so it´s a pretty good deal. I am already learning a lot of Spanish and my classes don´t even start until 3 p.m.!
Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the volcano on a tour, and today I am just going to take it easy. Friday is the big kick off for the world cup, and it´s Costa Rica v. Germany. I am sure Germany will win, but it will be a really fun party here. Everyone gets off of school and work for it.
The Internet here is sort of sketchy, so I may not be able to post as much as I hoped, but I will try to when I can. I was hoping to upload some pictures, but I will probably have to wait until I am in San Jose in a couple of weeks. The internet is working better now, earlier in the day when less people are here, so I will try to keep in touch this way, but if I don´t respond to your emails, please don´t worry, it just means I couldn´t get through. The town is very safe, and everyone wants to welcome new people here. As soon as we got off the bus, several kids in the central park yelled ¨hello!¨to us. It was very cute. They all want to show off their English, which is a mandatory part of school here now.