let's write 'gringa' on my forehead and be done with it.

Today was probably one of the longest days of my life - but a good one all the same. Let me tell you a little bit about it. 

Today was our 'walk around San Jose' day. It all started at 5 am when mi madre, Isabel (I love her so much!) woke me up.: "Maayyygun!" It's cute how they pronounce it. I wish you could hear it. It warms my heart and soul. I got ready for the day and then around 6, had some breakfast (la desayuno). We had, you guessed it, rice and beans.. and ham (hamon). Mi madre took me to the bus stop around 6:15. Costa Ricans are definitely morning people. The bus was full - and I had to stand. But one thing I noticed was this - a guy got up from his seat and let me have it. I saw that a couple of times today. I thought it was interesting. 

Mi madre y yo walked tres cuadras (3 blocks) and then turned to walk down the street to the Teatro Nacional (National Theatre). On our way from the bus station, she was explaining to me how to remember my way back. In order for me to get to ICADS, the school where we will be taking our Spanish classes (a few times a week), I need to take the bus from our neighborhood, El Alto de Guadalupe, and take a bus to the center of San Jose. From there, I need to walk 5 minutes to another bus station. That bus takes me to ICADS, which is a small little building that's about a 30 minute drive. Today, we had our entrevistas (interviews) to see how well we could converse and explain ourselves in espanol. I don't know how long it took, but it was 15 minutes or more, I'd say. They asked us about our families at home, and what we like to do - stuff like that. 

After that, we got to work completing our scavenger -hunt like list - "Ask someone what bus will take you to Mall San Pedro and then take a taxi back to downtown..." to do a buttload of activities that will make you walk over the city to better orientate yourself for when you have to do it alone. 

(It is taking me forever to finish this entry because Isabel is showing me all of her art - bottles, flowers, pastel and water color paintings.. I don't think I've ever met such a creative, savvy, and talented woman in all of my life. Que brilliante!) 

(okay, so I had to stop my blog writing last night because Isabel continued to chat it up, which I was completely okay with, and then Esteban and Edgar, my new older brothers - 27 and 42), came home - a lot was going on, so I just quit writing... so now it is 5:36 am on Friday and I am writing this...)

Okay, so where was I? Talking about our spanish 'exams' at ICADS? Wow, and that was only at 8:30-9:30... After that, we set about our day. My group and I, consisting of Katie from Washington and Deidre from Florida, had lunch at like... 10:30. Yes, lunch. We were tired and hungry. By that time in the morning, it felt like, to me, like it was 1 pm. Anyway, I'll spare you the details of how much my feet hurt already... 

We went to the Mall San Pedro - very much like any American mall. It surprises me how 'Americanized" San Jose is. We later walked into a supermarket and I bought some bug spray and sun screen - and walking by the shelves- we saw many American brands of food and supplies. Que interesante. 

By the time 2:30 rolled around, I was at a near breaking point. I was tired of walking, tired of the people, frustrated with trying to communicate - just overwhelmed by everything. We met up with one of our 'professors'/staff of the Latin American Studies Program (LASP) and had 'una cafesita' - like a little afternoon coffee/drink at a place called 'Spoon' - perhaps the equivalent of, hmm, let me see.. well, I'm not sure, but it could have been a place in America, for sure. They had food and dessert and drinks. We all had drinks, but I just had bottled water. I don't get much water around here - all we drink at the house, it seems, is coffee! Which is delicious.. but I like my water, too. 

What I realized yesterday was this - I am extremely unaware of my environment. I depend highly on others to lead me, to show me the way. I have hardly ever had to rely on myself to get to somewhere. I mean, I drive around town, both my hometown and Rochester, and that's fine - but a lot of times I use a GPS.. but I don't have one here. I have to navigate my way to the bus terminals and through the streets... which is very nerve-wracking. I'm not scared.. but extremely apprehensive and wary. I'm praying for God to guide my feet each and every day to the right places and to give me the right words to say when I am lost!

My favorite part of the day was once we returned home. After an hour bus ride home (it only took 20 minutes to get to San Jose in the morning - we were stuck in 'rush hour'), we relaxed. We had some, you guessed it, coffee with a cheese sandwich made from fresh bread from the panaderia. Isabel also made me eat an extra piece of the pound cake (I guess that's what it looks and feels like - it's in the shape of a bundt cake but with the texture and taste of a lemon poppy seed bread or something like that). 

After that, Edgar, Jr. disappeared and Isabel and I watched some tv and then I skyped with my brother and sister at home - fue fabuloso! My sister and brother speak Spanish, so I could ask them what a certain word was or not. Isabel and Edgar, my host dad, talked with them for a little bit. Also last night, I met Edgar's (my new brother's) son, Juandaniel. He's 16 and seems to be a nice kid. As I was at the mall the other day, it wasn't much different from the American mall. I saw tons of teeny boppers and high schoolers in their little groups, wearing their trendy clothes, chatting it up like nothing else mattered in the world. Remember those days? 

So, as I was saying as I was writing this originally, Isabel started to pull out paintings from her portfolio to show me - and they were beautiful! She taught me a lot of new words and I would ask the difference between different things (flor, flores, y floras) - simple stuff like that. Some times, I can't understand have the stuff she is saying, but all the same, I get the point of what she is getting at. 

Last night, before bed around 930, Isabel offered me some agua dulce, or sweet water. It's heated water with brown sugar (from sugar cane Esteban explained), and some leche, or milk. It tastes just like the way I have my tea - sweet and smooth. Esteban came home from the gym and we all sat around the living room/dining room area (since it's the same room), and talked about different things. Good thing Esteban understands bits and pieces of English. I can say a word in English and he can tell me what it is. If I do that with Edgar or Isabel, it's like I didn't say anything! Solo hablan en espanol.  But that's good because there is no 'easy' way out to take.. 

Well, I think that sums up my day yesterday. I didn't write down everything, but I wrote down the highlights. Today we are supposed to be doing some team bonding - we are to wear comfortable clothes, sneakers, and 'something we don't mind getting dirty", so I'm a bit apprehensive about that, too, but I'll get over that pretty fast. 

Time to 'wake up' soon. I am waiting for Isabel or Edgar.. or someone (I couldn't understand what Isabel told me before I went to sleep) to wake me up at 6 and it is now 5:45 am. I like these early mornings. 

Buen dia a todos!