Santa Lucia, Barva, or Heredia?

Santa Lucia, Barva, or Heredia?

I am confused. I am confused about my bus stop. I am confused with what verbs to use and what words best describe what I want to say. I am confused about the new fruits (that taste delicious). I am confused as my host parents speak to me and I only understand 50%-70% of what they say. I am confused about how much money I need, in dollars or colones, for my VISA tomorrow. Estoy confundida!

My confusion causes me to engage more. To listen more closely. To watch hand gestures and facial expressions. To focus on my parents’ dialects. To pick up a few words here and there which allow me to understand most of the conversation. To engage deeply in conversation. But, to also engage myself in my surroundings. To watch as my host dad takes pictures of the airplanes and the moon. To walk through the garden and try to remember the names of the various fruits. To watch each bus pass by me in hopes that I remember which bus will eventually be mine.

Yesterday, I was confused. Today, I am confused. Tomorrow, I will be confused at my university’s orientation. In my confusion I find comfort. In my confusion I find laughter (we have many confusing and silly conversations). In my confusion I find joy. In my confusion I find my new home. My new neighborhood. My new town. My new providence. My new city. My new country.

I am in love with my new home, neighborhood, town, providence, city and country. I love our garden. The garden surrounds the entire house and includes huge blue hydrangeas, banana, sour lemon, sweet lemon, orange, and avocado trees. Yesterday, I hung out with my host family. I enjoyed running with Luci, the granddaughter of my host parents. I surprised myself with how quickly I jumped into speaking the language. I asked my parents how my Spanish sounded and they said “muy bien!” I went to sleep, exhausted, thinking about how hard it is to learn a new language but how lucky I am to be here!

One part of our backyard, my favorite place to relax and read.

Gallo Pinto (rice, black beans, fried egg, and plantains) with fresh pineapple

Chicken and rice with beans

Yuka pastella with seasoned rice, salad, and watermelon juice

My host dad has a map of the USA with marks everywhere my family has had students from....I am their 15th exchange student.

This morning, my host dad made me a detailed (used a ruler, highlighters, and a scale) map of my town. He included my bus stops, important buildings, the buildings I will pass as I walk, and major landmarks. He taught me about the currency of Costa Rica and about precautions I should take when walking or riding the bus. I understood about 80% of what he said this morning. When I do not understand, I simply just look at him and we both end up laughing, taking a breath, and trying to explain/understand again. My host mom has made some of the best food I have ever tasted. I have eaten yuka pastella, pinto gallo (typical breakfast), and chicken and rice with the best beans in the world. The juices here are equally as great as the juices that I loved in Colombia. I am being treated very well!

Today, we ran errands around the city. I went to my first mall, bank, supermarket, and cell phone store in Costa Rica. I purchased a bright green cell phone that I will use to communicate with my host family and local friends. I also got VERY sun burned today. Who knew that only an hour off and on in the sun could lead to me looking like a tomato, as Noelle so nicely described me?! Tomorrow I will wear sunscreen and a hat and I already have some aloe vera gel in the refrigerator!

I apologize for the confusion that may follow this blog entry. I want to share with everyone how everything is going and I know I will not have much time this week because of orientation at my university. Thank y’all for keeping in touch with me! And, by the way, I live in Santa Lucia, Barva, Heredia, Costa Rica (so maybe you’ll forgive me for some of the confusion because living in a place with four names is different for me!)

P.S. When I was eleven years old and traveled to Egypt with CISV, my mom bought me everything in the color orange. Orange was my theme color for my trip to Egypt. Today I decided that green is the theme color for my time in Costa Rica. I have two new, bright green suitcases and the cell phone I bought today is also green. So, my blog is now green J