Más o menos-More or less

Slowly but surely I am picking up phrases, picking up stones, and picking up friends. "Más o menos" happens to be one of those phrases, which means "more or less." Now let me explain...


Today marks my first full week in Costa Rica! Más o menos (more or less), I have picked up most of my phrases (and corrections of what I thought I was saying) from my host family. Here are some pictures of my favorite Costa Rican chicas:

Vero (far right) with the cousins

Caro (left) & Evelyn Maria (right)

Evelyn (My host mom-left) & her mom

Those are the girls and what a wonderful bunch they are!
More or less here is what I've been up to with them:

miércoles (Wednesday) I went to the bank to exchange money. Talk about top security! We had to talk through a security machine, just like the airport. And a policeman went through my purse, plus scanned me over with his black stick. In Costa Rica the currency is colones. 500 colones= $1 US.  Later that night I went with the girls to visit their dad's house in Escuza (their parents are divorced, but Escuza is not too far away from San Jose).  On our way back we stopped for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. 

 

 jueves (Thursday) I had my first Cafecito (I 1st called it Cafe-solicito...but that means Coffee request. Cafecito is there way of saying Coffee Date). We were invited over to the home of another family from MBS (Marian Baker School, where I will be student teaching). This family happens to contain Diana (the mother) who is my host mom's best friend, and her two daughters, (one which is Vero's best friend). *Diana's husband is Steve, who is an American from Ohio*         We had lots of good things to eat, but by the end of the day I was exhausted from my mind working overtime to keep up with the conversation (in Spanish).  

 

viernes (Friday) I got to sing "cumpleaños feliz" for Evelyn Maria's birthday. Her birthday isn't until January 29th, but she left Saturday (Sabado) for Mexico, since she attends college there, so she had her family party early. I observed a lot as I met relative after relative, and I'm pretty sure that day was a record for the most kisses I've received in one day! 

sábado (Saturday) The whole week was pretty chilly...70 degrees sounds warm, but there is a cool mountain breeze here that has me wearing pants. However, Saturday was the first day where it was warm enough to wear shorts. I started running when I got to Costa Rica, so here are some picture of the neighborhood and the places I run by. You would think this would be the best place ever to run: 80 degree weather, a slight cool breeze, safe community. However, one factor I forget to mention is the terrain. As you can see from the pictures, the neighborhood is not flat. Flat is not a descriptive word of anything here, except the tortillas. Running here is like running in San Francisco, but after you run up a hill you are usually rewarded by going down one.

Our neighborhood

Looks are deceiving. This looks like a nice little hill. However, when I run up this hill I find myself turning into the little engine that could: "I think I can, I think I can..." I guess I'll come back to the USA with calves of steel.

Saturday evening found me at the movie theater with my host mom and her best friend Diana. They had been dying to see Sherlock Holmes 2, and even though I had already seen it once in the states I was game for round two. They showed it in English with Spanish subtitles. 

 Before the movie started we walked around the mall and visited the Makeup Store. I don't think I've ever seen so much makeup! My host mom was in heaven. We probably spent an hour while she tested various samples on her hand...by the end of our time there her land looked like melted rainbow sherbert.

 

domingo (Sunday) I didn't get to go to church. Instead we packed up the car and went to the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.

Leo made sure we didn't forget him

Piedra Azul

The eating area...lots of interesting food

We went to "Piedra Azul" -Blue Rock. It is hard to explain but it is basically an area by a national park, which has a shelter for hosting events. It is a good thing I'm finally over car sickness because the ride was down a rocky mountain path, which made for quite a lot of bouncing. The best way to explain this gathering is to say it was a mini family reunion. My host sister, Vero, didn't know half of the people there :) So we both met a lot of new people. Here are some pictures of the shelter.

The cooking area

The majority of the time at Piedra Azul I spent with the cousins and Vero. Here are some picture of the activities I participated in:

Grandpa- (Ta-ta) leading BINGO!         Great time for me to practice my Spanish numbers

No I am not surfing. It was a bit slippery :)

Hiking!  It is super steep, so they have handy ropes to follow

The view from where we hiked, minus the too
friendly snake. Yuck!

Bubbles with the cousins...little guy in the red shirt is Joseu and I have an embarrassing story to share involving him.

 

  This is also where my "picking up rocks" came into play. 
The boys were really good at skipping rocks, and they kept motioning for me to try. I have never been able to get the 
hang of skipping rocks, but I figured I'd give it a try.

Well...first throw was like all my previous throws, nada 
(nothing). The next one was something, but not the 
something I was going for. 

Do you see the little boy to my right in the picture below (blue shirt, about 4 years old)?
That is Joseu (pronounced: ho-sway). My 2nd throw managed to hit Joseu in the stomach. 
And not even a "lo siento" (Sorry!) smoothed that over. Ooops! 

Third was the charm, and I skipped the rock twice :)

We ended Sunday night with a light show. San Jose goes all out for Christmas with lights galore! It truly felt like Christmas time, despite there being no snow. (Which doesn't mean much anymore, considering our snow-less Christmas in MN)

                                        

This dove is one of the many doves in San Jose. Each one represents something different. The one I'm helping the children protect above is for peace and protection of nature.

 

Lights galore! There were so many lights everywhere. The Christmas tree below was HUGE. It was made of metal and had shapes lit up all over it.

   

              

         

lunes (Monday) Originally I started writing this blog on Monday. But I have learned that loading pictures is rather slow, since the internet is slow here. And life also interrupts, so here is a picture of my interruption from Monday:                                       

                                  

This is Maní and his girlfriend MJ (Maria Jose aka: Marjo)

Maní lives four of five house down the street and attends an Evanglical church, which Marjo's dad preaches for. She is a PK just like me! Maní came over Monday and took me to go play frisbee, and then to see a a movie with Marjo and her family later. It happened to be just me and the maid at home on Monday, so Evelyn (my host mom) called and told me that Maní was going to stop by. Her exact words were: "Rachel, no worry. He has tattoos, but he is guapo and nice Christian boy." Guapo means handsome in Spanish, so Marjo had a good laugh when I told her this. 

They both speak English, not fluently, but enough that we can communicate. They both attended private schools, and are senior's at the college nearby: Veritas. Marjo's father (the preacher) speaks English, Spanish, and a little French, so he talked my ear off when he came to join us at the movie. They took me out to the Gelotaria-which is a gelato store in the mall. I have never had gelato, so that was tasty! Afterwards we went and saw "Sherlock Holmes 2," for my 3rd time ;)

Uffda! It was one busy week. I also forget to mention that I visited the school I will be student teaching at. It was a speedy visit, but everyone was very friendly and excited for me to be there! Now that I'm done writing I need to go review over my school's manual and my manual, before orientation on the 19th!

Mas o menos- More or less I had a busy but enjoyable first week! God has been revealing Himself through scripture to me, as I am trying hard to go back to memorizing His Word. And He provided me with some new Christian-Costa Rican friends that are a lot of fun. 

"Although the Lord may not appear for us in the way we expect, or desire, or suppose, yet he will in some way or other provide for us." -C.H. Spurgeon 

Until next week :)

***Here are some extra pics for your viewing pleasure***

 This is an orange tree I go past when I run, and there are some lemon trees not too far down the road. My host mom said she had one but it was a sour fellow and didn't last long ;)

 

The picture on the far left is a painting in the house, which I love! And on the right we have the family Christmas tree, which is slowly being put away. I have actually seen a few Christmas tree farms nearby too!