On a more optimistic note!...

My host family is ADORABLE. And they are pros, too. They have hosted literally HUNDREDS of students. Cecilia, my host mom, is an incredible cook! It must be an essential quality of anyone with that name :) And for breakfast, she makes me a whole pot of cafe con leche just for me (not from an electric coffee maker, of course!). The coffee culture down here is only cultivating in me a more severe addiction- but I LOVE IT. Carlos, my host dad, is an incredibly kind-spirited man and he has been so helpful to me. He took the bus with me to the school I go to and walked me there after we got off the bus. After my first day of orientation, he came and picked me up! He even bore the brunt of the horrible "hora pico," (rush hour) to make sure I knew how to get home. I have a guest-sister, Tanya. She goes to the Costa Rican Language Academy as well and she is from Switzerland. Tanya and I are going to venture to the Caribbean coast this weekend!

Since arriving in San Jose, I have spoken almost no English- and I am loving it. I can understand probably 89% of everything I hear and can respond accordingly and the people I talk to tell me that my Spanish is VERY good! I am still having difficulties explaining complex ideas but I am here to practice! So I am not taking classes at the CRLA because I don´t really need them. Instead, the school has set up a volunteer opportunity for me in San Jose for the next week, until I start a longer project on the western coast.

BIGGEST SUCCESS SO FAR:
Taking the bus all by myself. Now, this may not be as difficult or frustrating as you may think, but this is no modern bus system. There are very few official bus stops. If you stand at a bus stop, the bus will not just stop there unless you flag it down. And when getting off the bus, you must indicate to the driver that you would like to do so. So this morning I was dropped off at the nursery I am volunteering at and given a handful of instructions, in Spanish, on what to do to get back to the CRLA.

So I embarked on the journey back to school, knowing that, as Vonnegut´s Bokonon says ¨Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." I found the bus stop from the nursery and stood for a while, waiting for, HOPEFULLY, a bus that will get me to a stop where I hop on another bus that will, HOPEFULLY, take me to my stop outside of the CRLA. Bus after bus went by, but not mine. My anxiety grew so I asked a stranger, an older lady thought I was pretty stupid because I didn´t really know where I had to catch up with the other bus. She asked me exactly where I wanted to go. I told her el Mall San Pedro. She was unenthused but she told me ¨Usted vayase conmigo." I had no idea if she was actually going to take me to the right place, but, regardless, I was getting some dancing lessons. We rode the bus together and when she got off I asked if I should follow her. "Si," she said, without emotion. I knew we had to change buses somewhere so I followed her to the next bus stop and waited with her. While waiting, a moustached woman came up and asked my glacial companion something about the buses. She didn´t know, so Moustache deferred to me. I shrugged and the older lady told the younger one "Ella no sabe nada, ella es extranjera." I told you she thought I was dumb. We boarded the next bus, the woman told me to give the driver the wrong amount of money so he was upset and she, again, thought it was due to my lack of brains. But the bus took me to the right place and here I am sitting pretty at CRLA with some free time, free internet, and free delicious Costa Rican coffee!!!

ADVENTURE!

More later. ¡Nos vemos!