One Month

I have been in Costa Rica now for just over a month, and I am realizing how little time I have here. 5 more months in this beautiful country with these amazingly nice and open people. 5 more months with the opportunity of a lifetime to continue stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing everything that Costa Rica has to offer. Unfortunately, I do not have much to talk about for this blog post but I know friends and family are wondering how things are going here and I am trying to update my blog about once a week. So, for this blog post, you are in for a couple short stories.

Snakes And Cockroaches

Last week in school, I held my friend's snake. It was one of those moments where you just need a couple seconds of courage to do something that causes fear to run through your body. Fortunately, the snake was a regular size at this point, but it is the kind that when it gets to be bigger, could easily strangle you without any effort. It took a while after my initial freak out to build up the courage to hold it, but I did! Although, me holding the snake wasn't what surprised me the most about the whole situation. It was the fact that teachers weren't surprised to see a kid bring a snake to school, and the other kids were intrigued enough to want to hold it rather than think that the situation was abnormal in any way. As I was holding it and panicking a little, my friend was laughing and said, "bienvenida a Costa Rica, verdad?" meaning, welcome to Costa Rica, right? So yes, that was a great welcome into Costa Rican culture.

As for the cockroaches, I had to comment on them. I have only seen a couple, but I know a lot of exchange students who have seen multiple. I have only seen one in my room and one in a classroom at school. It is awful seeing people try to kill them, though. It was like a game for the entire class to step on it. Of course, the cockroach didn't die; they never do.

More Rolling Hills Filled With Coffee

On Wednesday, we didn't have school because it was mothers day here. So, my host family and I decided that would be a good day to collect plantain tree leaves..I am not actually positive what they are called but they are massive leaves from plantain trees that they collect around this time of year and cook with in December and January. It was about a two hour adventure there and back with both sunshine and heavy rain taking turns.On the way, we collected guavas, oranges, and lemons to eat there and on the way back. Once again, there was an amazing view of the coffee plants. It was a moment where you realize how big the world is, and how small you really are. When you are looking at enormous mountains such as these, all of your problems quickly shrink to the size of a penny.

I do not have many other stories to share that pertain to life in Costa Rica. Fortunately I have been able to become good friends with another exchange student from the United States who is living a town about 20 minutes away from me. It is good to have her so we can talk and do things together that I can't do with my host family or friends from school. On Saturday I showed her the spot I mentioned in an earlier blog post about the soccer here and how after my family and friends showed me a view at the top of a mountain. We also managed to get our own oranges from an orange tree!

Well, I hope everyone who is reading this is doing well and enjoying hearing about my time in Costa Rica! Less than 5 months to go, and I am ready to do everything I can to enjoy it!

Tieta