The rainy season has finally decided to show itself in Naranjo, Alejuela, Costa Rica. Every day for about the past 5 days we have had a fair amount of rain and thunderstorms. I named this blog post The Rain Drags on, and They Continue Dancing beacuse I feel it reflects the tico (Costa Rican) attitude. Ticos/ticas love to dance. If a song comes on that they like, they will get up from the couch and everyone will start dancing and laughing together. A couple nights ago, we were sitting on their porch when out of the blue it started raining harder than I have ever seen. My younger host sister (13 years old) got up, went out from under the roof over the porch, and started dancing to her favorite song with my 16 year old sister. I'm not positive if this is only something common in my host family and their friends, but either way, that one moment summed up their overall attitude for everything.
Happy Goodnight
Happy Goodnight is a saying that my family has created and adopted for their own. Sometimes rather than saying buenas noches before going to bed, they say feliz buenas noches. They once asked me what that is in english, so I gave them the direct translation. Happy goodnight. I tried explaining to them that in the United States, we just say goodnight when we are going to bed, but now every night they insist on saying Happy Goodnight to me. That isn't much of a story, but to me it shows their efforts to make me feel at home.
All is well here in Costa Rica. My spanish is improving, and I am much more confident within the family. The idea of being here for 6 months (about 5 more months now) is settling in. On one hand, it feels like forever, and on the other hand it feels like no time at all. I am trying to focus on living in the moment while I am here and enjoying every second I can, because soon enough I will be back in South Burlington telling stories about my time here in Costa Rica..I need to make sure I have good stories to tell rather than saying I have regrets because I spent too much time thinking about home or what it will be like when I come back. I hope everyone is enjoying the blog and if you want to read about my best friend's journey in Chile, check hers out as well! She arrived in Chile on Friday and just met her host family recently! eebriody.blogspot.com
Adios!
Tieta Keetle
Hi Teeters!
ReplyDeleteI love that..."Happy Goodnight". I am going to start using it!! :)
Had dinner with your parents Sat. night. Felt like it had been eons since we had seen them!
Apparently, they were having some issues with algae in the pool, so (of course) Bruce came to the rescue by grabbing our heavy duty vacuum and blasting it away!
Glad you are well and am enjoying your blog.
XOXO, Love, Ln
Hi Tieta!
ReplyDeleteI love the Happy Goodnight story. You don't think much of it as a story, but as you said, they seems to want to make you feel at home. And I love how happy your family seems. I'm sure you already have enough pressure without having to worry about a grumpy family ;)
Glad to hear you're feeling more confident, and that the Spanish is coming along. Be persistent and practice, practice, practice. And it's great that you're teaching your family some English. Being a family member is a two-way street.
Anyway, hasta luego. Keep writing. We all love to hear what you're up to.
Love, Dad.
Hi Tieta,
ReplyDeleteWe love reading the blog! To learn how to speak Spanish, you must SPEAK it. Go ahead, make mistakes, ask questions...Que es esto? Como se dice este?.. It is hard work but you'll get it. Thanks for Emma's blog. 5 months will fly by. Enjoy it.
Mr. Godfrey