Day 3: Wednesday 8/27

Today was the big day. Today we met our host families. Everyone was quite nervous. After a morning of learning the “dangers of the city”, we all randomly selected our families by a “draw from the hat method”. After a few more hours of orientation it was time to meet our families. They called us one by one and in a “Price is Right” fashion we had to “come on down” and meet our host families. Of course, I was one of the last people to be called, so by process of elimination and an intense nail biting session, I met Xinia and Jorge, my new Costa Rican parents, who I now am to refer to as Mami and Papi. They kissed and hugged me and immediately began calling me nicknames given to a daughter such as “Mami”, “Tita”, “Mi’ija”, etc, etc. I arrived home and met my new siblings, David (14) and Pamela (10). Although it took a few minutes of warming up, Pamela and I immediately became best friends and by the end of the night we inseparable. We played every game imaginable, discussed important subject such as Hannah Montana and High School musical, and shared pictures of our families. After my first Costa Rican dinner of rice and carne lleno (beef filled with veggies), we headed to the store. Pamela and I played on the exercise machines while Mami and Papi wondered the store for groceries. The night ended with Mami learning to ride her new moped. Our street is pretty loud and there are motorcycles everywhere. My Papi got jealous when I told him I get to ride on Wes´motorcycle. At first, he didn´t believe me, but I had my sweet burn to prove it. He spent the rest of the night begging Mami to buy him a motorcycle. I tried to help in the persuasion, but we were unsuccessful.