Sunday 11/9/08

A random fact about Costa Rica that I don’t think I’ve mentioned previously is that they start celebrating Christmas much earlier than we do (since they don’t celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. Therefore, Costa Rica began decorating for Christmas sometime in early October). After breakfast we spent the morning cleaning and watching Christmas movies. Today was the rainiest and coldest it has been here (although, by cold I don’t mean anything extreme as I still was wearing shorts), but before the rain hit we spent some time outside weeding. Eventually the rain forced us back inside for more Christmas movies and soup for lunch with some extended family who randomly showed up. After lunch, my host parents took a nap while Jose Manuel and I hung out and watched the Polar Express (again, I could’ve sworn it was Christmas Eve). Eventually after “siestas” more extended family showed up randomly and we spent the afternoon goofing around. Licho (my host dad) took us for rides up and down the street on his motorcycle and let us play around on his truck (he’s a trucker who transports pineapple and oil to and from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts). Around 4, he jumped in his truck and headed off to Limon (if you remember, this is the biggest shipping port in Costa Rica. It’s the same town that I visited long ago where there still remains a huge Jamaican English speaking culture). I couldn’t handle watching more TV so I walked into town and attempted to go to the internet café, but it was closed, so I just went for a nice walk around town. It has been really hard for me to spend the last 2 days watching movie after movie after movie and so I’m brainstorming how to get my family to get out of the house the next few weekends I have here. When I returned from my walk more family randomly showed up and joined us for dinner. After dinner things finally quieted down as all the extended family members made their way home. My older to brothers were on their way home from a trip from Monteverde and Licho had headed off to Limon so it was just Maria, Jose Manuel and I. As we sat at the table around all the dirty dishes that needed to be cleaned somehow we got into a deep conversation about some really rough things Maria has experienced in her life. It was quite the heart to heart as she shared with me stories and stories of difficult life situations. I spent the whole night listening and learning from this amazing woman who has become my mom here in La Virgen.