Only four full days left! I cannot believe it. I have truly enjoyed my time here but am looking forward to coming home for Christmas and spending time with my family.
During this past week I have spent a lot of time with my host family. We traveled to San José and stayed with my host mom´s (Silvia´s) grandmother. She treated me as if I were her own grandaughter, insisting on making food for me and showing me pictures of her family. She does not speak much Spanish, so spending time with her for a few days was good practice! I am not anywhere near being fluent in Spanish, but my vocabulary and comprehension has improved.
During my visit in San José I was able to see more of the town. Valeria was given an art award on Monday, and her work, along with work of other students, was displayed in a park that was downtown. I had no idea Valeria was such a gifted artist! I loved being able to walk around and see everyone´s art work.
The first time I went to San José it was rainy and quite cold! We lucked out this time; it was sunny and felt like Boone in the spring. I traveled to a few malls with my family, watching them Christmas shop. The malls here are basically the same as the malls in America. Christmas music was playing everywhere; walking around with the girls, I almost felt like I was back home.
Today and tomorrow there is a celebration in honor of the Virgin Guadalupe. There was another celebration for this that took place the first few days we arrived in Costa Rica. It was called Pica é Leña...this was when the men got up early in the morning to chop wood and there was a parade in town. Today there was a mass for the Virgin, followed by a parade. It was interesting to see. Many of the Nicoyans took part in this parade, which I really liked. Regan and I joined in and were able to walk around the town. It was a lot of fun!
For the next few days I am going to spend as much time as possible with my host family. Tomorrow morning I am going to learn how to make gallo pinto! This is a Costa Rican breakfast dish consisting of rice and beans. It tastes very good, particularly with eggs.
I cannot believe we only have a handful of days left. I plan to make the most of them!
Valeria and her art! (the painting with the flowers is hers)
View of San José from a restuarant where we ate
Parade in honor of the Virgin Guadalupe