Swapping Families

I ended up changing my host family on Wednesday. Mainly because the house was too far away from the school. It was about 30 mins by bus in the mornings but in the evenings during rush hour it could take over an hour to get home. Standing up in a packed bus, when its dark and I have no idea where my stop is, wasn't much fun.

Also I was beginning to think the family were a little strange. They were really nice to me but most of the time there was no one home. So I had no choice but to spend most of the time in my room and only came down for breakfast and dinner, which the maid prepared. Even when they were home, they were rushing around doing stuff so I felt a bit in the way. I was the first student to stay there so I don't think they knew what to do with me. I did really like Ignacio, the 7 year old kid, he was funny and we immediately bonded over his bug collection but I thought it was a little bit weird that he didn't know the alphabet or numbers. Not even in Spanish! He's seven!!! Also there was one awkward morning when Gloria told me that they were going for a walk and had left Ignacio alone in the house, making jelly by microwaving jugs of water. I helped him out but eventually I had to leave for school praying that he would still be there when I got back!

So after all this when Shelly told me her homestay had an extra room, I asked the school if I could swap. So my new Mama Tica is Raquel and she's totally crazy in a really nice way! She doesnt speak any English and laughs like a mad woman. But her house is really nice and homey even though she parks her car in the kitchen!!! Plus she lives only a ten minute walk from the school and living with Shelly means that we can go out in the evenings together.

Also as I moved into Raquels house Shelly told me that a guy who used to live there had popped in to say hello to Rachel. He had invited us out to the bar area near the University of Costa Rica (which is very near our house) And so Later that night I met Willem, 19, from Holland. He has been in Costa Rica for 6 weeks and knows his way around pretty well. We went to a few bars and drank the local beer (Imperial). All the bars have their own guards outside who check your ID, check bags and give the guys a pat down before you can get in, which is a little strange but once your inside the bars are really nice and relaxed.

It turns out Willem had been at the school three weeks and had left to do some volunteer work for the turtles. He will be coming back to the school next week and will be staying with Rachels daughter who lives right next to us. After that he's going to travel around Costa Rica for a while before returning to Holland to go to university.

So in all I am much happier in my new home! Tonight Me, Shelly and Willem are going to the cinema to see the new Star Wars movie!