Last weekend was our last one where the whole group will be together. So sad! I'm really going to miss the people I'm here with. I've made some great friendships here! But enough of that, I can save that mushy stuff for a later entry.
Friday was interesting because Claire and I accompanied my mom to a fiesta type thing, but at the time we had NO idea what was going on. Not just because she told us in Spanish, but because what she was telling us in general was confusing. We knew it was some sort of meeting for Father's Day, but that's all we got right. First we thought it was through my host brother James' school, but when neither he nor my dad came, we quickly realized that wasn't the case. We were also wondering why my dad wasn't coming if it was for Father's Day. Needless to say, it was a mystery and we didn't know what was going on even while we were at the house where the party was. However, there was tons of food, so we weren't complaining! We eventually learned that it was through my mom's church, and this was her first time attending one of this parties because she just recently started reading during the service and becoming more involved. It was interesting to see another Tico house and observe them talking, even though they talked so fast that we had absolutely no idea what they were saying. Claire is a lot better than I am in Spanish and can usually understand everything, so when she is lost we know they were really talking fast! They were nice though, and it was still fun.
Afterwards, we met up with our friend Morgan and her conversation partner Yensy (not sure if that's spelled right) at a bar in Heredia where ladies were given a few tickets for free drinks! After that we went dancing at a place called Chill Out Place (that's literally the name--so Americanized!). It was pretty fun! When Claire and I left we waited around for 20 minutes before we were told that the buses had stopped running...oops. Then, our taxi driver told us his whole life story on the way home, including how he was sad because his wife had left him with the kids for 2 months. I didn't understand this and only learned of it when Claire told me the next day, but definitely one of our more sad/depressing/awkward cab rides.
On Saturday, Claire and I walked to Barva, a little town that's about a 10 minute walk from us. It's really cute, with lots of shops and a big park in the middle. Also, it has a theme of masks throughout the town that are on every street sign and garbage can. Pictures to come later. We walked around and took pictures, and then we shopped around a bit because Claire wanted a dress for our "final" later that night for our dance class. Saturday night was SO MUCH FUN. It was most of our group and Carlitos, our dance teacher and one of the directors of USAC who we love oh so much! We headed to San Jose and first ate dinner at this really good Chinese place. I got sweet n' sour chicken and Morgan and I shared some rice. Afterwards, we piled into taxis and headed over to Pepper's, an awesome place where they mostly play typical Latin music. We danced the night away! It was great because there were a lot of Ticos there who knew how to dance well, so it made it 10x better. I danced with two Ticos who were both really good. The first one "cut in" on me and one of fellow classmates, and the other one was actually taller than me!! Actually, he was a giant. I have never seen a Tico so tall; even in the States he was tall. Probably like 6'7". I danced with him right before we left, and he kept telling me to stop looking at the floor! Oops.
For Father's Day on Sunday, my older host brother Edson and his wife and son came over for lunch. I hung out with them for a while, but I couldn't really understand them because they were talking pretty fast so I spent the rest of the time re-reading the Hunger Games on my Kindle, so not a bad afternoon.
Today was our final presentations in my short stories class, which means that I'M DONE WITH CLASS! wooo! It feels great! Tomorrow the group is going to San Jose to see the national theater and I think a museum. After that, I'm free until Friday, when Morgan, Zack, Katie, Autumn, and I embark for the Souther Costa Rica tour! So excited!
On a more serious note, I found out some awful news about a wonderful family in Wauconda on Sunday. I learned that Mr. Mead, who just from the few times I have talked to him radiated kindness, was killed in a moped accident on Father's Day. My heart completely broke thinking about what they must be going through, so I ask anyone reading this to please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Until next time.
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