National Theater or Teatro Nacional depending on your language choice

Last night might have been my classiest night in San Jose. Our Young Life team went to go see a piano performance at the National Theater. Three of the five of us are headed back to the States in June, so we are crossing off things on our Costa Rica bucket list. Going to the Teatro Nacional was on all of our lists, and I'm glad we got to experience it in all it's beauty. However, it was there that I realized I am better suited for sporting events rather than piano recitals, because when everyone politely clapped I always wanted to let out a loud "Yeahhhh!" or an "Owwwww!" But I refrained, and was on my best classy behavior.
So the guy playing the piano. He was CUUUTE! A cute guy who can play the piano...umm...YES PLEASE! His name was Lanzo and we are the same age, so that's just perfect... a match made in heaven if you will. He was all fancied up in his tux, looking all spiffy and cute, and for real our eye contact was intense! I think I'm in love. Oh wait, I'm exaggerating.This was my first legit piano performance that I've ever been to, and shit, his fingers moved like they were on crack cocaine. SO FAST. I was mega impressed with the whole night!

Dear John

Saturday night marked the first time I went to a movie by myself. Yes, it happened and I'm not even embarrassed. It was pleasant-once I was seated. I found out Dear John was finallllllly playing in theaters here. All my friends were busy, but I OBVIOUSLY couldn't sit at home and not go to the movie. I finished reading the book a couple weeks ago (don't judge me) and have been anxiously awaiting for it to come to theaters in Costa Freaka.

So, I hop on a bus and make the trek to the San Pedro Mall. The movie theater in the mall is undergoing some major construction, so just keep this in mind. I bought my ticket and then looked around and was all "Shoot, where do I go?" cause the theaters weren't marked by number...due to the dumb construction. I walked up to the second floor, because all the other times I had seen a movie there the movie was playing in a theater upstairs.
So that decision just made sense. I handed my ticket to the ticket guy at the top of the stairs, and he told me in Spanish my theater was downstairs. So, I go downstairs and find another ticket guy. Keep in mind the construction. There are just doors, and you have no idea what theater is which. Even though my ticket said Theater 4, I had no idea where theater 4 was. I hand him my ticket to the ticket guy and say "¿donde esta sala 4?" He pointed, and I walked towards that direction. I saw a theater, and thought this must be it, so I open the unmarked doors and walk inside. I'm strolling down the isle looking for an open seat, the previews are playing, and then I feel someone tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it's the ticket guy. He said "señora" and then motioned for me to follow him. APPARENTLY, I had walked into the wrong theater. Woopsie-daisy. Thanks little ticket guy, for helping out the lost gringa!

My host dogs are idiots

So. The other night some of us went dancing. Oh the love for Salsa in this country. Anyways, earlier in the day I received my rent money to give to my host momma, and since she wasn't home, and I wasn't going to get home till early in the AM, I wanted to leave her the cash money. Ive left her notes and such things before on the corner of her bed, and it's the perfect place because I know she will see it, and its never been a problem before. So, I left the rent money in an envelope for Luchi on the bed, thinking this was a grand idea. Well...Pecas (Freckles, the Dalmatian) is a iddddddiot and eats anything and everything....including the $300 cash and the envelope for my May rent. Yes, the dog ate my rent money. FOR REAL. WHAT A DUMMY! Sounds like the classic "My dog ate my homework" excuse, but this really happened. I'm never petting Pecas again...or giving him any of my leftover breakfast that I cant eat. And now I am in the process of figuring this mess out and seeing what this means for my host family. DUMB IDIOT DOG!

And then there is Bruce...Bruce Willis. He's just a big large huge dumb dog. And that is coming from a dog lover. But he however, is just gross. Cute, but gross. Yesterday however when I was eating breakfast, he managed to impress me...which doesn't happen too often. He was standing next to me, begging for food (yeah, I feed my host dogs the food I can't eat, woops) and then out of no where he jumped up and ate a fly mid air! It.Was.Awesome. But none the less he's dumb, cause he ate a fly. IDIOT!

Irish Cream not Ice Cream

My life. Well, it´s funny sometimes. Like yesterday for example. I was at McCafe, the one, the only cafe inside McDonalds. Yeah yeah, I know what you all are thinking, but for reals, this place is legit. There are a lot of places to get good coffee in Costa, but if you want a good latte, well, those are a little harder to come by. BUT, McCafe, has lattes that are quite tasty...AND there is free wifi (which is pronounced wee-fee!).

So yesterday I went up to McCafe to read and to enjoy a nice latte. When I ordered(in Spanish) I said I would like a latte with Irish cream. The girl taking my order looked at me confused and told me no, that they couldn't do that. The conversation was all in Spanish at this point mind you, and I was confused as to why she couldn't put Irish cream syrup in my latte A.) Because I´ve had it done there plenty of times, and B.) I saw it on the counter right behind the chick, so I knew they had it. Ive never had any trouble ordering this drink before, but homegirl just wasn't getting it for some reason. She looks at me again, confused, and says in English ¨No, we cant do a latte with ice cream.¨ Oh gosh, she thinks I want ice cream. I even said cream in Spanish...crema, but she was really hooked on ice cream for some reason. Dannnngit.

At this point I was real flustered, which didn't help the situation. She then said no hielo crema. Hielo is the word for ice, and crema the word for cream...WHILE the word for ice cream is helado, WHICH I clearly know. I mean come on, I may not know a lot of Spanish, but I definitely know the word for ice cream! With out pausing she then again says in English ¨No Ice Cream in latte.¨ This was quite the mess of an order going on right now.

I figured the Irish cream wasn't that worth it, so I tried to tell her just a normal latte...AND then, she goes ¨Ohhhh, I know what you want!¨ and then pulls out the bottle of whip cream, WHICH is right next to the bottle of Irish!!! I tried countless times to point to the Irish cream bottle of syrup, but she would just shake her head and say ¨No!¨ So, 343 minutes later I got a normal ol´latte...with no Irish cream, or ice cream, or whip cream for that matter. And then today I went to McCafe again, and just ordered an Americano to save me the trouble. Oh Costa Rica.

Lets try this again...

Ok. Who was I kidding. A picture a day? Or even a picture (almost) a day? Ha. Turns out this is going to be more like a couple pictures once or twice a week.


Oh you know, just a couple of ox going down the road in Escazu. Yes, this really happens here.

At the National Museum in San Jose with my college friends, Sofi and Carolyn


1 liter smoothies. Yes please!

Fish Taco bar in Jaco. Delicious food and swings as chairs. So fun!

Is there any better way to spend my day off?

So, I only have one full month left here in the Rica. SO freaking crazy. One would think that since I've been here for quite some time now, I would be a pro at life here. Wrongo! I'm constantly learning new things. For example, the other day I figured out a new bus route that cut down my walking time from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. This would have been so helpful to know about ohhh umm...maybe....9 months ago! I'm glad I know now though because rainy season is starting back up and it's a pain in the junk to walk for 30 minutes in the rain. I've learned that umbrellas don't really do a a whole lot.

Other things I'm still trying to figure out...when my host fam eats dinner. It's roughly anywhere between 5pm-10pm, not sure yet. I was in bed the other night reading at 10:15. I heard my host mom get home a couple minutes earlier, and then I hear a knock on my door. She asked me if I wanted dinner. At 10:15. PM. Dinner. I kindly said "No" and then went to bed. Because it was 10:15. At Night.

Ohhhhhh, and another thing I'm learning. Tengo hambre and tengo hombre have 2 very different meanings. Tengo hambre means "I have hunger." But when I'm hungry and mistakenly tell my host mom tengo mucho hombre, I'm telling her "I have man." Which is funny and dosen't make sense all at the same time. Woops!

WYLD LIFE CAMP!

We had Wyldlife camp last weekend and IT.WAS.AWESOME! Straight up! Here are some pics.

Bumper Donuts!!!!
High Ropes!

Ropes Swing at the lake!

Reto Selva...aka..mud opstical course...aka...the nasties/greatest thing EVER!

The whole gang!

What I really meant was...

So. I was very optimistic with the whole ¨A Picture a Day¨ thing, but now I´m starting to be realistic, and it´s going to be more like ¨A Picture (almost) a Day.¨ I kinda forgot that I don´t have internet access every day-minor detail in this whole thing. But I am for sure going to post as often as I can. And just a heads up (Susan Doyle) I´m going to be at Wyld Life camp this weekend so pictures probs wont be posted until Monday...or Tuesday.

¡Pura Vida home slices!

¡Que Rico!

This right here could quite possibly be the most delicious one two punch! It´s the chocobanano muffin and imuno-loco smoothie from my favorite restaurant-La Oliva Verde. It´s a mediterranean place that is so freaking bomb! Ok, so the chocobanano muffin kinda explains itself, but let me tell you what´s packed into the imuno-loco smoothie. You got passion fruit, pinapple, strawberries, bananas and orange juice all blended up into perfection. For real, I´m obsessed, and I have one at least 2 times a week. At least.

Fútbol y Basket

Saturday was a freaking blast, but my body currently hates me-I'm sore as whoa. In the morning we had a Vida Joven soccer tournament. I played with the Capernaum leaders, and we played a total of 4 thirty minute games. We won a couple, lost a couple, but the ultimate compliment of the day was when all the people on the sidelines from the other team were yelling "marca de la gringa." (mark the gringa) That's me! Have I mentioned yet that it was so much fun?
Then after our games I hopped on a bus and went straight to the Lincoln girls basketball game. It was the final game of a tournament. We ended up getting second place, but they played really well. The team has improved so much this year. Proud of them! Here are some pics from the sports day.

My fav Costa Rican couple

Yesterday I got to hang out with my favorite Costa Rican married couple. Yes, I took a vote (in my head) and Stefán and Ale totally won! We went and had Dim Sum. Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine which involves a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea...or at least that´s the Wikipedia definition for you all! And dang, that crap was goooood! It´s funny because Stefán and Ale always take me to places that involve chopsticks for some reason. I think they just enjoy watching me struggle...a lot. I have some work to do with my chopstick skills.


This picture of the day makes me laugh! I told them I wanted to take a picture of them, since they are my fav Costa Rican couple and all, and this is what I got. Don´t you just love them already?

Ohhhhh these!

Ok, so I walk past these manicans on the way home from basketball practice, and I literally laugh out loud every time I see them! They are outside this alterations place close to my house, and I'm guessing business is thriving. I mean...how could it not with manicans like these. Check it.

A picture a day!

So. I've decided to mix things up a little bit. Ok, so in order to create some frequency in my blog updates I've decided I am going to start posting a picture a day. Now now, I'm no photographer, so these pics aren't going to be life changing or anything, they are just to give you a glimpse or a "picture" (hehe haha) at my life here in San Jose. Plus, I only have 2 months left here so I thought this would be a good way to start some consistency with good ol' fancypantelones. Ya dig?
Ok, so here's what's gonna happen. Each day I will post one picture. They will be pics of people, places, and things. And if I'm feeling real crazy one day, perhaps maybe even a video. Who knows. Don't worry, I will for sure keep posting stories, because let's be honest, I'm sure there will still be a plethora to come, but on top of that, you will get some pics. It's kinda like an Almond Joy. You get the delicious coconut chocolate goodness, and then as a bonus you get the almond. Clearly, it's a win win situation. Alright. Here you go.


This is my favorite coffee shop in San Pedro. In college it felt like I was always at a coffee shop, and recently I´ve missed that time. So, I´ve been coming here more often. Yesterday, I enjoyed a nice coca light (in a bottle!) read for a while, and worked on my young life talk. All was well.

I also have a quick story while I'm at it. Last night we had YL club at a kids rancho. A rancho is pretty much just an outside covered area, which works perfectly for club. Well, this rancho was in a baller neighborhood and it was in the area by the pool, tennis courts, and playground area. There were a handful of people playing in the area, but no one was actually in the rancho except us yl people. John asked me to fill up some water ballons for a game we were going to be doing, so I walked into the men's restroom, because the women's was on the other side. The restroom was just a single toilet and a sink. I left the door open, and didn't think twice about it being weird that I was in the men's room, because no one else was really around in the rancho area. So, I´m filling up these balloons in the sink, and this kid, he was maybe 5, walks into the restroom (mind you the door was wide open) and starts talking to me in Spanish...real fast. Like really really fast, and his voice was kinda squeaky. I didn´t understand him, so I said ¨¿como?¨and he said something else.. in Spanish. I had no idea what the little buddy said, but I heard John laughing in the background, and then the kid just stormed off. I finished filling up the water balloons, and then walked out of the restroom when John goes, ¨do you know what he was saying to you?¨ I had no idea but I figured it was something about the water balloons. John just laughed and repeated what the kid said to me...in English. This is what he said, in his squeaky fast voice. ¨What are you doing in here? This is when I said ¨what?¨ and then he said with annoyance, ¨Whyyyy are you in here?¨ With no reply from me, he stormed off....and peed his pants. FOR REAL! Little buddy PEED his pants...all because I was filling up water balloons in the men's restroom.

Oh yeah, I have a blog to update!

So. It's been a while since I've updated the old blog-a-roo-ski. There has been so much goodness going on since my last posting. Young Life and Wyld Life stuff is cruisin' right along. It's hard to believe that I only have 2 months left in Costa Rica. The last couple months has been full with Lincoln generation camps! We (John, Kate, Boo, and I) got to go with the Boy With a Ball staff to the 11th, 10th, and 8th grade camps. Lots of relationships are forming with Lincoln kids, so that is a huge praise! We have Wyld Life camp at the end of this month, which is going to be beyond sweet! Ohhhh, and 3 of my friends came to visit which was just absolutely insane in the greatest way possible! I just got back to CR from the States last night. I was there for 2 weeks, one week in Kansas City and one week back home in Denver. My time back in the US was so wonderful! When I got back to my house last night no one was home. I had been home for about 30 minutes, when I heard my host sister, Lisa, unlocking the door(s). She was walking down the hall towards her room, and mine, excited to see her I opened my door and said "hey!" Her arms and legs went flailing, and she screamed SHIT really loud. Yeahhh, that just about made my life! :) Here are some highlights of my time back in los Estados Unidos...
-My Person's (best friend) wedding!! It was absolutely perfect. And...I caught the bouquet, so do what you will with that!-Patty Griffin concert at Liberty Hall. Life changing.-I got to spend my birthday with friends that I adore in Lawrence, Kansas! Bliss.-Went snowboarding with some of my favs!-My friend Krista and I had a combined birthday bash in Denver. Holy crap, it was F.U.N!-I got to be home with my family for Easter! I love them!
-And..I got to see so many of my sweet sweet friends!

Oh, so last night when my host mom got home she was telling me she had just came from una reunión...which leads me to a quick lil' story for you all!

A couple weeks ago at breakfast Luchi asked me if I was going to la reunión that night (vas a la reunión de esta noche?). I didn't know what the word reunión meant, which is funny now because when it's written out it's kinda obvious. But since I didn't know what the word meant I figured I probably wasn't going, so I said "no" and then proceeded to tell her I was going to Young Life club. Later that day while I was at the office, I asked John and Jessie what the word reunión means. They said, "Oh, it means meeting...or in our case, club." I giggled when I realized the convo Luchi and I had earlier that morning at breakfast. Pretty much this is how it went down...
Luchi: "Lisa, are you going to club tonight?"
Me: "No, I'm going to Young Life club tonight!"

BUT...now I know what the word reunión means. So, last night when Luchi told me she had just come from a reunión, I totally knew what she meant! So yes, my Spanish is coming along nicely, thank you for asking!

Postscript: Shout out to Laura Doyle who reminded me that I have a blog to update.
Laura Doyle via facebook wall post: "Lis, you need to update your blog! It hasn't been updated since Feb. 21st and I check it everyday! Get on it."
Thanks Laura!

Quote of the week

My friend Sofi...she's hilarious, and a lot of times she says really really funny things. That was the case on Friday night. Here's the sitch. We, Kate, Sofi, and I were all on our way to Wyldlife club. Club is in an area about 30 ish minutes away from where we live in a city called Escazú. Other then it having a really cool name which is fun to say, here's what you need to know about Escazú. It´s nice. Nice cars. Big houses. Lots of money. The wealthiest part of Costa Rica hands down. You also need to know that Sofi just got her license on Thursday. She's a good driver, I take that back, a great driver, and I feel totally comfortable with her driving! But... clearly driving a stick shift can present it's fair share of problems when you are a new-b. That happened to be the case that night. We were leaving a pizza place that we had dinner at, and as we were reversing in the tightly packed parking lot, Sofi got herself into a little pickle. She reversed, and then couldn't put it into the right gear (don´t ask me which one that is, I know nothing about driving stick shifts) without the car rolling backwards. We continually got closer and closer to the car behind us, which happened to be a nice new black Volvo SUV. Yes, those exist here. Sofi stopped to compose herself and then says ¨Guys. I mean...I can hit a car in San Pedro, but I CAN NOT hit a car in Escazú.¨ Oh man, I lost it. Well said Sof, well said! Kate gave her a little pep talk and in a matter of seconds we were on our way...and we didn't even hit a car...in Escazú...or San Pedro. WooHoo! Buen trabajo Sof, buen trabajo!

¿Cómo se dice resume en español?

Once again, my life here is a struggle...daily, due to my lack of Spanish knowledge of course. This morning at breakfast my host mom asked me if I had any plans for the day. She asks me this almost every day, and usually I can tell her I´m going up to school or to the Young Life office. And today I actually did have plans. Throughout the week I had been planning that Saturday would be the day that I would revise my resume and start looking/applying for teaching jobs. But when Luchi asked me if I had plans, clearly I didn´t know how to tell her all of that in Spanish, so I just thought it would be easier if I said no. So, that´s what I did. I said no. She then she told me she was going over to her sisters house. I thought I said, ¨Si, que bueno¨ at the appropriate time, but come to find out later I didn´t.

An hour later I was at the computer working on my resume, and she came and said...¨Lisa, vamos (let´s go)!¨I gave her the oh crap look. I realized that I had agreed to go with her. SHOOT! Plus, I wasn´t ready at all, and was totally in the zone and wanting to get my resume stuff done. I froze. I had no idea what to do. Well, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, I just had no idea how to do it. How do I tell Luchi that I want to come, but I had already planned on knocking out my resume, and I really need to be productive with applying for teaching jobs? Yeah, how do I say all of that in SPANISH???????? Resume...resumeo? Heck if I know. So....I called my trusty friend Boo, and told him the situataion, and then I gave my cell phone to Luchi, and Boo gave her the skinny. I felt like I was playing Who Wants to be a Millionare, and I used my Phone-A-Friend life line.

The end.

The jefes (bosses) are gone...lets go to a volcano!

Volcano...check...
Waterfalls...check.
Monkeys...check.
Butterflies...check.
Absolutely insanely awesome day...check!

John and Jessie, our bosses, are in Nicaragua for the week for a lil´ International School YL conference, so we didn't have Young Life club tonight. And since Wednesdays are usually spent preparing for club, Kate and I pretty much had a day off! What what! Holler atchya´day off! Plus, our friend Damon was in town, so we opted to go on an adventure! I feel like if you have the choice, an adventure is always a good route to take! Done and done.

We caught the bus from downtown San José this morning at 8:30. For some reason it took us forever and 2 years to get to the Volcano, but on the way back it only took us an hour. I´m still confused about how that worked. Anyways, so the bus took us straight to the Volcano...essentially. Our bus driver stopped for some strawberries on the side of the road and a short pit stop, but other than that straight to Volcan Poas.

Here´s the thing though, there are these really sweet waterfalls about 30 minutes away from the volcano that the three of us really wanted to see, BUT there is only one bus, the one that we took, that goes to the volcano, and then it goes back to San José at 2:00 in the pm. Needless to say, if we wanted to do both, volcano and waterfalls, which we did, we were a little crunched for time. So on the bus we game planned. We decided we were going to book it up to the top of the volcano...check it out, bask in its glory, and then book it back down. I mean really, the volcano was sick, so awesome, but you can only look at a volcano for so long. Am I right or am I right?

Next part of our plan...figuring out how to get to the waterfalls. While we were still on the bus we asked our bus driver if he could pick us up from the Supermercado, at the bottom of the hill, because we were planning on going to the waterfalls. He said ¨Si¨and told us he would pick us up at the Supermercado at 2:10.

Now we just had to figure out how we were getting to the waterfalls. Once we got back to the visitor center after seeing the volcano, Damon wondered off, so Kate and I decided to check out the gift shop. Seven minutes later Damon comes into the shop and tells us to hurry up because we have a ride! He worked some kind of magic, and we jumped in this van with an older couple form California who had hired a tour guide. I thought our tour guide, Juan, was a little sketch because we were all talking about fruit, so I asked him what his favorite fruit in Costa Rica is and he said...Women. I mistakenly thought he said Lemon, call me crazy it sounded like lemon and after all we WERE talking about fruit, so I replied with...Oh, awesome! So that was kinda awkward, but other then his sketchy women comments, he was a great tour guide! Anyways, we finally make it to the waterfalls. Boom snap!

At this point we only have an hour before we need to leave again to get back to the supermarket. We ask the information guy at the visitor center how long it takes to get to the first waterfall. I was thinking maybe twenty minutes max, and he says one hour. Son of a B! One hour, we don´t have that kind of time dude. We were hoping to check out both waterfalls and all the other sweet stuff...like the monkeys. So, once again we book it! We are full on running, which was funny because there were a lot of old people who were walking suuuuuuper slow, and then we would just blaze past them. Sorrrrry Grandma....eat my dust! Just kidding... kind of! A.N.Y.W.A.Y.S, we were able to see both waterfalls, the monkeys, the bird exhibit, and the butterfly lil´pavilion thing. All of it was so awesome.

Ok, so now our last little task was to find a way back to the supermarket. We go out to the parking lot and Damon once again finds a man and asks if he will give us a ride if we pay him. Homeslice, is super nice, very friendly, and then when we get to the supermarket he is all...Ten mil. Ten mil! What the crap dude! Ten mil is what he charged us, and it is equivalent to TWENTY U.S. DOLLARS... for an 8 minute taxi ride. Moral of this story...we got jipped...hard. But we made it to the supermarket with 10 minutes to spare so we were feeling ok. I mean, a little pissed we got screwed by our taxi ¨friend¨Rouel, but whatever. That´s probably not even how you spell his name, but I don´t even care. Take that Rouel!

I know this is long story, but I´m almost done. So we are hanging out at the supermarket waiting for the bus, and then out of nowhere our bus, the ONLY bus that will take us back to San José, goes flying past us. This thing is haullin. Not even slowing down in the slightest as he passes the Supermercado. All three of us looked at each other with this look of ¨Oh mother! I think he´s gonna stop. I hope? He´s going to stop right? But it doesn't really look like it. RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¨ So naturally that´s what we did. We ran. And we ran freaking fast... after our bus. And don´t worry, homeslice is still cruisin´down this huge hill. Then thankfully, after sprinting 200 yards, with a backpack on which isn´t easy, he slows down....not for us though, but for the construction traffic. I have never in my whole life been so thankful for construction traffic. Thank.You. Jesus! Like for real, thank you Jesus because we were all out of money, thanks to Rouel, and who the crap knows how we would have gotten back to the city.

Synopsis of the day. Awesome, and a lot of running.
The end.

Dance Monkey Dance!

SO. I learned a new Spanish phrase the other day. Yep. Tome chi chi! It means ¨take that.¨It´s pretty much the equivalent to the English version of ¨touche.¨So, the other night I was in the car with my host mom, host sister and two of her friends, and I felt that it was an appropriate time to tell them I learned a new Spanish phrase. Lisa asked me what it was and I responded with ¨Tome chi chi!¨ and the whole car died laughing. I mean, I guess it is kinda funny that I´m this gringa chick that knows hardly any Spanish, but I know these crazy local slangs and phrases. Ever since then I have become a circus animal. Whenever I am around Lisa´s friends she will say ¨Say your phrase!¨ I say it, and then they all start laughing. And then I get my bone. Just kidding...about the bone part, but not about the them laughing part.

My host dad came home from the beach yesterday (where he lives/works) to be able to vote today. This morning at breakfast we were talking and then Luchi was all ¨Say your phrase!¨ And once again, being the circus animal I am, I said ¨Tome chi chi¨ and Don Tacho started cracking up. Dance monkey dance!!!! Come on gringa, say your phrase, say your phrase!!!!

OH, here´s some big news going on in the Rica. TODAY was the presidential elections! HOLY CRAP, elections are wayyyyy more fun here then they are in the States. No offense US. Here, everyone drives around with these colored flags representing their preferable candidate. The flags are either on their car, or sticking out of their car. And today people were flag LOCO! Absolutely crazy! People literally drove around just to wave their flags out their window. There were cars everrrrywhere, and each car was packed out. People were also riding on the roofs of cars. It was election day, so apparently you can do that! Kate and I stood on a street corner for about 30 minutes yelling ¨Otton!!!!!!!!!¨ He was one of the candidates, and the one that I was fake voting for. I kinda felt like I was cheating on my host fam when I was cheering for him though, because my host fam was voting for Laura. I liked Laura at first, you know, like a kid likes whoever their parents like. But here´s the thing, I´m pretty easy to sway when it comes to me liking political candidates in a country that I can´t actually vote in, and since my really cool new friends Stefàn and Ale like Otton, I started rooting for him. Go Otton! Whatever, I´m a gringa, my opinion means nothing in this matter. I just liked cheering for someone when I was standing on the street, and Otton was more fun to cheer for because there were way more Otton flags, which means way more honking!!! Anyways, Otton didn´t even win.... Laura won! Yep, a chick is now the president of Costa Rica. So, it´s kinda like Sara Palin...except people here like her...and she won....and it´s not even a big deal that she´s a chick. She is the first woman president in this country, and its no big deal. Weird.

Hasta Luego mi amigos! Tome chi chi!

My friends are coming!!!!!!!!!!

My friends are coming, my friends are coming, my friends are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH, MY.FRIENDS.ARE.COMING!!! Can you tell I´m so stoked by the all CAPS! So, my great friend Susan booked a flight the other day to come visit in March. And then yesterday I got an emailed flight itinerary from our friend Sarah, who I had NO idea was coming, but now will be flying out with Susan! Sarah could be the most spontaneous person I know...and I´m not just saying that. It took Sus no more then 24 hours to convince Sarah to book her flight to Costa Rica. Sarah Anderson, just flying by the seat of her pantalones. Good work Sus! Love you both! CAN´T WAIT TILL MARCH 11th. ¡Fiesta!

Bruce Willis is an idiot.

This past weekend we had our leader retreat...at the beach! Leader retreat at the beach...don't mind if I do! We planned all the clubs for Young Life and Wyldlife for the semester. A student from Lincoln has a house at the beach in Quepos, that her parents so generously let us stay there. We planed. prayed. played. and I can't think of anything else that starts with the letter p. But the weekend was real great. It was so good to spend time together as a team. Have I said yet I'm excited for this semester and what God is doing at international schools in Costa Rica? Stoked!

Also, on Friday I got to hang out with my friend Carolyn. Carolyn is a friend from KU who is studying abroad at the University of Costa Rica, which is no joke 5 minutes from my house. And she.is.awesome! Then yesterday after our meetings at the office Kate and I went downtown to meet up with the Hale's. Erin and Adge Hale are freaking ballers, and hilarious. It was soooo fun getting to spend time with them.

Here's a story for you all. On Sunday night I was eating dinner at my house with Luchi, Lisa, and then two of Lisa's friends, Dani, and Diego. When we were almost finished with dinner Lisa yelled for Pecas, the dalmatian. Luchi asked Lisa why she was yelling for Pecas, and Lisa told her that the bathroom door was open and wanted Pecas to come into the kitchen so she wouldn't get into the trash. Pecas came quickly, and had no trash in her mouth. BUT, as everyone was so concentrated on Pecas's mouth Bruce (named after Bruce Willis) came into the room with a tampon applicator with the plastic wrapper in his mouth. Surprisingly, I was the only one that saw this. My eyes got really BIG and my mouth literally dropped open. About a minute went by and I decided I had to do something. I had a brilliant plan. I was going to pretend I was going to the bathroom, and then find Bruce in the hallway, take the tampon wrapper out of his mouth, throw it away, and then no one would have to know about it. Well, that plan backfired. I left the table, went to go look for Bruce, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I came back to the kitchen table, and sure enough Bruce was under the table....still with the tampon wrapper and applicator in his mouth. I sat down, and had to hold myself together and try not to laugh. Two seconds later Bruce gets up from underneath the table, and puts his head on Luchi's thigh to beg for food. Luchi looked down, screamed, and then died laughing. Everyone asked what was so funny, and she pointed to Bruce with the wrapper STILL in his mouth. He's a dummy.

Dear Influenza,

Suck it. Whatever is going around, its official, I caught it. Last night I was babysitting for the cutest little Costa Rican baby, and then BAM, out of now where I´m throwing up my brains. Ughh. People, I set a new record. Between last night and today I threw up a total of 16 times. There has been a bug going around, and a lot of people at the YL office have had it. When I came out of my deep hibernation today, since I got zero sleep last night, Luchi came into my room with yet another beverage! It wasn´t a margarita this time...it was tea. When Luchi was handing me the mug that said ¨Sisters by birth, friends by choice¨ she told me that this tea is magic. I'm truly convinced that it was a hot toddy though! Whatever the magic potion, I am feeling much better. So, as Luchi, Lisa, and I were at the kitchen table drinking our ¨tea¨ my host sister Lisa asked me if I got a hair cut while I was home. I said yes, and then Luchi said ¨Que Bonita¨ which is hilarious, because I looked like absolute death today and nothing was beautiful....especially my hair. It was dis-gusting. Seriously Luchi, get sweeter, oh wait, it´s not possible! I´m so thankful that that she loves me so well. She is such a servant, and can make all sorts of mean beverages!

And I was all whhhhhat!

SO. There is a train that runs pretty much in my backyard, which has a tendency to shake the house. This morning I was laying in bed, but still kinda asleep, and then all of a sudden everything started shaking. Naturally, I thought it was the Polar Express about to bust threw my window, but NO NO. I get a text message a minute later from Kate that was all...¨I think I just felt an Earthquake.¨ And, I was all...¨Whhhhhat¨ Then, over some french toast this morning with Luchi, she asked me ¨Did you feel?¨ and then she started skaking the table.

Costa Rica, I am drinking you in, and you are smooth.

Yes, I am back. Round 2! It´s really good to be back. When Kate and I got to the ticket counter at the Denver Airport, we experienced some ridiculous stuff due to visa problems, so we hand to finagle some things around, but luckily we didn't miss our flight! And in the midst of all the stuff going on at the ticket counter Kate goes ¨ So here's the real question. Are you going to let the 8 extra pounds in our bags slide? I mean, I knew they were strict about the 50 pound bag limit, but dang. Clearly, the guy working the Frontier counter did not think it was as funny as I did. The timing was perfect...or in his case, not so perfect..at all!

We took off at midnight thirty, flew direct, and arrived in San Jose at around 6:45 am. If you didn't already know this about me, here you go...I absolutely hate flying. Hate it, Hate it, Hate it. But the flight was sweet. It wasn't bumpy, and for some reason we flew pretty low. Maybe since it was so late and dark? I actually just made that up, I have no idea, but flying low made me feel more comfortable, because if our plain did happen to fall out of the sky, we wouldn't fall as far. Yes, those are the thoughts that go through my head, and hence why I hate flying. I remember waking up at one point and looking out the window and seeing nothing but stars! It. was. INSANE. I have never seen so many stars in my life. All 22 years of it. For real, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. And then...I woke up again, and got to see the sun rise over Belize...which was insane as well! Yes please, don't mind if i do. By far the prettiest flight I have ever had!

I got home yesterday around 9 am, and slept for a solid 7 hours. When I woke up, I started unpacking, and Luchi, my host mom, came into my room and gave me a margarita and some nuts...you know, for an unpacking snack! Man, I love that woman!

In other news, there is now a train that runs behind my house. Literally right behind my house. Last night at dinner my whole family was talking about how awful the train is. They said it comes by at 7:30 am, and it is wayyyy worse then the egg man. You know, the egg man. They guy who sells eggs at the butt crack of dawn while yelling ¨Huevos, Huevos, blah blah blah, Huevos!!!!!!!!!!!!!¨ I literally thought to myself ¨What could be worse then the egg man?¨ and then at 7:30 this morning I learned what was worse...the train. I felt like the freaking Polar Express was coming straight threw my window, and call me crazy but I'm pretty sure the whole house rattled.

Alright, that's all for now from the Rica. Young Life stuff doesn't start for a couple weeks, but kids go back to school at Lincoln on Monday, and we have a leader retreat next weekend.

Much love, and ¡Pura Vida!

Abundance

I am so ridiculously blessed by my friends. Thanks girls for a great night, and for making me feel so celebrated and loved.

Everything is going to be in Spanish next week. Yikes!

So (it's my new years resolution to start every blog post off with SO. Well, not really but if that was true things would be looking really good at this point!) I'm heading back to Costa Rica in 6 days. Holy woahhh! 6 days! How the crap did these last 4 weeks in los Estados Unidos de América go by so fast? Like really really fast. My time at home has been so rich...richer than I could ever describe. I have spent almost all my time surrounded by family and friends, knowing that I will have plenty of time to be alone (and watch tv) when I return to CR. My life here seems to be so normal. And by normal I mean I can actually order food here with out having a mild panic attack. And...I'm not confused 94% of the time. Yeah, my life in the US just isn't as funny...well, there was that one time on New Years Eve when a teacher from my high school was at the same party...yeah, that was funny.

I'm very much anticipating my return to CR though. Home is definitely comfortable, where as Costa Rica is still, even though I've been there for 5 months, on the opposite side of the comfortable spectrum. I now fully understand the meaning of a foreign country. I am super excited for everything coming up this Spring...or I guess it's considered Summer in Costa Rica now. Huh, that could get confusing. Anyways, I am way hopeful and expectant in the ways the Lord is moving in kids lives at Lincoln and CDS through Young Life and Wyld Life. And shout out to Dani and Gloriana...I can't wait to see you girls! :) There is so much going on in the next 5 months and sometimes it makes me sad to think that June will be here before I know it. My friend Susan is coming out to visit me in March. Sus is fluent in Spanish. Fluent as in she spoke Spanish before she spoke English, and I'm going to make her to order all my food for me when she comes to visit! And....we have Wyld Life camp in April, which on a scale of 1 to Awesome, is going to be Sooo AWESOME!!! And....I'm flying back to Kansas City for a week because my BEST FRIEND is getting married!

Well, there you have it...all my thoughts on leaving home and going back to the Rica. I still have 6 days left here though, which means I still have time to drink in lots and lots of English.

Adios for now mi amigos!