My year in Paradise

I can't believe I have already been here for 3 weeks! That is so crazy-it is going by so quickly! I feel like just yesterday I was meeting my family for the first time, but anyway sorry I haven't posted in a while! I told myself I would start posting once a week, but I kinda broke that promise.......

Anywayy let me catch you up on all the exciting things that have happened to me! First off, an accomplishment I am allowed to brag about-I walked 23 km from San Jose to Cartago! WHY WOULD I DO THAT? There is this big tradition in Costa Rica, where people walk to a church in Cartago in honor of the Virgin Mary. I didn't really know what to do, so I decided to go for the expierence! And let me tell you.....it.was.so.exausting. Honestly I never want to walk that far again-ever! But to look on the bright side I burned a lot of calories! Which is good because I have been eating soooooo much here!! But the walking was long and very tireing-but my dad, my sister, and my friends Hannah and Sophia and I made the best out of it! However we were yelled at a lot-that is the one thing that really annoys me. Here in Costa Rica, men aren't afraid to show you they like you. They will whistle, yell, and make "cat calls" at girls on the street! While we were walking an old man yelled at us, "Hey babies! I love you.......TOMORROW!" Not today? Not yesterday? Tomorrow?!! Alright....have fun with that..! But just being whistled at or called "gringa" or "macha" can get really annoying after a while! But finally, after walking 8 hours, being whistled at, and eating a lot of ice cream, we made it! And it was gorgeous! I felt really accomplished and I was really glad I did that, because how many people from the US can say that they walked 23 km to a church in Cartago?-not many!

Also this week I went to the multiplaza in San Jose!-it.is.america. Every single American store imaginable was there, and, of course, McDonalds....BARF! haha jk!no seriously I hate McDonald. But my friends and I went and saw a movie-"Con Amor en Rome"! It was pretty good, half of it was in English, the other half was in Italian, and then the entire thing was in Spanish subtitles-which was actually really good because I went with 3 people who could speak English, 2 that could speak Spanish, and 1 that spoke Italian! Very diverse-just like us! All in all...the movie made no sense....but it was fun to go to the theater!

On Friday AFS Puriscal went to the Volcano Irazu! I'm not going to lie, I was expecting a little more, but it was still gorgeous! We drove 2 hours, got out into the "cold weather" (everyone told me it was going to be cold-it was about 50 degrees f....) and stayed there for an hour. Then after that.....WE WENT TO A THEME PARK!! It was in San Jose, and it was soo fun! I went on everything I could-rollercoasters, upside down rides, water rides, everything! I also ate a lot....I swear I am about to be so fat when I come home:/!

All in all I am doing really good! I skyped my family for the first time last Sunday and it felt so good-I thought after I would feel homesick, but it made me feel a lot better! So, to anyone who wants to know, skyping does help! Of course I am going to feel homesick, I think there would be something wrong with me if I didn't, but I realized I only have 10 more months with these amazing people here, and I don't want to waste anytime thinking about those people at home when I could be out meeting new people and doing amazing things! I am starting to understand the language a lot more which is good, and I am really excited to go out and explore! So, for now, chao!