Una Noche Divertida

I had a very very good night tonight. In fact, one of the best nights I've had here so far. I went out with two of the teachers from the preschool section of the school (who I know semi-well because that's the area where I always teach). They took me to a place called Pizza Rica, which basically means, "Realy good pizza," but it's funny because it sounds like "Pizzaria." Man I had a good time with them. They're SO cool and nice and they complimented me a lot, saying things about how good of a teacher I am and how they like my music and everything. And on top of that, they taught me a LOT of swear words in Spanish, which I have to remember. We just had such a great time talking, laughing, and everything. They're so much fun. And the pizza was really good! And I'm excited because we're going to hang out some more before I leave, which will be so fun! And on top of all that, obviously, lots and LOTS of Spanish was spoken. Makes me feel SO good. I LOVE it.

Semana Santa: Part II

Monteverde/Santa Elena

Friends: When I left La Fortuna, I got on a van myself and the two Canadian girls got on a different one (because of different company reservations). We were planning on meeting up again anyway in the town, but since the travel was a van-boat-van, we ended up seeing each other on the boat part of the travel and then hung out from then. Then, once we got to the town, we wanted to meet up with Brent, since he had already been there for a day. Turns out he was staying at the same hostel as them so that was really easy, and then they just came over to my hostel, so we were all reunited!

Hostel: Was at Pensión Santa Elena. The atmosphere of it wasn't quite as nice as the La Fortuna hostel, but it definitely made up for it in other ways. First of all, the room was great! In La Fortuna, I stayed in a dorm, which kind of sucked, with lots of people in there sleeping and a common bathroom. In Santa Elena, I had my own private room and bath. AND a purple comforter! Awesome! Besides this, it was in a good location in the town, and the staff was VERY helpful. They recommended a bunch of the things we did when we were there. There was also a taco/burrito place right next to the hostel that was really good. We all got tacos/burritos every day, more than once a day. When we got burritos, they were called just that, but when we got tacos, we were having "small talks" (our invention, not the restaurant, or to be more precise, Brent's invention). Something funny happened outside the hostel as well - one day I was in there talking to the guys, asking for information, and my friends were waiting outside. But when I went out, I didn't see them. I was thinking, hm, where are they, are they walking back to there place, are they at a store nearby, are they in the hostel, what? But I didn't want to look stupid so I just stood there kind of casually looking back and forth, trying not to look like I didn't know what was going on. Then I see Christine emerge from behind a truck, and I'm like, "Ah, god, you GOT me, damn!" Then I see Brent and Tawnya. So they were just hiding on me. But the best part about it is that somehow, Brent got like TEN pictures of me looking left and right and everything. How did I not see him if he could get pictures of me?! Hahaha.

The Town: Oh man I loved Santa Elena. It was very pretty, it had cooler stores than La Fortuna, and the restaurants were great! The best thing about it, though, was the temperature. Oh my GOD it got cool at night. I wore jeans both nights (I wear shorts EVERY day otherwise) and even bought an awesome Costa Rica jacket thing one night. We went to this cool restaurant in town called The Treehouse. There is actually a tree inside the restaurant, going up through the middle, with all these branches and stuff. http://www.treehouse.cr/index.php. The only problem with Monteverde is that it's pretty touristy, so things are more expensive and stuff isn't quite as cultural. But it didn't really matter, it was really nice and I loved it.

Zip Lining: Very fun and very worth it. It was great because we all went together to the same one. I asked the hostel guys before hand and they said this one was the best because it had the longest zip line overall (1.2 kms!). It was cool because there were liked 18 different zip lines throughout the whole thing. Some were very short and dumb, but some were aaaaaaawesome and went way above the rainforest and you could look down inside as you were going down. One of the best things though was the Tarzan Swing. You stand on this platform and they hook you in, then you jump off the platform and it's like a HUGE swing so you go WAY up. VERY fun and of course you've gotta yell like Tarzan when jumping. The funniest part of the swing though was how they slow you down - as you swing back to the platform area, guys on the ground yank your feet to take some momentum away. They do this every time you swing back for like three times, sometimes yanking HARD (I almost lost my shoe) and then they put this rubber thing attached to the ground around you, like a backwards sling shot, that hooks you in and catches you. Pretty awesome overall though.

Monteverde Cloud Forest: We went on a guided tour of the rainforest. Oh man if we hadn't gone on a guided tour, we wouldn't have seen ANYTHING. He was so helpful and knew where all the cool stuff was. We saw spider monkeys in the trees (it's always exciting when the tour guide gets excited - he was like, "We only see spider monkeys every three or four months, this is great!"). We saw a tarantula hiding in a very very creepy hole in the dirt wall. We saw some really cool flowers. We saw a very very tiny hummingbird nest. He knew where all this stuff was and he knew the names of birds and animals and stuff and it was cool. One of the best things he did was this: we were next to a tree, looking at a flower, when suddenly the guy starts sniffing and says, "Do you smell that?" I started sniffing something and was trying to place the smell. Christine said, "Yeah that's a powerful smell!" He then said, "That's the smell of a walking stick bug. It must be nearby." I was like, Jesus this guy's a pro, he can smell a damn BUG! But then he was like, "Whoa, there it is!" And it was right on the tree in front of us. I was like, god I can't believe he found that. But then he said he was kidding and that he saw it THEN said it. HAHA. Totally fooled us. Although Brent kind of figured it out because he's always pranking so knows the mentality. Then the rest of the night, we kept "smelling" things before we saw them. After we came out of the rainforest, there was a hummingbird watch place nearby that was really cool. There were a ton of bird-feeder things and a TON of hummingbirds were always around, flying by and up to the feeder things to eat/drink. Very cool!

A Story of Language, In Limericks

There once was a man at IU,
Who really liked music, it’s true.
He taught middle C,
And he used do, re, mi,
Then he fled from the country he knew.

He went to a land quite unique-a,
And the language he hardly did speak-a,
He stumbled through words,
And he sounded absurd,
When he first came and saw Costa Rica.

But practicing leads to perfection.
He was heading in just that direction.
His Spanish got better,
Right down to the letter,
And soon he was making connections.

When teaching, he used mostly Spanish,
And English, he practically banished.
He learned every day,
Of new things he could say,
And he tried to cause English to vanish.

So that’s how his story is going,
And his knowledge is constantly growing.
He hopes by the end,
That he’ll just comprehend,
All the words that the Ticos are throwing.

Semana Santa: Part I

La Fortuna

Hostel: Oh my god this was a nice hostel. Arenal Backpacker's Hostel. I slept in a dorm so the sleeping conditions weren't great. It was sort of hard to sleep with a bunch of random people in there and it was kind of hot. But nothing to complain about. It was really cheap and I generally slept fine. This place had a great pool, lots of trees, a cool hang out area in the middle, a cafe, hammocks, free internet cafe - the works. It was great. And on top of that, the workers were very nice and helpful.

The Town: Eh. Not much. A bunch of crappy souvenir stores and adventure tour companies. There was a local Soda though (local restaurant) that was VERY good and cheap.

Waterfall: I asked the guy at the hostel for some good local stuff to do, and he suggested I go see the waterfall and that you can even swim in its pool. This sounded pretty cool so, as he suggested, I took a taxi up there (a few kilometers away and uphill). I paid the $10 admission and went into the park area. When you go in, there are a bunch of rugged steps going down and down and down throughout the forest. You go WAY down. I was thinking about how hard it was going to be coming up. When I got to the bottom, the waterfall was beautiful! Very pristine, perfect fall with lots of rocks around and a nice, round pool at the bottom. I took a bunch of pictures. I wasn't sure at first if I was going to swim, but I was really hot and there were some other people swimming and I just though, I can't NOT swim. So I got in. It was SO COLD, oh my god. But I got used to it FAST because of the current. The water is CONSTANTLY pushing you back towards the shore so you have to constantly be treading water hard. Not only this, but I kept trying to swim closer to the actual point of the waterfall. I tried REALLY hard once, but when I looked up, I wasn't any closer at all and was a little bit to the side. That's how strong the current was. When I got out though, I just felt so REFRESHED. It felt SO COOL to go down and swim right next to a waterfall. I LOVED it. Then climbing back up was HELL. I was SOOOOO tired. But there was this viewpoint at the top that was simply breathtaking. I took some more pictures and even yelled "YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" into the amazing view of forest, sky, and waterfall. Then I heard someone way down there yell back.

Canyoning: Overrated and too expensive. I definitely had fun, don't get me wrong. It was rappelling down canyon walls, about half of which actually went right through a waterfall. It was a cool experience for sure. The problem is, there were only about five canyon walls. On top of that, the rappelling was SO quick. You drop down in like 20 or 30 seconds, and it's over. Then, you wait for like 20 other people (most of whom were REALLY slow going down 'cause they were scared). So you're just sitting there at the bottom waiting forever. So in all, you're only actually rappelling for a total of 3-5 minutes, interspersed by watching, semi-hiking, and waiting. I think what would have made it much more worth it would have been if there had been some climbing involved. It just seemed so babyish to go down canyons without doing any climbing.

Bungee Jumping: Oh my god what an absolutely amazing thrill. SO worth it. And way cheaper than canyoning! It kind of sucked because there was NO one else there except for the workers. I wish I had had people there. But still. It was amazing. The best way I can explain the feeling beforehand is like being walked to a gallows . . . only a bit milder. It's just this relentless march. Everything is happening and you keep having these thoughts that well, maybe something will stop it from happening, but no. You walk into the elevator. You go up. The ground disappears before you. You're WAY up. You look out and see an amazing view of the town and the volcano about 10k away. They strap on your equipment. They yell "THIRTYYYYYY SECOOOOOONDS!!!!!!" They give you a quick overview of how to jump. They yell "TEEEEEEN SECOOOOOONDS!!!!!!" They tell you that once they start the countdown from five, you can go whenever you want. You stand on the ledge. They lock the door behind you. They start the countdown (VERY quick seconds - not normal length). They put their hands on your shoulder as a warning that you better jump or they might push you. At "three," I jump. As I fell, I think my only words were - quietly to myself - "Oh shit." Seriously that initial descent was AMAZING. Oh my god. Completely, completely free falling. Yes, I've been sky diving, but I think this was actually scarier because you can see the ground, and even though you're really high, you're also REALLY close, and you better HOPE that cable supports you. And I did the water-touch, so at the bottom is a pool, and you quickly dip in once the cord reaches maximum length. It's AMAZING how fast it pulled me back out of that pool. The next part was less fun because bouncing up and down for a long time brought a lot of blood to the head and after awhile it got kind of uncomfortable. But man. I definitely am doing it again.

Arenal (The Volcano): There is a big, active, volcano, right on the outskirts of the town. You can see it VERY well from the town. It's a perfectly shaped mountain. Totally what a cartoon mountain is shaped like. Very triangular. A lot of times, you could see smoke coming out of it, which was pretty sweet. Often, people can see lava at night. Actual red, smoldering lava, dripping down. I went on TWO trips, two nights in a row, to the other side, where you can normally see it, and both nights, it was really cloudy (which happens frequently). So that was sort of a disappointment. But it was still cool.

Hot Springs: There are a bunch of natural hot springs around because of the heat from the volcano. When I imagined this, I imagined sitting in basically a mudhole that had hot water in it. Which would have been really cool. And I think there are things like this around. But I went with a tour thing and part of that was going to Baldi, a specific hot spring resort. I NEVER expected to be this cool. Oh my god I want to stay in a hotel like that so bad. AAAAAGHHHH. It was a nice resort area with coolly shaped, waterfall-laced, different-temperature, naturally heated hot tubs EVERYWHERE. Some were relatively cool, like 93 degrees. The hottest one I got in was 116 (at least that's what the sign said - I do have a hard time believing this because even 106 in a hot tub is difficult). There was even one that was 154, but this was just for show because you'd probably die in that one. And that one was actually right below some massage chairs, so they probably use it for steam. But. Overall. The coolest damn thing was that there were WATERSLIDES. One was swirly and a tube type thing, but it wasn't very good because it was bumpy, and I even got kind of stuck in there once and then ran into some kids, 'cause the water flow wasn't good. But there was another slide and it was AMAZING!!!!! It was SO fast. SOOO fast. It was just a quick, straight shot down with a few dips. But the dips got you MOVING. Oh my god I ended up going so many different ways: back feet first; back head first; stomach head first; sitting. It was SO fun. Man I went so many times.

Friends: Even with all this AWESOME stuff, I have to say that one of the best things about my time in La Fortuna was the friends I met. That's the great thing about hostels because there's usually a common area and you can just meet people.  I met so many people that came and went throughout the time there. Overall though, there were three people that I hung out with the most - Christine, Tawnya, and Brent (all from Canada - MAN there were a lot of Canadians traveling). I didn't actually hang out with Christine and Tawnya that much in La Fortuna, so I'll talk about them more when I discuss the next places on my vacation. But Brent. Oh my god, seriously one of the funniest people I've EVER met. Very different and unique too. He's a helicopter pilot that has six weeks on/six weeks off. So he works in some random place for six weeks, then travels around for six. On and off. Currently, he's based in the Central American area, but he's been based in almost all the other continents. Next, he's going to Thailand. But god. He was just so funny. The type of guy that you get annoyed at because he's ALWAYS pulling pranks and making fun of you and everyone, but it doesn't matter because it's just so funny. One story that's really funny that happened with Brent (and Christine and Tawnya): He starts telling us this story about a job he had to do where he had to bring a bear somewhere (by dangling it from his helicopter). I've seen things like this online, so I totally had a picture in my head. So he continues the story by explaining that he let the bear go somewhere in the woods. We him how he lets the bear go, 'cause it seems kind of weird - how would you safely get a bear to the ground from a helicopter? He just says, "I push a button." So in my head I'm imagining this fancy contraption of belts and wires that unhooks and lets the bear free to walk away when he pushes the button. But the story develops more. He says, "So I fly right over the river - at this point I'm like 500 feet up - and I drop him. I turn the helicopter so that I can watch it fall. Now keep in mind that there is a huge engine behind my head and the rotors directly above me. When that bear hit the water, I STILL heard it. It was like an explosion!" At this point, we're thinking, um, what the hell, the poor bear! So I say, "Couldn't you go any LOWER?!" and he looks at me like, "Well, I could, but who cares?" At this point, we finally figure out that the bear is DEAD already. That was a crucial part of the story we missed! Oh my god we laughed hard though. It was just so funny because what an asshole helicopter pilot - he takes a living bear, flies it over a river (which in the first place will already make it more difficult for the bear), but instead of lightly putting it down somewhere, he drops it from 500 feet up and intentionally watches it smack the water and revels in the SMACK it makes. I was thinking, man there's no way that bear survived. So he said from now on he's going to tell the story like that so people get confused. SO FUNNY. Overall though, the best part about travel like this is that you can meet people, then plan your trip around hanging out with them more. Luckily, the people I met were already going to where I was going next (Monteverde), so I ended up meeting up with them again. But as I'll mention later, I ended up just going to Tamarindo on a whim, with Christine and Tawnya. It's just great that you can quickly meet people, quickly reserve transportation and a room, and just hang out. I LOVE that.

Improvements

HAD SUCH A GOOD CLASS TODAY.

My favorite class I teach is “preparatoria” (equivalent to Kindergarten). This class has been incredibly fun and rewarding since I've been here. They almost always listen and pay attention, and they're always really actively involved (as GREATLY opposed to the really young kids, who often just sit there staring into space). I set some goals before teaching this class, including: ability to sing a number of songs (some in English, some in Spanish); ability to sing with a smooth, flute-like voice (as opposed to yell-singing, which kids naturally tend to do); and ability to maintain a steady beat. Today, I saw all three of those things.

They were singing all the words of the songs, which is awesome (no other class has done this). The words were kind of weird sounding because they didn't really know them in English, but we went over them and it got better. That's the thing, they're really willing to learn and improve.

They were singing in pitch, at least for the most part, which is VERY good for Kindergartners. I was really amazed at how in tune the songs were.

 They had a great tone, which is also VERY good for Kindergartners. Usually they sound awful. It's especially great because it's only been a month. They definitely have a tendency to want to yell, but I've really been grinding down and getting them to sing in their upper register - head voice - and they're really starting to get that flute-like tone that kids have when they're singing well.

They were moving in rhythm, at least with important parts of the songs. There are parts where they have to do certain movements with certain words, and they were doing them right on beat! Kindergartners tend to have trouble with keeping a beat so this was a great step.

They really love music. A lot of kids this young are shy and don't really want to be singled out. But most of these kids love participating so much! One kid even suggested today that he sing a solo. I was like, "Yeah!" He sang it and then almost everyone else wanted to as well, so we went around the circle. Now, to be honest, in a solo setting, most of them didn't sound as good (although there were a few who sang PERFECTLY), but still, to be that enthusiastic about music is really good. And they don't just do it with this - they love dancing, moving, singing, playing games (of course), improvising, and tons of stuff. It's just great.

They're just a great class and it made me feel accomplished today because I could really see improvement.

As for the other classes, it's hit or miss. I'd say about half I feel pretty good about, and half, I am having a hard time with (mainly due to classroom management). Some of the kids here just don't give a DAMN about what the teacher says. They'll talk, talk, talk, laugh, talk, play their instrument (if I haven't taken it away yet), talk again, laugh again, and so on. Then I'll freak out in a various number of ways - go up to a student and just stare at them; loudly say "NO HABLEN" [don't talk]; take away they're instrument (if we're using them); whistle to get everyone's attention; or burst out and say something like "Okay, I've HAD it. I'm SICK and tired of this. No matter WHAT I say, it doesn't matter. STOP." But it doesn't really matter, they don't really work for more than a few minutes.

One of the issues is that I really don't know names. Next week I'm going to bring in the rosters and really try to learn names. Then I can call specific kids out. Also (in the after school band, at least), I'm going to start marking when kids play or talk when they're not supposed to, and if I have to scold a kid like three times, I'm going to make them go to the office and just sit there. Then maybe I'll give them one more chance the next week and if it happens again, I'll kick them out of the band. The band's hard enough as it is because it's basically thirty kids with sticks and drums. That is HARD to make sound good and to make everyone play together. I'm struggling with it. But add on top of that a bunch of annoying kids who don't really care and who talk and play all the damn time, and you've got yourself a TOUGH situation.

Overall though, I think I've taught the kids some good stuff and I think they really enjoy music. And that's the most important thing. So good!

Speaking Spanish: Fun . . . or Just Funny?

I started writing this as a short reflection about something "important" that I've learned here for the unstructured portion of my reflection I have to do for IU. But it became this LONG entry and it's pretty funny!

One of the most important things I have learned in my time here is how much I absolutely love speaking Spanish with other people. It is often very difficult. Sometimes I even feel lonely and left out because of all the Spanish around me that I don’t understand. But whenever I have a conversation with someone in Spanish, I just feel so invigorated. I feel cultured. I feel like I am doing something special. The longer I’m here, and the more I study the language, the easier it gets to converse with people, and the better I feel about it. On top of this, there have been a few times where I have actually translated what people have said in Spanish so people who only speak English can understand it. This made me feel very good about my ability.
I just relish every time I speak Spanish. Even the smallest things like “¿Cómo está?” [How are you?] and “¡Qué calor!” [It’s so hot!] are fun to say. Even the most mundane conversations are enjoyable. For example, today I went into a store to look for new sandals, since mine are falling apart. I had a short conversation with the salesperson about how they didn’t have my size and asked if there were any other stores with sandals. She didn’t know. But, just being able to talk like this made me feel great. At times it can be scary to go out into the world of a foreign language, but it’s worth it for the times that you really are able to converse with another person, even if it’s in jumbled language.

One more thing: it’s amazing how important pronunciation and accent is. As I have said before, accent is very important. It’s amazing the confusion pronunciation and accent can cause, even if all the right words are there. I’ll give one or two examples from each side of the language barrier.

From my side of the language barrier:

There was a fútbol game this Wednesday between Costa Rica and El Salvador. A few days before, I asked one of the brothers, Max, in my host family if El Salvador was playing (since I wasn’t sure at the time). He responded by saying, “No, está al Miercoles” [It’s on Wednesday]. I was VERY confused as to why he said this. We went back and forth a few times until I finally realized what the problem was. He thought I said “Sábado” [Saturday] when I said “El Salvador” because I didn’t pronounce the country’s name quite right.

Another example happened the same night. Max asked me, “¿Por qué la bola rueda?” I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what he asked me. But then he said, “Porque está sucia,” which I know means “Because it is dirty.” But I didn’t understand the question at all so I asked him to repeat himself. He did. I still didn’t know what he asked me. So I asked him to repeat it again. I STILL didn’t know. This went on for about five to ten minutes. I felt very embarrassed that I didn’t know what he said, but he was mumbling the words so much! When I realized what he was actually saying, I STILL didn’t understand because I didn’t know what “rueda” meant. But finally, I realized a few things. First of all, it was a JOKE that he was telling me. Second, mumbling was actually important part of the joke. Third, I realized it was a joke because of a double meaning. Now, this was just so difficult for me to understand because I didn’t even know ONE meaning, let alone TWO. After much breaking down of the sentence and awkward, difficult explanation in Spanglish and Engspan, I FINALLY understood. The original question means, “Why does a ball roll?” The funny part is that in the lazy drawl of a mumbling Costa Rican, the question also sounds like, “¿Por qué lavo la rueda?” which means “Why do I wash the wheel?” to which the answer, “Because it is dirty” makes sense. YES! And then, after about fifteen minutes of analysis and awkward discussion, I laughed at my first official Costa Rican joke. Man, that’s gotta be one of the longest delayed reactions to a joke that short on record.

From the Spanish side of the language barrier:

A few nights ago, I was watching Die Hard 2 with Max. We were watching for a while when suddenly, Max said something that sort of sounded like, “Very junk.” I didn’t understand why he said this, so I asked “Junk?” He tried to clarify it by saying, “He is very junk.” I was still confused but I thought perhaps Max didn’t like Bruce Willis as an actor. I asked again and he accentuated the word and I finally realized what he meant: “He is very young,” to which I replied, “Oh! Yes he DOES look young in this movie.”

This next story actually has more to do with grammar than accent, but it’s still funny. I was sitting in the living room with one of the other brothers of the family, Javier. Most of the time, I am wearing my flip-flops (99% of the time, actually). However, this night was a rare occasion where I was actually chilly, so I had my sneakers on. Javier looked at me, pointed at my shoes and said, “I like his shoes.” I thought this was a little strange, but thought that maybe mine were similar to Max’s, who was in the other room. Or maybe he didn’t really mean to point at my shoes. But I asked him what he meant and he pointed at my shoes again and said the same thing again! Here’s a basic rundown of what was said (it’s like a Costa Rican version of the “Who’s on first?” routine):

Javier (pointing at my shoes): I like his shoes.
Me: Huh?
Javier (pointing again at my shoes): I like his shoes.
Me: Whose shoes?
Javier: Huh?
Me: Whose shoes do you like?
Javier: I like his shoes.
Me: You like Max’s shoes?
Javier (pointing at my shoes with a bit more force): No, I like HIS shoes.
Me: OH! You like MY shoes!!! Thanks!

After that encounter, I explained that he should have said, “I like your shoes.” All the confusion was fixed and we laughed about it. I realized the problem: in Spanish, “sus zapatos” can mean either “your shoes,” “his shoes,” or “her shoes.” He probably just got this mixed up and as a result, said “his” instead of “your.” Man, I love all the funny confusing stories. The best thing is that they happen on both sides of the language barrier, so it doesn’t make me feel really stupid. The most important thing is to laugh about it!

Tico Talk

I had SO MUCH FUN tonight. Finally, this is exactly what I have been looking and hoping for this whole time.

I was actually kind of feeling sort of depressed earlier in the day. I had a good time watching the fúbol game: it was fun to watch even though Mexico destroyed Costa Rica. However, I have just been having a hard time connecting with the family because of the language barrier. When they're all together, they all talk really fast and it's so hard for me to connect and understand what they're saying. As the night went on, it got better and better though. I talked with Max more, as well as Iris, about random stuff in my life, like family and friends and things. I had a good time. We talked more than usual.

However, around 9, when I didn't think there was anything left to do, I got offered to go with Iris to hang out with some "crazy nephews and nieces." I was like, sure. Why not? I don't really do anything at night anyway. I WANT to do stuff and I get so bored just sitting at home all the time. So I went. We walked for about a minute (that's how close these people live). Pretty much the whole family lives right near each other.

We got to the house and I instantly knew why they were called "crazy." Some of them were smoking, there was loud music, and they were all drinking. But they were all just hanging out, talking. I was a little timid at first, since I didn't know anyone and was scared I wouldn't be able to connect with anyone, but quickly, that changed. This couple immediately brought me into the group. They started talking to me and really acted interested in me. I just really haven't gotten that much here. The girl didn't really know much English at all but she REALLY enunciated every word, so she was VERY easy to understand in relation to a lot of other people around here. And the guy apparently had lived in Oregon for a year, so his English was really good. We spoke in Spanish 80% to 90% of the time, and I used him for translation or if there was something I just couldn't figure out how to say in Spanish.

Seriously, though, it was SO AMAZINGLY FUN. Although I've had some good experiences talking with people in Spanish, this is the first time I've really felt comfortable with it. By no means is my Spanish perfect. But with their great enunciation, their understanding of needing to talk kind of slowly, and their ability to translate when needed all mixed together and became a really really cool night. Even though there was some language barrier stuff, it was fun to deal with instead of feeling like a burden, like it does a lot of the time. It just felt like we were friends, hanging out, drinking some beers. Sometimes, I even forgot that I was speaking/listening to Spanish, which is a REALLY good sign. I just hope I can hang out with them some more because it's EXACTLY what I've been wanting. I've been wanting some people/friends with whom I can hang out who I can regularly speak Spanish with. And I can actually really understand them! The family I live with is great but they're VERY hard to understand. Once I get a little better and more fluent, it will be easier, but they're lazy with their words and most of the time I have no idea what they're saying. Tonight, the Spanish was more on the backburner than usual. We were just hanging out, talking, albeit in Spanish. There were other people there and I talked with them a little bit, but most of all, I talked to the couple.

I just felt so good because earlier in the day I was really feeling crappy. I was feeling like my Spanish wasn't very good at all and that I would never get very good at it. But when I hung out with them, I was really talking and it felt SO good. And they were complimenting me on it a lot and saying that my Spanish is very good (which made me feel SO cool).

They live in San Jose and they said they would be happy to bring me there and show me around (because it's not really a good idea to go alone, since it's pretty unsafe and I don't know the language well enough to do that). I just hope I can hang out with them sometimes because they're so cool and I really have been hoping for some actual Tico friends. I have WANTED that. More than anything. Truly. I want Tico friends who I can hang out with and speak Spanish with on a regular basis.

FINALLY.

I just had a great time and I hope to do it again!!!