Oh boy...

Today I feel like a Looney Toons cartoon...I have the hiccups, and I am slightly drunk thanks to some Costa Ricans. This morning I went to the "zoo" for a tree planting, where I met a bunch of retired Americans. One was going to my favorite bar, Bar Amigos, and let me ride in his taxi with him so I could use the free internet at the bar. At the bar, a couple of Ticos kept buying me beer and tequila, and fanning my ego so much that I could not refuse. By 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon, I was toasted. One of the men promised me a diamond ring and a year of free Spanish lessions if I stayed, which I declined, although I graciously accepted the two tequila shots he sent me. All this on an empty stomach (for once!), and I am in love with Costa Rica!

Last weekend was even more fun since Kathy and I were able to get out of Santa Ana and go to the beach. Being a Missourian, I feel totally out of place at the beach. It is way too boring and hot, but we made the best of it. We stayed in Cahuita, which I actually loved. They had black sand beaches and it was much less tourist-y than Puerto Vieho (sp?) where we visited last Sunday. Our hotel also had the cutest dogs I have ever seen (besides Stewart, of course), and broke a major Costa Rican rule by letting one sleep on my bed. Oops. On both Saturday and Sunday nights Kathy and I visited with guys from Europe who were traveling through Costa Rica. Saturday night there were six of us total, all from different countries and from three different continents, and I was the only native English speaker. The four guys were all from different European countries, were incredibly nice, and gave us advise on where to travel. We even travelled back to San Jose with the guy from Switzerland on Monday (we had Cinco de Mayo off from school, for some odd reason).

This weekend we spent in Santa Ana (pronounced "Santana" by the locals), with a brief visit to San Jose for Chinese food. It was totally random, but Kathy and I met up with a man that we had met at the Obama fundraiser for Dim Sum in San Jose. It was amazing! I was so full and happy after our lunch that I went to bed before 8:00. This morning I had a bit of a freak out when I saw on CNN that tornadoes had hit Oklahoma and Missouri, and that 20 people were dead. Since my entire family lives on the Oklahoma-Missouri boarder, I had reason to be alarmed, but after a call to my dad I found out that the tornadoes went all around Joplin. For the first time I missed home, although I am glad I do not have to worry about tornadoes.

I am sorry if this blog does not make much sense. I blame the tequila.

My first Tico and Tica friends

On Tuesday I witnessed a major change that is slowly spreading through Central America. People here generally tend to accept each other as they are, and women rarely worry about weight issues. Now, however, women are starting to worry accessively about their bodies and are buying diet products to help lose those extra pounds (or kilos) by any means possible. My host mother has been on a diet ever since I arrived in Costa Rica, although basically it means she wakes up at 5 am to go walking. The only thing she needs is a lesson on nutrition and stop eating bread with rice with pasta at every meal. Her newest kick began on Tuesday, when I was herded into the apartment next door for what I thought was just a tour of our neighbor's home. I ended up in the middle of an Herbalife sales pitch, much like a Pampered Chef party but for juices that will help you lose weight as well as supposedly preventing cancer, heart disease, etc. The juices tasted terrible, so there is no way anyone would want to drink them for the hell of it. I was having to take them like shots just to get them down. Anyway, my host mother thought it was the best idea in the worlds, especially when the sales woman showed her own before and after picture and the weight she had lost. One of the charms of Central America is that the people are so accepting and do not obsessed with their weight, but sadly American culture is pushing its way in. Most of the Americans we have met that now live in Costa Rica do not speak a word of Spanish, and it is easy to feel as if you have never left the States at all with all the American stores, restaurants, and entertainment.

To combat this American-izing of Costa Rica, I have tried to make friends with a few natives, known as Ticos and Ticas. After the Herbalife party, a woman approached me and began to speaking in broken English. She said that she loved learning English, but after the birth of her daughter four months ago (who is still in the hospital in San Jose for an enlarged heart), she has not gone to any classes. She invited me to come to her house this weekend to practice our English/Spanish, so now I have my first Tica friend that is in no way related to school.

My first Tico friend was discovered yesterday when I tagged along to a coffee tour with a group of students from Simpson College who are attending my school for the week. Their tour guide was a man that reminded me a lot of Adam Sandler, but Latino. He told me that next week when he was finished with the Simpson group, he would take Kathy and me to the local hotspots in the area. I'm excited to get out of the tourist areas and meet the locals. I feel that there will be a great upcoming blog after we meet up with him, since I'm pretty sure he was snorting something while we were on the tour of the coffee plantation.

This weekend, Kathy and I are going to the beach since it is a three day weekend. More later.