Mi familia tica (My Costa Rican family)

I'm sure many of you have heard the phrase “Mi casa es su casa,” which means “My house is your house.” Well, this homestay experience has taught me a lot about what that phrase really means. It has been amazing to see how welcoming my homestay family has been, even to a strange looking gringo with a goofy beard :) I guess they have seen it all, since they have been housing students for 15 years, but their hospitality has meant a lot to me.

I have been here for three weeks now (which has gone by incredibly fast!), and I have loved every day of it. My family lives on a small dairy farm in the San Luis Valley, which is at a low elevation in the Monteverde region.

My tica mom, Xinia, has lived in this region her whole life. She works a few days a week up in Monteverde, and she cooks all the time when she is home. She told me that her dream is to open a “panaderia” (bakery) here at the house. They have been saving up money and are going to get a loan soon to build a little building next to the house where she can bake all the bread and other food. I am sure that the bakery will have great success, because she makes some of the best bread I have ever eaten in my whole life! My favorite are her banana bread cupcakes with chocolate frosting :) She also makes all kinds of sweet breads and other assorted loaves...We always have fresh bread :) She even sells bread to the local supermarket. I have enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her. My tico dad's name is Jose, and he works on the farm all day. He doesn't talk a whole lot, but he is a really nice guy.

My tico siblings are Cindy (21...3 days older than me) and Eduardo (14). Cindy is married and has a daughter named Tatiana who is 1 year 9 months (and incredibly cute!). Cindy and her husband live in a little house behind ours, but they are over here basically all day. Eduardo goes to school at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, and speaks very good English. In fact, he doesn't even speak Spanish with me :) He has helped me a lot with my project as he has grown up catching these “gallegos.”

Most night we watch TV while we eat dinner. My favorite show is “Caso Cerrado” (Case Closed), which is basically the Spanish version of Jugde Judy :) They have the most outrageous cases on there, but it is a good way to learn Spanish. My family also loves “telenovelas,” which are the standard TV shows here. They are practically the same quality as daytime soap operas in the States, with ridiculous plots, excessively loud theme music, and tons of drama. My family's favorite is “En Nombre del Amor” (In the Name of Love), and we watch it every night at dinner :)

Because of my project, I usually am out until about 8:30 or later, and my family is in bed by 8 every night. Once I had to stay up until about 11 doing some homework and the next morning my mom said I was crazy for staying up so late...I tried to explain to her that if I was back home that would be early for me, but I think she just thought I was more crazy :)

One week left, then we head back to the station, but I will never forget this month on the farm and my newly adopted tico family!