Funny Family

The host family I am staying with is hysterical, now granted no family is as funny as my family (just ask, they will let you know), but this family at times could rival them for humors moments. Last Sunday they took Anne (the other girls staying with them) and I into the mountains. The father felt it was very important that we see the mountains because they are so beautiful! So they packed us up for a day picnicking, hiking, and entertainment.
We started the day at a beautiful waterfall where we played around with kids. The mother, Anna, told Anne that there were snakes everywhere and loved that Anne was afraid of the snakes. She would pick up sticks and rub them on Anne's leg when Anne was not looking. They found shrimp and were delighted when Anne screamed when it was put in her hand, I did not have the adequate reaction to many of these shenanigans, it's like I had practice dealing with this behavior.
They then took us to eat lunch where they gave us quite an education in slang specific to Costa Rica. Non of which I can remember but the hand signals for some of it was so funny that it left everyone shrieking with laughter!
They picked new fruits for us to try, took us to visit friends of the family, took us to cool off in an amazing river when we couldn't take the heat anymore, and feed us in the river.
They day was really wonderful. They ended it by taking us to an over look of Jaco that has to be one of the most majestic views I have ever witnessed. We were there at sunsets and it was one of the days were the sunset was almost blue! So amazing to see both the mountains and the beach in the horizon as the sunset.

Mucho Lluvia

I think I might loose my mind with all of the rain down here! I have been stuck in the same location for 4 hours now because it started down pouring while I was walking around this morning. I have my computer with me and no water proof bag!!!! So I am currently missing surfing and hoping that it stops raining in time for me to go to yoga.

This week it started pouring for hours straight! Clearly I need to find a place at the school to leave my computer so that I do not feel impeded by the weather when I am walking around town. This is the second time that I have stopped and thought that I could wait out the rain, a down fall of growing up in the desert. On the upside I can discuss the weather pretty accurately now...my two Spanish topics food and weather. Aside from mucho lluvia it is mucho calor!

I brought a rain jacket with me, helpful. I also brought 5 pairs of pants, not as helpful when you are close to the equator. I brought a zip up and a light beach sweater, completely unnecessary in this location! An umbrella might prove to be useful and a worth while purchase if I ever get to leave this restaurant that I am currently in.

lost and found

I was recently told that it must be nice that I am so unattached to material possessions. This comment was made because I tend to leave a lot behind (think keys, phones, shoes), really I just spread the wealth of my stuff (which multiplies miraculously, that is a whole different topic). It has been discussed in great depth a few times at the dinner bar at the school because of whatever I seem to be missing at the moment. There is a lot of joking about how calm I am as I am looking for something that I clearly need to say get home and get into the room I am staying in.
While I have been in Costa Rica I have managed to leave my computer charger at the Taco Bar so many times that they now recognize me and just hand it to me when I return to retrieve the charger. I have yet to keep a towel for more than 3 days, my great quick dry backpacking towel, gone. I quit buying/borrowing towels about a week ago, I am just not meant to have one here. My clothing is currently cleverly dispersed between different rooms at the school, the house I am staying at, and different drying racks in-between. I only have partial parts of my swim suites today. As for my rash guards I am sure that I will find all of them when it stops raining. Basically if I blessed the room with a shower it has been blessed with my crap. Today is one of those days where I need to retrieve a few positions. I just picked up my computer charger to find that I had also left my credit card at the Taco Bar. Now I am waiting out the rain wondering what else I have left behind in various places. I woke up very aware that I should go and hunt down some of my stuff today.
Now here is what amazes me, when people begin to realize that I regularly leave my crap everywhere they are first extremely concerned about it being stolen and offer a plethora of suggestions to help with my organizations skills. I think my organizational skills are fine, I get done what I need and want to get done and I can find what I want or a substitute for what I want most of the time. What I have found is that most of the time my stuff comes back to me, I think it's because most people where ever you happen to be in the world get that someone would say be grateful to return to their car keys or computer charger. Humans are pretty kind and in general willing to not steal. If someone wants to steal something they seem to seek out the opportunity and not stumble upon it, when presented the opportunity to do the "right thing" most people will.
Leaving my stuff everywhere just gives me the chance to meet new people and practice my Spanish. Here are two of places I frequently leave my stuff in Costa Rica, the beach and the school.

Without Judgement, With Kindness

The yoga teacher down here starts every class with this phrase and I love it! What an excellent reminder. It goes with the surf instructors telling me that if I would just relax I would fall off my board less often. I am getting better at trying new things without judgement and with kindness, relaxing is taking more effort!
As I have relaxed down here life has become easier. I think it has helped me to "break off smaller chunks". I worry so much about what is next that I forget that what really matters is whatever is currently happening. I am getting better at keeping my head in the game and not worrying about what may or may not happen in the next 5 years. The last 5 years certainly did not go the way I thought they would and I really enjoyed most of my life. I am sure that will continue to happen, especially if I stay present and relax!
Life in Costa Rica provides new experiences daily and all have added depth to my understanding of myself or of other people. I am enjoying the people that I have met at the school, they are all so positive and bring different depth and prospective to life. It is fun to watch everyone interact knowing that our time together is short lived. Everyone is so encouraging of each other as we try new and activities and learn new skills. The well wishes for each other is heartwarming, beautiful, and sweet. It is so nice to watch people encourage success.

take it as it comes

Costa Rica is going to be good for helping me take it as it comes! Even the dogs are laid back here, just roll with the flow and hang out with you if need be.
Surfing will be especially good for learning how to just relax and take what comes. If you are tense when surfing you fall off immediately, if you relax a little and just go with the wave you can stand up a little bit better.
So far everything down here has had this philosophy exemplified. Hopefully I will be able to continue to apply this when I return home!

stretch and relax

Today I found out the family I am staying with understands less Spanish than I do English! In so many ways this was just what I was looking for, however for today it proved to be challenging. We drew a lot of pictures and did awkward dances to try and figure out that yes I was hungry for breakfast and yes I like coffee. They then wanted to know what I would call a tortilla and were frustrated by the fact that I just kept repeating their word. Finally they figured out what I was trying to convey and laughed really hard at the whole situation.
I was told that just about everyone I would run into down here would speak English....not today! So I have stretched my brain, it hurts a little right now. I am also grateful to relax and enjoy the forced solitude today. The beach was amazing, I had a wonderful little black dog who sat with me while I read. I tried talking to the owner again to encounter the humors dance that happens when two people do not speak the same language. We were able to communicate that the dog was indeed very cute and sweet.
It is so exciting to be somewhere that will stretch me with people who are so willing to try and communicate with me, very relaxing!

New

The thought of everything being new usually excites me, I really like change! I am not much for planning, I think if you take life with a healthy dose of humor everything will be fine. The last few months I was ready to have some change but for the most part I did not want anything new. I didn't want to move on to a new job, new experiences, new friends, new sports, etc. Because of this I pushed myself to try a few new things and really worked on trying to connect with something new each week. However I found what I really needed was to just tie up a few loose ends.
Now I am ready for whatever comes next! I have a month to try everything new and be totally out of my realm so that I can come back to some level of comfort but also to a "new" life. I am excited to be part of what will be waiting for me when I return to Albuquerque, I am excited to meet the new friends, try a new job, continue with the new sports I took up and try a few new sports and clubs.
I am happy that I continued to push myself to try something different each week. It gave me the encouragement I needed from myself to know that now that I feel ready everything will fall into place. I met incredible people in the last three months, started new friendships that will add to my old friendships and enrich my life. I started doing different activities that will boaster my life and my experiences. I am excited to take a month to really stretch and then return to such a positive environment.