Tico Laughter

The two highlights of my day in San Jose are waking up to clattering pots and chatter coming from the kitchen and laughing with all the women in my household after dinner. This family has turned out to be a perfect fit for me. Along with my host family, I am also living with Marta, a Tica who has been living in Florida for the past 20 years, and Estel, a skinny, tall, blond, and absolutely ridiculous women from Spain. They are both around my mom's age, so between them and Vianney, my host mother, I am surrounded by plenty of maternal care. They can all make me laugh until I can barely breath--it's wonderful. Our rowdy and often absurd discussions about Spanish vs. Tico food, self-care during service-oriented work, and Estel's past boyfriends have been so much fun and have also taught me understand rapid Spanish. Within the last few days, I have also felt very much at home. Vianney lets me help set the table and do dishes, chores that are usually reserved for family rather than guests, and she sends me off to school with "Que Dios te cuide," or may God care for you. Whenever I come in or leave the house, I give all the family members a "beso tico," the cheek-to-cheek kiss that is a universal greeting in Latin America. So I am incredibly happy and settled here.

I have also been enjoying my time outside of my house, enjoying the city and learning Spanish at the language academy. Last Saturday, Molly and I went to a festival in downtown parks that featured local musicians, storytellers, and artists. It was a picture-perfect day: good music, whismical sculptures built out of trash to remind us to reuse and recycle, used books stands, ajd lots of happy families with young children. The event also included a wide array of wonderful vendors selling everything from organic caco produced by the Tsirushka indigenous people to wallets made by university students from recycled materials. And this is only one of the many public cultural programs that San Jose supports; this city makes art readily accessible to people from all background by funding festivals and subsidizing other events and shows. The National Theater, for example, offers short shows at 12 on Tuesday for only 500 colones, or $1. It's great.

Stay tuned for more about Arenal, Calle de la Amargura, and the National Theater.