So last weekend was an interesting one. I went to Bagaces, a small rural town in Costa Rica and meet Odilie's mother, brother, sister, and various nieces and nephews. Daniel, her nephew, took me out on another canopy tour (zip line). Just like the last time I went to do a canopy tour, it poured rain. But it made the zip lines go about twice as fast, so it wasn't all bad.

I also got to meet some pretty great people while I was there. A family from Florida was there on vacation, and we hit it off pretty well. They actually came with Daniel and I on our next excursion, which was to the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. It was actually possible to go behind the falling water and jump into the pond trough the water.

Odilie's family treated me extremely well. My bed was a brick, and there were wild monkeys howling all night long, so I didn't get very much sleep at all. But it was a definite experience. I was actually able to find my way there and back on a bus, which built up my confidence in my Spanish. In San José there was a traffic jam that put a two hour delay in me getting back Saturday. Can't say that made me too happy, since my iPod was dead. But I survived.

Tonight I went out with my sister Johanna, two of her friends and Lisa, the exchange student from Germany. Went to a little restaurant and then hung out in the park. It feels so great being outdoors at night in Costa Rica. When National Geographic said Atenas had the best climate in the world, I think they were specifically talking about the nighttime. I wish I could describe it in a way that would do it justice.

The clock is ticking on tico time. Come Friday I will only have a week left in Costa Rica.

Here are some pics of where I live...finally.

I have been pounding so many new words into my head lately. I am trying to make the most of my final 15 days in Costa Rica. Every day lately I have been making a list of the words I don't know from class (which there are a lot of) and trying to memorize them at night. I should have been doing this from the very beginning, obviously, but it is never too late to start.

My nights have been pretty busy, too, because I spend most of them cooking for groups of students from the U.S. But it's all good, because I get to practice a lot of Spanish and get free cooking lessons to boot.

Yesterday I stopped by Victor's house to chat with my other Costa Rican family. I thought they would have fallen apart without me, the they were in surprisingly high spirits. They had a new student arrive the day before from Germany. Lisa (her name) is going to be in Costa Rica studying Spanish for ONE YEAR! If that wasn't enough to make you angry, she already speaks German (por supuesto), English and French. But I think the worst part is she is only 17.

Tomorrow I head for Guanacaste, another province in the north of Costa Rica, solo. I am going to stay with Odie's family for a few days and work with her nephew, who is a graphic designer. Guanacaste is supposed to be one of the more rural areas of the country, with a lot of beaches and national parks. Let's hope so!

I have lived with my new family for a week now. They are truly amazing people, and I am so lucky the chose to share their home with me. Tonight I will help mi mamá with cooking dinner for the new group of eco-tourists arriving today. One of the other cool things I need to mention about this house is that I have a maid. Yup. And I don't just mean a mom who washes my clothes and cooks for me (which is great, don't get me wrong). But I mean I have a full-time maid, one who will cook whatever I want when I want, wash all of my clothes as soon as I give them to her, and will make my bed for me. But me, being the good ol' southern boy that I am, can't really bring myself to ask her to do anything for me. Really, being here in Costa Rica and having this experience is more than enough.

One other funny thing is that the kitchen sink has a hole in the faucet, so if you turn it on full throttle water shoots out of the whole. I have shot myself in the eye twice. Yesterday I saw two white rabbits in my yard. At first I only saw one, but after I ran back in the house to get my camera, another one popped up. One let me get extremely close up before it scampered off. When it finally left, it didn't really even look scared as it hobbled off slowly, kinda like it was saying, "I am just not in the mood to be touched right now. See you tomorrow." Maybe it lives on the property and is just very used to people. I don't know.

Funny story from class today. Marie Ela, my teacher, told me about a German woman she had in her class one time who was a nurse in the US. When she first got to the US, she didn't know very much English apparently, but did know "ducha" meant shower in Spanish and German. (This is going somewhere, I promise.) But her coworkers, wanting to make conversation, would still talk to her about basic things so she could practice her English. Well, one day they asked her what she did that morning, and her answer was, "I took a doosh," thinking it would translate the same. We laughed about that for about 10 minutes in class, and I am still laughing now.

Tomorrow Robert and I head out on a special mission to San Jose. The mission: buy a guitar. But since it is San Jose, there is a high chance at least one of us won't make it back alive. Not because the town is particularly dangerous, but because we might die of dehydration, starvation or boredom while stuck in San Jose traffic. The roads the city are definitely more planned out than in Atenas, but that doesn't mean that drivers care about following the rules. Almost every store or restaurant has parking lot attendants to help people get in and out alive. The attendants at the mall have pump-action shotguns.

Tonight my family is taking me to La Trocha, a local restaurant. It is one of the better ones in Atenas, and a lot of gringos eat there. After class today I went to Odilie's house and she made spaghetti for me and her husband. As we pulled up to the house, Odie stopped the car and said, "You hear that? My husband and his music." Edwardo was blasting out the jams. She said sometimes he even turns on the karaoke machine and sings at the top of his lungs when nobody else is around.

Then I came back to my house and read by the pool for about an hour. I am about 50 pages from finishing "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." It is an autobiography about this guy who's parents die when he is in his early 20s, leaving him to take care of his little brother. He also wrote the screenplay for what looks to be the best movie ever when it comes about in October, "Where the Wild Things Are."

Since I now live in a house with the Internet, I think I want to change my No. 1 thing I miss about the U.S. to two-ply toilet paper.

Yesterday I moved in with my new family and they put me right to work. They work with an organization called Eco-Teach Costa Rica that takes groups on ecological tours of the country. What my family does is house and feed the groups the day they get here and the day they leave. Their lodge can house more than 50 people.

So last night I helped them cook for the group that was preparing to leave. They started me off on something easy (coconut balls), but after seeing that I obviously know my way around a kitchen, I was given some extra responsibly. My favorite part was the fried plantains. Yum. I also got a really good recipe for a veggie burger that I want to try to make when I get back to the states - soy meat, eggs, flour, peppers and onions.

Dinner was basically a feast, and I stuffed myself with all the mango, pineapple, watermelon and papaya I could eat. And I will get to do that everyday for the next month.

The family was surprised by how much Spanish I knew, and frankly, I was, too. I was able to follow all of the cooking instructions, tell them why I wanted to learn Spanish, and tell them about studying journalism in college. In the past week, Spanish and I have really started to click. I know it is a bit premature, but I am already starting to thing about what my next language will be. Italian, maybe? No se.

I am going to put some pics of my new crib on facebook soon.

1. The Internet in my house
2. Ketchup
3. Good beer
4. Smoothies
5. Hulu

Again, my blog entries have been delayed longer than I would like. Yesterday I went to the beach with my tico papa. The coast of Costa Rica is truly beautiful. The jungle extends right to the edge of the ocean, which is as warm as bath water. I saw an iguana sunning itself in a tree and was able to snap a few photos. The last time I was at the beach I saw two scarlet macaws in the exact same tree. It is so incredible to see these beautiful animals in the wild. Seeing them in a cage just isn't the same. Last week, when we went to Arenal, we saw a howler monkey right before the first zip line, posing for us in a tree.

Today was fun, but it had a bittersweet taste. Tomorrow, all of the other students are leaving for home, and I will be the only student left. We had our "graduation" today, and all of the families for all of the students came out. There was great food, swimming, dancing, and a lot of speeches in Spanish. But it was great to see how far everyone has come in a month. I can't wait to see where my Spanish is by August.

Friday most of us went to San Jose. That is one crazy, crazy town. Before we got there, we got stuck in traffic jam for about an hour. I guess there was an accident on the interstate or something. I can't believe there aren't more accidents, the way they drive down here. Anyway, we went to a couple of shopping areas and the mall, which was exactly like an American Mall, except maybe, no definitely, more expensive. Cheap egg rolls, though. The were called 'taco chinos,' or Chinese tacos. Last we went and had some delicious seafood, the best food I have had in Costa Rica. I had shrimp, fish and octopus (!) all for about 10 bucks.

Finally, the sad news: I have to move Tuesday. My family has another student coming in from a different program in a few days, and so I gotta go. I just found this out last week, but had been getting hints about it for a while (probably more than hints, but I couldn't understand what they were saying most of the time.) But it's all good, because I know my new family already and think they are great people. Plus, they have a pool.

A lot has happened in the past week that needs some blogging. I am going to start with the most recent happenings since they are the freshest in my mind. Saturday and Sunday the whole group went on an overnight trip to Arenal, where one of the world's most active is. It erupted last Monday, actually. We didn't see any lava or anything that cool, but the view itself was impressive. We were actually pretty lucky, because most of the time smoke and clouds cover the top of the volcano and hide it from sight, but we got to the the whole thing. The best view was actually from the hot tub of our resort, which directly faced the volcano.

Saturday we went on a canopy tour, which consisted of 10 zip lines, the longest of which was more than half a mile long. We were hundreds of feet up in the air, suspended by a cable and a harness. The views were the best in the world. Sometimes you were going so fast you forgot to look around and see how beautiful everything around you was. At the end, we rode horses back to our van in the pouring rain.

The next day, we had a huge, delicious breakfast waiting for us at the hotel. It was seriously the best complementary breakfast on the planet. Toast, eggs, gallo pinto, pancakes, fruit, OJ, coffee, the works. Then we went to some hot springs and swan in 100 degree water. The temperature is just a guess. Bottom line, it was warm and relaxing.

Earlier in the week we toured an organic coffee farm. Let me say, that looks like hard work. Earlier in the trip one person asked, "Does coffee have to be planed on hills?" We quickly realized in Costa Rica, there is no other place to plant anything. The entire country is one hill, mountain or volcano after another. Even when we went to the beach, the jungle went right up to the coast. But I digress...


Back on topic — coffee is hard work. Don Geraldo, the owner and operator, had strong beliefs in taking care of the land and the soil. He said that in return, the soil will take care of him. And it has: The farm has been in his family for generations. It was amazing to hear how much knowledge he has about his profession. He even knew which trees absorbed the most carbon and cleaned the atmosphere the best (and it wasn't the biggest trees, either). The whole farm (I forget how large it is) is completely organic. It hasn't always been that way. Geraldo said his family converted the farm to organic because they recognized the needs to take care of the planet. Cheers, Geraldo.

This post examines my day-to-day life in Costa Rica. First, I get up at 5:30, typically. I think that is about 7:30 Eastern time. If I don't have any homework, a lot of times I will hit the snooze for another 20 minutes or so. But a lot of times I wake up before my alarm goes off, either because of the sun or because my family is loudly eating breakfast. My room has a window in a peculiar location right above my door, so that if I turn on my light, anyone in the kitchen knows I'm up. If this happens, I have about 20 minutes or so before I hear "Arron, desayuna" or "Arron, come." Since I usually don't feel like practicing spanish at 5:30 in the morning, I usually try to avoid turning on the light or do something else, like take a shower.

I eat breakfast at 7 most days. By that time, my tico cousin and neighbor Sebastian (10 years old, I think, or 12) has stopped by to talk about Transformers. School typically starts at 9, but it seems like at least every other day there is a special occasion that requires me to be there early. School is a leisurely 30 minute walk way, but the sun is baking all of Costa Rica by 8 a.m., which is usually when I head out. If I am carrying my computer, I am pretty miserable and sweaty by the time I reach school.

Class goes from 9 to 12, with a 10 or 15 minute break halfway. Somedays my Spanish is just turned on like a light switch (today was a good day), but others I struggle to burst out verbs most sixth graders know. We usually walk to a local market to grad some cheap lunch or cook food here. We have a full kitchen and more fruit than we can eat, so a lot of days I eat for free or just buy a cheap snack.

Our afternoon activities are always different, which I love. Today we had cooking class. Tomorrow we are going to visit an organic coffee farm. Mile-high zip lines are on the agenda for later this week. Sometimes we go to Odilie's house (she is one of the teachers and founders of the school) and swim in her pool and hammer back come beers.

(Side note: Not one single Costa Rican domestic beer is good. Not one.)

Sometimes the activities are much larger. Last week we went to San Jose, the capital, and toured the National Theater and Gold Museum (two different places). We go on a tone of hikes, where for some reason people still insist on wearing sandals. To date, I have taken probably more than 1,000 photos.

It has been a week since the last time I updated this site. My computer is mostly to blame. It's functionality is hanging on by a thread. The slightest bump, nudge or funny look and the thing shuts itself off. Sometimes it comes right back on; other times it takes me hours to get it working again. The problem has to be a lose wire or something.

Anyway, this weekend has been pretty action packed. Patrick, one of the students from CPCC, had a birthday on Friday and his host family threw him a party. All the students from the school came, plus probably another dozen people or so. I jammed out for a while with some other musicians.

Saturday was my first visit to the beach. It was virtually deserted, which was great, and the water was warmer than most swimming pools. I had never seen the Pacific Ocean before. I don't really know what I was expecting. But it was impressive. The waves were larger, more frequent, and faster.

Today I went bungie jumping for the first time. What a thrill. I went with my brother, sister and her boyfriend. I wasn't nervous at all...right until time to jump. They did the countdown, in Spanish..cinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno...and I froze. I was so high up. But I wasn't about to climb back down of the platform. And so I jumped, or rather, let myself fall. I didn't go down head first like you are supposed to, but had plenty of time to correct my form during free fall. I guess it lasted 10-15 seconds, the original drop. I really don't remember much about it. It was all a blur. I do remember coming back up, though, shooting peace signs to the people watching on the bridge.

I just ended my first week in Costa Rica. I have done so much, it is hard to believe I still have seven weeks left. Today I went to the zoo with my Costa Rican papa, sister and niece, plus another student from the school. It was a small zoo compared to those I have been to before, but the variety of animals there was incredible. I especially loved the turtles and toucans. Anytime Victoria (my niece) saw something she liked she would yell, "Aron, vea vea vea!" or "Aaron, look look look!" Seriously, this girl is adorable.

Later on in the day, Victor took me to his brother's house, where we picked oranges and mangos and lemons right off the tree. The was after his brother took me for a stroll though his acres and acres of fruit trees (mostly mangos). During the walk, we saw something amazing: wild monkeys eating fruit right out of the trees. They were there, clear as day, and apparently not the least bit shy. They let us watch them for probably ten minutes before we finally walked away.

Yesterday was another incredible sightseeing adventure. The group went to Volcan Poas, which is an active volcano and I believe the highest mountain in Costa Rica (about 1 mile high). The whole area smelled like sulfur, but the view was breathtaking. On the way there, our van got a flat tire, and some folks at a store up the road let us borrow a tire iron. When we returned it, they gave us bags of chips and a bag of the absolute best strawberries I have ever had in my life.

Some more observations about Costa Rica: The people get up early here, and so does the sun. Around 5 a.m. Life is slow here. Everyone seems content to take it easy and spend most of their free time conversing with friends and family. Until they get behind the wheel. Then all Costa Ricans become maniacs. Speaking of driving, I don't understand how they do it. None of the roads have names. Therefore, none of the houses have addresses. When you want a taxi, you have to say something like, "Pick me up across the street from this restaurant" or "Meet me at the place where they sell the frozen bananas."

Costa Rica continues to be more and more amazing. A group of college students from Central Piedmont Community College arrived on my second day. They are all pretty awesome, so it is great I have a group of people my age to talk to and hang out with. There is also another woman from London studying here until the end of the week, so the group is pretty diverse.

One the second day, we took a trip into the various neighborhoods (barrios) of Atenas. We eventually ended up on a farm where the owner, who didn't know any of us and had no idea we were coming, welcomed us in as we walked by. He apparently grew tropical fruit, as evident from the basketful of fresh mangos he picked for us right from the tree.

(OK, a word about the fruit here. I have never tasted fruit so fresh or so sweet. The pineapple here is like a drug. Some of the markets here sell this dehydrated pineapple that is so delicious I have to be physically dragged away from it.)

Today we took a lengthy hike down Calle Nueva, or New Street (which was not new at all). Eventually it led us to a hike up a steep hill where you could stand and see for miles. It felt like being on top of the world.

Tonight was an extra special night. The US and Costa Rican soccer teams were playing one another. Walking around town all day you would see the townspeople donning their jerseys and getting ready for tonight. Victor (my host father) and I went to a game watching party at a house were another student from our group is staying. Costa Rica scored the first goal two minutes, which set the pace for the rest of the game. Even though the US lost, I had a great time. Our hosts brought out a case of beer and gave it away to everyone there. This is pretty typical of Costa Ricans. If you have something, you share it. Just the way it should be.

I spent my first full day in Costa Rica yesterday. To say that the people here are friendly and welcoming would not be fair to them. They have welcomed me into their home and have really treated me as if I am part of the family. I am staying with a man named Victor and his wife Rita. Their two children live here, too, and so do their children's children. It is a full house, to say the least. Victor's brother, mother and sister all live next door.

The house I am staying in is beautiful. The ceiling is made of wood and resembles a stained hardwood floor. The floor is a gorgeous red marble, or at least I think it is marble. I have my own room and bathroom, which is great, although I am told I cannot flush toilet paper here, because most houses have septic tanks, not a sewer system. My room has a TV, dresser and a fan. I haven't been to a place yet that has air conditioning. But you really don't need it. The weather here is amazing. Even the rain feels great. The sun shines brightly all day until about 2 o'clock, when thunder begins rolling in from a distance. By 4 or 5 the sky has opened up, although it didn't rain much yesterday.

Last night Victor took me to a youth center, which was a short walk from his house. When I got there, Patrick, another student from the school, was there with a member of his host family. There were probably 50 people there, most in their late teens, dancing and playing ping-pong. In the U.S., ping-pong is played until a team scores 21 points. Here, 11 is enough to end the game. The people here play so much ping-pong here, Victor said, that to play to 21 would last forever. Hence, they only play to 11. We played on teams, and although I played respectably well, my team never won. But they play every Monday, so I have 7 more chances for a rematch.

The most difficult part, obviously, is communicating with my host family. When I first arrived, my Spanish was so rusty I could barely discern one word from another. But now, after only a day, I feel my communication skill are getting much, much better. I love talking to the little kids the most. Victoria, the little girl, took to me as soon as I walked in the door, tossing me her balloon and yelling, "el globo!" Her cousin, Sebastian, is probably 10 years old, and he is fun to talk to. Yesterday, Sebastian, Victoria and I all played golf in the yard and talked about movies. Tonight I think we may watch the Dragon Ball movie.

I have been taking a lot of pictures. Hopefully I can get some of them edited and uploaded this afternoon.

I leave for Costa Rica in 4 days!