Well I´m finally here in Costa Rica. I have been for about days. Though it should have been 3. Let me state now that I can´t quite figure out this keyboard so no exclamation poins will be used but I assure you they are needed for this story. As a group, of very very nice people, we all go on a plane leaving Dallas for San Jose. On our decent into San Jose we hit some CRAZY wind. I mean absolutly catostophic ... there is also no spell check so ... i apologize. We went in for a landing and wooosh, right back up into the air. And then in for a second landing which also proved to be danergous. And so because pilots are not allowed to fly more than hours, right todd?, we needed to land. haha I´m rushing cause im borrowing a neighbors computer so this note isnt very fancy. haha anyways the pilot needed to land in Managua, Nicaragua. We were all given a hotel for 3 dinner and breakfast, though by the time we got there it was 12am. And me, being me, had a bit of a spill in the hotel trying to rememdy the situation where we had key cards for our door but the door only took actual keys haha. so while walking...literally only walking... I tripped and fell. Sory mom and dad I didnt say anything. Didnt want you to worry. I now have big scratches on my foot and knee and have a super swollen foot. Not to mention Im now ¨that girl who fell¨ Hopefully the swelling goes down. My host mom, who btw is the sweetest person on the whole planet, wanted to help me. SO she cleaned it off with BOILING HOT WATER...ouch... and patched me up with the neighbors gauze. Everyone here is so nice.. and surprisingly related. My host mom keeps telling me ¨my sister has this, come on ¨my brother has this, lets go¨ Anyways after the night of the ¨accident¨ we all finally made it to San Jose. After some charlas...or talks.. we made it to Orosi. And then we met the famlies. My host mom, like I said, is soooo sweet. SOOOO sweet. SHe talked to my mom and told her not to worry, I am her daughter now and she will take care of me. She is always calling me her ¨bebe¨ and giving me WAY too much food. hehe I love it. Really quick funny story, becky dont read, while sitting down for dinner at the table by myself, because its customary to let me eat first, a GIANT spider...I mean HUGEEEE spider came crawling along the wall in front of me. MY eyes bugged out and I couldnt move. Everyone looked at me..the crazy gringa, until the figured it out. Of course they are used to it. That wall is right next to the garden so that spider visits them frequently. Im talking fist sized spider... and not a tranatula. Well that broke the ice to say the least in a some what awkward situation. All my host brothers...there are 5 in total... were laughing at me. Finallly he scampered away..I screamed once more.. and then we were a family. ¨Mi sola hija. Solo las mujeres de las casa. Las reinas.¨ My host mother is loving another girl in the house. Especially one to talk about ¨¨ amor¨ with. Rob, i dont mena to embarass you but she talks about you ALL the time. She adores the fact that I have un novio. Everything is ¨roberto¨ The two dolphin stickers on my ceiling.. Roberto y Amelia... and it is AMelia now. No changing it. She evrn said, when we were on our scavanger hunt for class, when asked what ¨pura vida, the costa rican saying, meant to her, she annouched that ¨pura vida is the look of love I get in my eyes when I talk to Roberto on the phone¨ Oh. My. Godness. She adores me and its adorable. Embarssing but what are host mothers for? Everyone got a kick out of it when we read our responses in class. Lastl, before I go I want to annouce that I can understand and speak more spanish then I ever thought I could. I´m kinda good at this. When my hoat mom or host little brother, emmanuel aka my shadow, talks, I understand. Its kinda amazing. ANd thats it for now. Thanks for reading all the way through. I am off to la plaza to meet up with the group on our day off. Its been so great so far. Im actually really happy...go figure haha LOVE YOU ALL.

PURA VIDA

Amelia