2 Weeks

Here is the road leading up to Betty's house.

Well it has been two weeks since I have arrived in Costa Rica, and things are going really well. This week was pretty busy: I went to my first Costa Rican fiesta, which was a birthday party for one of Chichi´s sisters. The party was pretty fun, there were TONS of people there (at least 50 of Chichi's family or more), lots of foods, and of course dancing. The first good 30 minutes of my time at the party was spent following Betty around and being introduced to everyone, it was slightly overwhelming at first, but everyone was so nice and really excited to speak with me that I felt fine afterwards. There were even a few people at the party who spoke english, so they were eager to practice with me.

This is my bedroom... forgive the mess.

A few days ago I went with Betty&Chichi to a town nearby called Cedral, where we picked up a truck load of tree seedlings to plant on the farm. Cedral is slightly colder than Zapotal, and also gets a lot more rain. So of course as soon as we got out of the truck to start loading the trees it began pouring, and we were all soaked by the time we finished. However, it was all worth it in the end, because afterwards we went to a little cantina and enjoyed a great cup of coffee and delicious empanadas. Yum!

This is in Unión, the pueblo where Betty's family lives.

Yesterday I spent most of the day with Chichi and Estevie (another guy that works on the farm and lives with at Betty's) painting the Cheese factory. We painted the whole interior and exterior of the factory (luckily it's small), and then retired for the day.

I am really enjoying my time here in Zapotal, and I can't believe it has been 2 weeks already! I am getting know everyone in town a lot more, and everyone here is so friendly and very eager to get to know me. I am getting pretty good at farm work (if I do say so myself) and I particularily enjoy helping Chichi herd the cows to their grazing pasture a few minutes away which is a very nice walk, but does occassionally involve some hiking through knee deep mud. Chichi is apparently very impressed by my hikind abilities (no idea why, I just walk?) and says that I am a "chica muy valiente". Most evenings I spend playing cards with Chichi after dinner, or watching TV with Chichi and Estevie while trying to understand what Estevie is saying when he talks to me (I have never met someone who talks so fast in my life).

This weekend I am going to another fiesta, this time it is for a niece of Chichi's, so hopefully that'll be fun! I am also going to start going to the elementary school nearby to help teach the kids english, and play with them at lunch break, which I am really looking forward to. In the next few days Chichi said he is going to take me to the mine nearby, which is a small gold mine that apparently has a nice river, waterfalls, and tunnels. So hopefully next time I am back here in Miramar for an afternoon I will have lots more to blog about!

'Til next time!

Amira xo

Side note: I added a picture to my last post of what I ate for lunch. Enjoy.