Wednesday, January 14, 2015

¿Que es Eso?

¿Que es Eso?

Today's most commonly used phrase, "what is that?"
Starting off this morning Señora Lourdes (mi host madre) had corn flakes, pineapple, coffee, and milk ready to go for breakfast.  Me being her 22nd exchange student, she says she thinks she has a good idea of what to feed me until our communication gets a little better.  I pointed to mayonaise in a picture book that she had and said "no" but other than that i'm up for new things! I'm extremely thankful for my spanish-to-english dictionary and my google translator at this point. Mi madre knows only spanish and I know only english so translating has been difficult but we're slowly understanding eachother. My favorite is when she refers to the neighbors dog barking and she says, "ruff  ruff, grrrrrr" and points towards the house. That's something we're on the same page about--no dogs.
I've learned two important things about my host mother today: numero uno, she hates beans.  What are the odds I got a host mother with the same hatred for beans as I! Praise. Numero dos, Harry Potter is not allowed.  Luckily i'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, but she expressed that this rule includes any kind of witch craft of sorts on the tv or netflix.  Thankfully I finished American Horror Story the Coven right before I got here or else that would have been a real problem.
From what I understood during this conversation, and with the help of Señor Ugalde translating into some english that he knew, her religion is very important to her, therefore witches aren't allowed in the house.  I understand, no problemo (They're Protestant I believe). One of the neatest things I've experienced so far is prayer before meals.  Señor Ugalde says that we pray before every meal, just as the U.S. (...kind of..if I remember..eh sorry) and listening to his thanking and praising of the same Christ that I love was an amazing experience.  Although I didn't comprehend what he was saying, it crazy to think that the God of the Universe understood every bit of it, as he does every other language.  And I struggle to know more than one... oy vey. (German I think?)
Anyway, todays activities consisted of a 15 minute walk to campus down uneavenly paved sidewalks- seriously you have to watch where your feet are going almost every step,  accompanied by  mi madre, sunshine and a slight breeze.  I was taking in the greenery everywhere we went, the small ice cream shops and small markets, the stray dogs that play and run arround in packs, the brightly colored roof tops, and trying to keep a steady conversation in broken spanish/english. We stopped once for her to point out the difference between greenery (verdes) and flowers (flor).
After passing through the Universidad de Costa Rica San José, we continued on to the supermarkado for me to purchase more shampoo and deoderant.  Next, I had my first experience with the autobüs. ¡Ay, caramba! I had to look up how to ask her if the busses ever crashed into eachother.  I hold my breath every time it's moving in fear that it's going to side swipe another bus, let alone a biker.  Honking is almost as common as breathing to these vehicles. She reassured me with, "a veces" which happens to mean "sometimes". (.....)
After a tour through down town San Jose, we grabbed some lunch. For me I went with the standard arroz con pollo; I can thank El Mez Cal for that. It was time to head home for an afternoon coffee break, and then I got to meet up with my friend from Memphis, Danielle! It was nice to see a familiar face and to speak some English for a little while.  We grabbed some smoothies with fresh piñapple, mango, and banana, and enjoyed the outdoor patio seating.  It's crazy how different the fruit tastes here, it's fresh and much less acidic. After my walk home I was muy cansado (very tired) especially my feet from wearing my new Birkenstocks around.  Beauty is pain. Or shall I say refraining from large t-shirts and chacos is going to be a struggle.  Dressing like a normal casual person is harder work than I usually put in for class, but it's probably a really great thing to start encorporating into my normal day.
Tomorrow my fellow API students get together for an orientation-sleepover which I'm really excited about!  Friends! Necessito! (that means I need friends). Anywho, day 2 was even better than day 1. For once I cannot wait to start classes and absorb as much as I can!  Everything about this culture excites me, luckily my host padres are the sweetest in the world and never tire of hearing "¿que es eso?" It's time for dinner, and if it's any bit as good as last nights avacado salad, fish, and fresh vegetables, i'll be in for something good!

Hasta luego amigos!
continued prayer and thanks :)






2 comments:

  1. Katie, Youu have the amazing gift of painting pictures with words! Even if you never posted a photo to this blog we would be able to share this adventure with you by the way you write the story! I am already looking forward to day tres!
    Love you! Aunt Maurie

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    1. Ahh thank you so much Maurie!! I'm glad you enjoyed reading it :) I wish everyone were here to experience it with me! Love and miss you!!

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