Pura Vida!

That is what all Ticos say. You see it everywhere. And when Ticos greet you they like to say it. Me gusta mucho. It's very positive and a huge reflection of the life here.
Today's task: discover and understand how downtown San Jose works. Los calles, y los avenidas. its crazy. There is Avenida Central, y Calle central. Los avenidas run east and west. The even avenidas are in the west of avenida central, and the odd avendias are in the east. And the calles are the same except north (evens) and south (odds). And who knows...i might be a little mixed up there. haha. it was a long day. But we sort of had a scavenger hunt where we had to find a lot of things in the city - like banks, post offices, popular stores (an ice cream shop, the cell phone store - which phones here are funny. Phones/Electricity/similar things are run by a company called ICE, it's a monopoly.), the mall, etc. we walked for 6 hours. I got up at 5:30, left the house by 6:15 to ride the bus to arrive in the city about 7. I live en El Carmen de Guadelupe, in a Barrio called Prussia. and it is about a 40 minute bus ride into the city (more or less depending on the time of day). But go to school 15 minutes walking from my house, but also in the city (in the afternoons) starting monday. At the beginning of the day I was very discouraged because there was so much to learn. I also had to do an interview in spanish so that they can place me in the right level of class, and i feel like i did terrible because i was very nervous. But when I returned home, I realized that it really doesn't matter. the real learning happens con mi familia. And I really haven't had much of problem understanding them. If I don't know a word, or a phrase, I just ask, and they describe it to me. When I returned home I felt so much better. I know this is going to be the best semester. I LOVE MY FAMILY. They are so amazing. My brothers are awesome, adn we have some things in common. Today we spend tons of time talking, sharing picture, stories. Daniel, my 18 year old brother talked with me about music and listened to some of the english music on my ipod. I also have some Spanish music and he liked that. In the morning Daniel is going to take his driving test, kinda cool! Erick is funny, he is kind of more troublesome...but he's 16...so I guess that's normal. But my brothers are so cute with their mom, you can tell they love her a lot. And it was funny, they all saw my merrells and got excited becuase dad also has a pair. And somehow their are cheaper here. why couldn't I have waited to buy them here! dumb. But he likes to fish a lot, and apparently there are a lot of awesome places to fish - my dad said he has fished for sharks (timburones) a lot. I thought you'd like that dad!!! Are you confused yet? My family here, and my family in Oregon. Me too...haha, but its such a blessing. I think the funniest thing is that I could never tell you everything I have done. It would take the whole day to tell you. But tomorrow is a new day. We are supposed have more orientation, and then we are doing an activity en el campo that is called BAFA BAFA. I don't know what it is and they won't tell us. Probabaly something really embarrasing. great. pues buenas noches pro ahorita.