I woke up this morning before the roosters crowed, literally, and it was a bit of a shock when they did. I’d seen two or three chickens pecking their way around people’s yards yesterday, pero for some reason, I did not expect to hear their male counterparts heralding the morning. The poor things seemed to be having a disagreement over when morning should actually begin, they crowed intermittently for close to two hours.

Paula told me that the next door neighbor used to have four gallos (roosters), who crowed every hour of the night until Paula thought she would go crazy, and she told the neighbor she couldn’t sleep for the noise. Now they don’t start until 5:30, which isn’t bad since the sun is already up.

I was up at 5:30 CR time, which is 7:30 Florida time- and also when Jaime leaves for work. Paula was surprised to see me up and about so temprano, but it gets light here around 5, so there was no way I was going back to sleep. It gets dark here early as well- cerca de 6 o 6:30. Paula encouraged me to go walking early in the morning, so see Santa Ana, pero I didn’t know the area yet. There’s a walking trail to the Conversa campus that takes about 45 minutes, and I’ll be walking that as often as I can; so hopefully I’ll get my fill of early morning walks!

It’s strange to me, shoes are worn in the house here. Paula gave me keys and showed me how to work the porto (the outside gate) este mañana, y cuando regresamos a la casa, she was concerned for mis pies porque hay un small patch of gravel we had to walk over. I need to remember to keep mine on, at least flip flops, but as much as I loathe shoes that may be the one cultural aspect I don’t adhere to. Nos veríamos.

Sorry Mamí, it’s just so hard to write fully in English right now.

At 7:30 ish, Josue walked me first to the abuela’s house where I met una prima from New York. She’s been living there for decades, and caught me by surprise when she started speaking English with me. I never know who here is bilingual and who is not. Entonces, Josue took me to the Conversa bus stop (and then went on to school), passing la casa where Julie and Marisa are living. I met a woman from Utah briefly at the bus stop, but as the other students were all in classes, the eight of us stuck together for most of the day. I really like the other people in my group, we get along splendidly.

I’m the quietest in the group, it’s a shocker, I know, since that’s never happened before. It’s amusing, because I always receive the same treatment in these situations- I’m teased for being the “troublemaker”: about being watched in case of heavy partying and the like. John started it I believe, but Caleb is not far behind. I’m not in my shell, per sé, but they’re all naturally louder, and I’m not one to fight for verbal center stage. Besides, with all the tricksters and jokers that make up my family and close friends, this is just like coming home.

Coversa is muy linda, breathtaking , beautiful. The vista is incredible!! As Mandy put so eloquently: “It’s like a spa where you learn Spanish”. The school is nothing like what I expected; it’s almost a secret, a whisper, hidden away on the side of a mountain. The (sendas) paths son todos de piedras of a redish/ blueish mix of colors, and the wooden buildings blend well into the surrounding nature. I feel I could live out the rest of my life in such a place and be content- especially with horseback riding, white water rafting, active volcanoes and gorgeous beaches all within a few hours’ drive. There’s already a part of me that dreads returning to the states, I’d love to just assimilate here. But my return is well over two months away, so no use spending time on that.

Pura vida, no?

We arrived at Conversa, and shortly thereafter we met Steve y Nuria, who each gave us a short interview. I got mixed up during mine, pero es bueno. I’m in a literature class (!!!!!) y una de cultura. They loved my name- nature names are muy popular here: Estrella por ejemplo. I think I want to go by Lluvia here. (Alba, your name would fit in well)

I should probably be in a conversation class, seeing as speaking is the toughest thing for me to do….but I despise conversation classes, and I’m receiving FSU course credit for Lit and culture. There will be quite a bit of speaking in the lit class I know, so I’ll get the practice without having my entire grade based on how well I can get the grammar from my brain to my tongue.
Then we met Don David, the man who started Conversa. He was born in the States and learned Spanish in high school y college: he calls himself a gringo, but looking at him, I thought he was Costa Rican- mostly because of his eyes, his skin. He looks as though he is of Hispanic origin. He gave us a walking tour of Conversa y a short orientation.

They have beautiful eyes, Ticos, rich and deep, like wells. Deep eyes have always intrigued me; I want to know what lies behind them. I swear, I’d be content to learn the language if only to learn about them, to see their souls. I hope to meet more children here, young ones. I remember the Peruvian children were a joy to speak with.

To continue my tangent, the colors here are almost palpable in their fullness. I love it!! The casas, the flowers, the clothing, everything seems brighter here. We saw this plant off of a senda in Conversa, the leaves a green canvas splattered with flecks of pink; like a drop cloth.

I’m adding the image, the shape, the arrangement of the colors to the list of people I hope to encounter someday- it would be a beautiful personality, open and giving and young at heart.

But back to Don David. He had a list of safety rules for us to follow, tips on transportation, a warning to steer clear of the bar “Amigos” because of its unwholesome atmosphere (translation: drugs), and a deep and heartfelt encouragement to glean the most we can from our short three week stay. He seems like a wonderful man, I look forward to speaking with him further.

One element of his talk rang especially true for me. He told us to jump into the language, to take full advantage of our families, of the cooks, the security men, y todos otros. We get out of this program, quite literally, what we put in. I needed to be reminded of this- of how important it is to take full advantage of this opportunity. I’m wearing the courage bracelet Wesley gave us for the entirety of this trip; I will not be held back by fear. This evening I returned home before my host parents, pero I talked with each of them when they returned- responding to the Jaime’s English questions in Spanish instead of relying on what’s easier. Paula complemented me on my speaking, which is always nice to hear as I still don’t feel like I communicate adequately.

After a second breakfast around 10:30 of piña y tortillas con crema (Paula fed me the traditional breakfast of huevos y arroz antes de I left), we met with Ana for a specific orientation regarding our FSU program. She went over again the itinerary for our final week, and cautioned us again on safety rules and being responsible while we are here.

My favorite was the conversation warning us girls away from strange Ticos: “They will tell you ‘ohhh beautiful gilr! You are my love! …… They are lying!!”

But on a more heartfelt note, she also shared what keeps her coming back to the program, year after year, as she considers dropping it because of the energy required to tour and take care of a group of young people. “My only dream” she told us, was that at least one student who came here would make a difference in the world. She told us that this experience would stay with us forever in our hearts... as Caleb supplied- like a tattoo.

Mandy, Julie, Marisa

John and me

Afterwards was lunch at 1:00…. where a group of us watched fascinated as a hornet carried a grain of rice away from Julie’s plate. It’s the little things, really.

We enjoyed the hammocks, toured one of the walking paths, enjoyed the chill of the piscina in the afternoon heat… I believe it will be our only day of leisure at the Conversa campus. In a perfect world, I’d love to walk to campus every morning, go swimming (the piscine is well designed for laps) and then be ready for class at 8:30… but we’ll see how often that happens.

I’m back at mi casa ahora, it’s almost six. Marisa, Julie, Caleb and I walked to each other’s homes so we would know where everyone lived. We meet tomorrow at Gata’s home to tour Café …fulano. I don’t remember the name, it’s a coffee plantation cerca de Santa Ana.

The others are going out tonight, to Coco’s I believe, a local bar. I’m still exhausted and I hope to be rested up by the time school starts… four hours of Spanish a day will require all of my brain cells intact, so I’m staying in and will probably go to sleep ridiculously early. The heat is making Paula y yo listless...and I’ll probably be up just after 5 again tomorrow.

I’m truly enjoying not having air conditioning. The breeze is just delightful .

Chao mis amigos. Adios y A Dios. Actually, con Dios (o ‘venga con Dios’) is grammatically correct, but I’m still caught up in the sound of AaaDios.

Te quiero mucho <3>

Lluiva