Next....

So I realize it's been a while and I'm very sorry, but it's hard to get an internet connection here. Anyway...here goes update #3.

Right now I'm at a restaurant called Bagelmen's that offers free wireless internet. That's pretty much the story of our lives right now: where can we get free internet? :)

Last weekend, we all went to a city on the east coast of Costa Rica called Limon. It's a very Carribean city, way different than San Jose where we are usually. We stayed in a hotel literally three blocks from the ocean for two nights (Friday and Saturday) and walked the streets both nights to see the street vendors and the waves crash against...not a beach because it was more of a very short cliff with big rocks, but still very cool. We went to an indigenous tribe that is trying to preserve their land and culture and talked to a woman from there. It was really cool. And, it was Costa Rica's independence weekend so all the kids make lanterns with candles and have a parade at night down the main street, then at 6, everyone in Costa Rica stops what they're doing and sings the national anthem. It was really cool. We also heard a woman speak that was a teacher and then got involved in politics and became the ambassador to Jamaica. And one night (these are so not in order, I'm just telling things as I remember them, but it was only three days so you get the basic idea) we had a dinner in the upstairs of this pretty cool restaurant with a live band and everything and after we ate, we all started dancing up in the front of the room. Everyone was salsa-ing and merengue-ing and Adam (one of the guys in my smaller class from Venezuela) started singing with the band. Basically, it was a really cool weekend.

Since then, I've been mostly doing homework and hanging out with friends and my host family. My host mom has been gone all week on a mission trip, but she gets back tonight. The dad was really cute, he was getting all sad missing her.

My host sisters and I are talking about having a dance night next weekend (well this Friday) because a bunch of students have been taking dance lessons (myself included, yes) and they said we should practice with them since they all learn from birth pretty much. :) I'm only slightly jealous. Every monday, a few of us go to Adam's host family's house to have dance lessons from some guy he knows somehow. They're two hours long and we don't stop moving the whole time. It's so much fun!

Hm...I think that's all the update I have for now. Mostly this week will be filled with homework, but I'm hoping to get the dance party going for Friday and maybe a movie night with LASP students on Saturday so at least the weekend will be fun.

That's it for now I guess, but thanks for keeping up with me! And definitely keep praying that I can take advantage of the fact that I'm here and not just focus on getting homework done or counting down the days till I get to see you all again. :) Also, I got an email from my friend Emily who's studying in Uganda this semester and she's loving it as far as I can tell from her email. However, she was feeling a little ill and life's pretty tough as is, so if you could also pray that she's fine and doesn't get full-out sick, that'd be awesome. Anyway, I love you all and am praying for you guys, too! Thanks for reading so much! :) I love you!
~Rachel