special tico things

volcán arenal

sid the sloth (or in spanish "perezoso") - spotted at the house we stayed at this weekend when we visited a city nearby volcán arenal

Things I love:

Breakfast with my parents. breakfast in the US is almost always “do-it-yourself” (except for special occasions) because we all leave the house at different times in the morning, eat different things, etc. i love eating breakfast with my mami and papi every morning, knowing what to put on the table, and how to make coffee using a "choreado." my dad has tortillas almost every morning and i now know that he likes to heat them up, i love the pineapple jam I have with my bread every day, and my papi has a special sugar that he puts in his coffee (i reminded him to take it with us when we went away this weekend). i don’t have early class every day, but I enjoy getting up at the same time so I get to eat with them.

i love being at my home. sometimes i use my parents’ stationary bike while watching episodes of Friends (WITH Spanish subtitles, rest assured!), or being in my room and working on homework, writing emails, or blogging ;). i am so grateful that i have my own room here – most LASP students do, but some share with siblings. i am blessed to have this space where i can have some time to myself :)

i love rice. i eat it almost every lunch and dinner and today i learned the exact portions (we make it with onion, oil, pepper, and garlic – yum!) also loving gallo pinto (rice & beans with some other special flavors), and Chiky’s cookies (all over Central America – bringing me back to my time in Guatemala), and so many other things…

i love (most days) walks to our Spanish classes in the afternoons. the walk is about 45 minutes from LASP and while at times it feels a little long, i have had some wonderful conversations with new friends during these trails and am grateful for this time to talk, process, and digest all of the stuff that we are learning. there isn’t a lot of time to do this between classes and homework, and what we are learning about is really challenging so I am thankful that i have this time.