I’ve been in Costa Rica for 5 days now, but it seems like way longer. I already feel like I’m part of my “familia tica” or Costa Rican family. My mama tica is really nice and doesn’t speak any English which forces me to practise my spanish. Today I had a colouring session with her and her grandson and it was possibly the cutest thing ever. My mama tica makes me breakfast and dinner everyday, and I’ve been eating lots of fruit, rice, beans and meat. There isn’t really tons of variety in the costa rican diet, but the food is really fresh and I don’t see myself getting sick of it any time soon. My language classes have been going really well, and I’m actually remembering a lot from my undergrad spanish classes… it’s all in the back of my head somewhere and it’s definitely helping comprehension-wise. Sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming when I realize how much grammar there is to learn, but I think it’s just a matter of practice and maximum exposure. My conversations with my mama tica are a great starting point, but I’m also trying to watch spanish TV and read spanish novels. I have a nice litte routine going on here already; breakfast with my mama tica, bus ride to school, classes from 9-3, some sort of activity after school (cooking classes, dance lessons or browsing in the mall), bus ride home, relaxing, dinner, and then homework and tv. It’s a pretty simple life at the moment, but it’s really great and I think it’s going to be an amazing summer. My ultimate goal is to be able to pass off as a tica. Appearance-wise I’m set – even my mama tica said as long as I don’t speak people will assume I’m a tica. I just have to work on mastering the spanish language, tico slang and all. I’m off to the beach for the weekend but I’ll keep you updated on my progress next week!