Home for the weekend

Nope, I did not fly back to PA for the weekend... but I did take a few bus rides to get to 

TURRIALBA! 

Last summer I came to Costa Rica with Penn State's Spanish for the Ag Sciences program (scroll back long enough in the blog and you'll find us). Along with a scholarship to do my undergrad thesis research in local schools with Ag Ed, I ended up staying in Turrialba, Cartago, for 6.5 weeks with a host family.

Since I am less than 40 miles from Turrialba while here at EARTH, you wouldn't expect me to not go back and visit my Costa Rican family every now and then??

On Friday afternoon, I took a bus from campus to Siquirres, then a bus from Siquirres over the mountain to Turrialba - totaling about 3 hours of travel... for less than 40 miles! Nonetheless, I got some good reading time in.

Arriving on Friday night, I found another gringa at my house (I had expected it) - Sarah is a student with THIS YEAR's PSU Spanish for Ag Sciences crew and they were planning to leave the next morning! Knowing some of the students in the group, I decided to keep my visit a secret! I really enjoyed seeing Cassidy's face the next morning, for example, when I walked by her on the way to the group's bus with Sarah! It was kind of strange to say goodbye to this year's gang when it feels like just yesterday my group was waltzing the streets of Turrialba.

This year's Spanish for the Ag Sciences crew with their advisers, Alex and Paige. Ready to go to Volcan Arenal before leaving the country!

Bye bye gringos ;) Turrialba is all mine for the weekend!

Saturday turned out to be a pretty relaxed day. I got some more reading in and went with my Mamatica (Marilyn) to the farmer's market for some goodies! Then, Saturday evening was spent with another one of my Costa Rican families! 

Martin and Maria (and their 6-year old, Mariana) are such a wonderful family. I met them during my time in Turrialba last summer, when I attended a Bible study (in Spanish, fyi) with my PSU classmate, Amy, at her host family's home. Martin and Maria were leading the study and we found out that Martin is a counselor for the agricultural technical high school that I was trying to get into! God works in such amazing ways! Needless to say, I was able to gather a bunch of information from the school where Martin works (thesis draft 1 is done!) and was able to get to know this young family pretty well. While I never lived with them, they always tell me I am welcome to : )  

Martin is on the left and Mariana is in the pink and blue PJs!

I met up with the family for an afternoon "coffee" - AKA an early dinner (coffee in Costa Rica NEVER is taken alone. It is always consumed with something else - a sandwich, cookie, pastry, etc. Personally, I prefer this way better...). Then we went to visit with Maria's parents - her whole family was there! 2 sisters, brother, his wife and children, and more. I really felt at home! Martin's birthday was Sunday, so they even had a little cake for him on Saturday night. Then, on the way to taking me home, we stopped at the park in Turrialba for a short bit (at like 9 PM - it was actually COLD out! well, cold in comparison to the humid tropics at EARTH) where we ran into some of Martin and Maria's friends and ended up talking for like an hour! It was so nice to just relax with some friends and enjoy the ability to communicate through quality time - and through another language!
On Sunday, I asked to help my Mamatica Marilyn cook her famous plate of Rice-and-Beans. The dish is actually called Rice-and-Beans in Spanish (rather than arroz y frijoles) because it is a Carribean influenced dish and the rice/beans are cooked in COCONUT MILK! It was lots of work, I got my hands dirty, but the ending meal was fantastic : ) I will certainly be practicing this meal back in the States! Too bad I won't have the same opportunity to HAND SHRED coconut for the milk! Oh well, gotta enjoy the opportunities when they come to you! Until next time friends, Pura Vida!

Rice-and-beans with fresh mango/fruit smoothie, plantains, and salad. A good reward to a morning of cooking!