Home again, home again

Since my last post, I went to dinner with my host family. I had chicken tacos with pineapple and cilantro. YUM! After dinner, we walked around San Juaquin. It was dark outside, and the Christmas lights were beautiful! My Mama Tica said that one guy put up all the Christmas lights above the streets. We walked down a street in which all the houses were decorated, complete with moving reindeer, etc.

We went home and sat on the patio. I had beer and they had whiskey and water (ick). We talked about our respective cultures and about the country's overall view of Americans and of other cultures. They are a religious culture. Their kids live with them until they get married - even through college. A boy and girl can't be in the same house unless the parents are there, and even then aren't allowed to be alone with them. They usually sit with the parents and hangout. They said this is true for boys and girls, no matter if they are 15 or 30. They can go out on dates and stuff, but it has to be in public, and the curfew is usually 10:00 p.m. ... crazy. We talked til around midnight and then went to bed. Jimi - their youngest son was graduating high school the next morning.

Everyone was gone when I awoke. I looked at the clock and noticed I was running late. It was 11:15 and I had hoped to be at the airport around 11 or 12 for my 2:00 flight. I ran around the house frantically looking for a towel. The only thing I could find was a hand towel, so that would have to do... I jumped in the shower and the water wouldn't turn on... Finally, came a slow trickle. I HAD to have a shower, so I decided to make it work. Several times during the shower, the water stopped running completely. I considered washing my hair in the sink as a last option... Finally the water started running, so I turned on the heater machine. It scalded me, so I turned it off and then the water stopped again. AHHH!!!

Finally, I finished and ran to get a taxi. Made it to the airport fine and on my first flight. I couldn't help but hear a woman talking to a guy she had just met about how disappointed she was in Costa Rica. She said she couldn't find a hotel for less than $200 a night, nor a meal for less than $100. It made me mad that she was talking poorly about my favorite country (outside of America, of course) and I wanted to ask here where the hell she had gone. I was spending $25 a night for a place on the beach w/ a pool and a/c... I decided to keep my mouth shut and drown her out with music...

In Atlanta, the customs line was really long, so I continued to read the book I bought at the CR airport. - The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. Cool book about following you dreams. I suggest it to EVERYONE. Once thru customs, I ate one of the best sandwiches I've EVER had! Au Bon Pain's Baja Turkey. I've never had snow peas on a sandwich before, but DUDE it was BOMB!

Got on the plane from ATL to DEN just fine, but then we had to wait for an hour and a half on the runway for a door latch to be replaced and then for clearance to go. I arrived in DEN at 12:30 a.m. Unfortunately Brandon wasn't there because the headlight on my car was out and he got pulled over. So then he stopped by Walmart to buy a new bulb. When he tried to put it in, he couldn't get the light out... So we didn't end up getting home until 4:00 a.m. POOR BRANDON had to get up at 6:00 for work. It was a LOOOOONNNG day of traveling. BLAH!

I'm glad to be home to my sweet boyfriend, my awesome view of the mountains, my hot water, hair product, hair dryer, kitties, bed, soft TP, good sewage system, fast internet, phone that works, friends to call, etc., etc., etc.

Today I'm looking up Christmas dinner recipes and researching my upcoming trip to Peru.

Happy holidays everyone!!