going home

I cannot wait to get home and back to my routine. And by home I mean La Violeta, Costa Rica. And by routine I mean to bed at 7:30, up at 5:00, climbing hills, cold showers, beans and rice, and best of all TEACHING! Seriously, I miss my life as I've come to know it. Vacation has been amazing. There is so much natural beauty to be enjoyed here in Costa Rica. Best of all being away made me appreciate how much I love what I'm doing and where I'm living. Before I left I'd begun to think maybe I should have been more adventurous with my site preferences, that it might be nice to have a site nearer to the beach. But about halfway through the 6 hour trip to the beach (2 hr bus ride, 1 hr ferry ride, 1.5 hr bus, 30 minute dirt road bus ride... really not nearly as bad as it sounds) it got REALLY hot and I thought “It is gonna be so sweet to get back to my mountain.” I have never sweat so much in my life. When they say tropical, they mean it. By the end of the week I was drinking 5 liters of water a day. I even sweat in the shower. I didn't even think that was possible. The beaches were gorgeous though and a extremely relaxing get away. I was able to do some yoga with some bliss inducing views. There's something about being near the ocean that makes me breathe a little deeper and feel like I'm home. Swimming in the ocean is so refreshing but the waves here are fuertisimas! I spent most of my time in the water trying not to get dragged under or dragged away and still ended up with a bottom full of sand every time. All in all it was very peaceful week and just what I needed. Pictures to come on Facebook.

After vacation we had a few days of meeting in San Jose for WorldTeach. It was nice to see the other volunteers, to laugh hysterically and hear that other people are struggling with some of the same things (language, connection, feeling effective in the classroom). It made me realize (or perhaps confirmed my suspicion) that I have things pretty darn good at my site. The kids are well behave and want to learn English (they don't try to run out of class or stand on the desks), my family is pretty great (they don't tell me I'm fat or tell me I need a boyfriend) the food is good (something other than JUST rice and beans for 3 meals a day) and the weather is decent (no water crises, cool enough at night to sleep, no major bug or animal problems).

I was worried my Spanish would fall horribly short after being away and speaking so much English but it came right back. I got back Wednesday and Thursday afternoon my mom arrived at the school. I was able to navigate switching between two languages and doing some translation with a fair amount of ease. What's this? Am I actually learning to speak Spanish? Could it be!? Haha don't get me wrong, my brain and my tongue fail me regularly but I'm willing to admit things are improving on this front. Plus my mom brought me some workbooks for me to practice grammar and verbs and such so that will definitely help. Can't wait!

My mom and I have been spending the weekend at a fancy hotel, shopping, eating and driving around. It has been great to sleep in a super big comfy bed, take some hot showers and of course see my mom! But honestly I still can't wait to get back “home.” Which is fantastic and I couldn't be happier. I'll appreciate these extravagant comforts while I can and be content to be back where I belong: in a small town in the mountains teaching English and learning so more than I ever imagined.