Have you heard the one about the creature of habit who went to another country for three weeks... 5/22/14

I am a creature of habit.  Always have been and probably always will be.  That being said, I try to follow my instincts and my heart.  My heart has led me to Costa Rica, although I left half of it at home, with my family.  This mama is missing her kids and husband like crazy!

This journey has been incredibly eye opening for me,  but also incredibly hard.  The one thing that has helped me through all of the changes, is to create a daily routine here and try to stick to it.  The problem with that, is that plans change and sometimes it cannot be helped, for example our very detailed itinerary, that keeps changing.  But as we all know, change is inevitable and we are making it work.

My first week in Costa Rica has been spent with my host family in San Joaquin.  The language barrier has been a struggle, but while working through that, my host mama and I have developed a routine, and a way of coexisting that is comfortable and trustworthy to me.  I have learned what to expect and have grown comfortable with my new San Joaquin family.

Yesterday, after a very hard rain, our home in CR was without electricity for 5 hours.  When I arrived home from school around 5:15, she told me the lights went out at 3.  It was not a big deal until around 6 when it got dark outside.  The routine I had worked so very hard to develop, was unable to exist.  My mama could not serve dinner at 7,  I could not Skype my husband and kids after dinner, I could not do my Spanish homework and work on my research project, I could not write in my blog (to inform my adoring fans of my updates), and I could not and watch one episode of Friends on Netflix, using Spanish subtitles, before bed.  The power eventually came back on, but my routine was messed up, which in turn through off my whole day today and made me a tab bit grumpy.   This Pure Vida stuff is hard work for a control freak such as myself, but it has also helped me work through the total loss of control.  So, I am working through it poco a poco (little by little).

Most of you who know me, know I could not find my way out of a paper bag and that I use my GPS in Springfield even after living there my entire life, so finding my way around San Joaquin has proved difficult.  Thankfully, I have friends on this trip, who have taken me under their wing and have been helping me find my way.  Everyday, I manage to walk two blocks by myself and then wait at my assigned corner, until they pick me up on their walking route to the language school.  Then again, on our way home, they drop me of at my corner every evening and I make my two block trek back to my house.  Yesterday, I decided to stray from the course and walk on the other side of the street (huge step for me) where I found a small store, that I ventured into, and decided to buy a Costa Rican newspaper.  Then, I waited on a different corner (same corner, but opposite side of the street) and attempted to read my Spanish newspaper.  I was shocked to find that a) I didn't spontaneously combust because I made a change in my plans, and b) somehow, I understood a good portion of the articles in the newspaper by picking out key words or phrases that I have apparently learned and that it is a good way to improve my language learning.  By the way, it seems, Garfield is equally funny in Spanish!

Today, I went back to the store, bought today's paper and went to my new corner.  I even got a nod of mutual understanding from the clerk which to me said, "this girl is fitting in so well, she could easily be a local!"  OK, maybe that is not what he was thinking, but a girl can dream!