A Day in The Life...

So...I decided that I was spoiling all of you with my fancy weekend photos. Just so you don't get greedy for more fancy schmancy pictures, I thought I'd show you what my weekdays are like.

5:30a.m. I wake up because the sun is shining into my room through the skylight. I lie in bed until 7a.m. trying to go back to sleep because it's too early to wake up.

7:00a.m. My host brother, Manuel, is getting ready for work, which means he has turned on his salsa music and it is impossible to try to sleep any more. I get up and walk into the kitchen where I find my tasty breakfast waiting for me. This is fresh, homemade juice that my host mom, Maritza, made for me, a bowl of fresh mango, papaya, strawberries, bananas and pineapple, and a plate of gallo pinto (rice and beans) with scrambled eggs and bread. Yum!



8:15a.m. I leave the house to walk to the bus stop. Here is a picture of the house. By the way, the car belongs to the neighbors. I was slightly surprised to learn that Maritza does not know how to drive and doesn't have a driver's license. Manuel is just starting to learn how to drive because here you can get your license when you're 21. You'd think that by waiting to give people their licenses until they were older, there would be fewer accidents and safer drivers, but that is just not the case. Drivers here are crazy. Stop signs mean drive faster. Pedestrians NEVER have the right of way, and there are very few crosswalks. I'm still working on my street crossing skills.

This is a picture of the street where I live. I love all the different colored houses.



This is the sidewalk I walk down every day. You can tell it's the rainy season because the sidewalk and gutters are so green. Although the sidewalks are not well maintained (there are lots of big, random holes) and I am pretty accident-prone, I haven't fallen down yet. And at the very end of the sidewalk, across the street is the park where I catch the bus.




8:50a.m. I get off the bus and walk to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights or the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights where we have class until noon. This is the Court. I don't have a picture of the Institute, but it is equally white and impressive.



12:00p.m. I walk to Costa Rica Language Academy to have a cheap lunch (about $2.50 for a burrito and a drink) and try to get my reading done for the next day. Pretty, huh?


2:00p.m. It starts to rain. You can watch the video of the scary rain. It is so loud. And 2:00 is also when I make my daily phone call to Garrett. Sometimes the rain is so loud that I have to wait until it lightens up to call Garrett because even though I'm inside, he wouldn't be able to hear me.




3:00p.m. I have my Spanish class and then wait for the rain to lighten up enough for me to walk to the bus stop. When I finally get home around 5:30, Maritza is usually home from work and in the kitchen making a yummy dinner. I continue to read and study for class the next day.


8:00p.m. Maritza, Utako (the other girl who is living in the house) and I all sit down and watch Maritza's favorite novela, Nuevo Rico, Nuevo Pobre. I'm glad the acting is way over the top because it make it really easy to follow the story.



9:00p.m. Manuel comes home from the dance class he goes to after work. Maritza always meets him at the door. How sweet!


11:00p.m. After finally finishing my reading and outlining the cases for the next day, I finally try to sleep. I always put on my headphones so I don't have to listen to the neighbor's dog cry all night. I've never disliked a dog so much. He is sad because he is outside, but the porch is pretty big and covered and it's only around 70 degrees. So he's not wet or cold or cooped up, he's just sad that he's outside and has to let everyone know it. I really do not like that dog.

So that is my typical day. Pretty exciting, huh? No monkeys or rainforest, only nice people and lots of studying. But I'm really having a great time. If you've noticed, I added a new song to the blog. My Spanish teacher introduced me to this one, and I thought it was pretty cute.