Packing up

I cannot believe that I am going to start packing up my room in San Jose tonight! I am leaving Thursday for Jaco and then after that, I will just be traveling. My bags are going to stay at my house for now, but I want to have them ready and out of the way while I am gone. I cannot believe I have been here for almost 5 weeks already, it has flown by so fast.

Lilly should be over soon, (hopefully with a bottle of wine!) and we are going to decide on our traveling plans: Panama or Nicaragua... decisions, decisions... I might buy a backpack tomorrow, because have you ever seen a "backpacker" with a rolling suit case? Lilly has experience in this business, so she can tell me if my suitcase is practical. I'm going to be that girl.

I just ask.commed if I can get AIDS from mosquito bites. The short answer is no, but I seriously have so many that I was worried. I am doused in anti-itch ointment.. Man, do I smell good... a mixture of icy-hot-ish smell and bugspray. Eau de Costa Rica.

Here is the beginning of the list of things I have learned while in Costa Rica:

- The garbage can by each toilet is not just a coincidence, they're for the TP... I learned that this weekend..

- There is another form of Tu and Ud: Vos (NOT Vosotros). Thanks Illinois school systems for never teaching me this thoughout my 10 years of study

- Love can conquor all. But will it?

- Simon Bolivar did A LOT for Central and South America

- Good friends can be made instantly, but making a best friend takes years

- With the internet, the world is a very small place

- The ability to spend a large amount of time with someone should be cherished. There are many people that I have met here that I do not have this abilty with, though it has been tested.
- A little Spanish goes a long way, especially when shopping

- The more time you invest in another language, the worse your original language becomes. For example, I was asked what I am doing in San Jose and I said, "taking school" in English. Bad translation. You might have noticed this in your reading so far..

- Distance, weekly 5+ hour drives and the Pura Vida lifestyle really does add a lot of peace into one's life

- A good pair of flipflops and/or a waterproof purse is priceless

- Rain doesn't ruin a beautiful day, but a bad attitude does

- One cannot get AIDS from mosquito bites (see above or ask.com)

- I am not a business woman anymore, I'm a teacher

- Pizza, beers, big sunglasses and a good friend help when things get rough

- Iron gates keep out the bad guys but not the bugs

- You become fluent in a language when and if: you forget you are listening/speaking/or reading in it or, when you switch languages half way in the middle of a sentence without realizing it

I think that is all for now, but don't be surprised if you see another list like this, as I have learned SO much about Spanish, Latin America, myself and life in general by coming to this beautiful country.