Que suerte

Last night while I was waiting for Yami to pass by my hotel to go to Edgar's house for dinner, a bird pooped in my hair. I couldn't believe it. I felt this drop, and then put my hand up to my head and then looked at my hand and this white stuff was on it. So I hurried into the hotel bathroom and got the crap out of my hair and washed my hands probably 10 times and used antibac. Que suerte. Maybe. The waiter laughed too and made sure I didn't have anything left in my hair.

Dinner was fun and yummy... Edgar's mom Cecilia and he cooked rice, chicken, fried tortilla strips, and made a salad. We had wine too and then for dessert we had fruit cocktail with vanilla ice cream. : ) Their neighbors Lorena and her daughter Catalina came over too and we laughed and laughed and took pics. Edgar gave me a present: a DVD of the sounds and images of Costa Rica. Can't wait to try it out! I gave them presents too and they loved them. I gave Catalina and her brother David some FSU notebooks and folders, and for the moms and Yami I got Bath and Body Works lotion, kitchen towels, pic. frames, candles, etc. For Edgar (since he has loved FSU since he came on the exchange in 2002) I got a tshirt and an FSU binder. He teaches English now at one of the high schools here.

I also keep having dreams in Spanish too. I guess that goes with the territory.

Today we had a lecture from an economics professor Federico Rivera that was pretty interesting. He talked about CR's debt, how they can never compete with other countries in production of coffee (b/c now Brasil produces a ton of it) and other products from the US b/c the US subsidizes farmers. He also talked about how when someone is unemployed here they cannot claim unemployment and get help like in the States. Interesting. The students asked some good questions too about the impuestos (taxes) they put on the food and drink bills here-there are 2 taxes: impuesto de venta (sales tax) and impuesto de servicio (service tax). There are no tips here for waiters and bartenders and whoever b/c it's included... and also b/c in this culture, as he said, people don't work for tips! They are nice b/c they want to be-not b/c they want more money. They are happy to help. That is why I love it here.

I also met the new person that will take over the coordination of the exchange program here and we chatted for a bit. She is so smart and well spoken-PhD from Georgetown! Maybe after my PhD I can work here. ; )

Tomorrow we will be going to another town about 2 hours away and staying there until Sat morning. The town is Guapiles and that is where they have another branch campus of the U of CR. So we are going to have new hosts for a couple of days and new families. Sat we are going to the Caribbean coast again to the beach (HOORAY!!) and tomorrow and Fri we will be doing agricultural community service, going to a butterfly garden, and going to English classes. Sunday is a free day back in Turrialba so I will get some shopping done and maybe go back to Edgar's house for lunch.

Until then.................