Despedidas y Bienvenidos

I got up extra early this morning so I wouldn't be rushing to get to the aeropuerto. We got to enjoy one last desayuno together and she made me Gallo Pinto, fried eggs, a huge piece of my favorite cheesy bread, watermelon and an apple. And yes, I ate it all. I think my stomach has grown in the past seven weeks.

It finally came the time that I had to leave to meet my the church group at the airport. Before that, however, we had to say our goodbyes. It was a tearful goodbye for both myself and Mamá Tica. After living with her for 6 out of my 7 weeks in Costa Rica, we've come to be like family. There is hope that I will see her again, because they are possibly taking a trip to Orlando for Maria Fernanda's 15th birthday in January. And hopefully, I will return to Costa Rica one day in the future.


Mamá Tica y yo, before the tears started flowing

 My hermano tico, Juan Carlos, drove me to the aeropuerto in his taxi and his son Esteban came along for the ride. It was a good thing I asked my dad to wear his pink polo today, because I spotted him immediately. As sad as I was to say goodbye to Mamá Tica, I was equally excited to see my parents!

Mamá Tica had sent me with a 3 foot loaf of my favorite bread, and my gringos devoured it on the ride from the airport to San Ramón because they were still on American time. We are now at Faithful Servants Missions Camp. After getting settled and eating lunch, we took a walk around the Bajo Tejares neighboorhood. We started in a group, so that Lynn could point out things along the way, but less than 5 minutes into our walk, my parents and I were WAYYYY behind the group because I kept stopping to take pictures and talk with all the kids! The kids are soooo cute, and I can't wait to spend more time with them.

Boys, hamming it up for the camera (in the distance, is our group!)

I eventually had to catch up to the group, because Lynn doesn't speak Spanish and she wanted me to tell one of the girls to come by the church this week, because her sponsor had sent her a bag of clothes. I also had to talk to the cook on the phone. I guess I'm already the go-to-girl for translation. There's a lot of English speaking around these parts, but I plan to keep speaking Spanish, considering I'm still in Costa Rica!



I can already tell that I'm going to like it here!