Our+homestay

Sunday night we stayed with a typical Costa Rican family. They lived in Pocora in a small finca where they raise Tilapia and fruit trees. The family consist of Adonay the mother,the father, and we met their two daughters Katie and Kelly. Kelly is married and has an 8 year old son,Cristian who I made the mistake of telling I was afraid of snakes( for the rest of the trip he would come up behind me and yell ,ESNAKE!!!). Most Spanish speakers add e in front of English words that start with an s. The family did not speak English so I did a lot of translating. One thing is universal, kids love presents and sports. I brought him crayons and books and he was my instant friend. We also played a lot of baseball,he surprisingly was not a big futbol fan. He said he liked the Yankees because he liked their colors. I tried to convert him to Red Sox nation but I don't think I was successful. He played with a broken broom handle for a bat so I would like to send him a real bat for Christmas. The family did not have a lot of money but they were so kind and hospitable and such hard workers. They had a beautiful plot of land and really produced delicious fruits,vegetables and fish on it. Cows roamed freely on the hillside-and they had their own chickens and quail. Their oldest daughter was studying English so we helped her with her homework. The mom was a dentist and she even had a dental clinic -attached to her house.I was happy they liked the presents I gave them especially the nacimiento which they told me brought blessings to the home if given as a gift ,which I did not know. On Sunday we walked about a mile to their church.It was very beautiful everything was open and I found Mass to be very similiar to what I am used to. Maybe a little more informal though,lots of singing,and a dog even roamed in off the streets at one point! It was such wonderful way to truly experience traditional Tican culture with some wonderful people.