E-mails and Chocolate Cookies

Day 6, Tuesday, July 3^rd

And for every good day, there comes a bad. Not that today is bad per say, but boy am I tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired. Huh, that many ‘i’s look strange together. Oh boy. So tired. I find it strange that some mornings my mind is so groggy, and I understand nothing, when just the day before I was chatting away. Es loco.

Alicia and I bus to school, where she gushes over the Harry Potter poster... again. :) It makes me happy too. School today is all business. Grammar, grammar, grammar: nominal clauses, leer, escuchar y escribir. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Lunch rolls around, but the line is super long, so I settle down to wait... wait... oh crap! I have to make our reservations. The place we want to stay is booked (pooh), so I maneuver my way into the Spanish language enough to get the very nice receptionist at the school to find us a new place to stay. Los Cabinas Vista del Golfo, for $10 a night, is our best deal. So there it is. I also book our bus tickets and distribute plans. I feel accomplished... and a little hungry. Unfortunately, lunch is soon over, so I forgo food for more grammar. Yum. But I do get a dessert of Boggle, so I am happy.

I skip dance class today (although I love it!) in order to put up my blog from the weekend and do e-mail stuff. My day is going better, despite my lack of Spanish comprehension, and I am feeling great about being on top of blogging... until I check my e-mail. I see a letter from someone I had not thought to hear from, and it throws off my day. Now feeling confused and flustered, I busy myself with other tasks.

I buy some postcards (I want to have them in the mail tomorrow so people can get them before I return), and Hannah and Beth and I walk down the street to the grocery store. The plan was to buy food for lunches... but none of us are prepared. We all need an ATM, and I don’t have my card... and without money, we can’t buy groceries. So. Instead, we buy cheap cookies, and I get a Te Frió (que bueno!), and we hit the road.

Beth and Hannah’s bus comes first, so I chill and wait for mine. And wait. And wait. I finally see the “anilla” of Sabanilla and rush up to meet the bus. I hand him my 150 colones and wait for my change. Instead, the driver informs me that I am 20 short. Huh? Why is this bus more expensive? I hand it over, but suddenly I know I have made a mistake. A glance at the sign in front confirms my fear: this is not Sabanilla. This goes to Grandanilla. I pull out my map; if it passes my stop, I won’t get off. It doesn’t. And so, when the deceitful bus makes a right at the mall instead of a left, I hit the button.

I cross the heavy mall traffic, head down the street and around the corner and park myself near the University, where I figure I might be safe. But I admit: I’m nervous. It is getting dark fast, and I am not positive that this is where I need to be. The guy next to me is noisily eating something, but I stare straight ahead. Soon enough, I see a bus to my neighborhood, and the guy and I both stand up. But it zooms right by, leaving us both to wait on the next. As we sit back down, I notice the noisy snack in his hand. He has a sleeve of the exact same cheap cookies I have just bought. I smile. Somehow this man with his love of chocolate dipped cookies has made me feel safe and happy.

The next Sabanilla bus makes its way to us, and we are off to our respective destinations. I get off at the gymnasium and leave my cookie friend to the rest of his pleasant ride. Home at last, I put my things down and my clean laundry away (it is so nice of them!) before joining my family in the kitchen to discuss our days. “¿Cómo la fue?” is the question I get everyday when I get home: basically, how was it (your day)? Usually the answer is “bien” or something like it. Not today. Hoy fue dificil. My mamá tica asks me what went wrong, and I explain how some days I just cannot comprehend Spanish. She laughs and nods. It happens to everyone. Then I tell them about the bus. They laugh some more. Me and my bus stories. :) My mamá tica does tell me not to walk home at night anymore. It’s not really dangerous, but they would rather I take a taxi. That makes me nervous (I have never done the taxi thing here... and only once at home).

I am superhungry due to my lack of lunch, so I eat all of my chicken and rice... and there was a lot. I decline dessert fruit and hunker down in my room to attempt some postcards (yay for no homework – thank you Roni!). But I am tired. Really tired. And although I somehow stay awake until 10, I only am able to upload and organize pictures. My ability to function has ceased.

Yet before I fall asleep, I recall the e-mail I received earlier, and suddenly I really miss home. And it is only going to get worse...