Feliz Cumpleanos a mi!

So, sorry this blog is so kind of behind with the dates that I’m posting it on, but I have not been having a lot of time to get to the internet café, so I am just typing up the blogs on my computer and then posting them when I get time to hop on over here to the café. =) Just consider that your disclaimer for the day.

Mi cumple (birthday: Oct 1) was AH-mazing. =) I had 3 pieces of cake that day, if that gives you any idea of how amazing it was. Hahaha. My sister made a chocolate cake with frosting and peaches on top, which was delicious, and we had sopa azteca (basically salsa/soup with avocado, white cheese and tortilla chips…YUM!). My whole family sang feliz cumpleaños to me, I think my host nephew Aron sang it about 10 times (apparently it’s his favorite song). =) My family is so great, I am just loving hanging out with them and getting to know them better all the time, I can’t believe we have such little time left together! Even Spanish class on Wednesday was awesome; we talked for the entire 4 hours! No worksheets, just talking / arguing. =) There was definitely “yelling” or should I just say “raised voices” (it made things more fun, I think that’s why). =) We talked about pacifism, which we were sort of divided on (me and the teacher and then the two guys) because the guys thought it was a good idea but didn’t necessarily see it as being a realistic option, whereas, for me, I am just hardcore about peace and nonviolence, and so is our teacher, Carina. So it was a really good (obviously, long) conversation that just led more into talking about religion, faith, and how we can live out what we’ve been learning here. Very good times! (And don’t worry; we’re all still friends even after all that). =)

My birthday present to myself was the Juanes concert on Thursday night, which was also unbelievable! It didn’t rain all day, which was pretty much a miracle. Then when we were waiting in the futbol stadium for the concert to start (our seats were awesome by the way) it rained a little, so we bought ridiculous 2000 colones ponchos ($4) and then, of course, it stopped raining. Well, until Juanes’ second song: then the rain really came down. =) You would think that it would stink to be at a concert when it was raining, but if you ask me, it just made it even cooler. I mean, we were at a Juanes concert, outside, in Costa Rica, dancing and singing along with thousands of Ticos…yeah, the rain just made it even cooler. =) Plus, Juanes, being rained on, is just even hotter than normal. =) Hahaha. We had a really fun group of 9: Kasey, Ryan, Greg, Me, Jasmín, Lesly, Caroline, Lima, and Katie. It was definitely some awesome bonding time together! =) Juanes even saved my favorite song (Nada valgo sin tu amor) for last...it was just awesome! Only crappy part: not allowed to take cameras! Luckily I had not brought mine, mostly because I just didn’t want to risk it being stole, and so when we got to the gate we found out you weren’t allowed to have them when they patted one of the guys down and told him he wasn’t allowed to bring it in. C’mon Juanes, seriously: we can’t even take your picture? Well, we could’ve, if we had snuck in our cameras like some other people...but that would’ve required prior knowledge that they were not allowed. =) So sorry for all that wanted to see pictures, I wish I had some to show you!

Friday night (Oct 3) we had movie night #1 at LASP to celebrate the October birthdays. We watched “Be Kind, Rewind” with Jack Black, which was mas o menos (okay). We were asked to invite ticos, so I invited both my sisters and they both came, but they were the only ticos. But it was still awesome! =) I loved being able to hang out with them and have them meet some of my classmates/friends from LASP. When we got home that night Ale and I sat in our room and had some awesome girl bonding (aka: we talked about boys). =) It was good to really have a conversation about life, not just, “oh, how are you? How was school? Blah blah.” We really bonded, and it was just (as Tony the Tiger would say) Grrreat!

I can’t believe we only have one week of our “first phase” left here, it has gone by SO fast! Almost 6 weeks (on Tuesday, Oct 7). Whoa. =) We leave on Sunday the 12^th to head to Nicaragua for 12 days, which is also really exciting! I’ll let you know more about that before I leave hopefully. =)

Thank you all again for your continuous prayers and support, I can really see the effects here in Costa Rica, as life just continually gets better and better here, I am just having the best time of my life here and I could not be doing this without such amazing love and support from all of you! *Big hug from me!* Muchísimas gracias! Hasta luego mis amigos. Con amor, Laura.