A make-do update on my internship.

As you are about to read, Internet has not exactly been readily available here in the mountains. Now that I have access, I don't have much time. So I'm posting a copy of the e-mail I sent my mom. I know it's a poor excuse for a blog post, but at least it gives you some idea of what life is like here. Hopefully a better post is to come!

Hi [probably worried sick] Mom!

As you´ve probably gathered, it turns out I don´t have Internet at my house. Fortunately, the other LASP student´s family has a daughter with Internet in her room. But she´s only here on weekends, and her room is locked during the week. So I´ll try to get on as often as I can to assure you that I am FINE here and that you don´t have to worry :)

Where I live: I am living on the side of a mountain with a breathtaking view of the city (especially at night when it´s all lit up!). It is FREEZING here (not literally, because it rains instead of snows) and I had to borrow a heavy-duty coat from my host mom to use while I´m here. Of course, she just walks around in a t-shirt while I´m always all bundled up. She says I´ll get used to it. I hope she´s right, or I´m going to have a hard time adjusting to Iowa weather in three weeks!

My family: They are just lovely! My mom is 70 and my dad is 72 and I have a 32ish-year-old brother living in my house. My dad here is a lot like Dad: he cracks a lot of jokes and he´s really nice. My mom has been a bit of a challenge. Up until this morning, I thought she was very uptight and that she didn´t like me. But when I asked her if I could help her bake these little bread things this morning, she just lit up! She put an apron on me and she´s been talking to me all morning! I am very relieved to have cracked her, because I was getting worried that we would end up going the whole month without talking. The program staff is coming to my house tomorrow to check in, so I´m glad that I can report our progress. With the way she is and the way things are going, I´m going to come out of this process being able to cook and clean like a real Costa Rican woman!

Note: As of a week after writing this e-mail, I have determined that my host mom absolutely adores me. We are getting along very well now and I'm already getting sad about leaving her in two weeks!

My job: The hardest part is waking up at 5 a.m. every day. I have to report to work by 6, and my mom insists that I am ready by 5:30 so I can eat a small breakfast before I return to the house at 9:00 to eat my REAL breakfast. Then I go back and work until noon, when I´m done for the day. I´m on my feet while I work, peeling flowers (running my hand down the stem so the leaves come off). That´s literally what I do. The whole time. I don´t mind, because I like jobs that I can just keep doing and feel productive without a lot of thinking. I have had some really good conversations with the other women who do the same thing. My body hurts a lot, but they say I´ll get accustomed to it. 

Hopefully that´s enough information to hold you over until the next time I get to talk to you. Please don´t worry about me; I actually really like living here. Probably more than I liked living in San José! I have a lot of free time here, and it´s hard not to think constantly about going home and seeing you all and Scott in a few weeks. But I´m going to continue to try to make the most out of the rest of my time here. I miss you a lot! See you soon :)

Love you the most,

Erin