The Garita Chavez Family

We moved in with our host families over a week ago, so here’s a little glimpse into my lovely family—the Garita Chavez family!  Moving in with a host family was probably my biggest worry but the part that I looked to forward to most during my time in Costa Rica.  While my host family is a little different than what I expected, I have loved getting to know them and live life with them.  As my host mom told my parents on Skype last night, they are taking very good care of me—feeding me very well with all sorts of food (coffee every day!), making sure I wear shoes around the house so as not to catch a cold, helping me learn the way around town (though I still got lost haha), and putting an umbrella in my purse or backpack before I leave the house.  I love coming home and telling my host parents about my day and hearing about their days.  I love having dinner as a family (plus friends usually) and talking and laughing.  Most of all, I love being a part of a family here!  What an awesome experience.  They’re very special people, and I’m so grateful that they are letting me live with them for three months. 

Alright, now on to some things we’ve been doing (with pictures!):

1)  FRIENDS!  They have many friends and pass a lot of time with them.  I love it, probably mostly because I just love sweet, enduring, fun friendships.  One of their closest friends live right next door, so we do a lot with them. It reminds me a lot of special neighbors that my family has had (Copeland’s, Perkins’, etc.).  Anywas, Sylvia and Antonio (the neighbors) come over a lot or we go over to their house.  One of the other students from the program live with them, so I see Josh a lot.  It pretty much feels like two families combined into one.  I love it :)  They talk most every day, help each other out, and enjoy being together.  Last Saturday, the day we moved in with our families, Sylvia and Antonio came over and we all ate dinner and then sang karaoke! YES!  So, two pictures.  Here’s me and my host parents- Manuel and Hilda…

 

Like the tiger?  Haha.  And here’s Josh and his host parents (Sylvia and Antonio) singing karaoke at our house.  This was hilarious!  I have a video :)

2)  Soccer games with Johan!  Johan is eleven-years-old, and he loves to play soccer.  He’s a funny one, though he doesn’t talk too much.  He has a sweet heart and laugh that always brings a smile to my face.  For the past two weekend mornings, Hilda, Josh and I have walked down to one of the nearby fields to watch Johan’s games.  I enjoy it a lot, especially when we do a little side play with the soccer ball :) 

Here’s a picture of Johan’s soccer game.  He’s not the one headbutting the ball, just to clear that up, but isn’t that a pretty sweet action shot?  Yea, new camera!

 

Here’s a closer up one of Johan with me and Josh:

 

3)  Independence Day (Sept. 15^th) in Costa Rica!  Last Thursday, most everyone was off of work or school and there were many parades through Costa Rica to celebrate their independence day.  I went down with my host sister Mila and her boyfriend Robert.  Here’s us at the parades in San Rafael de Heredia (the closest town):

 

I loved watching all of the kids in the parades!  The bands were amazing.  We’re talking about little 6-year olds playing the drums almost like in the movie Drumline…not quite that pro but still really good.  The city was full of people, and the Costa Rican colors shown everywhere.  Here’s a picture of the parade in San Rafael de Heredia:  

 

4)  Going to see the family…Hilda (my host mom) has a HUGE family- like 15 brothers and sisters!  They all live pretty close to each other too.  Her mom is so sweet, and I love to go see her with Hilda.  We always see at least five of her siblings when we go.  It definitely reminds me of some of my extended family…eh, eh Bryson’s :)…with a lot of the kids and grandkids around the house a lot visiting Granny and Paw Paw.  Anyways, her mom lives pretty close by, so she goes quite often over there just to talk.  Here’s a picture of us when we took my host mom’s moto over there (definitely a highlight! haha):

 

Well, that’s all for now folks!  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  I am so blessed with wonderful friends and family at home and here in Costa Rica.  Hasta luego