We finally landed in the verdant, lush, mountainous wonderland yesterday at about 4 and were met by three helpers to expedite the travel through all the necessary channels of the airport. I never even IMAGINED that it could be so fast and easy and I think I will manage to get used to this lifestyle. After we finally retrieved our ridiculous amount of luggage and enjoyed some awkward, friendly spanish conversations we met yet another person who was to drive us to our new, much anticipated home. All the while one of the escorts is our sponsor who has been an officer in CR for about a year. She is wonderful. She told us just enough information about the surrounding area, what to expect, what needed to be done pronto, etc in order to be helpful but not overwhelming all at once. She bought us a few groceries and helped to set up the welcome kit so we could settle in more easily. Did I mention that I am loving this?
I'm not going to lie, I've gained some weight. (Corey, if you're reading this - I promise to lose it before I see you next time so you don't have to go through the trouble of socking me in the gut.) Anyway, I decided on the Duken Diet which is a series of varying phases of basically high-protein, low-carb. Simple, right? Yes and no. For me to eat nothing but protein means that I only eat about 400 calories a day. On an average week I may eat fish/seafood once. The past two days I've been eating it at every meal. The thought of eating it again makes me feel ill and something's got to give. I've decided to go back to the rigamarole of Mark's Daily Apple and do something a little more sustainable for myself. When all one thinks about is brussel sprouts and bell peppers, there's a problem.
Today is the beginning of the third day and I've had it. I just savagely cut into a red pepper, paired it with a quarter cup of sunflower seeds and am raising my middle finger in the direction of Dr Duken all the way from Rosslyn, VA. Wish me luck and as my mom says - this red pepper tastes just like flowers.
Sooo we have known for some time that we were going to need to trade in the beloved Prius (we love you, Glenda!) and get an SUV for Costa Rica. After much ado, we set our sights on the Subaru Forester and finally purchased a 2011 Forester in dark grey last weekend. I. Love. It.
It's masculine but sleek so of course the name has to reflect these characteristics: Shakiro. Homage to Shakira but this sexy beast is all man for these two ladies. I'm ready to indulge in many new adventures with this new beau and proud to rep a company that supports the gay-genda.
Also, we bought the car from a sweet as pie Thai-American Marine who was raised by his lesbian auntie. awww.
In other news, happy birthday to my Puo Puo (grandma on mom's side). She turned 90 last weekend and is one of my personal heroes. Puo lived through the brutal Japanese invasion of China and the violent Communist revolution that followed. She then rebuilt a life with my grandpa in Taiwan. Only two years ago, at age 88, she climbed to the top of Lu Mountain (LuShan) on foot. At the summit, a middle-aged man asked to take a photo with her because he had never seen a woman at her age scale a mountain before. She taught me my multiplication tables and how to spell in English (despite not knowing English herself). Here's the two of us on her bday. Love you, Puo!
I miss the blog. But unless you want to hear me complain about how hard it is to learn Spanish (the easiest language taught at FSI?), I figured that I should just keep my mouth shut. But I'm ready to be positive again - Mom, can I come out of my room now?
So yes, we've been in Spanish for 18.5 weeks now and have a mere 5.5 to go. (How many months are women pregnant? 36? Wow. That is some perspective for sure.) The studies have been truly wonderful; I have learned things that I never anticipated like history lessons, how to prepare and deliver a presentation, we've studied the economy, political, judicial, health and school systems both in the US, Central and South America. Not only that but I've learned all, or nearly all, my weaknesses in English (and life?) that are magically carried over to the new language, highlighted magnificently under the painfully bright spotlight of adept professors and a keen-eyed-ever-watching wife. (I love you more!)
The move is drawing closer and closer as well. It's almost palpable at this point. It's drawing on time to start eating all the food reserves (my personal favorite), separating clothes, books and kitchen items to go to storage or post, and lots of good old-fashioned lists. I love lists. At any moment I have lists of books I want to read, exercise plans, songs I want to sing at karaoke, restaurants to try, store lists - you name it, I list it. Buuut, the lists to get ready to move abroad leave a little to be desired. When I see "prepare last will and testament" on a list I immediately put the list down and begin online shopping. Seems healthy and perfectly normal to me.
Anyway, I applied for a job at the Embassy in San Jose - cross your fingers for me! I'll detail more later if I'm so lucky as to nab it.
For now, I need to prepare my presentation for class this afternoon. I'm thinking something special and hardly political: Zombie Ants.
Like all nerds, I appreciate a good TED talk. In this one, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright "talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy." A girl after my own feminist heart. :)
When I graduated from Smith College in 2003, Secretary Albright was my Commencement speaker. Que suerte!
We CA girls met up with some of my best lady friends at Smith for some winter fun.
And yet another reason why I have the coolest boss ever.
The secretary of state is on a mission: putting women’s rights at the forefront of a rapidly emerging new world order.
In other news, Spanish is going super bien. Sigo disfrutando el idioma. I got a 2+ on my last two evaluations and am hoping and praying for that coveted 3 at the end of April, when Spanish training ends and ConGen begins. Eva is also continuing to enjoy her Spanish class. She, however, is trying to show me up by studying twice as hard as I am. That's what you get when you marry an overachiever, I guess. I'll stick with being a Type A- (ambitious, but a bit floja - lazy, for you non-Spanish speakers!).
In closing, I leave you with my favorite Spanish song of the week (err, month).
After 5.5 weeks, I'm finally starting to wish I had something to do every day. Only 1.5 weeks left before I regret this statement.
