Tranquilo--my new moto

Life in Costa Rica has certainly been like a rollercoaster ride....super highs and super lows. One minute I´m having the time of my life, having a blast with the kids or my family... and the next minute I´m so lonely, miss home, and realize just how far away I am.
Life in Costa Rica is a lot more chill than I ever expected...there are no time schedules...no such thing as being on time or late, school gets cancelled at the drop of a hat for soccer tournaments or festivals or whatever else is going on, the internet NEVER works when I want it to, and there is literally nothing to do in my town except for go to school, walk around the plaza, buy snacks at the pupleria or watch Spanish soap operas...For example...after class yesterday three of the 9th grade girls walked me to the cemetary and showed me all of their relative who had passed away and told me what happened to them....why? because class was over and there´s nothing else to do :) and they´re super sweet girls, who I think could tell I was having a rough day.

There are two things I´ve heard constantly...at least 10 times a day since I´ve been here ¨tranquilo¨which means exactly what it sounds like ¨chill out, everything´s ok, no problem, etc.¨and ¨pura vida!¨ which means the good life, or excellent! Everyone is so laid back. Nothing is ever a BIG deal. It´s so different from the states, where we live and die by a clock, and we´re so busy all the time. We´re always doing something and everything seems soooo extremely critical while we´re doing it. Here´s it a totally different world. So, now that I´ve been here for a a couple weeks and see how things go, I´ve decided I just need to go with the flow...I´m no longer going to worry about why class is cancelled for a soccer game or a festival...or why the internet won´t connect...or why it seems so impossible to use a phone to call home, or why there´s no such thing as a hot shower...I´m here for the experience and whatever happens...happens ¨Pura Vida!¨ No need for a ¨schedule¨ because there isn´t enough going on to need a schedule. A small example... going to the gym in the states seems like somthing I have to squeeze in....get to the gym, exercise exactly 40 minutes, get home and showered and then on to the next thing. Yesterday, I decided to get some excersice and walk around the plaza...it was awesome! I had nothing else to do, no where else to go....so I just walked and walked and walked and listened to my iPod the whole time. Next thing I knew I´d run out of water, and I´d been gone for over an hour.
Today class is cancelled because of elections....Friday it´s cancelled for a music festival in Liberia where the 10th graders are singing. I´m going on a field trip with them :) Pura Vida!