Pura Vida

Costa Rica! What a beautiful country, and what a lovely time I had with my family there. We saw lots of wild monkeys. We confirmed that the monkey call is to just simply hold a banana straight up in the air. They will come for it. The monkeys were the highlite of my trip. If you ask my mom, Michael, or Greta they may say ziplining. But for me, it was not such a pleasant experience. I don't know how you can mess up ziplining, but I did. The good news is I confirmed there is no possible way to die on ziplining if you do everything they tell you NOT to do. Anyway, doing turns on half the way down on the zipline and not being able to break when told so pretty much sums up my ziplining experience. Uf. I'm alive. I'll stick to the nature hikes next time, and meet y'all at the bottom.

I want to say thanks again for visiting my community. I hear alot of volunteers say that their families will never come visit them here. Maybe you all weren't up to explore the villages of a third world country, but you did it anyway for me. The people here will be talking about it foreverrrr. Thank you. When are they coming again?! They are asking. They did really enjoy seeing my family, and the people are still saying "esta joven, esta bonita su mama ." What about my brother and sister and law? "Oh, yeah. Them too" Miss you already. So in other news, I moved. Por fin! There comes a point when enough is enough. I probably should have moved before I got to this point. We all knew this. But yes, I moved about a month ago, and it's been great! I still go back and visit my host family almost everyday, and have a great relationship with them. I never feel alone, as there is always people passing by here. Even at night some ladies come and we will practice yoga or just talk. I'm slowly turning back into the person that I was once. My head is coming out of the clouds. I feel healthier. I actually want to be around people when I'm with them. I'm giving them the positive energy and attention that they deserve. Since I moved to a completely new area, I get to know different people. For the first time in 9 months I feel like an adult, and feel independence. I'm able to get my thoughts back as to what my purpose is here. I feel really comfortable with the relationships and my place here in this community. It surprises me just how much spanish I am able to understand. So far this experience has been huge self growth, and a learning experience for me. I'm ready to turn my focus on to the people in my community, and begin some projects that will fit their needs.