Costa Rica had some surprises. But of course it did, because I had no idea what to expect. First of all, I didn’t expect my taxi driver to be so easy to find. Second of all, I didn’t expect him to speak English. Much more than my host parents can. David is very friendly and instantly makes me feel comfortable. He’s a great person to begin practicing my Spanish with. We have a mini review of my Spanish skills on the way to my new home. David tells me my Spanish is good and makes me feel better about my lack of vocabulary (or lack of memory of it).

My next surprise was that another student was living with me at my homestay. This actually brought me relief (and I still had my own room) because now I have someone to talk to and adapt with. Alex is from the Bahamas. I’ve never met someone from the Bahamas so it’s interesting learning a little something about her culture. The Bahamas has a very, very small community. The crazy thing was hearing from Alex how bad the crime is in the Bahamas right now. So many people are murdered there, one every other day. And what’s crazier is that everyone knows everyone because of how small the community is. So murders become much more personal. Alex says it’s taking a toll on tourism, which is their main source of income. Cruise ships are starting to veer away from the Bahamas. On a good note, I’m told the Bahamas has this amazing guava and cream cake dessert and bombass barbeque.

I can tell I got lucky with my host family, just as I had been when studying in Spain in college two years ago. This time I’m studying with TESOL Costa Rica to learn how to be an English teacher. When I saw the option to live with a homestay, there was no hesitation. And the program did a great job giving me a new tico family (tico is short for Costa Rican). Rosa and Johanny, or Joa, are amazing. They have a daughter named Valerie, 14, and a son Jürgen, 17 – it took me ten million times to pronounce his name right. Valerie loves to watch Gossip Girl and reads a ton. She reminds me of myself as an avid reader at her age. Jürgen is a typical active teenage boy who’s friendly and already has shown some swag in his attitude.

I arrive at the Ramirez home tired from my flight (I didn’t get much sleep on the red eye due to being granted with a middle seat). While Alex and Rosa go to the park where Rosa face paints – I know, cool right? – I sleep on and off most of the day. Late in the afternoon I wake up to Joa and Jürgen watching fútbol in the living room and join them. I quickly learn that I will be practicing lots of Spanish because no one in the family speaks much English. (Although I find out later that Valerie and Jürgen know a decent amount of English, they’re just to shy to use it). Joa and Jürgen are very patient with my Spanish, which is comforting. At night, Rosa introduces Alex and I to her mom, who lives right down the street. It’s easy to feel welcomed here.

The day before class begins, Rosa gives us a tour of the town and shows us how to get to school. Barva is cute and small. I notice different painted statue heads in certain points of the town, marking the different neighborhoods. My neighborhood is marked by a freckled girl with glasses and wild pigtails. It’s a strange and funny way to discriminate between the areas in town. At least it’s easy to find the right street home. While in the center of Barva, we walk through the park to find a Zumba class going on. A crowd of women bump their hips side to side, all sporting neon clothing. Apparently Zumba is very popular here and is held in public places around town. I think it’s so great.

After lunch, Rosa and Joa take us to the Fiesta de los Caballos, which was a little rodeo going on in town. I learn that Jürgen loves riding horses. He’s all dressed up and rides his horse around with a huge grin on his face. This was definitely his scene. I take out my big fat camera just as Joa hops on a bull – don’t worry, the bull was tame. While at the rodeo, I give Costa Rica’s beer, Imperial, a little try. It’s not the best beer, but I can get used to it. We watch this sporting event that reminds me of jousting, except for it only involves a ring rather than another person on the horse (I believe the game may be called ring tilt). Basically, men on horses gallop straight towards a ring on string while holding a sort of nail. The goal is to catch the ring while racing forward. There are four tiny rings, and the more you catch with your nail the better. The oldest man of the group catches the most rings. Practice makes perfect!

Turns out Alex has a fear of horses, but Joa gets both of us on a horse anyway. Joa and Rosa love my camera. Joa asks to borrow it for a bit and captures portraits of Rosa as she watches the show. You can really tell that the two are still very much in love, which is so cute and is often rare to see.

Two of Rosa and Joa’s prior homestay students come over for dinner. Molly and Jamie live right up the street and are currently teaching in Barva. They’re both hilarious. They have me laughing constantly. The two of them offer to take Alex and I to the bars in Heredia and also invite us to join them for Zumba. Apparently the classes are taught by “chicos guapos.” In other words, the Zumba classes are led by beautiful muscular latino men, which is a big motivation for going. Both Molly and Jamie’s Spanish are good to the point that they can easily converse with Rosa. Apparently Jamie used to struggle with her Spanish like me. “It’ll get easier,” they say. I believe them. I’ve noticed that over the past two days my Spanish has already improved. I’m beginning to enjoy being forced to speak Spanish. I’m practicing so much more than I did during my 6 months studying in Spain. And I’ve finally conquered the word gingivre (which means ginger – it only took a day and a broken record of Rosa repeating it for me).

Another exciting thing – this amateur of a hammock traveler set up her hammock for the first time. I asked Rosa if I could set it up on the front porch and she was more than happy. She went ahead and showed Alex and I the family’s hammock that was stowed away and, together, we set it up on her and Joa’s balcony. The traveling hammock is now official.

As I go to my private little room, I hear the familiar strange noise of a gecko squawking, just as I had when I was staying at Jiwa Damai in Bali. It makes me feel at home again. Although instead of several gecko squawks or other chatterings of the jungle, I only hear one gecko squawk each night. It makes me miss the extravagance of Bali. But I have many more adventures and much more to learn here.

Some things I’ve learned about the tico life:

• They love rice and beans

The typical meal here is “Consada con…(pollo, asada, etc).” The funny thing is that the direct translation means “marriage with”. This plate usually consists of a meat, rice and beans, and a little salad. I’ve found that mayonnaise acts as a salad dressing here. My favorite tico breakfast is huevos con pintos, which is eggs and rice and beans. So yummy. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of carbs in my meals. Rice is pretty much eaten with everything, including pasta. Yes, I’ve had a plate of pasta accompanied with rice for dinner.

• Bathroom etiquette

In Costa Rica, toilet paper does not go in the toilet. Costa Rican plumbing can’t handle it. So toilet paper respectfully belongs in the trash bin. I didn’t find this out for a couple of days at the Ramirez house. Oops.

• Name calling

Don’t take offense if you’re called gringo or gringa. Here in Costa Rica, they just call you for what you are. If you’re white, you’re gringa. If you’re fat, you’re gordo. I heard a first account of this with my host family, who referred to Rosa’s brother as Gordo rather than his name. I couldn’t help but laugh. As for the little “chino” shops run by Asians, the people behind the desk are affectionately called chino or china. And the little Asian toddlers running around called chinitos.

• Asking for directions

Thankfully I was warned the first day of class that when you ask a tico for directions, they will give you directions whether they know it or not. So you may be given the wrong directions. In other words, make sure to ask at least three people for directions to make sure you’re going the right way.

• Pura Vida

Pura vida has a number of meanings. It directly means pure life. But it also means you’re welcome, thank you, hello, goodbye, and what the hell is life. Also, the best one, life is good. Have fun with it. Use it, but use it with a smile.