"Mindi, you know I don't speak Spanish!"

I love my Tico brother, Brandon (or Brando). This morning, while I was getting ready for work, Brandon poked his head out of his bedroom and shoved a paper into my hands. I realized it was a test he failed at school (27/50 - que malo!). An English test! It was so elementary...pictures of body parts that he was supposed to label correctly. I told him I could help him with English anytime, but he just laughed. He is definitely un bichito - a total prankster. Patri yells at him because he spends all of his time playing computer games. Such a badass.

I was on time for work today. Translation: I was the first one there. I didn't get an assignment until about 9:30am because my bosses had an editorial meeting. I could have slept in!

Later, Cesar needed a picture of someone reading a specific newspaper for an article. Guess who he decided to shoot? Yep! I will be in the July issue of Revista Summa, looking quite intellectual, I might add. I'm going to be famous in Latin America. Don't worry, I'll bring back enough copies for North America, too. Que chiva! It made my day.

I found Cup Of Noodles at the Tican equivalent of Wal-Mart (Mas x Menos) during my lunch hour. It's all I could really stomach for lunch. It reminded me of camp, which I believe started on Sunday. I wonder how it's going...

After lunch, I was doing some research for the next month's issue, when I made my first mistake, politically speaking. Luis Diego asked me to collect a list of all of the airports and boat ports in all of Central America and the Dominican Republic. I collected all of the airport information first, for Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras (Belize is geographically considered Central America, but the country associates more with the Caribbean Islands and does not work with Revista Summa). When I searched for Central American boat ports, the first Web site I found included Mexico in its Central American list. This seemed weird to me, so I turned to my boss, Marilyn, and asked her if Mexico was included in Central America. Mistake! She went on a tirade about how gringas can be so ignorant and how people from the United States think they are the only Americans. Mexico is part of North American, along with the United States and Canada, if you didn't already figure that out. I totally knew that! She wasn't actually mad at me; she was just shocked that I asked her that question. I was so upset. I showed her the Web site and tried to explain. I kept saying, "I understand! I understand. We're all American!" It was humiliating.

After work, I was rushing to the bus stop when I heard catcalls from a group of older men. Costa Rican people consider this normal. Men whistling at women as they passed isn't respected or condoned; it just is what it is. I don't like it, obviously. I wore a dress today, but most women wear pants. I won't be wearing a dress into the city again. I felt very uncomfortable.

Did I mention that bus drivers here get mad if you linger on the stairs onto the bus? You either wait outside or stand on the top step. They hate the inbetween. I like to put the exact amount of change in my hand before I even leave the office. That way, I don't have to awkwardly fumble for change in front of the driver while everyone is waiting. Bus drivers also hate it when you give them bills. The fare is usually 175 colones, and the smallest bill is 1000 colones. Heed my advice: always use your coins!

Patri made me my favorite tea for my stomach when I got home. She also did my laundry and made my bed. Ah, what a life. I ate some pasta with ground beef for dinner (My stomach is telling me that was a mistake), and then Natalie, Amy and I made Marco a Facebook account. What an eventful evening, right? It sounds boring, but there is always entertainment in this house.

David arrived in Jerusalem today, and Ila had her first day in corporate Burger King (Ticans call it Bah-Keh here). Change, change, change. As much as I hate to say it, change can't be avoided. Ila might book a flight to San Jose and visit me for a weekend! This could be a disaster in the making...no. No, it will be great to see my sister. I miss familiar faces, even though I have adjusted to my sweet Tican lifestyle.

I'm looking forward to dressing up for el Teatro Nacional tomorrow night. Our group is going to see a show in our finest formalwear! Ah, que divertido!

Me encantan los Ticos.

Pura Vida (y buenos noches),
Lauren