There
are so many things that are different here. It is seriously like a
whole different world. I didnt think I would struggle with the language
as bad as I am right now. A lot of the people talk extremely fast and
slur words together. And Costa Rica has its own kind of spanish too.
There are words and expressions that people use here that are brand new
to me! One thing that people say here a lot is Pura Vida. Pura Vida can
pretty much mean anything down here! You can ask somebody "How are you?"
and they will say Pure Vida! or one time I was teaching a lesson and
asked, "how do you feel?" and the sister said "Well I feel pura vida..."
and I had no idea how to take that. I guess its a good thing though!
haha They also say Tuanis or supertuanis which means cool. OH also!
Remember that finger snapping thing I did in middle school that you
hated? Everybody does that here! If something cool happens they will
yell OOSH TUANIS and start snapping their fingers together! Its so
funny! The Costa Ricans are called Ticos. Usually when you want to say
something is small you add -ito to the end, but sometimes people here
add -tico to the end and it means the same thing! Its so confusing... Im
sure there are still a lot more weird things about the language here
that I have to learn.
Honestly, its so hard not being able to
effectively communicate with the people here. I feel like Iike I have a
lot to offer the people here, but am so limited with the language.
Everybody I talk to is so shocked that I have only been here for a week
because of how good my spanish is, but I feel like its so terrible. All
of the members of my ward on Sunday commented on how great my spanish
is, but I couldn´t understand their compliments and my companion had to
translate for me... its annoying, but I know that with time I will get
better. I just need patience. and help from God. lots of help. haha
My
first day I went on an exchange with an elder named Elder Saalvadra
from Columbia and Elder Shumway. We went to an area called Tres Rios and
let me say.. I was not expecting to EVER see an area that was that
poor. The houses were super small and had metal roofs and were falling
apart. That area was in the rainforst and it started raining super hard
and we were walking through really thick mud all day.
The
people here are super poor for the most part, but are really humble and
nice. One thing that is both good and bad is that pretty much everybody
offers you food or a drink when you visit them. I have had some pretty
strange things, but for the most part I´ve liked it all! Except for last
night... I went to this members house to teach a lesson, and her house
was suuuuppper messy. She made dinner for us that night and served it to
my companion and me on dirty plates and cups. She gave us some weird
hot drink that she had sitting in a dirty crock pot and served it to us
in cups that had old, crsuty, dirty, rotten food chunks in it. It was so
gross. Last night I was pretty sick, and I think it was because of
that... I feel a little better now, but hopefully I´ll be totally good
by tomorrow!
My trainers name is Elder Xicará. He is from
Guatemala and he is super nice! He speaks a little bit of english. Thats
nice because he can translate some words that I don´t know.
I
have time to share one quick story. The first night I was out teaching
with Elder Saalvadra and Shumway we went to a progressing investigators
house. We taught a little lesson about baptism and it went pretty well.
The investigators main concern was that she didn´t have a strong desire
to get baptized because the spirit hadn´t told her that she needed to
be. At the end of the lesson, Elder Shumway offered the prayer. It was
short, choppy and in broken spanish. But when we looked up after the
prayer, she was crying. She said that the prayer was so powerful, and
she had gained a strong testimony of the gift of tongues and believed
that the spirit touched her heart. It was a really cool experience!
Today
I went to San Jose and went shopping for some things while I was
waiting for some immigration stuff to get processed. San Jose is crazy!
there are so many massive buildings and so many people! The drivers are
crazy there! All of the restaurants are huge there too! I found a two
story Taco Bell, so that was pretty much the hilight of my day! haha I
also found a store that sold cheap fake watches... so obviously I bought
three!
I don´t have time to write anymore, but I hope all is well with you all!
Can´t wait to hear from you next week!
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