Family

My family has a small house across the street from Rachel´s and a nice dog named Uvenall. The dad´s name is Rafa and is a quiet hardworking man who works at the Hotel in Monteverde most of the day and then again for the nightshift. Today I went with Rafa and my brother Erol (20ish) to go play soccer at the turf pitch up the mountain. Rafa is 50 and still absolutely incredible. He scored the most goals on our team with Erol coming in at close second. All the guys there were very nice and we ended up playing for most of the morning. My sister Adreina (16) was still asleep when we left in the mornign. She had been skating at the local disco the night before. My other sister, Hannia (17) is usually the one who spends the night out, but last night she was home for the first night since I arrived and we both had dinner together. The oldest sister, La M, has a little boy named Axel who has made me his new older brother. She is a chef at one of the hotels as well. Axel and I usually spend the day playing soccer but because of the rain and the fact that the ball got stuck in the sewer, we have been playing a lot inside. The mom is just called Mama by everyone and is hilarious. She laughs at everything and keeps everyone in line. Every meal I have about 3 times a human portion of rice and beans and something else on the side. She is teaching me how to make all the amazing fruit juices of Costa Rica. Yesterday, I saw my first cockroach in our house, which kept me up most of the night, but our house is clean and small so I am not tooo worried. Every morning Axel and I walk to the bus stop together, with Rachel always barely catching the bus with her sister. My family here is wonderful and has adopted me into their home but I still find myself missing my family at home and all the comforts I didnt realize I enjoyed so much. The shower here is a bit mean but I am learning how to deal with cold water. Next month is mango season so I plan on eating only mangos for a month straigth. The family says they have an Aunt who has a field of trees and I can get a huge sack full of mangos to keep in my room.

lou