La Paciencia

Well well well... I re-learned a good lesson this week - remember to be patient! Thanks for the support and advice everyone. Everything is much better now. Let's see...I moved to a different bed, and I can sleep again! Yay! I have a bunch of 'friends,' I think. The night before last, there were a lot of people in the bar after dinner, and I played a guitar and sang with a couple of other people for a while. It was a lot of fun! I spent yesterday landscaping again. I'll have to post pictures, or you guys won't really understand. I was basically chopping with a machete all morning, and then carrying huge loads of branches and tropical plants on my head across a field to the tractor. It was insane. I was pouring sweat, but it felt good. Anna, you're my inspiration, I swear. I've been singing a lot :) I learned how to drive the tractor, from my friend Francisco. He drilled me with Spanish all day. I really like him; he's a nice guy. I met his wife and son, and we had a long conversation about relationships and interactions with people from other cultures. In fact, I've had some pretty complex Spanish conversations the last couple of days!

Then, I had to refuse a couple of propositions and have 'the talk' with one nice guy :) I'm determined to stay single while I'm here. Later, I got invited to a fiesta in the closest town, and I went there last night with the other gardener. It was cool - I watched the local children to a typical Costa Rican dance in costume and had a few beers. Today, I was learning about the biochemistry of compost when I got called away to the stables. They needed help, so I got to spend today over there. It was awesome...it was a relaxing break from what I've been doing, and I got to ride. We changed the horses out for some others from the field, so we did some herding. It was great. I learned a few other things and got to practice my Spanish a lot. It's getting a lot better and everyone is being really patient. I'm starting to get to know the employees better, and even my roommate is starting to open up. I think maybe they were scared of me! Anyway, one of them has geometry homework that she's having trouble with, so I told her I'd be glad to help. I went to the hot tub after work today, and I'm feeling really relaxed. I'm about to conjugate some verbs and talk with some turists in the bar, and then try to get to bed early.

I'll do pictures and maybe Skype calls on my day off on Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't use facebook usually here, so sorry for the lack of communication there. Miss you guys and talk soon!

Aura