Long but Interesting Weekend

So, starting on Friday, I would say that everything has been going really well thus far. My Community Engagement class seems like it is going to be just about as enjoyable as my Politics and Democracy class. We talked about how we define ourselves/what defines us, what we were expecting Costa Rica to be like vs what it actually is, and we also got to talk about the differences between Costa Rica and the U.S. I found it was really interesting to hear what other people had to say  about their experiences here thus far. It helped me to realize that I am very lucky to have landed in a very affluent home where we eat different food every day, the water pressure and temp are really good in the shower, and the mother sends me with lunch everyday. It makes me so appreciative of what I have and less apt to complain about the little things that get me down. I also got to try my hand at walking home alone on Friday, which was exciting and moderately nerve wracking(we aren´t supposed to walk home alone because it is dangerous, but the rest of my crew went on a weekend trip to get drunk at the beach and hike) :) I think that walking home alone was a good experience for mebecause it helped me to see that even though I need to be cautious, I am not helpless and I am capable of doing things by myself,even here in Costa Rica. Saturday was interesting in the way that I got to go grocery shopping with my host parents, which was CRAZY. There were SO MANY PEOPLE!!! Think about the most people you have ever seen in a store at one time and triple that. There were so many peole that it was virtually impossible to move anywhere in the store! Carts and cars and  people all over the place. It was intense and overwhelming to say the least. The best part of the experience though was that I really got to spend some quality time with my host parents and we ended up going to see Nery´s mom. She is a super sweet old lady who lives in San Francisco; Costa Rica with a Nicaraguan girl as her only companion. Her home was very neat and tidy and we spent a good amount of time talking and watching an old school Mexican show (I think it was called Cantabile but Im not completely sure). Also, I learned that I tend to speak a lot of Mexican Spanish which makes my host parents laugh and my host sister roll her eyes. Apparently, Costa Ricans aren´t fond of Mexicans because they feel like Mexicans look down on them and talk to them in a condescending manner(plus their accents are annoying, (supposedly)). Needless to say,they are all working on teaching me Tico spanish :) As for today, Sunday, I am just chilling at the house, celebrating Independence Day with the family and doing homework. Tomorrow will be my first day working with Los Ancianos de Santo Domingo(the elderly of Santo Domingo) so we will see how that goes...