Wednesday was my 20th birthday.
I am no longer a teenager.
Tengo veinte años.
Whoa.
On my birthday, my brother had to drive my mom somewhere at 6 am, so I ate breakfast with Silvia. Then went to classes, normal normal normal. They sang to me in my gringo class which was hysterical because there were about three different versions of the spanish Happy Birthday song going on at the same time. Apparently, the song you learn in 5th grade Spanish class is not the widely recognized version. I went home after classes and slept from 4:30 until 7:30 (very nice) and then had three of my TN Tech homegirls come over. And they brought cake!! I got all dolled up and wore my platinum silver dress and HIGH HEELS! Haha, ok, so they were barely an inch high, but that's high for any six foot tall woman! And! There was a lunar eclipse that we watched from my balcony! It was gorgeous.
Of course, we only went to La Casona (where else?) so I was way overdressed, which was really fun. I hooked my iTunes into the speakers and we listened to some -good- music. Too many shots, and that's all I'm going to say. And I didn't bring a cent with me, so I ate and drank for gratis!!! But we left pretty late, and I was pretty gone, so I unfortunately was not able to wake up for my 8 am class the next day :(
Thursday was chill. We had a dinner at home, but like 8 americans came, which I wasn't expecting. I had invited 2 or 3 but I guess my host mom thought that she should invite more. We had really tasty crepes, but they had chicken inside and were covered in a creamy asparagus cream. And there was also a little roll cake (think Ho Hos). Meg and I went to my brother's indoor futbol game at a complex in Barva, and we witnessed a very scary sports collision. We're still not really sure what happened, but a man went down (maybe ran into someone else?) and started just screaming. And I mean screaming his head off. Then he went limp and didn't move for a good 15 minutes until the ambulance came. But the scariest part were the people around him. Boys and men from 15 to 35 years old were crying! We had no idea what was going on, so we left and watched Jaime played. He's a goalie and he looked so adorable with his mane in a little bun. tehe. Then we went to... La Casona. We chatted with Cuca and Alvaro until pretty late. And poor Johnny, the owner, is super sick. He's been wearing his scarf to work for the whole week. Poor guy.
Yesterday, Meg and I were invited to go on a coffee plantation tour by my good friend Stephanie (she's tica). She worked there as well as at La Tirimbina - where we stayed when we went to Sarapiqui. But she lives really close to Meg's so I went there to meet them. Then we walked to the plantation. Yes, walked. That's how close it is. The tour was free for us, because Stephanie is allowed to invite a certain number of guests or something like that, and we had a blast. We decided that if anyone asked, we were going to tell them that we were Cuban. So of course the tour guide (all the guides were actors, and the whole tour was an act - it was great) asked where everyone was from - some from Seattle, Boston, Cali, a huge group of old folks from England, and then the two crazy Cuban girls. The Cafe Britt company grows only organic, shade grown coffee. The plantation was so pretty, with banana, mango, and lime trees used to shade the coffee, but then to also make chocolate covered fruit products, yum! I think you will have to see the photos (I'll put them up soon) to fully understand how goofy the tour guides were, but it was a crazy fun tour. And then we were lead into the gift shop, and Stephanie was able to get us 50% off of anything. Meg and I stocked up on some really pretty necklaces and earrings made out of the wood from the plants. Then we got free coffee and tea from the restaurant, also because of Stephanie's connections. I love knowing locals!
On our way out, I met Bombi (short for Bombillo, which means light bulb...). I don't know if I have mentioned this or not, but the town I live in, Barva, is famous for its "mascaras" or giant heads. They're used for celebrations, and they are all over the main parque. Anyways, Bombi is the guy that makes them all, and his house is about 5 down from mine. So I met him (he's good buds with Jaime, of course) and he gave me a shot of something out of a gasoline tank with raisins or something in the bottom. Lo and behold, it was homemade ron, a.k.a. moonshine. It was gross. After that we went to La Choza, a night club, and it was much too loud and smoky for me. I left and took my friends to La Casona for a much more relaxing atmosphere. But, the damage was done, and my voice was gone. I sound like a man right now and it sucks.
Tonight is girls night, and two of my tica girlfriends and Meg are coming over to watch movies and eat pizza. Hasta Luego!
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