Things in Costa Rica have been progressing pretty smoothly. I’m settling into my new job and making friends with my fellow teachers, but I’m still looking for an apartment. I even started going to the gym. The membership is included with my job, so I went with another teacher on Friday to check it out. It was a lot more intense than any gym stateside. One of the trainers took all my measurements, including my arms, thighs, and calves, my height, weight, BMI and percentage body fat (it was not pretty, trust me). However, it was motivation to work my butt off between now and next month, when I’ll be measured all over again. Then, he wrote me out an exercise plan and showed me how to do the first day’s worth of weights. I’m used to weight training, but not this much, so I was definitely sore the next day. I wasn’t planning on really committing to a gym schedule until I found a place closer to work/the gym, but now that I have an exercise plan and an appointment for more measurements, I feel like a have to. I went again today, but the 45 minute trip there and back didn’t really justify the hour and a half or so I spent there.
Last night after work and a nap I celebrated the 4th of July by going out to a karaoke bar. Anyone that has been to Latin American can attest to the Latino’s love for “romantic music”, and the karaoke bar is no exception. Every Tico (popular nickname for Costa Ricans) there thought they were at a tryout for Latin American Idol, belting out these sappy ballads and grabbing passionately onto the microphone. Needless to say, my friends and I were not about to hop on the bandwagon. Ale and I sang “Billie Jean” as a tribute to the gloved one, and Ale even moonwalked.
After I arrived home from the gym today, I talked to my fam on Skype (they were all wearing red, white and blue t-shirts). I currently have the house to myself, which would normally be alright, except that I just did the stupidest thing ever. In Costa Rica, home security is a big issue. Therefore, the house has a huge cast iron gate that needs to be unlocked from the inside and outside, and another self-locking door that lets you into the house itself. While trying to turn on a light, I accidentally pushed the button the opens the outside gate. Afraid that someone would take advantage of the unlocked gate, come inside and attack me, I shuffled outside to open the gate and reclose it, therefore locking it. In the process, the door to the house shut and locked, leaving me outside and barefoot. I considered sitting on the doormat to wait for Ale or his Dad to come home, but ultimately found a button outside that unlocks the gate. I shuffled across the street, still wet from the rain, to the pulperÃa (corner store), to ask the man there (Beto) if I could use his phone. I called Ale, who told me that his Dad’s girlfriend, who coincidentally lives across the street from us, has a key to the house. I shuffled over to her house, and her daughter Kata let me in. I’m not sitting in the comfort of the home, laughing at my stupidity. More mishaps to come! <3
