La Pura Vida

Echando a perder, se aprende.

Hola gente. My brain feels very foggy/can´t think or write clearly and it´s dark outside, but the guy here at the cafe told me he can call for a taxi when I´m ready...so that´s good not to have to worry about finding one right now. Will update a bit now anyway.

Today was my most tranquilo day yet...very glad for the chance to experience this way of life fully. This morning (after running early for the first time-woke up at 6 and thought why not fit it in before breakfast and while it´s nice and cool, relative term, outside. glad I did that) I walked 10 minutes to the house of Lisneth - an extremely sweet 30 year old woman. She sometimes cleans Erlinda´s house and so I´d met her there-went to her house once and saw all the amazing crafts she does, expressed my desire to learn and as a result today was the day.

After showing me around her house she patiently taught me to embroider. I could write a lot more about this experience - I was continually blown away by her generosity...she clearly doesn´t have much but gave me materials, made a big lunch, took me to class with her from 1-5 at a wonderful organization that offers free weekly classes in sewing, dessert making, computers, random things-for people who can´t afford much in the way of such activities... I really loved embroidering alongside about 10 other women. Lisneth and I also taught each other new words during the day. She taught me dichos such as the title of this post: as I messed up she would say this - basically by making mistakes, we learn. She has a saintly level of patience, which I saw as she constantly stopped her work to unravel the knots I made. After a few minutes of failed attempts I was ready to grab the scissors but no no - paciencia, paciencia, she would say.

I have much to write about from this weekend, but don´t think I´m in the place to do so right now. More to come later - about gorgeous churches, the importance of friends, thoughts of volcanoes... que mas.

I do feel much more grounded in my place here after a little time away with friends. Not doing the weekend justice but dinner - and time to just stop for a little bit - calls. Thoughts right now: we don´t need much to be happy. Yesterday on the bus back from San Jose I asked the very friendly guy next to me what he thinks we need to be happy. His reply was quick and simple: God and family. I agree...seems so clear. Family for me means connections of support and love-definitely includes friends. Aka what propels me through my days. Erika commented that this time and isolation has made her realize more than ever the importance of people. Sounds so basic, but I´ve never felt that in my bones so strongly as I have here with the separation. :) Yay for people who care, reach out, add joy, laughter, support...

Whew time to relax. I feel so appreciative of the people in my life. Hasta luego.

posted by Colleen @ 6:41 PM