Gosh, have I told you guys lately how much I love my mama tica and my tica family? cuz if not I'm going to tell you now how amazing they are. (dont worry Mom, Dad, Justin, and Laura-No one can or ever will compare to you guys. Being down here has made me realize how amazing you all are-even more than I thought before. No one can replace you all and I am so unbelievably thankful and blessed to have you all in my life. I cannot express in words-written or spoken- how much you all mean to me. I love you all so much) However, being here I have been so amazingly blessed to be placed with such a wonderful family. My tica sister and I played basketball yesterday in the court right beside our house. I havent played basketball outside my house since I was little, so it took me way back to the summer nights that my family and I would play until it was dark. Dad, we played around the world. I thought you would enjoy it. It was fun, but it wasnt the same as playing with you :) My mama tica and I just had this 2 1/2 hour conversation after breakfast. It was great. I love learning about her life and her viewpoints because believe it or not we are very much alike in the way we think. Our personalities are very similar, so despite the fact that she is 45 and I am 21 we can have a conversation on the same level. She is such a giving, funny, tranquil person who always puts others first (very much like my own mother, whom I cannot rave about enough) I've been trying to find her a boyfriend since I've been here because she's divorced and on the market, but after what I learned about the Ticos, I told here I would find her a gringo haha. She is just such an amazing person. we had a long convo about "religion" well faith really this morning at breakfast. My mama tica is catholic and before you rile up of your pre conceived thoughts and judgements about catholics let me just inform you what she told me. she said "I dont really care about religion. To me, your relationship with God is what is important, not religion" and yeah she's catholic-I couldn't have said it any better and quite frankly I have said that a few times and have heard that from practically every "evangelical" pastor I know. We talked about how its more important to respect someone even if you dont believe in what they do rather than tell them what they are doing wrong. To be honest that is one of my pet peeves- you can tell someone what they are doing wrong because what you believe is OBVIOUSLY the right thing. ugh, get over yourself. The best way to show that what you believe is the truth, is to actually live it and not worry about what everyone else is doing wrong. (sorry for the soapbox). Anyway the other night, I did this think called the romeria. Basically, its a pilgrimage that catholics from all over costa rica and other parts of central america make to this catholic church in Cartago called the Basilica (a city in the mountains 30 minutes by bus from san jose). They do this to show their devotion and to pray to La virgen de los angeles. Yeah, whether you agree with it or not, you have to admire and respect their devotion. I will be the first to tell you that it was beautiful and yes, I'm not catholic and dont necesarrily believe in what they do, but I do respect them and admire what those thousands of people did. Some people walked for days. We walked 35 km or 20 miles. It took us about 5 hours. Once we got to the church there were sooooo many people. craziness. after walking for 5 hours we had to wait another hour and a half just to get in the church. most people who are catholics go the entire length of the church on their knees. okay I dont know if you have ever tried to walk on a tile floor on your knees for an extended period of time, but let me tell you it doesnt feel very pleasant. I knew this big girl would not be able to get up at the end if I did that, so I decided to do the walking thing. Honestly it was one of the coolest things I've done here. My roommate merri left yesterday and I am seriously so sad to leave now. When she was in her cab, honest to goodness it all hit me and I teared up. It surprised me bc I really didnt think I would cry at all. But now there is no doubt. Im almost crying now as I write this. Last week I was so ready to go, but now things have changed. Cant wait to see my family and friends, but at the same time, I really do love my tica family and Costa Rica. I have had such a wonderful experience and I am going to miss it so much. Gosh, this is going to be way harder to leave than I had expected. Only four days. Yup, the tears are blurring my vision now. Well I love you all. I will see you all so very soon. PURA VIDA!