¡Qué Triste!

Today was my last full day here with the whole group in San Jose. It didn’t feel like I was leaving or that I was almost done with my trip. Ashley and I decided to wake up somewhat early so we could run errands, finish packing (well for me start packing), go by the ISA office, spend some time at Veritas to check our email and messages, and enjoy our last little bit of time with Emma and our familia Tica. We finished Veritas early and decided to head back to the house earlier than we had told Emma to get some things done. It turned out that her son Roberto had come early with his daughter Constanza and to our surprise they were eating McDonalds for lunch. It was the first time I had seen them sit down at the table to eat a meal. He was so nice and took us to McDonalds so that we could get lunch too. As much as I hate eating it at home in the states, it was the perfect meal for today. During our short trip to McDonalds, we learned that Roberto is a professional trombone player in the national orchestra here in San Jose. his wife is also a musician and plays the clarinet. They both teach at a music university here and have had the opportunity to travel many different places around the world to play music. About two weeks ago they had gone to Switzerland for vacation and their daughter Constanza who is 7 went with them. At her school, she is only 7 by the way has to learn English, Spanish, and German. She is such a bright young girl with so much zest for life and has so much energy. Roberto told us that he didn’t understand any of the people in Switzerland but Constanza could speak to all of them and understand everything they were saying. She had told her friends at school that she had three beautiful new friends from the United States and she was getting to spend the night with them. I had her help me make a welcome sign for Emily when I met her at the airport. Earlier in the afternoon Ashley and I went to get a few things and check out this big store called Hipermas, which is basically their super walmart!! It was a bit overwhelming, but it was also interesting to see how a store like that was here. We wanted to get Emma something small and a card since she has done so much for us. We got her a new bag of coffee since she got a brand new coffee pot just a few days ago. We got her a card as well and it just so happens that the month of August is when they celebrate mother’s day here. We also wanted to get Constanza something so since she is obsessed with Hannah Montana I found the perfect beach towel of Hannah Montana for her and Ashley found a notebook with a cover of Hannah Montana on it and also got her a package of headbands. I never expected the reaction that Constanza gave to her gifts that we gave her. It completely made my day to see her light up and be so happy and overjoyed from these small things. She was pretty much speechless. Things like that are always good for the soul. She just couldn’t believe what we had given her! That will be definitely being one of the best memories from here, even though it’s something very small. After dinner, Ashley and I went down to Suzie’s house to say goodbye to her, Miguel, and Fabiana. We talked with them for a while, and then we went to a restaurant called Café Mundo to meet the group for our “last supper.” The place was really great and I had the best piece of chocolate cake in Costa Rica. All of their desserts were amazing and everyone had basically gotten a different one. We didn’t stay long because many people had to get on a flight back to the states at like 2 am. I finally finished packing and went to bed early. Tomorrow was the beginning of the last week in Costa Rica but it was also the beginning of a new adventure with Emily. Hasta Pronto…