Our first official day in Heredia was already so much fun! It consisted of walking around the town and experiencing many differences in culture. One of the first things I noticed was the architecture. The buildings can be described as being built organically around one another. They are very condensed, but in a natural way that does not seem too smushed or uncomfortable. The streets are fairly walkable, however, a big difference here is that the cars do not yield to pedestrians automatically, so you have to be extremely careful. 

Another difference is the way food is bought. Most go to the market to buy fresh produce and meat. I expected the market to be outside, but it was all covered and fairly dark. We got to try lots of fresh fruit, for example, cas, berries, passionfruit, and a water apple. My favorite was the cas, I really like the sour taste it has. Also, we had crepes and pineapple this morning for breakfast in the homestay. I enjoyed the pineapple a lot more here than the pineapple in the United States; it was sweeter and not too overpowering.

The homestay has been an interesting experience so far. I feel I am starting to settle in more and become more comfortable with my mamatica and papatico. Communicating in Spanish has been a bit of a challenge, even though I have experience speaking Spanish, but more and more of my vocabulary is coming back to me, making the process easier. Today, our papatico pulled out an AI translator stick that he wanted our help setting up. He said we are “young and know technology,” so we must be able to figure it out. With a little bit of time, we were able to set it up and show them how to use it. It connects to an app on your phone, and you talk into this TV remote-sized stick, and it will translate your words and say the translation back to you. The app shows the original words and translations. Although this was a simple task, I feel it was like bonding time with them, making us closer. I cannot wait for more fun times with them!