Buenas Noticias!!!

My papa tico is finally home!!!

I finished my dance class tonight and walked in the door around 6:15pm, and the door was locked. I could hear someone coming so I didn't bother getting my key out. My mama tica opened the door, which I thought was weird because she usually gets home everyday from the hospital at around 7:00pm (I know this because when it comes to my feeding times I pay attention a lot more). So she opens the door and says something about my papa tico being at our house. I didn't think I heard her right so I said,  "Papa esta aqui?? en la casa?" she said yes, but I still didn't quite believe her so I said, "en serio??". AND THEN my papa tico came around the corner to meet me!! I was so shocked and happy at the same time!! However the first thing that spilled out of my mouth was, "Donde esta su barba??" (where is your beard). Haha of all the things to say... He told me they had to shave off his beard in order to put the oxygen tubes through his nose for his operation. Speaking of the operation:

He has a really long scar on his chest. It's pretty scary looking. It cuts from the bottom of his neck all the way to his belly button. I saw it, it's true. He said they had to break his ribs open, separate them, and then operate on his heart. Incredible. I can't even believe something like that is possible. But there is living proof in my house right now. Incredible. He said he is supposed to walk short distances everyday  in order to keep building strength. He told me he hardly slept in the hospital, sleeping maybe three hours a night. He was there for 28 days. That's basically a month. Poor guy.

I was pleased, he told me my Spanish has improved a lot! I was like no...maybe a little. He was like well I've been gone for a month...so I can tell that it has. Haha. Cool! I forgot how much I used to talk to him when he was here. We have a lot more to talk about, and him being gone made my mama tica pretty quiet. You can see her happiness right now, it's beautiful.

I also just realized that I forgot to tell everyone about my first race that I had on Sunday! It wasn't quite what I expect, to say the least. Here's what happened:

The morning began with the best breakfast ever. It put Wheaties to shame. I had pinto gallo, plantains, eggs, a huge fruit plate, and coffee. Delicious. However then I had to actually go to the race...

I didn't realize that the race was so far away. I had to take a bus from my bus stop, to another bus stop, and then to San Jose, and then I had to take another bus from San Jose to Escazu (where the race was). I did this all on my own. Most people wouldn't think twice about something like that, but this is a big deal for me. I get lost so easily. This was my first time going to San Jose alone, and then going all the way to Escazu makes it even more impressive for me! I really relied on the people walking in the streets to figure out where I was going. That's actually what my mama tica told me to do. They kind of know that I'm a little dyslexic with directions so she didn't even bother writing me any and told me to just ask the people haha. It worked out perfectly.

Once I made it to Escazu and to the starting area of the race, I realized I really needed to find a bathroom. My morning coffee was coming on strong. So I'm walking around in this mall looking for a bathroom and I see another runner doing the same. This is how I met Greten. She helped me find the bathrooms and then we headed outside. Greten is a 55 year old woman who was kind enough to take me under her wing. I was literally the only American/Native English speaker in the race, so I was pretty thankful. She invited me to warm up with her and her other two friends who were in their 60s. My first thought was, "Warm up?" Then I realized how serious this race was going to be. Ticos take their races pretty seriously I found out. I personally run for some nice scenery, or exploring a new part of a city...basically a more leisurely outlook. One of the first things Greten says to me is, "I'm here to win." Yikes. So Greten's here to win, and so are the rest of the people there, and I'm....well at this point I'm just hoping I don't get whooped by a bunch of ticos and finish ten minutes later.

So I've realized the seriousness of this race for these people. Greten and her friends have me running sprints with them, jogging, and stretching. But that's not all. Greten keeps telling me that she's so, so nervous, because she wants to win. So were jogging down this street and all of a sudden we stop. These three 50-mid 60 aged women crouch down, grab the cuff of one short leg, wiggle a bit, and begin to pee in the street. WHOA. That doesn't happen every day. Not only did this happen once, but two more times as well! Every time they go down to release some more liquid nerves, they tell me it's so much easier and I should do it too. Thank God I wasn't nervous.

After the warm up it's time for the race to start and the three women that have befriended me, and myself, head to the starting line. Naturally the women fight there way to the front. Yet again, right before the gun is fired, Greten hops to the side of the street and pees by a sign. People are taking photos at this point of all of the runners, and not to mention all of the runners are watching her pee in plain view...But, Greten did win in her age category. She ran a 42min 10K (6.2miles). I don't even know my time but I can tell you it was nowhere near her.

Here's a quick description of the race itself:

The race was all in the mountains. It was really pretty, but of course hilly. However, the end of the race was all down hill and felt great! The reason I brought up the hills is because of why the race was even formed to begin with. The race benefitted physically handicapped people, and a lot of the people in the race were handicapped. All of the people that were handicapped were missing legs, so they were using those bike things that you sit on and power with your arms. So these people were powering themselves up pretty steep hills with only their arms.

It was incredible, and humbling, to see these people straining to get themselves over hills. They fought with every muscle they could, and never gave up. The runners running by would all cheer them on and give words of encouragement. It was really something.  

That's all!
Thank you to everyone who kept my papa tico in their thoughts and prayers. I'm so glad that he is back home and doing so much better, and I'm so glad that he had people caring about him all the way in the US as well. Thank you so much!