let the rain fall down

hola! Contrary to popular belief, I have not been kidnapped here- I indeed am still alive and a free man.

Sunday afternoon and the clouds are makin it rain out here! I have never seen it rain this hard before, I can barely hear myself think over the pitter-patter of the gigantic raindrops assailing the metal rooftop. The sky is dark and cloudy, giving no hint that it will subside any time soon. Good thing I got a run in this morning while it was still sunny and warm! For those of you who don't know, Costa Rica basically has two seasons: the rainy season (May-November), which is like winter; and the dry season (December-April), which is summer and temperatures tend to climb. In the current rainy season, or "winter", it is usually warm and sunny in the morning (often 80 already by the time I walk to school at 7:30 a.m.), and then the thunder clouds roll in around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. This is quite the opposite of what I'm used to in California, where many days consist of cloudy/foggy mornings of which the sun burns through by the afternoon. Because of this concept of weather patterns, I have been duped by the weather here many times, waking up to clear, sunny skies. I throw on some shorts, tank top and begin my sultry (the non-sexual meaning of the word, of course!) walk to school. Then, the weather decides to throw me a curveball and sends in swaths of clouds over the mountains to surround me on all sides, leaving me without proper rainwear and sans umbrella. Fool me once, shame on you weather. Fool me 12 times, shame on...me? Maybe one of these days I'll get it right.

Lets see, what have I been doing the last 5 days.
Wednesday: -learned how to make empanadas from a local Tica woman
-finished reading "Every Young Man, God's Man" (highly recommend it to all
dudes out there!)
Thursday: -studied por/para for about 3 hours, after which I wanted to break/destroy
something. If you weren't aware, "por" and "para" are both Spanish
equivalents of the English "for", but are used in different situations.
There may or may not be claw marks on my desk.
-Went for a lengthy run through the UCR biological preserve, joined in on
a yoga session that was goin on; not sure if that was kosher =]
Friday: -Went to downtown San Jose to walk around for a while
-experienced a 6.2 earthquake that hit in the afternoon while I was taking
a nap; shook my entire bed for a good 20 seconds! made all the
earthquakes I've felt at home seem like child's play
-finally figured out a way to watch Glee here (woop)

Saturday: -woke up early and got picked up to go to Cafe Britt, a famous Costa Rican
coffee plantation nestled in the hills surrounding San Jose. The place is
owned by a quirky, older American who has started the business 25 years
ago as a way to keep decadent Costa Rican coffee in the country, not
exported like most of it is. Tour was awesome- I learned a lot about the
coffee-making process and the sustainability practices being used.
Also, I got to taste some outstanding coffee-definitely the best I have
ever had before. I'm afraid
I will become a coffee snob now, refusing to drink potty water coffee
because I've been tasted the sensational nectar they serve here. Its ok,
I cleaned out the gift shop before I left and intend to bring home 8 bags
of fresh coffee =D Got back from the tour around 4 in the afternoon, and
walked around downtown for a while, buying a fresh fruit smoothie from
Fruitilandia to rehydrate myself after drinking the equivalent of about 7
cups of coffee. Came back and watched 2012, an entertaining movie at
best. Went out with host brother Leo and his friends for his birthday,
then came back for pizza and Spanish karaoke afterwards. bomb!

Well that was an exhausting list of my activities of late-time for some homework! Rain is still pounding away, and an occasional thunder boom rattles the house. I would dare say it has rained 2-3 inches in the last hour and a half. Hopefully I can upload some pictures from Cafe Britt sometime soon.
gonna make a cup of organic, shade-grown coffee in my new french press :D

doie doie~!