Tito´s Life Lessons

My host dad´s name is Tito.
Tito, among other things, is a wise man who knows secrets about the world that many of us could only ever dream to know.
When I first met Tito last week (he was out of the country working until then) I think my first thought was, ¨I dig this guy.¨ He was fun and interesting and always made an effort to talk to me.
This morning he left for work in Guatemala, so my time with Tito is done. (Initially I was sad, until I overheard him talking to my host mom last night while they thought I was asleep. To paraphrase what he said in English, it was something like ¨I don´t like the girl. All she does is eat and sleep and all she says is ´Good Morning,´´Hello,´and ´Goodnight.´ I don´t like the girl.¨ To clarify, they refer to me as ´the girl.´ After hearing this, I was less sad that Tito was leaving, because if Tito doesn´t like me, I don´t like him. I thought we had something good going on, but like many Latin men I have met, he was deceptive. Back to the topic at hand...)
Though my time with him was short, Tito taught me many things about many things, and I would like to share them with you. Below is a list of topics and the lessons he taught me (all of which have been translated to English for your enjoyment):

• America´s Next Top Model: This is a show where girls stop eating and compete to see who can be the prettiest, but they are all actually ugly.
• Penguins: They live in very cold climates. Penguins could not survive in Costa Rica.
• This fruit in my hand: Es una naranja. En inglés, ¨orange.¨
• Rodeos: They have rodeos in Texas. They are only in Texas. We may think we have rodeos in Wyoming, but they only happen in Texas.
• Chinese food:This food is very healthy because they use a lot of vegetables
• Black people and white women:These are the only people in the United States that are obese.
  
• Obese people: They are obese because they eat McDonald´s instead of Chinese food.
• E!: This is the best channel on television.
• Keeping Up With the Kardashians: This is the best show on the best channel on television.
• Kloe Kardashian: This is the girl on the best show on the best channel on television that should eat more Chinese food and less McDonald´s.
• Nicaraguans: All of these people carry guns in the sleeves of their coats.
• Guatemalans: This people will cook your pet dogs if you aren´t careful.
• A shot of Anis: This will cure your cold.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: This show is a competition where you answer questions. If you get the questions right, they give you money. You can win 25,000,000 Colones ($50,000). The host might be a gay.

I hope that Tito has enlightened you as much as he enlightened me. I took a picture of his truck (Confederate flag and all) but not his face. Feel free to picture him as you wish.

On to current events:
As Ben said, we are free from the Institution after Friday, so we will hence to San Jose in the early hours of Saturday morning to attempt to buy tickets to Peñas Blancas, the border crossing into Nicaragua. If we succeed in crossing the border, we will hop a bus to Rivas, Nicaragua, where we will most likely stay the night. The next day, we will travel the beautiful Isla de Ometepe, an island formed of two volcanoes in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua.

I have started collecting post cards, so those of you who have given me your addresses will be receiving something eventually, depending from which country I decide to send you a post card. If you still want one, email me your address at ChanPott@gmail.com, and I will add it to my list.

I miss each and every one of you in very quantifiable and (in some cases) tangible ways. I hope you are all well and that you are now living your lives while keeping in mind the lessons my Costa Rican family has provided.

Hasta Luego!