La familia Bermudez Venegas

Meet my familia tica--my Costa Rican family! I have been living with the Bermudez Venegas family since the end of January and have loved and appreciated being welcomed into their home. Homestays, I am coming to personally understand, are one of the most authentic ways to truly learn about a culture. Not only do you reside in a room of a family´s home, but you also partake in so much more: eating meals together, watching television, talking about the day´s news--both local and international, and, perhaps the most valuable component, all are able to share about their respective countries, cultures, family and friends, and laugh a lot together about language bloopers.
Something that makes me laugh each time without fail: a favorite form of flattery I receive from my tica family is when they are trying to explain something to me or are trying to remember what this or that is called and they say to me, ¨Oh, Megan, you would know how to say x; you speak better Spanish than we do!¨ Far from the truth, but kind nonetheless! My papá tico, Roy, is an electrical-mechanical engineer, my mamá tica, Gabriela, is an elementary school teacher in a public school, and my hermanita tica, Ariana, is a sweetheart of a 10 year-old, who spends her days attending a private school and then playing or attending swimming lessons in the afternoons, always eager to accompany me to the nearest internet café in town or play games together.

And the family introductions wouldn´t be complete without also introducing you to the family perro. His name is Ricky Martin. Enough said.
My host family´s home is located in San Pablo de Heredia--one of the many barrios, or neighborhoods, of the city of Heredia. It´s a pretty tranquilo little town, of course equipped with the essentials of a couple Catholic churches, a quaint central parque, a Musmanni panadería (favorite Costa Rican bakery), and the blessed soccer field. From my house, I walk 200 meters (approx. 2 blocks) to hop on a bus for the short 5 minute ride to and from my university each day. And just in case anyone will be looking to show up on my doorstep, the official directions to my homestay, according to the Costa Rican landmark system of directions, are the following: 400 meters south and 100 meters east of the Municipality in San Pablo de Heredia. It´s the house on the left-hand side of the dead-end streetwith the brownish-red gate and the pinos (pine trees). And, it goes without saying, ¡Mi casa es su casa!