Good-bye Language School, Hello She-Bear Peninsula

We are concluding our time in San Jose, which is sad and happy. We have decided that we have just about reached our saturation point for Spanish in one month. Both of our teachers have told us that we stayed for a full year we would be bilingual and that we have learned remarkably quickly. This month definately gives us a frame work to continue to learn, because we have covered an entire book of Spanish in four weeks. Now it is up to us to practice and keep trying. Last night I managed to get something put on hold at another location of the same store we were at. This felt like quite a feat, but as I walked away, I realized that I had no idea how I had done that.
Our Tico family is quite distraught to see us go. I say distraught, because tonight we found out they thought we were going to be here another week (we think a mix-up at the school), but in fact, we are leaving here tomorrow. Ana was especially upset by this news and told us over and over that she had so many delicious meals that she still wanted to make for us and that she had not had nearly enough time with her angels/children. (She has continued to be an absolute joy to listen to. Though we can understand only about 50% of what she says- about 75% when you include hand gestures and facial expressions, we have covered all topics from terrorism, her own premature birth, Momanism, Costa Rican political history, all of her family in the States, marriage counseling, what our children should look like -she wants them to have Carol's eyes and be as tall as John-and how smart we are. . John and I don't actually have to say anything, because I think she realizes we can't say much and is content to carry the conversation. We smile and nod a great deal and say "Si" and give her lots of hugs and air kisses, because she really is wonderful.) When we gave Ana and Paola a gift for their kind hospitality, Ana teared up, and we promised to come back and have dinner with them before we leave the country.
We are going on a trip with Brian and Steph to the Osa Peninsula (which means "she-bear" in Spanish, though we were disappointed to find out there are not actually bears there, something about bears not living in tropical climates. .) , which is in the very southern part of Costa Rica. It is pretty remote, so our drive down is looking to be a promising adventure that we are very excited about. We look forward to having some fabulous views and exciting stories. Tune in after next week for the update.