Yeah, I heard that

For the first time since I landed in this hot little valley, I heard (and understood) my host family talking about me last weekend. My host mom, host sister and I were leaning on the window ledge of the pulperia, elbow to elbow, looking out at the people coming and going during one of my town's famous dances.

The salon comunal is right next door to the pulpuria-house, so a steady stream of action is viewable from the pulperia window. If you're into people-watching, it's the place to be.

"I think maybe she wants to go to the dance," my host mom said to my host sister, in not so much as a whisper.

"Why do you think that? my host sister replied.

"Because she put on jeans," my host mom said.

I figured they talked about me a lot, knowing I wouldn't understand, but it still took me by surprise when I overheard them talking. I wasn't sure if I really understood correctly, so I just kept gazing into the darkness of the town as if I were oblivious to the whole conversation. Looking back, maybe I should have explained myself and my choice of clothing. And I should probably let them know I can understand things now so they should cease the open-air chats.

I didn't confirm that what I thought I had heard was what I had actually heard until a bit later when my youngest host sister, clearly having had a similar chat from her mom, came to me and said, "Jennifer, do you want to go to the dance?"

"No," I replied. "Why?"

"Because you put on jeans," she said.

It's true, I had put on jeans, a rare occurrence in this oven of a town. It's even true that I was dolling up a bit, but it's not true that I wanted to go to the party. Far from it. It's just that there were a lot of people around, and instead of wearing my usual outfit of boxer shorts and a tank top, I thought I should represent my country in something a little more appropriate for the occasion -- jeans and a tank top.

Also, I have found that when one goes around in sundresses and running shorts all the time, one ceases to notice when one is gaining weight. So, it's important, despite the heat, to every now and again tug on the jeans as a measure of the waistline. And because I know you are curious, the pants were indeed a bit tight.

It's an unfortunate thing to be hungry and gaining weight, but that's what plateful after plateful of carbs will do to a person. I find myself daydreaming about Smuckers All-Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter, as well as tuna sandwiches and the Bentonville Butcher and Deli. Sometimes I also think about cereal with soy milk and blueberries. Also glasses of red wine and hunks of cheese. Oh, I could go on and on, but why torture myself.

Lest you fear I am hating myself for living here, let me end this post on a lighter note. I think the kids are getting better at school. Woo-hoo! This week was my most successful week with discipline, likely because I just started handing out boletas (letters to the parents) to anyone who made so much as a peep. Of course, there was one kid who burned his boleta after class, but that's a whole nother blog.

For now I am counting the days until next weekend when I head to Turrialba for two days of camping, hiking and white-water rafting. Yeah, it's alright here.