mastatal

i have come to report i found out what people here do when they have to be inside. well, at least what my family does. they watch tv. for hours. its mostly really bad soap operas that they inexplicably love, but last night there was a dancing show, kind of like dancing with the stars. except on this one neither person is a professional dancer so they´re both very unskilled. as if things couldn´t get worse there is also very poor reception. the end result is that i have now, in 5 days, finished to 400 page books. livin the costa rican life woohoooo. No, i dunno, i´m working on finding some way to spend my time that wouldn´t be readily available to me in the u.s. Ive taken a couple hikes, both in an attempt to find a waterfall i remembered going to. i was successful the second time. but on both i was kinda scared that something large and/or poisonous was going to get me. the second time i was blessed to have a dirty stray dog follow me the entire time for protection. the showers continue to be too cold to stand under, and aside from rice and beans we haven´t had the same main course again yet which is wonderful. i just realized that unless you have been here or somehow found pictures online, you probably don´t know what Mastatal is like at all, so: There is a bar, called the cantina, and a very small restaurantish thing called a soda where you can get hot meals. there is a craftsman. there is a communtiy center, which is just a large building with one open room. it has two basketball hoops in it but from one to the other is probably about half a normal court. there is a soccer field thats really muddy, an elementary school, and a one room building called the high school. most kids go to the regional high school in la gloria which is much bigger. there is a small police station, and the internet place, which is a room with 4 computers in it or which only 3 seem to work. and then there is the Ranch, which is a sustainable living establishment for volunteers. the population here is a whopping 150, and the houses are very spread out along a dirt road. the scenery is unbelievable, its in the middle of the mountain rainforest, and if you walk 30 seconds off of the road you´d have no idea that there was civilization nearby. its humid and around 80 during the day, but more comfortable at night. last night was by far the hardest rain ive ever experienced, and the lightning lit everyting up. one thunder was so loud it actually made me jump, which arabella and carol (the mom and sister im with) just thought was hilarious. ive seen an armadillo, tarantula, one definitely non-poisonous baby snake (marcos told me), and one maby poisonous baby one i saw when i was alone but either way did not bite me. i also think i saw monkeys but they were really high up in the trees and dropping things onto the ground/me. i ate picarillo i think its called yesterday and it was delicious. its potato-like in taste and i think comes from the palm trees. well thats all i can think of for now, hasta luego!
gus