Isn't it odd... (miscellaneous)

In the U.S., when I see a penny on the ground, I generally ignore it. Why bother taking all that effort to pick up a mere penny? It's worth less than the space it takes up. I usually don't bother picking up nickels either, but that's more of an internal debate. However, in Costa Rica, if I see a 5 colon coin on the ground, I'm all over that. Do you know how much 5 colones is in USD? $.009. Less than a penny. Yet I'm still all over that. If I get 10, 25, 0r 50 colones (2, 5, and 9 cents respectively), that's like hitting the jackpot. I am obviously not yet properly conditioned to the exchange rate.

Pets and foreign languages ... this is strange to me. My host family keeps talking to their dog in Spanish, and it messes with me. Like, DUH, the dog isn't going to understand you; you're talking to it in Spanish. Maybe if you tried "Sit!" instead of "¡Sientase! (that probably has an accent, but I have no idea where) the dog would do what you're asking. Sheesh.

Yesterday, I ate like a pig. For first breakfast, I had pineapple, a banana, and orange juice. For second breakfast, I had an apple costilla (tasty pastry). For first lunch, I had nachos at Taco Bell. For second lunch, I had a slice of pizza from Pizza Hut. For first dessert, I had an ice cream cone from McDonald's. For first dinner, I had ... it was like a piece of beef and rice. For a post-dinner snack, I had french fries. For second dessert, me and two friends shared a piece of chocolate cake and a chocolate/strawberry cake between the three of us. It was a bad day ... but a very good day too.

Today, we went to the market at the end of the street, and we loaded up on fruit. Two of my friends got pineapples, and we split momotes chinos (probably not spelling that right) which, to the best of my knowledge, are some sort of lychee. They're really good, although some are better than others. You get bag of them, peel each one, and then eat the white part around the seed. Some are really sweet, some are sour, some come off the seed easily, some do not, and so on. They're all different. We also tried an annona, which to the best of my knowledge, is called a sugar-apple in English. It looks really gross -- the outside is brown, and the inside is white and kind of squishy and brainy-looking. I'm not a huge fan of the texture because it's kind of grainy, but it has a really great flavor. It tastes familiar, kind of like fruit punch or candy, but I can't describe it any more than that. I also got a couple mandarins. We went and sat on a bench at my friend's house and pigged out on fruit. It was good fun.

Lastly,
A note to all current and future parental units:
It is not a good plan to name your child something that means something in another language. Well, if you want to name your child something that means something in like, ancient Greek, or Latin or some other language that nobody speaks, that's fine. However, try to stay away from words with meaning in a language that is still spoken. In the states, my name is fine. It actually works out well, because not too many people my age have my name, and that's less confusing for me. Unfortunately, EVERYONE SOUTH OF THE TEXAS/MEXICO BORDER (excluding Brazil) KNOWS MY NAME. Not only do they know it, they say it several times a day. Do you have any idea how annoying this is?! I hear people saying my name all the time, and they're rarely talking to me. Even worse, people use "linda" in piropos (catcalls) fairly regularly. It's like, how do all these dirty men on the street know my name!!? GAHHH!! Mom and Dad, if when I get back I have successfully conditioned myself to not pay attention when people say my name, 1) I apologize for ignoring you, and 2) it's all your fault that I'm ignoring you.