Atenas, Dias 1 y 2

I arrived in Atenas yesterday. This is where I am going to be living for the next 3 months, volunteering. It is a great little town in the central valley of Costa Rica, about 45 minutes from San José. National Geographic published a few years ago that Atenas has the best climate in the world, so everywhere around town, on the buses, etc, it is written ´!el mejor clima del mundo!´ I would be very proud as well!
Melissa picked me up from the bus stop. She is the daughter of the director of my program, and she works for it as well. I am living with the director´s sister´s family, who lives next door to the director (Mercedes), and they share the same farm (papayas, mangoes and oranges!! I´m never leaving). My family is really nice as well, one of the daughters is 19 and took her first flight test today--she is in pilot school. There is a son who is 17 and a little girl who is 11 and is so sweet. Everyone speaks to me only in Spanish, and I am able to understand almost everything. Speaking is coming along as well, and everyone is really patient and helpful. Once I get a handle on the past tense and everything can stop being in the now, things will be better, I think! I had my first Spanish class today and it went really well. I also went to the place where I will be volunteering--the School of Cattle. What have I gotten myself into? There are cows everywhere, also horses, goats, iguanas, and crocodiles. It will be very muddy, since it has poured all afternoon! I will have to leave my house before 430 in the morning in order to get to the bus before 5, and then I will work from 530 until noon. Then I will have the afternoon free to sleep! Whenever I tell locals where I will be working they first tell me about the crocodiles, and then they tell me about all the guapos that work there--all of the hot guys. So maybe waking up at 4 won´t be so bad!!
I will write more when I get more and more settled--already I feel so comfortable here and I am able to communicate with people in town and then relax in the hammock at my house and study grammar. This is the life!!