Könnten sie das bitte wiederholen?

Don't be confused. I AM still in Costa Rica.........still.

But in my heaps and loads of free time during school vacation I have taken to learning German. Mainly because, well, it's the language of the motherland! And also, I will be traveling to various places in Europe this summer where it could come in handy. Especially the phrase above which means, 'could you repeat that, please?"

I have also taken to learning some esoteric vocabulary with intense alacrity that I will most likely use, only to appear affected by my abysmal attempt to use naturally. But all these attempts at increasing my knowledge is allaying the daily juxtaposition between my day to day boredom and my general angst for what to do next (i.e. post Peace Corps). But little by little these attempts will abate my angst and boredom. Until then, I will continue living my abstemious lifestyle, appreciating all things aesthetic, absconding from overly-long Costa Rican meetings, and abdicating my responsibilities as a Peace Corps volunteer here in the upcoming months. It will be good. I feel as though many things in my life are currently in abeyance. (I'm clearly still in the A section of the vocab book).

In other news, I got a dog. Or rather, a dog got me. I'm lucky. I decided to call her Riley and decided that she will learn English. In the past three weeks I have had her, she has basically become fluent in the English [dog] language. In other words, she's well trained for when I take her home and show up unexpectedly with a Costa Rican dog at my parents' house for a few months. She's a great hiking companion every morning and a fabulous evening companion when all I can hear is the loud roar of the river and see nothing but bright, bright stars way up here in my isolated cabin.

Ich freue mich, Sie wiederzusehen, und bis später, readers.