The host family

The family I live with in Chimurria is way different than the family that I lived with in el Rosario. The switch was really shocking, and I had to readjust to a different family dynamic, and find a place where I fit in...again.
My new family consists of a dad, Rigo; mom, Yanira; 7-year-old son, Jarrick; and a grandpa, Nasario. The house is connected to a little country store, which the family owns. The store is pretty small, but they provide most of the food for Chimurria. They have a lot of rice, beans, coffee, sugar, but they also have a little fruit and vegetable section, some cheese, cookies, chips, etc. It about a quarter the size of a typical US gas station store. My host parents are really hard working. They get up to open the store by 6:30, and then they close around 8 or 9, depending on the day. They are open every day of the week, and only take vacation once a year. There are a few people who come in to help my host parents with the store, but Rigo and Yanira are always there, either attending to customers or organizing new deliveries.
They actually used to live in New Jersey for four years, and their son was born there. But they came back to Costa Rica when Rigo's mom got sick, and they were never able to get their visa renewed. Because of their experience in the sates, my foreignness is less weird to them. They know a lot about US culture, and I'm not an exciting novelty like I was in el Rosario. The change is welcome, and I'm glad not to be a walking curiosity in my own home anymore.
Their little boy is adorable. He is an only child, and the mom definitely babies him. But he is really well behaved and is always ready to play. He likes to play games revolved around hiding objects and then finding them. We made paper snowflakes one day, and he's been getting a kick out of hiding the snowflakes and asking me to find them. We also play a lot of dominoes. And he's beaten me in checkers a few times.
The grandpa mostly sits on his rocker on the front porch and watches the people walk by. In my free time I like to sit on the porch with him and read. This mutual porch spending time is our main source of bonding. He is missing a few teeth, and he mumbles, and is generally really hard for me to understand. So, our communications are pretty limited, but we get along well.

My best friends in the community are my neighbors. There is one family who lives across the street from me, that I spend most of my time with. There is a mom, dad, and 3 kids. Two girls and boy. The mom, Alicia, is the one I went running with that I wrote about. Alicia is always inviting me over to bake or do something with them, and they are always looking out for me.