Dear Ellie,

You will need to buy a bigger suitcase because you're bringing me home that beautiful husky in the picture. He looks so fluffy and happy!

Costa Rica sounds great. I can completely relate to your salad craving. Fresh fruit and vegetables in Okinawa were so expensive that I never got the chance to buy any ― one avocado was $5 at the commissary on base. The first thing I ate when I got back to L.A. was a big salad and it was quite delicious.

I hate to ask about the weather, of all things, but is it humid or hot there? It's been hitting the hundreds in the San Fernando Valley, where I'm currently at.

I took a trip to San Diego this past weekend. It was my mistake deciding to depart in my tiny, hot convertible at 2:30 in the afternoon ― I spent five hours in bumper to bumper traffic. But the trip was so worth it! I've never really explored S.D., so this was a new experience for me.

The beaches were gorgeous, not in the same way as Okinawa, but in a familiar, California kind of way. It was great seeing three of my friends from Japan who live there as well, especially my roommate. We watched the sunset off of Sunset Cliffs and ate some of the best Mexican food I've had in a long time. (Note to Ellie: if you ever visit S.D. go to Lolita's and order carne asada fries.)

I'm now biding my time until the trip up Cali to Chico on Thursday. I can't wait to see my sister (she started classes at CSUC last Monday) and Paco, of course. Not to mention my return to The Orion! I won't be working there, but I'm sure I'll find some way to help out.

Meanwhile, I've been spending a lot of time online ogling pictures of my hall (a.k.a. dorm)

at the University of Reading and joining Facebook groups for the place. I have a room with a wash basin, which basically means there's a sink and mirror in the middle of my room and that I'm stuck with godforsaken communal bathrooms for another year. I loath communal bathrooms. On the bright side, I'm living in a gorgeous 100-year-old building with an in-house bar ― YAY! ― and a dining hall that very closely resembles the Great Hall at Hogwarts ― DOUBLE YAY!

Love,

Lauren

Dear Lauren,

YOU GOT A TATOO?! Hahaha, I'm somehow not surprised. Your summer sounds amazing, mine was great as well. Summer O definitely formed a similar family and had lots of fun.

Well I arrived in Costa Rica last Friday night and have been here almost a week. I am staying with a mother (I call her Nena) and her older daughter Karen, who lives here but is gone a lot at work etc. There is another daughter who is 30 who comes home on

the weekends, but mainly lives in San José. I have been eating Costa Rican food prepared by Nena and so far I've liked just about everything. Rice with black beans (called Gallo Pinto) is the staple. Also they make delicious drinks of blended fruit juice called Frescas, which are super yummy and I have one almost twice a day with meals. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the amount of fried food. I am craving a fresh salad!

There are 14 students in the program here, one from Australia and the rest from the US. Three

of us are from Chico! And there are a few others from CA as well. The group has been going out almost every night and enjoying the cheap Costa Rican beer, neither of which I'm particularly fond of. But I still hang out with them all most nights and have fun.

My classes are really cool, and definitely not as tough as some of the classes I've had at Chico. Most of them only meet once a week. I wasn't planning to take Spanish (and I had 15 units

without it) but when I got here, my host mom speaks no english so I decided I needed to audit Spanish as well. The spanish class is 8 units, so hopefully I won't get overwhelmed. I'm also just showing up to the latin american dance class which is super fun! (And I think I'm the best US dancer in there, not to toot my own horn [actually, being the leader is much more difficult, so I don't envy the guys]).

I have my bird book and binoculars and have been notating when and where I see each species. I talked to the professor who is really into birds and she said campus is an excellent place to birdwatch (there is supposedly over 100 species on campus). This is a blue-crowned motmot I saw.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I live ACROSS THE STREET from campus? Its pretty cool. The USAC staff is super nice and helpful and we always stop by the office to chat or have coffee, tea or water. I tried the coffee here and I actually like it! It doesn't need any milk and tastes much different from the coffee in the states. The one I've tried is made in San Ramón, but I'm going to a coffee factory tomorrow, so I'll probably try some more. Thats one of the field trips that is included in my program.

On a personal level, I've managed to keep up with my journal here, and I noticed yesterday that I stopped bitting my nails, and have no desire to do so. Also, I realized that this experience is absolutely perfect for me and I love it.

With much love always,

Pura Vida

Ellie

PS: I have two huge dogs outside my window. Here, dogs are more like animals and less like members of the family, so I think the attention I give them each morning is much appreciated. I snuck them a tortilla that I couldn't finish the other day. :)

Dear Ellie,

My summer was literally indescribable. That having been said, let me describe it.

I spent two and a half months on a tropical island in Asia working with the most insufferable, amazing American children (ages 5-10) on a marine base. I drank plenty of Orion beer ― which is brewed ONLY in Okinawa ― ate as much sushi as I could, swam in crystal clear turquoise waters and watched by far the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life from my bedroom window in the barracks.

I am now practically best friends with my roommate who tolerated me this entire summer ― you know how that is ― and I think the people I worked with are more family now than anything.

I watched one day as Japanese drummers of all ages lined a busy, blocked-off street for a festival. You could feel the vibrations through the air and the ground as hundreds of them hit the drums in unison during the finale. I zip-lined through the tropical forest, flipping upside-down mid-flight and admiring the coastline from hundreds of feet in the air. I took a ferry to another small island and went camping with 10 or so other Camp Adventure counselors on our last weekend there and I climbed the rocks in my bathing suit to sit by myself and watch the small waves roll onto the untouched white sand flaked with bits of coral below me.

I've laughed more and cried more this summer than I think I have in my entire life. Oh, and I got a tattoo.

Don't worry it's a small one. My right foot is now decorated with the words “Live with all your might” in Kanji (Japanese). I lived by that phrase this summer and I plan to do the same for the rest of my life.

For the past six days I've been living out of unpacked suitcases. Putting all those clothes away is honestly difficult business when there are so many other important things to attend to, such as catching up on episodes of the Colbert Report and taking naps with O'Malley, who, by the way, is as needy and adorable as ever.

Can't wait to hear how Costa Rica is!

Love,
Lauren