A little trivia...

Interesting Costa Rica facts that are not in any of the travel guides: 1) Paternity tests are not mandatory under any circumstances. 2) The penalty/fine for drunk driving is $40. Yup. $40 dollars. They just passed some legislation that will double the fine, but still, I think I have had library fines for that amount for a few overdue videos. Keep in mind, this applies whether you hit someone or not. 3) There is an island off the Pacific coast, San Lucas Island, that is now a protected wildlife area. From 1873-1980! it was a prison, and an incredibly violent one that that. Twenty percent of the people who went there didn't make it out alive. A prisoner, José León Sánchez (falsely accused who spent 30 years there until he was pardoned and released) wrote a book called San Lucas: La Isla de Los Hombres Solos while in prison, for which he won several awards and drew quite a bit of international attention. I read in the paper the other day that the island will now be open to the public as a tourist attraction.

Interesting Taiwan facts: 1) If you have no trouble having kids, but your sister can't get pregnant, you can gift her a child quite easily. It is a common family tradition, and the child grows up knowing that he/she was given from one family to the other, but it carries no social stigma. 2) If you buy eggs or mini-fish, you have to be really careful, because there are companies in China that manufacture artificial eggs and mini-fish that are made of plastic. They look exactly like the real thing, and can even have the same texture, but Veronica says the flavor is pretty horrible.

I am finishing up my last week of Spanish classes at Conversa. All of my professors have been amazing, and the classes are interesting. My Spanish is definitely coming along. For any of you that have been wanting to learn Spanish but perhaps don't have enough vacation time to move abroad for a month, the school offers individual classes online, which is pretty sweet. You can actually see the professor, talk to them, and write comments on the "chalkboard". It is a great way to prepare for a trip, like if you were planning on visiting me here in Costa Rica and wanted to brush up on your Spanish before you came....just a thought.

Advice: Yes, cosmetic services are cheaper down here. I opted to try out some of the dental services - getting my teeth whitened with a laser. Let's just say that my gums are swollen and my teeth are not that much whiter. I was assured by the doctor that my teeth would continue to whiten over the weekend. Maybe she told me this because after I looked at my teeth, I looked at her and said, "But they aren't white". I have a follow-up appointment on Tuesday. I am going to ask my teacher if we can practice a nice Spanish version of "Can I please have my money back?".