Jorge
Our Mama Tica is wonderful. She's welcoming, funny, and open to talking about almost anything. The first morning that we ate breakfast together, she mentioned that we would be visited by Jorge, her best friend. He is part of the family that owns the street that Mama Tica lives on, and his granddaughter, Ani, visits quite frequently as well. The more we saw Jorge (which was almost every day, either at breakfast or after dinner), the more curious we became about him.
While chatting with the Heredia site director, somehow Jorge came up, and we asked about the father of our Brother Tico, Andrés. To put things simply, she said, our Mama Tica is divorced from Andrés father, and after remarrying, her husband passed away. She claims that she's too old to have a boyfriend, so she calls Jorge her best friend.
After spending more time with Jorge and Mama Tica, it is clear to me that they care for each other. The more that I think about it, the more I love that Mama Tica has someone to have cafecito with in the morning when there aren't students here. Someone to take the machete to chop down fresh bananas from the tree when they're ripe. Someone to notice her new haircut. It might be a little of a stretch, but Jorge is the Papa Tico figure in our lives, and I really like having him here with us.