Am I really that weird?

I’m always curious when and if, due to cultural differences, my family thinks I’m weird. For example, I remember when my family had a soccer player from England stay with us and I found it so strange that she used a fork for her chicken fingers and French fries. Now being the foreigner, I’m always interesting what types of things I do that seem strange to the average Tican. Here are some things that make my family raise their eyebrows or just flat out laugh.

1. Water consumption. I drink a lot of water. My family drinks absolutely no water (in Costa Rica natural fruit juices are considered water and therefore people don’t generally drink “plain water”) Anyways, my Mami is always impressed by my water consumption and attempts to have Papi copy me, but he refuses to drink plain water. Unfortunately, my small bladder does not accompany my water intake very well and therefore I go pee a lot throughout the day. Overall, I get the feeling that my family is a little overwhelmed by my water intake and thinks “Geez. Take it easy on the water Tita!”

2. Dancing. Latinos know how to shake it. Multiple times when I dance my sister and cousins just crack up because dancing really “brings out the gringa in me” Face it North Americans, we just don’t know how to shake it (I’m convinced it must be a genetic thing)

3. My tomato paste skin color. My Mami always cracks up when I get home from my runs because I’m as red as a tomato and sweating as if I just ran to Timbuktu and back. Not only am I already considered an odd ball in the family for getting up at the crack of dawn to go running, but I’m always a piece of entertainment due to my tomato red cheeks and massive amounts of sweat thanks to the tropical climate here.

4. Walking. Everywhere I go with my family, I start walking my normal pace and then few minutes into the walk, I realize that in their minds my walk is the equivalent of a sprint. I always have to slow down and walk at their pace, so that I can enjoy conversation and not be the oddball 50 feet in front of everybody else (although sometimes I just can’t walk that slow and have to walk out in front). It is always so strange because places I walk to by myself in 10 t0 15 minutes takes my family 45 minutes to an hour. Ay Ay Ay!

5. My lack of love for mayonnaise and coffee. Many dinners I am offered the mayonnaise to add to whatever dish (usually dishes we would never add mayonnaise to in the States) I kindly pass the mayonnaise to the next person as I would just rather eat my rice and bean mayonnaise free. Also, literally everyone and their mother drinks coffee here. In fact, there are parts of the day dedicated to sitting down and drinking coffee together as a family. Even little toddlers will drink their cup. I tried one sip and that has been my coffee consumption thus far in Costa Rica. I’m pretty sure they must just look at me and think “Who doesn’t love coffee and mayonnaise?”

I’m sure there are plenty of other things I’ve done and said that left my family thinking I was a little strange, but unfortunately this is a very confrontation-free culture so people don’t speak up when they think things are different or wrong. Whatever it is that I do that is “weird” hopefully it provides plenty of laughter after I step out the door to school.