Tuesday 9/30/08

Today I felt like a first grader…it was field trip day! I remember loving field trip days and I apparently still love them, just as excited as I did 15 years ago. I arrived at LASP at 7:30 to meet the rest of my classmates. I found a wonderful snail mail letter from my roommate Jessica and it made my day (cough cough, you’re more than welcome to send mail….my address at school is c/o Latin American Studies Program, Apdo 54-2070, Sabanilla, Montes de Oca, San Jose, Costa Rica) After reading my wonderful letter we headed out for our field trip. We were going to an organic farm to learn about sustainable development in Costa Rica as well as other environmental issues present in Costa Rica. I found it somewhat ironic that I received my letter from Jess today since she has been living and working on organic farms in Europe these last 6 months (Jess, if you’re reading this, please know that I found just the place for you if you’re ever interested in working in Costa Rica). We walked throughout the entire farm and listened to the amazing stories and insights of Roderick, the man who runs and cultivates the land all by himself. His wife, his kids and he live in this amazing house that looks over all of San José and I’m incredibly admired by their commitment to their passion for sustainable living. After we spent hours adventuring the land we were served an amazing variety of fruit as well as the best banana bread I’ve ever had. We eventually made our way back to LASP and ate a late lunch before parting ways for the rest of the late afternoon. I managed to crank out a rough draft for my 10 page paper and so I felt extremely accomplished and spent some time before dinner taking my eyes off of homework and anything school related and invested my time in the important things in life (playing Solitaire on my computer, updating these daily updates and listening to the wonderful Aretha Franklin) We had the most amazing rice and bean dish for dinner, talked about our first impressions of each other and then I talked on Skype with a special someone, and headed to bed.

I know I’ve been in Costa Rica for quite awhile because…

1. I throw my toilet paper in the trash can without even thinking twice about putting it down the toilet

2. I never ever ever walk anywhere barefoot, not even to the bathroom. This one took me awhile since the hippie in me loves being barefoot as much as possible

3. I have mastered the bus system 100% and can even help Ticos find their way to their bus stop. I also am able to identify bus drivers based on their musical preferences, their tendency to talk to themselves, and how frequently they use their horns

4. I am weirded out by English. For example when I hear tourists on the streets or when I have a dream in English instead of Spanish.

5. I can predict when the downpours will occur based on the morning’s sun and humidity.

6. I find silence strange. The other day while we went swimming I went underwater completely and remember feeling so strange by the lack of noise. It was first time I have felt absolute silence in a long time since there is always some kind of noise going on 24 hours a day (car alarms, horns, people talking, music playing, birds chirping, dogs barking, soccer fans screaming, rain pouring, thunder, lightning, etc.)

7. I’m used to kissing anyone and everyone…on the cheek as a greeting of course

8. I always say “ciao” instead of “adios” or “bye”

9. I think that paying more than 5 cents for a banana is expensive. If someone asks you to pay more than 30 colones (approx 5 cents) you know you are being ripped off. Bananas are everywhere here.

10. Everyone is comfortable with my presence. For example, Papi now comes to the dinner table shirtless and often fails to pull up his pants in the morning exposing his plumber’s crack to the world. Mami sings her heart out even when she knows I can hear her. David (my brother) who used to not even look me in the eye now asks me for help on his English homework and tells me all about his day. And precious Pamela, well, she’s always been comfortable with me since day 1.

Monday 9/29/08

Today I didn’t go running because my lower back is still recovering from my banana slip fall at soccer on Saturday (don’t worry Mom. I’m fine, just very sore. It just kind of feels like I fell on hard ice, but it’s no serious injury, I promise!) Today I went to the first 45 minutes of class, but had to skip out on part of class (pre-approved by my prof) so that I could go to an interview with the director of the only university level film school in Latin America. It was an amazing interview. The director was a Cuban man who had lots of information about the Latin American film industry (making connections here is so much easier than it would be trying to get a hold of people like this man in the U.S.). He also gave me a few DVDs of some independent projects. Who knows, maybe I have the next award winning film in my hands. I headed back to class after an interesting conversation with my taxi driver and only missed about 1.5 hours of class. After class I headed home. I did the unthinkable a second time. I walked from San Jose to Tibas. Luckily I beat the daily downpour just by a matter or minutes. I spent the afternoon doing homework. I took a quick break for a bowl of Corn Flakes with Mami and my siblings and continued on with homework. For dinner Papi made a delicious dish of gallo pinto (the most traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans) and we enjoyed a family dinner discussing some of the grossest foods we’ve eaten. Pamela and I watched TV (I hope you understand that when I write almost daily it almost always means that I fall asleep while letting Pamela watch TV in my room. She always sweetly watches until she’s tired and then turns out the light and wishes mi “Buenas Noches” evening though I’ve probably been snoring and drooling for the last hour of the latest Hannah Montana episodes…attractive, I know!)

Sunday 9/28/08

Today I learned patience. Patience is an extremely valuable thing to learn while in Latin America, but also can be very hard for the “satisfy me now American mindset”. Originally my family told me we were going to go to Orosi, a supposedly beautiful town away from the city. Therefore, I didn’t make any going away weekend plans (trips to the beach, volcanoes, ziplining, etc) because I wanted to join my family. Then, like typical Latin American plans, our plans fell apart and at the last minute I was advised we weren’t going to Orosi. I was a little bummed that I missed out on weekend trips, but I had plenty of fun Saturday here in San José so I simply accepted the shattered Sunday plans. Then I was told that we were going swimming in Heredia (another suburb) so I put on my suit and was ready to go. Fortunately we did go swimming, but I had to practice patience before going. It is extremely hard for me to get used the sitting around that goes on before things get going. I’m such a “go-go-go!” person that it is always hard for me to accept that fact of how long it takes for things here to get initiated (I have this same problem every time I go to Mexico). So, after a morning full of “learning patience” we finally headed out to the pool, where patience only came into play all the more. Before we got in the pool, I had to patiently wait for two extremely self-conscious pre-pubescent 10 year olds (I remember those days!) to come out of the changing room. Luckily I was the queen of 4th grade bathing suit self-consciousness so I think I handled the situation with love and understanding. I eventually had them laughing and making their way to the pool (again, this took plenty of patience. Once we jumped in the pool, it was freezing! We were the only ones in the pool (geez, I wonder why). Again, patience came into play. I was freezing (we’re talking hypothermia) the entire time so it was a bit difficult to patiently wait to get out of the pool until my sister and cousin were ready to stop swimming (as this is something they’ve been wanting to do with me since I got here). On the way home we got to see the Costa Rican contestant that is still currently in the running at becoming the first Latin American Idol (yes, the equivalent of American Idol). She was driving through her hometown in a parade-like event and we happened to accidently drive our car into the line of official Latin American idol cars. I was excited that we saw her because I knew I would get to brag about it to all my friends at school on Monday (since everyone watches the show with their families). After lunch, everyone was craving cake because there was a birthday party at the swimming pool so I decided baking would make a nice afternoon activity. We headed to the store, bought only the finest (Betty Crocker) and Pamela, Dayana and I made an amazing chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and M&Ms to top it off (mmmm…how I do love chocolate). My family was so impressed with the cake they told me I should start a business. We played games, ate Corn Flakes for dinner and watched part of a Jon and Kate Plus 8 marathon before lights out at the extremely late hour of 9 o’clock.

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.

Saturday 9/27/08

Saturday mornings are for sleeping in…right? Unfortunately my body has trained itself so diligently that I woke up at 5:30 and could not fall back asleep. I didn’t go for a run as I had soccer games later in the afternoon, so I started my homework at 6 am (I don’t think I’ve ever done that on a Saturday morning in my entire life) I worked on some homework and then around 8 Mami invited me to go the feria (aka a farmer’s market). It was so bright and colorful, full of mysterious fruits and vegetables we don’t have in the States. Mami and I pulled our cart throughout the market and picked up a wide variety of things. Although Papi had dropped us off in the car, I encouraged Mami that we walk home. Mami was impressed by my “muscles” as I pulled the heavy cart all the way home on the bumpy worn down sidewalks. I did some more homework and then headed out to meet a friend in San Jose around 10:30. I did something that no Costa Rican would believe if I told them….I walked from Tibas (my suburb) all the way to downtown San Jose. It took me about an hour and it just happened to be ridiculously humid and sunny (I was sweating just as bad as I do on my morning runs) I met up with my friend Emily and we attempted to go to a local Butterfly Farm. Unfortunately, just as we go there it started pouring rain and the thunder and lightning made their presence known (to say the least). Luckily, the lady was kind enough to recommend we come back another day rather than just letting us pay with knowing that we would really see much. On our way back to the Central Plaza this huge lightning bolt struck literally about 100 yard in front of us. I’ve never seen such a defined lightning bolt; we could even see it hitting the ground. I also have never jumped more like a scaredy cat in my life. We decided to get some lunch at this nice café. After lunch I parted ways with Emily and made my way to my soccer game in San Pedro. We played with these awesome guys from the UCR (University of Costa Rica). We decided to mix up the Ticos and the gringos and form three teams since Ticos are just flat out better at soccer than gringos. We had three captains and for some odd reason I was the first pick. My team ended up being me and 4 other Ticos (which meant we kicked butt all afternoon). Almost at the end of playing I ran to intercept a pass and managed to do a banana slip on the ball. I fell hard on my lower back and am still feeling the effects, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. I came home exhausted and sore, but was immediately greeted by my sister and little cousins who had me running around playing tag. I told Pamela and Dayana that we could have another “girl’s night” and so immediately when I came home they were ready. It was so cute. They had saved up their money to buy some treats and had even made a little grocery list while I was gone. We headed to the pulperia (a small convenience like store, except you just stand outside the gated window and ask for whatever you need) and bought tons of snacks. We watched High School Musical 2, played Uno, I showed them some magic tricks and we hung out all night. It is so easy to entertain 10 year olds. Goodnight!

Friday 9/26/08

Every week here goes by so fast and it always feels so nice to survive another week full of classes, papers, projects, interviews, the bus system and downtown San Jose. This morning Mami didn’t wake up to her alarm and so I just let her sleep in and poured my own bowl of Corn Flakes. I figured I could just buy a lunch (so I could just let her sleep in) After leaving the house, I realized that not waking Mami up might have not been the best decision (as I began to imagine how freaked out she would be when she woke up that she hadn’t sent me with a lunch) Sure enough, I learned later in the day that this is exactly what she did (freaked out and felt horribly guilty that she didn’t pack me a lunch) I bought lunch across the street from school and then made the 1 hour trek from ICADS to LASP. We didn’t have class today, but from 2-6 we had “spiritual journey” were we all shared bits and pieces of our life stories so that we could all know each other on a deeper level. It was very interesting to see the unique stories of each individual (although 4 hours of sitting in a circle and sharing 1 by 1 was a bit long for my undiagnosed ADHD self) Our professors provided us a with a very Americanized pizza and soda dinner and then we all headed home around 7. It’s always a little tough having activities after dark because I’m the only person who has to take a bus into San Jose to catch my bus home. It’s always a bit scarier in the dark, but I’m as safe and precautious as I can be. When I got home I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 and Little People Big World with Pamela. It was funny because the family in Little People Big World is from Oregon so I was telling Pamela that’s where I live. Also, the episode happened to be about the father and son going on a road trip to Seattle so then I was telling Pamela all about going to school in Seattle and pointing out all the landmarks to show featured. It’s been interesting because there have been lots of shows and movies where I’ve been able to point out Oregon and Seattle (Grey’s Anatomy, Little People Big World, and a Disney movie called Agent Cody Banks) I was pathetic and went to bed ridiculously early for a Friday night.