I would like to start by saying the idea for this entry is
completely stolen from one of my fellow World Teachers. She had such a great idea to do an entry
about things that once seemed or would’ve seemed strange, but now seem so normal. I decided to do my own spin on it and write
about some of the things I have learned during my seven months here thus far.
Bugs
Ants cannot be exterminated
(hopefully PETA isn’t reading this entry.)
No matter how hard my mother and I try they will not die. They continue to prevail and come back with
their family and march in lines in front of us, just to spite us. Like roaches, they too will survive the end
of the world.
Abejones are really just flying
roaches with hard bodies. I am not sure
if they are worse dead or alive because you really have to crunch them, yuck, to
kill them and they attach themselves to anything in their path when they are
alive. Finding one in my hair yesterday
was a real treat. My mom thinks it
hilarious that I still eat dinner with my protective hoodie, and my sister continues
to chase me around the house with live ones.
Children in Costa Rica run away
from furry little caterpillars. Why you
ask, because they’re poisonous of course.
Food
A meal is not complete without rice
and beans. No, I’m serious I have had
people apologize that there were no beans during a meal. They are great for breakfast, lunch and
dinner, and are even eaten alongside spaghetti.
I have actually grown quite fond of my gallo pinto for breakfast. Even during my vacation, on a resort here in
Costa Rica with my family, I made sure to fill up my plate at breakfast with rice
and beans.
You have to price check for
groceries at the pulperias (mini convenience stores.) According to my little sister, the authority
on most things; the pulperia down the hill sells the same ice cream as the
pulperia up the hill for cheaper. If
only I had known that sooner. I would’ve
saved 100 colones and burned the calories that I gained eating it.
Ticans love to feed
you. I think people here really do
equate food with affection. As I have
stated in my previous blog, my mother continues to pile on the food at breakfast
and says it’s with love. And since vacation
two weeks ago, I no longer have the urge to eat bread in the afternoon during
cafecito, which has them concluding either I am sick, or on a diet. My grandmother is not much better, because even
if I say I am not hungry, she still whips out something for me to eat, telling
me to just eat a little.
Soup is usually a liquid
with whole pieces of food. When I am
sick I am given soup. My soup consists
of a broth with whole potatoes, yucca, a couple of whole green vegetables, an
egg and a piece of meat; unchopped.
Although it is not exactly what I am accustomed to; when you are sick,
it beats a blank, and I usually just chop everything up.
Gossip
Living in a small town, obviously
there isn’t a whole lot to do, so of course gossip is a form of
entertainment. Just think about all of
those housewife shows; the men work and the women stay home with the kids. It’s the same here, except that the gossip
isn’t as catty, it’s more matter of fact.
I remember telling my host mother that I don’t like to drink tea before
bed because it causes me to run to the bathroom all night long. It was early into my time here in San Ramon,
so I was shocked when my overactive bladder became the subject of conversation with
the school cook one afternoon. I’ve
learned to limit the amount of
information I give if I don’t want it repeated, or if I don’t want it repeated
I simply ask the party not to tell anyone.
The women are not the biggest gossips. Although you’d think the women would be the biggest gossips, actually
it’s the children. They get hold of a
piece of information and it spreads like wildfire. The biggest gossip I’ve learned is actually
my little sister. Somehow this little
girl knows all about everyone in the town and has no problem spreading it
around. I almost became an only child
the day she said she would tell everyone I was pregnant.
News travels fast. I have
heard stories about past volunteers leaving school and some news that was
revealed there reaching their house before them. Though I haven’t had that experience, I have
had parents frantically ask me why I was leaving. Apparently my sister, once again the cause
of it all, told my cousin, another student at my school that I was going back
to the United States for good in August as a joke. Well, you know how telephone works, so I had
to tell them all to rest assured that I was not leaving until December; oh
Daniela.
The Weather
As many of you may or may
not know, before leaving the United State I was completely obsessed with the
weather channel. It was bad. I could watch that channel all day long. I knew all the meteorologists by first and
last name and when they were slotted to come on. I may or may not be following some of them on
twitter at this very moment. Anyway, my
favorite part of the weather channel was the local on the 8s because I could
see the forecast for the next 10 days.
Well, seeing how my family doesn’t have cable and the town I am living
in doesn’t even show up on the map, I’ve had to become more creative with my
weather predictions. Costa Rica in
general has very unpredictable weather.
One minute it is sunny and the next, you are soaked. A few times of getting wet, and I’ve learned
a couple of things: 1) to always carry an umbrella and 2) to look to the
clouds. My friends at the weather
channel would be so proud of me; I’ve become a junior meteorologist. I can tell by the types of clouds: shape and
color whether or not it will rain.
The rainy season is not a
myth. This weekend we had a day and a
half of nonstop rain. I knew it was going to rain, unfortunately the clouds
didn’t tell me exactly how much. As a
result there were landslides and floods all over the country. In my area there was a red letter put out,
which meant the streets were too dangerous, so schools were closed yesterday
and today. I know I should be more
upset, but I am a kid at heart: No school, whooo! I am however worried about
September. Word on the mountain is that
in past years it has rained for 15 days straight. They may laugh at me for coming to school
with my rain jacket, boots and giant umbrella, but soaked I will not be. I guess I better start construction on my
submarine.
Note: There are so many
more reflections that I could’ve written about, but that would probably make
this entry pages long. Look out for my
book in the very near future. I already
have the perfect publicist in mind ;-) Please submit your comments, if you have
any things you are dying to know; just ask.
