Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010

It’s currently around 6:30 pm and I just got back from charlas (group talks/lectures.) I’m sitting in my room while my host family is sitting right outside the door at the computer looking something up—Uriel, Osvaldo, Marcela, Pamela, and Carlos—while my host mom is making dinner in the kitchen. I tried to say hi to Pamela, the 2-yr-old, when I came in and she started crying and stared at me with huge frightened eyes, so I thought maybe it would be better if I hung out in here for a little while. So where to begin today….

Sunday afternoon I went with my family to my host dad’s mom’s house for “un rezo,” a party to bless the nativity scene so that their grandma can put it away for the year. I met a lot of the relatives, none of whose names I can remember, and listened while they all prayed. It was interesting and very religious. A woman at the front of the room read the prayers and sang, and everyone else repeated after her. This lasted for about 20 minutes, and was followed by a typical Tico dish that was similar to a chunky soup, with corn and pork. I soon found out that this filling dish was just an appetizer, and was followed by rice and beans (of course). Just a side note, ticos do not consider it a meal if rice and beans are not included. This usually includes breakfast, as well. We also had a delicious Tico alcoholic drink called rompompe, which is creamy and tastes similar to Bailey’s. Surprisingly everyone at the party was given a Dixie cup of this drink, including the two-year-old children…. The rompompe was followed by grape fanta. I’m learning that Costa Ricans LOVE sugar and salt (the latter is just fine with me). All their drinks are extremely sweet, and they love Coke. The only diet drink I can find here at all is Coke Light. A carb-lovers heaven!

Anyways, after eating we all played Bingo! People in Orosi—I’m not sure about the rest of the country—LOVE their bingo and are extremely serious about it! My extended host family gets together once a month on Sunday to play bingo together, and the money they save from this they use for a big game at the end of the year. Winners won little prizes like a plate, Tupperware, ball, chocolate, etc., but they get pretty excited about it. After bingo, I sat with my host dad’s brother, Uriel (although I didn’t know it was his brother until two days later...), who was really nice. He said he’s had a lot of foreigners stay with him over the years, and he was telling me about his experiences with them. He said people in Orosi really like having foreigners here, as they bring a lot of business, as well as cross-cultural exchange. He was also telling me about what he does for a job—works with an electric company that produces energy for the entire country, called ICE. My host dad works for the same company. He was explaining to me the different means of producing energy. I’ll spare you guys the details. 

When we went home, I decided to shower so that I didn’t have to do it in the morning. I washed my hair (in freezing cold water), and when my host mom saw me she freaked out. She seriously was running from room to room telling everyone in the house that I washed my hair and it was wet. I just kept telling her it was okay, but she was so convinced that I was going to get sick. So she sat next to me on my bed and watched me dry my hair with her hair dryer, lol. Then we talked for a while and she looked at more of my stuff. She unfortunately found my pepper spray, which I took away from her right away and explained to her what it was and that my dad and boyfriend wanted me to bring it “just in case.” She thought it was absolutely hilarious and yelled to my oldest host brother, Mauricio, to come see it. Awesome. I also showed them the Frisbee I brought for my placement site and the little erasers and things for the students. She also found my flashlight and thought it was also funny. Apparently they don’t own a flashlight…? She was saying how great it would be for their farm. Anyways, eventually we both decided to go to bed.

Monday I had to get up early for our Spanish placement test followed by class at 7:00 am. My class challenges me, which is good, and my teacher (Margarita) forces us to speak. There are only 6 of us in the group—Me, Flynn, Kerry, Peter, Erin, and Colleen—and she is constantly calling on us randomly to answer questions, give examples, translate, etc. It’s probably a good thing though, as it forces me to speak and make mistakes without being so self-conscious about it. After Spanish we had a charla and then lunch at OTIAC—hamburgers and fries. Nice change from the past few days of rice and beans. I tried to savor every bite, as anything that is not rice and beans will probably be very rare this year. In the afternoon we continued with more charlas, and then I came home for dinner. At 7:00 we went to OTIAC for bingo night with our families. Julieta and Osvaldo came, and I bought each of us two cards. We sat at a table with Julieta’s brother, Carlos, and his wife, and the married couple in my group, Alix and Jim. Julieta was so excited that she won!

This morning I woke up at 5:30 to go for a run with Liz and Meryl. We were planning on meeting at the Plaza at 6:00, but after waiting for Meryl for 10 minutes, Liz and I just decided to go by ourselves. We ran across this crazy suspension bridge—it’s really narrow and swings as you walk across it! And the river is really wide and rough at this point. It’s really cool, though—I definitely need to take pictures of it. Then we ran on a road at the bottom of the mountain. It was gorgeous, and it was really nice to be out early and prepare for the day. I definitely need to keep running this year, not just for the fact that I’m going to gain 20 pounds with all these carbs, but also for my mental sanity!

I came back and had to force myself to take a freezing cold shower. The weather is actually pretty cold here right now, and it’s been raining for two days straight. I’ve been wearing jeans, a sweatshirt/long-sleeved shirt and jacket, and I’m still cold! And my family told me that Palo Verde is a little bit colder than Orosi. I may not be using my dresses and tank tops a whole lot…. Oh well. Cooler temps mean fewer bugs, which is a pretty fair trade to me! Anyways, I ate a massive breakfast of an egg, sausage, gallo pinto (rice and beans), and coffee, and then went to class. Spanish was fine, and in our charlas we discussed teaching techniques, warm-up activities, how to use our resources, and tico culture. At the end of the day, I had to walk home to get my passport to make more photocopies of it for my visa, and then I stayed at the school to buy postcards and use the internet for a while. It’s now 7:30 and I just finished dinner and am seriously tired enough to go to bed now. Unfortunately I still have homework to do and I really should get some stuff organized. More to come soon!