I made it!
Landed yesterday and Costa Rica is green, green, green. Kermit Green.
Immigration took forever. Shuffle, shuffle, stop, but down the heavy backpack. Pick up the heavy backpack, shuffle, shuffle, stop. and repeat for an hour.
Wonder of wonders i found my checked bag immediately, breezed through customs, and found my driver immediately.
Talk about slamming into Spanish gear without using a clutch. I was able to con my driver into thinking i was completely bilingual until he asked a question I couldn´t find my words for. Regardless, i was able to carry on and understand our conversation pretty well.
My family lives not in Santa Barbara, which is a tiny town most people havent heard of, they live in a teeny suburb of that. Teeny.
I met mi señora and her oldest daughter Gabrielle. We made conversation for a painful 20 minutes before lunch. Mi señora explained lunch would have been ready when i arrived, but they had no water all morning. Okay.
Lunch was so good - vegetable soup, meat, black beans and rice, salad and fruit water that i forget what its called, but tastes amazing. I also met mi señor. He is the strong but silent type to say the least. After lunch I begged to help in the kitchen - they refused so i tried to study spanish for a while, but couldn´t keep my eyes open and quickly settled in for a nap.
I have my own room. Its big enough for 2 beds, a single and a double and a small table. The house itself is over a small grocery store and big enough for the family. Its hard to describe, but its just like grandpa´s house in the Valley - so at least my mom and dad know what I´m talking about. Its lower middle class, lots of stuff everywhere, but comfortable.
After my extremely long nap, I took a walk. Mi señora explained how to get to town - not Santa Barbara, but some other smaller closer town plaza. I found it, and kept walking to another slightly bigger town. There are no names as far as I can tell. On my way home, obviously I got lost. Because it´s not my first day in a new place unless I lose myself on a discovery walk. I probably walked at least a mile out of my way. I knew my wrong turn and was able to backtrack and find my way home easily enough.
I returned home slightly frantic because I was sure I was missing dinner - it was pretty dark because of all the clouds and I knew I had been gone far longer than the hour i had promised. Nope, I was still able to study for an hour (i´ve taken to REALLY studying my spanish now, since nobody in my family speaks any english), and finally after begging again Gaby and mi señora let me help in the kitchen. i got the 5 year old task of helping with the topping to a chicken pot pie, but then Gaby taught me how to make empanadas. I asked if the filling was fruit or vegetable and they answered mas o menos (sort of)...okay. My empanadas turned out AWESOME! And so cute - they are basically a turnover filled with whatever you want.
Dinner was some of the chicken pot pie - Gaby made a huge meal for this men´s group meeting up the street. Its basically an AA meeting, but they don´t call it that they call it Grupo. Its all men, they give their testimonials, and celebrate their sobriety. Mi señora was quick to explain her husband had never had a drug problem, but enjoyed attending Grupo anyway. Anyway, we had some of the huge feast Gaby had prepared - chicken pot pie, salad, and that AWESOME fruit water thing. I have to figure out what its called.
Throughout the afternoon and evening I was introduced to the rest of the children as they cam ehome from school and work. Karen is 13 and understands the most english. She´s a little tomboy, and a doll at helping explain to her mother what I´m saying in my Spanglish. Magaly is 19 and works as a teacher for 1 and 2 year olds. She is the bromista - the joker - very funny, smart ass, that even I understand. She wants to learn english, as does Gaby, so we are promising to help each other. The girls were all excited to find out I teach dance and yoga since they love to dance and have never done yoga. They are anxious to take a class of mine - i explained i brought my iPod and speakers just for that purpose so we´re going to throw together a class, maybe this afternoon. They all want 6 packs - I understood that much.
Christian is the only son and 22. I didn´t get to talk to him too much because by the time he got home we were all watching the Miss Universe pageant. I got a big kick out of it - Mario Lopez was one of the hosts and Maga kept saying, "Hola Maaariooo" to the TV. I got to explain I had a friend (Hi Mer!) who had worked with him - I tried to plod through explaining pilots and television series but it was all lost on them. What they got was I knew someone who knew him.
Next sleep - it was as good as I could ask for in a strange balmy country. I woke up extremely early and was pleased when mi señora let me wash dishes for her. She was a little dismayed because i´m on vacation, but i tried to explain its what i do. I can´t sit around while someone else is working hard. She relented. I fianlly got around to eating breakfast - rice and beans, egg, and toast. I tried to eat the egg, really i did - but I couldn´t choke down more than a few bites. It was the combination of my lifelong haterd of eggs, plus the morning show had laproscopic video footage of a vaginal exam playing. I´m serious. All the while, women phoned in and asked the gynocologist being interviewed about different "problems" they were experiencing. Between that and the eggs, my appetite was pretty small.
Walked to Santa Barbara, finally got to change money, buy some water (no water in my family - im half shriveled) and juice and walk around until the cybernet opened. Now I´m off to try and figure out the bus system. If I can I want to get all the way to San Jose (la la, la la, la la, la la la).
Love to all!
Landed yesterday and Costa Rica is green, green, green. Kermit Green.
Immigration took forever. Shuffle, shuffle, stop, but down the heavy backpack. Pick up the heavy backpack, shuffle, shuffle, stop. and repeat for an hour.
Wonder of wonders i found my checked bag immediately, breezed through customs, and found my driver immediately.
Talk about slamming into Spanish gear without using a clutch. I was able to con my driver into thinking i was completely bilingual until he asked a question I couldn´t find my words for. Regardless, i was able to carry on and understand our conversation pretty well.
My family lives not in Santa Barbara, which is a tiny town most people havent heard of, they live in a teeny suburb of that. Teeny.
I met mi señora and her oldest daughter Gabrielle. We made conversation for a painful 20 minutes before lunch. Mi señora explained lunch would have been ready when i arrived, but they had no water all morning. Okay.
Lunch was so good - vegetable soup, meat, black beans and rice, salad and fruit water that i forget what its called, but tastes amazing. I also met mi señor. He is the strong but silent type to say the least. After lunch I begged to help in the kitchen - they refused so i tried to study spanish for a while, but couldn´t keep my eyes open and quickly settled in for a nap.
I have my own room. Its big enough for 2 beds, a single and a double and a small table. The house itself is over a small grocery store and big enough for the family. Its hard to describe, but its just like grandpa´s house in the Valley - so at least my mom and dad know what I´m talking about. Its lower middle class, lots of stuff everywhere, but comfortable.
After my extremely long nap, I took a walk. Mi señora explained how to get to town - not Santa Barbara, but some other smaller closer town plaza. I found it, and kept walking to another slightly bigger town. There are no names as far as I can tell. On my way home, obviously I got lost. Because it´s not my first day in a new place unless I lose myself on a discovery walk. I probably walked at least a mile out of my way. I knew my wrong turn and was able to backtrack and find my way home easily enough.
I returned home slightly frantic because I was sure I was missing dinner - it was pretty dark because of all the clouds and I knew I had been gone far longer than the hour i had promised. Nope, I was still able to study for an hour (i´ve taken to REALLY studying my spanish now, since nobody in my family speaks any english), and finally after begging again Gaby and mi señora let me help in the kitchen. i got the 5 year old task of helping with the topping to a chicken pot pie, but then Gaby taught me how to make empanadas. I asked if the filling was fruit or vegetable and they answered mas o menos (sort of)...okay. My empanadas turned out AWESOME! And so cute - they are basically a turnover filled with whatever you want.
Dinner was some of the chicken pot pie - Gaby made a huge meal for this men´s group meeting up the street. Its basically an AA meeting, but they don´t call it that they call it Grupo. Its all men, they give their testimonials, and celebrate their sobriety. Mi señora was quick to explain her husband had never had a drug problem, but enjoyed attending Grupo anyway. Anyway, we had some of the huge feast Gaby had prepared - chicken pot pie, salad, and that AWESOME fruit water thing. I have to figure out what its called.
Throughout the afternoon and evening I was introduced to the rest of the children as they cam ehome from school and work. Karen is 13 and understands the most english. She´s a little tomboy, and a doll at helping explain to her mother what I´m saying in my Spanglish. Magaly is 19 and works as a teacher for 1 and 2 year olds. She is the bromista - the joker - very funny, smart ass, that even I understand. She wants to learn english, as does Gaby, so we are promising to help each other. The girls were all excited to find out I teach dance and yoga since they love to dance and have never done yoga. They are anxious to take a class of mine - i explained i brought my iPod and speakers just for that purpose so we´re going to throw together a class, maybe this afternoon. They all want 6 packs - I understood that much.
Christian is the only son and 22. I didn´t get to talk to him too much because by the time he got home we were all watching the Miss Universe pageant. I got a big kick out of it - Mario Lopez was one of the hosts and Maga kept saying, "Hola Maaariooo" to the TV. I got to explain I had a friend (Hi Mer!) who had worked with him - I tried to plod through explaining pilots and television series but it was all lost on them. What they got was I knew someone who knew him.
Next sleep - it was as good as I could ask for in a strange balmy country. I woke up extremely early and was pleased when mi señora let me wash dishes for her. She was a little dismayed because i´m on vacation, but i tried to explain its what i do. I can´t sit around while someone else is working hard. She relented. I fianlly got around to eating breakfast - rice and beans, egg, and toast. I tried to eat the egg, really i did - but I couldn´t choke down more than a few bites. It was the combination of my lifelong haterd of eggs, plus the morning show had laproscopic video footage of a vaginal exam playing. I´m serious. All the while, women phoned in and asked the gynocologist being interviewed about different "problems" they were experiencing. Between that and the eggs, my appetite was pretty small.
Walked to Santa Barbara, finally got to change money, buy some water (no water in my family - im half shriveled) and juice and walk around until the cybernet opened. Now I´m off to try and figure out the bus system. If I can I want to get all the way to San Jose (la la, la la, la la, la la la).
Love to all!
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