- The weather is consistently, constantly changing. Allow me to explain. Every morning is quite hot and humid. Sometime in the afternoon the clouds start rolling in and the temperature drops appreciably. At some point in the late afternoon or evening, those clouds beget precipitation in the from of a brief, torrential downpour and then a more prolonged period of drizzle. After, the evenings are mostly pleasant. I have been told that, mas o menos, this will be the prevailing climate until December, when the rainy season ends. I'm okay with that. In every life some rain must fall...
- The Costa Rican family is extended in number but not in distance. I have met many relatives beyond my host mother and father, including children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. All of these people live within a two-block radius of each other. It's kind of nice in that they get to eat dinner together and see the little ones more frequently. However, I am certain the lack of privacy gets tedious too.
- Many of the families here hire Nicaraguan women to clean their houses. These housekeepers take their job very seriously, as evidenced by the fact all my possessions in my room are tidied and put into new places each time the room is cleaned. I would say something, but I refrain out of fear that my room will then not get cleaned at all. And then who would make my bed???
- Costa Rica is about 80% Catholic, and it shows in the multitudes of religious imagery in most of the houses I have visited thus far. Unlike some places that seem to venerate Mary almost in lieu of Jesus, Christ plays a much more prominent role here. Each little community in the suburbs of San José has a local park with a church next to it. Across the street, there is most often a soccer field. Like most places, the faithful aren't especially faith-filled, and sometimes its difficult to tell which is the true place of worship. My host family seems to be pretty devout, which is good for a Jesus freak like myself. Does that translate into Spanish?
- Rice and beans. So much rice and beans.
- It took me until breakfast of the sixth day to have a banana, although I think that was more an anomaly that will soon be rectified tenfold in the coming weeks and months ahead. Other popular foods are rice and beans and arroz and frijoles. And when they are not incorporating rice and beans into their meals (and even when they are) there is often a magical little fruit called the papaya. It is supposedly great for digestion (as if all the fiber from the beans weren't enough), but it has a unique texture and aftertaste that takes some acquiring. In addition, the watermelon here is the best I've ever had, and needless to say the coffee is top notch.
- Costa Ricans are a people that are eager to please, especially when it comes to food. They require a lot of positive reinforcement, lest they get upset. I feel as though I could have written that previous sentence about any of the children I taught at summer school. Nevertheless, I am quite fond of the Costa Rican temperament. They take things as they go and are extraordinarily family-oriented; two things all humans should aspire to have said about themselves.
- There are many, many ants in my house. This doesn't phase me of course, seeing as how I have never had an unusual aversion to the little guys. On the bright side, at least I will never be lonely in my room. Or the hallway. Or the bathroom. Plus, there are relatively MUCH fewer spiders, an organism I am even less fond of being in my dwelling place.
- There are a TON of spiders!
To be continued...
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