The Day "Hola" Gave Me Away

Some days it just feels like my Spanish is so bad.  My tongue gets tied and I stutter.  Words come out with the wrong vowel sounds and it's like I never learned the basic rules of grammar.... verbs like gustar throw me off and I forget whether the most common words I use day to day are feminine or masculine.

The longer I am here, the more frustrating this feels.  Why do I have lapses like this?

This afternoon, I was just walking down the street and an obnoxious young man yelled "hola" at me in a cat calling manner out of a store front.  I said "hola" back.  Then, he retorted - "oh.... hellllooooooo."

Was my "hola" really that bad that he knew to switch to English?  

Uhhh.  One of those days. 

Bulla

Bulla = noise.  Right now it is the bane of my existence.  I know that sounds extreme, but I have been tolerating the shrieking and antics of the 20 something year old brothers that live in the house in front of me for a while now.  After being woken up in the middle of the night almost every day to them charging at each other, knocking into walls, giggling.... I have had about all I can take.

Since I have moved to Costa Rica I have tolerated:

A dog that would howl all night at anyone who would pass the house.... or I don't even know what he was barking at.
The construction of a building 10 meters from my window every morning from 6am on (Saturday, too).... that included a lot of metal grinding.
Semi Trucks, motor bikes and cars without mufflers zooming past my window ridiculously fast and extremely loud.
Fireworks for the entire two months that are Christmas here...
And now... 20 something year old brothers who act like imbeciles.

I'm tired :[

But, in looking for a new place to live today I learned something funny.  I called this woman on the phone and she told me her house is after "el ultimo muerto" - the last dead person.... I was like, ok... and acted like I knew what she was talking about.  I knew there must be something I was missing.

As soon as I got off the phone I texted a friend who laughed and explained to me that this was a speed bump.  And imagine me.... walking around a neighborhood looking for a dead person!  jajajaja

Always learning new things...

Decepcionada

Decepcionada - Dissappointed.... 

The word decepcionada sounds so much better to me, though.  It really captures the feeling of almost being deceived by a situation and the hurt that comes from that.

It was the only word I could think of after I showed up to the rehearsal for my improv group... and was the only one there.

I don't understand why in a country where there is a whole RAINY SEASON, why rain is an excuse to not go somewhere important.   Also, why do some people not have umbrellas?  It's not a surprise that it is going to rain..... And it's not that they don't have the money.... Some things I don't think I'll ever understand.  Also, why people are always out of minutes to call or text you back... and how that is also a valid excuse. 

This is the note that I wrote them later than night on FB:

Chicos, tengo que decirles que estoy decepcionada que absolutamente nadie llegó hoy. Yo sé que estaba lloviendo y que estan en examenes y todo eso.... pero tampoco me dijeron que no podian venir. Solo Anebis me respondió asi - quiero agradecerle por eso.
Para mi, no me importa el show - que presentamos o no.... lo que me molesta es la falta de compromiso del grupo y la falta de respecto de mi tiempo. Si decimos que vamos a hacer algo, hay que hacerlo. Hemos trabajado mucho estos meses y estamos listos para presentar.
Obviamente no vamos a presentar mañana. Por su puesto todos estan invitados a ayudar con la obra mañana como siempre. El sabado hablamos del futuro de este grupo.

I'm more over it now and it must not have been meant to be.  "Dios no lo quiso."  I know that improv has benefits whether or not there is ever an audience involved.  And, at least I didn't have to hike through the mountains for 2 hours or over a rickety bridge to get there.  All I had to do was get my feet wet in the rain.  

The Yoga Studio I Write For

Check out the article I wrote for the yoga studio :]



http://www.spaholis.com/aerial-yoga-works-defying-gravity-spa-holis-costa-rica/

Performing with Less and Less Rehearsals - Children's Day and the Anti Drug Campaign

Who says you need to rehearse to be in a play?  JAJAJAJA!  (that's laughing in Spanish).







For Children's Day on September 9th, the theatre went on tour to perform "El Cemeterio de los Libros Olvidados."  We went to two elementary schools.  So, now I can say I have acted in an International Children's Theatre Tour, right?

The funny part is that I only had one rehearsal before performing.  I rehearsed with my friend, Ramona,... who helped me to summarize the meaning of chunks of lines so that I could improv within the chunks.  Then, I rehearsed for like 10 minutes with the other actor, Alexis.

I was still learning my lines in the van on the way to the school, but somehow I did it!  And the kids had so much fun :]  I just played big, interacted with the audience, and was as silly as possible.  Success.  Definitely improvising a script in Spanish was a big "reto."

Then, it got even crazier.  I showed up to an anti-drug event at a school where the vice president of Costa Rica had even come to talk.... and the theatre wanted me to join in the play they were about to perform.  No rehearsal!!!! I mean, I only had like 3 lines, but still.  We didn't end up performing, though, because one of the actors had to go to work because the event was taking so long.  That in itself is odd to me; they rehearsed for like two weeks only to not perform at the event.  No big deal.





We did perform that play, though, the next weekend for PANI (the child protective services).  I did perform then, still without rehearsing.

These experiences will definitely go on the list of things I never thought I would do.

Also, I think it's fun that Children's Day means a big party at school with dancing and a trampoline.  Note the trampoline in the back.  Both schools we went to had rented one for the day.