Weirdness of the Month - Crocodile Edition

1.  So, I thought it was weird last year when I saw an iguana crossing the road.  That doesn't come close to what wanted to cross the road last week in Quepos.  And this was right in front of the elementary school!

2.  I got into a collectivo last week (a collectivo is an unofficial taxi - basically anyone can be a collectivo) and as I got in, the woman in the back seat yelled to the man in the passenger seat, "We're a taxi now.... respect!" That was the only thing that was said the whole way into town.  You could cut the tension with a knife.  I wonder if the driver just picked me up to avoid whatever argument the family was having.

3.  Homeless people can be really friendly here.  Last night, I had just bought a bag of platano chips and opened them as I walked by a man sitting on the sidewalk.  He looked up at me and asked me for one chip.  I handed him one and he looked back at me and said, "muchas gracias... muy amable!" He was genuinely happy for the single chip.  I remember one time I tried to give a whole subway sandwich to a homeless man in downtown Tucson and he threw it on the ground angrily.  Another homeless man here says hello to me every time I walk by and tells me I'm the most beautiful thing he's seen all day.  It's not in a creepy way, either.  He actually just sounds like he's saying something nice.  Whatever it is I like it better than the kissy sounds some guys make as they drive by or the sounds they make that sound like their calling over a cat.  I guess they're literally "cat calling."

4.  I ran into one of my improv students at the independence parade a few weeks ago and she was carrying around "baby pienselo."  It was like baby-think-it-over had followed me all the way from the middle school.  I even got to hold it for her while she had to take care of her real little brother.  Weird.

5.  I've been noticing that Spanish has different onomatopoeias than English does and that amuses me. For example:

We say "knock knock"; they say "toc toc." "Toc toc, who's there?"  :] 
We say "ding dong"; they say "zum zum."
We say "Bam!"  They say "Zas!"
Chickens who speak English say "peep peep," but chickens who speak Spanish say, "pio pio." 
I say "yaayyyy!"  They laugh at me. 
They say "Ay!!!!" and guys make weird screaching wooping sounds to each other.... I'm still not really sure what emotion it conveys but it happens in the house I rent from late at night and drives me crazy.

How odd that sounds seemingly not based in a language are still specific to that language.  I mean, a knock is not a word.... it's a sound.  And chickens don't speak English.  I wonder why it's this way.