Weirdness of the Week - Episode Interrupted

1.  I walked by a group of homeless men this morning who seemed to be playing a game in a circle.  The game consisted of them hitting each other with their baseball caps... I couldn't guess anymore rules of the game than that.  They were laughing and enjoying themselves, though. 

2.  Two days ago, I was riding the little water taxi over to the school in Cocal where I do my drama group.  As the boat pulled out to make the 2 minute journey across the mangrove a fishing boat floated up.  The women on my boat asked how much the giant fish they just caught was.  They handed it over to her and she held it by the mouth as we continued our journey.  There was no money exchange.... maybe she has an account with them :]   It struck me that this is not something one would see in a normal commute to work. 

3.  I walked by a little neighborhood store - "pulperia" it's called - and there was a cat sitting on the counter where the person passes you your food.  Another rarity.

4.  You'll be watching TV and all of a sudden this stock obituary music comes on and there are a few funeral announcements for the day. I wonder if one pays for it like a commercial for the funeral or if those people are more important in some way...

**** I interrupt this post to tell a story****

I was sitting in a café writing this post when all of a sudden, I had a crazy allergic reaction to tuna.  I was having trouble thinking and my heart was beating fast.  I felt feverish and my head hurt.  I felt anxious, but just thought maybe I was sensitive to coffee that day or that I was getting sick.... I continued writing this blog until the owner of the yoga studio I write for walked up and told me that I looked sunburned and asked me if I was ok.  I looked down at my chest and saw how red I was.   She told me that this had happened to her when she ate tuna one day and that she went to the hospital.  She is a natural healer.... so that seemed extreme. 

I packed up my computer and walked to the Spanish school where the people who work there are like my family.  I walked in, told my friend what was happening and plopped down behind the reception desk.  I felt like I was going to faint.  She sat with me on the floor until another friend came in and sat with me.  She went to the bank and called her boss to ask if she could leave early to take me to the clinic. 

Luckily I started getting better so we didn't go.  I just laid on the floor there behind the desk watching youtube videos with them for a few hours until my friend could go home.  She took me to her house and took care of me for the rest of the night.  :] 

I am so grateful to have such good caring friends here.

I researched, later, what could have happened and it turns out there's this histamine that lives on Tuna that sometimes increases in number after the tuna dies.  Cooking doesn't even kill them.  Needless to say, I don't think I'll be eating tuna for a while - if ever.  It was so scary.  It felt like it was neurologically affecting me.  My cheeks even felt numb and I got really cold and then really hot.  I couldn't process.... but I could still speak Spanish..... hahahah. 

************** Ok, back to the blog - where I left off last Friday ***********

5.  Boys in the Girls bathroom - Apparently this is not as weird as I think it is based on my cultural understandings.  Boys at the high school just walk into the girls bathroom to wash their hands if it's closer.  A boy in the US would never even get close to the girls bathroom!!!!! "Jamás (y queso)" - a joke in Spanish with some of my friends!!!!  Also, the male maintenance guy can clean the bathroom while I'm peeing.... and it's not weird at all.  I remember males not even entering a bathroom to clean if anybody at all was in there back home. 

6.   I has been Christmas since the beginning of October.  Like I said before, after September 15th - independence day - there's no holiday to hinder the coming of Christmas.... so, let it go!!! 

A book store in San Jose on October 11th

The office of the HS

The cleaning lady at the HS :]  So cute!

7.  This is not as weird as it is lovely and sweet.  The 11th graders - seniors - at the high school today started their really important exams (bachillerato).  Before they started, the whole school and all of the teachers gathered on the soccer court to wish them well.  They stood in a circle and prayed and said how they were good leaders.  After, everyone hugged them.  It was moving to see this sense of community and support for a HS exam.  I'm glad I got to see that.  

Until the next weirdness...... :]