Running the Soda - El Teatro de Quepos

A few weeks ago, I found the local theatre of Quepos.  I didn't even know there was a theatre here.  It is all the way out in the middle of nowhere by the marina.  It is really nice for a small town theatre.  It has smart lights and a lot of space!

Anyways, I ended up at some sort of a board meeting there and immediately worked there.  The meeting was on Wednesday and Friday I was running the snack-bar - aka "soda" ... selling ceviche and taking orders for grilled meat sticks.  It was so crazy to me that I was selling food and taking money and giving change, all in Spanish.  I was super proud and kind of surprised that they put me in charge of this. 

Then, Saturday, I went to "usher" for the play.  I didn't really do anything except move a few chairs around and try to look non-awkward.  Only like 20 people came to the free play and I'm pretty sure they were all related to the actors.  It was fun, though.  I had a hard time understanding the play because it was fast and a lot of it was slang that I didn't get.  It was funny, though... I noticed that the acting was really over the top and there were a lot of gags like cross-dressing and body humor.  I don't know if that was just this play or if it is a common style of theatre here.  Ticos seem to like that kind of comedy, I've noticed, from the movies that are popular here. 

Tonight, I went to see a contemporary dance show at the theatre.  It was put on by the local dance group that practices in the Gym near my house.  I often walk by at night, watching them practice through the open window.  They are a group of adolescents taught by a famous contemporary dance choreographer from San Jose.  They were sooooo good!  :]  It made me happy that they had that opportunity here in such a small town.  They performed an original work called "El Cuarto Oscuro" - "The Dark Room" that they had taken to the National Theatre in San Jose.  It had poetic narration interspersed throughout it and from what I understood it was about the dark room that is your mind.  I think the dancers were each struggling with different inner issues and the way that was depicted through the movement and the ensemble was really cool.

I'm very glad to have found the theatre; I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.  If there is a theatre within 5 miles, I'm bound to become a part of it, right?!  It's in my core being.

I'm hoping to teach an improv class there starting in January - In Spanish!.... dun dun dun. 

Semi Trucks and Salsa Music

These are the sounds I wake up to on my day off. 

Weirdness of the Week - Episode 5.379

 

Curing “Hipo” – Hiccups in Spanish:  

I didn’t really think about how we have weird solutions for things like drinking water backwards or holding your breath to cure hiccups, but we do.  Ticos have other weird ways to cure things.  Last night, I was helping my friend decorate for her Godson’s birthday party.  The little baby girl had hiccups.  I look up from painting glitter on soccer ball cutouts, and the baby has a little piece of paper stuck to her forehead.  My friend simply tells me that that’s how they get rid of the hiccups.  Huh.  Also, I don’t know if this is specific to the friends I have… but it seems that Ticos are extra creative when it comes to making decorations.  Where people in the US would go out and buy party supplies, people here hand make everything!  They even make the piñatas out of old cardboard boxes, paper, and glitter.  I am so impressed. 

Chairs:

There are these very specific chairs that I have only seen in Costa Rica and everyone seems to have them except for my family.  They are these rocking chairs that are made out of metal and chords.  They are really comfortable.  I want one, but it seems the only way to buy one is from a guy who walks around town selling them.  I wonder when I will encounter this guy. 

Convenient Stores Everywhere (even if they are just the extensions of someone’s living room): 

As I was walking to one of my student’s houses yesterday, I started thinking about how easy it is to buy a snack here.  Walking through a neighborhood back home, you can’t just buy a bag of chips or a banana.  I can literally walk from one part of a neighborhood to the other a few blocks away and buy a snack in the middle.  I will miss this when I go home.  At home, you have to drive somewhere if you want to buy anything. 

“Punto de Reunion”:

 

When I lived in Heredia about four months ago, I went to the University.  I saw all these signs that said “punto de reunion” with pictures of people meeting on them.  I thought, “how weird that they need to be told where to hang out together.”  This week, I noticed a sign like that in Quepos and it suddenly made sense!  They weren’t signs telling students were to hang out.  They were signs signifying where it was safe to stand during an earthquake!  Like I said before, even when I understand the words… it doesn’t mean I understand the concept.  Just now, for example, I ordered coffee in Spanish and the waitress asked “Claro o Oscuro?”  I understood the words but had no idea what that referred to!  It turns out it mean “Light or Dark Roast.”  Again, there is a lot more to understanding than knowing the words.  That is something I had learned in my ESL class in college; just because students understand the words in the literature does not mean they get the meaning. 

Working an Hour for Ten Tampons… and announcing to the whole store what you want as you explain it to the guy behind the counter:

 Tampons are so expensive here!  A box of ten is six dollars.  That is over one hour of work for me.  Also, everything in the pharmacy is behind the counter.  I remember when I was an adolescent and was embarrassed to check out of the grocery store with tampons.  Good thing I grew out of that phase!  Yesterday, I had the joy of asking the young man behind the counter for exactly which box I wanted.  “No, not that one… the other one.  No, the pink one.  ‘Regulares.’ ‘Oh, ok… no hay algo se llama regular…. Medianos?...’ Haha.  That was fun.  Just another experience to add to the list of everyday life adventures here. 

Gringo quote of the day:

 

I’m sitting at one of the nicest cafes in town.  It is full of gringos.  The woman at the table next to me just got up to go to the bathroom and immediately returned to the table.  Her husband asked if someone was in the bathroom and she explained, “I didn’t need to go that bad.”  Her subtext was clearly, that bathroom was gross… there was no way I was using it.  My standards are way higher than that.  It is a perfectly nice bathroom.  Oh, Americans…

Thanksgiving in Costa Rica

I tried to wish the Americans sitting in front of me on the bus “Happy Thanksgiving,” but they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and did not celebrate Thanksgiving.  Haha.  It took me a while to decide to talk to them (I usually don’t like talking to tourists on the bus) and when I did – to share a common holiday – to grasp for that connection that we share in our common culture… DENIED.  Haha.  I laughed to myself when I was reflecting on it after they got off. 

Yesterday, at the elementary school, we had a Thanksgiving “Acto Civio.”  This was also super funny because Ticos have acto civicos for every national holiday.  We didn’t want it to be called an “acto civico” as to not push our culture on theirs, but the Tica teachers wrote “Thanksgiving Acto Civico” on the program.  I guess they didn’t have a problem with it :]  The students decorated, performed a bilingual play of the meaning of the holiday, and sang songs.  They even handed out papers for the parents to draw on and write what they were thankful for.  It was cool because the parents were able to learn about a different culture and see how good their students’ English was getting. 

 I learned, yesterday, that some Ticos thought that Thanksgiving was another name for Christmas and that the US just celebrated Christmas early…..  hahaha!!! Maybe it does seem that way with the shopping for Christmas starting so early. 

Side note – I don’t understand why they have Black Friday here tomorrow if there is no Thanksgiving.  That scares me.  But, there was also Black Friday like two Saturdays ago, so I guess it’s all arbitrary anyway. 

Ok, back to the story from our Acto Civico…. The parents all brought a different simple dish like mashed potatoes, corn, bread… and we had chicken instead of turkey.  Some of the teachers worked together to make pies, stuffing, and green bean casserole.  Even though some of the parents were wary of the food selection and had said at the meeting, “maybe some of us should bring arroz con pollo (the dish they eat at every party)” they seemed to really like the feast.  The one thing they didn’t like was the gravy, which I don’t like either – so I totally understood. 

I am sitting at Café Milagro right now, taking this day off to catch up on my list of stories I want to tell.  I am thankful for so many things; I am thankful for my supportive and loving parents who always talk to me no matter how I am feeling, my really good solid friends that are spread out all over the world, having a healthy body and mind that takes me on amazing adventures, and the opportunities that I have had and continue to have that connect me with others in the most interesting ways. 

The World is Your Living Room....

No, Really - it's not a metaphor.

If you look closely, you can see the green Christmas lights strewn out on the floor between the fan and the television.   It's hard to say, but I think that is the part that amuses me most. 

Weirdness of the Week (the second episode in one week!)

1.  Tonight on my way home, I saw 9 young boys (around 6-10 years old) pushing a car up the hill.  I assume an adult was driving, but one really can't be sure.  They were all shrieking and laughing.  It was quite a sight. 

2.  Remember how I said that there is a dentist in every neighborhood and compared it to how there's a Starbucks on every corner in the US?  Well, I noticed - today- that it was even crazier than I thought.  The dentist's office 50 meters from my house, literally... I'm not even joking... has another dentist's office across the street from it.  I once heard a comedy routine joking about there being a "Starbucks across from a Starbucks" and how only people with amnesia could make that work.  "You walk out of the Starbucks, see the other Starbucks, and think... gosh, I really need a cup of coffee."  I'm just kidding about that being the case with dentist's offices.... but it is kind of a funny correlation.

3.  My face is broken out with pimples right now.  Usually, I think everyone is judging it but not saying anything.... here, one doesn't have to worry.  Everyone who is judging it says so.  "You really should take care of that stuff on your face" or the best one (one of my 8 year old students) "What are those white things on your face?"  At least this takes the "imaginary audience" complex out of it.  Here, I know what people are thinking and I'm ok with that - there's a sort of peace in knowing.... most of the time.  It's like the time the girl at the ice cream shop told me I was getting fat and that she wasn't going to sell me more ice cream :[  haha.  She was incorrect, by the way - but I didn't go to her shop for a while.  That's an interesting way to up-sell customers. 

4.  I realized that I actually choose my route through town based on which sidewalks I like best.  Some are very treacherous and their every meter needs to be committed to memory.   One has to look down as he or she walks.  One distraction... looking up.... could lead to falling off a 3 foot sidewalk cliff into the precipice that is a  gutter.  Or, even more probable.... falling into the random canal that cuts straight across the sidewalk (I speak from experience on this one - luckily I stepped straight into it and was fine).  The topography of the sidewalks include canals, random gaping holes, uneven layers, moss covered slip and slides, and a multitude of different types of dog poop.  Navigating these is an art form.  I don't know how Ticas do it.... and in heels!

Manikin

This is one of the manikins I was talking about with the spray painted on facial hair. 

Doesn't it make it look more Latino? 

Tica Baby Shower - November 1st

Ok, so this one is a bit out of order... but I've been keeping a list of things I wanted to write about and it is now time to tell this story.

One of the awesome Tica teachers at school created a baby shower for the director.  It was so elaborate and it had games and a baby piñata and everything!

Is that normal for a baby shower to include a piñata or is that another unique thing about living here?  I'm starting not to be able to tell, anymore, what is normal or not.

The games made me feel like I was in a Spanish class.  One was a word find with baby words and another was a matching - match the baby animal name to the adult animal name.  Let's just say I was not very successful.  It was so sweet, though.  The moms really wanted to help me so they just told me all the answers.

I ended up being volunteered to feed baby food to one of the moms while we were both blindfolded.  We won.  I'm glad I wasn't the one eating the baby food.  

Weirdness of the Week (Episode 4.2 aka... I don't know - pura vida)

1.  You know how US cities now have a Starbucks on every corner.... well, here that role is taken by dentist's offices.  There is literally a dentist office in every neighborhood.  There is one less than 50 meters from my house.  The weird part is... you will be walking and it will be like - (quiet neighborhood) house, house, house, dentist office, house, house, house.  The only thing I can think of to justify this is that they do brush their teeth a lot here.

2.  The power can go out and nobody even flinches.  We just continue doing yoga without comment and enjoy the flashes of lightning that illuminate the teacher's silhouette as we do tree pose. 

3. A new fruit and vegetable "tienda" opened near my house.  Each time I go there and talk with Antony, the owner, he "gifts me" a new vegetable.  It's always, "here.. take this cucumber, too.  Make a nice salad."  "Take these bananas... they'll be good for breakfast."  I like him. 

4.  Today, I was riding the bus home and at the second to last stop - the bus driver just got out and left all the people on the bus.  I had gotten off, already, and asked him what he was doing.  He replied, "tengo ganas de comer piña (I have desire to eat pineapple)."  He quickly bought a slice of pineapple from the stand and hopped back on the bus.  That was really funny to me, especially thinking about using the phrase "I have desire to eat pineapple" in English.  Just another example of how some things don't translate. 

5.  Black Friday has already happened.... and it was on SATURDAY.  They called it "Black Friday," anyway.  I don't think they really thought much about the significance of those words.  Apparently the gossip of the town is that Maxi Pali (the Walmart of Quepos) was so full that you couldn't even enter the parking lot.  All to buy a TV that was marked down $10.  I told you that Christmas was earlier here... Decorations on Halloween and Black Friday on Saturday the 16th of November.  I bet this is what would happen to the US if we didn't have Halloween and Thanksgiving to hold us back.  What's next.... New Years anyone?

A Small Universe

I have been attending a contemporary dance class, here in Quepos.  It has only been the teacher and I for the past two weeks.  It is new, so maybe more people will catch on and start coming. 

The first class made me really happy :]  It felt so good to be dancing again and to hear the teacher sounding the rhythms with her voice.  In fact, it made me so happy because it felt like home.  It felt like my favorite dance teacher, Rosangela - from Brasil, was right here teaching me.  The sounds and the movements transported me to home. 

About half way through the class, I told the teacher that I was really enjoying it and that her style reminded me of my favorite dance teacher.  She asked who, and I told her it was someone from Brasil.  She then said, "I studied dance in Brasil."  It was crazy!!!! She studied dance with Rosangela!

In this small rural town in Costa Rica, I ended up in a contemporary dance class with a teacher that studied with my favorite teacher from Brazil. 

Now that is a small universe.

Fork de Doña Flor

When I lived in my old host family's house in Heredia, my host mom told me that if I ever lost one of her forks - it was worth $100.  I think it was one of her odd jokes, like the time she told my Tica friend that if I came home drunk she wouldn't let me in.... (she didn't laugh or anything to show it was a joke, but apparently that one was). 

Well, Saturday when I was cleaning up my room and my backpack and everything... guess what I found. 

Yep, one of her forks. 

I'm rich!

Whole Town Looking for Student

This Saturday night, a new student came to live at my house.  He was supposed to arrive around 5:30.  Here it was, 6:00 and he wasn't at the house.

I hear yelling at the front gate, which is not anywhere near abnormal.  It was the neighbor, dramatically informing my host mom that her student was wondering around town.... lost.  I guess someone had spotted him near the bus station and then told someone who told her.... Haha.  I just had this image of a whole chain reaction of gossip drama reaching our house. 

Anyways, it turns out the student wasn't really lost - he was just walking to our house.  The crisis and the neighborhood alert chain of communication was pretty amusing, though.  What I wondered was, instead of telling everyone.... why didn't one of those people just lead him to the house? 

I finished my first book in Spanish!

I was really excited because last week I finished my first book in Spanish.  It was El Alquimista - The Alchemist.  That book was a huge influence in me coming here in the first place, so it was fitting that it was the first one I finished in Spanish.  I think the fact that I had read it so many times already really helped my comprehension. 

Now I have started reading Jonathon Livingston Seagull in Spanish and it feels a lot harder.  Maybe I just need to get into it. 

Weirdness of the Week (Episode....? - Back to Life After Being REALLY Sick)

1.  Christmas decorations, here, go up before Halloween is over!  I guess when you don't have any holidays to stall the Christmas season... October is as good a time to start as any.  Also, Halloween is not celebrated here - they think it is evil.  Maybe decorating for Christmas on Halloween wards of any evil spirits that are angry that they are not being celebrated.

2.  If you send mail to Costa Rica, it might end up in Brazil.  Don't ask me how.

3.  The manikins here have spray painted on facial hair - to look more Latino, I guess.

4.  I like when people call me "reina" like when I'm shopping.  It makes me feel like a queen :]

5.  Today, I saw an iguana crossing the road.  It was huge, and right in front of me on the sidewalk.  The other people walking by looked at it like it was as normal as a pigeon in New York.

6.  If you have the flu, you can just say you have dengue.  It is the default disease here.  I still insist that I had it... even though it turns out what I really had was dysentery... which by the way, nobody here that I tell has ever herd of.