Monday, January 14, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Home in a Strange Land
I have found a place to live! I move in tomorrow, but today I shopped for food.
First of all, my new house is three blocks from where I am currently staying, which is delightful. The house owner (Sofia) works elsewhere, so is only home weekends, and is renting two rooms, one downstairs and one up. It is a relatively new house which means things work. I have taken the downstairs which will be cooler, I think, and has its own 3/4 bath and TV. I'm not normally that excited about TV, but I've decided that a perfect way for me to become fluent in Spanish is to watch shows with English subtitles. I will work hard at this nightly.
Sofia's Mami and Papi live behind the house with an adjoining iron gate, and they keep an eye on the place when no one is around. Which is an excellent idea here in Costa Rica, as burglary is a common occurrence. The local answer to Mexican barbwire (broken glass atop walls) is actual barbed wired in two tiers of ~14 inch rolls atop walls. These don't look very nice, of course, so they then plant flowering vines to cover them up. In better neighborhoods there's not so much walking up to houses as there is ringing a bell at the front gate, as houses are rung round by iron or concrete walls.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the house. Lovely back yard with lemon and other fruit trees which I do not recognize but might be related to a peach, a covered patio with built-in barbeque, clothes lines. Upstairs has a central lounging area with two balconies, one with a view all the way to downtown San Jose! Possible sun bathing territory in anticipation of long unseen body parts being in proximity to a beach. Downstairs a living room, separate dining room and kitchen. Oh, there's a woman who cleans the shared spaces once a week and another person who cuts the grass.
To market to market.... The tiny local mercado is ~15 blocks from me and open on Saturdays until noon. For $11.60 I got: 8 eggs -one broke in my backpack on the way home :( , 3 onions, 3 sweet red peppers, 2 cucumbers, 1 large avocado, small pineapple, papaya, 3 tomatoes, 1 kilo beans, 3 heads garlic, 5 small potatoes, 5 large carrots, 2 gala apples, small bunch cilantro.
Costa Rican food mainly consists of beans, rice, vegetables (avocados, tomatoes, onions, carrots, cucumbers, sweet peppers, maybe broccoli,) and fruit (pineapple, watermelon, papaya, mango, granadilla / passion fruit, cooked plantain). Some meat or seafood thrown in for good measure: so far I've had pork, chicken, canned tuna. Beer is widely drunk as are refrescos, a (possibly sweetened and) strained fruit juice, and of course coffee. A popular salad is marinated tomato, onion, cucumber, carrot. A common breakfast is fruit, beans/rice/vegetables mixture, fried egg, coffee. Shawn and Laura, I think I'm getting fond of crispy fried eggs! Other meals are often accompanied by deep fried plantain. All very tasty. Though I've heard more than one person complain they were sick of beans and rice and the many ways that creative Ticos have found to combine the two. I purchased a small cookbook from my B&B, so will be trying some of these same recipes. It might take me more than seven months to tire of bean and rice combos.
Saturday, Jan 12
First of all, my new house is three blocks from where I am currently staying, which is delightful. The house owner (Sofia) works elsewhere, so is only home weekends, and is renting two rooms, one downstairs and one up. It is a relatively new house which means things work. I have taken the downstairs which will be cooler, I think, and has its own 3/4 bath and TV. I'm not normally that excited about TV, but I've decided that a perfect way for me to become fluent in Spanish is to watch shows with English subtitles. I will work hard at this nightly.Where was I? Oh yeah, the house. Lovely back yard with lemon and other fruit trees which I do not recognize but might be related to a peach, a covered patio with built-in barbeque, clothes lines. Upstairs has a central lounging area with two balconies, one with a view all the way to downtown San Jose! Possible sun bathing territory in anticipation of long unseen body parts being in proximity to a beach. Downstairs a living room, separate dining room and kitchen. Oh, there's a woman who cleans the shared spaces once a week and another person who cuts the grass.
To market to market.... The tiny local mercado is ~15 blocks from me and open on Saturdays until noon. For $11.60 I got: 8 eggs -one broke in my backpack on the way home :( , 3 onions, 3 sweet red peppers, 2 cucumbers, 1 large avocado, small pineapple, papaya, 3 tomatoes, 1 kilo beans, 3 heads garlic, 5 small potatoes, 5 large carrots, 2 gala apples, small bunch cilantro.
Costa Rican food mainly consists of beans, rice, vegetables (avocados, tomatoes, onions, carrots, cucumbers, sweet peppers, maybe broccoli,) and fruit (pineapple, watermelon, papaya, mango, granadilla / passion fruit, cooked plantain). Some meat or seafood thrown in for good measure: so far I've had pork, chicken, canned tuna. Beer is widely drunk as are refrescos, a (possibly sweetened and) strained fruit juice, and of course coffee. A popular salad is marinated tomato, onion, cucumber, carrot. A common breakfast is fruit, beans/rice/vegetables mixture, fried egg, coffee. Shawn and Laura, I think I'm getting fond of crispy fried eggs! Other meals are often accompanied by deep fried plantain. All very tasty. Though I've heard more than one person complain they were sick of beans and rice and the many ways that creative Ticos have found to combine the two. I purchased a small cookbook from my B&B, so will be trying some of these same recipes. It might take me more than seven months to tire of bean and rice combos.Saturday, Jan 12
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Mystery of Traffic in Costa Rica
I am sitting in a walled-in tropical garden eating breakfast to classical piano. The B&B owner is playing Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, ... the garden is filled with palms, bougainvillea, lemon trees, verbena ... sun is filtering through the palm tree. A perfect day in a sheltered and safe place.
But that is not what I came to discuss, because soon I will be walking to a bus and trying my luck at being a pedestrian here. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in Costa Rica.
It's very tricky, and quite dangerous to the uninitiated, to survive traffic. In getting my traffic legs, I've discovered a few things of import. Evidently, traffic signals and signs are considered mere suggestions for possible comportment. Whether a particular driver will comply with these suggestions is completely unpredictable, and only the foolish (and possibly now dead) think otherwise.
Many sections of roads have no sidewalk and no shoulder, and might also border a deep ditch. So one might be breezily walking along a sidewalk on a heavily trafficked, high-speed road, concentrating on how far and on which side of the road one might find his or her next bus, when suddenly(she) is faced with the end of said sidewalk. There is no turning back if one wants to continue to conduct her business, so one forges ahead with great trepidation onto the edge of the road, and if she were a religious person, praying mightily, and trying not to close her eyes until she reaches the next stretch of sidewalk.
Another unsettling thing at first is that drivers here honk their horns a lot. As a pedestrian, this is a little crazy making, since a honking horn could mean "Hey," "Get out of my way!" "You idiot" "Could you please move over just a little bit?" or "How you doin'." Perhaps even "Call me." Of course the context is the clue, but as a pedestrian one often doesn't have a clue, from not having the vantage point of the honkee to determine what the hell is going on.
The mystery, of course, is that there are not more foreigners lifeless on the roadsides.
So far, so good.
But that is not what I came to discuss, because soon I will be walking to a bus and trying my luck at being a pedestrian here. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in Costa Rica.
It's very tricky, and quite dangerous to the uninitiated, to survive traffic. In getting my traffic legs, I've discovered a few things of import. Evidently, traffic signals and signs are considered mere suggestions for possible comportment. Whether a particular driver will comply with these suggestions is completely unpredictable, and only the foolish (and possibly now dead) think otherwise.
Many sections of roads have no sidewalk and no shoulder, and might also border a deep ditch. So one might be breezily walking along a sidewalk on a heavily trafficked, high-speed road, concentrating on how far and on which side of the road one might find his or her next bus, when suddenly(she) is faced with the end of said sidewalk. There is no turning back if one wants to continue to conduct her business, so one forges ahead with great trepidation onto the edge of the road, and if she were a religious person, praying mightily, and trying not to close her eyes until she reaches the next stretch of sidewalk.
Another unsettling thing at first is that drivers here honk their horns a lot. As a pedestrian, this is a little crazy making, since a honking horn could mean "Hey," "Get out of my way!" "You idiot" "Could you please move over just a little bit?" or "How you doin'." Perhaps even "Call me." Of course the context is the clue, but as a pedestrian one often doesn't have a clue, from not having the vantage point of the honkee to determine what the hell is going on.
The mystery, of course, is that there are not more foreigners lifeless on the roadsides.
So far, so good.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Bouts of Travel
Recently a friend said her husband had had two bouts of traveling in his youth. I was so fascinated by this turn of phrase that I dug into it. My first impression was that perhaps a desire to travel comes on like the flu. Fierce, something to be survived.
Here's what I found:
- a contest or trial of strength,: a contest between antagonists: a spell: a bout of illness: a period of time spent: often something considered distasteful "His tremendous bouts of drinking:" attack of illness:
Attack of traveling, bouts of melancholy, contest of strength, . All these seem to fit traveling into a strange land. Nature and culture as antagonists. Something to revel in and triumph over. (oh there's that pesky preposition!.)
Another friend, in response to my saying I felt unsettled, said "Well that's sort of the point of traveling alone." Friends are so good.
I also suspect that traveling is sometimes responsible for tarentellas. An uncontrollable urge to wild and swirling dancing (often in the streets). Although in southern Italy in the 15th to 17th centuries, such behavior was attributed by tarantism, believed to be caused by a tarantula bite.
Travel is good.
Here's what I found:
- a contest or trial of strength,: a contest between antagonists: a spell: a bout of illness: a period of time spent: often something considered distasteful "His tremendous bouts of drinking:" attack of illness:
Attack of traveling, bouts of melancholy, contest of strength, . All these seem to fit traveling into a strange land. Nature and culture as antagonists. Something to revel in and triumph over. (oh there's that pesky preposition!.)
Another friend, in response to my saying I felt unsettled, said "Well that's sort of the point of traveling alone." Friends are so good.
I also suspect that traveling is sometimes responsible for tarentellas. An uncontrollable urge to wild and swirling dancing (often in the streets). Although in southern Italy in the 15th to 17th centuries, such behavior was attributed by tarantism, believed to be caused by a tarantula bite.
Travel is good.
Alien Fruit
- the outer shell is similar to a delicate gourd -easy to tear off,
enclosing a sack of gelatinous black seeds.
I think I could get used to it.
A wonderfully clear day, a 4WD trip to the mountains + a Coffee Finca
We were slip sliding down the primitive road toward the truck gathering coffee beans being picked on the slopes. Harvesting coffee beans is demanding- walking up and down the hillside with a large tub tied around one's waist, balancing while pulling the ripe beans from heavily laden bushes, being stung by caterpillars hidden in the foliage. By law, only the aribica coffee seeds can be grown in Costa Rica, to preserve the purity of the harvests. The bushes and beans are beautiful - reds and yellows of ripe beans, various shades of these mixed with green on others. The harvest is continual for months as the berries ripen at different times.
The finca we visited is a small family-owned and worked farm south of Cartago and Paraiso, southest of San Jose. [My B+B owners to left, James and Roy, and two of Roy's sisters - both working on the hill.]
Even small children work the hillside.
After the coffee tour, the mother of the family fixed us a simple and delicious lunch of beans, rice, potatoes/vegetables with chicken, fried plantain (so sweet!), simple salad and "moro" blackberry drink.
T
And a nice shot of Roy with machete and sugar cane. Not a good shot, really. But nice subject matter.
By the way, temperatures here are in the mid-70s to low 80s, down to 60 at night. I'm smiling.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Jan 3, 2013
I had a good cry this morning. I’ve been here what, three days? I’d just finished reading a scary and sweet
story about family ties, strong men capable of crying, a great-grandmother with
courage and valor. And I realized how
happy I would be to see the face of a loved friend sitting at a café in Heredia
waiting for me.
Today I’m looking for another place to stay, closer to
Heredia, cheaper, while I connect with the schools I’ve applied to. (Make that “to which I’ve applied” Ha!) Also a few of the local sites that beckon.
I'm getting conflicting news about finding work here teaching, and being self-supporting with teaching wages. I'm optimistic that I will do both. If that is not to be had here, I may push on for Ecuador. I hope that works for anyone planning to visit me in the next 7 months.
The B&B where I'm staying is wonderful - lovely and comfortable rooms, reading area, small lush garden, friendly and talented owner, who plays classical piano at breakfast! It's the perfect spot to launch myself into Costa Rican culture. I'll be here until Friday morning.
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