Rich...

"rich is not who has the most, rich is one who needs the least"-unknown proverb.

i shed a tear today as i watched a homeless man share his bread with a stray dog. He reached down and petted the black mangled fur coat as he tore a piece of bread into two and gently offered it to the animal. I have yet to learn so much in this life!

Swept away by the rain!

It was only a couple of months ago that I found myself talking to a little old lady at the bus stop who was afraid to go out in the rain. I had never heard of such a thing before!!! Afraid of the rain?!* Afraid that she might get caught up in the current and drown?!* I had never seen rain like that before, that strong and mighty, nor had I ever thought of such a peculiar (or what I thought peculiar) fear, UNTIL.... I experienced the rainy season in Costa Rica!!! The rain here is so powerful. During the rainy season it rains for 2-3 hours straight and since the water has nowhere to go in the already over saturated soil, it gushes out of the drains, spews from the streets and runs down the sidewalks making it impossible to maintain a firm grip between the soles of your shoes and the ground beneath. Some blame El Niño for the recent extra rains, some the tear in the ozone layer, others try not to focus on the negative and set their sights on summer, almost as a mantra repeating, "summer is just around the corner." Whatever the cause, I now understand the little old lady who doesn't leave her house when it starts to rain and share these pictures with you.

Mi corazón dice SI

Yesterday was a politically-charged day here in Costa Rica, as the citizens voted on the free trade agreement, CAFTA, deciding that "Si!" (Yes), they would sign on to the agreement between the U.S. and the other Central American countries. The final result, with 60% of the population voting, was extremely close: 51.7% yes and 48.3% no.

TLC

This is the buzz word here lately, and one only wishes the acronym stood for Tender Loving Care, because it is one of the most polemic debates this country has ever seen. Yet, TLC stands for el Tratado de Libre Comercio or the free trade agreement with the United States known as CAFTA. Costa Rica is the only Central American country that still has yet to ratify the agreement. However, the decision is now in the hands of the people….with an upcoming referendum. On October 7, Costa Rica citizens will go to the polls to vote SI or NO al TLC. The debate has enveloped the country in the last months and there is propaganda from both sides everywhere; there have been rallies, demonstrations, marches, buttons, and televised debates. The apartment below us happens to be one of the headquarters for the SI campaign and last week we were awakened to sounds of glass breaking as a group threw rocks through the window and sprayed the building with the words “NO AL TLC”. Those against the treaty claim that Costa Rica will never be able to compete with the imports that will enter tax free if the treaty is signed. The public services such as electricity and water will become privatized, meaning that prices will go up. Those who stand behind the SI banner, argue that the treaty will bring new jobs and possibilities to Costa Rica. In their opinion Costa Rica must sign the treaty if it wants to continue to compete in the global market. It is hard to say what will happen on October 7, but one thing is for sure, it is a pivotal time in the history of this nation.

Not cheap!

Many things in Costa Rica are cheap, like a pinneaple for 50 cents or a t-shirt for 2 bucks but in my opinion the overall cost of living in Costa Rica is high. I heard on the news the other night that Guatemala City is the most expensive central american city and San Jose, Costa Rica is second. Gas here is more than $4 dollars a liter and many of the other products are imported so they cost more than they would cost in the States. For example, peanut butter costs $4 bucks.

Highlights!

After an almost 2 week trek across Costa Rica, I finally feel like I can say that I have seen Costa Rica!I still have many places to visit yet on my list, but I have now been outside my University town, and seen both the Carribean and Pacific coasts. My favorite beach so far would probably be at the National Park Manuel Antonio (Pacific coast) where squirrel monkeys played in the nearby palm trees. One of the highlights was watching a sloth creep slowly along the telephone wires trying to get to the next tree. I saw the glowing red lava spew from the Arenal volcano at night, but was a little disappointed by some hotsprings that turned out to be just your local swimming pool with hot water. My favorite meal would probably be the Carribean rice and beans (made with coconut juice), patacones (fried plantains) and fresh fish. Here they serve the whole fish to you, so it looks like it's staring at you. I have a friend who loves to eat the fish head and all, sucking out the brains. She says its the best part.

Did I mention that I love dogs?

Big dogs!! None of those small yippy, sit in your lap dogs. Sorry Sam (my dad's dog). I have run into the most beautiful dogs here. My absolute favorite is Akira, who is a Samoyed/Huskie cross. She has beautiful blue eyes and and a milky white coat. And then there is Rover(that's what I dubbed him anyways) who I met on the beach. He even swam with me in the ocean for awhile. I almost had to switch host families when I got to Costa Rica because I had put on my questionnaire that I liked big dogs and my host family had a scary looking Rotweiler that I was sure was going to kill me, but he ended up being one of the most docile dogs I have ever met. As soon as I buy my own place, I am getting myself a big dog.

Finals!

Next Saturday I will have completed my first semester abroad at the beautiful Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica. I had one take home exam, which took me an entire day to answer (explaining genre, functionality, and intertextuality concerning semantics of translation) and a spanish/english glossary about trans fats that I have to turn in by the end of this week. Trans fats is made when hydrogen is aadded to vegetable oil-a process called hyddrogenation. Trans fat is found in many commercicaly packaged produts and fried foods. I will have a month of vacation and my best friend Hollie Schiller will be visiting the first two weeks of July so we hope to see more of Costa Rica together. What do I miss most after 6 months abroad, probably driving.?!*

Panama Canal Trivia

Did you know they are planning to widen the Panama Canal? The citizens voted last year and the votes were tallied and the Panama Canal will be expanded to allow bigger vessels access. All I could think about while I was visiting the Canal was how my dad would love to see this-he is such a history buff. Did you know that the US uses the canal more than any other country, and China is close behind. There are 3 locks that barges must pass through to go from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. And did you know that it would take approximately 5,800 trucks/or 570 Boeings/ or 18 trains to accomadate the same cargo that the average barge carries?

San Blas Islands

You know the microsoft screen saver on your computer with the palm tree on the island in the middle of the pristine ocean??? Yeah, I was there. I think it was one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life. I traveled to Panama over Semana Santa and took a small plane to the San Blas islands, about half an hour from Panama City. There I learned about the Kuna Yala, an indigenous community, who live on more than 300 islands off the Atlantic coast of Panama. When a girl gets her first menstrual period, she goes through a ceremony where her hair is cut and she is given her traditonal dress. Most of the women also wear a gold ring through their septum and beads on their ankles and wrists that they call chakiras. Most of the women only speak the indigenous Kuna language, but the men speak Kuna and Spanish. They are fishermen who paddle around in wooden boats carved out of enormous tree trunks. I ate fresh fish (corvina, and tuna) and rice for every meal. The Kuna have their own laws, own police and immigration agents and a chief in every village. They don't believe in prison and are only allowed to drink on special days that have been set aside. Most Panamanians have not visited the islands, however you will find tourists from every country imaginable. The Kuna have grown accustomed to the influx of tourists and charge $1 for each photo taken. They embroidery intricate designs with bold colors on fabric and also carve boats and statues out of wood.

Soap and the 3 T´s

Before leaving the house make sure you have the following:
Soap-because none of the bathrooms have it. It doesn´t make it into the budget here, so I just carry a little bottle with me everywhere...which leads me to my first T...
Toilet paper-also not important enough to make it into the University budget. Always put a wad in your pocket before heading out the door.
Toothbrush-Oral hygiene is very important here. As my friend told me, I have a toothbrush in my car, in the shower and in my backpack. Amazing. I always see people brushing their teeth in the bathroom.
Textmessaging-You always try to avoid talking to someone in person here. First send a textmessage. It is super cheap, and you can do it wherever you are, waiting for the bus, in class when you are bored, in the car, on the plane, when you are sad, when you are mad...

Un día....

Wake-up around 6 am and after a shower have some fresh fruit. Right now cantelope is in season. My Portuguese class starts at 8 am but I usually wait for the bus 30 minutes to an hour on Mondays because the traffic is so bad. It costs less than 50 cents to ride the bus and I get there in 15 minutes. I greet my classmates when I enter the room, even if I get there late and the teacher is talking, because it is respectful here. Class is always very interactive and we do work in parejas (partners) all the time. Class finishes at 10:30 so sometimes I will go have a coffee with some friends at the soda (cafeteria) or I will hit the computer lab. Most businesses and banks close for luch 12-1:00 everyday. I heat up my food at the soda after standing in the microwave line for 10 minutes and enjoy delicious homemade beans and rice and squash and fresh cheese. I study in the library with my friend Andres who is majoring in Chemistry. Most costa ricans have a merienda at around 3pm of coffee and some snack like tortillas with cheese. The campus is beautiful so I usually study outside under the shade of a tree. On Thursday´s I go to the Roteract meeting at 8pm and they usually hang out at a bar afterwards to sing Kareoke or catch a bite to eat. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run with Eleazer, who is a neighbor in his 60´s . He is trying to show me all of Costa Rica on foot. Last Tuesday we took a bus to Santa Elena and ran home along a beautiful trail that was adorned with mango and fig trees, and stray dogs lying in the shade. I used to watch the telenovela Betty la Fea with Grace everynight before going to bed, but the series finished so I usually try and have a mini English lesson with Grace before going to bed. Most of my classes are on Saturdays: Semantics of Text; Strategy of Translation; Terminology and Lexicography and Spanish Syntax and Grammar.

Roteract

Do not retreat into your private world,

That place of safety, sheltered from the storm,

Where you may tend your garden, seek your soul,

And rest with loved ones where the fire burns warm.

To tend a garden is a precious thing

But dearer still the one where all may roam,

The weeds of poison, poverty, and war,

Demand your care, who call the earth your home.

To seek your soul is a precious thing,

But you will never find it on your own,

Only among the clamor, threat, and pain

Of other people´s need will love be known.

To rest with loved ones is a precious thing,

But peace of mind exacts a higher cost,

your children will not rest and play in quiet,

While they still hear the crying of the lost.

Do not retreat into your private world,

There are more ways than firesides to keep warm;

There is no shelter from the rage of life,

So meet its eye, and dance within the storm.

-Kathy Galloway

La Gloria

The beauty of Costa Rica is indescribable!! This weekend I traveled to a little town called La Gloria about 2 hours from the city. We spent the whole weekend swimming in the river, riding horses and driving around in the jeep. I now know what 4 wheel drive is meant for. You would not believe what we drove through. I think my motto for life after this year will be ´NO FEAR´. The embankments that we drove up and the terain that we crossed was nothing I had seen before. We traveled mostly on red dirt roads and across rivers and under bridges because they were unsafe to cross. I felt like a pinball machine bouncing back and forth in the car as it tried to avoid huge potholes in the road. We were surrounded by lush green mountains that touch the sky and rainbow colored parrots flying in the sky above. Did you know that parrots in the wild are never alone but always with their mate. We encountered the red bitting ants, and got a little too close for comfort to a poisonous snake (terciopelo) that was on the path to a waterfall we swam in.

Pato

My Rotary counselor´s name is Ronald Garcia Solano, but you can just call him Pato. That´s short for duck in English as in Daffy Duck. Here in tikolandia, as my professor likes to call Costa Rica, everyone has nicknames, sometimes endearing, but most of the time a name that plays off of some physical charateristic that the person has. For example if you are skinny, your nickname might be gorda (fatty). And usually the nicknames are used so frequently that the person´s real name is not known. So the lady down the block is named Macha (Blondie) and one of the director´s at school is named Gata (Cat) because she has green eyes. And on the phone, all you hear is mi amor, mi vida, mi cielo, (my love, my life, my sky).
My counselor works in the advertising business. He has been in the Rotary club for 15 years now. The Rotary Club has seen him through some very hard times. The commaraderie, the brotherhood as he likes to call it, is what Rotary is all about. He is currently the President of the Club in Alajuela, which has approximately 20 members. Some of the projects they have completed in the past have been making the sidewalks in their city accesible for wheelchairs, distributing school supplies to needy children, and establishing microloans to the poor who want to start their own businesses. Ronald is a connesieur(spelling)? in meats, loves to Barbeque. He drives a 4x4 jeep, which is great for avoiding all the potholes here, and he loves the local beer which is known as the Imperial. He lives with his mother and loves to babysit for his 2 nieces for whom he bought princess diaries with a locket and key. They sat down and taught me all the Spanish names of the Disney princesses(Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, etc). You never know when this information might come in handy. Don´t you love the picture of Pato with his apron that reads, ¨Boss of the BBQ¨.

Paraiso

I was really sick this week. I had the Montezuma runs as my friend likes to call it. I can honestly say that I have never felt so lonely in my life as I did this week. I think it was because I layed in bed for 2 days practically quarantined. A virus is going around at school, so that´s probably what it was. There have been at least a dozen of us who have gotten sick at school. The healthcare system is intriguing here. You basically are your own doctor here. You prescribe yourself whatever medication you need and go to the pharmacy and request it. The ticos also believe strongly in shots, even shots for vitamins. I personally hate shots, so I opted for the suero(vitamin-mineral water) to regain my strength. I asked the pharmacist what flavor was preffered and was told fruit punch, but I think I would go with grape next time.
On a side note, I love it how everything tastes different in this country. My favorite difference is the Coca-cola. I have asked some ticos about it, and they say it is due to the fresh spring water that is used to make the Coke here. Although I am not usually a coffee drinker, the coffee is incredibe here. The caffeine doesn´t give me a headache, and it has such a smooth texture-unlike the Coke, the coffee is so rica because it is grown on the enriched soil of the volcanic mountains of Costa Rica. The cheap coffee here is just as good as the expensive stuff. Jacquelinda-I sip my coffee and think of you. The fruit here is also out of this world. Like the white pinneapple-never knew it existed before this. I guess there is no market for it in the USA. Usually the big meal here is during breakfast and lunch, and coffee and a roll for dinner. For breakfast there is gallo pinto (black beans and rice) and fruit and always fresh juice for every meal. Buen provecho!

Megan squared

Megan cuadrado or Megan to the second power. Maybe we became good friends because we had something in common right off the bat-like the beautiful name MEGHAN. She spells her without an ´H´but we won´t get into the correct spelling of the name today. Megan Nelson or Megan numero 1 as she is known. She arrived in Costa Rica before me so she honestly got the title numero 1, and I am known as Meghan numero 2. Our stories are somewhat similar. She is an Ambassadorial Scholar as well, a homegrown girl from Iowa who will be studying a masters degree in Peace Studies at the local University with me. I like to point out that she is younger than me and I will be taking care of her this year as I promised her dad, but as I have quickly found out she can carry her own. Full of smiles and lots of love, we make a great team, double trouble, and we love introducing ourselves because we get immediate smiles.

I really don´t know how I would have made it through the first weeks if I hadn´t had her by my side. We are able to bounce ideas off of each other, correct our Spanish, walk each other home at night and make Rotary plans together. I am sure I will have many more stories to tell of my media pina (media naranja is a term used for novios-so I just invented a meganism to fit our friendship).

Pura Vida!

The exact translation of ´Pura Vida´ might be the pure life, but it is the Costa Rican way of saying Hakuna Matata. It literally means no worries, or hang loose. Ticos (Costa Ricans) greet each other on the street with Pura Vida, or answer the phone by saying Pura Vida. So what is this Pura Vida all about? One of my quests this year will be to discover how a tico defines this Pura Vida. Another interesting think that I have noticed is that ticos say Adios to each other when passing in the street, instead of Hola like other Central American countries.
It´s hard to know what to write in the first journal entry. Because this is not the first time I have been outside of the United States everything is not so overwhelming, but Costa Rica definetely has its unique sabor. So here is my top ten list. How you know you are in Costa Rica:
1. The teachers review the hammock rules the first day of school
2. You don´t ask what you are eating for lunch because you know there will be beans and rice
3. Futbol (soccer) is the national religion
4. You can spot the gringos because they are all wearing Chaco sandles
5. Ticos ask you questions about Johnny Dep like he´s your best friend
6. A whole pinneapple costs 40 cents
7. From the tallest mountain you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
8. Everyone goes to the beach on the weekends
9. There is no such thing as a huge bug-because they are all huge here
10. If you don´t own a rotweiler or a pitbull someone will break into your house