Feliz Dia, Papacitos!

June 21, 2009

¡Buenas! Feliz Día del Padre (Happy Father’s Day) everyone!

Although Mother’s Day is not celebrated until August here, Father’s Day this year was celebrated on the same day as in the States. We had a whole mess of people over today to celebrate, which was a lot of fun (see photo for the mess of people). My host Dad (the short, happy gentleman who is farthest to the right in the photo) could not be more adorable, and I absolutely love our relationship. Today I made him and my host brother-in-law (and the rest of the family) chocolate and banana pancakes, which they obviously loved. None of them had ever had pancakes or maple syrup before, so they it was kind of a big deal. The other day I introduced them to peanut butter, which might have been the most significant cultural information that I have shared with anyone at this point. I plan to spread my love for peanut butter all over this country. Here you can find small jars of it in big supermarkets, but hardly anyone actually buys it because it just isn’t part of the culture (and it’s expensive). I’m going to start making it my just putting a bunch of peanuts in the blender. I’ve become partial to peanut butter and guayanaba jelly sandwiches here. Guayanaba is a super common fruit here, and if you can find guayanaba jelly in the States then I highly recommend it. Guayanaba jelly is to Ticos what strawberry jam is to people in the States…everyone has it. There are so many fruits and vegetables here that are not available in the States, and I know them well now because, unlike in San Jose, here in Buenos Aires I get to eat food with… (wait for it)…nutrients!!! I actually get a little sad when other people invite me to eat meals with them, because it is never as good as the stuff I get at home. Come visit me and try it for yourself, contact your travel agent today.

So, I haven’t written in a while because I’ve been very busy making the world a better place. Actually, I’ve been busy trying not to screw up while taking over projects while the volunteer who I’m replacing is out of town. This week, I taught English classes by myself for the first time, which was scary. People go to college for 4 years or more in order to learn how to teach English as a second language, and that is the way it should be. My second class was certainly better than the first (which was just short of disastrous), so I’m hoping they will just keep getting better. I also teach English to 3 kindergarten classes, which is the cutest thing ever. First of all, they are in kindergarten, which automatically makes them adorable. Second, as if the little blue dresses that all the girls wear weren’t precious enough, the little boys wear smocks - that’s right - SMOCKS!!! If you are not familiar with the “smock,” it is like a normal boy’s collared shirt, but the bottom part has a little skirt on it, and they wear them with little blue shorts. I’ve got to take a picture of them – you will die of adorableness poisoning for sure.

I’ll never get through this post if I don’t just sum up some of the other stuff that went on this past week:

- I led a community meeting with residents of the ghetto that is close to where I live, which went extremely well. Last week I created a community survey in order to collect baseline data regarding their living situations, but because a large number of the residents cannot read I ended up spending hours individually interviewing people, which was better because I learned a lot more about each family. Every now and then I run into someone from the community and they tell me that someone else in their family wants to meet me, so I often have lengthy, impromptu visits to the community as well. I have so much respect for the people who are living in the conditions over there…I honestly don’t know if I would be strong enough to do it and still remain sane.

- My exercise classes are going really well, although I’m still spending hours preparing for them in order to get a handle on the exercise vocabulary, which is not exactly something I’ve had the opportunity to study before. I’ve decided that making people sweat, walk funny, and feel really good about themselves at the same time is one of my favorite things in the world.

- Still keeping up my morning walks with a couple of women who are trying to get started in the world of exercise. The one who has been walking with me since I arrived said she’s lost 15 kilos and can wear all kinds of old clothes that she hasn’t worn in years. I am very proud of her.

Okay, talking about work is boring, here are some random thoughts:

- I am trying to master salsa, swing, bachata, meregue, and cumbia…I received a crash course from two of my coworkers at the high school the other day…hoping to be a pro by 2011.

- My coworker at the high school invited me to her neice’s quincernera (15^th bday party), which was a lot of fun, and in true Tico fashion I was welcomed into their family with open arms. I was invited to spend a weekend with about 5 different families, and my coworkers sister even invited me to her wedding next week. People are SOOOO nice here!

- The water company here keeps shutting off the water because it’s the rainy season so it’s more vulnerable to contamination. I really like water a lot, not just to drink but also to cook, bathe, flush the toilet, wash my hands after using the toilet…the list goes on. As you can probably imagine, I get pretty sad when it goes away.

- I am in heaven with my new host family. Yesterday I spent the day about an hour away in Perez Zeledon, and when I got home at night my 21 and 23 year old host sisters practically tackled me as they ran over to greet me and tell me how much everyone missed me (I was gone from 11am until about 9pm). I also got eaten alive my mosquitos and these other little “bichos” (bugs) that are balck and really small but make big red bites that are twice their own size. I hate them…hate them. My legs are all swollen and look diseased and it kind of hurts to walk. Oh, my trip to Perez was super fun though. I went to my coworker’s niece’s quinciñera (15^th bday party).

- Today marks the third time that my host family has forced me to sing karaoke to Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” They don’t actually force me, but these people are so sweet that it is basically impossible to say no to them. Also, they do not play when it comes to karaoke…it is unfortunately something about which they are genuinely (and painfully) passionate.

- Next time you are eating salted peanuts, sprinkle some lime over top, eat them, and then send me a pretty thank you card. You’re welcome.

- Ticos use the word “culantro,” pronounced “koo-lan-trow” instead of cilantro. It’s funny because it sounds a lot like the bad word for butt, “culo.”

- Tuanis (pronounced too-AH-neese) is a word to describe something as being really good, but in a cool way. It’s like “awesome,” but with actual street cred. Apparently, the word evolved from English-speaking people on the Cariibean side of the country saying “too nice.” I try to use it as frequently as possible.

That’s a little taste of just some of the things going on in my head right now…I’d love to hear from everyone so keep me updated with emails. I’m hoping to have a cell phone in the next week, so email me if you want my number, and if I actually know who you are I’ll send it to you.

Tuanis.