(Typed at la oficina de Tichar Dan, as pictured above.)(After finishing this entry, I realized that it’s kinda… no… really long. Then again, I had a two hour block in my morning with nothing else to do, so I decided to write a little. Still working on the piece about my week in Bataan building houses; hopefully that’s up soon.)
It’s now my third day in Boruca, and things are going about 100X better than I thought they would. After catching the last bus up the mountain on Tuesday, I walked across the street to my house to find that nobody was home. Awesome. Considering that home security in Boruca is nothing more than a string looped around the doorknob and nailed to the wall, I decided to let myself in after spending a few silent, awkward minutes with an old man who was also awaiting the return of my family.
After a few minutes of cleaning my backpack outside from the dirty week in Bataan and dirtier bus ride up the mountain, Asdrubal, the oldest brother in the family, showed up and offered me coffee. Asdrubal is an English teacher in another town, so I got to practice my Spanish with a sympathetic ear, as well as ask more specific questions that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to pull off in Spanish. The rest of the family eventually returned home… turns out that Oscar, the father, had simply forgotten that I had called and said I’d be on the last bus. It happens. The youngest daughter, Nashaly (4 years old), and Asdrubal’s son, Dillon (3), immediately rejoiced at my arrival by shouting “TICHAR!,” the named bestowed on whatever tall white guy that happens to be living in the town, since the white guy is always the English teacher. Nashaly and Dillon have become my best friends here over the first few days. I ask them how to say different words in Spanish, and they happily oblige while laughing at my Gringo pronunciation.
Wednesday, my first full day, was an exercise in filling time. After waking up at 8:30 and learning that my school director, Mario, was out of town until 3, I had a ton of time to fill with limited resources. My schedule, with no time noted because I’ve learned that specific times don’t mean much here:
- Eat breakfast. Gallo pinto, eggs, and coffee. Delicious. Nashaly laughs in my face for a good minute when she pounds her entire cup of coffee in the time it takes me to drink half of mine. Four year olds chugging coffee… nice.
- Shower. Possibly the biggest news of the year: AGUA CALIENTE! Since my last visit, my family installed an electric showerhead that allows me to take hot showers. It was my first hot shower in a week and a half, and I don’t think I’ve been so excited about something since the Sox won the World Series. Also, there were no big spiders in the shower like last time. That was a plus.
- Read. A lot. One of the things that I’m excited about this year is all the reading I’ll have time to do. With my last five years filled with college, teaching, and having friends that speak my language, I haven’t had a ton of time to read. I’ve been able to finish two books since arriving in Costa Rica – David Sedaris’ “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and Dennis Lehane’s “Darkness, Take My Hand.” Both are recommended, and both were comforting in certain ways: “Me Talk Pretty…” was largely comprised of embarrassing stories from when he was learning a new language, and “Darkness…” was set in Boston, including a chase scene over the Fore River Bridge that I crossed every morning to get to Cohasset. I’m now about halfway through “Into the Wild,” with another three books on deck.
- Watch the news. Basically, there were only two stories on the news today: every possible angle of Wednesday night’s soccer game between Costa Rica and Honduras, and Steven Segal’s visit to the country/meeting with Oscar Arias, Costa Rica’s president. Yes, you read that right. Not only is Steven Segal a national news story down here, HE GOT TO MEET WITH THE FREAKING PRESIDENT. If he can get a meeting with the president, who can’t? Do they tell him ‘yes’ but turn down Jared the Subway Guy? If so, Jared would have a legitimate gripe.
- Clean. Upon discovering the top shelf of my room was full of dust and materials from the volunteer that was here in 2006, I decided to spend a good hour or two cleaning. Things I discovered: a snare drum, a belt (I needed an extra one), and a backpack in the shape of a frog. Score.
- Walk to my director’s house and talk. On the walk there, I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or be scared enough to run back down the mountain. Well, when he answered the door with no shirt, dripping wet, and a towel draped over his shoulders, my fears were alleviated. We talked for a few minutes, and he told me that I could go to the school at 8 in the morning the next day.
- Take a walk. A long walk. It being 3:45 and my entertainment options exhausted until the soccer game that night, I trek out with some water and my camera with no real idea of where anything is. I follow the river for a few minutes to get to the plaza (soccer field), and with nothing to see there, I continue on up the road as it climbs up the mountain. There wasn’t a whole lot up there besides great views of Boruca and surrounding farms. Like this:
And this (my house is right in front of the big, ugly white building to the right):
I found an offroad trail that I followed for a bit through jungley terrain, but decided to turn around when I realized that getting lost in the jungle on my first full day was a good way to pick up some nicknames. On the way back, I discovered that the colegio (high school) offers internet access for 300 colones (about 50 something cents) an hour. Another score.
- Eat dinner. Rice, beans, and chorizo. Mmm.
- Futbol! The town started to rumble a few minutes before kickoff, with the sound blasting from the pulperia (convenience store/meeting place) across the street. The first half was pretty uneventful, with the highlight being an extended conversation about the different pictures on the back of US quarters with Oscar. In the second half, though, Costa Rica scored two quick goals. After each, you could hear the town erupting, with people cheering, dogs barking, and fireworks being set off. (I initially thought that someone had been shot… but that wouldn’t have made much sense as a celebration.) The game ended as a huge 2-0 win for Costa Rica, and I’ve been told that they play the US next. I might be watching that one alone. Bed time.
This morning, I was operating on Tico Time and assumed that my director would be too. Tico Time is when the stated time (as in, “I’ll be there by 7”) is more of a suggestion than a promise. After being told yesterday that he would be at the school by 8am, I roll out of bed at 8:30, shower, eat breakfast, and eventually arrive at the school by 9:15ish. He, of course, has yet to arrive. Tico Time can either be the greatest thing in the world or the most frustrating, depending on when it’s used. Today, though, I’m all about it. Once he gets there, he shows me around the school and my classroom. The school is impressive by Costa Rican standards, and currently undergoing a full cleaning. My classroom is different than the one I had a picture of before. I’m now in the “main” part of the school, which means I have a slightly nicer classroom with electricity. The downside as of right now is that I don’t have a wall separating me from the third grade class. Things could be worse, I suppose. I was able to carry on a simple conversation with him for the entire 25 minutes that he was showing me around, and he seems like a nice guy. Took a quick peek through the materials left for me by the last volunteer, and found out that there’s a good chance that I might only teach Mondays through Thursdays. Three day weekend every week? This volunteering thing isn’t too bad…
It’s just about lunch now, so I’m off for my standard dish of rice, beans, and __________. Hope all continues to go well back home, and as always, thanks for the e-mails, messages, and comments.
DP
