Back in Boruca

(Written on Tuesday, posted on Friday... we didn´t have internet in Boruca this week since the school´s computer teacher was at a conference and couldn´t fix our big confusing internet box. But don´t worry, I am alive.)

I’ve been back in Boruca since last Saturday, and as I readjust to waking up at 5:40 every morning, I struggle to stay awake to write this at 7:50 at night. Paired with the fact that I hurt my leg last week and have been walking a bit gingerly since, I’m in full-on Old Man Mode. Up next on tonight’s schedule is watching Wheel of Fortune, drinking sarsaparilla, and sending a check equivalent to my life savings to a nice Nigerian man who e-mailed me about a fantastic investment opportunity.

Anyways, for those who didn’t hear (since I assume that you all keep up on Costa Rican news), our two week vacation was lengthened to three by the Costa Rican government in order to stop the potential spread of Swine Flu. All the cases have been in the San Jose area thus far, so the cancellation for my part of the country was more of an added perk than a necessary precaution. With extra time on our hands, some of the other volunteers and I hung around San Jose for two days being really indecisive about every decision we faced, then eventually went to Puerto Viejo for three nights to enjoy some beach and surfing. As my friend John (the surfer of the group) puts it, I’m really good at surfing right up until the point when I have to actually stand up and surf. I’ve got everything else down, though.

The readjustment shock that everyone asked me about has been pretty much nonexistent. My Spanish fell right back in place, and my mind has yet to explode like it did the last time I came back from a long vacation. (No, really. It actually exploded. You should be impressed that I’m even typing right now.) I’ve had all of my classes this week, which puts me on pace for my first non-interrupted week since sometime in March. Here’s some of what’s been going on since I’ve returned:

- I’ve now read fourteen books this year, fifteen if you count my re-reading of Goosebumps #9 Welcome to Camp Nightmare, read in about an hour while waiting for the bus on the side of the Interamericana. Since the topic of Goosebumps rarely comes up anymore, I will go on record as saying that Welcome to Camp Nightmare had the best ending of any book in the series.

- I continue to add to my legendary exploits while playing along to “Quien Quiere Ser Millionario,” Costa Rica’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionare?” For example, just as I’m typing this, I got three questions right (about amphibians, ancient alphabets, and subatomic particles) even though our TV’s picture isn’t working. The top prize for the CR version is 25 million colones, or about $44,000. By the way, when I said that my exploits were “legendary,” I actually meant that they have been mentioned, in passing, during a coffee break at school. Once.

- I brought back an (American) football with me to Boruca, since some of my students had expressed an interest in learning it/really like playing Madden ’98 on my computer even though they have no idea what’s going on. I brought it out during recreo today, and within about 30 seconds the every single one of the boys that had gathered wanted to be a professional placekicker. No interest in the throwing, running, defending, or blocking parts of the sport. Just the kicking. Figures. I don’t yet have the heart to tell them that the kicker is usually lowest on both the respect and pay totem poles, but I must say that with my help, they’ve got the snap-hold-kick down to under two seconds.

- My family’s house has been added on to a number of times over the years, so it has a few quirks that come with constant expansion. My bedroom, for example, has a window… into another room. Before I left, my curtain (read: sheet on a string) was a nondescript floral pattern. When I came back, though… POKEMON! Picachu and Jigglypuff now protect me against mosquitos and large spiders every night.

- Boruca's new English laptop is up and running with some sweet English and typing software. As of now, the kids are using it during recess, lunch, and sometimes after school, and it's a great thing to have when only three kids show up to class and I can't use my lesson plan since I'd just have to repeat it next class anyway. The Peace Corps volunteer and I are going to work out a system where we can lend it to adult students in her English night courses so they can practice their English at home. For now, though, I will continue to enjoy eight kids huddled around the laptop, all screaming "The girl is walking" into the microphone at different paces and pitches, confusing the program enough that it just tells them that they're wrong. They'll learn.

It was great to see a lot of you while I was home. If I didn’t get to see you, well, solo seis mas meses hasta mas Tiempo de Dan. (It sounds a lot more fun/less creepy in Spanish) It was also really fun hearing about the random people who read this blog (and by that I mean people who aren’t named Patricia Roberta Mary Schaub Perkins), so leave a comment/send a message if you’ve been following but I haven’t been in contact this year. Hasta luego.