Costa Rica

is pretty wonderful. Honestly. And it’s so different from all of the comforts I’m used to.

Por ejemplo:

Things that are not readily available (in Santa Marta):

·         Hot water. That means I boil water every morning to bathe. And by “I,” I mean mostly my host mother.

·         Toilets that can take toilet paper. One of the first things we learned upon entering Costa Rica is that you cannot flush toilet paper. You just can’t do it. There is a trash can next to every toilet that is intended for the toilet paper. Despite this, I have yet to encounter a bathroom that is gross. On average, public restrooms in the States are far more disgusting than those that I have encountered here. I think they try extra hard because of the TP issue.

·         Electricity (sort of). If you plug in too many things at once, none of them get quite enough of it.

·         Internet. I have finally acquired internet access on my own laptop at school. Before I was using the laptops of the director or the other teacher. Their laptops have Spanish keyboards and none of the symbols are in the same place. Makes for slow going.

·         English. I only know 1.5 people who speak English. I say .5 because the other person doesn’t speak it very well. I’m very confused about this though, since he claimes to have lived in the US for 9 years… The other guy only lived there for 4 but we are able to have quite good conversation.

·         Things to do. I have taken to doing a yoga video that I downloaded from the free section on iTunes very, very long ago.

·         Television. Not that I ever watch it anyway, but there is not so much to do here (see above). We only have 2 (reliable) channels. Our television screen is definitely less than 1’ square and the shows all have a very rosy hue. Sometimes everything is straight-up pink when the antenna gets off kilter.

·         People my age. People my age are in their last year of colegio, meaning, I never see them because they’re in school. I did meet a girl my age (finally) who is the older sister of one of my students. She was astounded when I told her I was 18. She offered to hang out with me. I’m still waiting for her. D; Actually, I do have a host cousin who looks to be in her early 20s. Still waiting for her to hang out with me, too.

·         Babies. But my students are soooooooo cute and small that they make up for it.

·         Meat. We have chickens but we don’t eat them.

·         Vegetables. Ticos don’t really eat them. It’s very interesting since (some of them) are in such abundance.

·         Ovens. (Almost) Everyone has one, but no one uses them. In my first homestay in Orosi, my host family stored leftovers in the oven. The fridge was literally empty. The day I realized that I burst out laughing at the absurdness of it.

·         Plantains. I say this just because I don’t have them as often as I’d like. I want them all the time.

·         Cars. These hills are killer. Most people have motorcycles or four-wheelers.

·         Stores. There is only a pulpería (essentially a convenient store) in Santa Marta. Before we left we were told that the small towns don’t have any sort of stores and they weren’t joking. The pulpería  has bread, toilet paper, candy, chips, ice cream, juice boxes, and corn flour. The nearest Super Mercado is an hour away in San Isidro and you have to take the bus to get there.

·         Soap. Isn’t in as many places as I’d like it to be…

Things that are readily available in Santa Marta:

·         Bananas. Literally everywhere. They line the streets. I assume that is because someone is coming to pick them up to take them to San Isidro/San Jose, but occasionally I’ll pick one up and bring it home with me. My students assured me that this is legal.

·         Eggs. Everyone has tons of chickens. We eat eggs at least once every day, if not 3 times. I suppose it takes the place of meat.

·         Tap water. I have almost gotten over my irrational aversion to the stuff. Almost.

·         Insects. I have at least 3 new bug bites every day no matter how often I douse myself in bug spray. Not to mention the giant spiders and cockroaches. Raid is my very, very best friend. Thankfully, there are not many bugs in my house.

·         Dubbed television shows. Our 2.5 channels have a myriad of dubbed reruns. So we watch things like Walker, Texas Ranger; Hercules, Smallville, and The 4400, just to name a few.

·         People who speak Spanish. I’m getting to the point where I can understand at least a little bit from most of them.

·         Fruit trees. Unfortunately, most of the fruit on them is not ripe yet (I quickly learned that ripe = maduro). We have to buy most of our fruit.

·         Fruit. This is very good for me.

·         Rice and beans. For every meal.

o   Breakfast: Gallo pinto (rice and beans mixed together)

o   Lunch: Rice and beans sometimes (though not as often as I’d like) with some sort of meat, sometimes with eggs, sometimes with fried plantains, sometimes a combo of the 3.

o   Dinner: Rice and beans (see above)

·         Weird (as in different) fruits and vegetables that I have never encountered. Chayote looks like an avocado but tastes like a potato. Manzanas de agua look like freakish apples but taste kind of like weird pears. Limón dulce looks like a pale orange and tastes like nothing. Naranjilla looks exactly like a green tomato except that it has a brown fuzzy coating that can wiped off with your fingers. It is pale yellow on the inside and tastes like lemon juice. Mandarinas look exactly like lemons except they have a much thicker and bumpier skin. I haven’t tried these yet, either, because I just found out about them yesterday.

·         Dogs and chickens. But we eat neither.

·         Umbrellas. It’s the rainy season. Rains for at least a few hours every day.

·         Cell phones. Practically everyone has one. A few of my 3^rd graders even bring theirs to school. My host mom is constantly texting everyone in town.

·         Family. There are 3 different last names in my town.

·         Visitors. Our house is the first one in Santa Marta and also at the top of the hill so people are always stopping by to say hello, buy things from my host dad or give clothes to my host mom to take in or hem.

Anyway, I really love my host family. They are so kind and accommodating. My host mom is extremely perceptive/remembers everything I say, my host dad is really funny, and my little brother is very generous. I really couldn’t imagine having a better host family and I am so very, very glad that I got them!

All in all, it’s been a wonderful experience thus far and I have nothing to complain about. :)