No pavo, no turkey

Happy Thanksgiving
Well Thanksgiving really doesn’t exist outside of the US. It’s really not possible to celebrate a holiday when it’s only important to you. I have been surrounded by Germans, Costa Ricans, and Spaniards, and them today is just a regular day. I didn’t encounter any people from the US. Today was just Thursday, November 28. I had a cheese sandwich with lettuce at a typical Costa Rican restaurant. Dinner was a cup of noodles. Of course I reminisced a bit and felt longing for the traditional foods of Thanksgiving: turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, green bean casserole…Despite the fact I didn’t get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family or friends, I am grateful that I am in place that has wi-fi, and was able to talk with my family. Despite the lack of “Thanksgiving,” this is one Thanksgiving I will always remember because it is so different from the other Thanksgivings I have had. And tomorrow, won’t be Black Friday…just Friday. I’m happy about that.

 

Camping Under a Waterfall

I went with three of the volunteers on a short two day outing this month. We took the bus to San Cristobal, where David met us. David is the boyfriend of Maria (daughter of Luz and Memo). He lead us on an approximately two hour walk up a mountain.

I was told that there were about two thousand steps to the falls.

Mosquito net or something please

Nov 23
Oh shopping! I’m not a big shopper and don’t really like shopping, but at times it’s necessary. Thursdays I help Luz vend at La Feria, an open air market, which is in San Isidro. This gives me the opportunity to use internet and shop if I want to. This past Thursday I thought I could get a couple of things before I head to the next farm.

After having lunch at a small restaurant I asked the server if she knew where I might be able to purchase a mosquito net. She said there was a shop up the street and added as I left that there might be one down the street. It was all rather a bit ambiguous. I thanked her and left. Headed up the street I searched for a place that looked like it might sell a mosquito net. Not seeing much at the end of the street I turned the corner and spotted some tents and fishing poles in a small store. This looks promising I thought. I asked if they had mosquito nets and they said no, but that the big store near the park might have them. Before heading to the other store, I looked around a bit and purchased a flashlight. I would have bought batteries for the flashlight there too, but they didn’t carry them. Hmm…how odd. The store has tents and fishing poles but no mosquito net. The store has flashlights but no batteries.

Still in search of a mosquito net and now batteries I headed toward the park looking for what was a “big store.” Nothing really looked like a big store, and I couldn’t remember the name of the place the cashier had given me. Not finding anything, I stopped in a clothing store and tried to ask if they knew where I could purchase a mosquito net. Now, I’ve been speaking Spanish for over a month, but the lady couldn’t seem to understand what I wanted. So, another gentleman who spoke a bit of English asked me what I was looking for. I know I speak enough Spanish to explain that I want a mosquito net, so I was a bit puzzled why they couldn’t understand me. Mosquito nets must not be common for Costa Ricans. Also, they don’t use the word “net” to describe it. The lady thought I was looking for a net that is put over a baby’s crib. The gentleman suggested I could try the store at the corner.

Here was a store that looked like it mostly carried clothing. I asked the sales lady if they had mosquito nets. She took me to the corner of the store to look for one. They only seemed to have one but it was way on the top shelf, and I couldn’t see what it looked like. I didn’t want her to have to get a ladder, so I just thanked her and left.

I walked around a bit more looking in shop doors and windows. The layout of stores and the things they carried in them all seemed arbitrary to me. Giving up on finding a mosquito net for the moment I went into a store looking for a towel and batteries. This store carried a variety of Christmas decorations and home goods. They had dish towels, curtains, bedding, but no bath towels. Seriously who organizes these stores?

Making my way back toward La Feria, I stopped in another store that appeared to have tools. I walked around for about two minutes realizing they didn’t have batteries. How convenient, a store with tools but no batteries.

By this time I had been walking in and out of stores for about an hour. I headed back to La Feria. I purchased batteries at a small grocery store connected to La Feria.

Memo with two other volunteers came a little later to join Luz and me. I went with Memo to purchase a mosquito net. We walked into a fabric store. There they had two types of mosquito nets: single or double. I purchased the smaller version for about $12. Had I purchased this in the United States I know there would have been at least five different versions to choose from, but I really had no other choice. So, a word of advice, if you know you may need a mosquito net, but it in advance.

Still, I have to admit that despite the difficulty I had in finding a mosquito net, flashlight, and batteries, I got to see a lot of San Isidro and get a sense of what shopping is like in Costa Rica. It was my little adventure for the day.

Finca Chinchilla

Chicks for meat

Biodigester

The house of four hundred chickens

Coffee berries

I can milk this cow by myself now

They have four pigs which they use for methane

Each stack is a day’s worth of eggs, plus or minus 350 eggs a day

There’s always laundry

Work boots

The side of the house

The garden may appear small but it takes hours of work every week

This is the sink that I brush my teeth over, wash produce, cleaned chickens, look out over the river every morning…

Carreta or ox cart very typical to Costa Rica

Memo makes most of his money by buying and selling cattle

The Whole World

In Spanish “mundo” means “world.” The phrase “todo el mundo” means everyone, but it also means “all the world.” I find this quite descriptive of Costa Rica. Relationships are very important. In the countryside everyone knows everyone and if not, they simply have to ask a neighbor if they know someone. In this way news travels fast and reputation is very important.

I had a little adventure with collecting my green water bottle. One Sunday I went with the family to a party for the first communion of Luz’s niece. There, Memo took me to the next town to retrieve my water bottle, but the family wasn’t there. Then we went to take care of the cows and pick up some bananas. Memo asked a friend if he knew the Valverde family, and Memo’s friend happened to know where they lived and when they would be back at the house. So, we went back to the house and waited for them for a while. Unfortunately, they didn’t arrive soon enough for me to retrieve my bottle.

A couple of weeks later, headed in the same direction of the Valverde family, I called ahead and asked if they were home. They were, so Memo drove me over to their house. It turned out he knew the husband in the family, just didn’t know his name. I got my water bottle and came to the conclusion that Costa Ricans really do know “todo el mundo.”

It seems to be quite easy to know everyone, or at least know someone who knows someone. Here, people are very friendly. There’s at least five or more phrases to greet someone. For family and friends a kiss on the cheek is common for hellos and goodbyes. In the countryside people generally say “adios” (goodbye) when just passing by because “hola” invites more conversation. There’s no need to hitchhike in the countryside because you’re likely to get a ride without asking. The driver usually stops and asks where are you going and even if they can’t take you all the way, they’ll take you part way. Memo is one of those drivers likely to give you a ride. With all these little customs, it’s easy to meet people and know half the country.

Who’s Who?

Nov 11
Wow I’ve been at this farm for a month now. I’m already a third through this trip in Costa Rica. In just four weeks and a few days, I’ve met seven volunteers, each with their own story. I thought it would be fun to tell you about the volunteers I’ve met.

Jasmin. Jasmin is 20 and lives in Germany. She’s my roommate. She has studied Spanish for three years and English for ten. She is staying at this farm for almost three months and taking a couple of weeks to tour through Costa Rica. She goes back home next month. This coming year she is traveling to several countries (Jamaica, Spain, and others) before she studies at a university.

Eric. Eric was at this farm for three weeks. He has graduated college. He is traveling a full year through Central and South America doing workaway and woofing (organic farming) jobs. He’s from Argentina and had been living in Argentina for the past few months, but his family is in the midwest now. Lucky for him he’s fluent in English and Spanish. Now he’s somewhere in South America.

Kevin and Carly. A couple from Washington state who have both graduated college. They studied Spanish for a couple of years. They are farming, touring, traveling, vacationing for six months. They started in Costa Rica and will work their way up through Central America, ending in Mexico.

Alex and Alexia. A couple from Beligium. They both have graduated college and are spending a month in six different countries in Central and South America. They hadn’t studied any Spanish prior to this trip. They spent a month in Mexico. They spent two weeks at the farm and will spend two weeks touring Costa Rica. Their remaining countries are Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

Dalil. Dalil is 36 and works in railway construction or something of the sort in the South of France. With his savings, he is traveling for ten months through Central and South America and countries in the Pacific Ocean, like Australia, New Zealand, and others. He happened to stop by the farm on the recommendation of Alex and Alexia.

A Bit of Church

Nov 5

I thought I’d share my observations of my first time at church in Costa Rica.

Church two days in a row is a bit much, even in another language. This weekend I went to church with the family in La Ribera. They only have a service once a month. Luz said it would only take an hour, but it ended up being more a test of patience. After waiting half an hour in the hot building the service finally began. There were no service leaflets or handouts like I’m used to. The congregation seemed to sort of know what to say, but often times the responses were mumbled and out of sync. There was some singing too. The two Belgium volunteers really did not like the service. But I was able to have a bit more patience with it because I understand the whole sit-down, stand-up, kneel format. Still, I have to admit it was a bit boring, and I definitely did not understand the sermon.

The next day, I went with the family to endure another church service. This one was a bit better though. The church was a bit bigger, and I got to observe the first communion of six children. The music was definitely different than I’m used to. Very upbeat with Latin American flair, but there was no live music, just recordings. I almost didn’t feel like I was at a church service because people were constantly up surrounding the six children taking photos and videos of the occasion. I don’t know what first communion is like in an American Catholic church, so I can’t compare, but this service was filled with very ceremonial processes.

Honestly, I didn’t find the two church services much different from the one I’m used to. The services were a bit more informal, the music was a bit different, there were a lot of kids, and the service was in Spanish.