Thursday, February 10, 2011
Chapter One...
I’m currently on a plane headed to Costa Rica. I can’t believe this is finally happening. Since last April I’ve been talking about moving back to CR and it’s actually happening…. RIGHT NOW!! The last couple weeks have been nothing short of insane. Moving my stuff to Kdog and the Doctor’s basement. Moving Will’s stuff to his new apartment. Trying to spend time with everyone. Cleaning the house and getting stuff together to get it on the market. But none of that matters anymore. I’m on a plane headed south in the middle of a wretched winter. Life is pretty awesome right now.
Perhaps even more exciting is in a week when I fly down to Peru. I’ll spend a month there getting certified to teach English as a second language, then hopefully find a job teaching in CR. Kinda can’t help but laugh at the idea of me teaching, but I guess if you look at my family, it was doomed to happen. I’m fascinated by the program. They haven’t really given me a lot of info, so I have no idea how my days will be structured or anything. I will be doing several hours of actual teaching before the course ends. Apparently there is also an individual project component, but again, have no idea what that entails.
I can’t wait to see Peru. I find it hard to believe I could love anywhere in Latin America the way that I love Costa Rica, but Peru certainly seems to have a lot to offer. CAN’T WAIT!!!
……
I’m actually here! Got home and pretty much crashed on Tuesday night. Woke up and had fresh strawberries, coffee and bread for breakfast… AWESOME! Played fetch with Stella in the back yard for a little while and then went for a run. I know I haven’t really worked out AT ALL in the last couple months, so I was prepared for it to be a rough run, but add the altitude and hills… YIKES! To top it off my nano was completely dead so it was a music-less run. But I got to run in a tank top instead of layers, and the sun was bright and warm, but not sweltering hot. I have never been able to keep my seasons straight here, but based on yesterday and today, I’m remembering this is my favorite time of year in CR. During the day it’s about 70 and at night it drops into the 50s. Flip flops during the day, but cool enough to curl up and sleep well at night.
For lunch my Tico Mom took me to Tico Burgesas. It’s kind of the equivalent of La Bamba’s in Broadripple. While they don’t have burritos the size of your head, they do have Tacos Ticos. It’s basically a taquito topped with tons of shredded cabbage and some kind of sauce. It’s the messiest food you’ll ever find, and while it sounds pretty weird, it’s one of my favorites.
Dinner was pretty Tico typical. Meat, rice, lentils, yucca (similar to potatoes in taste, but a slightly different texture), avocado (forgot how awesome avocado – and really all fruits and veggies – taste here) and of course, one of my other favorites – patacones! They are made from platanos, or plantains. Here they cook platanos in about a million different ways. Patacones are slices of platanos that are smashed flat and fried. They taste similar to chips but… well… better!
Oh, I also discovered that apparently Motorola made the Droid with no chip slot. Meaning there is no way to use it here. Right now I’m using cell phone that I really don’t know how to use, because it’s so old school. I do have a number here now though, hopefully in the next few days I’ll have the chance to go shop for a real phone. MUST HAVE DATA!
Labels: Costa Rica, Kdog, The Doctor, Will
2 Comments:
First, I'm glad to see that you made it safe to CR. Don't forget to post pics to help with making us even more jealous here while you enjoy 70 degree weather.
Second, what is Tico? Is this a nickname (tico mom?)
First - Wish granted... see new post.
Second - Tico is a nickname for the people of Costa Rica. Nicknames are very common in CR and from what I can tell throughout Central America (if not all of Latin America). My family (and all of their friends really) rarely calls me by my name, but rather "Macha" which loosely translates to "blondie" (not really appropriate now that my hair is multi-colored with NO blond in it, but how do you change an 11 year old nickname?) Costa Ricans are Ticos, Nicaraguans - Nicas, and of course Americans - Gringos.
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