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Costa Rica homestay is coming to an end

My 12 days of Spanish immersion has come to its completion. Bridgett and I both began at zero fluency and I have had successful conversations with shopkeepers and people at bus stops.

I enjoyed the school. It was the place to set up bus trips to the beach and recommended museums and interesting places to go around the city. I spent my study time playing grade school board games and practicing with flash cards. We spent a lot of time just chatting in Spanish and this was legitimate exercise in speaking the language.

Our last day was a field trip to San Jose. We visited el Museo Nacional, which was a military fort that was converted after the abolition of a central army in 1948. It now contains a butterfly garden, an exhibit on Pleistocene mega fauna, and artifacts of pre-colombian societies. I tried to get a butterfly on my iconic hat but they were too busy eating.

After we visited the central market. It was like walking through a scene of blade-runner. It is a huge building with different shops and meat markets. I even found a cart of medicinal herbs that had a root or leave to be steeped for ANY ailment. It was really interesting but I could get lost easily in a place like that. The alleys and corridors had no structure and with people moving back and forth a person could get caught in a wave of shoppers and lose them self.

We tried to visit the volcano Irazu but no bus ever arrived. So instead I played fusball and air-hockey with Christian for an hour. That was a great way to take an afternoon off. And for those who also use Facebook, I have restarted my skating activities. What was more nice was the kids that were helping me learn how for the first half hour. I got to use some Spanish and by the end of my time there this Tico was very impressed with my skating.

I am excited to know Central American Spanish. The knowledge of language will assist me as long as I live in the Americas. There will be plenty of opportunity to use it in Colorado and may even be points on resumes were I will be working with Spanish-speaking residents. Of course, learning is a process that lasts forever and I have the vocabulary of a pre-school speaker but I have a language book and an interest in continuing education.

March is flying by.

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March 20th

My day was not nearly as interesting as Saturday, but I will comment that it is semana santa this week. Think of the entire week as preparing for Easter. I spent the afternoon exercising at the empty campus of the University of Northern Colorado, and had homemade tortillas and soup for dinner. An OTS Tropical Diseases student returned from his vacation and will travel to Palo Verde this week. Best of luck to him!

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March 19th, 2016

Saturday was a classic day of going into the city. Andriana, Kali, Jamila, Erin, Bridgett and I visited the Jade Museum in San Jose, CR. It is a museum of pre-Colombian history, between 500 and 20000 years roughly. The name is in fact important; most of artifacts on display were made of jade, which is actually a common name for two minerals of different structures. The societies of Central America traded foods, knowledge, and raw jade for their artisans to craft.

The process of creating jade jewelry involves sanding the raw stone by a river with tools similar to a bow-fire starter, if anyone knows what that is. The stone must have water constantly dripped on it to aid in the friction process. Using a stylus with a jade tip, the artisan is able to carve patterns into the stone for animal designs or religious symbols.

Simple necklaces of small jade pieces or a single large stone represent status as a chieftain or shaman. A complete set of jade jewelry would be gauge earrings, a nose ring approximately one inch in diameter, and a necklace. Jade stone was also used as healing rocks and tools to channel spirits of the gods during shaman rituals.

Additional crafts were ceramic pots and cups, stone chairs/corn grinders, and stone jewelry. Objects usually were made to resemble animals of the forest as each animal had a different quality. Mammals, reptiles, and arthropods all were crafted into symbols for the tribe. Fertility is associated with many animals, such as bats and crocodiles. Many birds were spirit animals for traveling to the next world, and shamans were believed to be able to transform into them.

Ocarinas that originate from this part of the world were crafted to imitate a particular bird call, and music in general accompanied hunting rituals, religious rituals, marriages and war. The natives crafted flutes and drums as well and drums were often used at night to intimidate enemies during battle.

Fertility and sexuality are well explored by pre-Colombian artisans. A particular gesture showed up in different places: it was of a woman holding her upper abdomen or her breasts up slightly. This is believed to be a gesture of dominance for several cultures in the region. One artifact was a flute shaped to resemble male genitalia, it was very accurate. Small gold and stone ornaments of couples hugging or in more intimate positions have been found, and could have been given as wedding presents for a successful marriage.

Finally, many sculptures of warriors were discovered. A prestigious warrior would be carrying many slain foes’ heads in his piece. Tattoo rollers could press ink or dyes to identify a tribe, or be heated to tattoo/scar a permanent tattoo.

I am not aware of a modern version of a chieftain with a jade symbol of power. Do we revere the president’s tailor? The crafts were numerous and diverse, but I think I prefer Southwest American art, bias maybe? What are the jade symbols of power in this era? Crosses are made of plastic, and doctors do not use healing rocks because they belief these are “dark age” ideas. But archaeological evidence revealed that diseases that the natives here faced were similar to Zika, Malaria and other diseases we face today. I kept asking my classmates where our valued artisans of today are, do you know?

Final: Dinner was great. I had a vegetarian whole grain rice dish and miso soup. My drink was a local craft bear called the “Alley Cat” it was like an IPA, very smooth.

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First Beach(Playa) Manuel Antonio

We had our first beach vacation. Imagine, the whitest beach you have ever seen, with calm, warm water, and the most intense sun ever. For a human with skin like mine, I did not get a Coco Chanel grade tan, more like I turned into a cherry tomato that almost burst.

The beach in Manuel Antonio National Park was covered in hermit crabs! It was very cute. The park was filled with iguanas, sloths, raccoons, and monkeys. It was the most humid place ever! And it was exhausting, but contained the beauty that I search for, something out of the way from the rush of the casual tourist and the party goer.

We stayed at a hostel with an incredible view of the sunset. The beds were fine, similar to what we have already experienced. The hostel was next to a very tourist-oriented restaurant and bar, and the whole space was within a casual walk of some more cozy shops and markets. The hostel was calm at most hours of the day. I appreciated the ability to curl up in a hammock in the afternoon.

I ordered rum straight with lime slices and the bartender said “drink it fast, it burns!” and I said, “No, I like the taste and the burn and the smell”. She said I reminded her of her grandfather, who drank just like I did that night. I belong to the drinkers of the 1930s.

Kali called me an “old soul”. Has anybody else ever heard that one before?

Aside by

Cecilia has been hosting international students from three continents for 22 years.
Her food is some of the best food I have ever eaten, period. She enjoys to cook and has developed a huge variety of meals that are not typical Costa Rican styles. Her husband, Carlos, is retired but was a pharmaceutical sales man for the government.
They have visited Israel, Turkey, Asia, and California. Cecilia has 6 sisters, if I interpreted it correctly, and they all live on the same street. She has three adult children and plenty of grandchildren, although I have not met them.
Their house is large. They have space for five students, themselves and two large rooms: one contains a bar and grill and the other is like a large dining hall or gathering room. They could have a party of thirty people easily in there!
Such a rich life she has had, and is content to give us young people a rich life as well by providing a home for the school. She is helpful with my grammar and they both are interested in the conversation I get us into. I am grateful to be staying with them.

Cecilia fue a tener unos estudiantes internaccionles por 22 anos. le gusta cocinar y tambien limpiar ropa. cocina comida diferente del mundo como chino, pero no usa un libro cocinar y nunca visita chino. Vivo siempre en su casa grande, en la casa vivo tambien su madre y abuela. Tiene 6 hermanas y viven en la calle. Carlos trabajo Venedor de Medicino para Social Seguridad y hoy tiene una pension.

ella y su esposo, Carlos, visito Israel, Turkie, California, y Vietnam. tiene 3 hijos adultos y muchos nietos. Cuando tenemos una conversaccion, ella tiene paciencia y es divertida. En la casa hay un sala con un bar and un sala por fiestas.

Cecilia tiene pelo cafe, y es corta. usa una blusa azul y aretes.

Mi familia costariccense(Draft for oral presentation to be translated into Spanish)

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Primera semana de espanol en la escuela “CRLA”

En la ciudad San Pedro hay una escuela donde los estudiantes del mundo tenen clasen en espanol. Los estudiantes son de Belgeca(Belgium), Switzerland, Austria, Australia, Sweden, and los estadidos unidos.(USA)

I have a roommate from Belgium who is spending four months at the Costa Rica Language Academy. I only have three weeks here and I cannot believe how much I have learned. I have taken four days actually, and have been speaking past and future imperfect tense with my host family. I know maybe 250 words in spanish and have actually had decent conversations with them about my family, my travels and food. The important topics.

The school is out of the way of the city and has a quiet lawn and patio area where students can be found chatting with each other or catching up with their family and friends back home via internet services. I like naming the plant families, I have done more to remember them than my fellow classmates at this point. There are many classrooms around this space that support about 10 students per teacher.

Our professor has taken us on a tour of the University of Costa Rica and gave us input on the cultural attitude of the students. What the studies of interest are and what kind of events go on around the campus. It is one of the largest campuses I have ever been on. A music stage hosts bands that are comprised of students trying out variations of latin music and punk or metal or grunge music. Art pieces are visually abstract and represent the goals of the education, or are meant to reflect the beauty of the environment of the school. There is a set of mirrors that reflect each other and the plaza around the piece. I believed I was viewing a plant and was in fact viewing a collage of leaves and students walking around the school. A mirror is a strong art piece: Look at what beauty this world can create with no intent. Something worth cherishing.

In addition to our 9am-3pm class, the afternoons are filled with extra-curricular classes that supplement our cultural learning. The classes are: Dance, cooking, and conversation.

I like the dance class, I have only been to one but intend to get a good experience in Salsa Dance and bring it back to Colorado. The cooking class was interesting and designed with cheap college students in mind. We made tortillas with cheese mixed in the dough. I think the greatest culinary discovery for me has been pickled jalapeno peppers and onions. I also will bring Costa Rica food to Colorado.

By the time I get home, it is 5 to 6pm and dinner with my family is around 6:30pm.

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Concluding Palo Verde pt 2

Christian has returned safely to us and we traveled to San Jose.

Somewhere on the internet there is a photo of me with the University of Northern Colorado researchers Ann Elizabeth and Meagan, who will finish their time in Palo Verde National Park. It will be sad to not see them until I return to Colorado but it was time to move on.

The midterms were difficult but rewarding and the revision of the scientific paper was terrifying! I am content with how it all went.
We are in San Jose until April 4th.