Last week I got two cd’s full of mp3’s from a total stranger. Sara Crawford, you are my hero. Let’s do lunch brunch when I get back, ok? I know the perfect place.
Monthly Archive for November, 2005
We took a class excursion to a local area up in the mountains that is known as “Amapala”. It’s not a real word, but is made up from the words “ama” (he loves) and “pala” (shovel)… because the guy who used to own the land (or something like that) always had his shovel with him. If I caught the back-story right.
There isn’t much exciting to report from Amapala. It was just a nice getaway, although I didn’t learn a whole lot that I haven’t learned before. The people who took care of us while we were there were extremely nice, and the woman was an amazing cook. Their youngest daughter, Melany (5), got a kick out of being with us.
At one point, we played a game of scrabble in which I insisted that “potatoes” and “tomatoes” could also be spelled “tomatos” and “potatos” although they are relatively uncommon spellings. I still haven’t found a dictionary that backs this up… anyone got an Oxford lying around? I don’t know why I think this is correct, because I definitely would never spell them without the “e” myself… but either I have read it somewhere before, or I have converted an old dream into reality somewhere along the line that makes me believe that in some location, or in some part of history, the e-less plural spellings were officially accepted as correct. Anyone?
[edit: apparently the “os” endings are common in Europe? I’m still searching…]
Also, I’m still of the belief that “ok” (lowercase) is an officially recognised spelling of “OK” or “okay”. And thus, can be used in Scrabble. I still haven’t found a source to back this up. Apparently “OK”, “O.K.”, and “okay” are legit words, but “ok” is not, according to my Scrabble companions. If I’m wrong, so are the authors of dozens of books I’ve read. Anyone?
Pictures for this entry are now on my Flickr in the album San Luis Valley, Costa Rica or more specifically with the “amapala” tag.
Prospects for next semester are exciting. I’ve been chosen for an internship at Full Moon Co-op, an organic and sustainable farm just outside of Athens that is managed and cared-for by a handful of wonderful people that I am priviledged to be friends with. I’ll be living at the farm house, working and learning daily (I hope!) in the fields, and commuting 6 miles by bike to class every morning. I am tremendously thrilled by this opportunity.
On campus, I’m taking CRSS4400 Crop Ecology, CRSS4250 Pests and Transgenic Crops, PATH3530 Intro to Plant Pathology, HORT4210 Postharvest Biology, HORT4060 Greenhouse Management II (Crops), and AESC3150 Topics in International Agriculture. It’s 19 hours altogether, but I’m ready for it.
I’ve only 6 more weeks here in Costa Rica. Three in class and three traveling. In a way, I’m glad that my time overseas is almost over. It’s been hard to be away from my friends and family. Seven months is a long time, but that’s not really it. When I lived in Vermont I was away from my friends and family for 6 months before I saw them again… it was different though, because I was in the same culture, the same language, and I could make new friends. Here though, I see the same 12 Americans day in and day out. We all get a little tired of each other.
Despite my monumental progress in the Spanish language, going from zero Spanish in June to being able to carry on a decent dialogue these days, I’ve found it difficult to meet people and have meaningful conversations. I don’t know what it is… I try to talk to people here and we have conversations, but they seem to be about nothing. If you ask someone “How was your weekend?” or “How are you?” they will usually respond with “good”. No detail like “I played soccer on Saturday, then went to my friend’s house where we played video games all night.” Maybe life around here is really boring and there is nothing to report, I don’t know. It’s just really frustrating to want to talk to people and have them respond in vague generalizations.
I don’t think I could ever live in Costa Rica. I’m pretty sure I would be bored off my ass. The culture seems so monotonous. For instance, there are three 18-year-old girls who are interning at the ecolodge right now. I ask them what they do for fun, or at night when they are home, or on the weekends and the response is “nothing” or “watch TV”. These are very attractive girls who usually dress like they are ready to go dancing, but apparently they rarely do. It’s very strange. San Jose, the “big city” here, is just as lame. The population is only 300k (I think), so it’s not that big. Most of the clubs I have seen look like a variation of all the same thing: Dancing and drinking to really bad Reggaeton music. Sometimes I wonder, Is there even a punk band in this country?
Yes, I thought I would never say it: I miss America. December 29th couldn’t come any sooner.
The kids in Costa Rica are the cutest I’ve seen anywhere.
Evidence:
Piggyback fun! (notice my haircut)
More later…