Things in Costa Rica that Make the Heart Race

Two entries in one day! With this kind of craziness, I may soon be telling you that it hasnt rained here in the last 45 minutes.

The List (incomplete)

1. Two 8 year old girls sharing an umbrella, white uniforms, walking gingerly up a road on the way to school
2. The nationwide habit to shake your hands near the sides of your head in a way that looks like youre trying to detach them during a situation involving inappropriate humor or tension.
3. Eating mangos, nisperos, sugar cane, huacates, and more fruit straight from the tree.
4. Kids with dirty clothes and spotless eyes.
5. Chunky cotton pillows
6. Invites galore to pass the day talking, eating, and drinking pure coffee with a family.
7. Children who clean without being asked.
8. Chickens walking through kitchens, which, it should be noted, may be the only sentence that translates perfectly, and rhymes, in both English and Spanish. Check it out. Chicken in the Kitchen. Gallina en la cocina. That rocks.
9. Everytime I cough, someone telling me I have Gripe (the flu)
10. Playing cards in candlelight.
11. Smaller fruits than we have at home.
12. Where are you going: arriba
When are you going: ahorita
13. Hitting my head in doorways and on low wooden beams.
14. Being fed everywhere, always, and sometimes twice.

Ok. A couple other things I need to either get out, or reiterate. Sorry for perhaps being repetitive, but I cant remember what I wrote 2 weeks ago. First thing. Im training myself to drop this hostility Ive developed towards backpackers and fat white tourists in pastel polos. I will never see the point of their traveling many miles to arrive in a similar place with similar comforts, however, see, the issue for me seems to be my unwillingness to be lumped into the same category as those who prefer that sort of travel. Its especially poignant when we are all in the same place, such as hostels, or San Jose. I want to wear a sign or a bright t shirt denoting my intention in living here, my intention to know them and to understand how they live (knowing that to observe is to kill, or at least to alter). But enough. Rather than fight that impossible fight, punching air, Id like to simply remember that Ive had personal and meaningful contact wtih the kids here, who are the lifeblood of Costa Rica, and even if I see and talk to a thousand tourists, that experience can never be diminished.

Sorry.

You should know about the orphanange. For one day in Moin, 100 meters from the Dole shipping port where barcos (holy hell, I cant remember the english word!) huge aircraft carrier looking ocean liners sit waiting to transport bananas abroad...at this location, the kids came forth from their temporary houses just to be with us. Mikey, Emily, Myself. Food was made, mangos were sliced, shy smiles were exchanged, and spanish was spoken by the mouthful. You should have seen us, jumping into ocean waves, holding these costa rican children tight to our chest, knowing that they mostly couldnt swim and were we to let go or turn an eye just for a moment...You should have seen us, oceanliners resting towards the near horizon. I held hands with Erika, then Maria, then Carlos, Marcos, Johnanna, and Erika once again. I held their waists as waves beat them backwards, pushing with the consistency of nature. They never stopped surging forward into the waves these kids, in our arms, doggy paddling into the waves, waves which seemed to grow larger and larger the longer we waded through the water. These kids never complained or experssed fear. The only emotion experssed was desire, and that desire was only fo a hand, my hand, to help them catch their breath and dig a foot into the sand when the successive pounding of the waves became a little too intense for their little bodies to handle.

Just the other day, back in Llano Bonito, I spoke with a farmer named Carlos who wore his button down dirty and open. He showed me his calloused hands and explained to me how, when you start working in coffee fields (he had been to school up to 3rd grade, started workinging with coffee at age 11) that your hands bleed and blister, but after 30 days, God gives you the gift of stronger hands. Oh, the miracle of callouses. He told me how said callouses come from using the machete and explained to me the great demand for adult English classes in Llano Bonito. In 2 years, Llano Bonito will change forever as tourists flood in to view the new man made lake. Carlos says this will be good for him because he can sell his fruit directly, but band for the general ambiance and environment. As such, he explained the need for adult English classes, and told me what a help it would be if he knew how to describe his fruits in English. The woman across the dirt road sitting on her front porch had apparently been listening in. She brought us 8 beautiful and fresh small bananas that melted in my mouth like ice cream.

Placing Trash Cans in Their Place. Just a few days ago.

Curiousity abounded. People watched, stared, and inquired. Townspeople literally asked if they could have one! One woman who we ended up giving one to said What Discrimination! when we nearly passed by her store. Zeneida, my devil of a host mom, actually tied hers to the front gates! Rosa, the pulperia owner, mimicked her! In case I hadnt mentioned it, I designed a community project in LLano Bonito, Dubbed Ya Mo Bonito, to clean the trash ridden streets and buy trash cans for the fronts of stores and certain houses. Thank you especially to John Hunter, who Ive been told helped contribute financially to making this project possible. Amazingly, before Thursday, there had not been a single trash can along my densely populated main street. I was truly surprised by the community response. Deni plans to use hers as a laundry basket inside her home, classic costa rican for you, a dream I am quickly trying to stomp out for her. I told her Id buy her a laundry basket if she just leaves the damn thing in the front yard. What I wonder is whether these people want these bright baskets because they want to responsibly help, because they want it for personal use, or if they simply want any thing thats freee. It was actually very rewarding to walk down the streets and see these bright hallmakrsk physically articulating my own project idea. A step beyond, it was awesome to see people actually make use of them, knowing that otherwise the garbage would have landed in the streets.

Mikey had a bright idea. Maybe I should spend the rest of my life travelling the world, going to poor countries, and swinging children. By their arms and legs. It draws unparalleled laughter and jubilant screams. You know. One person holds one leg and one arm, the other grabs hold of the opposite side, then back, and forth, back and forth.