it's all in the pavement

I have a little bit of a head cold. Major bummer since I'm leaving tomorrow for two weeks of farm life. I'll be fine though; just need some sleep. I received a heaping nine hours last night. My host-mom made me a hot lemon drink and sent me away.

Today I had an exam and a dramatization. In as few words as possible, it has simply been a long week. Things are looking up though: I had to call my rural-stay family yesterday, and although I could not really hear them through the static, I think they know I am arriving on Saturday. Either someone is meeting me at the bus stop or I am taking a cab deep into cacao country. How's that for flying by the seat of your pants? I'm sure I'll figure it out when I get there; just don't get lost in Upala.

raining on me

How can I take my life experiences, my opinions, and what I'm feeling right now and add some allegory with a dash of wit and turn today's blog into something heartwarming and enlightening. Oh profundities, how you allude me. I guess I could just write about what I have been up to, but where's the fun in that?

I have my health, a little cash, and a lot of time. Currently, that makes me one of the most fortunate people in the world. Only Rush Limbaugh's pharmacist could be happier. (Okay, so the joke is dated, but I'm really fishing for laughs here. Also if you Google image "talking head for the republican party" you get pictures of fish and Rush Limbaugh; what is Google trying to tell us?)

I'm going to Nicaragua in two weeks. I found out that my rural stay will be on a small cacao farm about 3km south of the border, or something along those lines. Anyway, I'm walking to Nicaragua. (Note to self: find out if that's legal or not.) I decided this rural stay was a better option as the family in Cahuita tends to speak some English, and I'd prefer to be immersed in Spanish. Also, the program director picks our stays for us (that helped my choice). But this was definitely one of my top picks: the family ranges from ages 3-82, there are several of them, and I'll get to try my hand out cacao farming.

I went zip-lining this weekend. Independence Day is tomorrow. In ways, zip-lining is a lot like Independence: flying by the seat of your pants, not knowing how hard you're going to land. Did you see what I just did? I took something trivial like zip-lining and compared it to the grandeur of establishing liberty and freedom. Magical (*gag).

Okay, so nothing profound today.

Timing is Everything When You've Got Nothing But Time

Currently between classes; this morning our professors sent us to the University of Costa Rica to interview students out in the commons area. I don't like talking to strangers in English, much less Spanish but I somehow suffered through. I actually did pretty decently, I was able to get my point across at least.

Currently listening to Big Mistake by Tim Fite. But I'm trying to cut back on listening to music in English...but it's an addiction.

Possibly a trip to Monte Verde this weekend in the works: five of us camping on the mountainside. Awesomeness.

I'll be your black bird darlin', hanging on your telephone wire

I think the man who runs the buses on my street corner might also be working at the tienda on the street. The wouldn't be so intriguing except that he might be doing both at the same time. Anyway, I saw him sitting in the store while no one else was there. Perhaps he was just guarding it. But anyway...

My host-mother told me yesterday that as it so happens, "Ms. Costa Rica" is single, twenty-one, and an old friend of my host-sister. Note to self: exploit, exploit, exploit. I mentioned this today in grammar class (don't ask why, I'm sure it was somehow relevant at the time) and my teacher told me that Ms. CR lived in the same neighborhood as herself. Naturally, I asked what Ms. CR was doing this weekend. I'm waiting to hear back.

As if Costa Rica wasn't small enough, I told my family that I was going to Jaco for the weekend yesterday. Ten minutes later, my mother is on the phone with a friend getting a house for me and two friends on the beach; we'd be staying with a friend of a friend. Turns out though, all twelve of us students are traveling to Jaco, so we had to go for a different house. Either way, it's going to be a pretty cheap stay.

As far as money is concerned though, it is easy to spot the two separate cultures that exist in Costa Rica: there is tico Costa Rica and there is tourist Costa Rica. Tico CR means spending only $40 for a weekend of fun; tourist CR could be close to $400. I'm thinking about taking my individual project to Cahuita on the Caribe side in a month to explore this battle further. I'll have two weeks on my own on the beach...oh sigh. That's not a guaranteed trip though: I could end up in Heredia or Guanacaste, but I will still make my project tourism-based. In those cases I'd be excited to see what it's like in a part of Costa Rica that doesn't see tourism: pure sweetness.

Yesterday for lunch a friend and I decided to try some down-home Midwest-American food. Long story short, I had a hot dog with ham sprinkled on top of it with ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. I can't begin to describe how delicious and disgusting it was. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I might have to go back. I was being conservative anyhow: my friend had his dog wrapped in bacon.

I turned a few heads in class today: we had to sing a popular song and I busted out the baritone pipes that I usually only use during Christmas Eve service. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: they weren't turning to see who had the angelic voice. I can sing I swear! Los maestros raised there eyebrows at least.

Tomorrow we're taking a tour of San Jose, then off to Jaco. I'm glad I'll have some time to relax. In reality, I'll try to use the time to get some homework done. But hey, there's good surfing too.

Acoustic Version

I've got to make this short and quick. I just finished writing an essay about how the pace of life plays a key role in cacao farming. Anyway, I'm off to a store because I need to purchase newspapers for tomorrow.

I'm thinking of hitting up the Pacific side this weekend. I need to get the beach out of my system. Option B is if we can get tickets, the ACM students are going to try to make the World Cup Qualifier: Costa Rica v. Mexico. Ticos vs. Tacos...ha.