I have not been able to write much lately because I have been away from anywhere with an internet connection, or I get out of class way too late to go to the internet cafe. I swear there will be pictures soon; I have them transfered to someone's laptop, but need to get that connected to the internet to get them online. Hopefully you'll be amazed at this crazy place I'm living in as much as I am.
Over last weekend, I went to a village called Boruca, one of seven indigenous reservations in Costa Rica. It encompasses millions of acres of land and is nestled in the most gorgeous mountains ever! We were taken there by one of the teachers at work, Omar, who is Borucan and grew up in Boruca. He shared a lot of stories and legends with us and I fell in love with the lore. Seriously, some parts of the town have not changed in a hundred years, whereas others have progressed in very strange ways. For instance, one of the houses we visited had a dirt floor, thatched roof and a clay wood stove for cooking. However, it had a refrigerator and a rice cooker plugged in and on the counter. Very anachronistic to say the least. Also, there were hundreds of ... you guessed it, CHICKENS!!! I was in heaven! I have to apologize in advance that a disproportionate number of my photos involve my feathered friends. In addition to the slew of chickens, there were plenty of (stray?) dogs (as is the norm everywhere in CR) and cats and roosters (aka boy chickens) and even a wild turkey to remind me of home, and the infestation of turkeys in Brookline. I also heard a wild hog somewhere in the woods but luckily did not get close enough to see it. There were plenty of horses and donkeys and people were actually riding them around like the old West, but on the same dirt road as cars and trucks.
However, just because they have cars and rice cookers does not mean that they have been fully introduced to the 21st century. They still have the same problems with water as the rest of CR and we were without water in the town for 9 or 10 hours. So, just to paint a clear picture of what happens when there is no water, there's also a lack of some other really important things, like cooking (as every meal involves rice, you had better believe that they need water), showering/bathing and well, flushing the toilets. There's not even water to wash your hands so you had better think ahead when planning to go to the bathroom. As it turns out, a lot of people had to use the bathroom and the only suggestion they got was, "El campo?" and were pointed toward the door. I found this hysterical and no big deal really b/c I had even packed toilet paper for myself. I've gone camping enough to not care, but this was not the attitude of most of the group. In fact, I think I'd rather go outside; there were not toilet seats on most of the toilets so you really needed to have some strong thighs to make it in that town! As a side note, I've noticed the lack of toilet seats a lot while here. So, note to self, if you need to ever bring a gift to someone at a homestay, a toilet seat is not a bad idea. We should have thought this out before going to Boruca; we could have been kings in that town!!!
So, like any native village should, Boruca had three bars. This town is so small that you can walk to everyone's house, chances are that you are related to at least 1/4 of the town by blood or marriage, but they have the need for three bars. I only got to check out two of them because the one bar owned by a non-Borucan is men only. Again, what century is this? Because there are no hotels within 20 miles (just an estimate), we all stayed with family or friends of Omar's. I stayed with the local natural healer. I will not say medicine woman, but close enough. How cool is that? I should have asked her to heal my strep, since it seems to be back. I didn't think about that until after we left. I did get to try some of the local brew, chicha, made from maize and it's basically moonshine. It was pretty good, surprisingly. Unfortunately, it was not strong enough apparently to knock out my sore throat.
We got to meet Omar's dad, who is a nationally recognized artisan and makes the most beautiful ceremonial masks out of balsa and cedar. Also, one of Omar's aunts has been declared a living treasure of Costa Rica and we got to meet her and watch her weave. She collects her own cotton right out of her front yard (!!!!!) and spins it into thread/yarn, dyes it and weaves on a wooden loom. Holy moly could she make some beautiful things. Both Omar's dad and aunt started teaching the local kids their crafts because all the craftsmen were dying out and they wanted to pass on the traditions. I am so glad that they did because these are two beautiful, talented and rare people who radiated with warmth and kindness and I'm so grateful that I got to meet them and was fortunate enough to get to see their work.
Also while in Boruca, we got to eat some of the local cuisine. These were by far, my favorite meals so far on the trip. The tamales were unlike any other and made with smoked pork on the inside, then steamed in banana leaves for three hours on a wood stove. Um, yeah, try finding that somewhere in the states! I will admit though, that even when there was water, this is one place where I turned down tap water and stuck to the bottles. We were only there one night so it was no big deal.
The only downfall of the trip really was the bus ride. It was 4.5 hours each way and although I got to see a lot of the country, having to drive on unpaved roads for more than half of the trip was really not so much fun. Plus, I won't even comment on how they pass each other on the roads here since my mom is reading this. Let's just say that even I wouldn't do some of the stuff they do regularly around here!
I should wrap this up since it's getting really long and I've accumulated about 600 colones worth of time here at the cafe and I'm not sure I have that much on me. Oops! I'm actually here with two of the three guys from my class so I can hit them up if necessary. And don't worry mom, I'll have one of them walk me home since it's dark here!
I hope everyone at home in Boston is well and staying warm (haha) I hear you got some ice and snow there and although Simon seems to think this is a bad thing, I am pretty happy to be missing it. Next weekend, I think I'm going to stay local and check out the beach near my school and the park at Manuel Antonio to spot some sloths and monkeys and just chill out after a very long week. I taught my first one-on-one lesson last night and I have a much greater appreciation for teachers now! I team teach my first actual class tomorrow with another student and then six more classes over the next two weeks, two as a team and four solo. It's really intimidating and I'm putting in a lot of time and effort into my preparation...it's very exhausting.
For those of you keeping track, I'm getting on much better now, living in the home stay. I actually hung out with my whole host family last night after dinner and was able to follow most of the conversation and even make some inappropriate jokes w/ the dad (who definitely started it, I swear!!!). So, if I can joke in Spanish, I must be getting better! I am picking up more and more each day and feel confident I will improve greatly by the time I return to the states.
Keep those emails coming...I love getting them and will do my very best to respond individually this weekend when I have more time to be at the computer.
Love to all!
Over last weekend, I went to a village called Boruca, one of seven indigenous reservations in Costa Rica. It encompasses millions of acres of land and is nestled in the most gorgeous mountains ever! We were taken there by one of the teachers at work, Omar, who is Borucan and grew up in Boruca. He shared a lot of stories and legends with us and I fell in love with the lore. Seriously, some parts of the town have not changed in a hundred years, whereas others have progressed in very strange ways. For instance, one of the houses we visited had a dirt floor, thatched roof and a clay wood stove for cooking. However, it had a refrigerator and a rice cooker plugged in and on the counter. Very anachronistic to say the least. Also, there were hundreds of ... you guessed it, CHICKENS!!! I was in heaven! I have to apologize in advance that a disproportionate number of my photos involve my feathered friends. In addition to the slew of chickens, there were plenty of (stray?) dogs (as is the norm everywhere in CR) and cats and roosters (aka boy chickens) and even a wild turkey to remind me of home, and the infestation of turkeys in Brookline. I also heard a wild hog somewhere in the woods but luckily did not get close enough to see it. There were plenty of horses and donkeys and people were actually riding them around like the old West, but on the same dirt road as cars and trucks.
However, just because they have cars and rice cookers does not mean that they have been fully introduced to the 21st century. They still have the same problems with water as the rest of CR and we were without water in the town for 9 or 10 hours. So, just to paint a clear picture of what happens when there is no water, there's also a lack of some other really important things, like cooking (as every meal involves rice, you had better believe that they need water), showering/bathing and well, flushing the toilets. There's not even water to wash your hands so you had better think ahead when planning to go to the bathroom. As it turns out, a lot of people had to use the bathroom and the only suggestion they got was, "El campo?" and were pointed toward the door. I found this hysterical and no big deal really b/c I had even packed toilet paper for myself. I've gone camping enough to not care, but this was not the attitude of most of the group. In fact, I think I'd rather go outside; there were not toilet seats on most of the toilets so you really needed to have some strong thighs to make it in that town! As a side note, I've noticed the lack of toilet seats a lot while here. So, note to self, if you need to ever bring a gift to someone at a homestay, a toilet seat is not a bad idea. We should have thought this out before going to Boruca; we could have been kings in that town!!!
So, like any native village should, Boruca had three bars. This town is so small that you can walk to everyone's house, chances are that you are related to at least 1/4 of the town by blood or marriage, but they have the need for three bars. I only got to check out two of them because the one bar owned by a non-Borucan is men only. Again, what century is this? Because there are no hotels within 20 miles (just an estimate), we all stayed with family or friends of Omar's. I stayed with the local natural healer. I will not say medicine woman, but close enough. How cool is that? I should have asked her to heal my strep, since it seems to be back. I didn't think about that until after we left. I did get to try some of the local brew, chicha, made from maize and it's basically moonshine. It was pretty good, surprisingly. Unfortunately, it was not strong enough apparently to knock out my sore throat.
We got to meet Omar's dad, who is a nationally recognized artisan and makes the most beautiful ceremonial masks out of balsa and cedar. Also, one of Omar's aunts has been declared a living treasure of Costa Rica and we got to meet her and watch her weave. She collects her own cotton right out of her front yard (!!!!!) and spins it into thread/yarn, dyes it and weaves on a wooden loom. Holy moly could she make some beautiful things. Both Omar's dad and aunt started teaching the local kids their crafts because all the craftsmen were dying out and they wanted to pass on the traditions. I am so glad that they did because these are two beautiful, talented and rare people who radiated with warmth and kindness and I'm so grateful that I got to meet them and was fortunate enough to get to see their work.
Also while in Boruca, we got to eat some of the local cuisine. These were by far, my favorite meals so far on the trip. The tamales were unlike any other and made with smoked pork on the inside, then steamed in banana leaves for three hours on a wood stove. Um, yeah, try finding that somewhere in the states! I will admit though, that even when there was water, this is one place where I turned down tap water and stuck to the bottles. We were only there one night so it was no big deal.
The only downfall of the trip really was the bus ride. It was 4.5 hours each way and although I got to see a lot of the country, having to drive on unpaved roads for more than half of the trip was really not so much fun. Plus, I won't even comment on how they pass each other on the roads here since my mom is reading this. Let's just say that even I wouldn't do some of the stuff they do regularly around here!
I should wrap this up since it's getting really long and I've accumulated about 600 colones worth of time here at the cafe and I'm not sure I have that much on me. Oops! I'm actually here with two of the three guys from my class so I can hit them up if necessary. And don't worry mom, I'll have one of them walk me home since it's dark here!
I hope everyone at home in Boston is well and staying warm (haha) I hear you got some ice and snow there and although Simon seems to think this is a bad thing, I am pretty happy to be missing it. Next weekend, I think I'm going to stay local and check out the beach near my school and the park at Manuel Antonio to spot some sloths and monkeys and just chill out after a very long week. I taught my first one-on-one lesson last night and I have a much greater appreciation for teachers now! I team teach my first actual class tomorrow with another student and then six more classes over the next two weeks, two as a team and four solo. It's really intimidating and I'm putting in a lot of time and effort into my preparation...it's very exhausting.
For those of you keeping track, I'm getting on much better now, living in the home stay. I actually hung out with my whole host family last night after dinner and was able to follow most of the conversation and even make some inappropriate jokes w/ the dad (who definitely started it, I swear!!!). So, if I can joke in Spanish, I must be getting better! I am picking up more and more each day and feel confident I will improve greatly by the time I return to the states.
Keep those emails coming...I love getting them and will do my very best to respond individually this weekend when I have more time to be at the computer.
Love to all!
1 comment:
dude, nice photo.
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