Pura vida? Pura vida.

Last weekend, Río Conejo had a festival to honor their patron saint, San José. Coincidentally, this was also our first weekend in Río Conejo. It started with “bombas” on Thursday night- (luckily I was not alone when these went off, or else I would have questioned whether or not Costa Rica was really a neutral country). Saturday night I asked my family to accompany me to the center of town just below us for karaoke, which is a favorite past time of just about everyone I have met since I arrived a week ago last Sunday. There were many families present, kids hanging out in groups on the bridge (Kennebunkers- envision the bridge rats), cars parked in the street, music, food, drinks- amazing energy! I saw lots of family too- cousins, aunts, and was introduced to friends of cousins, friends of aunts. One aunt sung a song that I am determined to learn so that I can sing karaoke during Semana Santa. (I practiced last night on our machine and have the refrain down perfectamente!) Yesterday, I went to mass with my mamá and other family and took the opportunity to socialize with community members. After, there was dancing, bake sales, chicharrones, and bingo. Qué dicha!

At the turno (fiesta de puebla), we met a couple who invited our class to come to their house to make bizcocho (tortilla con queso) and have cafecito one day this week. We went today and ended up spending the entire afternoon with them- we learned how to make tortillas, set off fireworks in the driveway, played the guitar, found the national flower of Costa Rica, ate the national flower of El Salvador straight from the tree, picked lemons, drank coffee, learned that girls are goats in tico speak, and listened to Don Checho tell jokes. My point in relaying this is that the people we have met just in the last week have been so friendly, open, honest, and generous. It is really a beautiful thing. Just another example- yesterday, my friends from Jerico came to Río Conejo to disfrutarse de los festivities. Unfortunately, since we did not know they were coming (this is not to be misunderstood as nostalgia for my cell phone), we were not there to greet them. My host mother however, quick to pick out the gatitos machitos (gatitos for blue eyes, machitos for fair skin), swooped them up, bought them arroz con leche, and invited them up to our house for empanadas and cafecito. Qué amable es mi mamá!

One more ejemplo de como amable es la gente tica- since my language class is so small, we are able to take mini field trips, whether to visit with a mamá of one of my classmates, or with the directora of the school, or the cooks at the soda (similar to a diner, but smaller), or the owner of the abastecedor (similar to a bodega in New York). This morning, we set off en parejas to visit two señoras to engage them in an informal interview about common illnesses and treatments. One of the questions we were instructed to ask translates to: what medical conditions do you have? While I posed the question as politely as possible, I still expected a slap across the face. Nope, instead, I learned about her high blood pressure and also that there is a service covered by social security that sends representatives door to door once or twice a year to check vital signs, give flu vaccines, and deliver medicines.

I have been laughing a lot since I arrived in Río Conejo. These events themselves would be enough to make me chuckle at home in the States but, when I tag on “in Costa Rica,” I lose it. Try these and see if you get where I’m coming from:
- I was sitting in the backseat of the school principal’s car eating chips with ketchup and mayonnaise… in Costa Rica.
- I bathed with a bucket of cold water and a cup in a shower… in Costa Rica. (This was a one time occurrence. No le preocupe.)
- I applied aloe vera, which I obtained from a plant, which I picked from a garden, which belongs to a couple, whom I met at a turno, which took place in my neighborhood… in Costa Rica.