July 29, 2010: Mother Earth

Hola, All! Do you feel, as I do, a responsibility to help take care of Mother Earth? What if we started thinking of her as a person? Would that change the way we treat her? This morning as I was walking in my neighborhood I picked up a piece of trash, knowing that some kind of receptacle for me to carry it in would appear. That's what happens when I start picking up trash, no matter where I am, something wil be available for me to put the trash in. This morning it was a plastic bag, a very wet plastic bag, but nontheless, a useable bag, the kind you get from a grocery store. Sometimes the receptacles are a large paper or plastic cup, or the plastic bag that the morning paper comes in, or sometimes I put the trash in my pockets (as a last resort). What was the most disturbing was how many plastic water bottles I found. Sure, they can be recycled, which is a step in the right direction, but how do we eliminate our dependency on them? And, think how much better off our planet would be if we treated Mother Earth as a person, and taught that to our children! For instance, teaching our children that throwing trash on the ground (Mother Earth's face) is the same thing as throwing trash in another person's face. What a visual that is! Maybe the key is not only educating people, but changing the way we educate them. Something to think about.
Chao for now,
Dawnie

July 28, 2010

Hola, All! It is good to be back in the ole U.S. of A.! Today is really the first day that I have felt like I've had the energy to do much. I've been dragging around for several days but now I'm ready to roll again!
On Sunday Ed and I went for an early morning walk. As this man passed us, he stopped and asked if we recognized him. I said that he looked familiar but didn't remember his name. He told us his name was Tran, and that he had worked at with us at Mostek (in the late 70's)! Then two days later I went for another walk on a different street and passed him again! Later in the walk I turned the corner to find a U-Haul truck parked on the street. What caught my eye was what was written on the side of the truck: "What will you do next?" I felt like the question was directed right at me. I finished the walk with nothing else eventful happening. Today I called a friend, Mary, to see if she wanted to play cards with some of us on Friday night. When she found out that I had been to Costa Rica she asked me who I went with. I answered, "By myself". She thought that was very brave, and then asked me if I wanted to go skydiving! Is this the answer to the question"What will you do next?" I don't know but it certainly is something to think about.
Chao for now!
Dawnie

July 23: Home tomorrow!

Hola, All! Today is my last day here! The school is sending a van to pick me up at 6:40 in the morning to take me to the airport. Yesterday I went to the bank to pay the exit tax ($ 26) so that I would not have to stand in line to pay it at the airport. I am not sure what it is for but I had to do the same thing when I left Guatemala.
Last night I went with a group of students to a restaurant in Heredia. It turns out that it is run by the family of one of the men who works at the school. The food was good and they offered a big selection, such as steak, chicken (pollo), seafood. I ordered fried shrimp with veggies........yummy! It is the first restaurant that I have eaten at since I have been in Heredia. Since we can eat lunch at the school for around $3 a day, I have chosen to do that, especially since this week I have had tutoring at 1pm. The lunches always consist of rice, beans and salad, then something like pasta, or chicken, or a small amount of beef. Before lunch today we had a program where almost all of the students got up in front of everyone and read a sentence or two in Spanish. They gave us our sentences; mine was about the bull. There were also 2 ladies and a man who played instruments and sang. It was quite entertaining. Just wish I could have understood more of what was being said!
Tonight I am taking my tico (Costa Rican) family out for dinner. I do not know yet where we are going; I left the decision up to Carmen. I am really going to miss them; it has been a pleasure to be part of their family for 2 weeks. But, I am excited to finally be going home to my family, friends, and my own bed!
Chao for now! I will be seeing you soon!!
Dawnie

July 21: More differences

Hola, All! One of the differences that I have been surprised about is that the average house in C.R. doesn´t have hot water in the sinks in the bathroom or the kitchen. They wash their dishes with cold water! Also, what is common in the central american countries that I´ve been to is a dish soap called Axion, which is made by Palmolive-Colgate. It comes in a tub and is the same consistentcy as bar soap. A sponge is kept in the Axion that is used to wash the dishes. Instead of making a sink of soapy water, they make sure the sponge is soapy and the dishes are wet, then wash and rinse in the same sink. Carmen then uses the other side of the sink to leave the dishes to dry. It seems to be a good system, I´m thinking about trying it if I can find Axion.

One day Carmen and I went to Hiper Mas, a store ( tienda) that sells food and clothes, like a Super Target. When we entered the parking lot to Hiper Mas, there was a small guard station where a man handed each car a plastic card. As I was walking around the store I thought, "This looks really similar to a Walmart." While going down one of the aisles I saw Walmart´s brand name on something. After paying and getting back in the car, we had to go past the guard station again and return the plastic card. Carmen told me that getting and returning a plastic card keeps the theft of cars very low. That way someone can´t walk into the parking lot and steal a car, because there is only one way in and one way out.
Love you! Chao for now!
Dawnie

July 20: Classes

Hola, All! As is the custom, each week the students have a different teacher than the week before. Again I lucked out by being the only student in my class! Es muy bueno! Because I had difficulty understanding what I learned last Friday, my teacher went over it again on Monday. It´s something called ´special verbs¨; what it really means is in certain instances the verbs don´t translate well. For instance, think about non-English speakers trying to figure out what ´It´s raining cats and dogs¨means. It´s the same thing with the ´special verbs´in Spanish. I´m just really glad the teacher went through the verbs one by one, explaining how to correctly use each one. Also in the morning we have a 20 minute break with the school providing a snack. Usually the snacks are pretty good. For instance, every day we have watermelon (yum!), pineapple, and something else. Sometimes it´s a torilla with something inside; today it was a cookie.
In the afternoon for an hour and a half I have a different teacher; mostly it´s conversation, helping me with hearing and understanding what´s being said and me stumbling through trying to have an intelligent conversation. Remembering the different tenses of the verbs is challenging but I´m getting through it. I´m just like a baby having to hear the same things over and over until it´s deeply recorded in my brain.
Love to all; chao for now!
Dawnie

July 18: At Marta's house

Hola, All! Yesterday Carmen, Javier and I drove to Marta's house, about 45 minutes away. When we finally found their 'driveway', it was a challange to get up. When the road was put in, it was two long skinny strips of concrete. Now it is alot of broken concrete, potholes, and buckled places, which reminds me of our sidewalks in Carrollton. Javier's Japanese car wasn't meant to be driving on such terrain, which was all uphill, since Marta lives on top of a mountain. At one point we had to get out of the car and fill a crevice with rocks. I felt like we were climbing the Rockies in a covered wagon! But once we got to the top, WOW, what a view! They are surrounded by mountains with valleys inbetween. Marta's husband and 3 boys built their house 4 years ago. It is made of logs, with small 3 bedrooms upstairs and the kitchen, dinning, living room and bathroom downstairs. I don't know how many acres they own, but it's alot. This morning I went for a walk down the 'driveway'. Alberto, Marta's esposo (husband), was working in the chicken house. There are 2 large buildings that house 2 thousand hens each! The set-up is crude but effective: there are 36 'buckets' with food and 18 'buckets' with water in each house. He had already put food in the buckets and was washing the buckets that contained water. I tried to ask about when they lay eggs, and he said something about 5 months so I don't know exactly what that meant. Obviously they do lay eggs someplace, although I don't know where unless it was on the floor, because in the garage next door were stacked cartons of eggs. (In case you don't know, alot of people in Central America don't refrigerate their eggs.) It was certainly an eye opening experience.
Chao for now!
Dawnie

July 17 : More differences

Hola, All! I do not know how anybody finds their way around in this country. There are very few street signs and the houses don't have any kind of address. It beats anything I've ever seen! To get to Carmen's house the directions went something like this: from the ABC school, go 100 meters north, then 150 meters west. Take a left at the corner; 5th house on the right. These people must depend on land marks and their memories to get them from one place to another.
Also, there are not many sidewalks, and rarely shoulders on the road. Heredia is better about being able to walk on a sidewalk than Monteverde was. In Monteverde you had to walk on the edge of the road in single file, but I must say that the drivers were very good about giving the pedestrians plenty of room. I never felt that my life was in danger, or that I almost got hit.
Here's a little bit of history for you: Did you know that Costa Rica doesn't have a military? After WWII there was a civil war in C.R. When it was over, the president decided that in order to keep from killing themselves again, they should abolish their military, which they did. (Don't misunderstand, they still have police in every city.)
Chao for now,
Dawnie

July 16, 2010: Amiga Marta

Hola, All! Como estan? On June 26, the day I left to come here, I struck up a conversation, in Spanish, with a woman named Marta at DFW. I probably only talked to her for 30 minutes or so when she went to buy a travel pillow for the airplane. She had visited someone in North Carolina and had a layover at DFW. I waited for her to return before boarding because I know what it´s like to be in a different country by yourself and not speak the language well (Guatemala). As we were walking down the ramp to board the plane, she gave me her phone number in Costa Rica, and asked for mine. The only number I had was the number of the lady, Virginia, whom I stayed with in Monteverde. Six days later, after I returned from eating dinner with Allison and Kerry, Virginia told me that Marta had called! Then she called back the next morning and invited me to visit her. I told her that I would call her in 10 days, when I was in Heredia. On Monday of this week, I called Marta (Carmen talked to her too) and she invited me again to visit her for the weekend! She lives with her husband and 2 older children in a different city. I´m really not sure how far it is but I don´t think it´s very far. Anyway, the wonderful couple that I live with is taking me to Marta´s house on Saturday, then Marta will bring me back on Sunday. It´s another adventure for me! I´m really excited to get to spend time with another family in Costa Rica. I will let you know how it goes on Monday.
Chao for now!
Dawnie

July 15, 2010: 2nd Dance Class; San Jose

Hola, All! Tuesday I went to the dance (baile) class at the school. It was completely different than the one I had in Monteverde. The instructor was like a whirlwind, constantly moving rapidly, keeping the pace fast moving. There were probably 24 people in the room, but maybe 7 males. I started out being a ´male´and ended up being a female when we changed partners. We learned 3 dances pretty quickly, one being the salsa; don´t remember the names of the other two. It was really fun but I was sweating bullets by the end.

Yesterday I took a tour of the city of San Jose, leaving the school at noon. I don´t know where I got the impression that it was a walking tour, but I was so wrong! The first half of the tour was riding around in the bus with the guide pointing out ínteresting´places, so interesting that I nearly feel asleep! The second half was better because we got out of the bus and visited the Central Park, a really pretty church, 2 museums, and a small jewelry store. Thank goodness I had my backpack with me because I did most of my homework while sitting on the bus. I sat up front with the busdriver and practiced my Spanish a little; I would have practiced more but I wanted his attention on the road, where the crazy motorcyclists zigzag in and out of trafic. By the time I got to the house where I am staying, it was 7pm.

Love to all and chao for now!

Dawnie

July 13, 2010: classes

Hola, All! Yahoo; I´m able to get on the computer (computadora) again today! My first class in Monteverde was wonderful! My teacher´s name was Royner and we just seemed to click from the start. I was extremely fortunate in that I was the only student, so every class was geared to me and my level. Royner spoke slowly and made sure I understood what he was trying to get across. Also, we played lots of games in Spanish. He also teaches English at night, and when he found out that I taught English to non-English speakers, he invited me to help in his class. That was really fun! I helped him on 2 nights (of the second week) and on the 3rd night he had a conflict and asked me to teach for the first hour!
As is the custom of CPI, every week you get a different teacher. So the second week my teacher´s name was Dunnia, and there were 2 other students, Ele and Nico. Both of them have a greater command of the Spanish language than I do so I did alot of listening. All 3 of them spoke faster than me so I needed more help understanding what was going on. After class on Tuesday I asked my teacher, in Spanish, if she could ask me more questions during class so that I could talk more. Well, she must have thought that I wasn´t happy because one of the directors asked me if I wanted to move to another class. I said, No, that I just wanted to have the opportunity to talk more. She then set me up for FREE tutoring for the next 3 afternoons!! I tell you, this is a great school!
This week my teacher´s name is Gerado, and there is only 1 other student, Christopher, a high school student. Gerado is speaking slower than Dunnia so I am understanding more. With only 2 of us, and similar in Spanish comprehension, we are both getting alot of talking time. Today we got to play charades, acting out irregular verbs and professions. I probably don´t have to tell you that I loved it! And, was very good at it! We are starting to get into material that I don´t know so things are getting a little harder.
Thanks for all the comments and emails! I´m very happy to get each one!
Love you, and chao for now!
Dawnie

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July 13, 2010: Heredia

Hola, All! On Sunday I left Monteverde and arrived in Heredia that afternoon. I am living with a couple who don´t have children, Carmen and Javiar. Carmen is a principal at a school and is on a 2 week break. I´m not sure why Javier is not working; they tried to tell me in Spanish but no comprendo. They are a wonderful couple! Carmen´s parents and sister live next door. I think they have adopted me! Everyone speaks slowly so that I can understand what they are saying. This morning after Carmen made me breakfast, she sat and talked to me for around 25 minutes. It was a great way to start the day. They live about 12 minutes from the school; on Sunday they showed me how to get there and on Monday Carmen walked me to school. I had to write down the directions because there are probably 5 turns I have to make before I get there. The school is bigger than in Monteverde and has more students. I´m meeting new people everyday. Yesterday I met John, a Spanish teacher from Houston. Since he has been here for 2 weeks, he knows his way around and is taking me on a tour this afternoon. Today at lunch I met a woman, Tera, and her daughter, Bailey, from Canada. There don´t seem to be as many single women here for me to hang out with. The weather is warmer than in Monteverde, but not hot, and not as much rain. All in all, I´m going to enjoy myself here!
Chao for now,
Dawnie

July 10, 2010: Horseback riding

Hola, All! Yesterday´s adventures entailed riding a horse, cabello in Spanish, for 1 and a half hours. I was with other students from the school, mainly 3 moms with their kids. Of course, I got the horse with an attitude! He knew where his place was...fifth in line. Everytime the horse behind us tried to pass us, he would nip at the other horse! Or if we were doing down a wide trail, he would zig zag so that no other horse would pass us. The scenery was alsolutely beautiful! There were times we could see all the way down to the valley, seemed like it was a mile below us. Other times we would be riding in the clouds! My favorite part was the last third of the ride, when we were riding in the forest on nothing bigger than a hiking trail and it was so foggy that I couldn´t see 20 feet in front of me. It would have made great scenery for a scary movie! Another interesting thing was when we got almost close enough to touch some wild bulls. It was cool also getting to see them run, kind of like dogs runing. My booty got a little sore, esp since I have such a boney one!
Love to all, love reading your comments!
Chao for now!
Dawnie

July 9, 2010: dance class

Hola, All! Last night I went to a free dance class at the school. My teacher from last week, Royner, was the instructor. He taught us 3 salsa moves and of course talked to us in Spanish. Since there were more women than men, 2 of the women learned the men´s parts. Ele, who is a little taller than me and also has long legs, was my partner. Because of the size of the steps that one takes, having someone with a similar stride works well. It was great fun as we danced up a storm! Today my calves are a little sore, which seems weird because Monteverde is in the mts and it seems like I'm always either walking uphill or downhill. So my calves should be getting a workout regularly; go figure.
Love you, chao for now,
Dawnie

July 7, 2010: Cooking class

Hola, All! Today I signed up for a free cooking class at the school. It was really nice because there were only 5 of us students and 1 cook. As we were talking to each other in English, the cook told us to practice our Spanish instead. Even in the kitchen they want us speaking espanol! The first thing she asked us was if there were any vegetarians. Since I could see the hamburger meat, I raised my hand. I also told her that I could not eat cheese or food made with milk. Then she told us that we would be preparing salad, meatballs, potatoes and making homemade tortillas. We were really cute because we all had to wear hairnets. I was in charge of cutting the cucumbers, and mixing the flour and water by hand to make the tortilla dough. I had both my hands in it up to my wrists. Then we rolled the dough into circles for another student to cook the tortillas. Only later did I realize that one of my acrylic nails had come off in the dough!! Someone sure got a surprise in their tortilla!

Yesterday I realized that I have been amiss in teaching you some Spanish words. So, I thought I would teach you how to pronounce my mama-tico´s name. Virginia is pronounced: Ber hen e a (with the ´e´ being a long sound). Something else you might be interested in is the word ´tico´.....this is the name for the native people of Costa Rica.
Love you, chao for now!
Dawnie

July 6, 2010: Coinsidences

Hola, All! Most of you know that I do not believe in conincidences. I believe that people or things come into our lives for a reason. For instance, last week my instuctor, Royner, told me about the School of Friends (Quakers). Last Fri this young woman named Eli sat at my table at break. It turns out that she is a Quaker from Pennsylvania. On Sat as I was walking to the farmers market, I ran into her as she was returning from there. After going to the farmers market, I went to a small store where natural products were sold. The young woman whose family owned the store told me that she attended the Quaker school. (Come on, this is really too much!) Since Royner and Eli both asked me to go to the service (called a Meeting) on Sunday, I decided to go. My other choice was to attend a Catholic service. Sunday morning I walked about 25 minutes to the Meeting. I got there just as they were finishing their last song. Then a woman got up to explain the Meeting. Really it was a time of silence, or meditation, when anyone could voice a prayer. After different people spoke, this woman would translate into Spanish. It was almost all about a member who had died recently of a disease. There were no more songs, no sermon, no religious affirmations, just some silence inbetween the people who had a prayer to say or who read a poem about something that was important to them. I found it really interesting when a man spoke about what they did during the childrens time, which took place outside. The kids were throwing a frisby back and forth, sometimes dropping it. Then he talked to them about staying in the present moment and really paying attendtion to what they were doing. After they resumed playing frisby, the kids did not drop it much. After the end of the silence period, there were announcements, introductions of the visitors, and then a pot luck lunch. All in all, I enjoyed the Meeting and the lunch.
For those of you who are wondering if I am learning any Spanish, the answer is yes. I go to school for 4 hours M-F, plus I probably study 2-3 hours a day. The teachers here are really good, and even give us homework.
Love you, chao for now!
Dawnie

July 5, 2010; sugar cane tour

Hola, All!

Update on mom; she has moved into a retirement center in Round Rock and seems to like it. And, of course, the work continues on clearing out her house.
Last week I went on a tour where they grow sugar cane. This particular place also was growing coffee, bananas, plantains, pineapple and some kind of squash that I had never heard of, and all grown organcally. Way up in the trees were a couple of sloughs. Did you know that they stay in the trees and only come down once a week to defecate? Can you imagine the size; I was definitely looking where I was walking! The system that they use to extract the sugar from the cane looked so antiquated; they even still use oxen to collect the cane and take it into the barn. Also, because everything is grown on the side of a mountain, any kind of natural products that they spray on the cane and fruit has to all be done by hand. Oh, they also grow some kind of berries that have to be havested by hand also. Near the end we got to make some candy out of the sugar; we could even add coconut, peanuts or chocolate to it. A little bit went a long way since it was so sweet. All in all it was a very interesting tour.
Someone is waiting to use the computer so must sign off.
Love you; chao for now,
Dawnie

July 2, 2010; different things

Hola, All!
Update on Mom: the last I heard she is moving into a retirement center, not sure when. In the meantime, my sisters have continued the process of cleaning out her home. It is a BIG job! We are starting to divy things up because she does have some nice things.

I thought today I would talk about how some things are different here in Monteverde than home. For instance, the shower head in Virginia´s house is directly overhead, so every day that I don´t wash my hair, I am doing the limbo trying to keep my hair from getting wet! (slight exaggeration!) Also, the way the shower works is that the hot water comes out first with the least amt of pressure. As you turn up the pressure, the water gets colder! Very intersting system, it makes you use less water if you want a hot shower.
On my bed there are 4 really thin blankets plus a sheet. It was different at first but now it makes sense because if I am only a little warm, then I just throw off one blanket.
Yesterday was the first day since I´ve been here that it didn´t rain in the afternoon. Today is another story. It is raining now and rains almost everyday this time of yr. Everything is so beautiful with lots of colors.
The food here is good but I don´t know how many times I can eat rice with beans without getting tired of it. For breakfast, instead of cereal, I have eaten rice with beans, fruit, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal. For lunch I go out with my friends and eat at a different restaurant everyday. It´s really amazing how many restaurants there are here for the number of people. For dinner, I have had fruit, salad, r & b, chicken once, and various vegetables. Virginia has been so kind to me. She makes me a cup of hot tea every morning, then something for breakfast that always includes fruit. For dinner she asks me everyday what time I want to eat, then has it ready. The second day I was here she asked me if I had any laundry. Of course I did- then she said to just drop it on the floor in my room everyday (I´m loving this!). On top of this, even though I have told her not to, she irons my clothes!!! Now I know what it feels like to have a maid! Thanks for all the comments and emails; it makes me feel like I am not so far from home.

Love you, chao for now,
Dawnie