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