rain, rain go away...

Hola,

It´s raining AGAIN. Just like it rained 30 minutes ago. And an hour before that. And two hours before that. And... Actually, this is no surprise. THEY said it rains a lot in Costa Rica. And that´s probably why everything is so green and lush.

This morning I started my routine for the next three weeks: Three hours of Spanish in the morning, and four hours of soup kitchen after that. Seems I know quite a bit of Spanish, except when I forget it. But that´s always the case in a language class.

The soup kitchen serves lunch to about 60 kids, Monday thru Friday. Today I made the beverage (some fruit concentrate, add water and stir), served the kids food (a stew/soup with vegetables and a meatball, and some rice), then cleaned the dishes. Since it had been raining on and off this morning, only a handful of kids showed up. You wouldn´t think that a little rain in a country where it rains all the time would keep hungry kids away from food. Maybe it prevents the people who bring the kids to eat from going to the soup kitchen. The soup/stew was actually good. I had some for lunch.

Yesterday Ivannia, the mother of my host family, took me, by bus, to San Jose to look around. It´s not too far from Santa Barbara. About one and a half hours with a change of buses in Heredia.

At the risk of insulting anyone who may read this, San Jose is not a beautiful city. It´s not attractive in any way. It´s functional: it has one of most things people would need. It´s crowded and noisey and grimey. But I wanted to go and Ivannia accommodated me. No wonder she looked at me like I was nuts when I said I wanted to go.

The best part of the visit was the salsa and merengue band that played in the park. They are called the XO´s ("eeks-ohs"), and are one the two famous salsa and merengue bands in Costa Rica. They play stardard, "old" latin music. Classics? However you describe it, it was good music. It was fun watching the older folks dance. There is something about good dance music that makes one forgot one´s aches and pains, and makes one feel young again. These old folks could boogey! Some of these abuelas (grandmothers) has some cool moves. Then it rained and everyone ran to get out of the rain.

The ride home from San Jose to Heredia was jarring. It looked like a bus from the outside, it was actually a bucking bronco. And you couldn´t blame the rough ride on the road. Even on the smooth newly paved sections the bus bounced. Maybe the bus company got a deal on slightly defective wheels. Wheels that were oval instead of round. And let´s not forget the transmission. Every time the driver had to change gears, it made a ghastly sound. And I think I could walk up hill faster than the bus could drive up hill. But we made to Heredia, slowly and painfully. The next bus seemed like a luxury coach, and it takes a lot to make the ride of a yellow school bus seem luxurious. Oh boy did I ever appreciate the tranquility of Santa Barbara when I got home.

On Saturday night Ivannia took me to a talent show at her church. The participants where church members. While they were mostly teenagers, there were a few adults who competed. Everyone was talented. It was a difficult choice to make. Afterward we had food from one of the many booths in the church courtyard. The church was holding a Christmas fair, and so there were booths with food, games, and stuff to buy. It was fun. The whole experience reminded me how similar people from different countries can be. The church fair and talent show could have taken place in any city in many a country. I could have been in Chittenango.

Saturday morning I stumbled upon a local parade. It was similar to the types of parades they parade in Spain on festival days. They had those tall pâpier maché dolls that guys carried on their shoulders. And when the music played, they spun around in circles, just like they do in Spain. Only the figures here in Santa Barbara were more comical and included a big fat black lady and a screaming ghost. And the band that accompanied them played more latin type music. And they had the short (person-sized) big-headed pâpier maché characters that would bob little kids on their heads.

By the way, I found out that AT&T calling cards don´t work in ALL cities around the world. None of public phones in Santa Barbara connect to AT&T. The closest phones that connect to ATT are in San Jose. Good thing I don´t need to call home often.

Well, that´s what´s new in Santa Barbara.
Daily updates might not be possible since I have to catch the bus to town to access the net.

cheers,
Stacey