Day 3 8/30/12
Oh
another adventure! We didn’t have to meet for class, so it was strange having
nothing set that we had to do. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to go the fiesta
with my family or with my friends. So I asked my tica mom and she said no! no!
Go with your friends! So I went to my friend Chandler’s house to go with her
and her family.
I
absolutely love Chandler’s family. Every time I go over it feels like a sitcom.
They are so hilarious. She literally lives with 7 women. Now imagine 4 women, 2 little girls, 1 man, and one
bathroom. Now imagine how much women tend to talk. Then multiply it and
translate it into Spanish! Basically we only understand about half of what they
say because they talk so much and so fast, but oh how we laugh. Laughter is the
same in every language. Thank goodness. So Chandler’s tica mom is an older
woman who lives with either 2 or 3 of her something like 15 sisters/siblings!
They all look very similar and talk very fast to one another. But they are a
hoot. Somehow, Chandler didn’t actually get introduced formally to the sisters
so she doesn’t know their names. But we have slowly been learning them through
paying attention to conversations. And more and more sisters and family members
keep appearing! It’s really entertaining to watch. Especially when Chandler
comes running over to my house to tell me she met another sister (she’s running
over because she has no Internet AND no phone. It’s like the olden days or
something). Ania’s (Chanlder’s tica mom) daughter May also lives at the house
with her two daughters Valezca (9) and Valentina (6) and her husband, but he is
almost always working.
One
of the sisters (who we recently found out is Isa) said that their house is
pura mujeres (pure women). She is
soooo funny. Ania said that I like to go over there because I live with all men
and I need to be around them haha. I really do love going over to Chandler’s
house though. It’s like having two families here in Costa Rica. It is crowded
and everyone is always saying something, but they are so caring and so good to
us.
So
once everyone was ready (which takes a long time with so many ladies) we walked
to el centro and found a spot to stand for the parade or the entering of the
saints. We waited for a while, but eventually the parade started. In Costa Rica
they have what people call Tico Time. People don’t get as worked up about time
like they do in the US. So nothing ever really starts at its designated time.
(Dad I don’t know what you would do if you lived here. At least we would be
early to events.) When the parade started, the priest and others dressed in
traditional clothes welcomed everyone. There were tons of floats, but they were
different from floats here. I’m not even sure if that is what you would call
them. Basically groups of people carried decorated wooden frames over their
shoulders that held up all the saints that were returning to San Ramón. Some
people drove cars and even tractors decorated with beautiful flowers. Many
people wore red and white for the entering of the saints, and all of the floats
were meticulously decorated. There was great music during the parade as well.
Some high school students played modern music and the older groups played more
traditional music. It was really fun to watch.
It
was crazy how many people were there. I think school was out for all of the
kids. It was really interesting how the parade went. There were people just walking
within the parade who weren’t a part of it. Chandler and I found this really
weird. It was like instead of standing behind the barrier, some people walked
through the parade to get wherever they were trying to go. We laughed to
ourselves thinking about how that would never happen in the US. Police or
security would make everyone stay behind the barrier. Things are much more laid
back here. Chandler and I ate some cotton candy and it was oh so amazing. Thank
goodness for universal foods.
When
I walked home after the parade I walked into the house and found a funny scene.
My whole family was sitting down for lunch. This was surprising because it was
only the second or third time I’d seen my youngest host brother. My tico dad
was sitting at the table shirtless and my older host brother was wearing an
Italian t-shirt as my mom calls it (a wife-beater to anyone else). The reason
it was so comical is that our director told us we shouldn’t even to walk around
our house in our pajamas. So seeing everyone else so laid back was surprising.
After
lunch, Chandler and I went with her tica mom to try and get sim cards for our
phones! Phone adventure round 3! It was QUITE the adventure and very
overwhelming. We showed up and Chandler’s mom starts to talk to the people. We
went to this store called Gollo with a giant chicken on top of the sign. It was
kind of an odd place. They had phones, electronics, furniture and appliances. So
this guy with the most beautiful eyes was talking to us wayyy to fast and we
had NO idea what he is saying. He just kept smiling at us as we stared back at
him with confused eyes. So every time he spoke we looked from him to each other
to Chandler’s mom, and she repeated it slower so that we could somewhat
understand. So we bought these damn chips and had the hardest time paying. For
some reason we had to use cash. Not sure what this was about. We hope we didn’t
do anything illegal. But we have no idea how much it cost in colones or how
much our bills are worth! It was so confusing. All the dollars are different
colors but they are by the thousand and coins are even more confusing. So we
bought the chips and I put mine in my phone. I was so excited! Yay! Finally I
have a phone… and all of a sudden a screen pops up asking for a pin to unlock
the phone. Great. What the hell. I was so beyond pissed. And the woman who put
the chip in my phone was just so utterly confused on why it wasn’t working.
Eventually she told me that it wouldn’t work and that I would have to have
someone in the US call T-Mobile to unlock my phone. Well that was just lovely.
Unfortunately, Chandler didn’t have
much luck either. They cut her sim card to fit it in her iphone and then the
woman told us it was incompatible. Whatever that means. But really? She
couldn’t have realized it wouldn’t work BEFORE we bought the stupid chips!? So
Chandler looked at phones to buy from the shop but they were all extremely
expensive because they were smart phones that use internet, and we paid for
internet on the chips that we bought!
So,
eventually, we walked out of the store flustered, laughing, upset, and maybe
even about to cry. Chandler’s mom, Ania, laughed and said, tienen chips pero no
teléfonos! (you have chips but no phones!) It cheered us up to laugh. Well,
just a little bit. When we got back to Chan’s we told the tías about the story
and they laughed and laughed. Apparently our sad lives and lack of Spanish
speaking abilities are quite entertaining. Ania said that it was all ok because
the guy who was working with us was muy guapo :P.
Later
we went to the fiesta again and there was a concert. They played some American
songs like “Shake Your Booty” and then something called Chicky Chicky? Everyone
was dancing in the street. We wanted to dance but didn’t really know how. Then
I reminded myself I usually only dance in the comfort of my home surrounded by
my oh so talented best friends.
Later
on we saw our friends Hillary, Sydney, Mariah, and Alysa. We bought these weird
things called Chorreadas Ducles. It was like a flat grilled corn type food with
natilla on it. I knew I didn’t like Natilla but everyone was buying it so Chan
and I shared one and with a Coke. I ordered for the first time and gave the
right amount of money. SCORE! I was so proud of myself. The woman next to me
asked me something and I thought I heard something about sugar. So she put some
sugar that’s in a bowl on her food and then a guy gave her some packets. SO I
decided to put some on ours too and then I joined our friends in the park.
Most
of them didn’t like the chorreada too much. Without the natilla it wasn’t too
bad. Chandler tried it and made a horrible face. I was laughing at her and I
mixed the sugar in and told everyone how WE put sugar on ours. Then I tried it
and instantly my face scrunched up and it was the most horrible horrible taste.
I almost threw up. Then I shouted, “It’s not sugar! It’s SALT!” and everyone
busted out laughing. It was very unpleasant.
After,
we walked Alysa home and it was really far away. It started to get dark and
rain and everyone laughed at me because I still had the tag on my umbrella and
it was semi broken. (Thanks a lot mom! Just kidding, but really!) It started
raining harder and harder. We were all getting soaked and it was completely
dark. I could feel blisters forming on my feet and I was wearing a stupid
dress. Chandler came over and I felt so bad because we were soaking wet. We
dried off a bit and watched PLL which was so good! We used headphones because
my host mom was watching her Telenovelas, but we kept screaming and gasping! I
think she might have been laughing at us as we were glued to the computer.
Later
on a skyped my parents which was so great. They met my host dad and it was very
funny. It was really hard to flip back and forth between Spanish and English
though. My host dad said my dad looked good and like he lifts weights. Haha
just what he needs to hear :P. Anyways it was great to see them!
I know this is way overdue! I’ll try to write more soon!
This is old!
Hasta luego,
Kristin
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