Rural Stay Pt. 1

One week ago today I was stepping off the bus in a strange town to spend the following 3 weeks with a strange family in a strange house. I was met at the bus stop by my host mom Faynier and her granddaughter Lucia. We took a taxi back to the house, and Doña Faynier showed me some of the sights of my new neighborhood as we drove. Of course, I can’t remember any of what she said now. We spent the rest of the day at the house so that I could get to know my new surroundings and my new family. Doña Faynier lives here with her husband Victor (who works in the fields), her son Cristian (who owns the market at the top of the hill – he technically lives at the market, but is at the house a lot), her son Jeffrey (who works as an appliance repairman), her daughter Jenny, and Jenny’s 3-year-old daughter Lucia. The family has a tiny French poodle named Nani, a parakeet, a dozen or so chickens, and another small dog chained to the tree outside. I still haven’t figured out what’s different about that dog and Nani.

Back row L-R: Jeffery, Jenny, Cristian
Front row L-R: Doña Faynier, Lucia, Nani, Victor

The front of our house (with Nani - I couldn't get many good pictures of her since she was always moving)

The back of the house (garden, clotheslines, Lucia)

The inside of our gate - I don't have any idea how all those plants stayed in place

The kitchen/eating area/family room

I don't have any good pictures of my room, but the fabric on the pillow was one of the highlights (it's Winnie the Pooh if you can't tell)

The view from the shower - Sorry I can't get these photos to line up quite right

Hallway/other kitchen/laundry room

The bird living in the hallway/kitchen/laundry room

Living room (where I taught English classes)

On Sunday, the whole family drove to Grecia to go to mass. It was a particularly special Sunday because the church was celebrating the feast day of whichever saint the church is named after (I didn’t catch the name). There was a big procession full of music and flowers, and a big party outside the church afterward. We skipped out on the party and instead headed to Doña Faynier’s mother’s house to spend the afternoon. It seemed like the whole family was there (uncles and cousins included), but apparently that was only a small part of the extended family. We at lunch and dinner with the family and filled the time in between with dozens of rounds of bingo and plenty of conversation. The family was really interested in talking about US politics and the upcoming election. Since I’ve been in Costa Rica, I’ve been pretty out of the loop regarding current news. It was pretty strange to realize that the people in this tiny community in Costa Rica know more about US politics than I do at the moment! I’ll have to catch up once I get back to San Jose and can use the internet.

On Monday, we generally hung out at the house and I helped Doña Faynier with some of the cooking and cleaning. I also watched the first 10 minutes of at least 15 different movies with Lucia. She’s precious, but she can be quite a handful, especially when we’re trying to talk. It’s hard enough speaking and understanding Spanish, and it’s hard enough trying to communicate with a 3 year old. Put them together and I’m practically doomed. Luckily we’ve figured out how to communicate without as many words, and my Spanish is improving every day. In the afternoon we went to Jeffery’s girlfriend’s mom’s house (I think – I’m generally just guessing who I’m talking with at any given moment). We spent several hours their eating and talking. A guy from the US was there (I guess he’s a family friend), so the two of us enjoyed each other’s company. It was a nice change to be able to use a word in English if I couldn’t figure it out in Spanish. It gets really tiring trying to work your way around a word you don’t know. Before I left San Jose I was trying to talk to my host mom about geckos, but of course I didn’t know the word for gecko. I took a deep breath and jumped right in, trying to describe something like a tiny snake with legs that climbs on the walls and chirps at night. It took several minutes to get my idea across, and by then my host mom and I were laughing so hard we forgot why I was talking about geckos. So, like I said, it was nice to avoid that situation for once. We made our way over to a nearby soccer field that night to watch a game between two teams made up of the local priests (again, I could be confused, but that’s what it sounded like). The game was pretty funny, since all of the players were clearly out of shape and out of practice. The field was a muddy mess, which only added to the ridiculousness of the night. The game ended with a fireworks display in honor of Sunday’s feast day of whichever saint it was.

The soccer game (before they started playing and were covered in mud)

On Tuesday I spent my first day at a local school. The plan had been for me to help in some of the English classes, but in the end it didn’t quite work out. The teacher didn’t need my help, and no one else in the school seemed to need anything either. I think I needed more help (especially with communication) than I was able to give. I went back to the school on Wednesday, but we all agreed that I could be more useful elsewhere in the community. For example, I’m going to be working with the Association of Agroindustrial Women of San Luis. Supposedly they have a facebook page under the name “Asomag,” but I haven’t been able to look for it yet. I have only spent a couple of hours there so far, but it’s a really interesting group. A handful of women work there to make natural products like shampoo, soap, and skin products. They have a huge garden/farm in the back with every type of medicinal plant imaginable. The group sells their products in the community as well as in some of the natural product stores in the bigger cities (if there’s a better word for natural product store in English, I can’t think of it – thinking in English is getting harder and harder). So far I’ve only been able to observe some of the production and learn about their plants and products, but I’m going to spending more time with them later on.

On Wednesday, after I officially quit my work at the school, I tried to take the bus back to my house, which should have been a very simple task. However, the bus was really crowded and I couldn’t see out the front to figure out where we were. Somehow I missed my stop. I was starting to panic, trying to figure out how I was going to switch buses and get on a bus going back uphill (buses only run every hour or two, so it can be tricky). Luckily, I think at least half of the people on the bus knew I was staying with Doña Faynier, and one woman explained that I should get off and another bus would come in a few minutes to take me back up. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get back to where I needed to be. I was really lucky that the other people on the bus knew who I was. Otherwise I think I would have ended up about 40 minutes away from the house. Once I got home, Doña Faynier taught me how to make sweet empanadas with jelly. They were really easy and delicious. Of course you can also make empanadas with meat, cheese, and vegetables, but I think I like the sweet ones best. In the afternoon, Doña Faynier asked me to do her a favor. Unfortunately, when people talk to me in Spanish, sometimes it takes a few seconds before I realize I didn’t understand, and by then it’s too late. This was no exception. She said something to me, handed me a mop, pointed at the door, and walked away. I guess I looked like I understood. I probably should have asked for clarification, but I decided I could figure it out. With as much confidence as I could muster, I walked out the front door carrying the mop. Since I didn’t know what was downhill, I walked uphill. Eventually it started to come together in my head that the mop was probably for the market, so I made my way there. Without saying anything, I handed the mop to Cristian, hoping he knew why I was there. Apparently I did everything right, because he seemed to be expecting me. That night, we went to an activity in someone’s house. It was some sort of religious gathering, but I’m not sure how to describe it. If anyone from the CC Catholic community is reading this, it was basically like Lectio Divina in Worner. For those who don’t know what Lectio Divina is, it was more or less like a bible study. Everyone was really welcoming and we spent a while talking after about my work in the community. A few kids were there and said they really want to learn English, but their English classes at school aren’t very good. Before I could catch up with the conversation, Doña Faynier had organized an English class in our house for Friday night! The plan was for a few local kids to come to the house at 5, and I would teach them whatever they wanted to know.

On Thursday, Judy and Iveth (both from ACM) came to visit. They are visiting each student sometime in the next 3 weeks to check in and make sure the family and the work are going well. We spent some time in the house before going to the Association so they could see where I’m working. When we came back to the house, we talked a bit more and enjoyed the empanadas I had made the day before. In the afternoon, we went to Grecia for a meeting. I wasn’t able to understand all of it, but from what I gathered, there are a few important agricultural groups in the area that meet every week or two. I’m not sure what the average meeting entails, but at this one there was presentation on climate change. It was a very basic presentation, but I was surprised how informative everyone found it. It sounds like no one really talks about climate change here, at least not in the more rural areas. All in all a good day.

Yesterday, I went back to San Jose! Doña Faynier needed to buy some supplies for the Association, so we made several stops along the way. We ended up driving right past the ACM building and some of my favorite lunch spots. It was pretty weird to be back in familiar territory. The trip to San Jose took most of the day, so when we got back it was almost time for my new students to arrive. I ended up having a group of 10 incredibly enthusiastic kids. When I was spending time in the school, it became clear pretty quickly that the classroom is run differently here than in the US. The idea of raising hands is practically nonexistent. Instead, the kids shout “teacher teacher teacher!” over and over until the teacher responds. It’s not too bad, until 10 kids all start doing it at the same time. The kids were great, but I had a hard time understanding each one when all of them were shouting at once. It was pretty disorganized, but I think they all had fun. Hopefully they learned something!

My incredibly enthusiastic students

I have no clue what’s going on today. I thought we were going to Sarchi (a small nearby town), but so far we haven’t made any moves toward the car. Instead, a woman came over to make biscoche (a cornmeal cheese thing – really yummy), Lucia brushed and rebrushed my hair, we watched some cartoon about aliens, and Nani (the dog) started bringing meat into the house. I couldn’t tell what it was at first, until Doña Faynier told me to follow her outside. Yesterday, her husband excitedly brought me outside with my camera to take a picture of a giant pig in their pen. I thought it was weird that I was just now seeing this pig, but didn’t question it. Turns out that the pig was a brand new purchase. The meat that Nani keeps bringing into the house is the giant pig from yesterday afternoon. I really hope we end up going to Sarchi soon so her husband can deal with the pig while we’re gone. Dodging bits of pig on the floor all over the house isn’t quite my ideal afternoon.