That's What She Said?

Wednesday was one of those perfect sunny, nice days that makes you just want to get out and walk- so that’s what I did. I had heard of a hotel on the outside of town on the road that I like to run that heads to the waterfall was in need of reception help, and as I am still somewhat looking for some part time work as the boat of the boat tour job I might also be helping out with is not ready, I decided to use the pretty day to walk there. It was nice to walk this road instead of run as I usually do and take the surroundings in a better. The position at the hotel had already been filled, so I headed back and decided to stop at one of the few small artist souvenir stores along this road that I have always seen but never stopped at. I picked a very good one to stop at too. The store is literally just the front room of a couple’s home, and the man, named Malcel (I’m honestly not sure how to spell it) is a wood sculpture artist. Although small, he had many amazing pieces from masks, to small-sculpted animals, bowls, butter dishes, puzzles, and much more. I struck up a small conversation with him that would lead to an hour-long talk, tour of his shop, and bird watching in his back yard. Although, granted, with him speaking to me like a native Spanish speaker, I missed some things although I’m getting pretty good at using as many context clues as possible to get the jest of things. He has lived in La Fortuna all his life, so he told me what he remembered of the huge explosion of Volcan Arenal in 1968 when he was only 4 years old. Having only seen the volcano in its doormat state that it has apparently been the past year or so, it was somewhat hard for me to picture it as this dangerous lava-spewing killer thing that he described. When I asked him if he was afraid it would explode again, he said of course, but not enough to make him leave his perfect little house with a back yard full of different fruit trees including several different bananas, guayaba, and more. After talking about the volcano and he also explaining to me some of the different wood pieces and talking about the different types of wood used from different types of trees from different parts of the country, he took me to his little back yard to show me his little work shop and some of the pieces he has been working on for 20 some odd years (of which are obviously not for sale). He then took some bananas from a nearby tree and placed it on a wooden stand that is used as a feed stand to watch birds. We then stood there for the next 30 minutes watching bright blue, green, red, and yellow birds and parrots stop by for a snack and he explained their names, which birds were the spouses of other birds, and which ones sing the prettiest songs. He told me about other birds like toucans that come by occasionally and huge meter-long snakes, of which I am slightly glad were not visiting at the time. After out talk he apologized for bothering me and taking up my time, and I tried to explain how he was doing quite the opposite of bothering me. As I said goodbye, I thought about how with all of the things I have planned to do here, and people I have planned to meet, it’s often that the unexpected, unplanned visits and people you meet are some of the most enjoyable and worthwhile.

During Wednesday evening’s class we had another quiz. I find that after 17 years of being a student, it sometimes feels odd being at the front of the class, especially when giving a quiz. Nonetheless, I was once again happy to see that for the most part, my students are learning something.

Yesterday I unfortunately had one of my first cases of illnesses here in Costa Rica, which considering the different diet, I have been fortunate. I woke up earlier than normal a bit sick. I believe it may have been a case of slight food poisoning as when I arrived at the station for breakfast, I was asked how my stomach felt and found out 4 other officers were feeling sick as well. After some rice and beans and good coffee, and a pepto bismol, I began to feel better and spent most of the morning hanging out at the station and then skipped out of the station lunch for a date with my Holland friend Senna (which is pronounced more like “summer” without pronouncing the ‘r’). I will admit, I was excited to get out and have something a little different than rice and beans. We went to “The Flying Tomato,” the vegetarian restaurant I discovered a month ago at the Superbowl party. We both had some soy burgers and fresh juice- Senna had mango juice and I had some sugar cane juice which is a weird green brown color but quite tasty.

After lunch, I went to my favorite reading spot by the big fountain in the park and read more of The Help. When a group of rain clouds came in, I took cover in the nearby good bakery, and thus had to buy a little pastry stuffed with guayaba fruit. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the track and gym. I still can’t get over how perfect the climate is here for exercising.

Last night I had black soup for dinner, and yes, as the name may suggest, this is not necessarily those most appetizing looking dish; however, it was quite tasty. It basically consists of a broth made from the water that black beans are cooked in, thus, giving it the black color. Eggs are also cooked in this water, giving the eggs a strange gray color. Victor, the cook that teases me so much, first said he was upset at me for missing lunch and couldn’t have dinner; after he saw me eat 3 bowls of the soup, he then said he revoked his marriage proposal even though it would give him residency in the U.S. because it would be too much cooking. I also found out a nickname of his that he doesn’t like, “Turtle,” which is good news for me, as we are always kidding with each other. Speaking of jokes, the other night while reviewing Demonstrative Pronouns like “this” and “that,” one of the officers asked me about a bumper sticker they had seen and didn’t understand that said, “That’s what she said.” I laughed as this joke from the television program “The Office” is one of my boyfriends’ favorite. I tried to explain to them what exactly it meant, but found it quite difficult to explain this sexual referencing joke without embarrassing myself too much, and I gave up after a few minutes of attempt. Maybe I can play a clip from the show and have more luck in the future with another attempt of explaining it.

Today, the new volunteer teacher Gabriel will be arriving. I’m excited to meet him and start working with him on our classes!