Beef and milk.....and electrocutions

Recently I watched a cow get slaughtered.

More recently, I milked one.

But first, I got electrocuted.

Yes, that's right, electrocuted. I firmly gripped an electric fence with two hands tight as fists as I said "Hola!" to my friend Rafa. You live and you learn. Orrrrr rather, you learn to watch for bright yellow signs that say danger. Then you laugh it off and chalk it up to a "cultural" experience.

Here's some pictures from the two latest experiences. Unfortunately I have none of me being electrocuted nor milking the cow.

**To clear up some confusion: Only the first two photos are of the cow being slaughtered. The rest are from the dairy farm. Alma did not get slaughtered.

iPhone=iFun

My friend Josh (also in PC-CR) came to visit me in my site this past week. We had crazy adventures and enjoyed lots of relaxing non-work time. Visiting other volunteers and having them visit you keeps one's sanity in this whole experience. We took all these pictures with his iPhone.

I realized I'm having a love affair......with Salsa Lizano.

On the way to the river:

Heeeeere......vaca, vaca vaca.

Little did he know.....

Where I sit most days when I have nothing to do.....but think. And so did we:

Gettin' artsy with the iPhone:

One of these days, I'll use more words.....

Making tamales!

Recently, I had the opportunity to learn to and make tamales with my family and a few of their friends! We are still eating the copious amounts they made.

A-ha!

When I found myself sitting around three tents in my pajamas with ten 5th-7th grade girls in their pajamas talking about time zones of the US, how icicles form on gutters in the winter, and what is now in place of the Twin Towers after 9-11, I realized something. Not only did I realize again how fun pajama parties are, but, I also realized, that something has clicked. And by something, I mean that part of my brain that has been stretching and stretching so hard for the past four and a half months to finally feel competent in Spanish.

My other friends in Peace Corps in other countries (and ahead of me by half a year) kept telling me that an “a-ha” moment would occur…I didn’t believe them. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think it has. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from fluent. But understanding the natural flow of a conversation and being able to respond has become so easy lately. I don’t fear anymore that I won’t be able to understand someone, or that I won’t be able to respond. Especially when I am being barraged with questions about the US and my culture by ten 5th through 7th grade girls…even then, I understood...

This inquisitive bunch of pre-adolescent teens sat around in their pajamas at 10 pm munching on Pringles and other midnight snacks. I’m not sure I exactly how I ended up at this overnight leadership/values camp in a different part of Costa Rica from where I live, but I did, and it wasn’t long before I reverted back to being a giddy 5th grader curious about the world. But at this slumber party, I felt different. I was an oddity, novel and something exciting for my new friends. That must have been the reason for their barrage of questions, like I was the guest of the party, each question on top of each other, creating space for an awesome exchange of cultures.

Some of their questions were just too interesting, I had to note them, and share them:

1. Are there parts of America where people speak only Spanish?
2. What time is it in the US?
3. Do a lot of people build “snowdolls” (i.e. snowmen)? Have you built a snowdoll?
4. Have you been to Disneyland?
5. Is it true there are a lot of theme parks in the US?
6. What is in place of where the Twin Towers were?
7. Was this your first time in an airplane?
8. Did a lot of people in the US cry when Michael Jackson died?
9. Do you know the Staple Center or Michael Jackson’s ranch?
10. Is it true that there is no trash in the US?
11. How much does Playstation or Nintendo cost in the US?
12. The US is really big, right?
13. Is the US really cold?
14. Do you live with your parents?
15. Are there lakes in the US you can ice skate on?
16. Do snowstorms sometimes prevent cars from passing through a road?
17. What are you parents’ names?
18. What other countries have you been to?
19. How many states are in the US?
20. How did you learn Spanish?
21. Is skiing the sport where you have two boards on your feet?
22. Do you have kids?

Interesting, right??!?! Nothin' more to say, except a couple photos to share from the camp that I took with my crappy point and shoot Canon.

Where we slept:

Talking about the world:

In the US we go snow sledding, here, they go mud sledding:

Images

No words today, but images of note, as of late:

Kids photography camp:




Manzanitas de agua:


Fourth of July celebrations:

Don Lorenzo y Doña Elba, my neighbors, and their fruit stand:


I'm conjuring up my next post....stay tuned.

Shades of green…and how it’s always greener somewhere else

This time of year Costa Rica is incredibly green. But right now, the grass is greener somewhere else…on the other side of the fence. The fence I speak of is the fence that separates me from the United States…or more specifically, my home state of Colorado, where right about now a retirement party for my father is winding down in my backyard. I can just imagine it…the sun is setting, the tables of gourmet, homemade food are emptying, the trash cans are full, and the last of the party stragglers are laughing boisterously after a few too many drinks. For this reason, this post is dedicated to my father, and his forty-some years of hard work in the field of Educational Administration. Wow, if only I could be that diligent and stay longer than two years in one job… ☺

Anyway, this is a chronicle of my day…in photos, in honor of my father, who was my original teacher of photography, and Master of ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’. (Blogger has done something horrible with the saturation...please excuse the lack of brilliant color).

First, after an early-morning hike up the mountain, I got dressed up (in Peace Corps terms) in honor of dad’s special day, while listening to some of his favorite music (Willie Nelson)…


Then I called home to attempt to get in on some of the pre-party fun. After my mother passed me around to everyone else (because she was too busy to talk), my sister (with uncompleted tasks still at hand), snuck on Skype to chat with me.


Then dad, still in his work clothes, joined in for a bit.


On my walk home from the Internet (i.e., my neighbors), I stopped to notice the post-rain beauty and took these photos.




Upon arrival at home, my host dad was just sitting down to his afternoon cafecito, and I, to my lunch, a soup with vegetables and what else, but rice and beans, and homemade tortillas.


After lunch, I went into my bedroom to unwind. In the very same window that I wrote about in the last post where the Buddhist prayer flags hang, so do sit seven small plastic animals with interchangeable heads. As I looked out the rain-covered glass, I took all the heads of these previously normal animals and switched them all around. I thought their new state was photo worthy. And I couldn’t help but think I was feeling a bit like these strange, mismatched, frozen figures, all courageously poised on my sill.

After, I decided to head out and explore our property with camera in hand. But first I took this photo of my host dad and my 18-year-old host sister, Raquel.


Here’s a few photos I took from our property behind the house.

Peeeeaches (with my house in the background)!


Avocados!!!!

My house is the one on the right:


This is looking out from the hill behind our house:


Upon getting back to my house with muddy feet, I noticed how much I love my new rug. And how I partially wished that bicycle could cycle me all the way home…thousands of miles, in time to make it for the retirement party.


Buuuuutttt, since it couldn’t, I decided to walk less than one mile into town with my host sister and meet her friend to sit on a park bench and talk. It rained (surprise, surprise), so I took these photos, most of them from the under hang of a small super market of my site.

Costa Rican footwear...of high schoolers:




Downtown at my site:


And finally, the church with the fog settling in over the mountains:


After more rain, we made it home just by dark (unfortunately this time of year it’s about 6 pm), ate dinner, thought about my family in Colorado (some more), and got into my bed, all bundled up.

So my day has come to an end. And I survived it…even though I didn’t think I would this morning, so green with envy for that greener grass on the other side of the fence. And by now, dark has fallen upon that greener grass in Colorado. Father is probably fast asleep in his bed, exhausted from a night of celebration, ready to greet this next stage of his life with eagerness and desire tomorrow. Even though I couldn’t physically be there to celebrate, I spent a day in your honor…being rather than doing and just noticing the simple things. Throughout, I sent blessings your way for your new life of retirement! Congratulations, and go pick yourself out that new puppy now.