Day 105.

105 Things about Costa Rica


I'm terribly sorry about the lack of updates. Between my family's visit, saying good-bye to some of my new best friends, and the fact that my internet has been down for the last five days, I haven't really had a chance to connect with the rest of the world.

Today is my 105th day in this country. For this reason, I am going to list 105 things that have happened, are happening, or are going to happen.

Enjoy.

1) My family visited. Amazing.
2) I started playing a board game called "Catan". You have to overthrow a medieval land, trade sheep for wood, and earn victory points. Believe me, it's MUCH cooler than it sounds.
3) Went to Panama for three nights with my bros and 'rents and Tom. Came back not a shade tanner, plastered in mosquito bites, and full of fun family memories.
4) Lauren left. So did Tom.
5) Looking back on the friendship I formed with that young man, I realized all the life lessons he taught me. Here are a few:
6) "Your parents are going to watch you grow up (Whether they are ready to or not)."
7) On college: "Just go to class."
8) "Even though finding fun in doing the 'right thing' can be harder, it's always more memorable."
9) "Why not get creative when drawing our your future?"
10) "If you're having a bad day, make it the BEST bad day ever."
11) Another amazing friend who I've learned a lot from is the incredible Elisabeth Raff. We met in June right before I left, but the way we get along you'd think I had spent two decades with her, not two months. Via facebook, we bounce back and forth bits of knowledge that life throws at us, learning and growing over the thousands of miles between us. She sent me a music mix that has become the new soundtrack to my life. Some songs you should listen to are:
12) "What'd I Say, Pts. 1 & 2" by Ray Charles
13) "La Vie En Rose" by Louis Armstrong
14) "Married Life" by Michael Giacchino (sounds sort of like "Giacolone...")
15) "The Remedy (I Won't Worry)" by Jazon Mraz
16) "My Only Offer" by Mates of State
17) ...and this lyric: "Every day I see my dream." That's sticking hard in my head right now.
18) Classes started up again. I'm now officially teaching a seventh grade math class (before I was just working with a handful of girls who had come too late to present their exams -- now I have them along with the original class, none of which passed).
19) I'm going to see that every one of them passes come April.
20) The film "Stand and Deliver" had somewhat of a profound affect on me.
21) My friend Tom Kovach got a 800 on his math SATs. My friend Nik Massey turned 18. I remember them both as twelve-year-olds.
22) Another letter came from Joy Brandli, my youth group leader and life-long hero. When describing my blog, she used the words "heartwarming and heartbreaking, but definitely from the heart." <3 that woman and her future. :)
23) Another woman I feel SO much love towards -- Carmen, the cook out in Carpio. She has three sons and a daughter (18, 15, 13, and 12 years old respectively), and they adopted another young man into their family who is 16. Carmen represents the raw truth that is life in La Carpio: take what God has given you, the broken bits and pieces, and you can create a home that is far more beautiful than anything out of Better Homes and Gardens.
24) Yesterday my tica mom brought home a big jar of crunchy peanut butter for me. My heart soared.
25) Today she presented me with a single apple, something that I know costs 500 colones (around 80 cents). I bought an entire KILOGRAM of "Mamones Chinos" (fruits that you might mistake for sea anemones) for the same price.
26) Today I rode the bus with a crucifix and playboy bunny decals right next to each other.
27) Some times, I mistake people for heaps of clothes and heaps of clothes for people.
28) I recognize homeless people from six years ago.
29) I'm finally running again! Yay for friends who push you (Alanna).
30) The two of us have spawned a bizarre fascination with the Arthur theme song.
31) Alanna's starting a choir with the girls.
32) I've gotten really good at mindsweeper.
33) Susie (a missionary who has been here for 30+ years) had her brother come down last week, and he installed Microsoft Office and Open Office onto all my computers! NO MORE WORDPAD! HALLELUJAH!
34) On Saturday night, I went and watched Melisa (my Peruvian friend) play a little Peruvian guitar (smaller/cooler than my uke) with a group of nine women all performing traditional Peruvian music. SO COOL.
35) I also froze my butt off while watching the concert. Turns out this country can be cold.
36) Interesting fact about Costa Rica: there are restrictions on driving. Depending on the last digit of your license plate, there are different days of the week when you can't be on the road. Clever.
37) My host mother and siblings are all working in the polls for the upcoming elections in February.
38) Which is also when the Olympics will be happening! Yay!
39) I've learned that the longer you live with your parents, the more you fight with them.
40) And that I'm NEVER going to put a TV in front of my kitchen table. Sorry future husband.
41) 500 Days of Summer is a beautiful little story about love. It is NOT a love story.
42) Christmas is in less than a month, but I honestly feel like it's still summer. On TV, there's a commercial where a choir of women sunnily skip through a blue-skyed park, singing "Walking in a winter wonderland..." Oh irony.
43) The World Race crew leaves on Wednesday. Alanna heads home for Christmas for two weeks. I'm gonna be chilling -- err, probably sweating -- here on my own.
44) Except not! I have my host family to love, Kathy and her daughter who is visiting for the first time (praise God!), and the Lopezes (Tom's host family). They provide a HUGE christmas dinner to homeless people in the park where I catch the bus to Carpio. It's impossible to look at them and not see Christ shining through their smiles.
45) My bookshelf is a lot more snug now...thank you everyone who sent books down! You have no idea how much I appreciate that.
46) Other things that came with my parents:
47) Frangos. YUM.
48) New headphones...couldn't be happier.
49) The two latest editions of Relevant, full of truth-nuggets that I want to share with you:
50) "What is a cuss word? People keep saying Jesus didn't EVER use them but where is the list? If you have never been mad enough to cuss you haven't seen the world the way Jesus saw it. The hypocrisy made him furious."
51) "What I would really like to see are the major retailers providing ethical options that cost a little more. We have organic/natural aisles in all of our local grocery stores, so why can't we have a few racks of socially and environmentally conscious clothing?"
52) "I believe God can speak to us in the still, small voice in our soul, through words of wisdom from other people, through the indescribable beauty of creation and through the Bible. I believe He speaks to us through movies and even reality TV shows (He did speak through a donkey), when we're staring blankly into space paralyzed by life circumstances, daydreaming while mopping the kitchen floor, crunching numbers and bothered by a case of the Mondays, or while experiencing road rage in a traffic jam. God can speak to us whenever and where ever."
53) In February Alanna and I are making a trip to Nicaragua to renew my visa (I was two days over my 90 day tourist visa when we crossed at the Panama border. The guard threatened to banish me from the Costa Rica for a year. That was a cool feeling.)
54) My bug bites from the hike/Panama trip have evolved into swollen pustules that look like something Fred and George would have created for their Weasley's Snackboxes.
55) Sometimes I look at my bus window and see concrete poles pass by. Then I look up and realize they're actually ginormous palm trees.
56) My ears have gotten used to the constant sizzle of oil in a pan.
57) So many of the mutts here have unproportionately large bodies and itty bitty heads. I'm not a big dog fan to begin with, but let me tell you -- these things are UHHH-GUH-LY! (Read that last word like how the hyenas say it in the Lion King when talking about how much they hate lions).
58) The math class I'm teaching is dwindling. So far two of the girls have dropped out, getting jobs for the holiday season at clothing stores. They are working twelve hour days six days a week. One of them is eighteen-years-old. The other is fifteen.
59) Have you ever tasted fresh starfruit juice? I have. It's really really good.
60) I'm going to miss noticing new graffiti, such as the portrait of the Little Prince (remember that book?) that I saw last week.
61) It's interesting how people here really have NO idea where anything in the States is. Whenever I say "I'm from Washington. Not the city, but the state," they'll say "Oh! By Michigan!" or "Oh! Right next to Texas!" No. Just no.
62) Also, people here are taught that there are six continents; North and South America are just called "America" which makes every person living on these lands an "American", not just those of us who deck ourselves in red, white, and blue on July 4th.
63) While I was at Melisa's mom's house on Saturday eating lunch, we flipped on the TV and guess what was on! FREE WILLY!
64) I teach an English class to two Costa Rican women who teach the girls during the week. Today we were working on pronunciation, reading passages from my bilingual Bible. Ana Virginia, one of the most studious, focused people I have ever met, could not pronounce the word "the" for the life of her. I don't know how, but it ALWAYS sounded just like she was saying "duck". Go figure.
65) Then, when we were reading the "Parable of the Lost Sheep", I could have sworn she said "Parable of the Lost Shit."
66) More and more I recognize friends when I'm walking through downtown. It makes me realize how much I miss going to Safeway in Anacortes.
67) Imaginary friends are frowned upon in Costa Rican culture.
68) I love smiles on little bodies with big heads.
69) There is NO way I am EVER going to pay $4 for a cup of coffee. OK, I don't drink coffee, but still...when you think about it, that's ridiculous.
70) The word "OK" looks like a stick figure. Tom Kovach gets credit for that one.
71) There's this boy with heavily-geled hair who perches on top of the iron-barred gate at the property in Carpio, bellowing for the keys so he can enter and play soccer. I always think of an iguana when I see him.
72) Seven-year-olds should never wear miniskirts.
73) But they do.
74) I can very distinctly remember talking with my good friend Briana Hobbs as a 7-year-old, wondering what it would be like to be "grown up", to finally understand all those things that our parents promised we would once "we were older", to have to wear a bra, and to move out of our rooms. We were just girls, and to be honest, I still feel so little sometimes (on the inside...I'll never be little on the outside). What about the day when some one calls me "Mom"? Will I remember then where I am now? While I sit in the sunshine and ponder these things, the one-year-old son of one of my students staggers into my lap, grabbing my giraffe knees with his baby koala hands. I look at his mother, a weary face with a tired smile and wonder if she ever asked the same questions to herself. Or if she ever remembers being a curious little girl. Or if maybe she still is one.
75) Every two weeks, I let myself turn on my cell phone that I had for two months this summer, open the inbox, close my eyes, and read a random text. Then I turn off the little electronic memories and put them back in their place.
76) My tica mom is starting to put up Christmas decorations around the house. It's making me realize how hard the holidays are going to be without my family.
77) This memory washed over me today: sledding down the hills at the high school with Tom, Julius, and Darien -- snow days were starting and the year was ending. What I'd give to be back in that place again.
78) I know I'll be using that phrase about Costa Rica sooner than I want: "What I'd give to be back in that place again."
79) One of the girls who has been involved in gang-activity had been incredibly huggy to me as of late. Last week I only showed up one day because of the whole Panama/saying goodbye to the fam thing, and this particular student asked Alanna, "Where's Hannah? I miss her." Alanna said, "I know -- you two get along really well." And with that, the girl grinned "Well of course! Hannah's the best!" When Alanna told me that, I think I felt a greater swell within me than when I got that standing ovation at graduation.
80) I'm starting to watch more Spanish TV. And understanding it. Sort of.
81) Here, I see trees growing out of trees.
82) Advent started on Sunday. I love my parents.
83) There are good-bye letters from August that I don't read. They sit in a drawer and sigh, but I can't give them the attention they want. I just can't.
84) "Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run."
85) Another quote from miss Elisabeth Raff: "Sometimes people are put in our lives to introduce us to other people. That's their job -- to give us a connection."
86) "8 million stories out there, in there naked. City is a pity, half of you all won't make it."
87) Last night I had a dream about three amigos who are on the journey of a life time -- Stephen Steen, Mike Ferrario, and Tyler Jones are all bicycling from Anacortes, WA to Lima, Peru. Crazy? Yes. Dangerous? Incredibly. Adventuresome? To say the least. Check out their blog at promisenottodie.blogspot.com. Hopefully I'll get to see them when they pass through Costa Rica!
88) So many of my deepest, most personal conversations happen in some sort of public transportation here. I know it's not true, but I'm under the impression that the language barrier prevents people from understanding the rawness of what I'm saying and how so much of my heart is hanging in the air. The same thing happened when I visited Japan.
89) Speaking of Japan, I realized the main reason why I'm so gung-ho when it comes to trying new food here is because of that two-week trip.
90) SKYPE IS SO COOL.
91) My ukulele has definitely been a boredom-buster here. I've written a few new songs that I think will be great hits at the Farmers Market come May. Or maybe I'll just stick with Puff the Magic Dragon.
92) Henry thought that the coins here were fake -- they're made of aluminum and probably float like the yen did in Japan.
93) I've already seen copies of New Moon on the streets here.
94) Tuesdays are always special -- they mean I've been here for another week. Today the number is 15.
95) Tomorrow is Wednesday, two for one movie day at the rental place. I've been having a hankering for Aladdin.
96) You can buy anything one at a time here from the local mini-marts: eggs, cigarettes, you name it.
97) One such mini-mart is awesomely called "Mini Super Fly". Possible name for first-born child? Yes.
98) There are days when I sit on the bus and imagine my family climbing on, but as we were six years ago. I see my little twelve-year-old self and wonder what she would think if she saw who I am today.
99) Or if she would even recognize me.
100) And then I see another me get on the bus -- the future me, with a husband and kids of my own.
101) It's good watching people grow up.
102) Every day I peel off layers of dirt from the bottoms of my feet. So pleasant.
103) Look out your window at the full moon. It's the same moon I'm looking at right now.
104) On Sunday, my pastor used this phrase that really struck me: "Looking at people like Mother Theresa, all the good she's done, all the people she's touched...all of her self-lessness and inspiring acts, I realize something: the same spirit that shines through her is tucked inside of me."
105) Coming out of high school, I realized how much of my being I spend trying to be accepted by people that impress me. We all do this. We see some one and decide we want to have some connection to them -- we want to be at their level, we want to relate to them. So we spend hours wikipedia-ing music genres, we rifle and sort through what we wear, we attune our ears to new vocabulary and throw it into our own, we copy and paste "about me"s and we try to impress back.
Here though, the people I admire, the people I want to imitate -- those are the people who love me for everything I am. And everything I'm not.
Take Carmen for example.
She loves me because I gobble up everything she cooks, because I'm an older sister to her daughter, because I'm an offspring of the remembered and revered "familia Holtgeerts."
She also loves me because my Spanish is far from perfect, because I can only be here for five more short months, because I take pictures with a camera worth more than her husband's salary, and because I will NEVER be able to relate to what she's been through, no matter what life throws at me.
I want to be like Carmen, like my own mother, like Jesus -- I want to be one of those people who turns attraction inside out. Rather than spending energy trying to impress others, I want to take that wasted time and those futile efforts and put it towards a greater goal: making people realize how they can impress themselves.

That's what I want right now.

--Hannah