Religión y Otras Cosas

Enero 20 continued...

So picking up at the Development from a Gender Perspective course! We began the class by defining what gender meant to us and the controversies that come with it, and while we were describing this to a partner, they had to draw what we were saying (made for some very interesting drawings). Gender as a social construct, different than a person's sex, conforming to gender norms, falls on a spectrum/is fluid are all ideas that surfaced amongst the group. Then we moved onto an exercise where we went around and brainstormed stereotypes that different types of women face (groups included black, latino, indigenous, and muslim). A pretty basic conclusion was that women are low on the totem pole of life, but it was interesting to see the overlapping words/phrases we used for each group.

My notes from the class...whoops.

My next class was Current Environmental Issues in Latin America with Yanina Rovinski, she is a lovely woman. Chemistry undergrad and Masters in Journalism. Her introduction powerpoint was filled with photographs she took from her balcony (gorgeous sunset views that I was jealous of)! We did introductions and a basic overview of the course, then let out a little early. At this point my stomach was beginning to growl as I had accidentally skipped lunch (usually I go grab food during the 12:00 to 1:00 break with the other students, but I had gone back to my homestay after Rural and Urban SD). So, knowing I wouldn't last until dinner time at 7:00pm, I went with Hannah to a nearby pizzeria thinking I would get a quick slice of pizza to tide me over (New York thinking).

Turns out this pizzeria doesn't do by the slice, but it did say they had small pizzas - I automatically thought personal size, so I ordered myself one and waited patiently for them to make it fresh! The two free teas that they put on my tray should have tipped me off that they thought Hannah and I were sharing it and that the small is actually big enough to serve two people. Oh well, got my very large, small pizza and gobbled most of it up! I didn't want to waste the extra tea either (Hannah wasn't thirsty) so I took it home with me along with my last slice.

Once I got home, found a little nook in the fridge to put my leftovers and went to my room to start working on some school stuff. A few days earlier my mama had said something to me about praying for a boy next door on Tuesday (I assume he was sick or some big life event was happening that day), so even though I am not religious, I said I would keep him in my thoughts. What I didn't get from the conversation was that my mama's familia would be coming over Tuesday night and having a get together to pray for him! I was working in my room, heard the doorbell ring and lots of voices filling the living room. Unsure of whether I was supposed to come out and greet everyone (usually they call my name if they want me to come out and meet people), I kept working. About 15 minutes later, my mama comes in asking to borrow the two chairs I have in my room because they need more seating, at that point I offered to help carry them out and joined the "party" (in quotes because I do not now what exactly to call it, family prayer get together). I met my mama's two hermanas, a woman who I assume was one of the sister's daughters, with her husband, teenage daughter, and nephew that was living with them for school. Then my parents otra dija (other daughter) and her daughter. I still do not know if I made the correct connections between them all, but we shall see!

Remember how I was feeling all confident in my Spanish speaking skills the last post, well reverse that now, jaja. Tomas, who was the nephew living with his aunt and uncle for university, was taking English classes and wanted to practice by talking to me in English, so that was a relief! Other than talking to him though, I clammed up. At family gatherings, everyone speaks so quickly, and I have a hard enough time getting my mama to slow down one on one.

Soon after meeting and greeting everyone, the prayer (praying) began! I sat silently on the couch and observed. My mama sat in the middle of the group and acted as the "leader" of the prayer, as in she would say a phrase alone and then everyone else would say something in unison after her. These moments were interlaced with songs, accompanied by my papa playing guitar, and it went on for about 15-30 minutes (quite extensive but very interesting). Once they were done, we gathered around the table and dinner was served. A yummy rice dish with mixed meats, salad, and chips (looove the potato chips here, I don't know why they taste different, but they do). As everyone finished, I started collecting plates to retreat to the kitchen and wash them so that no one would try to spark up a conversation with me (bad I know because I should welcome opportunity to practice, but it was overwhelming in the moment - looking back, they are probably used to Hilda y Carlos having students who do not speak very good Spanish).

Dessert was served and my mama made sure I didn't stay hidden in the kitchen any longer :) While we savored our caramel pound cake, my papa and the husband of the daughter of one of my mama's sisters (phew - it would be best to remember names from now on, huh?) were looking over some music and started bursting out into song at random moments, it was great. Soon guitar was back in the picture and my papa was telling me to go get my ukulele to play for everyone. I, of course, did not want to play in front of everyone, but how can you say no? Off to my room I went, tuned it quick (with the help of my iPhone app, can't tune by ear) and played what little bit I know for everyone. They were all very supportive, which was nice! "Que Lindo!" (how cute!) was thrown around a lot.

It was getting late, so the sisters went home. Tomas, his cousin and aunt hung out for a little longer. We looked at all my papa's watercolor paintings and I even pulled up Facebook to show them a few of my drawings/paintings/projects. Everyone was getting sleepy, so "Buenos Noches", kisses on the cheek, and it was time for bed.

Enero 21

Decided it was time to finally take a shower, especially by Costa Rican standards, so as soon as I was able to pull myself out of bed (like an hour of hitting the snooze button later) I hopped in. Breakfast was waiting for me when I got out, an egg over-easy with toast and fruit - my favorite! My mama was cleaning up from the night before (or maybe just doing her daily cleaning of the kitchen). Clock hit 9:45am - off to Community Engagement and Sustainable Human Development I went. This class session was all about the "Iceberg Exercise". From the syllabus I thought maybe Joaquin meant "icebreaker" but turned out it was indeed the iceBERG exercise. We compiled a list of cultural components (religious beliefs, gender roles, political views, concept of beauty, concept of self, respect of privacy, and 17 others) and discussed whether they would be visible in a culture as a tourist staying in a region/country for a week. After much discussion and an espresso (cafe mocha caramelo has been my go to espresso) break, we only made it through half of the items.

Lunch time! Went with a group to a grocery store with a restaurant two blocks from ULatina. Rice, beans, pasta, and beet salad for a very reasonable price - more leftovers! A quick stop in a mini-market with Katie to get a chocolate fix, then back to ULatina to find out which Spanish classes we were all put in. Somehow, don't ask me how, I made into the Intermediate class (woooohoooooo)! I think initially there was only three classes, basic, intermediate, and advanced, however, a few of the girls are pretty new to Spanish so a fourth professor was brought in and now we have basic 1, basic 2, intermediate and advanced. The session went well! Our (5 of us) professor is Silvana Margarita del Carmen Marranghello Musmanni (mouthful!). I know her entire name because we discussed everyone's name as an exercise, told the class about the origins of our names and their significance. In Costa Rica, they have two last names that are both used. The first is apellido paterno and the second is apellido materno. Both her parents were from Italy (told a lot more of the history but you all get the point).

Once we were done discussing our names, telling her where we are from, what we are studying, and why we want to speak Spanish, we got into the nitty gritty - the syllabus. As she went over the items for REVIEW - I started to get a little nervous as I completely forgot about some of the things she was mentioning, jaja. I definitely need to brush up quite a bit, but I think I can do it! We were let out a bit early so I went on a hot water hunt with Ellie for her tea packet. The cafeteria wanted us to pay $1.80 for a cup of hot water, so we decided we could wait.

Next on the agenda for the day was a meeting with an Embassy representative set up by ICDS. It was very interesting, also scary to hear about past incidents with US citizens getting robbed, raped, dying, etc. in Costa Rica. But just have to keep in mind that bad things can happen anywhere - just be smart and do not call a bluff for someone who is holding you up at gunpoint (also take back my confidence in my carrying my phone/camera around - so I apologize for the lack of pictures). The Embassy rep also talked to us about the Peace Corp. so that was cool to hear about his experience as a volunteer.

Another meeting with the head of ICDS, Don Jorge, for the CUNY students concerning receiving credits for certain courses. We are allowed to audit certain courses, but since Hunter did not accept a course equivalency, we can not try to get credit for those courses.  Ellie and I finally made some tea at the office, and then after the meeting, a group of us went searching for some coffee/tea portable canisters so that we wouldn't run into this problem again! We located some canisters, went to the grocery store for some essentials, and since the sun was beginning to set, everyone went their separate ways for home. When I showed up with more leftovers, my mama seemed shocked! It must not be a common thing, but I explained to her that I do not intend on buying lunch tomorrow and that my leftovers would be my lunch. She understood, but was still a little skeptical, jaja.

That night would also be a religious night. On my walk home I remembered that we were supposed to go up to their church for mass and then to my papa's brothers house afterwards - it was the 2 year anniversary of their mother's death.

Around 6:15pm we made our way up to the church. Before we left, they both looked at me concerned and asked "are you sure you want to come, last night we prayed, we are going to the church to pray, and then back to my brothers to pray again? (but in spanish of course)". I cheerfully said yes, I figured it would be interesting to experience (& it was)! My mama couldn't get over the fact that I was in short sleeves, for her it was freezing. I keep telling her it is like 11 degrees in PA right now, so this weather feels so niceee, but she is still surprised when I am I not wearing a sweater or jacket at night (even inside).

We arrived at their large green church, sat down in the pews, and my parents took a moment to pray. Mass began promptly at 6:30pm, not sure how to describe the service (it is embarrassing how little I know about religion). Standing, sitting, priest? talking, praying, offertory, and my favorite part, singing. It was so calming, their voices filled the church and made such a beautiful sound. Once mass was over, the introductions to my papa's family began. We all walked back down the hill to Tacho's (Luis, my papa's brother's, also Hannah's host papa) house. Another prayer session (very similar, if not the same, to the one we had at our house the night before), and then dinner (same "party" dish) was served. Then came the amazinggg helado, ice cream. So. So. Good. Over our ice cream, Hannah and I tried to figure out the birth order of our host papa's siblings. We guessed oldest May (Manuel), Macho (Francisco), Tacho (Luis), Cali (Carlos), Nando (Hernando), and then their sister, who's name is escaping me right now. Turns out my papa, Cali, is actually the oldest! Other than that, we got the order right :p It is also interesting how many siblings my host parents have in comparison to how many kids they have - 2. Also, my mama married Cali at 21 (my age - yikes D: can't even imagine).

Dessert was finished, and my papa was ready to roll! Once we got outside, he exclaimed "mucha gente!" - I think he had had enough partying for one night, jaja.

Shuffled next door, and we were home. Bid them goodnight and worked on my course equivalency submissions for Baruch (which is super stressful because I have to deal with bureaucratic processes for Hunter, Baruch, and CUNY BA). Around 10pm, ate my leftover pizza while trying to read a bit for my Rural and Urban Sustainable Development class the next day. I realized I had forgot to ask where the TP is located and I was running low, but luckily my mama had read my mind (aka checked my bathroom) and put an extra roll in there for me. Let me note though, no TP goes in the toilet (even #2 paper goes in the trashcan). The plumbing is quite primitive so it gets clogged easily. I am pretty good about it at home, but I keep forgetting to throw the paper in the trashcan at school! So scared for the day that it gets clogged and starts to overflow...(they actually put a phrase on our ICDS survival spanish sheet that says "the toilet is overflowing, what do I do?")!

Enero 22

Today I woke up to my curtains open - must've done that in my sleep. My sleeping self knew I'd need help waking up this morning! Had some weird dreams about going to a hostel and catching this weird disease that caused me to have blisters on my hands...details are hazy, but it was strange! There was a hammock involved though, so all was good.

Got ready for the day (aka threw on an outfit), and then joined my mama for breakfast. She asked me what I thought about the past two days being that I am not a religious person, and we got on the subject of past students and how they have hosted students of all sorts over the past 12 years: buddhist, christian, catholic, muslim, etc. It was sad though because one girl they hosted was Muslim (from the States but originally Pakistan), and when she went home I guess she had become a bit laxed about the traditions and her parents sent her back to Pakistan because they disapproved of her new habits! 8:00am approached quickly so I left for class. We talked about the timeline of sustainable development and its relevance in a historical context, also revisited getting to know Costa Rica. Fun facts - there are 8,000 species of moth in CR, 300,000+ insect species, main export is integrated circuits, national tree is the Guanacaste. We also have to pick a country in Latin America/Caribbean for a case study, I think I am going to go with Bonaire!

Large break between 10:00am and 3:00pm (decided not to audit the Gender Perspective course), so I walked around town a bit. Went to Santa Clara bakery to try to get one of the dulce de leche pastries Ilana had gotten me for my birthday. I found one that looked very similar so I got it, was not quite what I was looking for but it did the trick (the creme kind of tasted like a cleaning product, but not necessarily in a disgusting way). In any case, next time I go, I'll have to take a better look at the selection.

Went to Mas o Menos (local grocery store) to get a big tube of toothpaste, realized I should save the little travel size one I got for weekend trips with the crew. Walked past a clothing store on my way home and decided to pop in for a second - but they had to unlock the door for me to come in! I guess to deter theft, but it was strange having to be let back out when I wanted to leave. We talked about clothing ticas (Costa Rican women) wear in my classes, Joaquin said his friend has a pair of "tica pants", which was code for skinny jeans that are two sizes too small. But I feel like everyone buys skinny jeans in sizes too small for them. The reason went in the store was because I feel like I didn't pack quite appropriately (would've packed more layer-able things, plus jeans). It is crazy how much the temperature changes from the sun to the shade, let alone day and night.

Anyways, left the clothing store, wandered around a bit, saw some pretty flowers growing on houses. Dropped off my passport to be scanned by Lulu (an ICDS employee) for the our Nicaragua trip! Then went back to my casa to relax a bit and eat my leftover beans and rice before my Current Environmental Issues class.

My momma sent me a cute message before class that made me smile :) I miss her and Pey so very much!

In Env. Issues class, we watched a documentary titled Planet Ocean. Such an aesthetically beautiful film. A little "preachy", but overall a great message (and made me want to be in the water scuba diving - recognized lots of my fish friends). We also had a local join our class, Tommy, so I am looking forward to that (not that I do not love my ICDS people, but it will be cool to have a tico in the class). Class dismissed, and the weekend began!

Came home, hopped in my pajamas, started writing about my day. Ate some pollo, patatas, y arroz con ensalada por la cena. Around 9:30pm, heading to a local jazz club with some ICDS folks for a concert! Tomorrow is a visit to DOKA Coffee Estate, then Saturday morning we are leaving for Playa Jaco until Sunday night, can't wait for the adventures ahead.

Eso es todo por ahora. Buenos Noches!

**Today I decided to start a little journal for vocabulary. Whenever there is a word that comes up in conversation that I want to say, but do not know, I will write it down in my journal and look it up when I get home. And also to write down anything I notice while I am out and about that I might forget about by the time I get home to blog and such.**