I think the problem with blogging, if there is one, is that it's easy to only write about the good times with the fun pictures and amazing events. With that in mind, I thought I'd share a couple of my less fortunate moments while in CR. Not that any of these are "bad" things...just less...exciting...(Actually the real reason I'm doing this post is because I told some of these stories to my mom and she thought they were so funny that I needed to blog about them. And by "funny," I mean my mom was able to laugh at me and my dorky moments. I don't know if they will translate in writing, but here you go, nonetheless)
Also, for those of you who don't know me well, I should tell you that I am a total klutz. If there is a table to run in to or a crack to trip over, I will end up with a bruised knee or a stubbed toe. I'm just not one of those people who are graceful under pressure (or graceful in general), and this combined with potholes, gravel, crazy drivers, uneven sidewalks, etc. etc. etc. means that pretty much every day finds me stumbling over something. So, this blog post is not about those day-to-day trials and tribulations that are only amplified by this new environment. Instead, this post is about a few distinct moments where I was just literally an idiot. (Yes, sometimes I also lack common sense...)
Weather v. Emily. Rain storm: 1, Emily: 0
As you all know, it rains a lot in Costa Rica. Obviously. You can't have tons of beautiful rain forests and green landscapes without rain. And the rain is great because Liberia is hot. When it rains for a few days, it really helps cool things off, despite simultaneously increasing humidity, but it's definitely worth it. And when it rains here, it really rains. If you are in one of the many buildings with tin roofs, it's hard to hear someone talking next to you because the rain is pounding so hard, there is crazy loud thunder/lightning, the streets flood (like flood flood - due to poor draining systems), and if you are outside for just a few minutes, you'll end up soaked through (trust me, I know).
The other downside to all this rain is that my main mode of transportation is on a bike. About a week in to my stay here in Costa Rica, I ran into a small conundrum. I was at my office which is about a mile/mile and a quarter from my house and about a 5-7 minute bike ride away. It was five o'clock and time for me to head home. It had been raining off and on all afternoon and looked like the rain was on hold at the moment, so I packed up all my stuff and got ready to head out. I should pause for a second and explain that at this time, I number one, didn't have great communication skills with my family (we were still getting to know each other and how to communicate in spanglish) and number two, since I had set the precedent of being home around 5-5:30, I didn't want to be too late (in case Nieves had already started dinner, etc). Thus, I decided to head home on bike as opposed to waiting out a possible rainstorm or leaving my bike at the office and calling a cab.
So anyway, by the time I got packed up and unlocked my bike, it was raining a little bit, but not too hard. I had my laptop in my backpack and I definitely didn't want it to get wet, so in a moment of sheer genius, I took out my umbrella and fit it over my backpack and purse which I put in the basket in the front of my bike. While it looked a little silly, it fit perfectly and I patted myself on the back for my moment of inspiration. As for myself, I figured that I'm waterproof and if I got a little wet on the way home, it would be no big deal (my rain jacket was at the house, of course!). With my great waterproof invention and the expectation of getting a little wet in mind, I set off for home, thinking I couldn't get that wet in five minutes.
Boy was I wrong. When I was just far enough away from the office to turn around, it really started raining and within seconds, I was soaking wet. At first, I just thought it was funny and sort of a little mini-adventure/adjustment to life in CR. However, I also noticed that there were no longer other bikers (unless they were covered head to toe in rain gear) or pedestrians on the road. Since it really really started to come down, and since I was a little worried about my computer, I decided to pull off to the side of the road, and hovered with another pedestrian under a little tiny building overhang. I was hoping the rain would only poor for a few minutes and then I could finish my ride home (I was really just about eight blocks away! I could be back at the house in a matter of minutes!) but that wasn't the case. At least, it seemed like I was standing there, soaking wet, forever. On the plus side, my invention really did work, and my backpack and purse were dry. Woo Hoo!!! After a while, I convinced myself it wasn't raining quite as hard (though it was definitely still coming down), and I decided that since I was already soaked through, I really couldn't get any wetter, so I went back out on the street and headed for home.
When I was introducing you to my house in one of the older posts, I think I mentioned that there is a gigantic sliding door (equivalent to a "garage door" only heavier and you have to slide it open/closed manually). The hardest part of my journey home ended up being getting that damn door open while holding on to my bike. My backpack is so heavy that if I don't hold the bike (even with the kickstand), it will topple over. So really, I looked like a total idiot as I was holding my top heavy bike with one hand and trying to lug open the door with the other, in a rain storm. And then I had to do the same thing on the other side once I got through. My family was all in the house and when they saw me come in, I swear, you could see what they were thinking on their faces. They were thinking: "what in the HECK is this girl doing?!?!? WHY is she out in this crazy thunderstorm!?!?!" I tried to explain that the rain really started while I was en route to the house, but I'm pretty sure that got lost in translation and they just thought I was nuts/an idiot. And really, I'll admit it, it really wasn't my smartest moment. But hey, I like to learn lessons the hard way. It's just how I roll. So, note to self: if it is raining outside, even a little bit, wait out the storm or call a cab. Yep, lesson learned. In the end, all was fine though. I changed my clothes, hung the wet ones up to dry, and that was that. (Well, until Cesar asked me about it the next day...clearly the family had thought it was comical enough to tell him...)
I Just Want to See Harry Potter!
I read all the Harry Potter books at the end of last year, and then I watched all the HP movies, culminating with a trip to the theaters to see HP #7, part 1. I am now one of the many huge HP fans, and was super excited to learn that I would get to see HP #7 part 2 in Costa Rica, because it was showing at the Cinema in the Mall (yay for being in a city with a movie theater!). Most of the showings were in Spanish, but there was a 9pm showing in English, with Spanish subtitles. Done. That's the one I decided to go to, obvi. Also, HP was only being offered in 3D, which I didn't really care about, but whatever. I think they offered it in 3D so they could charge more ($7 instead of $4 for a regular movie), but no big deal, still way cheaper than seeing a movie in the states.
Once I decided that I wanted to go to the movies, I told my family and was asking them if they like Harry Potter, and if anyone wanted to go. Elba said she doesn't really like HP, and couldn't go to the movies b/c of the money. So I said maybe we could go to a different movie (one that she would like) and I would buy. I remembered reading that Wednesdays were 2 for 1, so I thought it would be fun to go with the fam some time, and would still be super cheap. Well, my offer to go to a movie some time was misinterpreted as me saying I'd pay for HP for Elba and her husband Luis (which was totally fine..and it is essentially what I had offered...I just didn't understand why she'd want to go to a movie she just told me she didn't like!).
After asking her mom (Nieves) she came back and told me she couldn't go b/c I was paying, but she appreciated the offer. Whatever, no big deal, I figured I could talk them in to a different movie some other day. The next day, Elba came up to me and said something about asking her dad if she could go to the movie and he said he didn't care. I wasn't 100% sure what that meant, but since for the next few days every time she saw me she said "ooohh, pelicula en Miercoles" (Movie on Wednesday), I was pretty sure she was now able to go? or she was super excited that I was going? (Wednesday was at some point designated as the day I was going to the movies. I guess b/c I mentioned it when I was trying to explain two for one. Which, by the way, doesn't apply for 3D movies. Of course. So the day didn't really matter).
This story is supposed to be funny because it exemplifies the trials and tribulations associated with only knowing a little bit of Spanish. Whenever I talked to my mom that week, she would ask, "so, are you taking the family to HP or are you going by yourself?" and every time I'd have to say "I don't know!!!! I'm still really confused!" and she thought that was hilarious! I told her I'd just figure it out on Wednesday because either people would be getting ready to go, or they wouldn't. And that's more or less what happened. When Wednesday came around, it was clear that Elba and her husband were going with me, and I of course invited Nieves and Luis Enrique, who were the only other people at home, and Nieves decided she wanted to go to. At that point though, I started having a minor panic attack because I was thinking 1: the movie is in subtitles (and I'm pretty sure Elba can't read/I'm not sure if they like movies with subtitles) 2: it's the last movie in a long series and literally starts in the middle of the last book, and they had either seen none of the movies or had seen like the first or second movie, so I was afraid they would hate it. 3. It's kind of a scary movie, and from what I could gather, they weren't huge fans of super scary stuff, and I wasn't sure how this would rate. 4. It's in 3D and that's either something you love or hate, and it has the ability to make a scary movie a little scarier. In the twenty minutes before we left for the movie, I just kept trying to reiterate all these facts, and just had to hope they understood, which I think they more or less did.
So, we went to the movies. And in the end, it was great. It was definitely a comical sight watching us in line at the concession stand trying to figure out what everyone wanted to eat and drink. We all ended up with our own small popcorns (well, Nieves and I shared) and our own drinks, and I grabbed some m&ms since I'm more of a candy moviegoer than a popcorn moviegoer but nobody else wanted candy. We all watched the movie, I LOVED it and I think everyone else really liked it too. I realized in the end that it wasn't so much about which movie we saw, but more about the fact that my family got to go to the movies. They clearly don't get to go to the movies very often, if ever, and it was definitely their first time seeing a movie in 3D. Despite all the confusion and worry, it was really super fun, and I was glad I got to experience that with my family. Yay! It's just sort of funny that something like going to the movies, which is SO easy to plan in the states, became like a big event down here. hehe.
One Bike, One Day, Two Flat Tires
On my first day as a teacher, after cleaning up my classroom and getting everything ready for my first set of lessons (see next blog post for full deets), I rode my bike home for lunch. After lunch, I went outside to hop on my bike to head to the office for a bit, only to encounter a seriously flat front tire. Crap. At home, this would be no big deal. I mean, I used to ride my bike to school and Jeff always made me fix my own flat tires (so I know both how to change the tubing and patch a hole). Unfortunately, I didn't have a spare tube or a patching kit, so I enlisted Cesar's help (who fortunately came home on his lunch break as well!).
The first solution was just to pump up the tired so I could make it to the bike shop to get a new tube or repair kit. As I expected, by the time I got the bike out of the entryway, it was flat again. Plan two was to change the tubing. Cesar had a spare tube and even did the honors of changing my tire while Nieves and I took the tube with a hole in it to find the leak. Since it emptied so quickly, I was convinced it had to be a gigantic hole, but it ended up being super tiny and we had to submerge the tube in water to find it! Since the day/weekend before was "Guanacaste Day" and since I had been riding my bike around downtown, where there was lots of broken glass on the ground left over from the parade, I figured some glass had punctured the tire. No big deal. And by the time Nieves and I were done with our investigation, Cesar had fixed my bike and I was ready to go. Yay!
I still set off for the bike shop because I wanted to buy some spare tubes and/or a repair kit as I can only assume this will happen again at some point. Well, lucky for me, I was only a few blocks from the bike shop when my tire went completely flat again. Crap...again. I very ungracefully untangled my skirt from the bike seat, got my backpack out of the front basket, and began to wheel my bike along the street as passerby looked at me like I was crazy. Since the road was so uneven and since the tire was so flat, it was actually easier (and better for the rim), for me to hold up the front of the bike and wheel it along just on the back tire. Blah. I looked like a total idiot and was sweating like crazy in seconds b/c the bike (and my backpack) is so heavy and it was so hot outside. Even though I looked like a total goon, and was not the happiest of campers, I have to say that Ticos really are very nice. Some kid going the opposite direction on his bike offered to help me, but at that time I was only half a block away, so I told him not to worry about it.
The only plus is that I was headed to the bike shop I had previously been to (to get my bike light, but that's a whole other story) and one of the guys there speaks English and is kind of cute. yea-ya. Sadly, he was not there that day, so I explained in my broken Spanish that I had a flat tire but I needed them to not only repair the tube, but also locate the piece of glass I was sure was still stuck in the tire. I did this by saying: my tire was flat, we put in a new tube, and five minutes later it was flat again. It wasn't eloquent and used hand signals that looked like crashing but it got the point across.
As always, everything turned out well. A little while later they had pulled out, and confirmed, that there was a big piece of glass stuck in my tire, fixed it, and only charged me 700 colones, which is like $1.40. Talk about great service. I bought a few spare tubes while I was there (one to replace Cesar's and one for me), headed to the office and, knock on wood, haven't had a flat tire since. I think this whole event became more stressful as it was my first day of class, so I was a little nervous/anxious, and had already spent the whole morning cleaning my classroom in my "first day of school" clothes, so it was just not the best day for two flat tires :) Like so many things in CR, everything just worked out in the end.
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