July

The truly amazing thing about soccer is that I wasn't sick of it at the end of the Mundial. Soccer is fun just like baseball is fun and football is fun and its nice to go to a game every once in a while. Soccer, however, was amazingly still fun even when it showed up on our tv for three games a day (plus the hour long coverage of those games every night at six). Not that I watched every game. The first I watched via the glory of the Minister of Education of Costa Rica who declared it a cultural event and said that all students who wanted should be able to watch it in school that day. By a combined effort of the teachers in the school, a 10'' screened tv was found in the back room of someones house and brought to the school where about 20 kids crowded around it. The finale I watched in a sports bar with an odd assortment of gringos, most of whom were sadly rooting for the wrong team. (When in doubt, root for the color orange). I thought for a while that I was becoming freakishly enamored of soccer, but then i realized this is a common symptom ive developed since getting here.

In short: there is a line that goes from -oh, this is fun the first time -to- oh this is still going on?-to -oh well, this is still going on.. -to- what? its not going on anymore? Now what am I going to do? In other words, you get used to everything. I imagine this is a life saving revelation for people who find themselves far from home in a vastly different country. Like Siberia. For me it's more of a curiosity. I admit, i'm living a radically different life here than back home, but that's by my standards and taking into account the range of my life experiences. Probably the most radical change i've undergone is the ability to not only eat but crave eggs. Yup, that's my version of life changing.

Other changes i've undergone: I'm neat here, I wake up before 7, I watch the news religiously, I drink coffee both as a necessity and as a luxury. I attribute most of these to the slower pace of life here, and also the fact that my house doesn't have internet. When you take facebook out of the equation, folding laundry becomes something to do, and when your daily schedule becomes finding things to do, it suddenly becomes a luxury. Immediately after coming home, no matter how many times I know i'll be coming home or leaving that day I take my shoes off, walk to the back and wash the mud off before hanging them up to dry. Its very cathartic. Thats what I found with soccer. Aside from the first and last game all the rest I watched at the private soccer field in my town that had a tv installed in it that i've learned plays either soccer games or cooking shows whenever its on. (The field's owner is a big fan of the Naked Chef). When the mundial ended, even though Im still not a soccer fan, I was left with a certain feeling of- now what? Luckily i'm writing this in the future so I already know the answer to that. August brings dance classes and cooking demonstrations on a weekly basis.

In work news, i'm adopting a new attitude. My opinion of my town this past month has wavered between the town being a catastrophe and being far far too good for me. Through the eyes of my host mom and the health clinics stats, the former is true. My town, I say with a certain amount of certainty has the highest maddness per person capita in the country. Not only is it the 3rd leading illness in the town, but it seems every time I come home and mention meeting someone new my host mom's reaction is "oh, she invited you to that? its a trap, don't go, she's mentally deranged." On the other hand, from birds-eye (institution focused) view of the town, its really far too professional for me. Both the school and the daycare, for all their issues are run by successful, competent and highly motivated women. As fast as I can identify a problem to write up in my diagnostic they're either proposing how to solve it or have actually solved it. Most of my issues concerning me trying to find a job for myself go as follows:

Me: Director, I was wondering if I could ask you a question? You see i've noticed x issues in the school. Is this something important to the school? Is this something I could work on?

Director: I'm sorry, I just got back from my meeting downtown where I erased corruption from our governments and also put in solar power in every building ever so i'm a little distracted, repeat that again?

Me: erm

Director: Oh thats right, I had forgotten about that issue, hold a second (Director makes a 30 second phone call) ok, so that issue you brought up will be solved by tomorrow. Now what kind of projects were you thinking about doing here?

Me: erm

Director: Thats great. So I was thinking, I want a marching band. Can you get us some instruments and organize the kids? Also, would you mind teaching them how to play? The music teachers not available after school hours.

Me: erm

And no, I didn't just become the world's greatest screen writer. That's an actual conversation I have had. The current projects I am assigned at my school- form a marching band and build a gymnasium. Not daunted by the fact that our school already has one gym, they think it would be pretty sweet if we had another. You would think this was frustrating but no, this is the new attitude i'm creating for myself= I came here for people to have a better life, if at the end of the day people do have a better life I should be happy for them, even if my part in it mainly consisted of watching twilight movies, cooking pancakes and trying to avoid getting rained on. (I am willing to go to serious lengths for that last one. By serious lengths I mean I got to the bus stop one day to find an isolated rainstorm right over my town, so I went into the mall in front of the stop to watch said twilight movie and wait it out)

As for my problem kids i'm working with, this is the problem with living in the same community as them, I get to know them and realize there's nothing offensive about them. Just because a kid's loud and obnoxious at school doesn't mean that as soon as the bell rings he doesn't become the nicest kid in Mr Rogers neighborhood. When I see the kid helping little old ladies cross the street in front of my house, it really makes it harder for me to call them out in session for giving attitude in art class. When i see them stick up for a kid that they picked on not half an hour ago in class i realize that these kids are not isolated incidents but whole people. Just because they get antsy when stuck in a cement block for 7 hrs a day copying notes off the board doesn't mean they have anger issues. I don't share these revelations with the schools three psychologists.

I don't want this to come across as a negative post. I have had some pretty good interactions with my neighbors. Despite that they should know better by now, the kids in my town still think i'm interesting and beg me to give them english classes, even on their own time outside of class. I have the "gratitude of spiderman" or at least Nathaniel, a 4 year old boy dressed as spiderman. The naked chef aficionado came clean to me that while he comes off as machista and tough, his biggest delight in life is seeing a well prepared fillet on tv. Despite his best efforts, the parrot has still not been able to bite me (though he is glaring at me right now). I had some totally delicious coconut rice and not as coconuty beans at Jerred and Morgan's house. Roberth, my new favorite kid in school now that Ruddy was pulled out by his dad, walked home with me today in the pouring rain, singing and twirling in circles and being way too happy about being soaked to the bone. Finally, I have yet to be killed by Omar, one of the more dangerous of the mental illness/crippling alcoholic crossovers in my town. Weapon of choice- knife. Location of choice- across the street from my house. My solution- get a bigger knife.

One of the best things i've found in my life here? People here are kinda crazy. Crazy interesting. Did you know there's a laundry detergent here called simply "Terror"? Did you know the rhino toy they sell at the mall is called "Thunder Rhino" and the dog toy is called "Evil Clever Dog"? Did you know that the most common method for getting fruit down from trees is to hit them repeatedly with a metal pipe? Did you know that my host mom's response to my host cousins new boyfriend was "I don't like him, his truck looks like the truck the queso bandito uses. It could be him, and then what, you're married to a criminal cheese thief and one day the police will bust into your house and take him away"? Well now you know.

ps. did i forget to mention there's a cheese thief terrorizing our town?