First Week in Buena Vista

Mail comes every other week. Garbage is picked up once a month. Scraps go to the cat or the chickens. People are obsessed with hygiene and ask you every morning if you’ve showered. You catch rides with the milkmen, and they are the ones best off here. Yes, it’s a little different here. And while this isn’t culturally relevant, Flor wears straight booty shorts around the house. So there’s that…

The past few days I’ve waken up at 6 to eat tortillas and drink coffee and then go for a hike/walk. I return, shower, eat a snack and by then it’s only 10. The rest of the day is spent trying to occupy my time. I’ve been reading a lot. Writing nonsense in my journal about nothing. Watching a lot of inane children’s movies and short films with Marlon. Eating a lot of tortillas and cheese.

Notes:

The tortillas here are made of corn and will be the end of me. I promise to you all I will learn how to make them by the time I come home.

Cheese here in Costa Rica is different. It looks like tofu, has holes in it, and is chewy (not creamy) and very salty. I am really into it. And it’s even better bc Juan MAKES OUR OWN cheese from his cows. Every other Sunday, but since I’ve come to town probably now every Sunday. And for those of you who know me too well—no, it doesn’t give me a stomachache.

I’ve never believed or practiced eating organic, but now that’s all I eat I feel the need to brag about it: fresh eggs from the Juan’s mom, lettuce from our neighbor, tomatoes and fresh cheese from Juan. “All organic. Grown without chemicals” Flor tells me proudly. I honestly haven’t been paying attention to the eggs but the tomatoes here are bomb. And the cheese too of course.

A noneventful weekend but thank goodness for my hiking boots. Looks like I’ll be using those way more than my trail running sneakers. Any attempt to walk here quickly turns into a hike. It also turns into immediate peril due to the largeness and looseness of the road rocks. You cannot run on these roads or even take a leisurely stroll. I miss new york city blocks.  

Was this post even interesting? Here’s some more uninteresting diddies:

-                     Juan predicted today his cow would give birth. I visited her and she did not. I left her and she did. It is a boy and he is the color of his grandfather.

-                     I also felt ridiculous at the farm because I was stupid and wore shorts and was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. I stood out on the road vainly swatting bugs and looking like a pansy while Marlon romped around.

-                     Elections were today and all I can say is Katharine Farrell should have been born in Costa Rica. All day in little BV pickups has been going by with young persons packed in the back. They did wholesome fun things, like cheering, singing, waving party flags, and donning matching t shirts. (The women candidate won by the way, and by a landslide)

-                     Marlon irritates me. I am a bad host sister. In addition to reading, writing, and watching TV I have been hiding from him a lot. He likes to scare me? And sometimes he genuinely does and I am trying so hard not to show it in hopes he’ll stop.