A weekend with the Ticos

            This past weekend, we were paired with a Costa Rican family who opened their homes to us and allowed a glimpse into the life of an average family. I have to say that this was one of the most amazing experiences I have had here, or even in general. I was very nervous going in because I was afraid I would have to spend the weekend playing charades to communicate with the people. I was afraid that I would end up spending the weekend sitting on their couch counting down the hours until it was time to go back to the schools. Luckily, this never happened.

            After breakfast, we hopped into the vans and drove to the center of town, where our families were waiting to pick us up for the weekend. All I knew going into this was that Frederick and Roxanna (who were to be my homestay parents) were both biologists, had a daughter Diana (who was 18), and five dogs. I had no idea if they spoke any English, or what we were going to do for the weekend. A few minutes after arrival, my homestay parents came and picked me up. They were not at all what I expected them to look like. Roxanna is Tica, but Frederick is just as much of a gringo as I am. It turns out that he moved here to Atenas about 14 years ago. We drove about ten minutes to their home which was just outside of the center of town in one of the nearby barillos.

            As soon as I stepped out of the car, Fred told me to come to the backyard because he wanted to show me something. It turns out that they have an entire aquaponic gardening system in their backyard, approximately the same size as Dad’s garden at home. It was amazing. He built the entire system himself out of PVC tubing and plastic cylinder tubs he cut into half and shaped into soil beds. All of the water that the plants needed flowed constantly through the pipes into the beds. As it drained out of the soil, it was collected by more pipes that fed it with to a large (several hundred gallon) tub with about 14 fish that turned the plant waste into usable fertilizer. This water and fertilizer mix was then sent back into the plants, and the process began again. Fred said that after the initial amount of water needed to start up the system, very little needed to be replaced (except that lost from evapotranspiration from plants). He built this system a little less than a year ago, and they have since been experimenting with which are the optimal plants to grow. When I visited them, there was beans, basil, oregano, other spices, lettuce, cucumbers, and tomato plants that were at least six feet tall. It was unbelievable. Roxanna talked about how they hoped to introduce aquaponics to Africa, since they require substantially less water than other, more conventional irrigation systems.

            We went back inside and took a tour of the house, and then made dinner in the kitchen. It was here I met my first Costa Rican family that was vegetarians. Meat is incredibly popular here in Costa Rica- they serve it for every meal here. Apparently the father and daughter are both Tao, and so are opposed to eating any meat. Roxanna was very curious to know what kinds of foods I eat and how I get most of my protein and nutrients (since when I’m at school I rarely eat meat). She had never heard of Greek yogurt before, and was very curious about it. She also wanted to know how my family cooks quinoa, since she just discovered it recently and needed new ways to prepare it (Mom- I believe this is your forte. Finally someone who would be interested in hearing about the history of it!).

            After dinner Fred drove Roxanna and me to the bus station so we could meet Diana, who was in class. We took several different buses back up to the northern part of Costa Rica in order to go to a baby shower! We picked up their grandmother (who spoke not a word of English), and off we went. The baby shower was very interesting. It’s very similar to baby showers in the States- usually only or mainly females, you play games, presents for the mother, food, yadda yadda. When I was introduced to the family members, it wasn’t terribly difficult to talk to them (with a little help from Roxanna). It’s very interesting to see how Ticos interact with each other. When they meet people (both family/friends and people they have never met before), it is customary to give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. They are extremely friendly and open people. They also have absolutely no concept of personal space- people sit basically right on top of each other, and maintain constant physical contact.

Of course since we’re in Costa Rica and thus on Tico time, the baby shower started forty minutes late. Once the expecting mother (who was a cousin of Roxanne) arrived, the games began. The games were very challenging for me because they were entirely in Spanish and led by a gentleman who felt it was necessary to speak like he was an auctioneer. Even the Ticos sometimes had a hard time keeping up with what he was saying. He quickly rattled off some instructions off in Spanish (of which I only caught “Welcome everyone, now listen up to these rules), when all of a sudden toilet paper was thrown at me by several people as well as around the room. I had NO idea what on earth was going on. Why were these people throwing toilet paper? It turns out, it was a competition to see who could pass the toilet paper around the room without breaking it fastest. We played a few other games, including charades. We also played a game where you had to guess what family member the man on mic called out (example: “the brother of the uncle of the father is..”). All in all, a fun afternoon. We came back to Atenas very late because the total amount of time spent riding on the buses took about 3 hours. Those buses are not like the ones in the States at all. With the exception of one occasion, I have never been in a bus that was that crowded. There were people crammed onto every horizontal surface with 2-3 people across in an aisle about 2 feet across. Definitely not for the claustrophobic. I had to hold on for dear life towards the front of the bus as we zoomed down the highway going far too fast for my taste. We got home around 8, and then watched Life of Pi together and then talked about reincarnation and the major themes of the movie.

The next day, I helped make a breakfast of pancakes with the syrup I had made as a part of my homestay gift (thanks Dad!), omlettes, fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juice.  We then all hopped in the car to go on a hike to a nearby waterfall that was located next to an abandoned gold mine. It was beautiful, and I wish I could go back so I could go swimming (the water is deep enough to jump off the rocks, and one of the waterfalls created a natural waterfall). It was interesting going with them, because both Fred and Roxanne were trained biologists, and Fred currently worked as a naturalist and took people on tours throughout the country. Diana and I had fun pointing different stuff out to them and then listening to their explanations for what stuff was and cool facts about the place. We ate lunch overlooking the mountains at a little soda, and then went home because Diana had classmates coming over to study (that’s another thing- school is incredibly important here in Costa Rica, and all families take it very seriously and make it a first priority). Roxanna, Fred and I went to a fiesta in the nearby Mercedes Barillo. They have a wonderful tradition during the dry season where every weekend, one of the Barillos (or suburbs) puts on a party and invites everyone around. It reminded me a little bit of the agriculture fairs we have during the summers in the Northeast. They have the same sort of rides and food, and live bands. People of all ages were dancing to traditional Spanish songs, and more were collecting on the steps to greet neighbors and friends. Everyone knew everyone or was somehow related to everyone else. The entertainment varies depending on the fiesta, and this particular fiesta featured a karaoke night later on as well as the Costa Rican form of bull fighting. We didn’t stay around for that part, but according to Roxanne it’s a lot nicer on the bull (killing the animal results in immediate jail time), and often the bull wins. I myself am still skeptical. We walked over to where they were selling food and ran into one of my friends from SFS who came with her host family.

This family was very interesting. They were just your average family, but their philosophy about life and the importance of positivity. I had a lot of interesting discussions with them about their beliefs about religion and spirituality. I found it fascinating to examine the contrast between Roxanne (who was an extremely devout Catholic) and her family members who were both Taoist. Fred made the interesting comment that he felt he could still believe in God, and worship Him in his temple of the outdoors. I love learning about people’s views on religion and way of life. I loved talking to them. Roxanne and Fred have lived all around the world (at one point Fred was a pilot), and have many stories about all of the countries they’ve traveled to. All in all, this was a wonderful weekend.

This past few days have been spent studying for my midterms, running errands, relaxing, going to the health clinic for a minor infection (it was very nice by the way. They were very fast and good at their job), and just hanging out. The rest of the week will be spent taking midterms, and then it’s off for our first “long” weekend (two whole days!). I will be spending it with a group of friends in Manuel Antonio, which is supposed to be a very nice beach here in Costa Rica. Hopefully it’ll be a nice week!