Saturday, February 12, 2011

What Makes a Tico a Tico?

I been noticing little things about Ticos that make them unique and entertaining:  You always know when a Tico is around because you can smell their perfume from a mile away. Ask any CR volunteer and they will agree.  They have a slight obsession with cleanliness and are surprised when I don't shower every day. The smells here in general are pretty overwhelming and repulsive.  Be it too much perfume, the daily burning of trash (including plastic, eek!), the gasoline-like smelling stuff they clean the floors with everyday, or the pollution.  It's a common occurrence to see me poking my head out my bedroom window to breathe-in fresh air or notice me holding my breathe at different times throughout the day. 


Ticos always have multiple bars of soap in the shower because sharing soap is just "too personal."  Don't walk around the house without shoes on...anytime..ever or you'll get sick (or so they tell me).  Beware of giving out your cell phone number.  One must be prepared to receive daily sentimental fowards about love, friendship, and the trials of life. And they might get upset if you don't respond promptly. On that same vein, if you want to make friends, just start watching one of the overly dramatic soap operas that all on all of the 7 channels available.  My best friend here, Yancy, LOVES them.  Want a mid-day snack?  Do it the Tico way and just eat halls (you know those cough drops?)  And lastly, if you want to meet up up with a Tico at 6, tell them 5 and maybe they'll make it on time.


Training is now over and I am in my site where I'll be for the next two years.  About 2.5 hours southwest of San Jose, Sabanillas is deep in the beautiful mountains. The landscape here goes without words.  The roads aren't paved and the rainy season every year is hard on them, so if you decide to visit (which I hope you do) get ready for an extra bumpy ride.  Four buses pass by my site every day, two going to the city at 5:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and two returning at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  This lack of frequent public transportation has attributed to my newfound ability to wake up at 4:45 a.m. and fall back asleep on a yellow school bus that has my body jolting up and down.






I'm living with a precious older couple, Dona Tuna and Angel. They have TWELVE children together, many of whom live in the houses surrounding ours.  Angel has 3 other children with another "amante" meaning he has a total of 15 children. Quite the carbon footprint, eh? Dona Tuna is quite famous here for her cooking abilities, particularly her tortillas which everyone has informed me are making me more robust and according to them more attractive.  I disagree entirely.  Every morning I wake up to the sound of her flattening tortillas with her palm.  She boils the corn and then grinds it, adds a little salt, flattens them, and then cooks the tortillas over the wood-fire stove.  All of my food is cooked over the wood-fire stove.   


Since I've been in site, a little less than two months, I have been tutoring some students here in English who failed their class last year.  They each had the opportunity to take an exam in early February that would determine if they would have to retake the class to move on to the next level.  Erika, a 13 year old girl who lives down the street asked me consistently every week to work with her.  She texted me as soon as she found out the results of the test that SHE PASSED!!  I haven't heard from all the students but I know of at least two others that passed as well!  Summer break has come to an end and classes started up on Thursday.  I'll be working in two elementary schools with about 35 students each and one high school with 200 students.  It's great to know that the work I'll be doing here could have potentially life changing effects.  With the ability to speak English, the odds of getting a good job spike.  Thanks for reading and I hope to write again soon.