The Chicken Saga continues....

Our Mama chicken and chick were eaten because they didn’t like their house and instead slept in trees, like they did during the time of our grandparents, according to me host mother. Well they said they would be vigilante, I came home the night after the coyote ate the chickens and my host father was relaxing in the hammock with a shotgun. At 12:15 the exact same time the coyote visited the night before (apparently coyotes are very punctual creatures), I heard the dogs barking and a loud sound. (the shot) My host father thinks he got the coyote because he heard 3 loud gripes far away which means a coyote is dying. I tell you living on a farm is never boring….

The saga of the chickens

Life on a farm seems to provide me with endless entertainment...

Last week after I had 2 wild turkeys in my kitchen (not the alcoholic kind), I then had a crab get in, and the following day a toad. My host mother must think I’m nuts coming up every day “Discuple, pero yo tengo uno (fill in animal here) in my cocina, por favor ayudeme” (Excuse me but I have a BLANK in my kitchen, please help me).

However last night I heard the guard dogs barking and barking alot. Concerned about serial killers and intruders, I made sure the door was locked, put my ear plugs in and went back to bed. This morning, however I noticed that a mama hen and baby chick were missing. Apparently last night as the chickens slept in the lime tree (I didn't know chickens slept in the top of trees), a coyote came shook the tree until they fell out, and then ate them!!! My host mother was upset as you can imagine and told me tonight that we will be 'vigalante', i.e. they will shoot the coyote if they see him...hmmm not sure what to think about all this, but it makes me thing of the book Prodigal Summer which highlights the differences in opinions between shooting coyote to protect your investment and saving the coyotes.

The late mama hen and chick These baby chicks were spared by the coyote

Life on the Farm - Part 3

Life on the farm for a city girl never ceases to amaze me. I came home the other day, opened the main door to my house and closed the gate to allow some air in but keep out intruders - or so I thought. As I was get ready for my after-hike-up-steep-hill-cold-shower I heard a weird noise. I turned around to see a giant black, wild turkey squeezing itself through my gate into my kitchen. I froze! And then a big, white turkey joined its friend in my kitchen!

At a loss for words and completely clueless how
to handle this situation, I made a beeline out of my apartment and found my host mother, where
I had to explain in Spanish there were 2 turkeys in my kitchen and I didn't know what to do. She laughed hard and then told me I must run at them to make them leave. I asked if she was serious....so together we ran at the turkeys and they eventually left out the front door. Yet another new cultural experience...running head-on at wild turkeys. A mug shot of the intruders is pictured above.

Comida Tipica - more rice, more beans, but more YUM!

Luckily Costa Rican food is good, or my host mother here is a much better cook. The fresh fruit here is incredible, every morning I start off with watermelon, pineapple and papaya before my 4 km walk on the beach to school. (I decided not to take the bus and instead walk). They have the main meal here at 12:30 however since I am not home from school then I eat around 7pm. So far I’ve had some yummy traditional dishes, rice with calamari that uses the ink for sauce - this was a favorite of mine, fried plaintains, simple green salads, a special rice drink (that's according to my host mother is good for digestion but who knows?) homemade French fries and of course rice and beans. Another specialty is a certain sopa de pollo - so yummy but why soup in a place where the temperature is 90? it’s a chicken base that the fill with veggies, potatoes, boiled eggs, some peppers and then you add your rice in - muy rico!

Not necessarily comida tipica but unfortunately for my waistline someone introduced me to snickers bars with almonds! I never liked snickers but with almonds they are tasty and addictive!!! While the cravings for them here are strong, I will be happy to not have them in the U.S.

As for my Spanish, I feel its progressing well! I am speaking somewhat quicker and know how to use the subjunctive! I can read the newspaper, get around and talk about random things. So hopefully I sound ok :)

Sunset Crusie for 1?

Besides facing my fears of farm animals, I am taking on others as well. A local guy here has a sailboat and called the school, seeing if anyone was interested in going out last night. Even though I'm scared of boats and water, I went.

Myself, the boat captain and his wife, and a very fun couple from Jersey set sail. Playas Flamingo and Potrero are situated in beautiful bay, that is not too developed (since I wasn't planning on going I didn't have my camera with me, but the my new friends from Jersey said they'd email me pics).

Anyway we went to his gorgeous beach only accessible by boat and then swimming. Called Honeymoon beach or Luna de Miel, its a perfect strip of white sand and flowering trees and tons of crabs and seashells in between rocky caves. I went snorkeling by myself (no one else wanted to go) than I swam to Honey Moon beach (just taking on all my phobias!) and walked along solo and later watched the sunset...awww Anyway I figure its self-empowering and even if I'm alone I deserve romance, right?

A short windstorm whipped in and we could see the rain in other parts of the bay but it left dramatic clouds perfect for gorgeous sunset. There's lots of craggy islands and rocky formations sticking out of the water, which was great to see up close.

And maybe I am not so scared of boats after all....;)

Life on the Farm - Part 2

So as you all know I'm pretty city, and while I enjoy hiking and camping in the great outdoors, living rural is definitely a funny experience.

The other night I see my host mother searching the grounds with a flashlight - I called out to her and asked her what she was looking for. Expecting her to say Intruder or Axe Murder (because we are in the woods after all) she replies that she lost a chicken and is looking for it....OH

Then this morning, it was very very exciting. My 2 year old host sister was walking around saying 'vaca' I was excited because I know that means cow. When all of a sudden my host mother runs out of the house and my host father n0t far behind with a lasso! Turns out of the cow had escaped and likes hanging out with the chickens (and eating their food), the cow was running around the outside of the bottom part of the house (my apt). Can you imagine if I had gone upstairs for breakfast a little bit later and saw a cow on my porch? I'm not sure what I would have done. I guess I still need more time for cultural immersion.

Bathing in a Bucket

So the power company decided to repair the power lines. We were without power until 3pm yesterday - that meant no cold water, no fans, nada, and somehow with the power went the water. After being completely drenched all day from sweat (which is an understatement) I was excited to go home for a cold shower. But since I live up a mountain on a farm, we never got water back and I found myself eventually breaking down and bathing in a bucket. I have to say I don’t think I have done that one before. I also have never co-habitated with geckos before so first time for everything…

Life on the Farm

A few weeks ago I had learned the grammatical structure for a mistaken identity, I did not pay attention because I thought how arcane, why would I need to know that. Well I firmly believe I was a victim of a mistaken identity.

On Saturday I said goodbye to Sarah in Belize and began the trek to Costa Rica. Of all journeys through Central America this was the best! Not wanting to deal with any more Central American border crossings by foot, (that has gotten a tad more complicated with the swine flu) I bought the cheapest plane ticket from Belize to Costa Rica. I boarded my flight and thought I had the wrong seat assignment. I was ushered onto the plane with hostess offering me toasted nuts (still warm), mints, chicken salad, warm face cloths, and cocktails to the first seat on the plane (I have never flown first class before!) and then I noticed a huge plaque - it was the same plane Pope John Paul II used to fly around Mexico, Guatemala and Central America - obviously someone must have mistaken my identity or I’m on the way to sainthood. Even though the majority of people were wearing masks to protect themselves form swine flue, I figured I didn’t need it as I obviously had the late Pope’s benediction.

I made the 5 hour journey from San Jose to Playa Flamingo. After Guatemala, Costa Rica is true luxury! Paved roads, air conditioning, vans built for 12 having only 9 people in them, no trash on the sides of the road, and you can drink the water!

However, my first impression of my new host family was panic - I was up a dirt road, I couldn’t see any neighbors, there were chickens, turkeys, cows, horses and 2 guard dogs roaming the land - and I asked them a zillion question where was I, was I safe, how do I get anywhere, when it finally dawned on me - I’m living on a farm! Once I realized that I have never truly lived rural and this was a farm, I was able to relax.

The view - the rope is for the hammock:)
My host family are farmers and during the rainy season they grow maiz and frijoles (corn and beans - the staple of any good diet here). I have a 23 year old host sister who is studying tourism at university, a 17 year old host brother who is in high school and very cute little 2 year old host sister who is very excited to wave at me.

I live in the bottom of the house, in my own apartment, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen with a bar and living area, plus my own bathroom - which is unheard of in Central America (and do you have any idea what this would go for in SF?!). It’s a bit strange as I am not ‘living’ with the host family, but after 9 weeks of sharing bathrooms with ‘brothers’ I found that I am happy to have my own space. Please note though Its very, very simple, no air conditioning which has already provided me with 2 sleepless nights and a kitchen full of geckos who make weird noises - which bothered me until I found out they eat the mosquitoes and other bugs. Given that the rainy season is coming (I hope malaria is not a problem here)- this is important.

Playa Potrero
I have a 10 minute walk down a dirt road into a beach town called Playa Potrero - that is a cute Costa Rican town with a beach restaurant, a soccer field, plaza, a supermarket and of course a catholic church. In town I pick up a bus that takes me to school - about 15 minutes ride to Playa Flamingo, very small town with a beautiful white beach. It feels good to see the Pacific again, and its so calm its almost like a lake here.

My new school is gorgeous and has a swimming pool, is super well-organized, and has lots of fresh fruit. So I think these can only be good omens.