Number 13   

Learn Spanish the Hard Way:

 Wait until you are 67

I have good intentions, in fact I like to think they are usually great intentions.  We moved to Costa Rica and I planned to take immersion Spanish classes.  For those of you that may not know what immersion classes are …. I will describe it as being thrown into the deep end of a pool holding a 10 pound weight and being expected to do laps up and down the pool.

Nevertheless, I signed up for 16 hours of group Spanish classes.  I figured I can get lost in a group (or at least hide).  So I paid my $200 and they tell me that there were no group classes at my level (which is beginners).  They will offer me 12 hours of private lessons for the same fee.  In retrospect, at that point, I should have run as fast as I could for the door.  But, naively I said OK.

I will have four days of 3 hours of Spanish each day.  Let’s start there… do you know how long 3 hours can feel?   Especially when the teacher is only teaching you, only asking you questions, only wanting you to speak in Spanish (absolutely no English allowed). 180 minutes of this for 4 days. An interesting thing about time is that each day when it was 11:30, time slowed to a creep.

After 2 days (that is 6 hours of Spanish, Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish) I was fried!  My brain was mush.  I barely had enough energy to get back home.  It is almost impossible to describe the physical, emotional and psychological effects of that much focused intensity.  What was I thinking for God’s sake, I am 67 years old?  I have been speaking English for 66 of those years.  Whatever made me think I could learn a new language?  My brain is tired.  It does NOT want to be conjugating verbs in Spanish, I am not sure I could conjugate verbs in English.

The school suggest a student take a month if these immersion classes.  My self- esteem could not handle it. Why doesn’t my tongue move the right way, why can’t I roll those R’s?  It is the most humbling experience I have ever had.  I sat at my little desk singing nursery songs with my teacher in Spanish. 

After 9 hours I felt a great sense of relief not because I had accomplished a mile stone, but because I knew I could complete one more day.   So, ok I did it. I finished 12 hours of private Spanish classes.

  I wish I had words of wisdom from this experience. The only thing I can take away from it is if I hear another person from the US say “let them learn English” I will either tell them to move to a foreign country and see for themselves how difficult speaking a foreign language really is or slap them silly.

Number 12    

The First Day I Felt Like I Belonged

I have heard of the stages of adapting to a new culture.  Some say the stages are Honeymoon, Crisis, Recovery, and Adjustment.  I have not experienced all of these stages yet although, I certainly know what the Honeymoon stage feels like.  For the past month Roger and I have been in the “Honeymoon” stage of adapting to Costa Rica.  It feels almost giddy, like a child at Christmas time.  Everything you do is new and exciting.  All your energy is put into trying to understand the basic necessities.  What’s the exchange rate and how do you convert that back into dollars; where do you buy food; how do you get from point A to point B etc., etc.  Learning the basic survival skills.  It’s scary, but tremendously exciting at the same time.

Today was the first day I felt like I belonged in Costa Rica.  That occurred to me on the bus as I was riding into San Jose by myself.  

I signed up for 12 hours of Spanish lessons.  

So, today I needed to catch the right bus and make my way downtown into the city.  As I sat on the bus I wasn’t worried did I take the right bus, I knew where it and I were going.  I knew when to get off and where I needed to walk to.  I stopped for a cup of tea and was able to communicate at a minimum level of understanding (but it is still difficult to explain why I want milk in my tea). I was like every other person on the bus and walking the streets of San Jose.  I had a place to go and a schedule to keep.  I felt like this really is my home, I am not just a tourist here on vacation.  Although I can say I am not totally at ease with everything, but I do feel a level of confidence with my limited schedule.

After my 3 hours of Spanish lessons, I stopped at a restaurant and ate lunch and found the correct bus to go home.  I do not think the “honeymoon” phase is over yet.  If there is a “Crisis” phase (which is described as culture shock) I am not sure how I will handle it. I do know keeping an open mind and heart will help.  Stay tuned…..

Number 11   

The Psychological Impact of NOT Owning a Car

Relax, I won’t be psychologically analyzing our car ownership behavior, I’d need a longer blog to do that.  Since this is the first time in both our lives Roger and I have not owned a car, it has taken some getting used to it.  It has evoked an inner reaction to this new phenomenon…..  I’ll call it Car Separation Anxiety or C.S.A. for short. Remember you heard it here first.

We were unaware of how much we took for granted owning a car. As Americans, we often consider our cars as extensions of our personalities.  Roger and I value comfort and efficiency, so we have always preferred a certain level of luxury in our vehicles, a level of “car pride” it evoked.  Coming to Costa Rica we made a conscious decision to live in the city and not own a car.  As I pointed out in an earlier blog, it takes a great deal of effort to figure out how to get from point A to point B in Costa Rica.  Yesterday, we wanted to go to an Art Show in a suburb about 4 miles away from where we live.  We ended up taking 2 buses and a taxi to get there.  Although the trip back was 1 bus ride away….hummm.  

So here we are in a new country that totally values car ownership and makes it difficult to use mass transit.  No wonder Roger and I often have conversations about “should we buy a car?”  We have survived a month without a car.  I won’t say that it’s been “great”.  There are pros and cons to our decision.  The lower costs are good, whereas the inconvenience is bad. I could write a long list of pros and cons, but, we finally concluded that rational calculations of owning a car plays almost no justification in our decisions.

In the US, we used to have “conversations about the “right” way to get somewhere.  Now we are just happy to get where we originally wanted to go.  Will we ever buy a car in Costa Rica?  Well as they say “never say never”.  For now, we are taking each day as a challenge to recover from our C.S.A.  Maybe I should look into starting a 12 step program………

Number 10    

Eating out in Costa Rica

Easter Sunday was a good day to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation.  Oh wait, I think that is what I do every day, oh well then a good excuse not to have to cook.  It is remarkable the number of restaurants here in San Jose.  We have seen many, many types of different ethnic restaurants.  Within walking distance to our condo are restaurants serving classic dishes from Spain, Lebanon, and Argentina.

On Sunday we decide to eat at the Lebanese restaurant.  We walked the 3 blocks over and find the restaurant closed for the holiday.  So we back track and see the restaurant serving food from Argentina.   The sign in the window said open at 12.  Although after 12, their steel door is down across the door.  OK we have learned this lesson, we smile and wait. 

A sideline here…there are people on the public streets that “work” that particular street.  By that I mean, they wear cross-guard vests and tell people where they can park (yes on public streets with no meters).  They don’t work for the government, they are just people that have claimed a street to guard your car.  For this service you are expected to tip this man when you get back into your car.

Our “parking assistant” sees that we are waiting for the restaurant to open.  So he walks over to the window and begins to tap on the glass, letting the people inside know they have 2 customers waiting.  We are asked to come back in 5 minutes so we walk around for 15 just to be sure.

We enter “Terra Gaucha” later and there isn’t a sole in the place.  In the middle of the place is a fire pit that usually cooks whole lamb and other meats.

We order our meal…I order a Tenderloin steak with a Roquefort sauce and Roger orders a plain tenderloin.  We order wine and wait for our meal.

  By now I am totally fascinated by the “parking assistant” outside.  He has a whistle and a bright green piece of cloth that he waves and is trying to get people to come down his street.

We eat our meal but most of the time I am watching this very friendly man on the street walking up and down.  After my second glass of wine I can stand it no longer. 

 I ask the waiter how this man gets this particular street. OK so there is a huge communication problem.  He calls over another man who speaks some English and I ask again. They have no idea why I am asking about a man that works on the street.  Finally a man having lunch with his wife says, “Can I help you?”  I ask, how does this man get the street he is working on?  We’ve noticed that each street has a particular man working the same street each day.  He smiles and said he hasn’t a clue but he knows that these men pass their streets down to other family members.  It is the underground economy at work.  These men are unemployed and this is how they make a living. So if you know someone out of work (and we all do) tell them to claim a street and get busy.

  

Conclusion:  

The meal was great.  

You would never see into a culture if you are just taking a tour.

Number 9    

We finally have a dog.

We have had Ning for 5 years.  As a puppy she was very friendly to all other dogs.  As she grew she became more and more attached to humans for her emotional support.  In fact, whenever  she’d encounter other dogs on a walk she would hide from them under Roger’s feet. We always felt she thought she was human.

As traumatic as relocating her to Costa Rica was she now has finally found her inner dog.  

We take her to the park every day and play ball with her.  We actually take her off the leash and she runs around like crazy.  We have a little tennis ball that we throw and she will retrieve it.

  

So now we finally have a dog, but in creating this dog we didn’t realize she would see all the balls in the park as possible balls she should retrieve.  There are lots of people in the park playing soccer.  She sees people running after balls and off she runs.  It doesn’t matter that they are playing a soccer game, off she runs to join in on the fun.  She usually gets petted by the players.  So how do we train a dog that a ball isn’t always a ball?

Number 8

Let’s talk about Meat!

Since we arrived in Costa Rica, we have heard about the toughness and the taste of their beef.  Of course you can buy USDA graded beef in the large supermarkets if you don’t mind paying the extra costs. Most people buy their meats directly from the butcher.  Images of the 1950's come floating into my mind.  I grew up with my parents buying meats from butchers, but today watching a butcher cut the beef produces a yuck factor in me.

We want our beef to be packaged cleanly (no blood on my hands), the meat must be tender (measured by cutting it with your fork) and of course tasty (we all know what good beef taste like).  We want it all, and in the US we get exactly what we get.

Whether or not meat is tender and tasty, or tough with an off flavor is determined by several important factors.

·         The age of the animal when sacrificed; the older the animal is, the less tender.  The US can afford to slaughter animals when they are young.

·         Costa Rica does not have a system of being inspected, graded, and certified.

·         Choice beef usually come from cows slaughtered at between 9 and 30 months of age, but especially in cows used for breeding and milk, the time for sacrifice may be up to even 15 years. An animal over 40 months of age is usually considered not choice but commercial grade beef.  So it makes some sense that the farmer would “use” as much of the animal for breeding and milk before slaughter time.

·         Another very important determinant of meat tenderness is the amount of concern for the animal’s welfare prior to and at the time of slaughter. Traveling for many hours in an overcrowded truck, for example, tends to make them stressed, tired, and distressed when they arrive at the butcher. Their adrenalin soars; their muscles tense up and stay that way. 

·         The key factor in the quality of beef is in the processing, and the main part of this is aging. Most beef consumed here in Costa Rica has not been aged, and for that reason, frequently has a “metallic” taste, not very tender, and lacks a typical beef flavor that we all appreciate. Most of the meat here is not aged, because the costs can be high, not only in refrigeration costs, but also in weight loss of the beef (up to 15% or more)

So when I eat a steak or as we cooked a lamb roast recently, we try to make the cut of meat as tender as we can.  Acid foods will break down the toughness and coco cola is also used as a marinade.  But through all this,  I have been wondering, did our great Grandparents complain about the toughness of their beef?

Number 7

Should I be ashamed for shopping at Walmart?

Known as one of the most ecological countries in the world,  Costa Rica is proud to say that it has gone 75 days (and counting) using only 100% renewable energy.  Costa Rica achieves a “Happy Planet Index” score of 64.0 and ranks #1 of all the countries analyzed.  Costa Rica's  HPI score reflects a high life expectancy, high levels of experienced well-being, and a moderate ecological footprint.  As The Guardian’s headline wrote “Costa Rica is world's greenest, happiest country”

Today we went to Walmart to go shopping.  I made my trusty list and off we go. 

  I did not go without some internal turmoil.  Why do I need to go to Walmart when I can get just about everything I “need” at the local markets?  Well if I am honest with myself and everyone else, it’s not always about “need” but more about “want”.  I want a selection.  I want to walk up and down the aisles looking and browsing at my choices.  I want to feel like I know what I’m doing.  And, I want Lays potato chips, there are you happy I said it!  Plus, there is something comforting about seeing everything at your fingertips.

In Costa Rica at the store when you want your pastries, you go over and pick up a tray and serve yourself, walking around with a tray and whatever food you picked out.  So this is a real story, I’m not kidding.  I will refer to this gentleman by his initials to protect the guilty.  Oh yea, J.T. you know who you are.  So J.T. goes into Walmart and sees a woman with a tray of food she has so carefully selected.  J.T thinks he’s in Costco in the US where people are giving away samples and eats a sandwich off the woman’s tray.  Being the kind and gentle people of Costa Rica she actually says nothing, just stares at him.  J.T. needs his wife to explain that in Costa Rica the stores do not give out samples.

OK let’s get back to the Walmartization of the world.  We could have the entire discussion about what The United States is exporting to the world  (Walmart, KFC, McDonalds etc, etc), and again it creates enough guilt in me to make me feel really bad, but not enough guilt to not go! I just hope somewhere in the BIG picture that I and the people of the United States will be forgiven.