Kassidy and I are walking on the beach as the sun sets. We’ve decided to walk from one end to the other to see how long the beach is. It’s an inlet, so it’s not that long. We barely leave footprints, Kassidy collects shells and the bottoms of her jeans fill with water and sand. We stop to read what someone has written in the sand and then she guesses which of the couples we pass are the same ones who stopped to write their names in a heart on the beach. We are both carrying our Foo Foo drinks.
This is a good day. She Skyped her cousin Sarah this morning and got excited about the prospect of them actually coming for a visit. She sat and watched T.V. for most of the day because, while I had truly intended to get up and go to church this morning to go meet people, I forgot to ask what time church was, and I used that as an excuse to just go next week. She found Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and had seen it so many times that she was able to watch it fairly effortlessly in Spanish. I figured it was a reasonable use of time. She is also happy because she found “Lost” on T.V. Everything here is re-runs and there is no on-line access to shows. Sigh. Can someone Skype me during the Grey’s Anatomy premiere and face the web cam at the T.V. for an hour?
When she grows up Kassidy wants to speak Spanish… and French. And….Italian… and Chinese. I tell her about Andrea’s friend John who is a professional polyglot. I marvel, too, that my daughter is interested in languages. How cool is that?
We order Arroz con Pollo and Ceviche from El Pescado Loco. My lovely daughter tells the salonera in Spanish, “This is the best food I’ve ever had.” When she learns we are friends with the family on the beach she tells us that they are cousins. (There are 200 people give or take, so this isn’t surprising,) She sends her two daughters, Valeria, 17, and Daniela, 15, over to talk to us. The girls start talking and I start steering the conversation toward things they have in common. Soon they are having a conversation that sounds like this… “Jason Miraz?” And then one of them will sing part of the song and they all laugh. “Fergie.” They are comparing their tastes in music in English. They girls speak English about like Kassidy speaks Spanish. The difference in this conversation is that they have been in school in Sardenal for the past year and have no friends in Playa Hermosa. They had been living in Heredia, near San Jose, with their parents and three brothers. They came to Playa Hermosa for vacation and when they arrived their parents told them to pick a school because they were moving. The girls were devastated and cried on the phone to their adult brothers back in Heredia for 6 months. Mom was an elementary school teacher who decided to quit because it was “hard on her heart” and come back to her original home and rent the restaurant from her father. The girls are eager for friends. Kassidy understands their resentment and their sadness about moving and there’s nothing she likes to do more than listen to music. Apparently LimeWire works here.
SPANISH LESSONS
Independence Day
September 15th is Independence Day for Latin America, not just Costa Rica. (September 16 is Mexican Independence Day) Sunday an “antorcha”, a torch like the Olympic torch was run all over Latin America. It was supposed to arrive in Playa del Coco about 7 en route to Nicaragua. It is a symbol of, according to the salonera, a woman in Guatemala who knocked on doors getting all of the people to storm the capitol with little hand held candles. Once she had rallied them and they all marched, they were able to collect signatures. I am finding nothing on-line to elaborate on this story.
Tuesday there will be parades with the school bands from all over, including Nicaragua. The biggest parade near here will be in Liberia next to the park from Kassidy’s pictures from the moving car. There are parades in every city, and if you want you can go from city to city going to the parades. I did find The University of Peace, located here in Colón, Costa Rica and the only accredited Masters and PhD program endorsed by the U.N. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Arroz con pollo is white rice with chicken. It is a very popular dish and a staple of the diet here. It was… soooo… good. No Uncle Ben’s in here.
Ceviche is made with raw fish or raw shellfish, onions, garlic, peppers and then soaked in lime juice. The lime “cooks” the fish. It is served cold. Very good. Lots of flavor. Some people prefer it spicy. This one was only minimally spicy.
A bus is called a buseta. They understand “autobus” but don’t use it. They use troque for truck instead of camion. Pedro asked me if I would give him a “ride.” Puede darme un ride? Nyuh-uh! Spanglish has come to Costa Rica.
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