Thursday, March 23, 2006

How do you like them peaches?

Raise your hand if you think Amy is bluffing about her great Peace Corps experience. Ok, you were right. It's not all peaches and pineapples and it hasn't been for a long time. Oh, wait, it hasn't been like that ever. For the last 8 months I have been living in Costa Rica, learning the language, culture and customs, learning about my role as a PCV, melding into my barrio, and missing my family and friends at home like crazy. More than once I have thought about coming home. OK, everyone thinks about going home, but I thought about it and was really serious. A las, I have not decided to board the plane quite yet. I've wanted this for too damn long and worked too hard to get here that it's not quitting time just yet. Instead, I have reevaluated my expectations for Peace Corps (read, lowered my standards) and decided just to change houses in my barrio to spice things up a bit. Supposedly I am allergic to the animals. So that is what I am dealing with right now. Leaving one family and preparing for the next. Move in date, April 1. Work is starting to pick up. Can't really say I've had too much of it so far. I guess the work has always been there, I am just starting to take advantage of it along with the lovely Spanish skills I have picked up along the way. You wouldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth...you would think I had lived here longer than 8 months. So that is what is going on with me. Let's see what the next 19 months bring. If you are feeling up to it, I'd love to receive some snail mail to hear what you are up to.

Amy Burkert
Apartado 292-5150
Santa Cruz, Guanacaste
Costa Rica

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

More Odd Realities

This always seems to be everyone's favorite blog topic so back in its second edition, more things that consume my daily life that I find un poco strano.

1. We use old newspapers to clean the mirrors instead of windex.
2. Instead of doormats, a pair of old jeans greets visitors at each doorway.
3. For as many dogs that roam the streets, I never see dog crap anywhere. Maybe we as Americans are doing something wrong with our pooper scoopers and plastic bags.
4. Once when a child had splattered paint all over my shirt, my host mom used a little gasoline to take the stains out. Hmmm....
5. We reuse our clothes washing water. Now seriously, we're not that poor.
6. Instead of ice cream trucks, we have ice cream bikes here in Costa Rica.
7. Why are we cooking in the kitchen with 25 watt bulbs overhead when we leave the 75 watt bulb on in the bathroom all day long?
8. For some reason, Ticos find it a good idea to burn their trash (OK, mostly brush and dry leaves) in open air fires alongside the road or next to their houses. Now who told them it was a smart idea to start fires in an already hot and dry climate? Most of the time it smells like marijuana. Oh wait...
9. A popular dessert treat is mixing cut up fruit with jello and ice cream. It's a lot better than it sounds.
10. When baby girls are born, it is customary for them to leave the hospital with their ears pierced.
11. And the last oddness of my daily life, in most Tico homes, a broom can be found accompanying you in the shower. I guess they really like clean cooters!