Amy with her Costa Rican friends Natalia and Edwin on their Wedding night.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Boys and Toys
Happy June to all. This seems to be a popular month for weddings. Like I mentioned in my last blog, my good Tico friends Edwin and Natalia got married this past weekend in a simple civil service and I was one of among 50 guests. The evening was very nice with an elegant setup and good food at the nicest restaurant in town. Check back soon for a picture of me with the newlyweds.
I said I would write about ceramics and boys in my next blog so I must stick to my word. I can't say how the two really correlate but anyhow.
Back in November I went with my friend Dearing (another PCV who has since finished service) to the town of Guaitil (about 20 minutes in bus from where I live) to learn the ancient Chorotegan Indian pottery technique. The pottery is made with clay found in the area and all the pieces are made on a hand turned potter's wheel. The paints are all natural in rich, browns, black, and orange and the designs are derived from precolumbian history. I had gone a few times into the new year but stopped going for my lessons for about two months when I was changing houses and writing my diagnostic of the community. Guaitil is a small town where just about every family makes this pottery and competes against their neighbors to sell their work to the tourists that come through the area or to have work contracted by a hotel or the like. The gracious Briceno-Chavarria family has taken me under their wing and has been giving me lessons free of charge. Because it is difficult to arrive to Guaitil with the bus schedule and without having to walk 2 kilometers in the pure sun, I usually go all day from 7am-4pm. My ideal is to go once a week but that hasn't been happening. Juan Felix who is the 36 year old son teaching me the technique would prefer that I even come twice a week but that is seemingly impossible with all my other work. I have a really good time when I go to Guaitil and enjoy being able to do something artistic. Makes me feel like I am back in college again. I have lots of pieces to produce before going home for Christmas.
Everyone likes to ask me if I have a boyfriend here in Costa Rica and my answer is always no. But let the truth be told, this is purely by choice. Sure, there are always creepy old men yelling “piropos” or pick-up lines as I ride my bike around town. The reality is, I have lots of boyfriends. Or at least all of these so called boyfriends think I am their girlfriend. First there is the 40 something mailman who brings his motorcycle to a complete halt whenever he sees me and smothers me with a kiss. The way he stares right into my eyes really creeps me out. I try to avoid the post office as much as possible. Then there is the 29 year old Costa Rican English teacher. Think Eddie Munster meets the Pillsbury Dough Boy but with more of a daemon laugh. He actually advertises to people that he is my boyfriend but he doesn't ever seem to get the hint that I'm just not interested. Never have been, never will be. Literally, I have talked to him about 4 times in my 8 months here. His pregnant sister who I like very much keeps asking me, “Don't you want to be the baby's aunt?” No, thank you. There is this co-worker of mine that is constantly implying that we should get together sometime. Maybe I can teach him English and he can teach me Spanish. Always shaking his eyebrows in suggestion. Dude, I'm not interested and the fact that you are married makes me REALLY uninterested. The owner of the grocery store is always awfully friendly as well but I am just trying to use that to my advantage. Hey, free groceries anyone? Just kidding! There had been this one guy that I had the hots for when I first moved to my community but then he had to go off and get married this past weekend. ;-) That leaves me yet to talk about my friend Allan who I actually met through Dearing back in November at her going away party. We danced salsa together. After she left in December, I kept running into Allan in the center of town wherever I went. The internet, grocery store, on the street. He asked for my number one day at the internet so I thought, why not. He's a good guy who's not looking for a one way ticket to the States. So he called me to go out dancing one night (he's teaching me salsa). We started hanging out on a regular basis and we've made 20 kilometer treks to the river together on our bikes, gone to the only movie theater in a town that is over an hour away, we're Saturday night drinking and dancing buddies, and most recently he helped me write letters and collect donations for my other co-worker whose house burned down (see previous blog). He hung my hammock for me at my new house after I had it sitting in my room for the past two months. He calls me every day just to check in. All in all, Allan is a great friend. The nosy neighbors like to refer to him as my boyfriend and even though I have been and am still boyfriendless here in Costa Rica, I guess you could say he is the closest I've come to having a boyfriend. So, that bit was to fill all the curiosity filled folks who want to know about my love life. Nothing steamy, nothing juicy, just a nice friendship to fill my time.
Send me suggestions for the next blog. What do you want to know about?
I said I would write about ceramics and boys in my next blog so I must stick to my word. I can't say how the two really correlate but anyhow.
Back in November I went with my friend Dearing (another PCV who has since finished service) to the town of Guaitil (about 20 minutes in bus from where I live) to learn the ancient Chorotegan Indian pottery technique. The pottery is made with clay found in the area and all the pieces are made on a hand turned potter's wheel. The paints are all natural in rich, browns, black, and orange and the designs are derived from precolumbian history. I had gone a few times into the new year but stopped going for my lessons for about two months when I was changing houses and writing my diagnostic of the community. Guaitil is a small town where just about every family makes this pottery and competes against their neighbors to sell their work to the tourists that come through the area or to have work contracted by a hotel or the like. The gracious Briceno-Chavarria family has taken me under their wing and has been giving me lessons free of charge. Because it is difficult to arrive to Guaitil with the bus schedule and without having to walk 2 kilometers in the pure sun, I usually go all day from 7am-4pm. My ideal is to go once a week but that hasn't been happening. Juan Felix who is the 36 year old son teaching me the technique would prefer that I even come twice a week but that is seemingly impossible with all my other work. I have a really good time when I go to Guaitil and enjoy being able to do something artistic. Makes me feel like I am back in college again. I have lots of pieces to produce before going home for Christmas.
Everyone likes to ask me if I have a boyfriend here in Costa Rica and my answer is always no. But let the truth be told, this is purely by choice. Sure, there are always creepy old men yelling “piropos” or pick-up lines as I ride my bike around town. The reality is, I have lots of boyfriends. Or at least all of these so called boyfriends think I am their girlfriend. First there is the 40 something mailman who brings his motorcycle to a complete halt whenever he sees me and smothers me with a kiss. The way he stares right into my eyes really creeps me out. I try to avoid the post office as much as possible. Then there is the 29 year old Costa Rican English teacher. Think Eddie Munster meets the Pillsbury Dough Boy but with more of a daemon laugh. He actually advertises to people that he is my boyfriend but he doesn't ever seem to get the hint that I'm just not interested. Never have been, never will be. Literally, I have talked to him about 4 times in my 8 months here. His pregnant sister who I like very much keeps asking me, “Don't you want to be the baby's aunt?” No, thank you. There is this co-worker of mine that is constantly implying that we should get together sometime. Maybe I can teach him English and he can teach me Spanish. Always shaking his eyebrows in suggestion. Dude, I'm not interested and the fact that you are married makes me REALLY uninterested. The owner of the grocery store is always awfully friendly as well but I am just trying to use that to my advantage. Hey, free groceries anyone? Just kidding! There had been this one guy that I had the hots for when I first moved to my community but then he had to go off and get married this past weekend. ;-) That leaves me yet to talk about my friend Allan who I actually met through Dearing back in November at her going away party. We danced salsa together. After she left in December, I kept running into Allan in the center of town wherever I went. The internet, grocery store, on the street. He asked for my number one day at the internet so I thought, why not. He's a good guy who's not looking for a one way ticket to the States. So he called me to go out dancing one night (he's teaching me salsa). We started hanging out on a regular basis and we've made 20 kilometer treks to the river together on our bikes, gone to the only movie theater in a town that is over an hour away, we're Saturday night drinking and dancing buddies, and most recently he helped me write letters and collect donations for my other co-worker whose house burned down (see previous blog). He hung my hammock for me at my new house after I had it sitting in my room for the past two months. He calls me every day just to check in. All in all, Allan is a great friend. The nosy neighbors like to refer to him as my boyfriend and even though I have been and am still boyfriendless here in Costa Rica, I guess you could say he is the closest I've come to having a boyfriend. So, that bit was to fill all the curiosity filled folks who want to know about my love life. Nothing steamy, nothing juicy, just a nice friendship to fill my time.
Send me suggestions for the next blog. What do you want to know about?
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