“¿Como se dice ‘flour’? No, no es ‘flor.’”

And more struggles fun with espanol. 

Hannah Ray Lambert

3/18/15

Today I made a list of all the ways my basic knowledge of Spanish has come in handy so far. Really, it started helping within minutes of arriving in Costa Rica, when I had to pass through immigration. It helped with buses and taxis, finding wifi in public places, ordering food and talking with the non-English speaking members of LAST. It’s also helped me feel like less of a stereotypical tourist. I stick out enough with my blonde hair. There’s no need for me to draw more attention to myself by bumbling my way through every interaction with a local.

The most valuable bilingual experience I have had here, though, is with our host family. Being able to communicate with our host mom and her two daughters has arguably been the richest part of this experience.

Yesterday I talked with Griselda, 18, about the educational system in Costa Rica as well as her career/schooling goals. Today, Griselda and her younger sister, Yahaira, gave me a tour of the property. They showed me their garden and all the diverse, naturally growing fruit trees around the house including – but certainly not limited to – guavas, mangos, plantains, a type of apple and coconuts.

The latter fruit led to the title of this post. Using my broken Spanish, I tried to say that coconut has a lot of uses in the United States, one of those being flour.

Trying to explain flour (since I didn’t know the Spanish word for it) was a five-minute endeavor, even with Selena’s help. I’m pretty sure we got there eventually, though.

After dinner, Selena and I spent more than two hours talking with the family (and playing dominoes with Yorleni). Yahaira showed us her drawings and drew portraits of us.

Selena braiding Yahaira's hair one morning before school.

She also had us help her study for her English test tomorrow.

Now, I always knew English was a silly, unnecessarily complicated language. However, trying to explain why “l” and double “ll” make the same sound to a sixth grade Costa Rican student really drove that point home. I’m incredibly lucky to have learned this crazy language from infancy; otherwise I don’t think I’d ever have the patience to figure it out.

Yahaira would read something (in English) like, “May I talk to Maria?” and then look at us for approval.

In Spanish, I would answer, “Si. Pero es ‘may,’ no ‘my.’”

She used her limited knowledge of English and I used my barely-functional Spanish.

It was a truly beautiful moment. 

Griselda, Yorleni and Yahaira with the Cougar flag.

Not relevant to this post, but this is the family gatita. She's so small I thought she was a kitten, but she's actually the mama cat. People don't typically feed their cats in Costa Rica, so they have to work a lot harder for their food than my cats do.

 

 

Murrow Take The Wheel

By Selena Alvarado
San Jose, Costa Rica

There are two things that have taken me by surprise in Costa Rica. In the few hours after arrival I noticed Costa Ricans do not say "adios" or "hasta luego" as I would have guessed in a Central American country. Instead they use the word "ciao" as a salutation of farewell. I have a feeling I will be taking that word back with me to the States and using it often.

The other shocking thing is the driving. I felt I was close to death while in the car with our taxi man. Drivers in Costa Rica do not like speed limits, turn signals or stop signs. However there was no accident--in my short ride. I believe the reason behind this is that everyone is a crazy driver. In the U.S. you have your crazy drivers and your safe drivers. In Costa Rica they are all crazy drivers! Our taxi man was incredibly nice and helpful and he was a SAFE crazy driver.

Aside from culture shock, my traveling companion Hannah Lambert and I got to do a little exploring on our own once we finally arrived at our host family in one piece. We walked around the neighborhood which mainly consists of houses and a few restaurants and convenience stores. As we were walking, we found this beautiful alleyway formed by many trees and bushes. A man in a nearby house saw us admiring the beautiful landscaping. He asked if we wanted to see more plants, so we followed him deeper into the alley and uncovered a variety of different plants, from bamboo to bananas to plants with medicinal properties. There was also a plant that held a special place in  my heart. There was a chayote vine which grows a vegetable that reminds me of a squash called chayote. The house I grew up in had a chayote vine alongside the gated fence. I remember when the chayote leaf would dry up, I would grab all the leaves I could and crumble them all up in my small hands. I do not know why I found this so amusing as a kid but I definitely remember enjoying it. I even was tempted to try that today, but I fought the urge to relive that precious childhood memory. It was definitely a little slice of home for me in Costa Rica.

We also got to see a banana tree with bananas growing. Unfortunately they were not ripe enough to eat so we couldn't get a bit of this tasty treat that is main crop in the country.
                                                                   



















It's been a great first day in Costa Rica. Tomorrow we head out to Playa Blanca where we will be staying the rest of the week. We will be working on a sea turtle conservation project on the ocean. After a good night's rest I will be ready to take on the next journey in Costa Rica.