Crop Circles and Education

Currently listening to: Autumn Leaves, Clint Brown

A month of luke-warm, 3-5 minute showers, and spontaneous power outages has passed by quickly. This life is getting more manageable and I’m beginning to settle into a better perspective.

Skip the next paragraph if you don’t feel like thinking.

Today I encourage you guys to study up on your Roman history, specifically the first century, give or take 50 years. It’s interesting the parallels that appear between ancient Rome and the “globalized economy” in terms of economics, political structures, trades, etc. You’ve probably already studied these things since they are crucial to understanding the culture of Jesus’ times and all, but sometimes a ‘refresher’ is good to have when determining where we fit in on this big picture. Some good places to start is to define some terms in the cultural context such as: pax romana, patronage system, cliens, the local oligarchies, ideological control, mystery religions, centurions, garrisons, solidarity, Jewish temples, Palestine, Money lenders, John 11:45, Jesus, clans, Galilee, and you’re probably bored and never going to read my blog again. Google scholar is a good place to start though. Or, get out of the country and live in a country ruled by the corrupt that are ruled (squeezed) by the corrupt, which is in some way ruled by you and me. A few more avoided questions: what do you think of globalization and free trade? I’m sorry, but when you are in country where this stuff actually affects you, you tend to hear so much of it that it leaves your through the deregulated, polluted, drops of sweat of each pore.  So, now that I got that out of my mind, I think I’ll start my Spanish homework and again say that you should travel and learn a different perspective than the “American Way.” I’m not really going as crazy as I sound, I think the context has a big impact on the way this is interpreted.

I guess that’s all I have, sorry if you skipped down to this..

Smoking Brakes and a hostel culture

22/09/2008

Currently listening to: You Turn the Screws, Cake

This weekend I took a trip to the west coast. Yes, you’re right, I did visit the Atlantic last week and the Pacific this week. What a terrible way to spend a semester, right? Also, if you are wondering about finances, well it’s cheaper for me to be here than it is for me to be in Abilene, TX.

At any rate, let us proceed into something worthwhile. Friday before our departure, I caught a guy on the street digging in my backpack. No worries, I pulled out my knife and cut him. Oh, wait, no that is not the way it happened. It was raining, the way it does, and we, four lady friends and myself, were making our way to the bus terminal in a relatively rough section of town. I felt something on my back and living here for a month now, I’ve become pretty aware (or insecure) of my being and surroundings. I took a glance back and met eyes with a young man who had unfortunately picked the wrong pocket. Much to his disappointment, I don’t carry any good treats in the pockets of my bag, only some Vaseline and blue sandals. Also, I don’t even own a knife here.

Well, we got to our destination after four and a half hours of curves and mountains passed. This destination wasn’t preplanned, so we exited the bus at the seemingly appropriate time. Walking down a dark road in the rain in a foreign place is always an invitation for excitement. This move resulted in a special prize. We walked up on the “Wide mouth Frog” an eco-friendly youth hostel with a co-ed dorm styled room, cold showers, free breakfast, 24-hour pool, and an awesome international staff.

I’m a fan of communal living. Our room hosted several people from various backgrounds, origins, and perspectives. We had a mad time with each other learning about these novelties.

We spent a good amount of time at the beach. We took a tour of the national park and learned about the flora and fauna. I was dumb and hiked a mile through the rain forest with no shoes on my feet, hope I don’t regret this… but the end result of the hike was that neat looking waterfall in my pictures.

The trip back to San Jose was even more hectic than getting to Quepos. The buses were sold out and we had to pay 5 times more for the trip back (4 bucks there). However, this trip only took two hours and we were in a taxi. Mind you, we had to stop for about fifteen minutes while the brakes cooled down, yep they were smoking!

peace

I’ll give you a quarter for that

16/09/2008

currently listening: Viite, Vladislav Delay

First, Andrew Watley gets mentioned for his recommending the artist that I am currently listening to. It is good ambient music. Anyway, I’m falling behind on my days and it’s only going to get worse. I should be doing another spanish paper right now, but I’m terrible with time management.

Next order of business, this week has gone by quickly and I don’t know what I have done. Monday was the parade, Tuesday was a run and class, Wednesday was spanish and then the best movie theatre experience ever and futbol in a pro stadium, today I went on another run and worked on a paper and got to meet the last runner up for president of CR. If you guys care about international relations i.e. Venezuela/ russia/ or even Iraq, (which all affect U.S. economy a lot) I suggest you check out the candidates’ plans for renegotiation a little more closely. Since everyone likes to avoid those topics, I won’t go on anymore about them. Send me a message if you have any interesting facts (about politics, or just in general).

This weekend I’m going to the Pacific coast, I don’t think it will be as neat to me as the Northwest Pacific, but I’m not going to complain. The bus ride there is 4 dollars, hotel should cost anywhere from 15-30 split between 4-5 people, and beach fee (limited number of people) is around 8 bucks. There’s hiking and more…

I will walk inline so that you do not have to.

Currently listening to: Paper Thin Walls, Modest Mouse

15/09/2008

Good mourning, anytime of day. In Costa Rica, this morning we remembered the day of Independence with a bit of a festival. All of the school age children all over the country took part in festive processions of dancing and drumming. I cannot say that it comes close to the Macy’s Day parade, or the legendary Dairy Festival parade, but it was a good parade nevertheless. The rest of the day is irrelevant except for the banana leaf-wrapped chicken tamales that I had at cafecito .

Jump back to gingerbread cookies, or whatever they are. We entered into the 12×10 box of goodness through harsh looking bars. These bars are a common thing here in the central Americas. Every home and business utilizes the rich accents of jail-like bars on windows and doors to secure their belongings and loved ones. At any rate, we entered into the cell and began an entertaining game of communication. I am supposed to be learning Spanish, yet the two women here would not teach me, they would rather speak in English. After 30 seconds of clarification, or disorientation, we began communicating in English, one that was more confusing than Spanish, but whatever. The majority of my conversations of this weekend contained selfish intentions. I had and still have an assignment that required me to interview Limonenses and get their points of view on the education, political system, economic system, and any resulting racial issues. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the ginger cookie and orange juice while wrestling on an opening topic. I finally broke the awkwardness by introducing more discomfort. Things eventually got going and we ended up leaving with little “homework” done, but had gained some new perspectives on how to cook cow’s feet in soup.

Later that same night, my group and I stumbled into a crummy looking diner to find a tasty meal at quite the economical rate. I was the first out of the eatery and rounded a corner in order to spook the girls following me. Funny thing about this is that an old black man came around the corner instead of the girls. Before I could gather my wits, he grabbed my arm and started speaking his indecipherable English. Bewildered, I quickly began decoding his words into the invitation he was giving me. He was the head of the Comité Cívico Cultural Étnico Negro-Limón and he felt it necessary to invite me to the night of Calypso music. I decided this would be fun, so I talked with the group and we made promises to come back shortly.

We kept our promise and ended up in the second floor of a warehouse like building as the only “white” people in a sea of 75-100 Afrocostarricenses. What a sight. We sat right in the middle of everyone and enjoyed the music almost as much as the scene itself. After a while that got boring so we walked around town for the next couple of hours trying to stir up some trouble. It found us only a block away from our hotel… What a stupid idea, two boys and three girls walking around a foreign city way to late. Anyhow, to make a short story less complicated, one of the only people left on the streets that night decided to take advantage of our ignorance and stupidity. I would continue this story, but I am not sure if a fictional story lends itself too well here. I do not want to lose your trust.

I’ll write more about the trip tomorrow.

Vaya con Dios.

Back to Our Roots

14/09/2008

currently listening to: My Iron Lung, Radiohead

Friday morning I left on a school trip to the Limón providence. Heading into it, I knew as much as you currently do. However, once there, I found a very different world. I did not write much down, and I am overwhelmed with details right now, therefore it may take a few days to get something worth reading.

We were told to be at the school no later than 7:55 on Friday morning. After a hearty breakfast of gallo pinto, I was on my way. The night before I had tried to fulfill the task of packing everything in a gallon size Ziploc, but I failed. I just could not fit the three pairs of underwear and towel and pen and notebook and camera and pair of socks and bathing suit and “church clothes” and deodorant into the gallon size bag. So, with my backpack halfway full and my pocket carrying 20 dollars, I arrived at the school.

For the next hour and a half, we became learned in the ways of the Limonenses. For those of you who are up to date on world geography, you will know that Limón is located on the southeastern tip of Costa Rica. It faces the Caribbean and is not unlike many other Caribbean islands. To unpack that vague statement: the culture of Calypso, Rastafarian (think Bob Marley/ Jamaica), a large (majority) population of Afrocostarricenses (or people of African descent), and poverty are all present. After the education, we loaded our large group of gringos into enough buses for fifty people and began the 2.5-hour drive to the coast. However, along the way we stopped at a coffee plantation, banana factory/plantation, a pineapple plantation, and a restaurant to eat. ¡Qué bueno! We made it to the final destination around 5:30. We then split up into groups and went around the town checking things out. My group ended up down some dark alley with people offering us “algunas drogas.” Just kidding, but we did end up in a home-cooking bakery. It was run by a sweet little black woman by the name of Yvonne. She spoke English, as did the majority of the people there. I enjoyed a gingerbread cookie and o.j.

There is quite a bit more to the story,  but my attention span is too short to do anything justice right now.

The name’s Rosa

09/09/2008

Lance Armstrong came out of retirement the  today, and he is announcing his plans for racing with Team Astana for the 2009 season on September 24. He’s not taking a salary, he is riding solely to raise money and  awareness for cancer. Now, with that out of the way I would like to thank you guys for commenting on the rubbish that I put up yesterday.

My brain is currently drained completely from spanish and hours of economic discussion. This stuff is for the birds. Minus the spanish.

Some topics that we covered in my spanish class today (4 people+ an instructor):

• Teen pregnancy
• Premarital sex
• Divorce+Remarriage
• Rescuing kittens that are asphyxiating

I have eaten 45^+/-3 meals of rice and beans in the past few weeks. Are you getting enough fiber?

Rosa is/was a sweet old lady that sat next to me on the bus. Tomorrow is a 2 for 1 at the movies. I have more futbol (word wants this to be outboast?) games tomorrow night. I leave for coffee, pineapple, and beach farms on friday (beach farms don’t exist).

Use caution while hand washing v-neck shirts, the neck tends to grow exponentially in size until it reaches your belly-button.

Too many coffee beans in the system. Peace

Take a look at what’s on display

08/09/2008

Yeah, so I ended up skipping classes this morning. Too much liquor and partying will do that; my body was/is upset with the turning of age.

Really, I get to explain to others how I hung out with my Costa Rican family on my 21^st instead of getting smashed. Or, I got the best of both worlds (you make the story)? Today I started another week of Spanish, but with a different teacher/perspective. This week will be better. I’m going to the beach at the end of the week, for free. Is it weird to hang out with someone who is almost identical to yourself, like down to the same dog, aspirations, and type of shoes? I’m not too sure how I feel about hanging out with myself. Anyone else?

I have a futbol game tonight at 7. Ticos vs. gringos, get excited! I’m only two-three weeks into this trip, but I’m beginning to see the planning of another one to come. The destination is India/Nepal. Any comments (other than my mom’s telling me to rethink) are welcomed and encouraged.

Also, quickly come up with a feasible Christian and neoliberal strategy for fixing latin american’s poor.

While you are thinking about that, tell me the differences between having a homosexual preacher, an obese preacher, and a narcissistic preacher and rank them on who you’d rather have preach to you. I know that at least the latter too do actually exist.

p.s. if no one comments, then I quit

El cielo es azul

06/09/2008

Someone once told me to speak to a tree. Instead, I took a step back and thought of how dumb it was to talk to a tree, and said nothing.

Today, I see things differently. Yes, it may be unusual to carry on with a tree, but I now know that the tree itself is almost irrelevant. I was supposed to admire the beauty and find a different way of viewing myself. There is something special about seeing and being in the presence of true greatness. A mountain top experience will always leave me looking for words, but finding emotions in ample supply. Today, I urge you all to take some time to talk to a tree. Okay, just kidding, but for real, take some time to appreciate something special, but ordinary. Look up at the stars tonight and ask yourself, “why.” Hug a few more people at church tomorrow.

I took a bus for a 2-hour long ride to a volcano. With the windows open and wind in my face, I felt a good bit of peace in the heart that is constantly looking for its way in the dark. The volcano was an incredible sight, but the trails and thin air added to its splendor. I really do wish that everyone would experience something like this. I feel like God is clever in the attempts to grab attention. On the way back, I stopped and got about half a kilo of fresh strawberries for a buck and a few bananas for around 2 cents.

Life here is rich, but only because people allow it to be.

open for service

05/09/2008

What a week. Too many facts and details were forced into my head. It is now time to “caragar las pilas” or recharge. Tomorrow, I am heading out around 5:50 in order to catch a series of taxis, and buses to the Poas volcano. It has supposed to be neat, we will see! Today was great! We have started a gringo or mancho soccer team… today was our first practice, and monday is our first game against some ticos. We are actually playing futbol cinco, which is indoor soccer with five people.

Anyway, I will write something worth reading another day, but until then check out Poas.

Not who you we’re looking for?

04/09/2008

Tomorrow is Friday and I am glad. This week has been good, but an information overload. Learning about the history and economics of Central and South America is interesting, but wearing. Everything here is affected by the United States, from the clothes worn to the rice we eat. If you are interested in the reasons then google CAFTA, Structural Adjustments, Globalization, and Corrupt Governments. The rich get richer and so on…

Anyway, I got sick yesterday. Yeah, I was with the porcelain for quite sometime. I decided to eat as little as possible today, but now I feel plain crummy. However, things are looking up; I ate some rice and noodles for supper and so far, so good. Well, I have to write a paper and study for a test.

Peace