"Gringa":White chick
Today was only my third day here but already I have met so many of my tica family and have had just as many adventures. I think it is only fair that I begin by describing my arrival. On Saturday my plane arrived in Costa Rica about an hour late so I hurried to collect my luggage and find the person who had arranged to pick me up. I found her immediately, and I thought that it would be a taxi that we would take us to my host family. I was wrong. In the U.S. we would have called what I rode in a ghetto ride. It was a large green jeep like car with the seats taken out of the back to make room for the luggage. Now to make room for me there was instead a large jumpseat that jutted out over my luggage.
The day I arrived was conveniently the birthday of Santa Ana, the town I am living in. In order to celebrate, there was a festival at night complete with Captain Jack Sparrow's Black Pearl ride, known here as la perla negra. Also at the festival we went to the concert of Los Rancheros del Oeste (The Ranchers of the West) where I learned that Latin men can move much better than any American man or woman. The following day the festival continued with a horse parade. You can assume that this is where the blog got its title. A few of you may know that horses are not my favorite animals. They are big, they stink, and I may or may not be slightly scared of them. To prepare for this parade the whole town staked out their corner and set up tents and tables full of food and beer. It was an experience comparable to a Clemson versus Carolina football game tailgate and by the end of the day just as rowdy. I have to admit that I actually enjoyed the horse show even though I did not think I would. At our tent my tica mom wanted to make sure that I got the best seat so she saved me a seat right in front. This was very nice but it is possible that I was just a little too close. Horses trotted politely by us and every now and then the horses would slip on the street speed bump directly in front of us. I cringed each time because I felt bad for the horse, but I did not think that I would be in harms way. One time in particular, the horse slipped on the speed bump and at first I thought it had recovered smoothly and was fine... until it slipped again. This time its whole leg gave out and hit my foot! not only was I then even more scared of the horses but I also had I slightly stubbed toe thanks to the horse. The festivities continued and the attention shifted from the horses to the drunk men on the horses. For the record, I think driving a horse under the influence is more dangerous than driving a vehicle under the influence. Well that is all for tonight! There are more adventures to come! Please comment on this post below if you have any questions or comments!
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Well I had every intention of starting out this blog with a countdown to the day that I would leave for costa rica. Sitting on the plane now I think it's safe to say that a countdown would be way past due. So for those of you who don't know, I have decided to go back to Costa Rica to study Spanish and hopefully become fluent (fingers crossed). When I start writing in spanglish by accident you'll know I'm getting closer to being fluent. So what is the exact plan you may be wondering? Well I start here in Costa Rica until the end of September. After that I will head down to chilean patagonia to work for a non profit organization there for three months. The rest is to be determined! I plan to post all of my adventures and mishaps at least once a week but if you would like to contact me directly please look under the contact me tab on the left! Pura vida! |
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Felipe Arias U.