Lazy Daze

It’s been a week since I got back from Panama, and there is still another week before school starts. Our first day of class is February 8^th. Things have been pretty slow around Chimurria. People are all in vacation mode and lots of folks are out of town visiting relatives and friends. I don’t have any secondary projects going on right now and don’t plan on starting any up until school is back in session. So what do I do when there’s nothing to do?

I usually spend these lazy days baking ridiculous things and cooking for hours making gourmet meals for one. I read some, do laundry, sweep my house. I spend time with my friends in my community. I write letters to my friends in the states. In the evenings I sit with my can of Raid and wait for the spiders to come out, probably while watching a movie on my computer. The days are slow and have a tendency to roll right on into each other. When my days are free they have their own way of filling themselves, and I sometimes find myself in unexpected places.

For instance, a few days ago, when I was just about to embark on a bagel making endeavor, one of my 5^th grade students knocked on my door. She said that she needed me to come over to her house to help translate. There was a man there from the states who didn’t speak Spanish. She asked if I was busy (I wasn’t) and if I could come over (so I did). Honestly, I couldn’t believe that there was a foreigner in Chimurria. Since I’ve been here the only foreigner’s who’ve been to Chimurria (on purpose) have been my friends and family. So I unplugged my fan and headed over to my student’s house to see the alleged foreigner for myself.

Wadayaknow! There was a man from the states in her house and they legitimately needed me to be a translator. The man, Gary, was a missionary for the Methodist church in Upala. He had come down to help build a parsonage. He’s an architect and had drawn the blueprints for the new building. Gary was with the pastor and the pastor’s wife- who had taken him to Chimurria so that he could see the river and spend time with my student’s family (they are active members of the Methodist church). The pastor’s son is a high school English teacher and he usually helps translate, but for some reason he couldn’t be there, thus I was summoned. The pastor and the pastor’s wife were relieved when I got there. They really wanted to be good hosts and show Gary around Chimurria but were struggling with the language barrier. I was glad to help- and although my translating skills are miserable- its fun to practice.

It was great to meet another non-tourist foreigner. We got to talk about our different experiences in Costa Rica and compare stories about culture shock. Gary has been to Costa Rica once a year for the past 5 years and has a deep network of friends in the Upala area. He travels to different churches in the area and helps them with their construction projects. His Costa Rican experience has been vastly different than mine and it was interesting to hear about it.

We spent some time talking in the house, then we all went down to the river. I stayed on the river bank and gossiped with the pastor’s wife and my friend while everyone else splashed around. After a while a rain cloud showed up and scared us back inside. Once the rain passed we went out to the soccer field to watch the community pick up game. That evening they invited me to a pizza dinner. A new pizza place opened up in the neighboring town and we had to try it. Not a bad way to spend the day!

When school’s out and my schedule’s free it’s fun to see where the days take me. I have really been enjoying the freedom of this past week- being able to focus more on myself and sustaining my relationships with people in Chimurria. I’ll be excited for school to start, but for now I’m content with my extraordinary amount of free time. It means I have time for life’s random adventures- like being an impromptu translator for a missionary, or crafting the most delicious carrot coconut soup. It’s all in the journey.