Speak-o Like a Tico!

Hola, 

As I sit here, once again, in a hammock in Sámara on my last day in Costa Rica, I’ve decided that a little education is in order. It seems that an oddly large number of people I know, my parents included, have either recently taken or will soon enjoy a trip to this wonderful country, so I thought I’d make myself and my experiences here useful by providing a Guide to the Costa Rican (Tican) Language. Consider it a 'What I've learned in Costa Rica' post, language edition. “Wait a minute”, you almost certainly just wondered to yourself, “isn’t it called Spanish?” Well, the answer is yes, but only officially. As with every other Spanish speaking country, Costa Rica has it’s own unique set of expressions, phrases, proverbs and sayings that must be mastered in order to truly become one with the people and the culture. Obviously, I initially intended for this to be a complete guide to the Costa Rican Cultural Lexicon – and it certainly approaches that – but, due to time and space constraints, I’ve had to make some difficult decisions and cut some stuff out. I hope you enjoy it and make use of these nuggets on your next trip down here:

• Pura Vida: More ethos and/or philosophy than anything else, Pura Vida, the most important catchphrase to know in Costa Rica, can be used in a wide variety of situations and, literally, means "pure life". Before arriving in Costa Rica I had been informed that everyone uses this phrase, but the only times I had heard 'Pura Vida' during my first two weeks here were on the airplane and from the rafting tourguide; thus, I concluded that it was a contrived and manufactured phrase directed at tourists. However, after a couple extra weeks on the beach here, it appears that everyday people use it quite regularly. For example, Pura Vida is a perfectly adequate response to ¿como estás? as well as the best way to justify any wrongdoing.    

• Tico Time: Though this one is not in spanish it is nevertheless as unavoidable and crucial as the others. The simplest way to explain tico time is via the following anecdote which just took place earlier today. I sat down to lunch with a bunch of friends and, after we ordered our food at 12:15, my friend Ruben said to me 'I bet the food doesn't get here until 1pm - this restaurant is on tico time'. I took the bet and, as it turns out, the food arrived 20 seconds before 1pm! My frustration over the tardiness of the food (classes started at 1:15, so I had to rush) overruled my excitement over winning, but I had already learned that tico time is a very real part of life here and that I'm used to it.

• Mae/Tuanis: These do not mean the same thing, but they often accompany each other. 'Mae' is the Costa Rican equivalent of the Argentinean 'Che' or the english 'Dude', 'Buddy' or 'Bro'. Tuanis is just one word for 'cool', or 'chill'. Thus, together, 'tuanis mae' is a great response to pretty much any question, most notably '¿como le fue?', '¿quibubo?' or '¿que tal?'. 

And, now, a small section on something I hold near and dear to my heart, food:

• Casado/Gallo Pinto/Pico de Gallo/Arroz con Frijoles: They all have different names and may look a bit different, but these are all (with one exception - the Casado often includes other items such as fried plantains, a protein and salad) essentially the same dish - rice and beans - and is served with pretty much any meal in Costa Rice. While many foreigners who travel here often complain about the bland nature of this cuisine, I am personally a huge fan and will hopefully be able to continue eating these long after I've returned Stateside. It must be mentioned that these dishes are never complete without Salsa Lizano.

• Salsa Lizano: This multifaceted and ubiquitous condiment is the perfect complement to practically any meal in Costa Rica, but is especially 'sabroso' with the aforementioned rice & bean dishes. It has an uncanny similarity to the packets of mild sauce that is included with any Taco Bell meal - don't ask how I know this - and it has turned out to be a completely essential part of my month here. I am planning on bringing two big bottles of it back with me tomorrow and hopefully, if you know me and will see me anytime soon, you'll have a chance to try it with..well, anything.

I hope you've enjoyed this and I'll try to be in touch with you all over the next two weeks before I head out on the next part of my trip! And if you are one of the lucky ones who will see me in these next two weeks, see you soon!

Feelin' Kinda Sunday

Hola Compañeros!

Today is my third full day in the Spanish school's other campus, located in Sámara, a gorgeous little beach town on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. I am writing from a hammock about 4 feet from the sand and I have the incredible ocean view on one side and the school on the other (hopefully these pictures will warm you up a little bit!) I got here late on Sunday after a great day of white water rafting with Marni on the Pacuare river which, apparently, is one of the top five rafting rivers in the world. Unfortunately, since we're in the middle of the dry season right now the water level was a lot lower than usual and, thus, the rapids were a bit tame. Still, we had a great time and walked away with some funny stories and awkward sunburns. 

Sámara, as I mentioned, is wonderful! It's the complete opposite of Heredia - the town is safe, people don't really lock their houses at night, the food is expensive (relatively) and the weather is HOT! There is a ton of sand everywhere and it seems like I'm never more than a 2 minute walk from the beach. Life here is very slow and very relaxing - lots of hammocking, beach volleyball, Spanish and beer. As they say, Pura Vida. I also think the Spanish lessons are doing their job because I am having a pretty hard time coming up with the right words in English. I am living in a homestay here as well and there, perhaps, is where the contrast is most evident. They, as opposed to my Heredia family, are informal, crazy and a lot of fun! They are easy to hang out with, laugh with and get close to, especially their 7 year old son, Justin, who was kind of enough to take some time out of his busy schedule last night to teach me and my roommate a few very important vulgarities in Spanish. All told, while there isn't much to do here and there's a lot of just hanging around, it will be pretty tough for me to leave here next week.  

Speaking of which, one more (hopefully not final) shoutout to my Steelers. I am now flying home next Thursday which means I'll be able to watch the Superbowl with my dear Grandparents in Naples! I can't wait to see everybody (or whoever is lucky enough to see me while I'm in The States) and I miss you all!

Pura Vida!

Milk Was a Bad Choice!

This time, you might actually have worried about me. Last thursday, as I was sitting in a cute little Heredian restaurant called Mambo eating the traditional Tican mish mash dish of rice, beans, fish, fried plantains, salad and bread called Casados, the ground started shaking, the elderly Tica women began screaming and Central Costa Rica was pummeled with what we would learn was an earthquake that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale. For roughly 15 seconds, there was no control. Luckily, nothing fell nor broke where we were so it didn't seem quite so bad at first. If you've read the news, however, you'd know that around 20 people have officially been declared dead with upwards of 200 more missing. As far as I am aware, the vast majority of the fatalities were the result of landslides in mountainous areas that simply burried people. It's incredibly scary, we were extremely fortunate and we can only pray that the death toll doesn't continue to rise.

On a lighter note, my first full week in Costa Rica is now in the books! Everything has been incredible, my Spanish is kicking ass and my homestay situation has gotten better every day! My Tica Mama is a sweetie who cooks me great, if simple, vegetarian food with lots of rice, plantains, eggs and bread. School has been wonderful, the people are great and I've even taken a couple dance classes. This past weekend I traveled with Marni to Playa Hermosa, a small, gorgeous beach town on the central pacific coast to stay in a hostel with my Brandeis friend Maya and her brother. The hostel was a veritable surf bum paradise, with cheap rooms, untouched beach access and, most importantly, great waves. We spent the entire time either on the beach or in the hostel lobby hanging out with the absurdly random mix of people that were staying at the hostel. I met quite a few very interesting and/or ridiculous people and, to me, the experience was a bit of a precursor to my further travels in South America. It certainly has gotten me more excited for the crazy and unpredicatable nature of independent travel, spending time with a whole host of people to whom you would probably never talk in another setting. There is so much to learn from these people out there and I can't wait.

Last, but not least, I am extremely fortunate to have a host Mom who not only has cable TV in her bedroom, but doesn't mind my taking over her room for three hours to watch the Steelers game yesterday! I was so happy to be able to support the boys - who looked great, by the way - and here's to their game this Sunday - go beat the Ravens so I can go see you in the Superbowl!

¡Hasta Luego!

Me Gusta Viajar, Me Gustas Tú

¡Hola chicos!

I know ya'll have been worried sick about me so I thought now would be a good time to check in and let you know that I'm alive and well. Marni and I landed in San José yesterday around noon and were immediately greeted by our families (well, I was greeted by my family - she, by Don Fernando). My host's son, Rafa was at the airport to pick me up along with his daughter, Marcena, and as soon as I met them I blanked out on every single word of Spanish I ever heard! Thankfully, their house isn't far from the airport so the awkward car ride was mercifully short. The house is fairly small, really simple but nevertheless comfortable. I have my own room and my own bathroom, so I can't much complain. Last night was really tough from a communication standpoint but I did my best to get the lay of the land nonetheless.

Today has been a really fun day but it certainly didn't start off that way. I decided to use the alarm on my ipod and I sort of messed it up in a couple of ways. Let's just say that I tried to wake up at 6:45 (orientation at school started at 7:30) but instead woke up at 5:15. I managed to battle the exhaustion, show up at school on time and take the oral placement exam for Spanish - I placed into Intermedio 3 (the second highest intermediate level)! After class they took us on a tour of the town and out to lunch. The people are very nice and there is a huge group of kids from Austin, Texas (pronounced "tay-has", en Español) on some sort of program. All in all I'm pleased with the people and a bunch of us have plans to go out tonight in a few hours..don't worry Mom, I'll do my homework first! As we were walking, though, I found out that I was actually somehow placed in Avanzado uno (the first advanced level) and I'm not sure why! The people seem to know their stuff but I should be fine..I'm the only guy in the class so I should be able to coast on my Masculine charm.

Finally, I just wanted to share one paticularity of Costa Rican culture that I am not excited to adopt. Before I got here everybody made Costa Rica seem like a perfectly Western country, but this certainly challenges that idea. The septic system in most parts of the country is extremely weak. As a result, most toilets in the country cannot handle toilet paper. So beside every toilet I've seen so far lies a wastebasket in which one is meant to throw his or her toilet paper! I could be crazy, but that's completely gross! This might be TMI, but I've been holding it in since I got here and I know that a few of the other students are with me on that! Ah!

I'm off to shower and do my homework but, in the meantime, if anybody knows of a good Gringo-style bathroom in Costa Rica, please..please..let me know where it is!

Welcome!

Hey Everyone (or, more likely, Mom)!

Thanks for checking out my blog - the Backpacking Hippo. I decided to start this blog to chronicle my travels, keep everybody who loves me (and, really, who doesn't) up to date on my life over these next few months and, for those of you who will be in South America, to stay in touch and hopefully meet up somewhere!

If any of you are wondering why I think anybody cares about what I have say, so much so that I felt compelled to start a blog, it's really quite simple. I don't like mass emails. We've all received them before from friends who are traveling, studying abroad or going through some other comparable life-changing experience, and, let's be honest, nobody likes to read those. So, while I didn't want to force myself down your throats, I figured I should still give you the wonderful opportunity to keep up with me. 

Here is just a quick rundown of my plan (I'll admit, there's not much there):

Tomorrow, January 4th, I am flying to San Jose, Costa Rica where I will spend all of January studying spanish at Intercultura Spanish School (first two weeks in Heredia, last two weeks in Playa Samara). After a brief return to the USA, I'll be flying to Quito, Ecuador on February 11th. The only other thing currently booked is my return flight, on April 30th, from Buenos Aires. That gives me 2.5 months to get from Point A to Point B. I plan to climb Macchu Picchu, hang out in Cusco, Peru and Santiago, Chile. I'm not really sure where else I'll wind up but, to be fair, that's sort of the point.

Finally, some instructions. If you do want to receive this via email you can subscribe to the RSS feed. I only know how to set it up for Mac users, so if you are on a PC (shame on you), I hope you can figure it out. On a Mac: Go into the 'Mail' program and click into the preferences screen. Under the RSS header, make 'Mail' your default RSS reader. Next, there is a link on the bottom of this page that says 'Posts (Atom)'. Click on that link and follow the instructions within Mail. Now you'll receive my posts straight to your email. NOTE: This only works on the latest versions of Mac Mail. If you have an older version you will not be able to subscribe by email! So sorry - both Mac and PC users can still track the RSS feed through your web browser, however. Lastly, if any of you use Gmail, you can add Backpacking Hippo to your webclips (under settings), so that when I post something new it appears within your Gmail inbox. 

There will be more to come but, in the meantime, I miss all of you dearly and can't wait to be in touch from the road! Please feel free to comment - I want to hear from you almost as much as you want to hear from me.