Costa Rica 7-9

It’s the rainy season in Costa Rica and it rains at least once every day, sometimes lightly, sometimes very heavily. Lucky for me this morning it rained during the night—thunder and lightning—so the walk down the hill will be easier since the road will already have dried out somewhat. I am involved in language classes 3 hours a day, either taking one in Spanish, or teaching one in English. This actually counts double for me, because as I teach my class a word in English they teach me its Spanish equivalent. Sometimes it feels like my mind will explode! But I’m improving.
It never ceases to amaze me how much people want to learn. The rapt attention paid by the Costa Rican adults in our two classes is a sight to see. These are young men, mostly jewelry makers and street vendors, between the ages of 25-30. One young man in particular has Rastafarian hair past his hips! He said he’s been growing it for 7 years, since he was 19. You’ll see him selling to a couple of tourists in these pictures. His nickname is Jondi (everyone here has a nickname) and he’s a nice guy!
Last night’s adventure was walking up the hill for the first time (it was nice to work some complementary muscles). I came home “early,” about 6:30, and cooked spaghetti over my tiny, two-burner, propane stove. I’m happy to report that it only took an hour for the water to boil, the noodles to cook, and dinner to be eaten! Then I read for the rest of the night with the fan on full-blast. Nights are very dark here! Electricity is expensive and brown-outs are common, although I have yet to experience one. It just seems like all the light bulbs are 20 watts, which makes it difficult to read. There are no street lights, or any other ambient light from the other cabinas in my compound, so the darkness is intense. It really doesn’t bother me; in fact, I enjoy it. I feel very safe here, since I’m locked into my cabina and locked into the compound. Plus I have two personal full-bred English bull dogs as my bodyguards. A mother and her son (dogs) sleep on my porch every night—unfortunately, they make a lot of noise thumping their tails and scratching themselves against the wide wood planks of the porch. Still, it’s comforting to know they’re there. I don’t pet them much because they have fleas and they’re rather dirty!
Stay tuned for more Costa Rican adventures—I’m supposed to go snorkeling on Saturday at Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island). Bill is also trying to get me a fishing charter with four others whenever he can arrange it.