Unsolved Mysteries - Un
Noche Sin Agua
Mere moments (or a couple of
hours, but that’s less interesting) after posting my cheery, uplifting first
blog entry I came home to no water. I attempted to pay my bill for the second
time, consulted with the heroes next door (who still had water), and with their
assistance checked my online bill status. Alas, no explanation. The next day I
went to the municipalidad to get to the root of the problem but the very
helpful city worker declared the situation “Muy extraño!!!”. Indeed. He
instructed me to go directly home and wait for another city worker who, much to
my surprise given the usual gringo complaints regarding CR service, did
arrive fairly promptly. He would not enter the property but showed me from the
city side everything was as it should be. I proceeded to ask about the “clave”
the first city worker had referenced. From outside the fence, with a language
barrier, he directed me to where to find this clave (valve as it turned out).
The valve outside my apartment was closed, I opened it, the worker gave me a
high-five, and the drought was brought to an end. Unfortunately, the mystery
was not.
Penchant Por Palabras
I was
filling out a form for work that asked what church I was “assisting”. It seems
this is similar to how we would ask what church you are attending, but I like
this better. Whatever church we are attending we should be assisting!
This
reminded me of a couple of other words/phrases I enjoy in the Spanish language.
The first: here in Costa Rica (perhaps in all Spanish speaking places - I forget my non-Tico Spanish class…)
they do not ask “how old are you?”; instead, they ask “how many years do you
have?”. I feel this sounds more like an accomplishment as opposed to an assault
of years. The second: “esperar”. I was reading a
familiar verse, I forget which, in my Spanish Bible and where in English it says “wait” it used
what I knew as the Spanish word for “to hope”. Up until then I didn’t know it
was the same word. Que rico! I mean I dunno if that phrase applies to non-food
items but it should apply to this. Hoping. Waiting. So often intertwined.
Otra Cosas
- I met a girl at the bank who spent four months in Sheridan, TX. Talk about extraño! First tico/a I’ve met who has traveled to Texas. New Jersey, Florida, and LA seem to be the destinations of choice. Bright girl, watch out for her.
- I haven’t mentioned work much. The little people don’t arrive until February 5th so it’s mostly been trainings and classroom preparations, and only for half days. It’s been nice as I’ve had more time than expected to get settled. On Friday we had VBS, hehe. We had our regular morning devotional followed by some games, worship, a talk/lesson, craft time, and a snack! But the snack included coffee which is way better than real VBS. We are also still getting breakfast every day which I am going to miss. #spoiled
Things I miss (other
than my cats, I still must say):
- My luscious locks. This hair, y’all. Hot. Mess. Ladies, you know that sort of sticky maybe I didn’t get all the product washed out feeling? No….? Anyway, pretty much where I’m at. E’erday. I’ve experienced it before but only as a short timer so now that I am living here longer term I may need to find a solution, beyond the permanent poofy pony tail. A coworker assures me that this, too, shall pass. May it be so.
Until next time...
