“Location, location, location...” I can't buy into any more. Not after watching Doky tackle some peanut butter. He's just a little thoroughbred cutie is what he is (it sounds so much better than stinky mutt). Anyway, Costa Rica or the United States...that shit is funny anywhere.
Updates on Doky will henceforth have nothing to do with the actual post, but he's pretty much like my child so I'll still talk about him a lot. I bought him a flea collar today and he's learning to walk on a leash. Next week I'll bathe him and take him to get vaccinated. All of this I feel mildly guilty about, only because...well...I was kind of enjoying him as this carefree little fur-bomb with poop stuck on his butt and a stupid/happy expression on his face. I dunno, but I imagine it's like putting your kid in pre-school. You know it's in the kid's best interest. But something irreversible happens that day and you wonder if “the system” is actually where you want them to be.
Soooo...it's nighttime and Doky's whining outside because he can't come in the house. But he has a beautiful little shack that my host sister built, and he needs to learn to sleep there. I suppose it's the right thing to do, but I wish he wasn't crying.
Apart from that, things are looking up from my last post. I realized that I can add to my list “shopping” as a de-stresser. For better or for worse, some new hair clips and a new nose ring can really do wonders for my emotional state. Oh and uh...yeah, ice cream. For sure. Also, I had three things happen today that were just so damn positive and left me feeling so happy that I can't help but think that things are once again looking up.
First, this afternoon at cafecito a woman came by who looked about as old as Moses (give or take about one Old Testament generation). Her image as being elderly to the max was enhanced by the dress she was wearing – a turquoise, button-up, matronly creation from the '80s, lace collar and all. I've seen her around and talked pleasantries with her once or twice at the bus stop, and neither time was I sure that she was actually going somewhere. Just hanging out at the bus stop. I wasn't really sure what to do with her now that she was in my home, but it turns out I didn't have to know. After my host mom offered her coffee and the three of us started chit-chatting over the steaming mugs (which...hey, that's hard to do when it's 95 degrees out), abuela started talking about the old days.
Normally, I'm not the one who loves hearing stories told of “way back when.” But abuela started the telling in such a sweet way. We're all used to hearing, “When I was your age...” or “Back in my day...” as the beginning to a story, you know? But she started with a simple statement that stood all by itself.
“Isn't it the way,” she said, turning to my host mom, “that now as we fall asleep at night, one remembers the times when they were young. The dances, our dancing...”
Who knows, maybe she wasn't even interested in telling a story. But abuela, frail and weathered but obviously still careful about her dress and appearance, had gone to some place in her mind that was irresistible. I definitely wanted to go, too. This lady and my host mom started telling stories and prompted by each other and by my questions, I got to hear some neat things to say the least. Reflecting on it now, I think one of the reasons why it was so enjoyable was because it made the town today that I know seem so...normal. Like, if the United States was my world before Peace Corps, then my town should be a different world to me. Only, they were painting a picture of a different world within that different world.
The second thing that happened was that my English class was a lot of fun. We had a review today because on Friday I'm giving a quiz (is this a direct result of me not having enough time to go see Harry Potter and do a class lesson? Yes. We may even watch part of a movie in English depending how tired I am). We played the game matamoscas, or “flyswatters”. I write a ton of words up on the board in English and in random order, all in a jumble. Then the students form two teams and each team has a rolled up section of newspaper. One person from each team steps up to the starting line and I say a word in Spanish. Then a contestant will try to translate it, run up to the board and hit the correct word in English before their competition beats them to it. It probably sounded like someone was getting murdered in the school because everyone was screaming and so into it. I have quite a variety of ages, too, but everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves save for one super competitive guy who thought he'd been cheated somehow. Whatever, 99% of the class had a blast and that made me enormously happy.
The third thing...okay, the baby that you all can see two blog posts down – she wins the award hands-down for happiest baby in the world. Genesis is the absolute incarnation of sunshine and yeah, I mean, she cries like any normal baby or gets fidgety. She also has a knack for trying to eat rocks when you're not paying attention although, to my credit, I'm batting a thousand for fishing them out. Put that on my resume. But all in all, right, Genesis is the type of baby that makes you think that procreation could be a noble pursuit and not merely the expression of deep-rooted, unconscious narcissism. The kind of child that people fight with one another to hold and generally never want to give back to mom. She's going to grow up and be the girl that everyone wants to be friends with because she's just got that attractive, magnet-like personality. I actually like being around Genesis and there are people who can vouch that this statement is a 180 from my previous opinions on teeny, function-less humans.
Today at dinner Genesis looked right at me and said without hesitation, “Tía Lily.”
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