Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Week 3 in Costa Rica:I need somebody to explain to me the difference between a developing & industrialized nation. Ellie & I were talking about the different ways the world's countries get described: industrialized, developing, 1st, 2nd, 3rd & World, core, periphery, & semi-periphery & I think my understanding of these divisions has been skewed by television always showing pictures of starving children in war zones when they use the words "Third World" or "developing nation."
Whatever you call it Costa Rica is one of these lesser nations, & the whole country reminds me of a poor county in Florida.
Everything available elsewhere in the world is available, but in shorter supply & smaller variety. & some things are incredibly plentiful here (example we've been drinking fresh squeezed fruit juice daily since we got here).
So where's the line? If anybody knows please get back to me...
Anyway, the family that the school has placed Ellie & I with are great people,
incredibly nice & very hospitable. I even like their dog, which wouldn't be saying much except after 2 bad dog experiences since arriving I'm even less of a dog person than I already was.
Anyway, I'm learning a lot in school, but haven't got the hang of speaking in the future or past tenses & vocabulary is still a problem for me, but I've got time to work on it.
So I'm really digging Costa Rica, warm weather, lots of friendly people, an affordable cost of living, beautiful countryside everywhere you look (clouds drift across the tops of the mountains surrounding the central valley daily), & so much wildlife to see. Since arriving here I've seen butterflies of various shapes, sizes & types daily, crabs, humming birds, monkeys, snakes, vultures, geckos, lizards, frogs, a bat, & some kind of BIG cat that climbed the wall of our house's courtyard (I'm calling it a puma till somebody can tell me it was something different).
UPDATE: Ellie checked her book, it WAS a PUMA!
Ellie & I have gone away every weekend we've been here (which is the main reason I've seen so many animals, the puma & bat were flukes for the city, I think), so far we've visited an active volcano & thermal spring, rode zip-lines through the forest canopy, visited the black & golden sand beaches on the Caribbean coast, & watched a couple movies in spanish (interesting side-note: nothing is censored on Costa Rican TV actually making some bad TV interesting to watch. For example: E!'s "Wild On" is actually an interesting program when there's nudity. Conversely I feel the need to apologize for the torrent of bad & suspect Television programming our country exports here. I watched the Samuel Jackson version of "Shaft" last night, I don't mind reading subtitles for a good movie, but for movies that aren't it just seems like too much work.). This weekend Ellie & I are thinking of going to Nicaragua or the Pacific coast, but I'm not sure what we're going to do @ this point, we'll see...
Talk to you all later,
Kepfram
P.S. I'm including some various pictures from our weekend trips. The ones with water are from our weekend in Cahuita, the ones without are from our weekend in Guanacaste visiting the Arenal volcano & Monte Verde.
P.P.S No matter what our teachers may have told us in school the seasons are not the same for the entire northern hemisphere. Costa Rica is between 8 & 11 degrees north of the equator, but "winter" here goes from May to November with "summer" filling December through April. There is no fall or spring. & it turns out that "summer" & "winter" are ephemysms for dry season & rainy season. Rainy season means it rains everyday in the after noon for @ least an hour. I've heard it can be bad, but haven't seen it yet. I don't mind the afternoon showers, they're mild.
