Where I Live

I started out in the condo in Escazu, but when my roomate Joe D's wife came down to visit for the Holiday Party I had to move to the Trax "compound". It's two townhomes side-by-side (soon to be three) where all the Scottsdale employees can live in community. Unfortunately, I was the only person in the newly acquired second townhome, and besides lots of sawdust it only contained my bed and one working shower (no sinks). There were no mirrors either, so I got to comb my hair at the office. It was a long day.

On Sunday we had the party. In Scottsdale it takes envelopes with cash to get people on the dance floor, but down here that's no problem. They dance the night away. I had a great time. Wednesday put me back in the Escazu condo for the next few months, until we acquire a fourth townhome in the compound.

This morning I went for my second, long, Sunday morning Escazu walk. It's beautiful here. I can go right up the hillside among big homes, lush greenery, and look out over the city. After a long shower I walked down to Tre Fratelli, an Italian restaurant, for a breakfast of steak, bacon, eggs, cheese, and (of course) rice and beans. With a long nap I think I've finally recovered from the week that began with late-night dancing, included lots of hours at the office, and my first outdoor soccer game.

I should say more about the soccer game since it ended 15-1. We were very proud of that one goal. It was Trax vs. some other team. I never got the name. I can't see a thing without my glasses, and certainly not the other side of full-size soccer field. Occasionally I got to touch the ball. When that lucky occurance happened I'd boot it toward the other side. I obviously couldn't make out my teamates. Our team is a bunch of casual guys who just enjoy a game after work. They were practiced athletes who worked as a team. In the end the experience was a lot like being blindfolded then shoved and kicked again and again over an hour. Maybe we should practice before next time. Maybe we should be in shape.

Below are pictures from the Escazu condo, and the Trax office.

The X Continents

Hernan trapped me with a question at lunch today. He asked me how many continents there are. I assumed he was joking around and wanted to argue that "Central America" is a continent, so I gave him the strait answer of seven. This got a round of exclamations from the table as he explained to me that outside of the US they are taught only six. The continent we live on is America--it's not divided into North and South America. Additionally, I learned that Australia is not a continent but is a part of Oceania which includes New Zeland and South Pacific islands. It turns out that the number and division of continents is a contentious subject throughout the world (not too surprising) and among geographers and geologists, but nevertheless hearing that there is a different answer to something I took for granted from childhood through my late 20's is a very unnerving experience. I haven't experienced that feeling talking about politics or religion or other serious topics, because I expect profound differences. But the number of continents? Who would've thought?

JaJaJa

One of my favorite things about Spanish speakers (and I've found this to be true beyond just Costa Rica) is that they spell "Hahaha" "Jajaja". Charming.

Equipos Del Fútbol

Equipo Blanco

Equipo Negro

20-20

The Costa Rican 20 colones piece is the largest coin I've seen. Comparable in size to the US Silver Dollar, it's worth about 4 cents. That's way too much mass for the value. It is, however, a good "flipping" coin. Heads or tails?

I played my first Costa Rican futbol game last night. It was among coworkers, six-on-six. They didn't let me wear my glasses "for my own saftey". I began the game as the goalie for our team. We played on a cool little indoor field. As short as it was I could not see the ball on the other side. I wasn't able to tell that we scored the first goal until after my teamates had been jumping and cheering for a moment. They assured me that at least half the people out there had the same problem I did. Nonetheless, I don't think I'll play again until I get some contact lenses. It would help to be able to make eye contact since I don't speak the language, and the fury of the game blocks their English comprehension.

The Roads and the Rain

I've been in Costa Rica over a week now. The time goes fast. The people make it easy. Every developer here makes a point of shaking hands when they arrive in the morning and again when they leave. There's a level of personal contact that's encouraging. They've been quick to include me in activities including a Trax vs. Trax futbol game tomorrow night. We'll see if I can do USA proud (don't count on it). I look forward to getting to know all of them much better.

My drive to work is beautiful. The highway winds around steep hills and I can't soak in enough of the green. Speaking of soaking I didn't see the sun once during my first week, but on Saturday the clouds parted and it was bright most of the weekend. I spent Sunday driving a bunch of roads between my condo in Escazu and the office in Heredia, learning the routes and memorizing the landmarks. I love navigating by instinct and that's a requirement for getting around here. There isn't much in the way of signs, and just because you know the name of the highway doesn't mean you can count on where it will take you.

As much as I enjoyed my long Sunday drive the weekdays are more trying. It's not the roads that make driving in Costa Rica stressful. Well, the potholes do contribute and the steep gutters will leave you for a tow truck. Certainly, the uneven lane widths make things interesting, but it isn't the roads. It's also not the other drivers. At least this morning when I was driving down a one-way street the taxi driver who turned onto it the wrong way had the courtesy to turn on his hazards. Frankly, they don't cut me off, swerve, or honk nearly as much as I was led to believe and I might just choose them over the entitled drivers of Scottsdale.

If there's anything to fear on Costa Rican roads, it's the pedestrians. They walk on the highways. The average speed is roughly sixty and there are no shoulders to speak of. They sit on the concrete medians. The designers of the highways encourage this by placing bus stops on the highways themselves. The buses stop not just at the designated stops, but anywhere that two or more are gathered. You would think pedestrians would fare better off the highways, but on smaller roads the situation becomes much worse. There's more of them and they'll take over at any time. Must they pull their children out on the road in front of me? Don't they know I've been driving in Scottsdale for over five years? We drive fast, and pedestrians there live in mortal fear of a cell-phone-impaired Escalade plowing through at any time.

I've been working long hours. I get up early because the condo is next to a busy road and there's hardly anything in it to absorb sound. I leave late because the traffic precludes leaving at a reasonable time anyway. I look forward to what the next six months will hold. We're going to get a lot done, there's tons to see, and I'm just getting to know the people.

I appreciate all your prayers. There's a lot of stress in adapting to a new situation, and I want to be a good steward of this opportunity.

Outbound

Location: Costa Rica
Date: Monday November 14, 2005
Duration: 6 months

See ya!

Antibiotic Warfare

A coworker just stopped by my office and informed me that I have what he had. An early fever followed by six weeks of coughing. It turned into pneumonia for him. He had a three-day antibiotic then was later given a five-day one to kick it. He changed doctors over his frustration. Today a PA gave me a five-day, so hopefully I'll kill it outright.

Just one easy breath

I am sick of being sick. This is now day seven of a sore throat and a runny nose. Last week I had a fever too, but that broke in time for the weekend. I expected to start breathing right too, but the cold hangs on.

I probably didn't help myself by spending the weekend at camp with Element. We had our retreat and I loved every coughing, sneezing minute of it. In that setting you get the time to talk and hang out that you just can't find in town or on a Thursday night. On Saturday we played games including Steal the Bacon which involved four teams wrestling black innertubes to their side of the field. Casualties included multiple bruises and one girl with a dislocated shoulder. The final game was a mud filled volleyball court with wet tarps running down to it from a hillside. The objective was to dive down the slide and fly as far out into the mud as possible. The last guys to go benefited from watching the techniques of everyone else and from the mud being smoothed out. Chad flew all the way across the court and off the edge of the far side which was composed of sharp rocks. He may have a big gash in his side, but he won the game. A fair trade.

Hiatus

Well it's been quite a while since I posted. Life has been really crazy. I had to move on a couple of weeks notice. Our landlord gave us one month, but Lance and I were out of town on alternating weekends, so there really was only one week to move. I took a Tuesday off, found a house that day, and we moved that Saturday. That Sunday I spent sitting among unpacked boxes writing a short story for my fiction class. Unfortunately, I didn't finish. Work kept me busy until Wednesday when I flew back to Illinois for my five-year class reunion. Illinois is beautiful this time of year. The air was cool, the grass was a lush green, and the trees were just beginning to change colors. It was my first real vacation since before China, and I was finally able to let down. Nothing is more relaxing than having lunch with my family on the back porch and watching the wind sway the grass and leaves. It was great to spend time with my family. My dad and I hung out at my bother-in-law Tobie's bike shop in DeKalb, North Central Cyclery. I received some education about mountain bikes and purchased a Giant Rainier. My coworker Ali has already scheduled our first expedition for next Saturday, although, as I'm writing this I'm remembering that I have a retreat next weekend. Suck. That night Tobie was riding from the bike shop to my parent's house for dinner and collided with his good friend Luke coming from the opposite direction. That the two of them would run into each other in the countryside was such a bizarre scenario that my sister didn't believe Luke when he called her. The only injury was Tobie's dislocated clavicle, which was not as severe as we feared, but a huge inconvenience as he runs a bike shop and does book binding. The reason for my trip was Wheaton's Homecoming. I got to see some old friends, some newer friends, and make some more friends. I realized that my real family at Wheaton was the Cross Country team, and was thankful that I got to see a few of them, but wish I could've seen more. I went to the football game which I must admit was only third Wheaton game I've been to. We won in triple overtime which made for a good ride, but the best part is that I watched it with Ena who having grown up in Hong Kong and Canada had only seen a football game once before. I never realized how complicated and bizarre it is until seeing it through her eyes. The players constantly stop, they only get a certain number of turns, going out of bounds isn't always a bad thing, some kinds of contact are okay but others aren't, the variety and consequences of penalties are completely bewildering. Homecoming ended with a late night concert with classmate Jake Armerding. He and his father on violin, guitar, and mandolin were brilliant. It was a beautiful way to go out, although I was totally exhausted by the end. The only down side of the last month is that between unpacking and work I felt that I needed to drop my fiction class. I really enjoyed it, but simply didn't have the time. Maybe my life will calm down now. Last night we sent off our Costa Rican employees who have been training here for the last two months. We've been impressed with them (although I did have to fire one--an awful experience the Monday after I moved). My boss is suggesting that I may go down there soon. We'll see if that pans out. I'm sure I'm forgetting a million things, but so much has happened lately. I hope I've captured a sliver of it.