Only in Pueblo Nuevo

Now that I'm back in San Jose, I've been able to add photos to some old blog entries, so check them out!
 
I’ve heard from numerous people about the “Only in Costa Rica” Facebook page, on which people can share stories or photos of uniquely tico events, like crazy motorcycle drivers and unfortunate misspellings on signs.  I thought I’d write my own list of unique experiences I had in Pueblo Nuevo, my field site.

 Only in Pueblo Nuevo…

…Have I spent a Saturday afternoon chatting with my extended host family, while making guava jam over a wood-fired stove.

…Have my host parents taken me on an early evening walk to the underwhelmingly-named “mirador” (lookout), which is a picnic shelter on top of a huge hill with a stunning view of Tortuguero National Park and the Caribbean Sea.  

At the Mirador with Yeimy and Anyell

…Have we stopped on the way back from our walk to pick a snack of sour guavas (eaten with salt) and admire a family of white-faced capuchin monkeys.

… Has my mid-morning snack been “agua pipa” (coconut water) chopped down from the tree with a machete and sipped from the shell, and the sweet/sour pulp sucked off of cacao seeds.

After you finish drinking the coconut water, you can cut it open to eat out the white "meat." This time I was at home so I ate it with a spoon, but out in the field I would use another little piece of the shell to scoop it out.

…Have I had a field of yucca in my backyard and guava, cacao and coconut trees in the front.

…Is nearly everyone in the town related to everyone else.

… Have I watched so many “telenovelas” (soap operas).

… Have I lost a $200 GPS device in the middle of the forest, searched for an hour without success and returned home in desperation, only to return with my host father who found it easily!

… Are motorcycles and bicycles the primary mode of transportation; I’ve often seen an entire family squeezed onto one vehicle.

My host parents Liliana and Marcos on their motorcycle at the Mirador

…Does my schoolwork consist of hiking around a cacao plantation (that more resembles a jungle than a farm) and digging in the dirt.

…Have I spent four hours (which was four hours less than the other workers) helping to scoop cacao seeds out of the pods by hand at the request of one particular cacao buyer.  The work that took forty people eight hours to complete by hand is normally done by just two people in the same amount of time using modern machinery.  Fifteen years ago, however, none of the machinery that is currently used existed, and all of the cacao processing was done by hand like this!

This was the pile of cacao pods that my group scooped out.  It probably took us about four hours to finish this pile.

…Is the sound of a rainstorm amplified many times by pounding off the metal roofs of the buildings.  With a really heavy downpour, it’s so loud that it’s difficult to hold a conversation or watch tv, so most people just end up taking a nap until it passes.

…Have I learned how to ride a bike while holding a shovel and burlap sack full of supplies (the trick is to stick the handle of the shovel underneath the straps of your backpack).

…Does a perfectly clear, sunny day or starry night by no means mean that you can leave the house without a raincoat or umbrella.

…Are the mosquitoes at least three times bigger than mosquitoes in the US; almost completely resistant to DEET as well as clothing; and inexplicably intelligent, able to sniff out gringa blood from miles away but leaving the ticos in peace.  I’m pretty sure some people here think I have varicela (chicken pox),  haha. 

…Are pet stores completely unnecessary.  No dogs or cats are spayed or neutered, so there are plenty of them to go around.  Pet parakeets are plucked off of the trees in the neighborhood.  Geovanny, a sloth researcher on the cacao farm, even has a pet toucan named Pascual!

Pascual the toucan.

…Are there more bars (1) than grocery stores (0).  Oh, wait, never mind… that’s Wisconsin too!  Actually, that’s a lie; there are several pulperías, which are like small convenience stores where you can find basic groceries… I just really wanted to make that joke.

Pueblo Nuevo: the bar is the blue building on the right.

I’m back in San José now, which is a big city and has many of the conveniences (and inconveniences) of the United States.  My time in Pueblo Nuevo was a chance to live a very different lifestyle, and while at times it was hard, I’m so glad I got to experience the tranquilo life in the campo.