Fifteen days

From July 4-15, it was vacay time for TEFL volunteers in Costa Rica. Well, not totally, I could have been doing any sort of thing during vacation-but my two ideas-English brush-up course for older students or English conversation lunches, were both vetoed by teachers/students with whom I spoke. Not that they weren't interested-don't get that impression, just that they were honest and told me no one would come. Because, from July 4-15, it was mid-school year vacation, or quince días (fifteen days) as it's known around here. It's not summer vacation, or winter vacation-we're right in the middle of the rainy season, and it's not for any real holiday-it's just fifteen days off, because, well a little break in the middle of the year isn't a bad idea. Most people I talked to were going to their grandparent's house/farm, or the farm of some other relative. 

Now, if this doesn't sound very much like Costa Rica, then you're the reader I'm thinking of. Because, something I have come to realize more and more, is how much  a big part of Costa Rica (geographically and culturally) isn't what a travel brochure or the first 12 pages of Google images displays. I will not even begin to suggest that tourism isn't the most important sector in the Costa Rican economy: it is. Costa Rican's workforce is divided as follows: 64% in services, 22% in industry, and 14% in agriculture. It's even more skewed if it's measured by economic impact. Yet, especially in Sarapiqui, the region where I live, and many of the places where Peace Corps workers live here, agriculture plays a big role in the culture and a substantial one in the economy. Bananas, pineapples, coffee, timber, beef, dairy, and melons are some of the most important products in the agriculture sector (in roughly that order). Bananas, pineapples, beef, and timber (as well as ornamental plants) are the big products in my region. 

In between all of Costa Rica's famous beaches, biologically rich rain forests, and stunning waterfalls are a lot of farms. Lots of coffe, banana, and pineapple plantations, yes, but also lots of farms. Lots of cows. Costa Ricans are pretty big cheese fans (albeit of only one type), take in plenty of sour cream, and throw a couple spoonfuls of milk into each of the four cups of coffee they drink every day. (Everybody drinks coffee, from about age five up.) As a result, dairy farms are an almost ubiquitous site here. On my three minute bike ride into the center of town, I generally see as many cows as I do people until I cross the bridge at the edge of town. I doubt this is true for most tourists visiting, and that's why I wanted to highlight it-because it's very true for the 1/3 of Costa Rica who doesn't live in the Gran Área Metropolitana (San José and surrounding areas).

A little research shows that about 27% of Costa Rica's land is used for beef or dairy production, with 1.3 million cows and bulls making my previous estimate about right-as there are less than 2 million Costa Ricans living outside the San José metro area. My quick glance also showed that cattle raising and dairy farming are declining rapidly in this country-there are a million less cattle here now than there were twenty years ago. Which, even better explains the cultural part of it to me. Many kids I talked to went to their grandparents' farm-or maybe the farm of the one uncle who is still raising cattle. Farming has become less and less important as plantation agriculture becomes more important and as technology and education open up other, more lucrative industries. Yet, Costa Ricans still hold the family farm, the early morning wake-up to milk the cows, dear to their hearts. Maybe this isn't so true in and around San José-but in the rest of the country-even close to the beach, it's still very important. 

This really sunk into me during the vacation because I spent a long weekend near Puerto Soley, Guanacaste. Up in the most northwestern part of the country, near La Cruz, Puerto Soley is the penultimate town before the Pacific Ocean and Nicaraguan border. I was invited to and stayed at the family farm of Hector, the principal I work with at the night school. It was a delightful and relaxing few days. I read on my Kindle on a rocker on the front porch, watched the sheep, pigs, chickens, and cows do their thing, walked down to the beach and swam, and watched soccer. With Hector or his siblings doing all the cooking and me only occasionally able to help clean up (they usually blocked or refused my help), there was plenty of time to do all of this and still be very, very relaxed. But, being on the farm (primarily dairy-the sheep, pigs, and chicken are pretty much just fed and killed when necessary) reminded me how much many Costa Ricans enjoy the countryside. In fact, a fair amount of wealthier Costa Ricans who live in San José maintain country houses to remind themselves of the bucolic nature of their family's history. I'll throw some pictures of the various beaches I visited up soon, but for now, I'd hope that everyone is aware that, in between the beaches and down the hill from the rain forests, Costa Rica has lots of farms-plenty of plantations too-but lots of cows and bulls out there and over here, munching on the green green grass and slowly but surely making all that cheese for all those empanadas.
*(Oddly, I don't think I took any pictures of the cow's at Hector's family's farm-probably because they're so common for me...oops...never claimed to be a professional). 

On punctuality

Anyone that’s spent much time with me, or even spent much time with my parents knows that one of my greatest faults is punctuality. When I was growing up, my parents were known to occasionally quip, “Where we will spend eternity…waiting for Kenny.” I wish I could say that I outgrew it. I didn’t. I inherited, from my father, a tendency to always try to do one more thing, read one more paragraph, have one more beer, before I head off to do what I need to do. Being late is super disrespectful to other people, and that was not how I was brought up, but somehow it happened. Luckily for me, my parents did a much better job with my younger brother, and when we were working and hanging out last summer, he inspired me to try to get better. So, starting my new job with the Peace Corps, I tried to simultaneously start a new habit, being on time. I even, for the first time since fifth grade, bought a watch and am wearing it!

Well, apparently the Peace Corps placement office wasn’t really keen on helping me achieve my new personal goal. They sent me to Costa Rica. One day, concurrently exasperated and amused, I sent a text to Barton R., a fellow TEFL volunteer. I think my text fairly succinctly explained the state of affairs in Costa Rica, with regards to punctuality that is. “I love how in Costa Rica I can be ten minutes late to class and still be 15 minutes early,” I texted. He said he showed it to his host mom and she was rolling with laughter. And that’s one of the really cool things about Costa Ricans, they are quite self-aware of their problems with keeping a schedule, and they seldom get defensive, they just kind of laugh it off. They often joke around about ‘la hora tica’ (Costa Rican Time) which I’d translate for meaning as ‘things start whenever we get around to them.’ And nobody seems to get very upset; nobody seems to really mind. Amongst themselves, Costa Ricans don’t have high (or any) expectations for punctuality, which helps avoid big disappointments or frustration. Note-things start late here-they don’t end late. At least in my corner of the country-shops close earlier than posted, classes dismiss early,

Which is all fine and dandy, except it’s making it really hard for me to achieve my goal, oh, and, here’s the big whammy, the relaxed schedule is even too much for me. Yes, even with years and years of showing up late-the unpunctuality here is too unpunctual for me, too late. I’m still an American, you know. Here’s the second exception, I’m getting paid to share American culture, as well as learn about and share Costa Rican culture with Americans. Hence a huge amount of tension-sharing a very punctual, schedule oriented culture and adapting to a culture where being late is as ingrained as rice, beans, and empanadas.

Water fountains, single file lines, driving in one lane at a time, planning/scheduling/giving advance notice, using turn signals, sitcoms, and Ke$ha are some of the things I love about America, and some of the most important things I would like to share with Costa Ricans (and much of the world). Yes, the perennial late guy, I mentioned planning and scheduling. I’m all about adventures and spur of the moment decisions, but in general, I really like our system of setting an appointment in advance, reminding someone about it, and then carrying through (at the arranged time). Multiple times here, I have texted students or teachers, asking if they’d decided not to come. No, they reply, they haven’t canceled, they’re on their way-just 15, 25, 35 minutes late. Every time I think I’ve set a new limit for how late someone can show up it gets shattered. Overachievers at being late, these Ticos.

So, as my previous text shows, the whole situation is mostly amusing. As I recently explained to my mom, I just always remember to bring my Kindle or iPod, that way waiting becomes productive learning/entertainment time for me. I’m very aware that the Costa Ricans are rubbing off on me, and I’m constantly showing up late. But, whenever I have the opportunity and am going to be meeting up with another volunteer in the area, I always make a point of saying I’ve got to go, got to be on time because I’m meeting up with an American. But man, this culture is such an enabler to showing up late that I’ve even started showing up late when I’m getting together with compatriots. There are millions of people with bigger problems, bigger disappointments, and probably a few Americans or Northern Europeans that would love the little punctuality vacation that living in Costa Rica provides. Costa Ricans tend to pride themselves on their pacific, relaxed attitude towards enjoying life. Which tends to be true, they just aren’t in any hurry getting to it. Or school, or work, or back from lunch, or paving highways, or finishing dams, or …