I Want to See the Condors!!!

May 12th, 2008

Good God I'm tired. I have been every night. But then again, being out of the house for 18 hours of the day will do that to a guy. Even this one. But at least I've settled into this routine. THe last one for that matter, until i come home to the ominous reverse culture shock, whatever that means. I'm coming home soon, but let me get a few more words in before that, ok?

For as busy as I have been, My time here has been effectively confined to Quepos, for as busy as I've been. You will usually see me on the bus running between the town and Manuel Antonio beach, when the driver shows occasional pity on the gringo. Last week I pushed Lenay and I into the final course at D'Amore school. What this means is that, while I am supposed to be taking lessons from my Colombian professor, Victor, we usually finish the day arguing over politics or organized labor. However, I have learned a few things about Colombia, the first stop on my fabled return to South America in the near future. He has promised to take Lenay and I to see the andean condor, with it's massive three meter wingspan. It is possible to simply HEAR the wings of these gargantuans as the land at their perch above three thousand meters. I'm doing it.

We've been getting involved in studying a sort of 'pan-american identity,' a twenty-first century version of Che Guevara's political dream of the fifties. While opposed to Che's violent methods, I have absolutely become thoroughly absorbed in the idea, reinforced by the peoples that I have come to respect and admire. South America was definitely an adventure for me, and opened me up to the world, with its beautiful and its tragic aspects. I feel at this point that dream is impossible, but a little cultural exchange would be a start, eh?

Lenay and I spend our afternoons in class, which means we arrive when the thirty odd Texan classmates of mine are ending their school day. They are all here to learn spanish for a material and pragmatic reason, which would be a fifteen percent salary increase to all bilingual employees, at many Texan companies. They have been tossing some Mexican slang my way, but unfortunately, it's just not my specialty. Now toss out some quichua...

I haven't known many before Costa Rica (odd place to meet Texans), but the students from Texas State have a penchant for living hard and partying hard. I find myself being dragged out to the bar of the day, be it Byblos, Sargento Garcia, or Barba Roja. The prices are equal to American bars, but thats why they sell cacique in the bodegas, I guess. I'm running on little sleep, but at least it's a hell of a time.