Staying Alive

October 6, 2011

When I look back on the past few days, it feels like it has been uneventful yet I know it has been interesting at the same time. Time works in funny ways here. Sometimes it feels like it just won’t move forward and you’re stuck in one boring moment forever, yet in retrospect it can feel like months have passed in a matter of days. So as I write this, the logical part of my brain says that there are things to talk about because my memory tells me that I have done things. The rest of me says I’m tired and bored, thus I must not have anything worth while to talk about. I’m probably just being vaga or lazy. That is always a possibility. Whatever. I say, “¡Pura vida!”

On Saturday, I went with my friend Manuela (remember she’s our school cook and the president of our Asociación de Desarrollo) to a dance competition that her son and the Italian exchange student were participating in. The high school dance team/troop was one of seven that were participating in the contest. I’m not sure if it was regional or national. The ticket said “national” and because there were seven groups and the country has seven provinces, it would make sense to think it was national. However, I realize that at least a couple of the groups were from the same province, so maybe it was regional. Obviously, I don’t know what it was. As usual, I just ride the experiential wave.

So each group performed a number about ten minutes long, which also seemed to have some sort of theme or statement. Our kids dance seemed to be based in some sort of fantasy land. At least that is the way it was explained to me afterward. Light bulb on! Seriously, besides taking pictures of our group and trying to watch what was going on, I didn’t really have time to analyze why everyone was dressed so weird. I mean, there was no rhyme or reason. There were kids dressed up like mad scientists, girl scouts, there was a green duck, an oompa loompa. A crazy land of fantasy absolutely makes sense.

Now, when it comes to the rest of the groups, I’m really not sure what was going on with their performances. Well, I guess the younger kids group basically did a dance off between the sun and the moon. It was pretty cute and well choreographed for kids who looked to be around ten-years-old. I also liked how they highlighted a few curvier girls. They definitely had the moves for it. Bigger girls can work it too, and I’m glad they got to be front and center for part of the performance. Way to go kids! And that is basically where my level of understanding stops.

For the rest of the contest, I felt like I was in a really bizarre nightmare or some kind Modern-Surreal painting. So, the group that seemed to be the favorite for the audience did a dance in which old-world Japan was the theme. It was cool in theory, and the skill of the dancers was apparent. The props and the backdrop were impressive. Yet, I kind of hated it. For me, the whole thing seemed to be based around Japanese stereotypes, what with the geishas, the old grey-haired man with the beard, and the ninjas. Then you watch the performance and it begins with farmers who are minding their own business when these ninjas come out of nowhere and kill them all. Then these geishas come out and the pimp-lady (I’m not sure if this was played by a guy or a manly looking girl) comes and beats one of the geishas who has fallen in love with the karate kid guy. The old man then stirs up trouble, and then the karate kid starts to beat the geisha. Then the ninjas come back and kill everyone. Who knows, maybe they were going for a Romeo and Juliet type of tragedy. However, I think that the crazy ninja guys kind of just killed it. Literally and figuratively. Seriously, they had no reason to kill anybody! They just showed up randomly, did some crazy stunts and slaughtered the people. However, at least I could kind of grasp the story…I think.

I mean really, things got really weird. I mean, one group gets on stage and they look like a bunch of swamp monsters. You gotta think, what is going to happen now? Well, it starts off with some kind of weird interpretative massive birth. If you’ve ever watched “She’s All That,” and remember that weird interpretative dance at the beginning of the movie, it kind of resembled that. Then after these crazy beasts were born there was more interpretative dance, then they bust into some the Austin Powers group dance, and then everyone dies after more interpretative stuff.

I would have to say the weirdest dance involved a group in which all the guys were dressed as dead goth people, with the exception of one guy who was covered in lots of glitter and in a toga. The girls were dressed as iconic women: Frida Kahlo, Wonder Woman, the Statue of Liberty, Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and many others. I know, it already sounds weird. Then you watch the guys and the girls interact and you have no idea what’s going on. These guys who look like Edward Scissorhands and the Crow are seducing these icons. Then you see Frida Kahlo writhing and I’m not sure if she’s dying or not…until she gets up and back to normal. She lives! It was weird. I don’t know if they are trying to say that powerful women are killing the Goths or if dead men are going after the women of the world. I really would like a synopsis of how I was supposed to interpret that.

The rest of the groups were also very strange, but I have to hand it to the performers, they were pretty good for a bunch of students. Like a pretty good horrible dream. There was definitely some talented people in the mix, but I’d have to say…not sure I’d want to watch it all over again. If I had to watch it again, I’d definitely take more pictures. I didn’t end up taking pictures of the other groups, as it was so nutty I got distracted and forgot. I often asked myself, “Is this really happening?” Guess your imagination will have to do.

The next day, I went to visit my friend Maitreya’s site for a day. It was a good experience because not only is her site super different from mine, hers lies on the more urban side of the spectrum where mine is more towards the rural, but it was also good to spend time with a friend in a mellow and comfortable environment. The day consisted of a brief tour of her site, walking around in the rain, and making chicken adobo. Yup, I finally made a real meal here. Living with host-families, I never really have an opportunity to make food for myself and when we’re in San Jose, I generally limit myself to cooking simple things, aka top ramen, when I’m not going out for food. Since Maitreya’s host mom basically lives a shelter that she works at, she normally has the house to herself and so we decided to try our hand at chicken adobo. Simple and delicious. The end of my visit came a lot faster than I expected and I was back in site getting ready for the week ahead.

October 9, 2011

I meant to post this blog a few days ago, but got lazy that night and forgot. The next day I was pretty occupied with an allergic reaction, thus I am posting now. However I decided to add a little bit about my newest adventures with health in Costa Rica.

Firstly, I must say that coming from a race of people who live in a climate not so unlike that of Costa Rica, I came here thinking that I would enjoy the sunshine, no problem. Wrong! Again, silly girl…why do you go into a world you know nothing of with such absurd expectations? Sometimes I feel like this country is out to get me. When I’m not bombarded with mosquitoes, the humidity brings on the joys of skin fungus. When I’m in San Jose not dealing with either of those things, BAM! I get hit with a bacterial infection. I go back to site, recover, return to the battle of the mosquitoes and humidity and the night we decide to put my mosquito net back up (I don’t know why, but I wanted to test how I would fare without a mosquito net – not well) I wake up covered in hives.

I opened my eyes, and my leg was itchy. This is fairly normal. I am itchy every day. In fact, I look forward to the day that I don’t itch somewhere. However, as I subconsciously reach down to scratch, I realize that my leg is extremely bumpy, but also that I slept in my mosquito net, so I shouldn’t have any new bites. Simultaneously, my arms start to itch. Uh oh. I get out of bed and realize both arms and legs are covered in itchy bumps. So, I go into the family room where my host-mom asks me if I have any new bites and if the mosquito net worked. All I can do at that point is hold out my arms and go, “Unnggghhh.” Hahaha. Guess that noise is a sign of distress in both languages. Immediately, she knows I’m having an allergic reaction and tells me to go to San Jose. My mind finally catches up and realizes that she’s right. I rush to get my backpack ready, pack some clothes (thanks to the smart thinking of my host-mom), and barely catch the next bus out of my town to Orotina. From there, I barely make the bus to San Jose. In Orotina, I run into the Italian exchange student, Luca, who was also going to San Jose for some med issues. It turns out he had a few weird red bumps on his arm and legs that were getting worse. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to scare him, but they resembled the bot flies. If you don’t know what that is, youtube “Bot fly.” It’s not something you want to experience. Don’t worry, it turned out not to be a bot fly.

I make it to the Peace Corps Office and immediately walk into the Medical Office. One of the officers happened to be standing at the door and as she’s saying hello, all I can do is hold out my arms (which have gotten worse at this point) and again I let out a pathetic, “Ungggghhh.” We then talk about what I could have possibly consumed to cause such a reaction. After listing off all the things I had eaten the previous day, it was deemed very mysterious and I was led to the consult room. After taking some pictures of multiple body parts and being assured that this was a very aggressive yet non-life threatening allergic reaction. We come to the conclusion that we can’t figure out what I’m allergic to but can only be vigilant about everything I come into contact with in the event I have another reaction. I also get a shot in the ass, given a bunch of skin products and am told to stay in San Jose overnight as I the shot was very sedating and she didn’t think that I would make it back to site conscious. Hahaha.

So, I make it to the hostel that I was staying at and rest a bit before taking that shower I was directed to take. Well, as I am about to jump in, I catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror. Wow, I know people have spoken about times in their lives when they look in the mirror and find the reflection scary. I too have done this. However, I must make it clear that at that moment I actually flinched at the site of my own face. It was covered in hives. It is almost comparable to that scene in Hitch, where Will Smith also experiences an allergic reaction and catches a glimpse of his own face unaware he looks like a blowfish. Well, I didn’t look like a blowfish, but I looked like I had developed some form of pox with in a couple of hours.

At this point, I figure the shot isn’t working and I call the Med Office and they tell me to go to the hospital. There I saw a dermatologist who put me on a plethora of sedative medications and tells me to go to the emergency room for an IV shot. While I waited for my medication at the pharmacy, I run into my mentor (who know works in the office) and my boss. While it was good seeing them, I wish it was under better circumstances. They ask how I am feeling and the first thing I say is, “I lost my phone.” Oh yeah, somewhere in the hospital while I was walking around in a daze, my phone must have fallen out of my pocket never to be found again.

So, I then walk into the emergency room where they have me sit down in a section with some lazy boys with other patients getting intravenous shots or drips. Behind a divider in front of me, I can hear a little girl crying as a team of nurses, a doctor and a mother are trying to get a kid through an IV drip. All I can hear is her sobbing and counting. I think the doctor told her to count to distract her. She’s so focused on counting that when the doctor asks her if she hurts, she just cries harder and keeps on counting. Not the kind of thing you want to witness right before someone is about to stick a needle in one of your own veins. Well, I make it through and leave the hospital in an even bigger daze and go back to my hotel. After resting some more, I jump on facebook to alert my fellow PCV’s that my phone was lost. At this point, I realize that a couple of my peers, Stephanie and Lily are also in town so I decide to meet up with them for dinner. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. It was nice to not have to spend the night alone.

When I got back to the hotel, as I am explaining what had happened to my mom and sister online, this girl somehow zooms in on me and asks if she can use my computer because the other computers at the hostel are not letting her get on facebook. Apparently her family was coming in the next day and had never flown before. I felt bad and let her have her “minute” which turned into an hour. I’m not sure why it was so difficult for her to explain how to get through the whole flying process, but during this time I discovered that even though she had lived her entire life in Massachusetts, she had no idea what Peace Corps was and what we did. She was a sweet girl, but really? Ugh, I really need to stop interacting with gringos on vacation, or even expatriates for that matter. They all end up being quite irritating. Not to mention the fact that my mother was worried and freaking out about my health while this girl is trying to explain how to get through an airport terminal. Really, I feel like all of this should have been sorted out much sooner than 2 hours before needing to leave for the airport. Oh well. ‘Cest la vie. I managed to get back control of my computer and assure my family that I was OK and not dying.

The next day, I went back to the hospital for a follow-up where it was determined that I would need a few more follow-ups to get weaned off my medication. Whatever, better safe than sorry. I then had lunch with Morgan, my mentor, and while we were eating at Subway, she realized that she had an old Nokia that she wasn’t using. Yay! Free phone. We went back to her place so that I could grab it before going back to site. Best mentor ever!

So, now I’m back at site trying to avoid all the people who are angry with me for moving out of my old house or are angry at me for not moving in with their families. I’m also avoiding the people who are just nosey and want to know about the drama in my life. Sigh, the pains of being famous. Just kidding.

Also, I guess that crazy rooster that has no idea what time of day it is won’t be bothering us any longer. I just had him for dinner. Interestingly enough, rooster meat is a lot tougher than chicken, yet somehow tastier.

Tune in next time for another good story.