Yes, this is an odd topic…we know. But, sometimes it is the little things you notice the most. We never thought about sidewalks until we got here. Trust us on this one and take 4 minute and 30 second out of your life to watch this video and you will see that there is a major cultural difference between the sidewalks in your home and the sidewalks in Costa Rica.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Ox Eyes
Me with Alex - our friendly neighborhood herbal man
Have an ailment? Here is the "cure"
Remedio (remedy) for lack of breast milk
The "ox eyes" and remedy book
This week we are studying about medical terminology. This also includes homeopathic medicine. Our language instructor gave us an assignment to interview two people about home remedies, if they believe in them, and if they use them. I thought the best way to accomplish this assignment was to go downtown to the Central Mercado (Central Market). This is a HUGE in-door market place. It is an awesome place! I could spend hours and hours there, and for those of you who know me really well know that I HATE to shop - and to say that I would spend hours there is saying something! So...two friends of mine from school and myself, went around to a few of the local remedy stores. We asked them our questions, found out about all sorts of home remedies, and even bought a few from each vendor. The one I found MOST interesting was the cure for hemorrhoids. Apparently, if you put these "ojos de buey" (ox eyes) in your back pocket every day, you won't get hemorrhoids. No, they really aren't ox eyes, they are "sea beans" (sea-beans come from trees and vines that grow along tropical shores and rain forests all over the world. The seeds or fruits fall from their parent plant into waterways, such as the Amazon River, then drift through inlets to reach the ocean. They travel with ocean currents until they wash up on a beach somewhere, perhaps thousands of miles from their origin. Sea-beans are quite hard and buoyant, which helps them survive their long-distance voyage.). I can also tell you to cure "fungus" on your body - you soak romero (rosemary), madero negro (don't ask - don't know), and hombre grande (some sort of wood) in water, then you rub it on the area with fungus...hmmm...I'll post more pictures of the market on Saturday - Madison really wants to go "shopping" and spend lots of time there....so I guess I'll get my hours of fun :-)
Have an ailment? Here is the "cure"
Remedio (remedy) for lack of breast milk
The "ox eyes" and remedy book
This week we are studying about medical terminology. This also includes homeopathic medicine. Our language instructor gave us an assignment to interview two people about home remedies, if they believe in them, and if they use them. I thought the best way to accomplish this assignment was to go downtown to the Central Mercado (Central Market). This is a HUGE in-door market place. It is an awesome place! I could spend hours and hours there, and for those of you who know me really well know that I HATE to shop - and to say that I would spend hours there is saying something! So...two friends of mine from school and myself, went around to a few of the local remedy stores. We asked them our questions, found out about all sorts of home remedies, and even bought a few from each vendor. The one I found MOST interesting was the cure for hemorrhoids. Apparently, if you put these "ojos de buey" (ox eyes) in your back pocket every day, you won't get hemorrhoids. No, they really aren't ox eyes, they are "sea beans" (sea-beans come from trees and vines that grow along tropical shores and rain forests all over the world. The seeds or fruits fall from their parent plant into waterways, such as the Amazon River, then drift through inlets to reach the ocean. They travel with ocean currents until they wash up on a beach somewhere, perhaps thousands of miles from their origin. Sea-beans are quite hard and buoyant, which helps them survive their long-distance voyage.). I can also tell you to cure "fungus" on your body - you soak romero (rosemary), madero negro (don't ask - don't know), and hombre grande (some sort of wood) in water, then you rub it on the area with fungus...hmmm...I'll post more pictures of the market on Saturday - Madison really wants to go "shopping" and spend lots of time there....so I guess I'll get my hours of fun :-)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Back Porch BBQ
Where there's a will there's a way. You've heard that more times than I have I'm sure. Well...the weather here is so beautiful, it has that BBQ feel written all over it! But what is a missionary to do when you don't have one? Can't buy one because you can't take it with you, and your choices are few?! Well...I happened to be in one of our local grocery stores, when my eyes caught this "table top BBQ" for $5.00! Think hibachi grill, but really cheap, with coals that made it even more interesting. The coals that were affordable were "natural coals" - now remember back when after your camp fire was burned up - all the embers in the bottom of the campfire - think those all nicely packaged into a bag and sold for $1.50. Sounds like a BBQ to me! So - we managed to (after an hour and a half) grill up some fish for dinner! It was really good! Don't know that this will be a frequent event, but good to know that it's available if we want/need it :-) It's just a shame that this country doesn't have ANY good red meat ! :-(
Saturday, January 26, 2008
We climbed a mountain today
Here is a 3 minute 30 second video of our hike up the mountain:
Our starting elevation (4th line down)
Our elevation at the top of the mountain! (4th line down)
The cross at the top of Cerro San Miguel (St. Michael hill). La Cruz de Alajuelita overlooks Alajuelita valley.
Today our family and 9 other people from our school, and our friends Antonio and Lapiz all climbed up this huge, very trying, very tiring, huge mountain. The cross on the top of this mountain can be seen from all over the valley of San Jose -it's that high up - 6,722 feet to be exact! The ascent took us about 2 hours, and once at the top we took this "victory" picture, and walked a short way to a grassy area for a much needed, well deserved lunch! We stayed at the top of the hill for about an hour, enjoying the accomplishment, each others company, and the sheer beauty of God's creation! Check out the video above for more pictures. All in all we ascended 2,856 feet during our trip. Most everyone took a tumble at one time or another. Some of the paths we climbed up were over 45 degree angle tiny, rocky paths! No paved roads around here. We were all trying to figure out how they got the material for the cross. There are three crosses in all, more elaborate the higher you go. Incredible trip! One we have wanted to make since we have been here. We are hoping for at least one more chance to climb up, sometime before we leave Costa Rica.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
How does that translate?
So, we all know that some things just DON'T translate (see lettuce blog below) - here is another for everyone to enjoy.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which can be written a number of ways, is a children's counting rhyme, used to select "it" for games and similar purposes. The rhyme has been around in various forms since the 1850s or earlier, and is common today in many countries. Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to ascertain its exact origin. (from Wikepedia)
Examples:
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a baby by the toe
If it squeals let it go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
British version:
Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,
Put the baby on the po,
When he's done
Wipe his bum
Shove the paper up the lum
American version:
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
Well...here is Costa Rica's version (maybe all of Latin America?! - anyone who knows feel free to let me know!)
De Tín Marín
de dos pingüé
Cúcara Mácara
Títere fue
Not much translates - first line - only word that really translates is "of"
The second line, "of two rich" - huh?!
Third line - nothing
Fourth line - "puppet was"
Basically, our teacher says it really is a nonsensical rhyme to pick "it" and nothing more. Hope you enjoyed your lesson :-)
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which can be written a number of ways, is a children's counting rhyme, used to select "it" for games and similar purposes. The rhyme has been around in various forms since the 1850s or earlier, and is common today in many countries. Since many similar counting rhymes existed earlier, it is difficult to ascertain its exact origin. (from Wikepedia)
Examples:
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a baby by the toe
If it squeals let it go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
British version:
Eeny, meeny, miney, mo,
Put the baby on the po,
When he's done
Wipe his bum
Shove the paper up the lum
American version:
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
Well...here is Costa Rica's version (maybe all of Latin America?! - anyone who knows feel free to let me know!)
De Tín Marín
de dos pingüé
Cúcara Mácara
Títere fue
Not much translates - first line - only word that really translates is "of"
The second line, "of two rich" - huh?!
Third line - nothing
Fourth line - "puppet was"
Basically, our teacher says it really is a nonsensical rhyme to pick "it" and nothing more. Hope you enjoyed your lesson :-)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Honduras school search
So imagine, if you will, you live in a foreign country, and are trying to decide where your child will go to school in a DIFFERENT foreign country, and the only resource you really have is the Internet. Now suppose, that the country you are looking into is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, and no one has a web site. Sigh...
So the search has begun. We are only 5 months away from being in Honduras, and we need to start looking into and applying for a school for Madison to attend, and you guessed it - of the 6 bilingual schools, only ONE has a web site. And, of course, the one that has the web site is so expensive, it is more expensive then it would be if we sent her to a private school in the states. Go figure. So - I've been able to contact a few people who used to live in Honduras and had children go to school there to try and narrow things down. It's been daunting! This is a difficult prospect. Mike is going to try and get a trip to Honduras in April after our trimester ends to secure housing. I'm hoping to have a decision about Madison's schooling by then so he can also go and register her for classes. Please pray for that to happen!
So the search has begun. We are only 5 months away from being in Honduras, and we need to start looking into and applying for a school for Madison to attend, and you guessed it - of the 6 bilingual schools, only ONE has a web site. And, of course, the one that has the web site is so expensive, it is more expensive then it would be if we sent her to a private school in the states. Go figure. So - I've been able to contact a few people who used to live in Honduras and had children go to school there to try and narrow things down. It's been daunting! This is a difficult prospect. Mike is going to try and get a trip to Honduras in April after our trimester ends to secure housing. I'm hoping to have a decision about Madison's schooling by then so he can also go and register her for classes. Please pray for that to happen!
Monday, January 21, 2008
You are as fresh as lettuce
lettuce = me?!
I have been called many things, but this one is a new one! This morning my teacher told me, "¡Su es una lechuga!" (you are a lettuce). HUH?! I said! Apparently when you have newly washed hair, you look as "fresh as a head of lettuce" - and they just shorten it to you are a lettuce. Still trying to roll that one around in my mind - but it's a compliment, and I'll take it for what it is :-)Tomorrow I guess I'll be a lechuga again! :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)