Back to Reality

Wow.

That's all I can say. Wow.

They warned us about "reverse culture shock". They even warned us that our newfound "truths" may scare our parents silly.

They forgot to mention, that my newfound "truths" would scare me silly.

What do I believe now? I'm still trying to figure it out. I have new views and old views on the poor, a blanket statement about economy, and I have inadvertently become very political. The thing is, I think I had many of the same views before; everything now is just an extension, or a detailed concentration of previous view holdings. Before, I was loathe to pick fights on everything I believed; now, I still don't like it, but I have a different view of silence that I didn't before. I'm not going to be dumb and pick fights with people on un-answerable topics, like politics, religion, and philosophy of life. I'm just not going to let others assume they can win me over. It really irks me when a person will throw out their viewpoint and then expect me to help them defend it solely because I may (or may not) support that view.

I'm a little hesitant about posting some of my beliefs here for two reasons: 1. because they are written, they can be taken out of context and used against me in ways I never meant them to be used (yeah, that hasn't happened before...). 2. This is the internet. I can only imagine what a future boss will think when he looks up my name and finds this blog. Also, no one asked. Even though this is my blog, I would rather write about readable things. Not topics that will cause a person to give an exasperated sigh before hitting the scroll button until the topic is finished.

Anyway, I digress: Now that I'm "home", I don't know how I fit in. My family is overjoyed to have me (they tell me so), but I don't feel like I belong completely. Remember in a previous post, I mentioned how I left a good half of me in Costa Rica? I feel that way especially now, now that I can no longer talk to my friends there face to face. I also happened to return as the rat race was starting the next heat--what am I going to do this summer?? Now I have to make plans to take classes, intern, get a job...the list goes on.

By the way, I hate taxes. They really ruin my happiness and sunshine.

I'll probably keep using this outlet to "process" as it was called by LASP.

Sigh.

I hate "To Do" lists, too.

Have a wonderful day! To all my English-speaking Tico friends, ¡Que Dios les bendiga!

-itos

The following posts will be very short, more of a collection of random things that I don't feel like writing a page about:

GABRIEL'S OBOE:
It's an orchestral/choral piece of music with oboe as the solo instrument. Here in Costa Rica, I hear it on the television along with the announcement of someone's death.

LANDMARKS:
They're everywhere. On top of that, so few of the streets have actual names that direction to any location includes more things to look for than street signs. For instance: I know I am about 5 minutes from the house when the bus turns the corner and there's a big Shell station. I have no clue what street that is. When I get off the bus on that road, I continue until I see the purple wall, then turn right, and pass two panaderías or bread bakeries, before coming to my street.

CULTURE SHOCK:
Oddly enough, I think I've already endured it. According to Don Antonio (one of my "culture" profs), culture shock has 5 stages that can be encountered during or even before entering the new culture. They are: the Honeymoon stage, where the new is exciting; the valley "Culture Shock", where new is apprehensive; the Surface Adjustment stage, where the person begins to figure things out; the Unresolved Question stage, where personal cultural values are questioned; and the Feel at Home stage, where one accepts the new culture. Of course, these are followed eventually by the Departure Concerns stage before the person leaves. To anyone who has read my blog through, I had already been through the first four even before I stepped on the plane. I think the Feel at Home stage kicked in once we landed in San José.

GESTURES:
We had a discussion about this after class one day. The Ticos have an arm gesture for telling people to come near which can be confusing for many North Americans. They use their arm to push and pull. Think of doggy-paddling in a pool. That motion. When done by North Americans, it looks as though the speaker (gesture-er?) is telling others to go away, but the Ticos understand it as a come here motion.

WAL*MART:
Seriously, Wal*Mart rules the earth. Here, they are called the local MásXMenos, and they are owned by the Wal*Mart corporation. In fact, they are formally know as Wal*Mart Sudamérica, or South American Wal*Mart. And anyone who knows some Spanish will see the pun of the store's name, but for those of you who don't... The name is pronounced mahs pohr meh-noes, and literally means "More for Less", another slogan of Wal*Mart's.

TOILET PAPER:
In many homes, toilet paper goes in the trash, not in the toilet because it clogs.

Well, that's as random as I'll get tonight. I didn't sleep last night at all because I was reviewing those dumb direct objects, indirect objects, and pronouns in my head ALL NIGHT LONG!!! I kept trying to sleep, but my brain would find another way to keep me up. I'm so tired!

Oh wait, I almost forgot. The Quote of the Day goes out to fellow LASP-er Regis Coburn:
"Whenever I plug my laptop in, sparks come out of the socket. Is that bad?"

Good times.

Good night everyone!