Pizza, Beer, and Rain: 26 May

26 mayo 2009
I woke up at around seven this morning to the man who shouts over the megaphone about his fresh eggs. I reviewed last class’s notes, took a shower and then headed downstairs for breakfast. I was given a banana about half the size of the ones I am used to and Jenny (the mother) cooked me four tortillas filled with different stuff: two with the smashed up black beans, one with the tasteless cheese, and one with the potatoes I ate on the first night. I tried Costa Rican coffee but it was too bitter for me so I stuck with my orange juice and cookies (sweet, dry, tasteless cookies). At around 11 I left the house and walked up the street, past the bank and supermercado, and around the church to get to the central bus stop of Moravia, alone. After waiting about ten minutes a big green Daewoo bus pulled up with San José permanently written in huge letters at the top and a black Moravia sign by the entrance. I gave my 245 colones and looked out the window onto the city that I am starting to recognize. The mountains and volcano bordering the city looked amazing even though the city itself does not. I am getting used to this dystopia and decrepit city and what first shocked me and made me never want to step outside of the school and house has turned into something less scary, more approachable and even normal. After hearing the buzz from someone pressing the stop button, I noticed the white church and got off the bus and crossed four lanes of traffic. I walked up and around a yellow building onto a new street and followed the train tracks and the walls filled with graffiti and topped with barbed wire to my school. I found Tammy in the café and Kayla found me as I found her. We took a walk down the train tracks even farther to end up in downtown San José and went to Pizza Hut for Lunch. We split a Pizza Brasileña and had three drinks for 10900 colones (about 19 dollars INCLUDING tip and tax for all three of us). The pizza was topped with cheese, tomato sauce, hamburger, jam, “Brazilian spices,” fresh and spiced tomatoes chunks with three pieces of lime on top to squirt on the pizza. It was amazing! One of the best pizza’s I’ve had! We left and was hit with the afternoon downpour…even with my umbrella I was soaked to the bone after just 2 minutes of walking. My shoes were filled with water even though they are waterproofed, my pants got really heavy, and my sleeves were soaked. Ten minutes later we arrived at Intensa in our uncomfortable wet clothes, struggled with tedious memorizing exercises and dealt with black outs and the deafening rapid booms of the thunder outside. Our first break was at 2h30. Still soaked, and still raining, Kayla and I were feeling pretty crappy so we headed over to the bar for our 15 minutes. I ordered “Imperial” the local beer that is advertised on every street corner, and we drank it outside since there was no power in the bar. We returned to class, and by 5 we left…in the rain. I walked back to the bus stop in San José, and took the bus back to the center of Moravia and got home by 6…in the rain. The two kids were over again and we had fried plantains, fried green beans, white rice, and mashed black beans. Like always the food was great.