My Saturday night was fairly calm, as I was exhausted and asked to get home somewhat early. There was a game to be watched (the local Costa Rican Team of Alajuela was premiering their team and playing their season-opener). We did, however, drop in on Tia Flori and her wonderful little family before heading home for the night.
Tia Flori is a wonderful woman, and her house is beautifully open and earthy. They have a pair of parakeets (called paraqeets de amor), a beautiful porch table complete with chairs and umbrella in their den, and translucent roofing that lets you hear and feel the weather outside. Thanks to the perfect, albeit damp, climate of Costa Rica the house doesn’t need to be insulated. So much so that when I arrived there was a baby bird that had fallen through a layering in the roofing and was chirping from the floor.
Tia Flori has three children, two sons and a daughter. I was fortunate enough to meet her daughter Karla, her daughter-in-law Sharon, and her granddaughter (Sharon’s daughter) Tamara. When we arrived Karla and Tamara were tending to the baby bird that had fallen into their den. They had a small birdcage and a bowl of water for the poor thing. It was precious.
Tamara was absolutely adorable, but nullified everything I’ve heard about learning Spanish from children. She’s at the beautiful age where fiction and reality blend seamlessly. She was telling me about who was invited to her birthday party, and aside from me and the other people in the room it was mostly animals… “los gatos, los caballos, los pajaros.” If I didn’t know better I could have been very confused. She also told me she was turning five, and held up three fingers. I guess the Tamara would rather be turning five; fingers don’t lie.
Tia Flori served us Coffee con leche, a delicious cake, unos pastelitos, and enchiladas. Everything was warm, and the coffee was hot. I really enjoyed joking around with the family.
Rebekah, Marco’s sister (and mine by adoption), taught me some elementary language jokes. It was through Rebekah that Marcela found my host family. Marcela is her English teacher at work. She and her husband Richard have been charming, and have the most beautiful home. It was wonderful to have them at Tia Floras as well.
One of the jokes that Rebekah taught me:
Q: “How do you say queque en Español.” (Dad: queque means cake in Spanish)
A: “WhatWhat.” (Dad: que is Spanish for what)
And with that I'm off to pack a bag and prepare for tomorrow. It's my first day of TESOL class, and I'm hoping to impress my profesora Marcela.
Pura Vida,
-Z
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