Have you ever experienced something so profound that you can't seem to get it out of your mind? Last night in a Costa Rican pueblo (town) called Villa Real, I had that experience. The pueblo was close to Tamarindo and the taxi fare cost only 2000 Colones which is about $4.00. We went to see the bull fights that everyone in town had told us to see during the four day festival in Villa Real.
Although I had grown up in a farm town, I had never seen a bull fight. I guess I didn't really know what to expect, other than to see a bunch of locals gathered around a bull ring. What I saw and experienced shocked me. In Spanish class the other day my teacher had talked about sterotypes and had mentioned the machisimo sterotype that some people have of Costa Rican men. My teacher told us that the sterotype was actually true and that men in Costa Rica do have a macho attitude. I thought of what she had told us when we arrived at the festival and saw a bunch of men inside the bull ring. At first, people were just gathered around the ring...inside and on the fence and outside of the ring. There were people everywhere...families, men and women drinking beer, and some tourists too. There were carnival games in one corner, food and alcohol booths in another, and there was even a corner for karaoke.
My friends and I found a spot near the fence (outside of the ring of course) and I began to realize what was going on. The "macho" men who were standing inside were waiting for the bull to be released so that they could taunt it and attempt to ride the bull. Moments later a man began speaking into a microphone and he started a count down. Then, the bull was released from the gate. A guy ran around taunting the bull with a piece of cloth. The people inside the ring started running around. Some ran out of the way as the bull came near, others ran straight towards the fence and attempted to climb out of the ring as the bull approached. People who were sitting on the fence drinking beer either picked themselves up and jumped off or just sat there and laughed. There were guys on horses with ropes trying to wrangle the bull. Then, there were people who were actually trying to jump on the bull! It was INSANE! I stood there in shock.
I screamed each time the bull came near the side of the fence where I was (I was outside of course). I stood there scared and in disbelief that there were actually people inside taunting the bull. I also found myself taking photos; I was a bonified tourist. The first bull that was released ended up being taken in without anyone getting on top of it. There was about a ten minute break and then another bull was released. The same thing happened...guys ran around taunting it. When it came close to people who were sitting on the fence, some people kicked the bull. I stood there struggling to see through people and the fence because I wanted to make sure that if the bull were to break through the fence that I would be prepared.
Suddenly, people started screaming and I caught sight of a guy being thrown around in the air by the bull. The bull's horns had pierced the guy's chest and he was getting tossed in the air. I found myself screaming until the guy landed on the ground and the "macho" men ran to carry him to an ambulance. The image of him getting thrown around like a toy has been imprinted into my mind. Did I really see a guy get stabbed by a bull? I couldn't stop saying "Oh my God, oh my God!"
The most alarming part of the whole thing was that after that bull was taken in and there had been the ten minute break, ANOTHER bull was released and there were STILL people in the ring! As though the first tragedy wasn't enough, another guy ended up on top of the bull and then was thrown off and the bull stepped on him. That guy ended up on the ground and did not appear to be moving. He too was taken away in an ambulance.
I couldn't sleep last night. Images of those men getting destroyed by the bull lingered in my mind. Some of my friends wanted to stick around and go to a nearby bar or club but I had to head home, I was too disturbed. Why would people stand inside the ring and risk their lives for that? Did the guys survive? How could they treat an animal like that? Why were there so many (at least 1,000) people there? Why was I there? Why didn't I leave after the first guy got stabbed? I could probably write long answers to those questions, but I'll let you ponder them instead.
Today I had an amazing and adventurous day. I'll write a blog tomorrow about all of the adventure sports I did. In spite of the exciting and fun day I had today, the tragic incidents from last night seemed to wiggle their way into a few conservations I had with people. As much as I've tried to get the horror out of my mind, I can't. It makes a great story but I'm hoping that soon it'll be one that will no longer haunt me.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Good bye EF LA, hello EF Playa Tamarindo!
Today is Monday which means I should have been working at EF LA and instead, I took a placement test and explored the surrounding area of EF Playa Tamarindo. It´s nice to be out of San Jose and on with my adventure.
Yesterday I took a 6 hour adventure from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo. I call it an adventure because the trip began with my sister and I being picked up at our hostel exactly at the time the EF staff had told us the transfer service would greet us. We thought it was terrific that they were on time and we assumed the rest of the afternoon-evening would be the same. We were wrong. We headed to the airport to pick up a student and due to flight delays, we ended up waiting there for nearly two hours. The San Jose airport is small and since they don´t let greeters stand inside the airport everyone stands outside a series of large windows. The EF greeter who wasn´t wearing an EF shirt proceeded to write the student´s name on a piece of paper, borrow some tape from someone who was at the airport greeting someone else, and then stick the sign to the window! He then walked away since we still had about an hour before the student´s flight was meant to arrive. Hilarious! How was the student supposed to know who had put up the sign? With so many other greeters, how was the student going to see the very plain and ugly sign? My sister and I felt like we had to stand there and look out for someone who could potentially be a student from anywhere in the world (we were guessing the person was German because of the name, but based on looks, that meant nothing and we weren´t sure out name guessing was correct anyways). Somehow the plain signed work and we all spotted each other. The journey from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo took a little over 4 hours. The roads were paved most of the way but the last hour or so the road was made of dirt and bumpy. The entertainment system was fairly good...we watched Madonna music videos most of the way...until the music system died, along with the lights on the van. We were taken to the school at which point the student went to her room at the residence and a taxi was called to take my sister and I to our host families. We assumed the van with no lights was deemed unsafe on the unlit dirt roads.
The taxi driver thought he knew where my host family was. He stopped and I got out and put on my backpack and a woman came out of her house and she clearly had no idea what was going on. It turns out that I was nearly in the woman´s yard before we realized she wasn´t an EF host family and had no clue who I was. Terrific. Luckily I had the number to my host family and the taxi driver called it and we drove for a few more minutes and then stopped where someone was standing. My host family is very nice! They live in a nice house in Santa Rosa. My sister lives in a different host family down the road. I´ll write more about my host family later. I´m actually proud of my Spanish skills...I spoke no English last night and understood almost everything the family said.
This morning my host mom dropped me off down the road at the EF bus stop. There´s an EF shuttle that picks up students from their host families! It´s great! We got to the school at about 7:30. I´ll write more about the school later. I will mention that it´s beautiful! It looks like a resort. There´s a pool in the center of the school! My sister and I are the only students from the United States. It feels great to be the only Americans! Sadly though, everyone speaks English with each other when they´re not in class. It´s good for everyone else because they get to improve their English and their Spanish but it´s kind of a bummer for me since I want to improve my Spanish. Okay, I will write more tomorrow. I feel bad that I´m sitting on the computer and not in the living room interacting with my host family!
I promise I´ll write more detailed posts later.
Yesterday I took a 6 hour adventure from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo. I call it an adventure because the trip began with my sister and I being picked up at our hostel exactly at the time the EF staff had told us the transfer service would greet us. We thought it was terrific that they were on time and we assumed the rest of the afternoon-evening would be the same. We were wrong. We headed to the airport to pick up a student and due to flight delays, we ended up waiting there for nearly two hours. The San Jose airport is small and since they don´t let greeters stand inside the airport everyone stands outside a series of large windows. The EF greeter who wasn´t wearing an EF shirt proceeded to write the student´s name on a piece of paper, borrow some tape from someone who was at the airport greeting someone else, and then stick the sign to the window! He then walked away since we still had about an hour before the student´s flight was meant to arrive. Hilarious! How was the student supposed to know who had put up the sign? With so many other greeters, how was the student going to see the very plain and ugly sign? My sister and I felt like we had to stand there and look out for someone who could potentially be a student from anywhere in the world (we were guessing the person was German because of the name, but based on looks, that meant nothing and we weren´t sure out name guessing was correct anyways). Somehow the plain signed work and we all spotted each other. The journey from San Jose to Playa Tamarindo took a little over 4 hours. The roads were paved most of the way but the last hour or so the road was made of dirt and bumpy. The entertainment system was fairly good...we watched Madonna music videos most of the way...until the music system died, along with the lights on the van. We were taken to the school at which point the student went to her room at the residence and a taxi was called to take my sister and I to our host families. We assumed the van with no lights was deemed unsafe on the unlit dirt roads.
The taxi driver thought he knew where my host family was. He stopped and I got out and put on my backpack and a woman came out of her house and she clearly had no idea what was going on. It turns out that I was nearly in the woman´s yard before we realized she wasn´t an EF host family and had no clue who I was. Terrific. Luckily I had the number to my host family and the taxi driver called it and we drove for a few more minutes and then stopped where someone was standing. My host family is very nice! They live in a nice house in Santa Rosa. My sister lives in a different host family down the road. I´ll write more about my host family later. I´m actually proud of my Spanish skills...I spoke no English last night and understood almost everything the family said.
This morning my host mom dropped me off down the road at the EF bus stop. There´s an EF shuttle that picks up students from their host families! It´s great! We got to the school at about 7:30. I´ll write more about the school later. I will mention that it´s beautiful! It looks like a resort. There´s a pool in the center of the school! My sister and I are the only students from the United States. It feels great to be the only Americans! Sadly though, everyone speaks English with each other when they´re not in class. It´s good for everyone else because they get to improve their English and their Spanish but it´s kind of a bummer for me since I want to improve my Spanish. Okay, I will write more tomorrow. I feel bad that I´m sitting on the computer and not in the living room interacting with my host family!
I promise I´ll write more detailed posts later.
¡Pura vida!
After a very long hiatus from travel writing, I have finally found myself traveling again and that means I´m finally doing some writing! Three days ago I embarked on my first vacation from the real world. After almost exactly a year working as the Housing Director at EF International Language Schools - Los Angeles, I have finally put on my backpack again and set off on another adventure. This time I´m in Costa Rica with the purpose of improving my Spanish by taking a two week course at the EF Play Tamarindo school. No, EF did not pay me to go, and no, this vacation is not free. I did get a nice discount though. I hope to improve my Spanish and I also hope that by being a student and living in both the residence and in a host family, I will be ale to improve my own work back in Redondo Beach. I forgot to mention that I also plan on doing as many adventure sports as possible, interacting with locals, making international friends and having the time of my life.
As always, my adventure began on the airplane. From LA to Panam City I sat next to an older gentleman who was traveling with his wife. They are both avid travelers and have been to many different countries. I found out that although they love traveling, they have no desire to go to Africa or the Middle East. When not traveling the world (they go on 3-4 trips per year), they own and operate a pizza parlor! Pizza parlor owners hold a special place in my heart since my first job was at the pizza parlor that y friend´s dad owns. Thank you Krumeich family for that! Anywho, the guy on the plane kept me company between my intermitant naps on the red-eye flight. My luck continued with the flight from Panama City to San Jose. I ended up sitting next to a Colombian-born Jew who has lived in Costa Rica for ten years and who is married to a Lebanese-Catholic Costa Rican woman and who works in the family business of developing hotels. I can honestly say that he was the most interesting person I´ve ever spoken to on an airplane. We spoke about life in Costa Rica, adventure sports, Costa Rica, Israeli and Lebanese food, the hotel and tourism industry, we exchanged family history and in the end, he gave me a list of places to go while in San Jose, and he gave me his card and told me to email him when I plan my trip to the Arenal volcano next weekend so that he can make sure I get into the hot springs for free. He apologized for not giving us a free night in his hotel; he said that if it weren´t high season, he would have. He was incredible. I guess I should mention that I am traveling with my sister. She booked the flights and didn´t pick our seats so we each ended up in the middle seat in the same row, with the aisle between us. Thanks to her not choosing an aisle seat for both of us, we were forced to meet new people. I almost wish we end up separated again on the flight back because it was great.
So far, here is my impression of San Jose
-I´m staying at a hostel called, Kaps Place. It´s cute and quiet and I ended up there because a friend reccommended it. That friend is actually the one whose parents own the pizza parlor. Thanks Katie!
-There´s a lot of traffic and too much pollution for me.
-Gallo pinto (rice and black beans) is an amazing breakfast.
-Tamarindo juice is very good but strong (tamarindo is a fruit).
-So far, I don´t have the urge to live in San Jose...I determine whether I like a place or not based on if I could see myself living there.
-From what my airplane companion told me about the rest of Costa Rica, I imagine that I´ll have a really hard time leaving this place...the odds are likely that I´ll want to live hjere. I should start preparing myself for reverse culture shock now.
-I´ve noticed that many of the woman are overweight. A large number of women have simliar-looking stomachs. I´m curious to find out if it´s just San Jose or if it´s nationwide. I have noticed an alarming number of frid chicken and ice cream places...I assume that´s the culprit.
-San Jose is a really easy city to navigate. Avenidas go one way and calles go the other. It resembles New York in that sense.
-Sodas are cheap restaurants that offer great lunches at an amazing price.
-I´m ready for LA PLAYA...San Jose is not for me!
¡Pura vida! as they say in Costa Rica
*I wrote this in my journal a few days ago. I´m now in the provence of Guanacaste. I´m typing on the computer at my host family´s house in Santa Rose and I just tried to do spell check but it must be set in Spanish mode since it highlighted every word. I´m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes in this post!
As always, my adventure began on the airplane. From LA to Panam City I sat next to an older gentleman who was traveling with his wife. They are both avid travelers and have been to many different countries. I found out that although they love traveling, they have no desire to go to Africa or the Middle East. When not traveling the world (they go on 3-4 trips per year), they own and operate a pizza parlor! Pizza parlor owners hold a special place in my heart since my first job was at the pizza parlor that y friend´s dad owns. Thank you Krumeich family for that! Anywho, the guy on the plane kept me company between my intermitant naps on the red-eye flight. My luck continued with the flight from Panama City to San Jose. I ended up sitting next to a Colombian-born Jew who has lived in Costa Rica for ten years and who is married to a Lebanese-Catholic Costa Rican woman and who works in the family business of developing hotels. I can honestly say that he was the most interesting person I´ve ever spoken to on an airplane. We spoke about life in Costa Rica, adventure sports, Costa Rica, Israeli and Lebanese food, the hotel and tourism industry, we exchanged family history and in the end, he gave me a list of places to go while in San Jose, and he gave me his card and told me to email him when I plan my trip to the Arenal volcano next weekend so that he can make sure I get into the hot springs for free. He apologized for not giving us a free night in his hotel; he said that if it weren´t high season, he would have. He was incredible. I guess I should mention that I am traveling with my sister. She booked the flights and didn´t pick our seats so we each ended up in the middle seat in the same row, with the aisle between us. Thanks to her not choosing an aisle seat for both of us, we were forced to meet new people. I almost wish we end up separated again on the flight back because it was great.
So far, here is my impression of San Jose
-I´m staying at a hostel called, Kaps Place. It´s cute and quiet and I ended up there because a friend reccommended it. That friend is actually the one whose parents own the pizza parlor. Thanks Katie!
-There´s a lot of traffic and too much pollution for me.
-Gallo pinto (rice and black beans) is an amazing breakfast.
-Tamarindo juice is very good but strong (tamarindo is a fruit).
-So far, I don´t have the urge to live in San Jose...I determine whether I like a place or not based on if I could see myself living there.
-From what my airplane companion told me about the rest of Costa Rica, I imagine that I´ll have a really hard time leaving this place...the odds are likely that I´ll want to live hjere. I should start preparing myself for reverse culture shock now.
-I´ve noticed that many of the woman are overweight. A large number of women have simliar-looking stomachs. I´m curious to find out if it´s just San Jose or if it´s nationwide. I have noticed an alarming number of frid chicken and ice cream places...I assume that´s the culprit.
-San Jose is a really easy city to navigate. Avenidas go one way and calles go the other. It resembles New York in that sense.
-Sodas are cheap restaurants that offer great lunches at an amazing price.
-I´m ready for LA PLAYA...San Jose is not for me!
¡Pura vida! as they say in Costa Rica
*I wrote this in my journal a few days ago. I´m now in the provence of Guanacaste. I´m typing on the computer at my host family´s house in Santa Rose and I just tried to do spell check but it must be set in Spanish mode since it highlighted every word. I´m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes in this post!
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