CR = Trade agreements and pornos?

Day 8, Thursday, July 5^th

Buenos Dias rainy day. Rainy days either add an air of beauty to life... or put me in a foul mood. And as my mood has been in a funk for a couple of days, there is no beauty in today. Instead I am making lists in my head of my faults and things I want to change. It is a destructive attitude, and one I do not appreciate in myself, so I try to shake it and put on a smile.

Today in class I decide to ask Ronny about TLC; it is spray painted on all the walls in town. Everyone says that what makes CR stand out is the intelligent graffiti, and now I want to know what it means. And so Ronny talks so us for a time about CAFTA/TLC and what the trade agreement means to Latin America and CR in general. There are few times when I say “yay USA!” and unfortunately this is just another time to be disappointed. The trade agreement places power with the rich and takes away tourism and trade from the poor. Ronny explains how in order to work, both sides in the agreement need to export similar amount of goods. But that is not possible. The US would overpower the economy within years, and CR could not possibly stay stable. Argentina collapsed within months of joining. Politics disgust me sometimes... most times.

The whole discussion had me reflecting on the hopelessness of living in a country that you know is on the downslide. I find myself grateful that I do not permanently live in CR, but am hit with the realization that if we don’t make some changes, the US is headed in that direction as well. I need to do some research on the subject; I’d like to know more about this trade agreement. Do you guys know anything?

Right before break, we learn a very fun and addictive song: La Guitarra. “No quiero trabajar. No quiero ir a estudiar. No me quiero casar. Quiero tocar la guitarra todo al dia / Y que la gente se enamore de mi voz.” Me encanta. :) Hannah and I can’t get it out of our heads!

I feed my coffee addiction with less sugar than usual and then return to the great world of subjuntivo. Today we cover adjectival clauses and using the present subjunctive to signify el futuro. Bah. It makes sense on paper, but shoot me when I try to speak.

Finally it is lunch time, and I make a beeline for the phones. I forget that today we are going to take Beth to that pizza place and am a little disappointed that I don’t have more time to talk to Bren. I consider sending the girls on but decide to save my extra minutes to call my Dad next week. Aunque my talk with Bren is short, it is so nice to hear her voice. She fills me in on some of the activities that have been going on, as well as their Fourth activities. Then she expresses her desire that I be careful during my rafting next weekend. I tell her about mi sorpresa... to which she responds that perhaps I should not tell her everything. Funny mama.

After my convo, the girls and I walk down to the pizzaria and order our half pizzas. We get there a bit late and see many of our classmates eating, and I hope that we will get our food in time to eat. But today they are quick, and soon we are chowing down and enjoying some wonderful Té Frío. :)

Back in class, we have a fun afternoon planned. We get to watch a movie called El Caribe – a semi-historical account of an oil company’s attempt to mine in fishing waters on the CR Caribbean coast. Well, that part is about a third of the film, and it is well done. I enjoy the dynamic and find myself wanting to know more. This is because the other two thirds of the film focus on a love... no, sex triangle of a woman, her husband, and the woman’s younger half-sister. I am pretty sure I have never watched a porno in school before. And I am pretty sure I have never seen a more frustrating, disturbing, and all around bad film as this. Before the movie, Ronny told us that while El Caribe is not great, it is very good compared to the movies that usually came out of CR. Afterwards, I look at Hannah. God help me should I have to see a typical CR film. We talk with Ronny for a bit after school about the movie, but I think I cannot give it a fair chance. Nopity nopity nope.

I wish I had more time in the afternoons. Two hours just is not enough. I want to e-mail, put up blogs, facebook, put up pics, and so much more, and there just is not time. Today I send my honors letter and make my internet rounds.

I am glad that I have gotten to talk to Bren today. I am not missing people like I did yesterday, but I still like to keep in contact. I think that I will love these next three and a half weeks, but when it is time to go home, I will be ready. Maybe someday I can do the semester abroad thing, but for now, my five weeks is plenty.

Beth and Hannah and I walk to the bus stop again, and like Tuesday, their bus comes first. I notice a bus pull up behind us, and on it is the mark of Empresa Sabanilla. I run to jump on, only to notice when he asks for twenty extra colones that I have once again jumped on the wrong bus. But this time I do not pay. I jump back off and walk back to the stop... only to see my correct bus pull up. So I run to jump on and pass Hannah and Beth, who did not get on their bus due to crowds. But they did see my mistake. Silly me.

I make it home in one piece, and take to organizing my pictures from the last week so I can empty my camera for the weekend. Dinner tonight is some sort of rice dish; I hardly eat. When I was organizing before dinner, I had stumbled across pics of my fam, and now I ask my familia Tica if they would like to see them. So I spend the next several minutes showing them photos of my dad, Bren, my brothers and sisters, as well as those of my best guy and girl friends. It makes me happy to share this with them.

I spend the next couple of hours journaling and packing. But soon I am ready for bed. The plan is to take a cab at 5:45 in the morning with Alicia and Jackie from our bus stop, and I still want to straighten my hair. Entonces, when everything seems in order, I crawl under the covers and will myself to sleep.