Call For The Manager Ashore, Let Me Go Home!

I needed a trip to the beach after my cold trip to NYC for New Years Eve. I saw snow so of course, a day in the sun and surf was required for my Costa Rican adjustment process. Plus, there's no running water in my apartment... For the last week, the water is shut off from around noon or 13:00 until near 22:00 and later! Every day! It's ridiculous! Word on the street is, that this is typical "summer time" shenanigans, which usually occurs in march and april. The local folk keep referring to this as summer time, as the days are hotter and nights are colder than in the wet season (June to October), but I'm seeing trees shed their leaves and people wearing jackets. That means winter, not summer. Silly Costa Ricans.To start this story off, I thought I'd inform you that I saved up some money and bought myself a pair of flip-flops. I think the last time I owned a pair of flip-flops, I was 12 years old, but these things were calling my name! I bought them on a weekend trip to the beach, Jaco, one of Costa Rica's main tourist destinations. It's the dirtiest, sketchiest, scariest tourist town I've ever been to. In fact, while searching for a cheap hotel room at 12:30 AM, we must have passed 20 transvestite prostitutes! We probably saw 100 throughout the whole weekend - The only thing missing was the flier that advertised, "Transvestite Convention! This Weekend Only - Put on your lipstick and short skirts, guys, it's time to have fun!" Lola was everywhere!

Back to the silly Costa Ricans... My students began their English classes again and boy, were they excited to see me! I usually spend the first few minutes of class on an introduction - "How was your weekend?", "What's new?", that sort of thing. This time, they told me about a local doctor that had committed suicide. It's super shocking that that would happen in a town of this size. They expressed anger at the doctor, saying that his son turns five in only a few days, and asking how he could be so selfish. I thought it was an interesting lesson so I probed a bit. I asked them why they thought he would kill himself, but they were completely baffled. "He had everything," one gal said, "a job, a family, money. He even bought his father a car last year! Probably he was gay."

What?!?

She continued, "Well, why else would he kill himself? He had everything to make himself happy and, you know, if he had mental problems, [like being gay] that's probably why he killed himself." I was lost. I've never been stunned by the likes of this kind of logic before. Close - but not the same. And then the story got deeper. "There was another doctor in the next town who killed himself on the same day and they worked at the same hospital so probably they were lovers." Her claim was verified by the nods of the two other students in class.

"But why?" I persisted, "Why would it mean he's gay if he killed himself? What's the logic?" My disbelief and confusion was met with shrugs and confusion as to why I was so confused. I thought it would be a good time to point out that in many other countries (the developed world) homosexuality isn't looked down upon by all of society and in some cases it's even widely accepted. In other countries (developing countries run by religion) it's a crime to be gay - a crime punishable by jail time or even death! I asked where Costa Rica fit in on that spectrum.

"It's accepted here. Guys are always patting each other on the ass in sports and stuff and making jokes so probably I think it's fine to be gay here. But in Mexico you will get killed if you're gay!"

Oh stereotypes, how you entertain me.

Class went on and one student sneezed. I said, "Bless you" and then explained why we say that in America. The blog inspiring response that followed was, "In Costa Rica, if you sneeze, it means that your wife is cheating on you."

As Costa Rica stimulates the 'I-can't-believe-this' part of my brain, the University for Peace (UPeace) is doing it's damnedest to stimulate the 'this-is-ridiculous' part.

A buddy and I are trying to stage a coup at UPeace to get the university to do something about its lacking amenities. It does some things better than any other university could do: assembling a diverse student body and facilitating discussions and culture exchanges with varying perspectives on current world issues. Unfortunately, it falls way short in important standards to which a university should hold itself. I was briefly in communication with the vice-rector of UPeace to solve some very serious student safety issues, but he stopped responding to my emails and requests for followup meetings in November. Perhaps it's his computer. The campus internet rarely works, and it's affecting classes when we're analyzing things online or referencing something. Researching anything often proves quite difficult when there are no resources with which to work.At the end of the day, I can only really say that I really like my new flip-flops. They're made of leather, which comes from one of my favorite meals, and they make me feel like I'm on vacation. With that in mind, it really can be a happy day in Costa Rica at the University for Peace!