Chicharrones and Chompipes

Today (July 4) was a fun day because I got to meet another anthropologist who is doing work in this area who speaks English and is quite nice. I will give her code name Phoebe to protect the innocent, but she is from Holland and is living with a family in another town about thirty minutes from here. We had been playing phone tag for several weeks, but finally got together today. And oh what luck for me, because everyone in the extended family where she lives knows a whole great lot about automobile sales and importing and exporting. (For those of you who may not know, I am thinking of selling Bessie here.) I have to have Bessie out of here by August 14 or pay a HUGE AMOUNT of taxes on her, so I am weighing my options. Anyway, the men of this family import busses and cars and other things from the United States, where it is cheaper to purchase them. They were giving me loads of advice, and seemed genuinely interested in helping me figure out what’s the best direction to take- selling the car, paying to have it shipped back to the states, or what have you. We are in touch now, so maybe they can help me. My first quote for shipping her back to the states made my head spin.

I am happy to report however, that Ancho received better news with the guy he is working with. Bessie may be Florida-bound next week! Her own cruise experience!

Phoebe and I had quite the day. I drove her around my area, because she does not have a car and therefore has never seen the rural zone where I live. She lives about 200 meters from pavement, so she got a dose of the gravel travel experience. Has anyone noticed, by the way, the word “grave” in the word gravel. I think there’s something there, but as usual I just can’t put my finger on it.

I have been getting up at 5 a.m. lately. It’s ridiculous really. My schedule has begun matching the hens and roosters. By 8 p.m. I feel like it is midnight. They are going to show Y Tu Mama Tambien on TV, but I don’t think I can stay up late enough to enjoy it. Lord knows it would beat the other films offered by local television. The unhealthy obsession with Chuck Norris perplexes me in the same way the French obsession with Toni Braxton did when I studied abroad.

Here in Costa Rica one gets a load of interesting US syndicated television dubbed in Spanish. My personal favorites include- The A Team, The Simpsons, Small Wonder (the show about the little robot girl who is a real brat), Survivor, and lest I forget, Walker- Texas Ranger. Of all these I only actually watch the Simpsons. The Simpsons here are known as Los Simpsom. It’s still funny, but I also feel that something gets lost in translation. It’s sort of like the old guy I saw in the market the other day who was wearing the t-shirt that boasted in English, “when I am an old woman I shall wear purple.”

But it works both ways. Here, for example, the campesinos use the word “chompipe” for turkey. I think other folks refer to them as Pavo. Anyway, there is some kind of sexual innuendo in chompipe, but I have not quite gotten up the gumption to ask someone to explain it to me. Perhaps that will be my homework tomorrow.

My folks are coming in a couple of weeks and everyone wants to meet them. I am wondering how I will swing that. I am thinking of loading them on a produce truck and carting them around from house to house. We shall see. I am excited that they are coming and will have some time in the community where I live.

Yesterday when I was in the pulperia in the next town, the owner of the pulperia asked me if I were headed back home and if I would not mind hauling a few things to our pulperia for him. I said sure, and took a box or two of detergent and other what nots to our little store. I have been going to the next community frequently because I am doing some work there too. Today I delivered a few packs of cigarettes and some cooking oil. I told him he did not have to pay, just give me an interview. He said he thought that could work. I felt cool being trusted with the commodities of the area- but not as cool as when I got the bottled beer.

Today (today July 5) This post is really of two days, sorry folks for any confusion. Ooohh what a doosie- lots of running around and carting people to and fro and talking and thinking and moving and going and I am pooped. I am sorry to see Bessie go- she has been a real rapport builder for me because I can give people lifts when I am on my way to and fro. Today I carted a whole family to Acosta with me. I had to go into town to make photocopies of a questionnaire. On the way back, I picked up a woman whom I have picked up before who goes to visit her mom once a week. Later I hauled a load of little girls and their moms up to a town that is 2 kilometers and many hundreds of feet up from where I live.

I went over to my neighbor’s house for dinner. My neighbor has never seen the Pacific nor the Caribbean. I am thinking of taking her with me to Limon when I go to take Bessie to the port. Then, she can say she has at least seen Limon. Anyway, she wanted to cook me dinner and I was tired enough and bored enough with eating alone to accept with gusto. Everyone has a lot of pork right now because one of our neighbors slaughtered a pig to sell. I bought a big plastic bag of pork for about four dollars. It’s enough to last A LONG time. Anyway, I ate some pork and red beans and rice with a few slices of tomato. It was nice to eat a meal. You forget about what meals are like when you live alone and consider toast with butter a qualifier for the term “meal.”

Speaking of killing pigs, I went to a pig slaughter last week and boy what an eye opener that was. First off, I came to the realization that chicharrones, a popular fiesta finger food served with shredded cabbage, yucca, and a lime wedge, are made from the neck fat of the pig. My chicharrones were served to me at a little table out by the washing machine and wash basin. While I ate mine, the pig’s head stared back at me from the wash basin. I told my friend Brogers in an email that it was a Lord of the Flies moment. It was certainly a moment when I realized that I had developed a certain tolerance for what I might have previously perceived as unpleasant.

The rest of the pig slaughter was much like the steer slaughter of my earlier days here, and thankfully more exciting than the great chicken slaughter that occurred before the last fiesta. Killing chickens just is not as interesting. A quick slit of the throat, a lightning fast dip in boiling water, a rapid defeathering by expert hands, and there it is. The processing of beef and pork is just much more interesting. Of the pig slaughter experience, I must tell you one more thing. My friend whose family killed the pig and invited me for photo taking kept telling me that the really good part was when she carried the tripa to the river to clean it. So, I waited casually for this moment, not really knowing what I was going to witness. I am an old pro at dealing with the blood and guts stuff by now. So, what I got to witness was my friend and one of the pig butcherers cleaning out the intestines of the pig, so that they could use the intestines in soup or some other decadent creation that I , as of yet, have avoided eating. Now, I know and you know what lurks inside intestines. I am not sure if you have ever noticed this, but pigs eat a lot, and their intestines testify to this fact. So, I snapped photos of my friend happily washing the poop out of pig intestines. The little turds would slip out of one end of intestinal goo, get carried away by the swift river current, and travel on down the stream. It was a great image. I will try to upload a photo for you to appreciate it as well.

There is much more to tell you, my friends, of my days here, but I will save some for later. We are all fine here in this little neck of Costa Rica. There is one man in my community who is very ill with cancer. You might say a prayer or think a positive thought for him. I saw his wife walking to the pulperia today and she looked so forlorn. I just wanted to run up to her and give her a hug but I do not know her that well. Anyway, think good thoughts for Luis please.