The Indiana Mask

As I look out my window I can see a winter wonderland of white floating down to the ground. I love snow drifts when they’re perfectly formed and untainted by car tires, plows, or the muck of activity. In the past weeks I have enjoyed the simple sites of bird or cat footprints in the fresh snow. Today we have accumulated far more inches than we have all winter. Finally! It’s not winter in Indiana until you have a big snow storm.

The snow is coming a bit late though and this morning I have found myself browsing online for Spring clothing. I saw a few pictures of new outfits with a tropical backdrop and was reminded of Costa Rica once again.

How can you forget a place like this? It is so naturally beautiful with plant and wildlife that it needs nothing to dress it up. One of the first things I noticed when I returned to Indiana was how much we decorate and landscape our lives in the United States. When Alejandro and I first stepped into our apartment after the trip I felt a bit strange. I have a nicely decorated apartment, but I don’t really “need” all of the decoration.

I noticed this even more the day after we returned and visited a doctor to check up on an eye infection I contracted in Costa Rica. The hospital and doctors office was painted with soothing tones and had comforting stale pictures on the walls. It was all designed to make the patient feel comfortable when they’re really not. I had the same exact eye appointment in Costa Rica in a simple building with no soothing paint and art on the walls – and it was cheaper.

We’ve been back from Costa Rica now for about 4 weeks and I still feel like I must return. We weren’t there long enough. I was there long enough to realize that the people of the United States spend far more time and energy trying to create false ideas of comfort than they do actually enjoying and participating in raw reality. However, I haven’t figured out how to break myself out of that false sense of comfort. In fact, I’m part of the engine that creates it.

I like the mask, but I think I need to take it off. Until I can figure out how to do that I guess I’ll enjoy the site of snow covering the harsh cold turf and think about my next excursion beyond the US border.

2009 Goals

I hate making resolutions. It's my feeling that when you make flippant New Year's Resolutions they rarely ever come to fruition. So, I make a list of goals. I rarely ever achieve all of them, but at least I accomplish some of them. My list of things to do includes:

Class 1 Priority:
Pay Down Debt
Get Extra Cash
Write More
Increase Technology Skills
Save For House (Be ready to do so by 2010)
Learn Spanish
Learn and Make New Recipes
Go to Chicago with Mom
Do Family Tree Book

Class 2 Priority:
Decrease Waist Size
Volunteer Somewhere
Take an Arts Class

Class 3 Priority:
Go To Costa Rica
Marathon
Go to Las Vegas
Go to Rome
Dance Lessons
Knit a Scarf

I'm trying to rank them so that I know what is most important. As I was looking at the list I was trying to figure out how I can kill two or three birds with one stone. For instance, I want to learn Spanish, volunteer somewhere, and go to Costa Rica again. If I volunteer in Costa Rica I can learn more Spanish. I need to think more on this. Obviously, the most important goals are money related. I need to figure out how to pay down debt quicker than what I currently can. Any suggestions?

Water Pressure

It’s been a week since I returned from Costa Rica for the second time. Apparently there was an earthquake there early this morning near Volcan Poas. I wonder what sort of terrors I would be putting my brain through if it had happened a week ago on the day we left. We still don’t know what the impact has been on the family. I hope we will hear soon.

One of the first things I noticed about Indiana and the United States after we came back is that the water pressure is too freakin’ hard here. I got used to low water pressure and actually appreciate it now. Costa Rica is not very good on the plumbing side of things, and perhaps to its benefit. The morning after we got back I stepped into the shower, turned on the water, and got scalded with a blast of hot water. I used to like the hot and fast water stream. I suppose I still do like the warmth that eases me into the morning, but damn it’s hard. There’s no reason why we need that much water streaming out of a faucet for a single shower.

Conservation is one of the main selling points about Costa Rica. Eco-friendliness is what makes the country so beautiful and popular with tourists. As long as you are comfortable with being gluttonous with exploring the beauty of the region you can tolerate some of the differences in every day plumbing practices. For instance, in the United States, when you flush in a public place, if you aren’t throwing any paper in the toilet you are probably not a citizen. In Costa Rica you can expect to see a trash can in your bathroom to collect the unmentionable paper. It keeps the water more “organic”. This is a tough practice to follow when you have been trained to discard in the swirly pool. I’ll admit that I was forgetful a few times, but I tried to follow the rules. Thank God I didn’t cause a clog – to my knowledge.

This time around I was less shocked/scared/anxiety riddled about being in a different culture. I’ve started to understand the method to the madness a little more. I’ll talk more on this later. But, I miss my growing family and hope I see them all again soon.