Megan took a class last semester on Chronemics, which is the study of time in nonverbal communication. She was telling me about how monochromic and polychronic cultures vary on how they perceive and react to time. The US is a monchronic culture where time is a precious resource and is used to structure our days. In a Polychronic culture, such as Latin America, they are less inclined to account for every moment of the day. This culture has no problem being late and actually find it difficult to stay on schedule. Thursday's activities definitely showcased this for Megan and me.
Donald got home very late on Wednesday and told us we we're going to assist at a health fair on Thursday. We were to get up at 6, eat at 6:30, and leave at 7am. Being the punctual monchronic people that we are, Megan and I were downstairs and ready at 6:30. We sat the table, this is our job for every meal, and then waited. Xinia put breakfast on the table at 7am. We ate our meal and did the dishes, another one of our jobs, and headed out the door at 7:30.
Donald drove us into San Isidro and dropped us off at the park while he stopped by his office. About 15 minutes later he came back on foot and we went to a cambio to exchange some money. After that he told us he needed to stand in line for the bank. It was 8:30 and the bank didn't open until 9am. The line was already 15 people deep- at every bank in town. Megan and I tried to remember the last time we went to an actual bank much less our willingness to stand in line for 30 minutes. While Donald waited, we walked around a market at the bus station with a bunch of food stands. We purchased agua dulce and headed back to the bank. Donald walked out at 9:15 and Megan and I thought it was time to go to work. Nope! Now we had to wait for Donald's coworker Martin to pick us up. He arrived about 15 minutes later and we were off! We made it 2 minutes down the road where we stopped for gas. Megan and I used this opportunity to use the bano and when we came out Martin was gone. Apparently he had forgotten something and had to go back. We waited some more. Once he returned we piled back into the truck and set off. We made it out 5km where we stopped at a soda- a small roadside cafe. It was time for a snack! We ordered chorreadas with sour cream and I had a guanabana juice drink with milk. Both were very tasty. The men chatted for a bit while Megan and I unsuccessfully looked for a sloth that was supposedly behind the place.
Again we we're off only to stop two minutes down the road. Donald jumped out andpurchased some fresh bananas for us. Megan and I just looked at each other and laughed. How does any work get done?! We finally travelled for a bit on the road that leads to the Pacific Ocean and the beach. We stopped only once to say hello to a Gringo farmer that was on the side of the road. We eventually came upon the securely where the fair was being held but we didn't stop. Donald said they never called so they didn't need help. The plans had now changed to head to a community near by where they have been helping a group of women to build a greenhouse. We arrived and several women came out of their casas to greet us. One lady had shovels and a pick axe while another had cafe and tortillas. Donald and Martin chatted with them for a bit and eventually started digging a small ditch around the greenhouse to divert water from the roof when it rains. They would dig a few shovelfuls and then stop and chat or eat. The women joined in and did a lot of the sigging and churning of dirt in the greenhouse boxes. This process went on for almost 3 hours for what was maybe an hours worth of actually work. The good thing was it started raining so they could analyze the ditch and make the necessary adjustments.
Megan and I did not assist in the labor. Instead we played with 2 chicas- Denetta 5 and Naomi 3. They were precious little girls and had a cute dog named Cheespa. I created little monsters by showing the girls how to use my digital camera. Their eyes would light up with delight when the flash went off and the picture appeared on the screen. They took control of mycamera and took a ton of pictures. In return I was getting them to teach me some words. They also took us on a tour around their house. I learned vaca (cow) and mariposa (butterfly). They were super excited to show us around and talked nonstop. Now under normal circumstances talking to a 3 or 5 year old is challenging. Talking to one that only speaks Spanish was downright impossible. We had to cut the tour short when the rain started, which has occurred every day that I've been here so far.
The next step that needed to be done for the ladies was to move some compost sacks that were being stored down the road. Donald had been there previously to teach them how to compost and they were now ready to put the dirt in the greenhouse. The next hour was just a comedy as we tried moving the bags in the rain. The initial plan was to just put them in Martin's truck but only about 5 bags fit in the back. We ended up putting 3 bags on the hood. Another truck was fortunately brought in for the other 12 bags. The bags weighed 50+ pounds and I helped the guys pick the sacks up so they could carry them on their backs to the truck. Martin was cracking me up, wearing a sack on this head like a hood trying to stay dry and clean. We took the bags back to the greenhouse. I was sitting on the bags in the back peering over the bags on the hood helping to navigate. Fortunately when we got back to the greenhouse there was a young guy there to help unload. Unfortunately Megan and I thought we were going to a fair today and had worn the wrong shoes and were a mess! I can't remember the last time I was this dirty. Megan and Cheespa also had the misfortune of standing in an ant pile.
With the work done, or as much work that was going to get done, it was time to eat again. We went over to Namoi and Denetta's house where we were fed a soup withmeat, potatoes, and noodles and some juice. We watched as we saw people come and go from the house, we were sitting on the porch, and even witnessed the girls jumping on a motorcycle and taking off with a family member. I just commented to Megan that we were definitely not in the States any more.
We eventually took off and headed back to San Isidro. We had enjoyed Martin driving us out to the community because he is a much slower driver than Donald. Donald may be polychronic in his willingness to wait and no concern for being on time but when he's driving he definitely wants to get there fast! When Donald jumped in the driver's seat to go home we protested; however, he drove slow the entire way home. He didn't really have a choice. The government vehicle did not have a working defroster or working windshield wipers. Donald drove the entire trip wiping the inside of the windshield even though it wasn't helping with the rain on the outside. We made it back to town safely and after Donald switched out his vehicle (one that had working wipers) we stopped at a wonderful farmers market for some fruit and meat. Then on the way back home we had told Donald we had planned to get cerveza when he picked up his vehicle but he didn't drop us back off in town like we had expected. We had scoped out the bar we wanted to go to that morning when we were waiting on him. Instead he agreed to take us to a bar closer to the casa so that Megan could have her first Costa Rican cerveza. Or two. And they were muy bueno!!
