Mich + elle = Miguel

There are 2 reasons I have trouble understanding my neighbor:
1. he's 80 and I don't understand old people when they speak Spanish
2. he has no teeth and I don't understand people with no teeth when they speak Spanish

So my neighbor, Mr. Jose (yes, the same name as my husband and my chihuahua) and I introduced ourselves to each other a while back. Well it took me a while but I finally figured out he's been calling me Miguel instead of Michelle. He says, "Hola, como esta Miguel?" or "How's your husband Miguel?" (Miguel is a guy's name by the way, so I guess he thinks my husband and I are 2 gay guys.) So the other day I said, "Hola Mr. Jose, hey you know I'm a girl?" He said, "Oh, pardon, Miguelita."

Hot Agua

My husband tried to prepare me for the move to Costa Rica...you know, the part that's not all beaches and palm trees. The poverty and bars on all windows, the blatant disregard for all traffic laws, the corruption, etc. One thing he failed to prepare me for was the cold water. In Costa Rica there is one knob for the water faucet, and it's the cold water knob. We bought a little machine called a Therma Ducha and it hooks up to the shower head and heats up the water as it comes out. If you turn on too much water it won't heat up so there's not a lot of pressure, but a few strands of hot water is better than a full stream of cold water. Well yesterday was a very traumatic day for me. The Therma Ducha STOPPED WORKING. So once again I was back to heating water on the stove to bathe with, just like when I first moved here...which made me think to when I first moved here. I always think of myself as an open-minded-ready-for-anything kind of person...but moving to a different country takes more than being open-minded. My pride (and my Mom not sending me a plane ticket) kept me here and I'm glad I stuck it out. Now I have a great job, home, car, and my husband just installed a new Therma Ducha. I guess the point of this is to say that I'm really grateful for all that I have, and yes, I took a lot for granted when I was in the States...no, not just the hot water...but when you turn that hot water knob be sure and do a little hot water dance and think about me.

Dengue

Dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. In a small proportion of cases the disease develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito. (From Wikipedia)

Ticos take Dengue fever very seriously. During summer mosquito time, official-looking men in uniforms walk around and confiscate anything that has standing water in it...bowls, old tires, etc. Other official-looking men walk around with loud hand-held machines and spray a white smoke in every one's yard. The first three months I lived in Costa Rica, my husband worked 1 hour away so he would sleep at his parent's house during the week. There were a lot of things I learned on my own, or with the help from my neighbor. The first time I heard the loud machines I went outside and noticed everyone was standing in their yards looking in the direction of the noise...so I did too. A little while later I noticed this white cloud coming with the noise. A short while after that, one of the men entered my yard and sprayed... then he entered my house. He sprayed the poison smoke all over my house and then walked back out the front door and kept going down the street. Little did I know that if you left your door open that meant you wanted them to spray INSIDE the house... My neighbor comes running over yelling for me to "Abras las ventanas! Abras las ventanas! (Open the windows!)" This was right before I started to vomit from the smell. My neighbor then explained to me that I was supposed to have covered all my dishes and food and had all the windows and doors open. Lesson: doors + open = dengue spray. Dengue spray + food = throw food away.