Yesterday, I worked on the interview with the Vice Mayor of Stockholm. I've done everything with this article. I transcribed it in his broken English, edited it into proper English, translated it into Spanish, and wrote it in Spanish. The only thing I didn't do is go to Sweden and record the conference where he spoke. Marilyn is going to help me edit the article, but I really hope I get my name on this. It would be a great clip to have, and I definitely want credit for my work.
I also made a huge Excel spreadsheet with all of the months, years, portadas (magazine covers) and editions from 2004 to present. Don Jorge and Don Ronald, the big bosses, wanted to see how many issues there have been. They want to do a special edition for the 100th magazine. For the record, there have only been 62 or 63 editions. They have a long way to go. I helped them get organized, though.
Natalie and Amy came into San José to meet me for lunch yesterday. We went to El Patio. It's expensive, but you know your food will be delicious. I love my roommates. We live together and yet we still want to meet each other for lunch, as if our time together at home isn't enough. We saw a German boy and girl eating at the table next to us. I found myself eavesdropping, even though I obviously don't speak German. It's an ugly language - very guttural and throaty, but sometimes you think you hear English. Amy told me it has to do with sounds. I don't know. We went to Pop's afterward, where Natalie and Amy convinced me to buy a brownderby. A brownderby is a regular ice cream cone, but the ice cream is dipped in chocolate that hardens. It was so difficult to eat! I love ice cream, but I have a tendency to eat it very slowly. This does not work with a brownderby. You have to hurry before the chocolate shell breaks. By the time I finished, half of the ice cream had dripped down my fingers. My brownderby experience was a little too messy for my taste.
Apparently, when Amy and Natalie left me after lunch to go home, they ran into Patri on the street. She had just finished some errands, so the three of them took the Barrio Lujan bus together. Natalie told me that when they got home, Juanca was there, so Patri made Natalie carry in two of her shopping bags. This is why they have money problems! Patri has a shopping addiction. Every single time she buys a new shirt, she buys matching jewelry and shoes. Yesterday, the refrigerator wasn't working. Patri was begging Juanca to let her buy a new one. He said no, obviously. They've been behind on their electric bill payments (observe: last week). How can Patri buy new clothes when they can't even keep up with their utilities! What?! She's hiding it from her own husband; she knows what she is doing is wrong. I know some people have a problem and are actually addicted, but this is unbelievable.
Cesar and Marilyn have tickets to see Harry Potter tonight, and I am so jealous. I've been calling every theater I can find, and none of them answer the phone. I heard they're all sold out. All I want to do is see this movie. The Spanish subtitles will make it even better! I had my heart set on going with Sam and Natalie this Friday, but that obviously is not going to happen. I don't know what to do. Yesterday, Cesar took Harry Potter images off the internet and photoshopped my face for Hermione. He made himself Snape, Luis Diego became Malfoy and Marilyn was Bellatrix Lestrange. The photos are hilarious and realistic at that. I made Cesar upload them on Facebook. I commented on the picture of Snape, Malfoy and Bellatrix - what great bosses, verdad? I was, and still am, cracking up. I made some kind of joke when I commented and said, "Broma, broma" to signify "just kidding." Marilyn told me that it's better to say "vacilando." The phrases never seem to end, but I like my signature line. "Broma, broma...pero en serio."
Last night was our final guest speaker, Diego Something-I-Can't-Pronounce-Or-Spell. He was interesting. He grew up in Argentina (his father is Polish, snaps for Argentinian Jews!) and has worked in the United States, Europe and through Latin America. He mostly works with information technology and entrepreneurship. I don't think he was very prepared, so he tried to make it more interactive by asking us to define success and other vague questions like that. It was awkward, and I hate dead silence, so I ended up talking a lot. I need to learn to appreciate silence.
Afterward, there was another "Crash" party at Veritas. We had one our first week, but there was another one because of a new study abroad group that has recently arrived. By the time we got there, the big band of drummers and dancers was in the middle of the same routine we saw. It was a total flashback. We hung out and danced for a while, but we didn't stay too long. Been there, done that.
When we got home, an old friend of Patri and Juanca who had stopped by for afternoon coffee (around 3 or 4 p.m.) was still there. People just do that here. They stop by without notice and stay forever (in this case, 1:30 in the morning!). Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table, snacking on galletas and tuna fish (Costa Ricans have a weird tuna fetish, don't ask). I love when the whole family spends time together. It's so much fun. I couldn't stay up forever, though, and apparently Juanca and this guy had important business to discuss.
Patri makes me so paranoid about this city. She hates coming downtown, like most people do, but today she told me that 10 more people have died from gripe por cina (Swine Flu). She keeps telling me to wash my hands after I ride the bus, wash my hands after every time I leave the building, wash my hands when I am bored, wash my hands when someone in the room sneezes...! I can't figure out if she's actually worried about me getting sick or if she's worried about me bringing home the flu to everyone in her family. Either way, she's made me into a paranoid freak. My hands are so dry from washing them constantly.
I'm looking forward to going to Hacienda Pozo Azul this weekend. We chose which activities we want to do, and I chose zip lining through the canopy and white water rafting. It's going to be awesome! The other choices were rappelling, horseback riding and hiking; it was a difficult decision, but I think I picked the best ones. We're sleeping in a tent on Saturday night, but from the Web site, it looks more like a luxury hotel room with a tent over it. I heard it has Wi Fi, in which case, we are really roughing it...ha. I'm just excited to be in the rain forest.
Back to work!
Pura Vida,
Lauren
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