Clases de baile y mejengas de baloncesto

It has been a while since I made a post about what I have been up to in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I don’t always write consistently because I am either too busy or having too good of a time. I am still giving English and computer classes, along with my “Economía para el Éxito” class that I give in the local high school every Tuesday afternoon. I do this along with other side projects that I have going and random activities that I do in my community.

Speaking of side projects and activities, lately I have been playing basketball with a group of Ticos in one of the neighboring towns. It’s a pretty good sized group considering Costa Rica is an overwhelmingly soccer country. We usually always have at least 6 players, which is enough to break a good sweat playing 3-on-3. A couple times we had as many as 12 players.

I have to say that while my Spanish is pretty good, it took me a couple of games to get my Spanish basketball vocabulary up to par, as I don’t need to use it very often. I remember the first time the man I was guarding went to set a screen, my first instinct was to shout out “Screen left!” I have super fun learning all of the basketball vocabulary. We say that we have formed a local team and that we are going to travel to Pérez Zeledón, one of the bigger cities in Costa Rica, to compete in “la primera division.” We will see what happens with that. For now, I am happy to get to play basketball about once a week. I consider myself pretty lucky, as I never imagined myself playing basketball during my Peace Corps experience. We are going to try to start a team in the high school. That will be the beginning of my coaching career.

The other activity that I have going on is that I am learning how to dance to some of the “ritmos tropicales”, such as cumbia, merengue, bachata, bolero, and salsa. I go to a dance class once a week. I have never been able to dance well, but after a few classes and going to a few “bailes” I am getting pretty good. La cumbia, or swing, is my favorite ritmo. It’s more playful. I never realized how fun it is to dance. I consider learning how to dance to “los ritmos tropicales” as important as learning the Spanish language. It’s part of the cultural experience. I have been told that a man that cannot dance in a Latin American country isn’t really a man. Furthermore, going to a “baile” and not knowing how to dance to any of the “ritmos” is like going to a basketball game and being injured. You will always be on the sideline and never in the game.

That’s all I have for now. I should have another post up in a few days for my Spanish readers.

Pura Vida,
Carlos