“Un día de estos”

This is a common saying among Ticos. It’s equivalent to saying “one of these days….” in English. It has the same promise (or sometimes vagueness of when or if it will happen) of an event passing in the future. It’s used in the context of when someone is promising to plan a trip, project, or cafecito with someone. For example, it’s to say, “One of these days, we’re going to go on that fishing trip that we have been talking about for the past year.” I hear it so often, that I usually think to myself “And if one of these days never comes?” Because the truth is, that time, ever since I joined the Peace Corps has never been the same. Why is time passing by so quickly? Is it the same for those that live in other parts of the world? Back home? Or does time only fly in Costa Rica? Are the days, weeks, months, and years getting shorter? I was talking with a friend in my community about this, and he told me that somewhere in the Bible it states that when the end of the world is near, time will become shorter. It almost seems true. I often reflect, stunned, by the fact that I’m already 25 years old, or that there are only about 4 months left in this year’s calendar. Time’s shortness for me can almost be unfair. Everyday, I try to make the most out of the little time I have, because time for me is flying.