a few questions ...

Ben asked me a few good questions via e-mail and I thought I´d share my answers ...

- Are there any unusual critters? Lots of weird birds that make crazy noises. Skinny dogs with big balls and big nipples that no one loves. Skinny and small horses than no one loves, but that work constantly. I saw a few crabs on the beach yesterday. Lots of really odd looking cows, the ones with the giant horns and sagging skin. I heard there are freshwater sharks, but I have yet to see them. And there are monkeys, but I have not seen them either.
- Do they like green tea? I have not seen any tea. There was some for sale at the super market. Mostly, they drink lots of Nescafe instant coffee (blah, and odd for a country that produces some of the best coffee in the world), Tamarindo juice, Flor de Cana rum - which is sweet as sugar, which it is made from like all rums, but this one is especially good - and Tona beer, which is better than Budweiser. Kinda reminds me of a tropical Yuengling if such a thing exists.
- Sports? Si. El futbol - soccer - y el beisbol - baseball. Also cock fights - peleas de gallos.
- Music? YES! I have heard everything from Britney Spears to Bob Marley to some weird stuff called bachata. My favorites are Cumbia, kind of reggae like, and Ranchera, which is like Mexican country music. The old stuff sounds like Buck Owens. It´s really cool. The house owner´s daughter and Isabela´s mom was listening to it while lifting weights today.
- Homelessness? Not that I have really seen. I think there´s a few ragged individuals, but maybe they are backpackers? No I think mostly even the most poor of people make a home, even if it is a few boards stacked together in the city dump.
- Karaoke? Funny you should bring this up. I was hanging out with some Nicaraguans yesterday at a bar on the beach and that ¨Turn Around Bright Eyes¨ song came on and I tried to explain to them about how I have some friends who like to sing it at karaoke and get really excited while doing it. They like karaoke, but didn´t see the humor in that I have friends who REALLY like to sing that song. I think it´s because they honestly really, really like that song. Have not yet seen any performed yet though.
- Street Performers? Other than would-be Romeos that blow me kisses and try to practice their English romancisms on me, not really.
- Stars at night? I´m in a pretty decent size city right now, but they are definitely brighter than they are at home. The house I am staying at has an upstairs open area with a hammock and it´s got a great view of La Iglesia de Calvario, and also of the stars above. Also has a great breeze at night. I am looking forward to being on the Pacific for a few weeks, I think they will be very bright and plentiful there.
- White boys with dredlocks? Yes, there is one sitting next to me right now. And one across from me too, but they´re really tan Europeans with dreadlocks. Lots of really rich Americans and Europeans that have been traveling for way too long on their parents´ paychecks and trust funds. Pretty annoying, actually. Most annoying was this guy in his 40s that has been traveling for three years. He is from Wisconsin and bragged to me how he blew 12 grand in Europe in three months, and then three grand a month in Panama for almost a year. BORING. He also told me how great shopping and cocaine are in Panama but how crazy I am for traveling alone. I was like .. .well maybe if i hung out with coke heads and Panama and blew a bunch of cash like you, it would be a crazy lifestyle for a female, but I´m here studying espanol, cabron, y quedando me con una famila. Pinche cabron. I did meet one girl from Canada who also quit her job to come here and study Spanish. I was really excited to meet another person and completely nutso as myself. She got pissed at me though today when I couldn´t figure out Skype and I kept asking her questions while she was talking to her boyfriend on there. Oh well.
-Do they play beer pong or any derivative thereof? Actually they pretty much just sit and drink. Pool is pretty popular, and I´m sure there is beer pong somewhere, probably in one of the gringo hostels here.
- What is the name of the DAMN PARROT? Officially, Rosita. But Isabela - the five year old girl that I am living with this week - calls her La Princesa and also, La Lora. She does this thing where she puts a red scarf over its cage and pulls it off and says ¨les presento a la lora!!!!!!¨ which means I present to you the female parrot!!!! It´s ridiculously adorable.