simple life

It had been a three weeks since I walked to Santa Elena for major grocery shopping. Also, I was down to my last couple of thousand colones (about five dollars). Saturday morning I set off in the bright morning sunlight with misty rain blowing. For my whole walk to town, a brilliant rainbow (arco iris) glowed in the southwestern sky. I was trying to keep my hat from blowing away and looking at the sky.
I walked past the new bank building, never knowing it was there. When I got to the automatic teller on the side of the original bank, there was a sign apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining that the automatic teller would be closed 10 Nov. Hey, it wasn’t the tenth of November. But, the door was bolted just the same. So, I was glad to have a little money and I chose a few grocery items carefully: jugo de naranja, lechuga, manzanas, y dos berenjenas moradas.

I walked energetically back to Monteverde for chorus practice. There, somebody explained to me that there was a new bank building set back from the street. The operating teller machine was within the entrance of this new building. So, my food will last until Thursday when I will return to Santa Elena for cash. The school will be closed for Thanksgiving and I can go do my shopping in the morning.

Saturday evening was a coffeehouse at the Friends meetinghouse. The eleventh and twelfth grade students sold food to raise money for a field trip. Then, there was an open stage variety show. My students performed a traditional Inuit tale, The Eagle’s Gift. Eagle Mother teaches the third born son to drum, dance, sing, and tell stories. He rescues his two older brothers and brings joy to the world. Other acts included step-dancing, singing, juggling, and playing instruments. The difference between entertainers and audience blurred as a conglomerate of musicians invited us to sing folk songs. It was a warm community gathering.

Sunday morning I made a luxurious breakfast of tart apple pancakes covered with sweet honey-yogurt. Meeting for worship was deep with expectant silence and I talked with visitors afterward. Later, I went to the teachers’ room to check my email and had the fun of e-chatting with Liam in Heidelberg. He was glad to be back playing rugby (his clavicle is mended) and his rugby team had won a game that afternoon.

In the evening I enjoyed listening to Josef’s violin recital CD as I made eggplant parmesan and rice.
Then I worked on my semester reports for school.