Getting to Know the Ngöbe and San José

After driving for 45 minutes or so on Tuesday, we arrived at the Ngöbe territory.

The Ngöbe (in the sign referred to as "Guaymi," but this is a more derogatory term) are an indigenous group of Costa Rica and Panama, and they've been here for thousands of years...way before Christopher Columbus "discovered" Costa Rica on his fourth trip to the New World in 1502. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike how we glorify the man and the mission that brought disease, warfare and exploitation to lands that were chillin contently beforehand? Intensely instigating the detrimental decrease in population size of the indigenous people of Costa Rica from about half a million to merely 7,000 within a tad more than a hundred years? Yup).

Anyway, the Ngöbe have some really interesting cultural practices that would delightfully dumbfound some members of the close-minded class. Por ejemplo, remember when you were a kid and you would have contests to see who would count the highest and it would end in you going "infinity!" and your friend going "infinity plus one!" and so on? No, nobody else did that? It's more of a test of endurance, or frustration when that one party-pooper kid insists infinite is a concept, not a number (it's more fun in the game if you just pretend it's a number). I digress. This issue would not exist for the Ngöbe: they don't really have numbers for quantities more than 40, as there rarely arises a situation where they need to describe numbers past that. Even more interesting is that they have different words to describe numbers based on what subject they are describing. So the word for seven if describing corn husks versus tubas might be two different words. Even though they're both seven. Additionally, polygamy is a-okay with the Ngöbe. There are no official marriage ceremonies and no official divorces. Getting married means living together and ending the living arrangement is the end of a marriage. Everyone, for the most part, gets along swimmingly with this arrangement. Whatever works.

Right, back to my visit. So, after briefly visiting the EBAIS of the territory, we tryingly traversed a slightly-swaying suspension bridge. But, its bark was worse than its bite (plus it contained no actual bark, probably enhancing its structural soundness).

Once around the river bend, we wandered to meet a Ngöbe man who is committed to keeping the flame of the culture burning brightly. He runs a small school (one room, open air, four desks) that teaches the children and adults of the community the language and culture, subjects that are neglected in the public (state-run) school.

Ngöbe culture school

Corn! 

Our Ngöbe friend also has status as a healer in the community and showed us some plants he uses for medicinal purposes, and a sacred place where he prepares medicines. We wafted the enticing odors of plants with hints of mint, licorice, and more.

We returned to Las Cruces for our last day there for the moment (although we return later in the semester). Remember how I mentioned how the food was magnificent? This was the most deliciously, mouth-watering, colorful meal. I could eat this meal with my eyes continuously, and am thankful I had the opportunidad of eating it with my taste buds once. Beet salads are very much a thing here, and it completely beats me why we don't eat them every day for every meal in the States! They're splendid.

On Wednesday, we made our way via bus to San José where we met our host families for the next few weeks as we take Spanish classes at the Costa Rican Language Academy. My host mama is a very kind, grandmotherly figure (she has 6 grown children, whom she mentions (in the most quintessentially grandmother-like fashion) are too busy to visit often even though they live in San José too). She also has two pet turtles named Tutty and Frutty though, and a very nice housekeeper who lives here too. I've been trying to practice my Spanish with them (especially the turtles...they seem most forgiving of mistakes and speak the slowest!). I take a city bus to school--the buses thrown into the traffic madness of San José remind me a bit of the Harry Potter Knight Bus, being jerked around through traffic circles and fitting into spaces smaller than what seem possible for a sizeable bus. This thing ain't the magic school bus, but it's definitely a ride!