20/1/2011

8:28pm

Had to stop, dinner was ready.

As I gazed out over the valley, a single firefly began to float around, rising up and drifting away, like a beacon in the night. It was such a pretty image, and it felt even more special by the fact that I knew such a thing couldn't happen in Australia. I guess this is how people get the 'travel bug'. Not because they're bored with their own lives; just that the world has so much diversity to offer. It's sad to know that people here may never leave, unable to get out and see the rest of the world. When I look at it that way, it feels an even more amazing opportunity. I've decided if would be great to go travelling again sometime, except maybe not leave that special someone at home next time.

I've figured out that we're exactly halfway through our entire Costa Rican journey. Yet even telling myself "It's all downhill from here" doesn't cure the homesickness, however mild. But I guess that's natural. I'm still having multiple dreams a night, all relating to life back in Sydney, and waking up to realise I'm still in Costa Rica comes as something of a rude shock. No matter how long I'm here, there are some things you just can't get used to, or that time makes better, with the knowledge that my time here is really temporary (regardless of how long it feels as though I've been here). (NB: That's really confusing for even myself to read - I mean to say if I was here for a significant period of time, say 6 months or a year or so, I'd be more inclined to feel as though I was 'living' there rather than simply travelling or stopping by.)

Dinner was great tonight, you never go hungry here, and afterwards we sat around the table as a family while the brothers made funny origami type designs with tea towels, and even did a magic coin trick. It's nice to see the whole family interacting, and the boys away from their video games. I guess an event like having two foreigners in your house inevitably brings a family closer together. In so many ways, this family reminds me more and more of my own. Which is a surprisingly nice feeling, considering it's been nearly a month since I saw my own parents.

There was also another (debatably) exciting event tonight. After a whole lot of shouting between our father and the other men in neighbouring houses, I figured out there was something in/on the roof. By the time I saw what it was (an opossum, I think; to be honest I'm not exactly sure), it had already been bludgeoned to death and thrown to the dogs. I don't know if the creature was a pest, but I was slightly disturbed by the whole ordeal. But I suppose it's another example of how I really am in another country, and as a foreigner who barely knows their language, I thought it would be rude to impose my personal beliefs on an established culture, of which I still knew next to nothing about.

So I feigned excitement with the men, said a silent prayer for the opossum, and simply put it down to another life experience, on what is turning out to be quite the journey of a lifetime.