Randomivity

Random thoughts to start out the new year:

~According to Steve you can say "wicked good" and "gnarly" but NEVER "wicked gnarly".
~When random people in the airport asked what I was doing in travelling to Costa Rica and I responded that I was a missionary there, several times I got the response, "Oh, my. God will reward you." I was caught off guard. How does one respond to that?
~Apparently no matter what country you are in, boys from 15 to 22 years old think farting is hilarious and totally socially acceptable.
~If you want a meeting to start at 7 in Costa Rica, tell the ticos it starts at 6:15 and it will be sure to start by 7:30.
~Even though the word "no" is the same in both English and Spanish, children can never seem to understand it.
~If you take a picture of a child, he or she will want to see it.
~There really are gigantic cockroaches.
~I should have started drinking coffee sooner...maybe it really would have stunted my growth.
~Even though a 5'2'' guy and a 5'3'' girl have the same size shoe as a 6'1'' girl, the tall one still gets called the sasquatch by default.
~Contrary to popular belief, it does actually get cold here. At least enough to need a sweater and jeans.
~Coffee tastes so much better outside of the United States.
~When offering Costa Ricans coffee, be sure to offer cookies or bread with it.
~If you don't understand what a child says in Spanish, NEVER just say yes. You have no idea what you may be agreeing to and they ARE much smarter than we give them credit.
~If a child comes to you and tells you the other person in the house told them they could do something and that person does not speak very good Spanish always check with other said person before allowing said child to do what they ask....
~Glitter is a pain in the neck no matter what country you use it in.
~If an adult tells you something in Spanish and you don't understand but laugh anyway, you may end up get laughed at.
~Be sure to check any presents you bring back to the United States...a cockroach may just end up getting stuck in the wrapping (AKA the really happened to Christina......)
~Never fly Spirit airlines. They charge for everything. Including water. I'm surprised they didn't charge for toilet paper. The only thing they didn't charge for was ice chips. So I got creative and left my ice chips on the seat next to me until they melted. It would have been a lot easier if they had just given me the water.
~When traveling to Nicaragua remember to bring your own toilet paper, but toilet seat covers are optional.
~Note to self: buy stock in hand sanitizer.
~A great way to make friends, regardless of language or culture, is to learn how to bake. There is something about baking that crosses all borders.
~When studying another language, make sure to at least be aware of swear words and negative slang so as to not accidentally use them in every day conversation. I accidently told one of the guys to "tranquila", which I thought meant "calm down", but instead in their common use of the word means "to go drug up"... oops.
~There are tons of words you never learn in Spanish 301 but really need to know for surviving on the streets...or in conversation with teenage guys.
~When painting walls in a house, always paint the lower half of the wall in a darker color. Anything else shows all the hand prints and chair marks.
~Needing to tell guys to take the trash out and put the toilet seat down is universal (you know who you are).
~No, Christina and I are not sisters. Yes, we do look like we could be. But no, we're not.
~Ticos point with their lips instead of their index finger. So if someone is trying to tell you they are talking about the guy over there, instead of pointing with their finger they literally purse their lips like they are going to kiss from a distance whatever or whoever they are talking about.
~If you don't know how to pray in Spanish but are asked to and don't want to be rude, just say, "Sí, Señor. Por favor, Señor. Si, Señor. Gracias Señor. Si, Señor. Si, Señor. Aleluya. Amén."