chicle

       One morning Bileida gave me a ride to the bus stop because she was going to an exercise class that started up recently, at the local church.  She had on her white tennis shoes, shorts and a t shirt that fell off one shoulder (think flashdance).  She went into the bathroom and put her long hair up into a ponytail with a silver scrunchie.  Her hair is normally short and very thin, but yesterday Bileida got extensions.  She changes her hair all of the time.  She started selling jewelry for money so she could take many trips to the salon and have long hair.  Anibal told her, "enough", so now she wears it up whenever she is around him thinking he won't notice. In the bathroom she topped off her new do with a silver visor and sunglasses on top of that. She picked up her two-pound weights and we headed to the car. I smiled to myself on the bus, thinking how fortunate I was to step into the middle of their reality as a witness to their life.
       At school, I walked into class to find that a new student had joined us.  Helen. She was already accustomed to the unbelievable heat and humidity because she was from New Orleans. Helen is an amazing woman and the mother of three hilarious children who also take spanish at the school. She admitted right off the bat that she was a little addicted to chewing gum and she placed a container on the table explaining that this was undoubtedly the best gum in the world.  She shared all around and we happily smacked away with our surprising bursts-o-flavor. We got out our notebooks and settled into our lesson. Charlie told us which page to turn to and reached for his reading glasses to instruct us.  When he pulled them out of his pocket he set them on the bridge of his nose upside down and began to read.  We giggled like junior high girls thinking he didn't realize what he'd done.  He laughed too and showed us that the pads on his glasses had gone missing so he couldn't wear them the correct way because they would stab him. He struggled to look down far enough to read but but when he did they slipped off his nose.  In an underdeveloped country it is very difficult to just "run out and get" something you need, so we must improvise and make do all the time.  I searched my brain for a solution, thinking about what I might have in my backpack that would help.  Nothing.  I scanned the room and my eyes landed on the gum.  "Chicle Charlie! Podemos poner el chicle en sus vidrios." We can put gum on your glasses. He took a piece from Helen, divided it in two, and rolled it into little balls. He placed them in the right spot, put the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and easily began to read.  About twenty minutes later though, he yanked off the glasses and began rubbing his eyes in pain.  The heat had melted the gum and the sugar ran down into his eyes causing them to burn and sting.  He ran into the bathroom and washed out his eyes.  When he came back out, we told him that we would be his readers for the day. He grinned, leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table.  "Gracias, pura vida." He said.
       That night Bileida made a wonderful dinner of costa rican stew. It had meat, potatoes,vegetables and of course was served with a side of black beans and rice. After dinner I went up to look through my bags.  I thought I brought an extra pair of reading glasses with me that I could give to Charlie. I had just located them when Anibal called me downstairs to watch the Costa Rican version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".  He and Bileida sat on the couch and I went to a chair across the room.  Bileida waved me over to the couch.  She said it was too hot where I was sitting and there was a fan facing them.  She patted the middle cushion and told me to sit. So there I was on the couch in between my parents, just like a kid, watching tv. The contestant kept getting correct answers and made more money as he continued to stay in the game.  Anibal knew the answers and would shout them out.  There was a tricky question about the United States, so of course I thought I knew the answer and chose B.  Anibal shook his head. "A."  I reminded him that I was American and would know.  He just smiled and shrugged, "A" he said.  The host let the suspense build and announced, "The answer is.... A!"  Anibal doubled over laughing with delight as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a mil colones to give to him.
         Bileida took her hair down and discovered she had a huge rat's nest in it from aerobics.  She tried to clear it out with her fingers but it was too big.  She searched for a brush, came back and handed it to me.  I looked over at Anibal and he just rolled his eyes.  I laughed as I combed and pulled and combed and pulled.  I was just putting the final touch on a braid so it wouldn't happen again, when the contestant actually won a million dollars! He may think that he is wealthy now, but I tell you... today I am the one who is truly rich.

Charlie con chicle

Helen's Mardi Gras kids

No, really.  They are serious about their spanish.

Bileida's golden locks

one mil = two dollars hahaha