Comments on: American Idiot

By: dreamweaver

dreamweaver — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:39:09 +0000

OMG! Um, is the tarantula considered a “curse” or “big bag of laughs?” I’m afraid that would have sent me right back to the airport, hon. I can relate to the miscommunications and cultural misunderstandings since I’m an expat too, but that would have sent me right over the edge, so thank goodness there are no tarantulas in Germany! You’re one brave lady!

And, how did we get the little miss out of our shower??

By: Chris Morrell

Chris Morrell — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:06:49 +0000

That tarantula looks huge, should have put a leash on it and walked it up and down the block. In regards to the cas juice, should have just told them you like your drinks with a little crunch in them. Finally added you to an RSS reader so I can keep track of things

By: Fabi

Fabi — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:49:51 +0000

Culture, culture, culture… is different.. but for this reason it’s interesting at the same time!!!

Definetly, I will not bother you with the “gordita” or “culote” tico expressions, no no. I really want to stay alive….. but with the other ones, I will!!

This is crazy CR, a land full of “piropos”, “versos”, “apodos” and really much more…

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:15:16 +0000

That’s one big freaking spider. Most spiders don’t bother me much, but I do believe I would have ran out of the bathroom upon seeing that thing.

What do female waitresses call men? Do they have rather feisty terms for them as well?

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:36:04 +0000

@dreamweaver: Well, now it’s considered a “big bag of laughs”! At the time, I didn’t think it was one bit funny and, as I said, was terrified of stepping on one. I couldn’t even get into my bed for weeks without checking under covers, pillows, etc. Now, though, I just pat myself on the back and congratulate myself for facing Aragog and coming out on the winning side (that’s something to smile about!). And how’d I get that huge sucker out? With Tupperwear. Because, oh yes, that is how I roll.

@Chris: I do believe you had a similar reaction the first time I tarantula blogged. And I’m so excited about being a part of your RSS aggregation! Woohoo.

@Fabi: You are a smart, smart man. <3, your pequeñita y flaquita. (Haha, I crack myself up.)

@Josh: Yes, he was big. Probably 6 inches in diameter, including his legs. And he was fury. And, GET THIS, he hissed!! But he is no more, so there. Women are less… assertive… than men are, and as far as I know, they don’t really have names for men. At least none that I’ve heard of. Sorry to dash your hopes!

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:39:47 +0000

A giant hissing spider. Wonderful. I’ll stay here in Ohio, thanks…

And - alas! Indeed, I was hoping to head down there to have some beautiful female waitress address me as “big sexy man” or something similar. Dasher of hopes, you are!

By: cristina

cristina — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:18:38 +0000

That spider is huge!!!! So much for the itsy-bitsy spider.

By: dreamweaver

dreamweaver — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:08:02 +0000

Tupperware??? I don’t think I could have done that either. My kids and I are sitting here laughing about what I’d have done had we been in the same situation, and I think (had I not grabbed my suitcase and headed directly for the airport) I’d have run outside after closing the bathroom door and waited for help, or called the fire department or…something. A giant hissing spider. Yeah, I’ll stay in Germany, thanks, and I probably won’t complain about the silver dollar size spiders we get in the house anymore, either.

And isn’t it funny that I thought the spider a female, and you thought of it as male??

By: Costa Rica » Blog Archives » Costa Rica & CAFTA

Costa Rica » Blog Archives » Costa Rica & CAFTA — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:41:54 +0000

[…] American IdiotThe culture of compliments is different in Costa Rica, and a gringa’s got to prepare herself: Waiters call you mami (sexy mama, more or less), taxi drivers call you mi amor (my love), and your boyfriend will rave about big ass and … […]

By: Talia

Talia — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:37:03 +0000

you are an awesome writer. i appreciate being able to read this (and relate to this) as i avoid writing my spanish paper due in just a few short hours. man i just want to be back. and btw, i had one of those tarantulas in my bathroom too. i always wore shoes.

By: Brian Requarth

Brian Requarth — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:19:50 +0000

Cultural misunderstanding are a lot of fun. Several years ago when I was living in San Pedro with a home stay family I was eating dinner with my Tico Mom and her two daughters. I was telling them about what had happened to me at school that day. I tried to retell my story of how I was walking through the cafeteria at the school and I slipped and took a spill in front of a bunch of people. As I tried to explain the story I finished by trying to say how embarrassed I was, but it didn’t come out exactly how I wanted. I said “Estoy muy embarasado” (I’m extremely pregnant). All three of the woman were cracking up and one of them literally shot juice through her nose. It added to my earlier embarrassment at school, but we all got a really good laugh!! Así es el proceso de aprender y experimentar otra idioma y cultura.

By: Jehan

Jehan — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:14:49 +0000

erin ~ a tarantula, eeeeek! i don’t blame you for doing anything and everything to find that key. i also love the diminuitive i look forward to catching you up with a message soon — is there an address i can mail you?

back in virginia, i’m surrendering to the gorgeous fall season (it’s my favorite, and i want to say your’s, too!), with the cool breeze and what feels like infinitely illuminated blue sky. breathe in deep all the fresh air around you, look forward to writing soon!

love & fresh apple cider sips your way.

ps — your post reminded me of my english composition course in my first-year of college: autobiography & anecdote! one of my fave classes. quick — could you explain what abc costing and FIFO are, again

By: Esmit Pérez

Esmit Pérez — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:35:50 +0000

Besides telling you to strain the juice, did they warn you cas may have lots of little worms in it?

By: Darwin

Darwin — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:30:53 +0000

These cultural misunderstandings is probably the most amusing part of the blog. I’ll call these gringuitica moments. Whether it be making your special smoothie concoction (with seeds and pits included) or bringing out the inner Macgyver in you (I can’t believe you remember that show) or spending quality time with nature’s wildlife (the crazy thing about this is that even with impending doom within inches of you, you still had it in you take snap a photo of your maker…priceless), it is these stories that keep me coming back for me. As for the compliments, if i ever tried telling a latina in america she was a gordita, all i can see if happening is her boot to my glute. Anyways, thanks for sharing!

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:28:50 +0000

@Josh: They may still call you “big, sexy man”, just not out of cultural habit… isn’t it better that way?!

@Christina: Nope, not so itsy bitsy!

@dreamweaver: Well, everyone I knew was either at work or out, so I had to deal with it on my own. There was no way I was going to leave a tarantula to wander about my shower and, eventually, my home. As they say, drastic times call for drastic measures!

@Talia: Thank you! And how nice to know that I’m not the only one with the terrifying arachnids in my home. Heh. Good luck with your paper, chiquita.

@Brian: I’ve made the “embarazada” mistake, too… I was 16 at the time and meeting my then-boyfriend’s friends for the first time. I first made the mistake of telling them I was exitada (”horny”, not “excited”) to meet them, and when I realized what I had said, out slipped that I was embarazada (again, that’s “pregnant”, not “embarrassed”) for my mistake. Yeah, that meeting went real well.

@Jehan: Well, if you’re talking email, it’s just erin [at] gringuitica [dot] com, but if you’d like my mailing address, just shoot me a line. I used to hate fall, you know, because my parents made me rake leaves. When I got older and moved out, I liked autumn very much because it was cool and beautiful, and no raking was necessary!

@Esmit: Eww, no! I knew that guayabas had worms (it still weirds me out to scoop them out!), but not cas! Now I wonder if the chunky bits really were just pit and skin. That makes me want to vomit…

@Darwin: I think I like “gringuitica moments”… has a bit of a ring to it! To clear a few things up, though: I don’t remember MacGyver because I never watched it. I was too involved with my Barbie dolls! Also, the snapping of a photo was not for documentation purposes, but rather because I thought my only hope might be to snap the photo, upload it to the Internet, and make Fabi look at it to tell me whether it would kill me or not. In the end, I opted not to do this because I was afraid it would crawl out of the tub and into my bed before I got a response.

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting. I can’t tell you how much it is appreciated!

By: elle.

elle. — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:27:23 +0000

Erin, you are hilarious and I miss you. Your cas juice tastes normal to me.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:15:01 +0000

I miss you too, elle! And thank you, but I think you were as much of a cas newbie as I, so we were both just idiots together.

By: Verny Rivera

Verny Rivera — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:25:52 +0000

Erin said: tell a tica that she’s got a huge, jiggly culote and she’ll shake it with pride

dont agree… you could die if you want to look like a player with some girls… actually there is a law that could send you to jail for 2 years, if a girl thinks that your “compliment” was understood as an insult she can make a formal complaint you ARE in troubles.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:34:41 +0000

I’m not sure if that new law applies to compliments/comments, Verny… I thought it was more directed aimed at domestic abuse (physical and verbal, I know). As far as I know, telling someone that she has a sexy butt isn’t an insult.

However, even if it is, I was more referring to admiring your girlfriend’s culo. In CR, ticas understand that culote means sexy, but to English speakers, it just sounds like an insulting translation for “huge [ugly] ass”. A cultural difference, for sure!

By: Verny Rivera

Verny Rivera — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:14:45 +0000

I was not talking about the new law, it is another one. I this law it is not accept to say a thing to a girl (you can do it if you want, but you are running the risk that she thinks that you said is offensive and make complaint against you)…

As a confidence relationship you could say some stuff to your couple but it doesn’t mean you are free to say that to a girl in the street (and that’s my point) because not all of them could be happy to hear that… actually most of the girls i know hate when a stranger pays them a compliment

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:52:53 +0000

I agree with that. I don’t like the catcalls on the street, either! They’re disgusting and men are better to keep their mouths shut.

That said, this post was meant to be amusing, and I certainly am not advocating telling random women that you’d like to tap it. I was more referring to my particular situation and that fact that I do not have culote, but rather a sexy culito. As I said, a joke!