Consumption

There's some dinner in the fridge for you, Karen called from her bedroom when I walked in after class tonight. "Really? What?" I asked.
"Rrrrooooster soup!" she said from her bedroom as I walked past onto the porch.
Juanca had told us in the morning that we'd finally get some sleep tonight. He'd paid the neighborhood kids to catch the bird. He said he felt bad, but Dahlia was cooking it up at least. I said, "Oh, no, pobrecito!", feeling sort of bad for the poor guy. Karen said, "Yeehaw!" and smiled the first real smile I'd seen from her all day. He brought us each a feather as proof or souvenir or something, both of which Karen immediately put in her hair. He told us it was all our fault. Karen shamelessly accepted full responsibility.

Karen sat with me while I ate my soup, making jokes the whole time. Thankfully she wasn't wearing the feathers. It was bad enough there was a very obvious and entire leg hanging out in my bowl. I ate it all, out of respect for both the bird and Dahlia. I don't care what anybody says, rooster does not taste like chicken, but the soup was pretty good.

Two big city gals living the simple life in Costa Rica. We've certainly had our share of culture clashes (and Kodak moments to prove it! Karen donned her rooster headgear, grabbed her bamboo walking stick, the biggest knife we own, and her fiercest hunting face for a photo op). Here was but another.

I'm about to have a new roommate come January. Kar and I have been on the apartment hunt for weeks now, and are weighing out our next step possibilities. This place is so transient that nothing lasts longer than 3 months here. We knew moving in here that this apartment was temporary. Our experience is shifting, yet again. My upcoming adaptation is named Federico. He's from Argentina. We met each other on the beach a only few weeks ago. He was looking for his lost flippers. I was looking for seashells. Both of us in search of abandoned vehicles, we found each other and clicked in that cosmic sort of way that makes people do fun and carefree things.

And so, new year, new life. As always, a new adventure.

I’m extremely excited and looking forward for sure, but as I sit here digesting the last male who disturbed my sleep, I can't help but wonder how having a live-in boyfriend will be.

Of course I'm joking. (burrrrp!)