Tejido

A few days ago, some new guests arrived at the Hostel and set up their tent in the middle of the dorm room.  I was tired and grumpy that day and didn´t meet or greet them.  Thankfully, they didn´t hold it against me, because they´ve become central to my days here.  Carlos and Roger are from Ajahuela, a city near San Jose that is known for being the home of La Liga, one of the two major soccer teams, and for being the city which doles out nicknames like rice and beans.  Neither use their real names in any but official circumstances - and Roger has a nickname for his nickname: Roger becomes Maguiver, which then becomes Magui.  As for Carlos, he says even his mother calls him Negro. (If your PC alarm is going off full force, remember that in Spanish, the translation for the color black has nothing to do with US history.) So, they´ve set to giving nicknames to everyone in the hostel. I´ll be sure to let you know when I get mine.

They are also artesanos - that is, they make and sell crafts for a living.  They create some really spectacular stuff with just nylon string and patience.  I managed to convince them to let me hang around and learn a thing or two - and this is what I´ve made so far:

Kindly ignore the stray toothpaste on my wrist.... :)

Impressive, right? To further the cool factor, the guys recently struck a deal with a local souvenir shop, and one of my bracelets is now in the store!  Obviously, I went and took a dorky picture.  My bracelet (the one on the bottom in the picture above) is on the top tube, second bracelet down.

Who knows, maybe I´ll be on the beach 5 years from now with my own wares...