Why won’t the dog listen to me?
During the end of my sophomore year of high school, I did a study abroad in Heredia, Costa Rica. I still remember the day I left very vividly, I was so excited. As the wheels of the plane touched down in the new land I would be spending my next two months, I imagined the wonderful experiences I would have and the amazing people I would meet. Shortly after landing, I was met by my host family, who took me to my new home. Being it was my first day, it was very overwhelming. I began by sitting down with my host family to tell them a little about myself and get to know my Mama and Papa Tico, who only spoke Spanish and not a word of English.
After talking to them for a bit, I went upstairs to begin unpacking my things. It was then that I met the family dog, a small black and white dog named Cocoa. While unpacking, the dog decided to hop up on my bed and sat right on top of my clothes. I immediately began yelling “down, down, off the bed.” This was highly ineffective though, the dog just stared at me with a blank look, almost like I was crazy. Then it dawned on me, this dog doesn’t speak English. You may be thinking, I’m in a foreign country so obviously the dog wouldn’t speak English and I should be keenly aware of that. However, if you really think about it, whenever we see a dog, we immediately revert to that “dog voice” that everything has which is high pitched and almost incomprehensible as to what we’re saying. We say things like “come here,” “well hello there,” and whatever else comes over us when we see a cute dog. My point is, we see something so familiar as a dog and speak English. However, with this dog it was a different case, because as I mentioned, she spoke Spanish. I felt rather silly speaking to a dog in Spanish, and to be quite honest, I never got used to it the whole time I was there. The command “sit” became “siéntate”, good dog became “buen perra,” and “come here” became “ven acá.” Some other commonly used dog commands can be found here if you want to teach your dogs any.
Throughout Costa Rica, it is very common to see dogs wandering throughout the street. The town I lived in, Heredia, is one of the most dog populated areas in Costa Rica. Most of these dogs are strays but it is very common for people to leave food out for these dogs as if they are their own, and many become regulars at different houses throughout the city. In this city, which is located about an hour from the capitol, San Jose, there exists quite a unique attraction called “Territorio de Zaguates,” which translates to “land of the strays.” Located in the mountains that surround the city, it is a dog shelter which is home to hundreds of canines rescued from the city streets. Needless to say, Costa Rica is very dog friendly, with many dog friendly areas. Overall, however, seeing a dog in a restaurant, store, or even schools throughout the country is not uncommon.
I still remember my last day in Costa Rica just as well as my first, and it was very hard to leave the dog I had grown to love. I grew very fond of that dog in such a short time and will definitely never forget her. Who knows, maybe I’ll teach my dog some Spanish now.
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