Love in Translation: Letters to My Costa Rican Daughter

by Katherine Stanley Obando, Priscilla Aguirre (Illustrator)

When a Phoenix schoolteacher buys a one-way ticket to Costa Rica, she gets pretty much what she hopes salvation on a bus, enlightenment in a taxi, and a serendipitous romp of a reporting career. What she doesn’t see coming is a decade-long affair with the country’s sly and hilarious street slang, whose wit and wisdom changes the way she sees life, love, and eventually motherhood. A delight for travel buffs, parents and linguists alike, Katherine Stanley Obando’s ingenious and soulful phrasebook portrays a Costa Rica most tourists never see – and explains how what’s lost in translation helped her find herself.

“No one who loves Costa Rica should be without this delightful book – but it will also speak to anyone who has ever been far from home, or loved a child, or marveled at the power of language. ‘Love in Translation’ has earned a cherished and permanent spot on my bookshelf and in my heart.”
-Oscar Arias, Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Laureate

“Delicious… Lovingly written, with luminous joy.”
-Carlos Arauz, author of "Costa leyendas y tradiciones"

“This is cross culture at its most charming.”
-Henrietta Boggs, Former Costa Rican First Lady, author of "Married to a Don Pepe"

“She has taught us a valuable that our language and culture are rich and worthy of preservation. We must carry it in our souls. The pride of being Costa Rican, just the way we are.”
-María Mayela Padilla, National Culture Award-winning writer and folklorist

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

166 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 4, 2017

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book in a used book sale, and tried to puzzle out what the title meant. "Love in Translation: Letters to my Costa Rican daughter." She adopted a baby girl from Costa Rica? She came to love someone from Costa Rica so much that she considered her a daughter? She gave a baby up for adoption that now lives in Costa Rica? None of my guesses were correct, and I did not think of the right and possibly more obvious one. Obando moved to Costa Rica, married a Costa Rican and had a baby there, who is now growing up in her native country.

I suppose what I didn't like is that it isn't long enough! I wanted MORE! She expounds on quite a few things, in quite a fun and well-written way, but there were many things she did NOT expound on, and I felt the lack! It felt like, if it was a letter to her daughter, explaining all, then it didn't explain all. Gaps! Too many gaps. I wanted to know more about her husband Adrian, for instance, I felt like he was a mystery. Yes, the daughter would know things as she grew up, but what about us? She was publishing it for the world, after all. I wondered the whole book whether Adrian spoke English at all, but then near the end, she says he spoke in English to their daughter. Did he already know it? Did he learn it from the author? Did he own the restaurant he worked in? Did she say how they met?

This is a neat concept, something I would dream of doing, but then not DREAM of ever ACTUALLY doing it!!! For one thing, I know no Spanish beyond Si, and Hola and No comprende. And I found it fun that she was SO enjoying the local patois and expressions; I can appreciate that, I love my own Mainer husband's forays into making up his own colorful expressions and word combinations. The problem was, she used toooo much Spanish and repeated words she'd already taught us, but only once, so I forgot, and had no idea what she was saying. I didn't want to go back and try to find out where we learned it and what it meant. Besides, so many things meant so many things! Very confusing. I'm proud of her for conquering it so well, but I was lost. She even uses the letters of the alphabet to title her chapters, but I didn't understand the word she was highlighting. "H is for Hablando Paja." Whatever that means. I guess I know now how non-French speakers feel when they read a book with scattered French phrases that are not translated. I know some French and I'm charmed to read the French and not have it translated. Still, it's interesting that the Ticos (another thing I finally figured out, about halfway thru the book, Ticos are what the Costa Ricans call themselves.) have such fun with the language. I heard about a Bible translation that was busy translating into many difficult languages, but the Spanish Bible (seems like it would be easy!) was held up for over 10 years, and it was BECAUSE of all the different places that speak Spanish in different ways! They had to cover them all in one book.

I also like the chapter on names, names are my thing! I thought she was never going to tell us her daughter's name, beyond "E". (she did.)

Oh, and the McGuyver chapter was GREAT! Imagine, that character catching on in Costa Rica.

This was one of my favorite sections, being a New Englander and Mainer, myself. "P. A La Choza. Going Home." (but what did the P stand for?) Anyway:

"I slip out of the house into the cool evening. It's late-summer twilight in New England, God's attempt at justice for those who live in cold climates. These endless sunsets that stretch long past dinner make it possible to end the day with a run---a luxury impossible in Costa Rica, where the sun drops like a dead weight at six-ish, year-round. (I know, I know, I can feel the wrath of Mainers upon me. I'm not complaining, and yes, I know I haven't scraped the ice off a car in 15 years. But you know it as well as I do---a Maine summer, for all it's brevity, is perfection.)"

Oh, I heartily agree and No, I have no wrath! I would take the cold winters to get the gorgeous summers in Maine, anyday, over perpetual summer and humidity and no long summer evenings. I do not complain.

Anyway, this gave me new insight into Costa Rica, formerly only known to me as a vacation destination that my brother has been to, and what he had to say about it is that the humidity is INCREDIBLY APPALLING. Nothing ever dried. And that was not in the rainy season. Still, I don't think he was in the city, and maybe he wasn't even on the Pacific coast? The Author here doesn't mention the humidity, only the bucketing rain...

So, it was fun, but light, and I gave it 3 stars. Oh, and I just read the acknowledgements, and was surprised to find out that the author LOVEd the artist's drawings. I do not like the cover AT ALL. (grimace)

[Jolynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eloquent, intensely personal and, at the same time, broadly accessible, Katherine Stanley Obando's Love in Translation: Letters to My Costa Rican Daughter is one of my favorite books in a very long time. In this slim book, Obando conveys the overwhelming, exhilarating, challenging and rewarding process of moving to a new country, learning the mysteries of its language, falling in love and starting a family. I don't know Spanish at all and have never lived in another country, but I was enchanted by every page. Organized according to the alphabet, Obando intersperses brief journal entries from the beginning of her stay in Costa Rica through the birth of her daughter with letters to that young daughter describing the language, slang, and culture of her adopted country. Poetic, racy, thoughtful and always honest, this book actually made me laugh, smile and cry. I can't remember reading a book that covered so much ground with so few words: parenthood; motherhood; the difficulties of navigating an adult life so far from home; the physical and cultural contrasts between Costa Rica and the US; learning a language so deeply you understand its slang; Costa Rica; the importance of a culture's customs; the adventuresomeness and courage it takes to brave a different world; loneliness; homesickness; soccer; eggs; foreign exchange programs; falling in love; marriage; work/family balance; love; identity; and the meaning of home -- all of this is here and more. I will undoubtedly be reading this book again. Soon.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at the library because I recognized the author's name as the daughter of a couple who lives in town. Thought I'd just skim through it. But I ended up reading it all, from A to Z. Favorite quote in the book (page 87) "No matter how serene and confident and calm people might seem, how much older and wiser they might be, we are all babies underneath. We are toddling around on fat little legs hoping for a pat on the head. Unless we are unusually toughened by terrible circumstances, we are so easily hurt, so quickly bruised." Lots more sensitive observances about living. Her parents be proud of this grown child and her writing talents. It is well worth reading. Made me think hard about any long term visit to another country.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really beautifully written book. The author so beautifully captures the joy and heartbreak of raising a child in a culture that is not your own. She pays respect to Tico culture while highlighting some of the absurdities extranjeros laugh about. My absolute favorite was learning about "hacer MacGyver" which I now think about every time I have to do something crazy while driving.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We and our kids may differ in age by a few years, but this was otherwise a perfect, touching and eloquent parallel to my own life in Costa Rica. Must get my own copy.

[Joe Baur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Stanley Obando's "Love in Translation" proved to be one of my more enjoyable reading experiences in recent memory. I'm sure it helps that I've had the pleasure of meeting her and can relate to some of her experiences about living in Costa Rica, but I'm positive anyone will get something out of this book. If you've ever lived abroad, contemplated living abroad, have had a child, are thinking about having a child, or if you are simply an armchair traveler looking for a peek into life in Costa Rica, you'd be foolish not to get this book.