This photo was taken in 2007 at a farm where a friend works in Parrita, Costa Rica. At the time, rural life was completely alien to me. I didn’t know where to step, where to stand, where to be that I wouldn’t either be in the way, or get covered in something messy, stinky, or stinging.
This donkey, or mule might be better because I believe she’s female, seemed so lovely to me. The opposite of all those donkey stereotypes drilled into us when we were kids watching Warner Brother’s cartoons. She was serene, composed, beautiful.
When I told this to my friend who worked at the farm where this donkey lives, he smiled broadly and said, “until you ask her to do something she doesn’t want to do. Then she’s worse than a bull.”
Sigh. I guess that’s why stereotypes are often true.
Originally published May 17, 2014