It’s been a bit since I’ve last posted and honestly, I don’t have too much to say but will instead offer a few observations about my current state of mind and a few highlights from the past week.
Last weekend we took a spontaneous road trip to Ciudad Quesada. It was a 2 hour adventure on one shuttle from the ranch and a public bus. I realized when I got onto the bus how much I had missed public transportation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely head over heels for my yellow car, but it is nice to be able to freely move from place to place and not worry about parking, gas, insurance, etc. Memo, a Tico friend who works in the kitchen, has family in Ciudad Quesada and grew up there. It was refreshing to travel away from the ranch and away from the tourist atmosphere of La Fortuna and finally gain a taste of the “real” Costa Rica—away from the crowds, the English, the extortion. Isaac, Andrea, and I decided to go to the movies while we waited for Memo to go run some errands. Harry Potter 6 was playing so we paid 1800 colones, roughly 3 US dollars, to enjoy the 2 and a half hour flick dubbed entirely in Spanish—no subtitles. I’m happy to report I paid attention the whole time and didn’t even fall asleep once! I think this was because my brain was excited with the challenge of trying to understand everything that was being said. I’m also happy to report that I understand nearly all of it, minus the wizard words and a few voices here and there. Andrea and Isaac had a bit more trouble, but I filled in the blanks and Andrea had read the book, so she had a general idea of what was to happen before the movie even began. After the movie we met up with Memo for dinner at a random little Tico place that was nothing special. I had a cheeseburger and well, it was better than rice and beans, but not great. After that we took an incredibly bumpy ride to Memo’s house that overlooks most of the town on top of a nearby mountain. Awesome. The view at night was incredible, as was the view the next morning! Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures—fail on my part. We decided to go back into town as it wasn’t that late and check out a karaoke bar we had seen along the way. The bar was absolutely packed and the majority of men that filled the place were extremely excited to show off their skills. The best song we heard sung was some song none of us had ever heard about America, belted out with such gusto that it was all we could do to not absolutely burst into laughter later. Our next stop was some bar that apparently has dancing on Friday and Saturday nights, but apparently no one felt like dancing when we were there. However, we didn’t let that deter us and Isaac, Andrea, and I danced anyway, not caring what the Ticos thought about the crazy gringos. (Note that Memo did NOT participate—maybe it’s not really a dance club and the joke was on us, who knows). The next morning I enjoyed sleeping in until 9am! Memo’s mom made us coffee and we had some delicious bread, then headed back to the bus station and then back to La Fortuna.
The rest of the weekend was uneventful, though we did have an awesome fire on the island Sunday night and I stayed out there way too late. Oh well though, it was definitely worth it, enjoying the evening, staring up at the stars and listening to the river flow by. I’m obsessed with that place—it’s so tranquil and I always feel so in touch with nature while down there.
Cleaning and inspecting for mold continues to be a chore. It ensures that our room, and stuff, stays clean though! However, all forms of organizational containers now prove ineffective as instead they are incubators of mold.
I’m used to the rain by now, and somewhat enjoy it. It makes getting up in the morning hard sometimes though, especially when the rain is absolutely POURING. For whatever reason, rain falling is such a soothing sound and does not promote motivation.
Costa Rica is changing me. Most likely, these changes are only temporary but I suppose time shall tell.
First of all, I am up by 6:45am every day, even on my days off. With the exception of the past few days, I am in bed by 11:30pm, if not earlier. The necessity of going down for breakfast before it ends at 7:15am motivates me to get up. Though I will admit that on Monday, dragging myself out of bed at that hour, even for breakfast, was too much. So I skipped the first meal of the day and it really wasn’t that bad…it may happen again. Even though I am most definitely a night person, I can appreciate the early morning and the stillness and expectancy a new day brings.
I no longer crave sweets. I know, right? I do still definitely enjoy them, from time to time, but after being unwillingly weaned off of them, a cookie once a week or so is a nice little luxury to be had. I can’t afford to crave something that I can’t get whenever I want, as it is back home in the States. Even when there are extra cookies, if I’ve already had one that day, I don’t really have any desire to eat another. I suppose this is a good thing, and I have no doubt that my sweet tooth will return come September 18. I did enjoy a bowl of chocolate, coconut, and peanut ice cream at Pizza John’s over the weekend, along with a Coke Zero. It’s truly amazing the things you miss, often items you never thought you would.
I’m getting used to the simpler lifestyle, though I’ve never considered myself to lead an overly complicated life. I do miss my cell phone from time to time, mostly because I love to stay connected to all of you fine folk.
This weekend should prove exciting, another Pizza John’s night tonight, which is turning into a weekly tradition. I hope to go on an awesome hike one of the days this weekend, and overall enjoy life as usual. It’s nice to have a break from sitting on the computer for 8 hours a day and enjoy la naturaleza all around me.
Signing off for now, more to come! As always, thank you for the emails, photo comments, wall posts, and the like—they encourage me and brighten my days. :)
Love you all, wish I could be there with you this weekend, or that you could be here with me. Enjoy the weekend!
Cheers,
Katie
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Appreciating the Beauty of Coexistence..and la naturaleza (nature)
Through this adventure, I am realizing more and more how much I truly love being out-of-doors. And it’s a good thing too since I’m outdoors the majority of my time here! There is almost always a roof over my head, but no walls so I am free to feeling the wind and occasional spray from the rain. Our bungalow has a roof and four walls, but in an effort to cut down on the mold population we’ve been leaving our doors wide open, inviting the wind (and bugs) inside. It’s a necessary trade off, and I don’t mind the coexistence. Here in the middle of nowhere it’s all about coexisting. Here we are, in the middle of the rainforest and there are creatures all around and this is their home too, just as it is ours. So why not all live in harmony together? Okay so before someone breaks out the peace pipe, I will admit that I do occasionally kill the larger bugs that enter our room, but I don’t enjoy it. I suppose it’s all a part of the circle of life, survival of the fittest, or something to that extent.
Anyway, Saturday afternoon I decided to finally climb the Mirador trail. It’s a trail that leads up to the top of a mountain on the ranch property and apparently, it’s pretty intense. So I donned my hiking boots and hydration pack and headed up the trail, hoping it wouldn’t rain. Since it had rained the entire day before I wasn’t sure of the trail conditions either, especially since the trail was all dirt—and therefore, now mud. Mostly the trail is used for the horseback tours so as I climbed I dodged piles of horse excrement, as well as a few spots where it looked like the horse had sank deeply into the mud. I made it up to the top in no time, enjoying the physical exertion and breathtaking views that popped up around a corner or in between two trees. I love climbing mountains. It’s harder work of course, but so much more satisfying than a flat trail. The steep trail leveled out once I reached the lookout. It opened up to reveal an incredible view of Lake Arenal, Volcán Arenal, awesome clouds, a few horses grazing, and miles upon miles of pure, green rainforest. I burst into a massive smile, awestruck with the few in front of me and the complete silence, aside from the occasional bird call, howler monkey scream, and buzz of insects. The town of El Castillo lay in front of me as well, small homes colorfully dotting the landscape to the east, as the sun began to set in the west. I wasn’t quite to the top of the mountain, even though this is where the trail supposedly ended. Overwhelmed by the view, I figured I could get an even better one if I climbed a little higher, off the trail and into the brush. There was a small horse trail that I was able to use for a while but I pressed on once it ended. The top was even more spectacular than the first view. I was even higher and breathless with excitement.
Here I was, on the top of a mountain in Costa Rica, feasting my eyes on pure natural jungle. Birds flew by me, and butterflies flitted among the various flowers growing up amongst the tall grass. I fleetingly thought about the high probability of chiggers in the grass, but dismissed it—I was adventuring! I slid underneath a barbed wire fence to get a better view, and to have a place to set up my tripod. As I tramped around, soaking up the view all I could think about was how beautiful it all was, and how I wanted to stay up there forever. I think I spent about an hour and a half up there, taking pictures, listening to the birds, watching them hop from branch to branch and then suddenly take off and soar across the expanse. I got some incredibly clear views of the volcano too, as the clouds cleared off and the smoke from within dissipated momentarily. Eventually, I decided it was time to descend. I now passed along the other side of the mountain, into the jungle once more. I saw a HUGE orange-winged tarantula wasp injecting a big gray tarantula with its eggs in the middle of the trail. Crazy sight. In a few weeks, the eggs will hatch and the baby wasps will eat the tarantula alive. Delicious. ;)
On Tuesday, our friend Luís Carlos came and found us after lunch and told us that there was a kayak tour going out later that afternoon if we wanted to join. Of course we did, ending work early for the day only to make up the hours later in the week—definitely worth it! Andrea and I shared a double kayak, something I’ve never done before, and one other girl got the other single kayak. I’d taken ocean kayaking classes in Chile, so I’d encountered larger waves than the ones that insisted on entering. The wind didn’t help much either though, and we struggled to keep up. I felt like I was in the middle of the ocean, even though it was just a manmade lake. The waves rolled, the wind howled (okay, it wasn’t that bad—but still!), and I imagined for a moment how the pirates must have felt, navigating the high seas during a storm as the water rolled over the sides of their mighty ship. Luís Carlos decided it would be better if we switched, so he came in to the back of the kayak and Andrea took the single. It was much easier after this change, and we made it to the other side of this massive lake to an island in no time, leaving the other two in the dust. Or rough water, one of the two. It was quite a workout, but so fun out on the open water. We rested on an island for a bit, and then entered the water for another go. The way back was easier, with less waves, and the water was warm. It was a gorgeous day—it only rained for about 5 minutes!! The rest of the day was brilliant sunshine, perfect for a kayak adventure. I even took a few pictures for the brochure we’re developing, so it wasn’t a lost cause by any means! :)
Last night was another Awesome Moment. We had another fire on the island in the river, and quite a few people joined this time. There are a few new volunteers as well, two from France and one from Israel so that keeps things entertaining. We enjoyed another fire, along with sacrificing Isaac’s sandals that had broken after 3 years of use. A few guests from the ranch joined us and when they decided to leave, some thought that that meant that everyone was leaving so our large group quickly shrunk to 4—me, Memo, Luís Carlos, and Isaac. The 4 of us burned the rest of the wood we’d brought, including a broken stool. As the fire died down, Isaac suggested going out to “the most beautiful place on all the ranch.” He wasn’t exaggerating. We navigated the river, going upstream and climbing over many river rocks until we finally reached a large, flat rock that sat in the middle of the divide between the two rivers. We laid down on the rock and looked up at the stars that, as the sky began to clear, revealed millions upon billions of tiny, twinkling beams of light. it was so incredible. i felt so small yet so safe and without a care in the world, peering into the big, dark expanse of the Costa Rican sky. Nothing seemed to matter and everything seemed so simple. There was nothing more to do, nothing more to think about. The river continued its course, just as it has for many years before our time, and likely will for many years to come. The stars sparkled, many light years away, looking down on us, or maybe we were looking up at them. A plane flew by, moving quickly from one end of the sky to the other. Where was it going? Were the passengers awake, looking down on the earth below, wondering if anyone was down there watching them fly by? While out in the middle of the river, we saw 3 shooting stars journeying through the universe, burning up into space. all i could do was just smile like a goof and chuckle to myself in absolute wonder and awe. LOVED it.
The rains continue, along with the occasional sun, and the always present beans and rice. We get orange slices for breakfast sometimes now, even had some type of French toast this morning too. I’m loving being able to use my Spanish to communicate with some of the other workers and truthfully, am beginning to enjoy being here. The beauty of this place certainly helps, despite all the imperfections and discomforts that come along with any foreign place.
May you find your own adventures this week!
Cheers,
Katie
Anyway, Saturday afternoon I decided to finally climb the Mirador trail. It’s a trail that leads up to the top of a mountain on the ranch property and apparently, it’s pretty intense. So I donned my hiking boots and hydration pack and headed up the trail, hoping it wouldn’t rain. Since it had rained the entire day before I wasn’t sure of the trail conditions either, especially since the trail was all dirt—and therefore, now mud. Mostly the trail is used for the horseback tours so as I climbed I dodged piles of horse excrement, as well as a few spots where it looked like the horse had sank deeply into the mud. I made it up to the top in no time, enjoying the physical exertion and breathtaking views that popped up around a corner or in between two trees. I love climbing mountains. It’s harder work of course, but so much more satisfying than a flat trail. The steep trail leveled out once I reached the lookout. It opened up to reveal an incredible view of Lake Arenal, Volcán Arenal, awesome clouds, a few horses grazing, and miles upon miles of pure, green rainforest. I burst into a massive smile, awestruck with the few in front of me and the complete silence, aside from the occasional bird call, howler monkey scream, and buzz of insects. The town of El Castillo lay in front of me as well, small homes colorfully dotting the landscape to the east, as the sun began to set in the west. I wasn’t quite to the top of the mountain, even though this is where the trail supposedly ended. Overwhelmed by the view, I figured I could get an even better one if I climbed a little higher, off the trail and into the brush. There was a small horse trail that I was able to use for a while but I pressed on once it ended. The top was even more spectacular than the first view. I was even higher and breathless with excitement.
Here I was, on the top of a mountain in Costa Rica, feasting my eyes on pure natural jungle. Birds flew by me, and butterflies flitted among the various flowers growing up amongst the tall grass. I fleetingly thought about the high probability of chiggers in the grass, but dismissed it—I was adventuring! I slid underneath a barbed wire fence to get a better view, and to have a place to set up my tripod. As I tramped around, soaking up the view all I could think about was how beautiful it all was, and how I wanted to stay up there forever. I think I spent about an hour and a half up there, taking pictures, listening to the birds, watching them hop from branch to branch and then suddenly take off and soar across the expanse. I got some incredibly clear views of the volcano too, as the clouds cleared off and the smoke from within dissipated momentarily. Eventually, I decided it was time to descend. I now passed along the other side of the mountain, into the jungle once more. I saw a HUGE orange-winged tarantula wasp injecting a big gray tarantula with its eggs in the middle of the trail. Crazy sight. In a few weeks, the eggs will hatch and the baby wasps will eat the tarantula alive. Delicious. ;)
On Tuesday, our friend Luís Carlos came and found us after lunch and told us that there was a kayak tour going out later that afternoon if we wanted to join. Of course we did, ending work early for the day only to make up the hours later in the week—definitely worth it! Andrea and I shared a double kayak, something I’ve never done before, and one other girl got the other single kayak. I’d taken ocean kayaking classes in Chile, so I’d encountered larger waves than the ones that insisted on entering. The wind didn’t help much either though, and we struggled to keep up. I felt like I was in the middle of the ocean, even though it was just a manmade lake. The waves rolled, the wind howled (okay, it wasn’t that bad—but still!), and I imagined for a moment how the pirates must have felt, navigating the high seas during a storm as the water rolled over the sides of their mighty ship. Luís Carlos decided it would be better if we switched, so he came in to the back of the kayak and Andrea took the single. It was much easier after this change, and we made it to the other side of this massive lake to an island in no time, leaving the other two in the dust. Or rough water, one of the two. It was quite a workout, but so fun out on the open water. We rested on an island for a bit, and then entered the water for another go. The way back was easier, with less waves, and the water was warm. It was a gorgeous day—it only rained for about 5 minutes!! The rest of the day was brilliant sunshine, perfect for a kayak adventure. I even took a few pictures for the brochure we’re developing, so it wasn’t a lost cause by any means! :)
Last night was another Awesome Moment. We had another fire on the island in the river, and quite a few people joined this time. There are a few new volunteers as well, two from France and one from Israel so that keeps things entertaining. We enjoyed another fire, along with sacrificing Isaac’s sandals that had broken after 3 years of use. A few guests from the ranch joined us and when they decided to leave, some thought that that meant that everyone was leaving so our large group quickly shrunk to 4—me, Memo, Luís Carlos, and Isaac. The 4 of us burned the rest of the wood we’d brought, including a broken stool. As the fire died down, Isaac suggested going out to “the most beautiful place on all the ranch.” He wasn’t exaggerating. We navigated the river, going upstream and climbing over many river rocks until we finally reached a large, flat rock that sat in the middle of the divide between the two rivers. We laid down on the rock and looked up at the stars that, as the sky began to clear, revealed millions upon billions of tiny, twinkling beams of light. it was so incredible. i felt so small yet so safe and without a care in the world, peering into the big, dark expanse of the Costa Rican sky. Nothing seemed to matter and everything seemed so simple. There was nothing more to do, nothing more to think about. The river continued its course, just as it has for many years before our time, and likely will for many years to come. The stars sparkled, many light years away, looking down on us, or maybe we were looking up at them. A plane flew by, moving quickly from one end of the sky to the other. Where was it going? Were the passengers awake, looking down on the earth below, wondering if anyone was down there watching them fly by? While out in the middle of the river, we saw 3 shooting stars journeying through the universe, burning up into space. all i could do was just smile like a goof and chuckle to myself in absolute wonder and awe. LOVED it.
The rains continue, along with the occasional sun, and the always present beans and rice. We get orange slices for breakfast sometimes now, even had some type of French toast this morning too. I’m loving being able to use my Spanish to communicate with some of the other workers and truthfully, am beginning to enjoy being here. The beauty of this place certainly helps, despite all the imperfections and discomforts that come along with any foreign place.
May you find your own adventures this week!
Cheers,
Katie
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tropical Awakening
So after being here for 10 days, I’m happy to report that I’ve really begun to adjust and get used to a lot of things that were tough at first. For example, the daily rain periods. Now, we all try to guess as to the hour that it’s going to rain on any given day. And the darkness by 6pm? Tonight I enjoyed walking back to the bungalow from dinner to an awesome lightning show and a break in the clouds full of so many stars that I couldn’t help but stand and look up at the sky in absolute wonder for a few minutes. The rice and beans every day, 3 meals a day? I politely ask them to exclude that from my plate from time to time, which then gets me extra of the warmed-up leftovers the tourists rejected. Also, tonight we ended up staying at dinner longer than usual and it just so happened that the lights went out, just as we were all sitting at the table, salivating at the tourists going through their special buffet of freshly cut watermelon, pineapple, and other melons, as well as a HUGE bowl of ice cream to make banana splits (!) That was enough excuse for all of us to bum rush—or rather send stealth missions--to the fruit plate under the cover of darkness and swipe a few slices of delicious, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth pineapple and eat them before the lights went back on. Hydroelectric power can be unpredictable. Sometimes a stick or something will get caught in the turbine and the power will cease. Exciting.
But wait. There’s even more. The line of “do I really have to try to get used to this?” was crossed this evening. Thursday, July 9, 2009. 7:30pm. I came back to the room and decided that I should probably try to find my passport as I wasn’t sure where I’d put it (I found it, warped and unhappy in this humid atmosphere, but still intact). In conducting my thorough search, I discovered the greatest disadvantage to living in the tropics without any type of air conditioning, fan, or screened windows. And lots of water. Or rather, the highest percentage of humidity known to mankind. Add insane levels of humidity plus porous material and what do you have? Mold. Delicious, white, circular, smelly mold molecules waving their little tentacles of repulsiveness in retaliation for my intrusion into their microscopic world. Covering my things that I had carefully organized and stored on and around my bed frame and inside a few drawers. My favorite green shoes looked like I’d stepped in marshmallow crème, or at least a ripe dandelion puff. My camera case: pulverized by the white decay. Glasses case, purses, storage bags. Check, check, and uhhh yeah, check! It looks like I’m going to have to add Weekly Mold Inspection to my to-do list. I’m crossing my fingers that it doesn’t start growing all over my camping gear, or my clothes. My white pillow cases already smell like swampland. Maybe they’ve been struck too, and I just have no idea. I can only hope they have been spared from this devastation. Blech. I wanted to throw up. Any ingenious tips for combating the growth of mold while living in the tropics? This is only day 10!! I have 69 more days of battle against this ruthless creature! PLEASE HELP!
In hopes of straying from that terrible subject, I also wanted to tell you all about the adventure I embarked upon the other night. Before I begin, mothers, do not be alarmed, it could have been worse. ;) It was another typical, dark night on the ranch and Andrea and I decided to combat our boredom with a walk to Pizza John’s. (An incredible pizza place oasis that is 40 minutes walking distance from the ranch, for those of you who did not read that blog). Just as we were leaving, our friend Isaac came out of nowhere and asked what our plans were. He said that he was rounding up as many people as possible to go make a fire on the island in the middle of the river. You see, the great thing about Costa Rica is that any land within 15 feet of any type of waterway or body of water is considered public land. And there are no rules on public land. Maybe this is true elsewhere too, but I’ve never heard of it. Regardless, it was island time. The adventure was supposed to start at 7pm, so obviously we didn’t start collecting wood and really getting going until about 8pm. (I love time here!) As it turned out, Andrea was tired and decided to bail, as did a few others so it ended up being me, Isaac, Luís Carlos (one of the bilingual Tico tour guides), and Michael, another Tico. It’s a good thing I’ve been a tomboy since birth, and love the outdoors. We gathered as much dry wood as possible, which is pretty difficult in a rainforest but somehow we found enough, along with a bag of sawdust, and a HUGE white spider that Isaac said was most likely part of the tarantula family. With our burdens in tow, the four of us set off to the path down to the river. It started to rain, and then rain a little harder but we pressed on anyways. As it turns out, there used to be a really nice path down to the river leading to the island. But, for whatever reason, someone had decided that the path looked like a great area to dump compost, and huge leaves and sticks and rotten fruit. That didn’t deter us in the least, but it did make the term “slippery” come to life. And make me cross my fingers and pray that there weren’t any poisonous snakes hanging out underneath the brush. Yeahhhh, we’ll be cleaning off the path next time before we go—don’t worry!! So we slid down the landslide of junk into the river below and waded across, still clutching our fire supplies that did indeed stay miraculously dry the whole way. The island was awesome. It’s really just a small strip of land in the middle of the rocky river, with lots of rocks and sand and a few trees and brush. We cleared away most of the rocks in one area and the guys took the wood and built the fire. I would have helped, but they were really pumped about it so I stayed out of the way and poured the Jungle Juice (quite an appropriate name considering our location) for everyone. Isaac had made it in a mayo container: juice from lunch, an energy drink, some casique which I honestly am not sure what type of alcohol it is but it’s Costa Rican, and the best ingredient of all: fresh pineapple slices!! There wasn’t much to go around, but it was good enough and the “drunken pineapples” were delicious! The fire started going pretty quickly, despite the rain falling and the obviously damp conditions. It was a gorgeous night, and thankfully the rain stopped before we all got too drenched. The rhythm of the river rushing over the smoothed stones, combined with the mesmerizing glow of the fire and the occasional explosion from the volcanic rocks that hadn’t all been completely removed from the fire area. Apparently when they get really hot they pop and explode. Exciting. The journey back to the path wasn’t as adventurous as the way down to the island, probably because I knew what I was getting myself into climbing back up the riverbank, but it was still enjoyable and even though it was kind of chilly out as we headed back, the water from the river still felt good lapping at my calves. It was a great time on the island, away from it all again.
Speaking of adjusting, I read this blog the other day from a few friends of mine that are in Kenya for a couple months through World Next Door. If any of you remember, I had considered applying to join them this summer, but opted for another alternative and ended up here in Costa Rica instead. This recent entry put into perspective my own discomforts as I get used to everything in this place: http://www.worldnextdoor.org/2009/06/after-the-sun-goes-down/ The mission of World Next Door is “to use entertaining, thought-provoking and heart-breaking journalism to change ordinary people into wild-eyed revolutionaries and to unleash them on local and global issues of social injustice.” Check it out if you feel like reading more blog stories!
Until next time, enjoy the weekend! (Pizza John’s Friday for me! WAHOO!)
Katie
But wait. There’s even more. The line of “do I really have to try to get used to this?” was crossed this evening. Thursday, July 9, 2009. 7:30pm. I came back to the room and decided that I should probably try to find my passport as I wasn’t sure where I’d put it (I found it, warped and unhappy in this humid atmosphere, but still intact). In conducting my thorough search, I discovered the greatest disadvantage to living in the tropics without any type of air conditioning, fan, or screened windows. And lots of water. Or rather, the highest percentage of humidity known to mankind. Add insane levels of humidity plus porous material and what do you have? Mold. Delicious, white, circular, smelly mold molecules waving their little tentacles of repulsiveness in retaliation for my intrusion into their microscopic world. Covering my things that I had carefully organized and stored on and around my bed frame and inside a few drawers. My favorite green shoes looked like I’d stepped in marshmallow crème, or at least a ripe dandelion puff. My camera case: pulverized by the white decay. Glasses case, purses, storage bags. Check, check, and uhhh yeah, check! It looks like I’m going to have to add Weekly Mold Inspection to my to-do list. I’m crossing my fingers that it doesn’t start growing all over my camping gear, or my clothes. My white pillow cases already smell like swampland. Maybe they’ve been struck too, and I just have no idea. I can only hope they have been spared from this devastation. Blech. I wanted to throw up. Any ingenious tips for combating the growth of mold while living in the tropics? This is only day 10!! I have 69 more days of battle against this ruthless creature! PLEASE HELP!
In hopes of straying from that terrible subject, I also wanted to tell you all about the adventure I embarked upon the other night. Before I begin, mothers, do not be alarmed, it could have been worse. ;) It was another typical, dark night on the ranch and Andrea and I decided to combat our boredom with a walk to Pizza John’s. (An incredible pizza place oasis that is 40 minutes walking distance from the ranch, for those of you who did not read that blog). Just as we were leaving, our friend Isaac came out of nowhere and asked what our plans were. He said that he was rounding up as many people as possible to go make a fire on the island in the middle of the river. You see, the great thing about Costa Rica is that any land within 15 feet of any type of waterway or body of water is considered public land. And there are no rules on public land. Maybe this is true elsewhere too, but I’ve never heard of it. Regardless, it was island time. The adventure was supposed to start at 7pm, so obviously we didn’t start collecting wood and really getting going until about 8pm. (I love time here!) As it turned out, Andrea was tired and decided to bail, as did a few others so it ended up being me, Isaac, Luís Carlos (one of the bilingual Tico tour guides), and Michael, another Tico. It’s a good thing I’ve been a tomboy since birth, and love the outdoors. We gathered as much dry wood as possible, which is pretty difficult in a rainforest but somehow we found enough, along with a bag of sawdust, and a HUGE white spider that Isaac said was most likely part of the tarantula family. With our burdens in tow, the four of us set off to the path down to the river. It started to rain, and then rain a little harder but we pressed on anyways. As it turns out, there used to be a really nice path down to the river leading to the island. But, for whatever reason, someone had decided that the path looked like a great area to dump compost, and huge leaves and sticks and rotten fruit. That didn’t deter us in the least, but it did make the term “slippery” come to life. And make me cross my fingers and pray that there weren’t any poisonous snakes hanging out underneath the brush. Yeahhhh, we’ll be cleaning off the path next time before we go—don’t worry!! So we slid down the landslide of junk into the river below and waded across, still clutching our fire supplies that did indeed stay miraculously dry the whole way. The island was awesome. It’s really just a small strip of land in the middle of the rocky river, with lots of rocks and sand and a few trees and brush. We cleared away most of the rocks in one area and the guys took the wood and built the fire. I would have helped, but they were really pumped about it so I stayed out of the way and poured the Jungle Juice (quite an appropriate name considering our location) for everyone. Isaac had made it in a mayo container: juice from lunch, an energy drink, some casique which I honestly am not sure what type of alcohol it is but it’s Costa Rican, and the best ingredient of all: fresh pineapple slices!! There wasn’t much to go around, but it was good enough and the “drunken pineapples” were delicious! The fire started going pretty quickly, despite the rain falling and the obviously damp conditions. It was a gorgeous night, and thankfully the rain stopped before we all got too drenched. The rhythm of the river rushing over the smoothed stones, combined with the mesmerizing glow of the fire and the occasional explosion from the volcanic rocks that hadn’t all been completely removed from the fire area. Apparently when they get really hot they pop and explode. Exciting. The journey back to the path wasn’t as adventurous as the way down to the island, probably because I knew what I was getting myself into climbing back up the riverbank, but it was still enjoyable and even though it was kind of chilly out as we headed back, the water from the river still felt good lapping at my calves. It was a great time on the island, away from it all again.
Speaking of adjusting, I read this blog the other day from a few friends of mine that are in Kenya for a couple months through World Next Door. If any of you remember, I had considered applying to join them this summer, but opted for another alternative and ended up here in Costa Rica instead. This recent entry put into perspective my own discomforts as I get used to everything in this place: http://www.worldnextdoor.org/2009/06/after-the-sun-goes-down/ The mission of World Next Door is “to use entertaining, thought-provoking and heart-breaking journalism to change ordinary people into wild-eyed revolutionaries and to unleash them on local and global issues of social injustice.” Check it out if you feel like reading more blog stories!
Until next time, enjoy the weekend! (Pizza John’s Friday for me! WAHOO!)
Katie
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Searching for the Sun and Learning the Ropes
It’s amazing how much the weather can affect one’s mood and outlook on life. The past 3 days have been *mostly* sunny (of course it still rains at least once a day, if not more!) and it has been so great. We also had the weekend off, which was a great time to regroup, as well as relax and explore somewhat. Before I continue with the weekend’s happenings, I promised to tell you all about what’s going on around here and what I’m doing.
Living on a “self-sufficient, organic” ranch is incredibly interesting. All electricity is generated by two huge hydroelectric turbines that use water from streams and springs around the property to keep the refrigerators on and the lights semi-luminous (yellow compact fluorescent bulbs don’t produce much light, especially at night). Our hot water comes from large compost piles full of weeds pulled from the gardens, cow and pig manure, and other organic waste. These piles are created around a series of blue coiled pipes through which water flows. When the water passes through the coils within the compost pile, the compost heats the pipes, which in turn heats the water and provides the temperatures necessary to comfortably shower and wash one’s hands. The liquid waste from the pigs is collected into large vats that pass through a bio-digestor that converts the pig waste into methane gas. This gas is used in the kitchen much in the same way that propane gas is used and voilá!: stove top heating. There’s also a wildlife rescue and reintroduction center where a variety of animals including a white-tailed deer, green parrot, ocelot, spider monkey, white-capped capuchin and others reside. The spider monkey, Sebastian, was once a house pet and was fed table food and developed an addiction to Fanta. Since being at the ranch he has gone through detox and now after a few months of rehab, has kicked that nasty habit.
My work consists of creating Facebook pages and ads, blogs, brochures, etc. as well as the verbage and marketing plans for the numerous innovative projects that my boss and owner and founder of the ranch has created and needs promoted. The first of many projects that we are focusing on is an edible forest reforestation program. This program hopes to plant 40-50 thousand fruit trees on ranch property and 40-50 thousand more fruit trees throughout the nearby town. Not only will this help in reforesting an area that 35-40 years ago was completely clear cut but it will also provide sustenance for the villagers once the fruit matures, along with teaching them about the benefits of conservation and sustainability—something that forms the very existence of the ranch. The schoolchildren will perform the task of planting, protecting, and caring for the trees as they grow. Part of the money raised from each tree purchased will be given to the schools that assist with this initiative and provide necessary funds for improved education. Another project is to begin offering a 2-week intensive Spanish class on the ranch, accompanied by a 4-6 week or 10-12 week course load for college credit teaching students about organic agriculture and rural tourism, among other topics.
The promotion for these projects is not as easy as it may seem, especially coupled with the fact that the term “high speed” certainly does not apply to the internet connection out here in the middle of nowhere (therefore, unfortunately my pictures will be few and far between—or when the internet happens to be cooperating. I’ll do my best! Never fear though, they will all be up upon my return to modern life). I suppose we are lucky enough to have internet at all, but when it takes about 20 minutes to try to upload a picture to a blog and have a 50/50 chance of it working the first time…an 8-hour work day takes a looooong time. However, I could be in the garden shoveling the livestock manure (a job that every other volunteer is quickly introduced to upon arrival), working from 6am until 4pm as many of the other volunteers do. While I wouldn’t mind this for a couple days or so, I know it’s not easy work and especially when it downpours, I am happy to be in a covered area, albeit still outside.
There are an incredible amount of butterflies and hummingbirds that flit and fly all over the ranch and are so beautiful to watch amongst the many flowers that grow around the ranch as well. I saw a toucan last week while working on the computer. I just so happened to be staring at the rainforest at the right moment for a toucan with its unmistakably large beak to fly by. Very cool.
This past weekend I went off exploring down the road alone and took tons of pictures and watched a number of birds and other animals frolic in the forest and along the river and lake. I didn’t get a very good view of the volcano, but it was a gorgeous walk all the same. I met a few people along the way, many of whom were confused as to why I would want to be walking for no reason down a road, by myself. Ticos are so friendly, and all waved and said hello as I passed. It was such a peaceful walk, interrupted only by the occasional truck or car passing along the bumpiest road ever. We rode into La Fortuna earlier Saturday morning to get some fruit and just make a trip into a town. The fruit in the grocery wasn’t too ripe yet so I only got bananas and a guanabana shake at this tiny little restaurant, along with a scoop of pineapple-orange ice cream. My day was complete!
Sunday we woke up for breakfast at 6:30am as usual, ate, and then promptly returned to the room to take a 3-hour nap. It was glorious. Luckily, a new volunteer from New York, Irina, arrived Sunday afternoon and we decided to introduce her to Pizza John. What was only going to be a quick ice cream run turned into an entire evening of discussion, eating, and entertainment. Two others from the ranch happened to make it down to Pizza John’s too, so we decided to stay for dinner and pass on the rice and beans down at the ranch. Pizza, beer, and ice cream, along with a Coke this time too made the evening a huge success. We were even treated to a spectacular lava flow show from the volcano on our walk back in the dark. It was awesome to hear the rumbling of the volcano and watch the red-hot lava flow down the side of the volcano and then disappear into the darkness. I could have stayed there for hours! Pizza John’s is such a welcome respite from the isolation of the ranch, just being able to sit there enjoying the night, listening to a variety of great musical arrangements, and story swapping could have easily lasted far into the wee hours of the morning. However, we ended the night at the late hour of 10pm and headed back to prepare for yet another week here at the ranch.
Monday was actually a great day as it opened sunny and comfortable. Andrea and I decided to shake it up a bit and pick a new office location, this time finding a small lounge near the dining area with a large veranda that looks out into the forest. The sun pours in more readily up here, and it’s much more tranquil and less dungeon-like. The constant chatter of the birds reminds me that I truly am living in a paradisiacal place. After work, which actually went by pretty fast, a game of mud soccer in the field was organized by the other workers and even though I’m no good, I played anyway and had a blast. I didn’t score any goals, but I did make a few decent passes! We were all covered in mud by the end of it, which was awesome. The last goal took forever to score, and we nearly missed dinner. After washing up the lot of us trooped in and devoured the tourists’ leftovers from lunch, aka the workers’ dinner. Good times. To top off the evening and get a little cleaner we hopped into the warm pool on the edge of the property and relaxed there for a while. Good ending to a good day.
That’s all for now!
Katie
BONUS feature: Check out some pics on facebook, since it takes hours to load them on here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080527&id=21103632&l=98c5855e36
Living on a “self-sufficient, organic” ranch is incredibly interesting. All electricity is generated by two huge hydroelectric turbines that use water from streams and springs around the property to keep the refrigerators on and the lights semi-luminous (yellow compact fluorescent bulbs don’t produce much light, especially at night). Our hot water comes from large compost piles full of weeds pulled from the gardens, cow and pig manure, and other organic waste. These piles are created around a series of blue coiled pipes through which water flows. When the water passes through the coils within the compost pile, the compost heats the pipes, which in turn heats the water and provides the temperatures necessary to comfortably shower and wash one’s hands. The liquid waste from the pigs is collected into large vats that pass through a bio-digestor that converts the pig waste into methane gas. This gas is used in the kitchen much in the same way that propane gas is used and voilá!: stove top heating. There’s also a wildlife rescue and reintroduction center where a variety of animals including a white-tailed deer, green parrot, ocelot, spider monkey, white-capped capuchin and others reside. The spider monkey, Sebastian, was once a house pet and was fed table food and developed an addiction to Fanta. Since being at the ranch he has gone through detox and now after a few months of rehab, has kicked that nasty habit.
My work consists of creating Facebook pages and ads, blogs, brochures, etc. as well as the verbage and marketing plans for the numerous innovative projects that my boss and owner and founder of the ranch has created and needs promoted. The first of many projects that we are focusing on is an edible forest reforestation program. This program hopes to plant 40-50 thousand fruit trees on ranch property and 40-50 thousand more fruit trees throughout the nearby town. Not only will this help in reforesting an area that 35-40 years ago was completely clear cut but it will also provide sustenance for the villagers once the fruit matures, along with teaching them about the benefits of conservation and sustainability—something that forms the very existence of the ranch. The schoolchildren will perform the task of planting, protecting, and caring for the trees as they grow. Part of the money raised from each tree purchased will be given to the schools that assist with this initiative and provide necessary funds for improved education. Another project is to begin offering a 2-week intensive Spanish class on the ranch, accompanied by a 4-6 week or 10-12 week course load for college credit teaching students about organic agriculture and rural tourism, among other topics.
The promotion for these projects is not as easy as it may seem, especially coupled with the fact that the term “high speed” certainly does not apply to the internet connection out here in the middle of nowhere (therefore, unfortunately my pictures will be few and far between—or when the internet happens to be cooperating. I’ll do my best! Never fear though, they will all be up upon my return to modern life). I suppose we are lucky enough to have internet at all, but when it takes about 20 minutes to try to upload a picture to a blog and have a 50/50 chance of it working the first time…an 8-hour work day takes a looooong time. However, I could be in the garden shoveling the livestock manure (a job that every other volunteer is quickly introduced to upon arrival), working from 6am until 4pm as many of the other volunteers do. While I wouldn’t mind this for a couple days or so, I know it’s not easy work and especially when it downpours, I am happy to be in a covered area, albeit still outside.
There are an incredible amount of butterflies and hummingbirds that flit and fly all over the ranch and are so beautiful to watch amongst the many flowers that grow around the ranch as well. I saw a toucan last week while working on the computer. I just so happened to be staring at the rainforest at the right moment for a toucan with its unmistakably large beak to fly by. Very cool.
This past weekend I went off exploring down the road alone and took tons of pictures and watched a number of birds and other animals frolic in the forest and along the river and lake. I didn’t get a very good view of the volcano, but it was a gorgeous walk all the same. I met a few people along the way, many of whom were confused as to why I would want to be walking for no reason down a road, by myself. Ticos are so friendly, and all waved and said hello as I passed. It was such a peaceful walk, interrupted only by the occasional truck or car passing along the bumpiest road ever. We rode into La Fortuna earlier Saturday morning to get some fruit and just make a trip into a town. The fruit in the grocery wasn’t too ripe yet so I only got bananas and a guanabana shake at this tiny little restaurant, along with a scoop of pineapple-orange ice cream. My day was complete!
Sunday we woke up for breakfast at 6:30am as usual, ate, and then promptly returned to the room to take a 3-hour nap. It was glorious. Luckily, a new volunteer from New York, Irina, arrived Sunday afternoon and we decided to introduce her to Pizza John. What was only going to be a quick ice cream run turned into an entire evening of discussion, eating, and entertainment. Two others from the ranch happened to make it down to Pizza John’s too, so we decided to stay for dinner and pass on the rice and beans down at the ranch. Pizza, beer, and ice cream, along with a Coke this time too made the evening a huge success. We were even treated to a spectacular lava flow show from the volcano on our walk back in the dark. It was awesome to hear the rumbling of the volcano and watch the red-hot lava flow down the side of the volcano and then disappear into the darkness. I could have stayed there for hours! Pizza John’s is such a welcome respite from the isolation of the ranch, just being able to sit there enjoying the night, listening to a variety of great musical arrangements, and story swapping could have easily lasted far into the wee hours of the morning. However, we ended the night at the late hour of 10pm and headed back to prepare for yet another week here at the ranch.
Monday was actually a great day as it opened sunny and comfortable. Andrea and I decided to shake it up a bit and pick a new office location, this time finding a small lounge near the dining area with a large veranda that looks out into the forest. The sun pours in more readily up here, and it’s much more tranquil and less dungeon-like. The constant chatter of the birds reminds me that I truly am living in a paradisiacal place. After work, which actually went by pretty fast, a game of mud soccer in the field was organized by the other workers and even though I’m no good, I played anyway and had a blast. I didn’t score any goals, but I did make a few decent passes! We were all covered in mud by the end of it, which was awesome. The last goal took forever to score, and we nearly missed dinner. After washing up the lot of us trooped in and devoured the tourists’ leftovers from lunch, aka the workers’ dinner. Good times. To top off the evening and get a little cleaner we hopped into the warm pool on the edge of the property and relaxed there for a while. Good ending to a good day.
That’s all for now!
Katie
BONUS feature: Check out some pics on facebook, since it takes hours to load them on here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080527&id=21103632&l=98c5855e36
Friday, July 3, 2009
A Slice of Heaven
No promises on the reliability of this, or even how long it might take for it to arrive, but just in case you feel like sending me mail while I’m down here, here’s the address:
Rancho Margot
Katie Osland
P.O. Box 124-4417
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
I had a little taste of heaven last night. Most volunteers only stay for about a month and it seems that this week and the next is when just about everyone is saying farewell to the ranch and leaving town. This is rather unfortunate as it seems that just as soon as you start to get to know someone (granted, I’ve been here 4 days) they leave. And it is kind of demotivating to try to get to know anyone when they are still here. However, in honor of each person leaving, or just as an escape, they walk 40 minutes into the dark jungle down the one gravel road away from the ranch to the oasis locally known as “Pizza John’s.” This oasis, formally known as “El Jardín Escondido” (which does translate to oasis), was just what I needed. We lucked out in that it absolutely poured about 10 minutes before we left, and then poured even harder about 20 minutes after we arrived but left us fairly dry, except for the mini stream crossings along the way on our trek there and back. As I mentioned in my last blog, nighttime is really dark here. It is especially dark when there are clouds covering any semblance of moon and/or stars. So far, I haven’t seen a clear night.
When I found out that it was a few people’s last night and just about everyone who was anyone at the ranch was heading out to Pizza John’s, of course Andrea and I said yes. In typical Latin American form, we left at 6:45 instead of the planned upon time of 5pm. After maneuvering amongst the rocks and mini streams and darkening jungle we finally arrived to the edge of the little town El Castillo (Castle) and Pizza John’s.
Pizza John is a middle-aged baby boomer ex-pat from Los Angeles with long gray hair that he had pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He amicably greeted me and Andrea and asked us how things were going thus far and told us the run-down. Ted, a 20-something from North Carolina, provided comic relief and took our orders with a thin, nearly full spiral notebook and a #2 pencil. Flo appointed herself as official photographer for the evening and told us we were truly in the best place in all of Costa Rica in terms of getting to see the best of the countryside. She hails from France and has been to Costa Rica twice before. She met Pizza John while hitchhiking along the road. Tired of being denied a ride by car after car, she decided to take matters into her own hands and jump in front of the next passing vehicle, flailing her arms and essentially hoping that whoever was driving had some sense of compassion towards one’s fellow human being, and also wasn’t going too fast to come to a complete stop before running her over. In Flo’s case, she lucked out and Pizza John came to a quick, complete stop: she and Pizza John have been friends ever since.
For 3000 colones, or about six U.S. dollars, you can get a homemade 8-slice pizza with homemade crust and ingredients to order. Andrea and I split a pizza with ham, mushroom, and tomato (guess who picked that combination) and loved every bite of the gooey goodness. In keeping with the friendly at-home atmosphere, John told us to just grab whatever drinks we wanted out of the fridge. I chose a Pilsen, which is one of the two main Costa Rican beers offered throughout the country. It was decent enough for a domestic beer and plenty chilled, quickly beading up with condensation as soon as I removed it from the fridge thanks to the inevitable 250% humidity. Pizza and beer would have sufficed to make the trip to the oasis worth it; however, after all that, it was ice cream time. For any and all of you who know me decently well, you are most likely aware of my obsession with ice cream. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I have found my new favorite spot here in the jungles of Costa Rica. Homemade ice cream. Vanilla, Vanilla peanut, chocolate, chocolate coconut, horchata, I didn’t know what to choose! Deciding to go with the most exotic “can’t get this at home” flavor, I picked horchata and spent the next 5 minutes or so enjoying every last bite of the lingering flavors of cream, milk, sugar, and cinnamon that did indeed replicate an horchata (milk-based drink usually made from a mix but this, I was assured, was no mix). Pizza, beer, ice cream, people, music, jungle. In this moment, I was happy. I felt a little less isolated and a little more at home. And it was cheap too, coupled with an hour and a half brisk walk! Despite the cloud cover we were able to just barely make out a few spurts of lava erupting from the active Volcán Arenal that sits majestically at the edge of Lake Arenal, orangish-red against the black night. This crazy excursion all ended at the late hour of 10:30pm when we arrived back at the bungalow. Whew! Now that I get up at 6:30am every morning, and considering there is little in the way of technology or billions of people to distract me, getting to bed early is really not so hard. (But don’t expect that trend to continue upon my return to the good ol’ U.S. of A.!)
A couple nice perks of being interns includes: a bungalow, which I found out the other day is not only a mansion compared to the bunkhouses which have room for a bunk bed and one, maybe two, people standing, but also has a private bathroom with warm water. The fieldhouse doesn’t get the privilege of having its water heated through the coils in the compost pile before pouring out of the faucet or showerhead. Also, while the connection is in no way fast, we do have access to the Internet. Being in the jungle as we are, the connection is very slow and the more people who connect, the slower it goes. Therefore, everyone else is banned from knowing the password and must share one central community computer that is almost always in use. This is definitely a difference I try to hide as best as possible; however, everyone knows we have Internet on our computers and I always feel bad getting onto Skype and chatting away. I justify this by the fact that they will not be here as long as I will be, and they are returning to civilization and high speed Internet quite soon. Therefore, consider yourself lucky if you hear from me via Skype throughout these next couple months.
I promised to tell you about the awesome innovations occurring around the ranch but I’m just about at 2 single spaced pages and it is nearly time for me to conk out before the new day begins so you’ll have to wait yet again. I’m not sure if the frequency of these posts will continue, but I do hope to write at least once a week at best. It will soon be time to start writing my papers for my internship class, and that will surely take most of my free time. I am excited for whatever the weekend will hold, hopefully some exploration of this place that I find myself in.
Until the next time,
Cheers!
Oh, and happy Fourth of July!
Katie
Rancho Margot
Katie Osland
P.O. Box 124-4417
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
I had a little taste of heaven last night. Most volunteers only stay for about a month and it seems that this week and the next is when just about everyone is saying farewell to the ranch and leaving town. This is rather unfortunate as it seems that just as soon as you start to get to know someone (granted, I’ve been here 4 days) they leave. And it is kind of demotivating to try to get to know anyone when they are still here. However, in honor of each person leaving, or just as an escape, they walk 40 minutes into the dark jungle down the one gravel road away from the ranch to the oasis locally known as “Pizza John’s.” This oasis, formally known as “El Jardín Escondido” (which does translate to oasis), was just what I needed. We lucked out in that it absolutely poured about 10 minutes before we left, and then poured even harder about 20 minutes after we arrived but left us fairly dry, except for the mini stream crossings along the way on our trek there and back. As I mentioned in my last blog, nighttime is really dark here. It is especially dark when there are clouds covering any semblance of moon and/or stars. So far, I haven’t seen a clear night.
When I found out that it was a few people’s last night and just about everyone who was anyone at the ranch was heading out to Pizza John’s, of course Andrea and I said yes. In typical Latin American form, we left at 6:45 instead of the planned upon time of 5pm. After maneuvering amongst the rocks and mini streams and darkening jungle we finally arrived to the edge of the little town El Castillo (Castle) and Pizza John’s.
Pizza John is a middle-aged baby boomer ex-pat from Los Angeles with long gray hair that he had pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He amicably greeted me and Andrea and asked us how things were going thus far and told us the run-down. Ted, a 20-something from North Carolina, provided comic relief and took our orders with a thin, nearly full spiral notebook and a #2 pencil. Flo appointed herself as official photographer for the evening and told us we were truly in the best place in all of Costa Rica in terms of getting to see the best of the countryside. She hails from France and has been to Costa Rica twice before. She met Pizza John while hitchhiking along the road. Tired of being denied a ride by car after car, she decided to take matters into her own hands and jump in front of the next passing vehicle, flailing her arms and essentially hoping that whoever was driving had some sense of compassion towards one’s fellow human being, and also wasn’t going too fast to come to a complete stop before running her over. In Flo’s case, she lucked out and Pizza John came to a quick, complete stop: she and Pizza John have been friends ever since.
For 3000 colones, or about six U.S. dollars, you can get a homemade 8-slice pizza with homemade crust and ingredients to order. Andrea and I split a pizza with ham, mushroom, and tomato (guess who picked that combination) and loved every bite of the gooey goodness. In keeping with the friendly at-home atmosphere, John told us to just grab whatever drinks we wanted out of the fridge. I chose a Pilsen, which is one of the two main Costa Rican beers offered throughout the country. It was decent enough for a domestic beer and plenty chilled, quickly beading up with condensation as soon as I removed it from the fridge thanks to the inevitable 250% humidity. Pizza and beer would have sufficed to make the trip to the oasis worth it; however, after all that, it was ice cream time. For any and all of you who know me decently well, you are most likely aware of my obsession with ice cream. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I have found my new favorite spot here in the jungles of Costa Rica. Homemade ice cream. Vanilla, Vanilla peanut, chocolate, chocolate coconut, horchata, I didn’t know what to choose! Deciding to go with the most exotic “can’t get this at home” flavor, I picked horchata and spent the next 5 minutes or so enjoying every last bite of the lingering flavors of cream, milk, sugar, and cinnamon that did indeed replicate an horchata (milk-based drink usually made from a mix but this, I was assured, was no mix). Pizza, beer, ice cream, people, music, jungle. In this moment, I was happy. I felt a little less isolated and a little more at home. And it was cheap too, coupled with an hour and a half brisk walk! Despite the cloud cover we were able to just barely make out a few spurts of lava erupting from the active Volcán Arenal that sits majestically at the edge of Lake Arenal, orangish-red against the black night. This crazy excursion all ended at the late hour of 10:30pm when we arrived back at the bungalow. Whew! Now that I get up at 6:30am every morning, and considering there is little in the way of technology or billions of people to distract me, getting to bed early is really not so hard. (But don’t expect that trend to continue upon my return to the good ol’ U.S. of A.!)
A couple nice perks of being interns includes: a bungalow, which I found out the other day is not only a mansion compared to the bunkhouses which have room for a bunk bed and one, maybe two, people standing, but also has a private bathroom with warm water. The fieldhouse doesn’t get the privilege of having its water heated through the coils in the compost pile before pouring out of the faucet or showerhead. Also, while the connection is in no way fast, we do have access to the Internet. Being in the jungle as we are, the connection is very slow and the more people who connect, the slower it goes. Therefore, everyone else is banned from knowing the password and must share one central community computer that is almost always in use. This is definitely a difference I try to hide as best as possible; however, everyone knows we have Internet on our computers and I always feel bad getting onto Skype and chatting away. I justify this by the fact that they will not be here as long as I will be, and they are returning to civilization and high speed Internet quite soon. Therefore, consider yourself lucky if you hear from me via Skype throughout these next couple months.
I promised to tell you about the awesome innovations occurring around the ranch but I’m just about at 2 single spaced pages and it is nearly time for me to conk out before the new day begins so you’ll have to wait yet again. I’m not sure if the frequency of these posts will continue, but I do hope to write at least once a week at best. It will soon be time to start writing my papers for my internship class, and that will surely take most of my free time. I am excited for whatever the weekend will hold, hopefully some exploration of this place that I find myself in.
Until the next time,
Cheers!
Oh, and happy Fourth of July!
Katie
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
First Impressions
View from "the office"
No adventure is perfect. The more remote, the more adjustments there will inevitably be. The farther from home, the greater the number of differences between the, what I like to term, “once familiar” and the “increasingly familiar”. I consider myself to be an optimistic, positive person that works hard to always find the good in every situation that I find myself in. With that disclaimer, let me describe to you what my first 24 hours in Costa Rica have been like.
Honestly, this place is incredibly gorgeous. I’m living in a bungalow on the outskirts of a rainforest/cloud forest with two queen-sized beds, a private shower/bath, a hammock, terrace, and an incredible view of Lake Arenal every morning that I wake up. There are mountains on both sides of the ranch, covered thickly with all sorts of rainforest-y, lush, green trees. Every day when it rains the clouds roll in slowly over these mountains and then quickly turn all semblance of a backdrop into a thick, white sheet of torrential rain. Today the lightning was the worst anyone around here has seen in 6 years and the thunder that precluded it was some of the loudest, most spectacular thunder I have ever experienced. There’s a white and orange cat that waits outside of our door, sunning itself on the terrace and meowing when we are inside for too long. A smelly golden retriever follows us around as well while down in the dining commons and in our makeshift office. However, for those of you who remember the dogs in Chile, this dog does not smell nearly as bad as they did—though it is a close second.
Upon arriving to Costa Rica after a few issues with the weight of my luggage (always a good problem to have when embarking on a trip as opposed to leaving. Ha. Ha. Packing light has never been, and never will be, my forte.) we waited in an enormously long line to get our passports stamped, and then literally push our bags through an unattended X-ray machine and drop our customs declaration in a box along with the thousands of others who had come through that same day, and then find our driver. Manuel is a native Tico who works for the ranch at the office in San Jose and upon learning that I could speak Spanish, happily told me about the ranch, the climate, the various towns we passed through, and that the road we were traveling on was about to get very windy for the remainder of our 3 hour journey from the airport to La Fortuna, the nearest town to the ranch. Despite Manuel’s warning about the road, nothing could have prepared me for what was quite possibly the closest I have ever come to to completely vomiting all over myself, the vehicle, and that maddeningly winding road. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I do not have another story to add to the draft of my first novel “All About Ralph” but it was awful. It was all I could do to will my body to fall asleep for as long as possible while everything inside me screamed, wanting the road to straight out and us to arrive as quickly as possible. We eventually did arrive, and waited about an hour in the plaza of La Fortuna for our new boss and his son to arrive. Luckily, the road to the ranch from Fortuna was not so bad and after coming to the end of a bumpy, gravel, pot-holed road, the ranch and all upcoming adventures awaited us.
Our first day was also fairly typical Latin-American in that patience is indeed a virtue, nothing happens when or how it’s supposed to, and that is completely okay. In some ways, this culture is perfect for me. Being on time, along with the concept of time in general, is not valued or expected—aside from meal time. Breakfast was awesome—homemade granola and moist banana bread, fresh granola with coconut, nuts, and dried fruit, eggs with basil and tomatoes, and of course, coffee and gallo pinto. Gallo pinto is the national dish in Costa Rica and literally means “spotted rooster”. However, it is traditionally rice and black beans mixed together and served at every single meal. It’s probably a bad sign that I am already feeling sick of the stuff. It is protein though, so I try to consume as much as I can and clean my plate. After breakfast we went on a ranch tour and learned innumerable facts about the many plants of the rainforest, as well as the incredible ways that the ranch is making itself into a self-sufficient, organic place set on conserving and utilizing the environment in which it finds itself. I’ll detail that in a later post as I’m sure you are wondering when this first one will end. After the ranch tour we still hadn’t seen anyone who could give us some direction on what to do or how to connect to the internet, so we went back to our bungalow and I do what I do best and took a nap, despite the fact that the night before we’d passed out by 8:30pm and gotten up at 6:30am. I blame the jungle humidity. When I woke up, it was time for lunch which I was hungry for until I started eating it and then I promptly found myself trying to complete the task of eating—something an avid consumer does not really enjoy having to do. Unfortunately, dinner was similar except that I was more hungry before I began eating and then even less so once I took a few bites. The juice is great, though most of the time I have no idea what kind it is, it is definitely tasty! Unfortunately, the fresh, ranch-produced fruit and fresh baked bread, along with the ice cream and chocolate chip cookies, are all reserved for the guests who eat after the employees. Bummer. On Saturday I plan to buy some fresh fruit at the market, along with at the very least, one ice cream cone to eat along the way. I do sleep in a bungalow, but the food leaves something to be desired—except for breakfast, which as I write this, my stomach cannot wait for in the morning. If only it is as good as it was today.
It gets dark around 6pm here, which is a definite adjustment from the barely waning light at 10pm back home again in Indiana summertime. Nightfall in the rainforest in the middle of nowhere is dark.
Internet does not reach to the bungalow, so any communication we will be having will be taking place down near the kitchen where the router is located. It is also incredibly slow, so hopefully Skype will keep a constant, non-choppy connection.
This is what I wake up to every day. Bungalow view.
As I am here for work, you must be wondering what I do all day. Day #1 consisted of eating, touring, sleeping, then more eating, reading the newspaper, waiting for the internet to load some web reviews about the ranch, getting caught in a massive rain storm, and then eating again. It’s a jungle out here and things don’t move quickly. Except for carpenter ants when you are trying to kill them and hummingbird wings.
"The office"
Have no fear, much much work is quite quite near but it appears that currently, it is necessary to ease into all of it like a slightly chilled swimming pool. The projects ahead will undoubtedly keep us entertained and hopefully, the marketing initiatives we develop will increase the return on a company that is part of an industry being hit quite hard by the “current economic crisis”. We have our work cut out for us for sure. More on that to come as I don’t want to keep you all day and night reading my blog! Be pumped!
Chao,
Katie
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Off Again
Welcome back!
I'm off again on yet another adventure in an attempt to fulfill this unquenchable thirst I have developed for traveling and exploring the world beyond the monotonous norm of a typical 9-5. I'm not a typical business student, so why settle for a cubicle in some high-rise building and engage in "climbing the corporate ladder"? I'd much rather find something more fulfilling than a larger paycheck, but that's just me.
With that in mind, I've obtained a second internship, and final graduation requirement, at the eco-lodge/ranch Rancho Margot in the northwest region of Costa Rica, nearby Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano. This job will, I hope, combine my love for Spanish, the outdoors, adventure travel, and marketing/general business administration into one incredible experience.
I'll write more once I arrive, which at this point is scheduled to be Monday afternoon.
Cheers!
Katie
I'm off again on yet another adventure in an attempt to fulfill this unquenchable thirst I have developed for traveling and exploring the world beyond the monotonous norm of a typical 9-5. I'm not a typical business student, so why settle for a cubicle in some high-rise building and engage in "climbing the corporate ladder"? I'd much rather find something more fulfilling than a larger paycheck, but that's just me.
With that in mind, I've obtained a second internship, and final graduation requirement, at the eco-lodge/ranch Rancho Margot in the northwest region of Costa Rica, nearby Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano. This job will, I hope, combine my love for Spanish, the outdoors, adventure travel, and marketing/general business administration into one incredible experience.
I'll write more once I arrive, which at this point is scheduled to be Monday afternoon.
Cheers!
Katie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
