Ciao! Okay, so from the title of this post, you can probably tell I love theatre. So, yes my title may be cheesy, but I like it (Oh yeah, this is Rachel by the way). So, the Aerial Tram. Today we drove for about one hour from our over-priced, over-fancy hotel to a Costa Rican National Park. It was a beautiful park. We boarded a little platform with benches and sat down. Now, the little platform was covered with a water proof roof and attached to a large cable. As soon as we were seated, the guide boarded and the cable began moving us up. We went through the forest slowly. It was kind of like zip lining, but a slow, non-dangling form. I have to say, the sights from the car were amazing, but I prefer whizzing through the air at high speeds on a thin cable. After the ride, which was about one hour long, we had a complimentary Costa Rican meal. They served us chicken in tomato sauce, rice, beans, fruits, salad, and fried plantains. I loved the chicken, rice, and pineapple. Everybody loved the fried plantains, except for me. I did not like them at all.
After lunch, we had three choices before driving back, 1) go on a walk through the forest, 2) go to the butterfly and frog gardens, or 3) go to the Serpenterium (snakes exhibit). I, of course, chose the snakes. I’m deathly afraid of them, I thought it would be cool to see the things I was scared of. On the way, we saw a viper just sitting in a tree digesting its meal. But even freakier than the viper, were the bullet ants. On our walk to the snakes, our guide stopped us to show us some freakily large ants. They were about one inch long, and extremely fat. He told us that these ants were called bullet ants because if you were bit by one, it felt like being shot by a bullet. They terrify me more than snakes. I was plagued by seeing them all through the snake tour. We saw snakes of all kinds. The poisonous ones were the best. My favorite was the extremely common, extremely deadly, Costa Rican Fer De Lance. If this snake bites you, you’ll die within 2 hours, unless you receive immediate medical care. On the snake tour were my dad, brother, and grandma. My mom went on the forest hike. She’ll blog about that soon. Ciao! (Oh, by the way. I know Ciao is Italian, but a Costa Rican said Ciao for goodbye, so that’s why it’s Ciao.)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Hotel Intercontinental San Jose
Rafa - our CCS driver brought us to the San Jose Intercontinental on Saturday morning. What a stark contrast to Ciudad Quesada and our work as volunteers. One of the doormen asked where we were coming from. I told him San Carlos, and he asked if we lived there. I told him no, we were working there for a week, and once again a native Tico said "thank you, for my country". That breaks me up every time. We should be thanking him. Because even if our volunteer placements seemed too short, and even though we may have felt unneeded at times, it's okay. I really think that we volunteers are the ones who benefit the most, from being able to see another culture for just a little bit of time. And hopefully from changing just a little bit - to be more understanding, more patient, more kind. To lose the "it's all about me syndrome".
I have a hard time staying at fancy hotels. What a juxtaposition - paying more for 1 night than monthly apartment rental in San Carlos. What a total waste of money.
I have a hard time staying at fancy hotels. What a juxtaposition - paying more for 1 night than monthly apartment rental in San Carlos. What a total waste of money.
CCS Friday 11/26/2010
Today was crazy. We all woke early for what was to be our last day of work. We were all mostly packed to be able to leave for Arenal after lunch. We were excited and happy, and suddenly tragedy struck. Mom was coming out of the bathroom when she slipped on some water and fell. We all heard a thud and a yell and rushed into the hall to see what happened. I was concerned about her knee, and was making sure that everything could bend and nothing was broken, when I noticed she was bleeding from the head. One of the kids grabbed a towel so we could put pressure on the bleeding. Then Alex ran down to use his Spanish to tell whoever was in the house what happened and that we needed medical help. Rosa (one of our CCS cooks - who speaks only Spanish) came up, took a look and called Margeth. Margeth said to call the ambulance, but unfortunately there is only one ambulance in all of San Carlos and it was 25 minutes away. Margeth lives very close and she came right over to accompany us to the private hospital by taxi. While waiting for Margeth, everyone was pretty freaked out. I kept thinking mom was going to pass out. I could tell the injury was not huge, but whenever the head bleeds it looks worse then it really is. And it was a little scary. Rachel sat in the hall next to the security guard - both of them were very freaked out!
The strong CCS volunteer guys came up to help get mom down the stairs and into the taxi. The hospital was just around the corner thankfully. It looked a little scary from the outside, but was very clean inside. And NO waiting! Margeth was there to translate since the doctor did not speak English. Three stitches and only about 1/2 hour later we were back at CCS with instructions for mom to spray an antiseptic on the area twice a day and take Tylenol for pain. I was a little worried about concussion, but everything really turned out okay - well as okay as it could be when getting hurt in a poverty stricken area of a foreign country. Mom's knee and ankle hurt a bit, and she feels terrible and probably a little scared. I said I wish it had happened to me instead. And I really wish that. I don't want her to be afraid to travel.
Afterwards, we thought about the whole accident. The sink in the tiny bathrom had a small leak, and so the floor was almost always wet. We had all noticed wet footprints that morning, and are kicking ourselves for not wiping them up. When mom slipped, she reached out to grab (ironically) the medical board that was hanging on the wall - you know, the one that they strap injured people onto to get them into an ambulance.... It fell off the wall and hit her on the head, causing a bump and small cut. What a bummer. But, you can't second guess what happens, and it doesn't matter anyway. The key to travel is flexibility. Instead of driving for hours on narrow, 2-lane roads around the mountainous coutryside of Costa Rica, we elected to return to San Jose on Saturday morning. We were able to get some much needed sleep (at least I needed sleep!), and can now do some day trips from here. And Alex was able to see Harry Potter in English at the Escazu MultiPlaza theater on Saturday night - something he wanted to do the first day we landed in Costa Rica. Pura Vida.
The strong CCS volunteer guys came up to help get mom down the stairs and into the taxi. The hospital was just around the corner thankfully. It looked a little scary from the outside, but was very clean inside. And NO waiting! Margeth was there to translate since the doctor did not speak English. Three stitches and only about 1/2 hour later we were back at CCS with instructions for mom to spray an antiseptic on the area twice a day and take Tylenol for pain. I was a little worried about concussion, but everything really turned out okay - well as okay as it could be when getting hurt in a poverty stricken area of a foreign country. Mom's knee and ankle hurt a bit, and she feels terrible and probably a little scared. I said I wish it had happened to me instead. And I really wish that. I don't want her to be afraid to travel.
Afterwards, we thought about the whole accident. The sink in the tiny bathrom had a small leak, and so the floor was almost always wet. We had all noticed wet footprints that morning, and are kicking ourselves for not wiping them up. When mom slipped, she reached out to grab (ironically) the medical board that was hanging on the wall - you know, the one that they strap injured people onto to get them into an ambulance.... It fell off the wall and hit her on the head, causing a bump and small cut. What a bummer. But, you can't second guess what happens, and it doesn't matter anyway. The key to travel is flexibility. Instead of driving for hours on narrow, 2-lane roads around the mountainous coutryside of Costa Rica, we elected to return to San Jose on Saturday morning. We were able to get some much needed sleep (at least I needed sleep!), and can now do some day trips from here. And Alex was able to see Harry Potter in English at the Escazu MultiPlaza theater on Saturday night - something he wanted to do the first day we landed in Costa Rica. Pura Vida.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Cacao Plantation
Today after work, CCS took the whole group on a tour of a cacao plantation. Rachel as thrilled to death. We drove back up toward Arenal - where we zip-lined - into an ecological research park. We needed to hike about 1 mile out to the cacao demonstration. It was a fabulous hike - over the longest hanging bridge in all of Costa Rica. The demonstration was really cool. We were able to see the stages of chocolate production from pod to a hot chocolate drink. It was also interesting to hear that Costa Rica no longer is a large producer of cacao due to a disease that came in and decimated the plantations.
For a more exciting narrative, maybe we should hear from Rachel...
For a more exciting narrative, maybe we should hear from Rachel...
The Monkey from Seattle
Hola amigos! This is Rachel, once again, posting about one of my absolute favorite activities…
THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!!!! Yes, that’s right. We went to a chocolate factory on Thursday as the CCS fieldtrip of the week. It was absolutely amazing. Everything was great, except for the fact that there was no Willy Wonka and no Charlie Bucket (Well, unless you count me, because I was just Charlie in a production of Willy Wonka). We started out walking across a beautiful, but extremely long, extension bridge. The bridge took us across a huge stretch of forest, a river, and a creek. Surprisingly, it was the longest extension bridge in all of Costa Rica! A few of the other volunteers were extremely nervous, but everyone else loved it. After we reached the end of the bridge, which came all too soon in my opinion, we took a fifteen minute hike through the forest to get to the Cacao plantation itself. As a group, we emerged from the path surrounded by dense undergrowth and reached a large awning with wooden benches. After taking our seats, the orientation began. The guide talked about the history of Cacao, which I already knew because of a Fair Trade speech I had given, and then asked for two volunteers. I was immediately chosen by the rest of our group, and Curtis, who was a 6-foot tall volunteer, went up too. To my amazement, the guide handed me a Cacao pod. She said, “How do monkey eat the fruit of the cacao tree? They don’t use knives to cut it open. Open the pod like a monkey.” I took the pod and smashed it against a wooden stump. The pod opened perfectly. I was then dubbed the “Monkey” from Seattle, hence the name of the post. The guide then passed the pods around and had everyone take a fruit covered cacao bean. She told us to suck on the bean, but not to swallow it or throw it away. Then she collected the now spit covered beans, while Grevein, the CCS director, passed out more beans. I think I had about twenty altogether. The next step was kind of gross. For the fermenting process, bacteria are needed to help with fermenting. So, she poured our nasty sucked on cacao beans into the tray. Next was the drying rack. Cacao beans are left in the sun so they dry and don’t mold. She took us to the rack and fed us a bean. Most people thought it tasted disgusting, but I enjoyed it. The beans were then roasted and we ate a roasted bean too. These beans tasted more like chocolate, but I preferred the unroasted ones. Next we ground the beans in a mortar and pestle-ish thing. It was authentic to what the ancient people used to grind cacao. Everyone who wanted one got a turn. It was fun. Next, the guide made the “drink of the gods”. Andrew, the so-called strongest of the volunteer group, was called up to finish the grinding with a turn machine. He found it extremely difficult, and had to turn with two hands. It was funny, because the man who makes most of the chocolate then came and was able to turn it easily in one hand. It was hilarious. The tour guide then mixed the powdered beans with water and served it to our group. It was bitter, but good. Next, the spices were added. To my drink, I added everything which included vanilla, nutmeg, black pepper, and chili pepper. It was so spicy my throat felt like it was on fire. But the drink was delicious. Next, the real fun began. The guide mixed up melted dark chocolate and gave everyone a spoonful. Then another spoon full. Grevein kept having them give me more, and I even walked up to the guide a few times. When all the melted stuff was gone, they showed us how they molded it. After pouring the leftover chocolate in molds, they passed out preformed samples. Again, I had tons and Grevein even told them they forgot to give me any a few times. It was awesome. After looking at a cacao tree, we hiked back to the tourist center and bought lots of chocolate. Well, most people did. I only got two bars because other volunteers bought pretty much all of it. Oh well. I do wish I could have had more though. All in all, the tour was absolutely wonderful. I ate so much chocolate that day. It was great. Well, that’s the factory tour. Adios amigos!
THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!!!! Yes, that’s right. We went to a chocolate factory on Thursday as the CCS fieldtrip of the week. It was absolutely amazing. Everything was great, except for the fact that there was no Willy Wonka and no Charlie Bucket (Well, unless you count me, because I was just Charlie in a production of Willy Wonka). We started out walking across a beautiful, but extremely long, extension bridge. The bridge took us across a huge stretch of forest, a river, and a creek. Surprisingly, it was the longest extension bridge in all of Costa Rica! A few of the other volunteers were extremely nervous, but everyone else loved it. After we reached the end of the bridge, which came all too soon in my opinion, we took a fifteen minute hike through the forest to get to the Cacao plantation itself. As a group, we emerged from the path surrounded by dense undergrowth and reached a large awning with wooden benches. After taking our seats, the orientation began. The guide talked about the history of Cacao, which I already knew because of a Fair Trade speech I had given, and then asked for two volunteers. I was immediately chosen by the rest of our group, and Curtis, who was a 6-foot tall volunteer, went up too. To my amazement, the guide handed me a Cacao pod. She said, “How do monkey eat the fruit of the cacao tree? They don’t use knives to cut it open. Open the pod like a monkey.” I took the pod and smashed it against a wooden stump. The pod opened perfectly. I was then dubbed the “Monkey” from Seattle, hence the name of the post. The guide then passed the pods around and had everyone take a fruit covered cacao bean. She told us to suck on the bean, but not to swallow it or throw it away. Then she collected the now spit covered beans, while Grevein, the CCS director, passed out more beans. I think I had about twenty altogether. The next step was kind of gross. For the fermenting process, bacteria are needed to help with fermenting. So, she poured our nasty sucked on cacao beans into the tray. Next was the drying rack. Cacao beans are left in the sun so they dry and don’t mold. She took us to the rack and fed us a bean. Most people thought it tasted disgusting, but I enjoyed it. The beans were then roasted and we ate a roasted bean too. These beans tasted more like chocolate, but I preferred the unroasted ones. Next we ground the beans in a mortar and pestle-ish thing. It was authentic to what the ancient people used to grind cacao. Everyone who wanted one got a turn. It was fun. Next, the guide made the “drink of the gods”. Andrew, the so-called strongest of the volunteer group, was called up to finish the grinding with a turn machine. He found it extremely difficult, and had to turn with two hands. It was funny, because the man who makes most of the chocolate then came and was able to turn it easily in one hand. It was hilarious. The tour guide then mixed the powdered beans with water and served it to our group. It was bitter, but good. Next, the spices were added. To my drink, I added everything which included vanilla, nutmeg, black pepper, and chili pepper. It was so spicy my throat felt like it was on fire. But the drink was delicious. Next, the real fun began. The guide mixed up melted dark chocolate and gave everyone a spoonful. Then another spoon full. Grevein kept having them give me more, and I even walked up to the guide a few times. When all the melted stuff was gone, they showed us how they molded it. After pouring the leftover chocolate in molds, they passed out preformed samples. Again, I had tons and Grevein even told them they forgot to give me any a few times. It was awesome. After looking at a cacao tree, we hiked back to the tourist center and bought lots of chocolate. Well, most people did. I only got two bars because other volunteers bought pretty much all of it. Oh well. I do wish I could have had more though. All in all, the tour was absolutely wonderful. I ate so much chocolate that day. It was great. Well, that’s the factory tour. Adios amigos!
CCS Thursday 11/25/2010
Hermanos Siad y Mikael
Hermanos Elian y Noelia
Hermanos Cherry y JhuanToday was a great day. Rachel woke up completely fine, thank goodness. We went to our placement without fellow volunteer Susan - who was sick. We were nervous because Susan is so amazing with the kids. She has been there over a month and she knows exactly what they need. It ended up okay, although we definitely had a hard time controlling them.
When we got there only 3 children were present - Said, Mikael and David. It was really nice- no fighting. Elian and Noalia arrived a bit later. Elian can be a bully and he and Said compete ruthlessly, for toys, attention and even the toliet! Last to arrive were Jhuan and Cherry. All peace and quiet was over. At one point Jhuan bit Said. And by the end of the day, when I had Jhuan in one chair and Elian in another for not sharing blocks, I think they were as happy as we were that this was our last day! Today was our last day because Friday is a school holiday, and the kids won't be at Marlene's.
Early in the day, while we only had three kids there, Marlene said she was going to the store. Marlene brought Chizpica out and left her in the grass. A few minutes later, Rachel went outside to stop Mikael from running his car on the window when she saw a huge cat stalking the bunny. How scary! We brought Chizpica inside and scared away the cat, who ended up coming back. When she returned, Marlene invited Rachel and I into her house and gave us going away gifts. It was so sweet. We both received puzzle boxes and earrings. Marlene cried saying good-bye and of course that made me cry too. She gave me her address. I really wish there was some way we could send her lots of toys for the kids.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Pura Vida
Literally, pure life. Ticos (Costa Ricans) use it for everything. Kind of like no problem. It’s all good. Peace. Happiness. Pura Vida.
CCS Wednesday 11/24/2010
Rachel was my wake up call at 5:00 AM this morning. She came to my bedside to let me know she was sick – puking sick. Pretty soon everyone in the room knew. Then everyone in the next room. She was in and out of the bathroom many times until around 7:30 AM. Finally she fell back asleep.
Sooo, Rachel and I are missing our placement today. And it’s really disappointing not to go to see our wild charges. And we feel really badly knowing Susan is going to be on her own all day. And what will I do today? I guess catch up on blogging and get Rachel drinks and toast when she needs them.
CCS General
So, what is Cross Cultural Solutions and why come to Costa Rica to work? Well, I explained why we originally chose CCS in my Peru blog. Our first CCS experience was so amazing that I knew we would someday do another trip. The timing was decided when I received an email announcing special rates for alumni during 2010 due to the CCS anniversary – 15 years I think. Anyway, we were able to travel for 25% of the listed price and my mom’s fee as part of the friends and family package was reduced 50% (I think). Whatever it ended up being, it was a bargain.
As far as Costa Rica? Well, to be honest I personally would have rather travelled to Guatemala or Morocco. But, since the kids’ first choice when we went to Peru had been Costa Rica and since the timing worked out to be less disruptive given all our normal activities – soccer, piano, theater, 4H, wilderness awareness… Costa Rica won out. The kids are excited to be able to zip-line and enjoy the volcanic hot springs. We may be able to go white-water rafting as well.
So far for me Costa Rica is okay. San Carlos is pretty damp. It’s not like our placement in Peru which was near Lima. It’s a small city – really more like a south Chicago suburban type area. Mom thinks it’s dirty, but compared to Villa El Salvador in Lima, San Carlos is downright clean. The CCS house manager told us that the people love dogs in Costa Rica. Many are pets, but there are stray dogs in the park. And again, compared to Peru the dog situation is nothing. In Peru Rachel counted more than 700 in one week! The people are very friendly. Marlene, who runs the daycare to which we are assigned, is very nice. She is so patient and loving with the children. She knows just a little English, but she and I have been able to talk and understand each other. The kids respect her and listen to her when she disciplines them. Pat and Alex love their placement at INA. Mom likes her new placement at Americi – working alongside a women’s group making handicrafts for sale. It’s going well so far, I think. Pura Vida…
Traveling as a Volunteer
Traveling as a volunteer is much different then traveling as a tourist. Despite its challenges, I prefer traveling as a volunteer. The places might be dirtier, the food not as fancy, but it’s real. Not the Disneyfied version of the country – the real version. I was talking to the driver at Eco-Glide while the group was zipping through the forest and he wondered where we were all from. I told him we were volunteers and he said Thank You. For helping. That’s all. It gave me a lump in my throat. How can we not help? We are so privileged and spoiled. Even the people I see coming through the North Bend food bank have more than most typical people in Latin America. And without getting too much into the politics of it – it is partially our fault. We (and by this I mean our country and corporations) are so busy trying to collect debt payments, increase shareholder earnings by exploiting foreign markets (see here), patent seeds and water rights and in general just get more and more for ourselves. Did colonialism every really end? Or has it just changed players?
It really comes down to the people. They are suffering and it is not right. And it’s not enough to come for a week. It’s all I have now, but hopefully someday it could be weeks or months or years.
Sooo, Rachel and I are missing our placement today. And it’s really disappointing not to go to see our wild charges. And we feel really badly knowing Susan is going to be on her own all day. And what will I do today? I guess catch up on blogging and get Rachel drinks and toast when she needs them.
CCS General
So, what is Cross Cultural Solutions and why come to Costa Rica to work? Well, I explained why we originally chose CCS in my Peru blog. Our first CCS experience was so amazing that I knew we would someday do another trip. The timing was decided when I received an email announcing special rates for alumni during 2010 due to the CCS anniversary – 15 years I think. Anyway, we were able to travel for 25% of the listed price and my mom’s fee as part of the friends and family package was reduced 50% (I think). Whatever it ended up being, it was a bargain.
As far as Costa Rica? Well, to be honest I personally would have rather travelled to Guatemala or Morocco. But, since the kids’ first choice when we went to Peru had been Costa Rica and since the timing worked out to be less disruptive given all our normal activities – soccer, piano, theater, 4H, wilderness awareness… Costa Rica won out. The kids are excited to be able to zip-line and enjoy the volcanic hot springs. We may be able to go white-water rafting as well.
So far for me Costa Rica is okay. San Carlos is pretty damp. It’s not like our placement in Peru which was near Lima. It’s a small city – really more like a south Chicago suburban type area. Mom thinks it’s dirty, but compared to Villa El Salvador in Lima, San Carlos is downright clean. The CCS house manager told us that the people love dogs in Costa Rica. Many are pets, but there are stray dogs in the park. And again, compared to Peru the dog situation is nothing. In Peru Rachel counted more than 700 in one week! The people are very friendly. Marlene, who runs the daycare to which we are assigned, is very nice. She is so patient and loving with the children. She knows just a little English, but she and I have been able to talk and understand each other. The kids respect her and listen to her when she disciplines them. Pat and Alex love their placement at INA. Mom likes her new placement at Americi – working alongside a women’s group making handicrafts for sale. It’s going well so far, I think. Pura Vida…
Traveling as a Volunteer
Traveling as a volunteer is much different then traveling as a tourist. Despite its challenges, I prefer traveling as a volunteer. The places might be dirtier, the food not as fancy, but it’s real. Not the Disneyfied version of the country – the real version. I was talking to the driver at Eco-Glide while the group was zipping through the forest and he wondered where we were all from. I told him we were volunteers and he said Thank You. For helping. That’s all. It gave me a lump in my throat. How can we not help? We are so privileged and spoiled. Even the people I see coming through the North Bend food bank have more than most typical people in Latin America. And without getting too much into the politics of it – it is partially our fault. We (and by this I mean our country and corporations) are so busy trying to collect debt payments, increase shareholder earnings by exploiting foreign markets (see here), patent seeds and water rights and in general just get more and more for ourselves. Did colonialism every really end? Or has it just changed players?
It really comes down to the people. They are suffering and it is not right. And it’s not enough to come for a week. It’s all I have now, but hopefully someday it could be weeks or months or years.
Zip-lining
Hola Amigos! This is Rachel, the daughter of the main-blogger, Chris. As my mom said, yesterday we went zip lining. The zipping course was located in La Fortuna, a tourist city about an hour and a half from the CCS home-base. We all loaded into a large van (about 18 of us) and began driving. On the way, the bus driver stopped at an iguana restaurant. In the nearby trees, we could see huge iguanas sleeping. We then went in the restaurant’s gift shop. All of the souvenirs were nice, but one rose above them all. A wooden bowl. But not just any bowl. This bowl had the cutest little cat sleeping in it. The cat loved me, and I petted it for most of the time in the shop. The cat even let me hold it in my arms, until I had to say adios to la gata.
We loaded back in and finished the drive to the zip lining course. The course included 12 lines and a Tarzan Swing. We reached the info and paying building (and I can’t say zipping was cheap, but it was worth every penny, even though my dad paid.) after dropping Susan (the girl who works at the day care with us) in the main square of La Fortuna. She had gone zip lining before and had a bad experience because heights scare her, and she got a cable burn. My dad, Alex, the two other kids (Lanice and Megan), and about 9 other people got suited up in zipping gear and headed to the practice line. After teaching us how to sit in the harness, how to unclip, and how to brake, everyone was loaded into an open air pickup truck. The drive up the mountain was a ride in itself. Megan was forced so close to the edge of the truck that she almost fell off because there was no side rail! Luckily, everyone made it safely up the hill and onto the first zip line. Line after line passed. On every side, there were spectacular views of the forest. Everything was a beautiful, lush, green, except for the fruits of the trees. Soon, the first eight lines were over and it was time for the Tarzan Swing.
The Tarzan Swing is completely optional. For this death-defying adventure, they hook you into a long rope with both your clips. You lean forward, out of an open gate while they hold you from falling. “Now, keep your knees bent and your ankles on the edge of the platform.” As you attempt to do as they say, without warning they let go and push you off the platform. Down, down, down, you plummet towards the earth, sure that a gloomy doom is awaiting you at the bottom, along with the viciously fanged snakes, cruel, blood hungry spiders and the hard, rocky ground. Okay, so not exactly, but you do fall. Only, not for very long until the rope catches you and swings you back up on the other side. Back and forth, you swing until you slow enough for the guides at the bottom to catch you. You land after (for most people) screaming your heads, as well as the other people in the groups’ heads, off. Like I said, for most people. Lanice screamed on the way down. While Megan, on the other hand, only stopped screaming to gulp some air so she could begin screaming again. I screamed once, then was silent, but my legs were flailing like crazy. Alex, my brother, shouted, “Holy crap.” as he fell. But my dad’s fall was the most interesting by far. As he swung back and forth, flailing his legs and free arm, he imitated Tarzan’s monkey call from the Disney movie. It was hilarious, until he almost dragged a guide off the platform because he was going too fast. After the Tarzan Swing, which four people decided not to do, we had four more lines. They passed very quickly. It was cool. I started speaking some of the Spanish I knew to the guides, and they all then spoke Spanish to me, while talking to everyone else in English. Sadly, zipping ended like all things do, and we were firmly on the ground again. Everyone was filthy from the dirty, oily cables. All over my face and arms, I had filth. We washed up in the bathroom back at the info building of the zipping tour, and headed back to San Carlos. On the way through Fortuna, we picked Susan up and began the long drive back. I slept on pretty much the whole ride back. But who knew what was in store for me that night…
After zip-lining
(post by Rachel)
Sick. I HATE sick people. But today, I am, unfortunately, one of them. Last night, at around 2:30 AM, I awoke with an uncomfortable stomach. I tossed and turned for three hours, until around 5:30 when I went to the bathroom to hopefully get rid of my stomach feeling. Little did I know, I was about to begin two hours of pure, puking, torture. I upchucked in the toilet that first time, and I must say it was much more disgusting than I remembered. I hadn’t tossed my cookies for about three years until last night. Until about 7:30 AM, I was in and out of the bathroom ridding my stomach of my dinner, and, coincidentally, some really good Costa Rican cookies. Now it is about 11:00 AM. Dad, Alex, and Grandma went to their volunteer jobs, while mom and I stayed here. I woke up about an hour ago, and have been feeling much better, and have not been puking. I pity Susan, because she now has to control from 8-10 little Spanish-only speaking kids with the help of only the daycare lady. Susan also doesn’t speak much Spanish, which will be difficult for her. Also, I have to miss going to some hot springs tonight, but at least I’ll have that opportunity again after our CCS volunteer work is done. Although, I have to say, being sick here isn’t as bad as it could because everyone at the house is helpful, and if I need anything, dad can get it from the tiny grocery store down the street. Well, that’s it about sickness in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, I think we have bad luck with sickness on vacations. For the last three international trips we’ve done someone’s gotten sick. In Lake Titicaca, Peru, it was mainly dad, but me too, with altitude sickness. In Italy 2009, mom got food poisoning. Now, in San Carlos, Costa Rica, I have the stomach flu. Next, it’s up to Alex and Grandma to get puking sick. I’m not looking forward to the almost certain gloom of more sickness on other trips…
Sick. I HATE sick people. But today, I am, unfortunately, one of them. Last night, at around 2:30 AM, I awoke with an uncomfortable stomach. I tossed and turned for three hours, until around 5:30 when I went to the bathroom to hopefully get rid of my stomach feeling. Little did I know, I was about to begin two hours of pure, puking, torture. I upchucked in the toilet that first time, and I must say it was much more disgusting than I remembered. I hadn’t tossed my cookies for about three years until last night. Until about 7:30 AM, I was in and out of the bathroom ridding my stomach of my dinner, and, coincidentally, some really good Costa Rican cookies. Now it is about 11:00 AM. Dad, Alex, and Grandma went to their volunteer jobs, while mom and I stayed here. I woke up about an hour ago, and have been feeling much better, and have not been puking. I pity Susan, because she now has to control from 8-10 little Spanish-only speaking kids with the help of only the daycare lady. Susan also doesn’t speak much Spanish, which will be difficult for her. Also, I have to miss going to some hot springs tonight, but at least I’ll have that opportunity again after our CCS volunteer work is done. Although, I have to say, being sick here isn’t as bad as it could because everyone at the house is helpful, and if I need anything, dad can get it from the tiny grocery store down the street. Well, that’s it about sickness in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, I think we have bad luck with sickness on vacations. For the last three international trips we’ve done someone’s gotten sick. In Lake Titicaca, Peru, it was mainly dad, but me too, with altitude sickness. In Italy 2009, mom got food poisoning. Now, in San Carlos, Costa Rica, I have the stomach flu. Next, it’s up to Alex and Grandma to get puking sick. I’m not looking forward to the almost certain gloom of more sickness on other trips…
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
CCS Tuesday 11/23/2010
Today we awoke to rain – lots of it. Someone said it was going to rain for the next 4 days. Just our luck. Rachel and I went back to Monte Sion - our daycare. The kids could not go outside because of all the rain. It worked out okay though. Susan brought a CD player from the CCS house. A few of the kids liked playing musical chairs. It was fun when there were the same number of chairs as kids. But one of the kids – Juan, remembered that there should be one less chair than kids, and started taking chairs away. Somehow, the game always came down to the same two boys – who really took it seriously. Juan and Said duked it out to the end. While dancing around the chairs to the music, the boys flexed their muscles while yelling “Yo gano”, and “No, yo gano”. Rachel later told me this means “I’m going to win” and “No, I’m going to win.” Wow!
When musical chairs got old, Rachel taught the kids how to make origami puppies and cranes. One kid started making boats too. The kids liked the bright paper and seemed to have fun with that.
The kids also played with the wooden blocks that Susan had brought the week before from CCS. It’s really a Jenga set, but the kids use them as blocks. They love them. It’s pretty amazing to see how wooden blocks can keep these guys occupied for a half hour or more. And they all stay pretty happy with their block ration of 5 or 6 or so - until someone decides to move in on their neighbor’s blocks. Then chaos breaks out, until the blocks are restored to their temporary owners.
We were picked up by our CCS van right after the kids ate a lunch of sopa negro y arroz – black bean soup with rice. It’s awesome to see even the little two year olds completely feed and clean up after themselves. Sad to see them still hungry even after finishing their meal. After eating our own lunch, most of us CCS Insight volunteers headed up to La Fortuna to go zip-lining. Alex and Rachel and the two other kids – Megan and Lanice - were so excited. Pat went too, while Mom and I stayed on ground and took pictures. Stay tuned for a guest post from Rachel.
When musical chairs got old, Rachel taught the kids how to make origami puppies and cranes. One kid started making boats too. The kids liked the bright paper and seemed to have fun with that.
The kids also played with the wooden blocks that Susan had brought the week before from CCS. It’s really a Jenga set, but the kids use them as blocks. They love them. It’s pretty amazing to see how wooden blocks can keep these guys occupied for a half hour or more. And they all stay pretty happy with their block ration of 5 or 6 or so - until someone decides to move in on their neighbor’s blocks. Then chaos breaks out, until the blocks are restored to their temporary owners.
We were picked up by our CCS van right after the kids ate a lunch of sopa negro y arroz – black bean soup with rice. It’s awesome to see even the little two year olds completely feed and clean up after themselves. Sad to see them still hungry even after finishing their meal. After eating our own lunch, most of us CCS Insight volunteers headed up to La Fortuna to go zip-lining. Alex and Rachel and the two other kids – Megan and Lanice - were so excited. Pat went too, while Mom and I stayed on ground and took pictures. Stay tuned for a guest post from Rachel.
Monday, November 22, 2010
CCS Monday, November 22, 2010
Today was our first day of work. Pat, Alex and Mary are assigned to INA, a local two year college for teaching young adults English. More on that later. Rachel and I are at a local home daycare with another volunteer, Susan. The kids are cute, and range in age from 1 to 5. They speak only Spanish, as does the daycare owner. Since we speak little Spanish, things can get challenging. After work we had a Spanish class during which we learned some key phrases like no peleen, no pateen, y baje de conejo. (no kicking, no fighting & put down the rabbit). See - challenging.
The owners daughter has a tiny baby, pink rabbit that runs around the yard with the kids chasing it. It's pretty scary when the wobbly toddlers and fighting boys run after it, so most of Rachel's day was spent carrying around the baby Chispica.
Ciudad Quesada is an area with a lot of poverty. The Costa Rican government has a program where they provide money to home daycares that care for low income children, many with single moms. The daycare providers pay for all food and expenses. Anything leftover - which is not much - serves as payment for the providers services.
Our job is to watch the kids from 8:00 AM til 11:45 AM, while prepares lunch and cleans up. Thankfully, she also seems to appear as if by magic during the most boisterous times. It might sound like our work time is short, but it is very tiring. The kids have so little that they have a hard time sharing. They understand some English choose to ignore it. If we find something that interests them, they will stick with it for a long time though. Today they played bowling for a long time. The pins are empty plastic bottles and the ball is a rolled up ball of plastic bags. After that the boys played futbol with a bigger wad of plastic bags. Girls were absolutely not allowed. It is very evident that machismo here starts early. I don't think that we will bond as tightly with these kids as we did with our girls in Peru, but all in all it is good.
-- Posted from my iPhone
The owners daughter has a tiny baby, pink rabbit that runs around the yard with the kids chasing it. It's pretty scary when the wobbly toddlers and fighting boys run after it, so most of Rachel's day was spent carrying around the baby Chispica.
Ciudad Quesada is an area with a lot of poverty. The Costa Rican government has a program where they provide money to home daycares that care for low income children, many with single moms. The daycare providers pay for all food and expenses. Anything leftover - which is not much - serves as payment for the providers services.
Our job is to watch the kids from 8:00 AM til 11:45 AM, while prepares lunch and cleans up. Thankfully, she also seems to appear as if by magic during the most boisterous times. It might sound like our work time is short, but it is very tiring. The kids have so little that they have a hard time sharing. They understand some English choose to ignore it. If we find something that interests them, they will stick with it for a long time though. Today they played bowling for a long time. The pins are empty plastic bottles and the ball is a rolled up ball of plastic bags. After that the boys played futbol with a bigger wad of plastic bags. Girls were absolutely not allowed. It is very evident that machismo here starts early. I don't think that we will bond as tightly with these kids as we did with our girls in Peru, but all in all it is good.
-- Posted from my iPhone
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday 11/21/2010
Finally here in Costa Rica. It was very tiring getting here. The kids and I had a flight that left Seattle at 11:56 PM on Friday. After flying all night we landed in Houston on Saturday morning where we had a 3 hour layover. We met up with Pat and Mom who had flown in from Chicago, ate breakfast and boarded our flight to San Jose. A taxi at the San Jose airport took us to the Doubletree Hotel. We ate lunch, relaxed and then headed to the mall. It was pretty nasty. The only good thing about the mall was that Mom could get a Harley t-shirt for Jay. Otherwise it was a bust. We missed the free snacks and wine, and by the time we returned from the mall, the pool was closing. On Sunday we were picked up by the CCS van and drove 2 ½ hours to get to Ciudad Quesada, aka San Carlos for our volunteer part of the vacation.
Oh, and I forgot about the best part of the Doubletree. After lunch down the street (pizza – even Costa Rica has better pizza then Seattle) we decided to check out the lobby and gift shop of the hotel. Alex found a piano and played a Christmas song. Then we walked past the pool, and Alex noticed a cacao tree! It was so cool. And even better, one of the passing housekeepers noticed out interest and gave Rachel a cacao pod! I’m not sure we can transport it into the USA, but it is so cool! We may end up cutting it apart to see the insides before we go home.
Oh, and I forgot about the best part of the Doubletree. After lunch down the street (pizza – even Costa Rica has better pizza then Seattle) we decided to check out the lobby and gift shop of the hotel. Alex found a piano and played a Christmas song. Then we walked past the pool, and Alex noticed a cacao tree! It was so cool. And even better, one of the passing housekeepers noticed out interest and gave Rachel a cacao pod! I’m not sure we can transport it into the USA, but it is so cool! We may end up cutting it apart to see the insides before we go home.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
And where are we REALLY going?
I like my first, general post. But I thought I should be more specific in this one. We are going to Costa Rica!
Cross Cultural Solutions is celebrating its 15th anniversary by offering reduced rate trips to alumni. Since we volunteered in Peru in 2008, we qualified! So, for a very small fee, we are able to volunteer and travel in Costa Rica. Our placement is in Ciudad Quesada, aka San Carlos. We will fly into San Jose. A CCS driver will pick us up, along with 14 other volunteers, and drive us 2 1/2 hours north to San Carlos. We will live in the CCS house for a week, working in the morning and learning Spanish and taking fieldtrips in the afternoon. All meals are included.
After our volunteer week, we will have 5 days to travel a bit in Costa Rica. Not enough time, but we'll make the most of it. I have not completely planned where we will go, or what we will do. Top choices so far are visiting the hot-springs, zip-lining, seeing the cloud forest (wait - don't we already see that every day...), and touring a coffee or cacao pantation.
I have been so crazy busy that I have not spent nearly enough time sorting out exactly what we will do. Maybe that's a good thing. Spontaneity could work.
Anyway, we're all very excited to be doing another CCS trip. And especially excited because my mom will be coming with us this time. The only problem is I usually do my blogs for her, and since she'll be with us, who will read this one?
I have been so crazy busy that I have not spent nearly enough time sorting out exactly what we will do. Maybe that's a good thing. Spontaneity could work.
Anyway, we're all very excited to be doing another CCS trip. And especially excited because my mom will be coming with us this time. The only problem is I usually do my blogs for her, and since she'll be with us, who will read this one?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Where are we going????
Costa Rica is in Central America, bordered on the north by Nicaragua and on the south by Panama. To the east is the Caribbean coast and to the west is the Pacific Ocean. This small country measures just under 20,000 square miles and is in the Central Time Zone.
Geographically, it is divided into seven provinces; the capital, San Jose, is located in the San Jose province. Costa Rica’s elevation ranges from sea level at the coasts, to up to 12,000 feet above sea level at Cerro Chirrapo
Economically, the main industries are tourism, food processing, construction materials, and microprocessors -– Intel and HP are among the major corporations doing business here. Costa Rica is a large producer of beef and timber-–some of the most beautiful exotic woods in the world.
In 1848, the First Lady, Pacifica Fernandez Oreamuno, designed the flag of Costa Rica. The flag was designed after the ideals of the French Revolution - freedom, equality, and brotherhood - and the colors of the French National Flag…Each color represents important aspects of Costa Rica: Blue means the sky, opportunities at reach, intellectual thinking, perseverance to accomplish a goal, infinite, eternity, and ideals of the religious and spiritual desires. White means clear thinking, happiness, wisdom, power and beauty of the sky, the driving force of initiatives to search for new endeavors, and the peace of Costa Rica. Red means the warmth of Costa Rican people, their love to live, their blood shed for freedom, and their generous attitude (taken from www.costarica.com).
Their currency is the colon, however the U.S. dollar is their second currency and is
accepted in many places. At this time (October 2010), the exchange rate is about 500 colones to the dollar.
Be sure to visit Costa Rica’s official tourism site for more information.
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