It was a time well spent. I'm glad I chose to go as a volunteer and not as a tourist. I believe this has given me a better perspective of life in Costa Rica, which would not have been possible by touristy sightseeing. I'm going to remember this place, the city, the family, the relaxed life, and the happy people around. However, it's the Pura Vida attitude that has impressed me the most.
Pura Vida! Hasta Luego!
Note: For those interested, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities in Costa Rica and many other countries around the world. A simple internet search should yield plenty of results. I went through International Volunteer HQ, based in New Zealand. Costs vary depending on where you go, how long you stay and a host of other factors, but in general, volunteering is cheaper than going to another country as a tourist through vacation packages. Then there is the contentment of being of help to other communities. I wouldn't trade this experience for any vacation package. Simple!
Today was going to be the most exciting day of my trip. I had reserved for a rafting and a canopy tour a few days ago. I was especially excited because I had convinced another volunteer who had never rafted before to go rafting. Although she had just been to a canopy tour a couple of weeks before, she agreed to go on the combine tour because I had put enough excitement in my words while explaining how much fun rafting can be, especially on the Pacuare river, recognized by some, including the National Geographic, as one of the best whitewater rivers in the world.
The bus came to pick us up around nine. In the bus were a bunch of Frenchmen, Chileans and one American. We drove through Cartago, one of the other bigger cities in Costa Rica. The driver showed us a volcanic mountain along the spectacular two hour drive. Two rafts, two guides and a photographer were waiting for us when we got there. It was a beautiful river surrounded by green mountains. The air was fresh. The day was beautiful. The sun was out and it almost seemed like it was waiting to watch us paddle the river. It was a perfect setting for a great run down the river.
After quick safety instructions, we were all ready to experience the thrill. My friend was nervous, especially because the water was very cold and guide had said that if someone fell off the raft, it was up to them to make it to the shore. Of course, he knew better but thought it was funny to scare others. I was really excited, as this was one of the things that I had really wanted to do while I was down there. I had run a few whitewater rivers in the US but this was going to be different. This was a whole new continent, a whole new group of people whom I will very likely never meet again. But that didn’t bother me. All I was focused on at that point was to experience the Class III thrill and make it to the shore without scratching a bone.
The five-kilometer run was very quick. The first half kilometer was not very exciting as we hit many rocks but the remainder of the trip was filled with the guide yelling “paddle forward,” “right back”, “left back,” and “duck” along with a couple of profanities. By being on the front of the raft, I was one of the two leaders which made me feel extra responsible but I was confident that no one was going to die. As long as no lives were spared I was okay with someone falling into the river. That would just add to the excitement- I thought. I nearly became the victim when I was almost thrown out of the boat while maneuvering, or more appropriately - trying to maneuver, through a rapid. The raft bounced off the river. The guide had yelled “duck” which meant “hold on to the paddle and grab the freaking rope.” I did. But I only managed to hold the paddle underneath my arm. It was too late before I could find my rope. The next thing I know is I have half my body out of the boat and parallel to the river. First thing that occurred to me was to somehow avoid any rock that was going to be on my way as I fell off the boat. But then, I also quickly remembered that my foot was tangled to a “grip” on the floor of the boat. I pulled my leg to make sure that my grip was tight. As we were coming down the rapid, the boat hit a huge splash of water coming towards the boat in the opposite direction. The splash couldn’t have timed itself any better. I was soon back up in the boat, this time better prepared and even more excited to tackle another rapid.
The only disappointment, which didn’t matter at that point, was that the river we ran was the Orosi and not the Pacuare, as had been told to us the previous night. When I told that driver that we were told that we’d run the Pacuare, he simply replied “I don’t know why they said that.” There you go- another Pura Vida attitude.
The zip line (canopy tour) was no less fun. The canopy tour was to north of San Pedro. So we drove all the way back to San Pedro and to I don’t know where. All I know is they took us to a protected area for the canopy tour. Running the zip lines and walking on tight ropes was exciting. However, the most fun run was the couple hundred meters long “Superman” (See the picture to the right). I was screaming and flapping my “wings,” although I do realize that the superman we see on TV doesn’t flap his wings. Whatever… Nobody ever told me that a superman in a zip line can’t flap his wings.
Unfortunately, that night was also my last night in Costa Rica. I spent the night with three other people eating sushi and drinking beer in the same park where I had started my first night.
I was lucky to witness one of the biggest carnivals in Costa Rica. The carnival in Palmares lasts for two weeks with non-stop music, dancing and drinking. Ticos are known for living a relaxed life but they don’t hesitate to work hard when it comes to partying.
An hour and a half long bus ride took us to Palmares, a small town close to the airport. Once there we saw just a huge flood of people along the streets. It looked like a typical street festival but just with lot more people and lot more beer around. There were a handful of makeshift clubs which were still huge and crowded. Hanging out was a lot of fun until we had to pay for the table we occupied. I guess you could consider charging for the table as being a cultural thing.
Although, today was not bad, I am excited about tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.
A lot of the other volunteers who normally work in and around San Jose had left for Manuel Antonio, the nearest beach town. Kiel and Brandon left with them but I chose not to go. There were two new volunteers in the house today. I went to San Jose with them in the afternoon.
One of my housemates has been volunteering with the emergency services. She came back with a rather sad dinner time story. She was in an ambulance today, which was headed to get a pregnant 13 year old girl and take her to the hospital. And no, that was not a typo- it really was a 13 year old girl that was pregnant. As a volunteer, my housemate was in charge of controlling the flashing lights of the ambulance, which apparently change depending on whether you are on local streets or on highways. The thirteen year old had been raped by one of her relatives. However, due to social pressure, the person responsible had never been brought to justice. Life went on for the rapist but it was never the same for the thirteen year old. On the brighter side though, the community had provided moral support to her and decided to help her by giving allowances. My housemate told me that events like this were fairly common in rural Costa Rica. She then went on to tell me a similar story of a 14 year old who had been raped by her intoxicated father. Oh the joy of drinking!
We hit El Pueblo at night to experience the night life of Costa Rica. El Pueblo is basically a village with nothing but night clubs in it and a lot of them too. El Pueblo met and even exceeded my expectations. The Ticos certainly know how to party. It was four in the morning by the time we got home.
I wasn’t looking forward to traveling back, partly because that meant leaving behind the beach, the wonderful food and the tranquility that would be hard to come by in recent future and partly because I knew the ride back wasn’t going to be fun. I had had a great time just enjoying the beach and the weather. Albeit not doing a whole lot of work, my time was well spent here. I met some interesting people, got to see the village life of Costa Rica, ate some good food, and above all relaxed a lot.
I know it is going to be a while before I visit another secluded and peaceful place. So I was a little low before leaving but I also know that life can’t always be honey. I’m glad I was able to taste the honey quite a bit before diving myself to the everyday world of vinegar.
The travel back to San Jose was again tedious. However, I did kill time by reading the book I had taken with me and enjoying the mountains of Costa Rica along the way. That evening Maritza invited us to chill with her relatives that had come over to the house.
I haven’t been feeling too well lately. Although, Kiel keeps scaring me that its swine flu, I know that it's only cold. Upon recommendation from Yami, I went to a local store and bought some anti-gripe, the cold medicine. I felt much better after taking it.
Today was the day that we did the most work. We moved around some construction materials, dug a ditch to dump some rotten fish and cleaned the backyard. A hot and humid weather discouraged me from doing anything else. This being the last night at the beach, we went to watch the sunset again.
I volunteered to patrol the beach again in hopes of seeing a turtle. Of course, an hour and a half of walking along the beach didn’t yield anything. It was still very nice to walk along the beach under a clear sky along with the sounds of the waves.
I went to bed before midnight so I could wake up at 4.30 to catch the 5 am bus.
Jan 20, 2010 After a big breakfast of gallo pinto, pancakes and water melons I walked along the beach in the morning picking up trash. I used the opportunity to dive in the ocean and just hang out for a while. The beach was calm although the sand was not the prettiest. We were told that a white sand beach is not too far from here.
Turtles come to nest every year on this beach, known as the Playa de Ostional. Of the seven species of sea turtles around the world that are all endangered, only the leatherback, green turtle and olive ridley come to this beach. Turtles are amazing. Female turtles (turtuego for the locals) come to lay eggs on the same beach they were born. When the turtles come to the surface after hatching underground, they only have a few minutes before they go into the sea. Twelve to fifteen later when its time to lay eggs, they can trace back their path back to the same beach. Its just amazing how they can do that. I can’t even remember how to get to Sears in Seven Corners and I was there just a few weeks ago.
The turtle conservation program in Ostional is also pretty amazing. This is a great example of how to make any local project successful: by working with the local community hand in hand. The Universidad de Costa Rica has a research unit in Ostional in conjunction with the community. A certain percentage (I think its five) of the eggs harvested every year is given to the locals as turtle eggs are part of their livelihoods. People have been eating turtle eggs for generations. The conservation program has nicely coexisted- with the university helping poachers from illegally getting the eggs and the locals helping the university with the research program.
In the afternoon, I took a stroll around town which basically consisted of three shops and some open space. I also grabbed some cold medicines and had conversations with the locals while at the shop. We talked about the earthquake in Haiti. The Ticos down here didn’t hesitate to ask us what we thought of Bush. Conversely I asked them about Obama. The locals seemed to think that more tourists came to town when Bush was in power. It’s interesting how they thought the two could have been related. I tried to explain the economic situation with all the Spanish I knew and they seemed to understand, or they may have just nodded. Who knows?
One of the volunteers offered us to tag along with her for beach-patrol at night. During the patrol I learned quite a bit about turtles and the conservation program in Ostional. It seemed clear to me that the program was a success because they had chose to work with the locals and give them a fair share of the resources. Leatherback apparently hasn’t had a successful nesting in three years. So they maintain a nesting place where eggs collected by volunteers and hatched and released later. The program also hires locals as assistants, who work to protect the turtles. However at the end of an hour long patrol, we didn’t see a single turtle. There had been a “false crawl”- a turtle had come to the beach a few nights ago, but apparently didn’t like something there and returned to the ocean without laying eggs. So we were hoping that she would come again, this time to actually lay the eggs. However, that didn’t happen that night.
I feel like home here. I feel like I know the streets. For the past three days, I’ve been seeing the same people every day. I’ve been walking down the same street, going to the same stores. I know where the shops are, where the bank is and where things are in the house. However, today was a little different because I leave for the volunteer site today.
I’ll be honest that I didn’t want to wake up at 4:30, especially after going to bed at 1 am but I was more than happy to do so because I knew I was venturing into a new place, a new surrounding and a new cause that I rarely get to be a part of. I was excited, thrilled, and energized in the morning. A 20 minute taxi ride from home after picking up Kiel and Brandon took us to the bus stand in San Jose. The four hour bus ride reminded me of Nepal. The mountains, the narrow highway, the dirt roads branching out of the highway, the small houses, and the snack stops actually made me nostalgic. Some mountains looked a little barren but most were green. Four hours of reminiscence of Nepal took me to Santa Cruz, a town northwest of San Jose. We had to wait for two hours for the midday bus to Ostional from Santa Cruz. I got two pieces of fried chicken for c2000 at a food stand. Apparently, my friend Kiel who is white was charged more.
A two and a half hour bus ride from Santa Cruz to Ostional again reminded me of Nepal but more of the plains (the Terai). The land was starting to get flatter, and the humidity was rising. The houses were also getting smaller and had tin roofs- also a very Nepali feature. The bus had local people hauling sacks of groceries and other household items to the village. Although somewhat torturous because of an annoying old lady who kept being loud and obnoxious, the ride was very interesting. I was also proud to be the best Spanish speaker in the group. An iguana and a woman whose name I don’t remember greeted us at the facility. Apparently, iguanas just hang out in the yards around here. After resting for a little bit, a good meal- rice and beans again but with some very fresh salad, felt good. I had a good conversation with Yami, the chef at the facility who also showed me how to made fried cauliflower dipped in egg. We had already heard in San Jose that she was a great cook. I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the language now. Yami’s blackberry fresco is also amazing.
There were other volunteers already living in the facility when we got here. Running water, electricity and internet made the facility more convenient but the location (facing the beach) and the simplicity made it serene. I almost feel like I’ll take serenity over comfort any day. Watching the sun sink in the ocean later in the evening certainly accentuated that feeling. We spent the night at an overlook with music in the background and conversations ranging from stand up to stereotypes to healthcare to loosing hair. It’s probably a no brainer who originated the conversation about losing hair.
Jan 18, 2010 The orientation wasn’t too exciting. Learning Latin dance in the evening however was. I met a bunch of new people at the orientation including Kiel and Brandon who were to join me in the turtle conservation program. Meeting these guys reinforced my idea that the world is small. They both happen to live less than 10 miles from where I live, in Woodbridge. Orientation also reminded me of days in college because of the fact that there were young people from many countries. It’s always great to see that there are people around the world, especially the young bunch, that still think life is not all about playing Wii or enjoying a hamburger at a fast food joint. These young people were there for a noble cause. Although all of them were from the Western civilization, they were aware of the hardship that was likely to come their way but were still willing to tackle it. Being away from the comfort of hot running water, comfortable couches, and the appeal of hamburgers and fries didn’t bother them much. Apparently there are good people out there. You just have to find them.
My lunch consisted of home packed rice and beans with baked chicken. Dinner consisted of amazing home-made tamales by Caroline, Maritza’s older daughter. It was a good coincidence that during orientation they had told us not to eat the banana skins in tamales. Otherwise I don’t know what I’d have done with the skin- probably looked stupid trying to eat what apparently is inedible but gives great flavor. The tamales had a lot less maize (corn) and more ingredients (green beans, carrots and beans sauce) and was much juicer. It almost seems like a norm to hit a bar every night. This night was no different, except that this time there were many more people in the group.
Note: For those interested, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities in Costa Rica and many other countries around the world. A simple internet search should yield plenty of results. I went through International Volunteer HQ, based in New Zealand. Costs vary depending on where you go, how long you stay and a host of other factors, but in general, volunteering is cheaper than going to another country as a tourist through vacation packages. Then there is the contentment of being of help to other communities. I wouldn't trade this experience for any vacation package. Simple!
