There are a lot of things I love about Costa Rica. I love the plants and animals, the people I meet, and how ridiculously cheap everything is. But what I love most is that when you ask, Costa Rica delivers. I wanted an adventure, and an adventure is surely what I have gotten.
On Thursday morning, I went to the bus station with Jacki as planned, but found out that for whatever reason we couldn't get tickets for the morning bus - either it wasn't running or it was sold out, we're not sure. So I decided to take the 4:00 PM one and go by myself, stay overnight at the Flutterby House in Uvita, then go back in the morning.
I got on the 4:00 bus, getting to my old house in Coronado just before 7. I packed my suitcase, and at 7:30 a taxi came to pick me up and take me to Uvita. The rain was coming down pretty hard, and by the time we got to Uvita, the roads were starting to flood. Finally, the taxi driver said that he couldn't go any farther. I explained that I needed to get to the hostel because I had nowhere else to say, and he said that I could come sleep at his house. Of course, my common sense said not to go home with a strange man I had just met, and we were only about a 5 minute walk from the hostel, so I said that I would walk the rest of the way. I only had clothes and books in my suitcase, so I asked if I could come pick it up from him in the morning - he owns a fish market on the way to the bus stop. He said that would be fine, and I went on my way.
When I got out of the taxi, the water was just above my ankles. But as I kept walking, it got pregressively deeper until it was above my knees. Then, the ground under me gave out without warning and before I knew it I was completely underwater, being pulled away by a current. I grabbed onto the first thing I could find, I think it was a big rock, and pulled myself out of the current and back onto my feet. At that point I realized that going any farther would be a death wish - I hadn't crossed the bridge over the river yet.
I started backtracking until I passed a house with lights on and a lady standing in the doorway waving at me, and I waded up to the front door. I explained that I was from the United States but couldn't get to the place where I was staying because of the water. She handed me a towel and brought me into her bedroom, telling me that I could stay the night there and she would sleep in her children's bedroom. (Costa Rican hospitality - amazing.) It wasn't until she had left that I looked down and realized several things: 1) I was wet and filthy. My previously white shorts and tank top were now dark brown. I had no change of clothes. 2) My cell phone, iPod, and camera (yeah, my big Canon Rebel T1i) were waterlogged and most likely kaputt. 3) The last person to see me was the taxi driver, who had dropped me off on a dark, flooded street. The Flutterby House was expecting me, and had given me the phone number of the taxi, so would probably call him when I didn't show up. I had no way of calling anyone to tell them where I was and that I was okay. 4) There was blood all over the floor. I lifted up my feet and saw that the bottoms were completely cut up. I vaguely remembered stepping on something sharp but couldn't really remember. But I was so exhausted that I didn't even care, so I laid down and fell right asleep.
I woke up a few hours later. It was still dark and my feet were hurting very badly, and I knew that I needed to do something to clean them up. I looked outside and saw that the rain had stopped and the streets were all clear. I left some money for the family on my pillow, and set off in the direction of the Flutterby House. Ten minutes and a lot of limping later, I was outside the gate. I rang the bell, and the dogs took care of the rest - a very groggy Neil showed up two minutes later. He took one look at me and asked what had happened. I told him, and he called for Pam, who got me a clean towel and sheets and some disinfectant. I took a hot shower and went right up to bed... it was 2:30.
Since then, I have been staying at the Flutterby House. It turns out that Thursday night was one of the worst rainfalls they've had all year. The supports for the bridge up to Dominical were washed away, and between all the landslides and fallen trees we can't leave Uvita. They're hoping that there will be a way to get to San Jose by tomorrow, if it doesn't rain too much more, and even then it's just a maybe. There's a slight chance that if it keeps raining too badly I'll be stuck here for days or even weeks. We bandaged up my feet pretty well but it's very difficult to walk, and the less I do so the faster it will heal. If I can get to San Jose tomorrow, I will take the opportunity... and then from there will be able to get back home to San Isidro.
Time will tell.......
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
La India Dormida
Hola hola hola hola! Phew.
I've pretty much been in continuous motion since I got to Quebradas on Sunday evening. It's amazing how much more I have to do than I did before, so the move from Coronado de Osa has definitely been a positive change.
Monday night I stayed in with my host family. My host sister has exams right now at the high school, so she needed to use the computer which is in my bedroom, but we ended up just playing music and dancing around the house so I'm pretty sure she didn't get any studying done. The rest of the family laughed at us for about an hour, and then the grandmother tried to join in. She's very old, uses a walker, is blind in one eye, only comes up to about my shoulder, and with her flower dresses and aprons is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Yesterday morning was my first day working at FUDEBIOL, since we work from Tuesday to Saturday and get Sunday and Monday off. I woke up at 4:45 to go power walking with my host mom and two other ladies in the neighborhood. They were actually pretty hard to keep up with! We walked for about half an hour up the mountain, then I ran back down ahead of them so that I could shower and get dressed before breakfast.
At 7, Jeannette met me in front of my house and we started up to the biological center. Jacki and Katie work at the local school on Tuesdays, so it was just the two of us. Neither of us had been before and had absolutely no idea what we were in for until we had collapsed half an hour later on a steep incline that showed no signs of flattening out anytime soon. Finally, we reached a gate that looked like it was the biological reserve and excitedly ran down the driveway where we met two very nice farmers who seemed happy to see us but had absolutely no idea who we were or what we were doing there. After we explained that we were exchange volunteers from ACI, they laughed and pointed up the mountain to the REAL biological center. We climbed for about five or ten more minutes and then were finally there. We were given a tour of the central area by Don Jesus, who I think will pretty much be in charge of us, and met the four high school boys who are living and working at the center for four weeks as a project for school. We decided to pull weeds in the garden until lunchtime when it started raining. After that, we were allowed to use the computer room to go on the internet until 2 PM when we made the journey back down the hill.
After we got home (and took very long showers) Jeannette and I took the bus into San Isidro and went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. We got back to my host family's house only to realize that the oven was broken. They have a smaller oven as well, but only the bottom part was working, so our cookies cooked from the bottom up and we had to flip them over in order to get them fully cooked. They weren't the best we'd ever had, but I guess my host family liked them because when I got back from work today they were gone.
I overslept this morning until about 5:30 (am I really calling that oversleeping?) and missed power walking, but I'm not sure how well I would have done because once I left for work with Jeannette and Jacki I realized how sore certain parts of my body were (e.g. my butt) and by the time we finally reached FUDEBIOL Jeannette and I could barely stand up. Jacki has been doing this for about two months so she's an expert at it by now. Just for kicks, we stopped to say hello to our friends at the farm ten minutes below the center and spent some time playing with the puppies there.
Now I'm at an internet cafe only about a 5 minute walk from my house in Quebradas. In the morning, I have to go back to Coronado to pick up the rest of my things there, but Jacki has been nice enough to offer to go with me. In the evening, I'm going with her to dance class in San Isidro, which I'm really excited about!
It's been a really long time since I put up any pictures, and I really want to... I have to get back home for dinner now but I'm really hoping that I'll be able to soon!
I've pretty much been in continuous motion since I got to Quebradas on Sunday evening. It's amazing how much more I have to do than I did before, so the move from Coronado de Osa has definitely been a positive change.
Monday night I stayed in with my host family. My host sister has exams right now at the high school, so she needed to use the computer which is in my bedroom, but we ended up just playing music and dancing around the house so I'm pretty sure she didn't get any studying done. The rest of the family laughed at us for about an hour, and then the grandmother tried to join in. She's very old, uses a walker, is blind in one eye, only comes up to about my shoulder, and with her flower dresses and aprons is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Yesterday morning was my first day working at FUDEBIOL, since we work from Tuesday to Saturday and get Sunday and Monday off. I woke up at 4:45 to go power walking with my host mom and two other ladies in the neighborhood. They were actually pretty hard to keep up with! We walked for about half an hour up the mountain, then I ran back down ahead of them so that I could shower and get dressed before breakfast.
At 7, Jeannette met me in front of my house and we started up to the biological center. Jacki and Katie work at the local school on Tuesdays, so it was just the two of us. Neither of us had been before and had absolutely no idea what we were in for until we had collapsed half an hour later on a steep incline that showed no signs of flattening out anytime soon. Finally, we reached a gate that looked like it was the biological reserve and excitedly ran down the driveway where we met two very nice farmers who seemed happy to see us but had absolutely no idea who we were or what we were doing there. After we explained that we were exchange volunteers from ACI, they laughed and pointed up the mountain to the REAL biological center. We climbed for about five or ten more minutes and then were finally there. We were given a tour of the central area by Don Jesus, who I think will pretty much be in charge of us, and met the four high school boys who are living and working at the center for four weeks as a project for school. We decided to pull weeds in the garden until lunchtime when it started raining. After that, we were allowed to use the computer room to go on the internet until 2 PM when we made the journey back down the hill.
After we got home (and took very long showers) Jeannette and I took the bus into San Isidro and went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. We got back to my host family's house only to realize that the oven was broken. They have a smaller oven as well, but only the bottom part was working, so our cookies cooked from the bottom up and we had to flip them over in order to get them fully cooked. They weren't the best we'd ever had, but I guess my host family liked them because when I got back from work today they were gone.
I overslept this morning until about 5:30 (am I really calling that oversleeping?) and missed power walking, but I'm not sure how well I would have done because once I left for work with Jeannette and Jacki I realized how sore certain parts of my body were (e.g. my butt) and by the time we finally reached FUDEBIOL Jeannette and I could barely stand up. Jacki has been doing this for about two months so she's an expert at it by now. Just for kicks, we stopped to say hello to our friends at the farm ten minutes below the center and spent some time playing with the puppies there.
Now I'm at an internet cafe only about a 5 minute walk from my house in Quebradas. In the morning, I have to go back to Coronado to pick up the rest of my things there, but Jacki has been nice enough to offer to go with me. In the evening, I'm going with her to dance class in San Isidro, which I'm really excited about!
It's been a really long time since I put up any pictures, and I really want to... I have to get back home for dinner now but I'm really hoping that I'll be able to soon!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Quebradas
Quite a lot has happened in the past week. I feel that it would be somewhat unprofessional of me to go into too much detail, but for certain finacial reasons my host family found themselves unable to have me stay with them any longer. I found this out after returning to Coronado on Sunday, and Wednesday morning got on a bus and went to San Jose to meet with ACI and find a new location.
My new project is called FUDEBIOL, and is a biological center located in the mountains near San Isidro del General in a town called Quebradas (the website is www.fudebiol.org). And I love my new host family. I moved in with them last night, and they are so much fun! There is a mom and dad, a daughter who is 16, two sons who are in their mid twenties, and also a grandmother all living in the house. As of right now, I will be working with three other girls at the center. One, Jackie, is from England, she has been here for around a month and will be staying until after I leave. Another, Jeannette, is also 18 and from the United States, she got here the day before I did and is staying for six weeks. The third I have not met yet, but I know that her name is Katie and she is here with the Peace Corps, so she's been around for a while. There will probably be several more short-term volunteers who come and go during my time here. The town is very volunteer-friendly, and there are 18 families who take turns hosting exchangees as the FUDEBIOL protects the town's water supply and therefore is very important to the community.
Other than that, I've spent most of the last week hanging out with my friends from the program in San Jose. ACI is having a Halloween party this weekend, so we're making plans to get on a bus right after work on Saturday and hopefully be there in time. Costa Rica doesn't really celebrate Halloween and costumes are hard to come by, but I managed to find a tiara and some silver fabric and will be going as a princess.
Should be spending the rest of the day with the other volunteers in San Isidro, and then going back to Quebradas and having dinner with my host family!
My new project is called FUDEBIOL, and is a biological center located in the mountains near San Isidro del General in a town called Quebradas (the website is www.fudebiol.org). And I love my new host family. I moved in with them last night, and they are so much fun! There is a mom and dad, a daughter who is 16, two sons who are in their mid twenties, and also a grandmother all living in the house. As of right now, I will be working with three other girls at the center. One, Jackie, is from England, she has been here for around a month and will be staying until after I leave. Another, Jeannette, is also 18 and from the United States, she got here the day before I did and is staying for six weeks. The third I have not met yet, but I know that her name is Katie and she is here with the Peace Corps, so she's been around for a while. There will probably be several more short-term volunteers who come and go during my time here. The town is very volunteer-friendly, and there are 18 families who take turns hosting exchangees as the FUDEBIOL protects the town's water supply and therefore is very important to the community.
Other than that, I've spent most of the last week hanging out with my friends from the program in San Jose. ACI is having a Halloween party this weekend, so we're making plans to get on a bus right after work on Saturday and hopefully be there in time. Costa Rica doesn't really celebrate Halloween and costumes are hard to come by, but I managed to find a tiara and some silver fabric and will be going as a princess.
Should be spending the rest of the day with the other volunteers in San Isidro, and then going back to Quebradas and having dinner with my host family!
Friday, October 15, 2010
El Mar.....
I received many complaints for not posting while I was in San Jose last weekend... my apologies.
Last weekend I took the bus up to San Jose for the first time, a very long trip that began at 4:30 AM and didn't get me into the city until just after noon. I went to an event with my program called country presentations, where volunteers who are here from around the world give a small presentation on their home country to the group of Costa Ricans who are considering going abroad in the next few months, in order to help them choose a country to travel to. The countries presented last weekend were Germany, Switzerland, and Austria; I will have to go back this coming week to give the presentation on the United States next Saturday.
Right now, I am in a small beach town called Uvita, only about half an hour's bus ride north of my own house. I found out yesterday that I didn't have to be at work today, so decided last minute to take the long weekend and go somewhere. I got on the bus at 4:30 this morning, not entirely sure where I'd end up (although I did have a pretty good idea), and at 6:15 was walking through the gate at the Flutterby House, a hostel in Uvita. I was completely amazed. While I (very unfortunately) don't have the cord for my camera to post pictures, the hostel's website is www.flutterbyhouse.com and they have several pictures there... I'm staying in a tree house. Right now, it's just me, the lady who owns and runs the hostel, and a handful of guys from around the world who are there to surf. We're right on the beach, where I spent the entire day today, and you can hear the waves from the hostel.
Well, that's about it! Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pictures up in about a week when I'm back in San Jose.
Last weekend I took the bus up to San Jose for the first time, a very long trip that began at 4:30 AM and didn't get me into the city until just after noon. I went to an event with my program called country presentations, where volunteers who are here from around the world give a small presentation on their home country to the group of Costa Ricans who are considering going abroad in the next few months, in order to help them choose a country to travel to. The countries presented last weekend were Germany, Switzerland, and Austria; I will have to go back this coming week to give the presentation on the United States next Saturday.
Right now, I am in a small beach town called Uvita, only about half an hour's bus ride north of my own house. I found out yesterday that I didn't have to be at work today, so decided last minute to take the long weekend and go somewhere. I got on the bus at 4:30 this morning, not entirely sure where I'd end up (although I did have a pretty good idea), and at 6:15 was walking through the gate at the Flutterby House, a hostel in Uvita. I was completely amazed. While I (very unfortunately) don't have the cord for my camera to post pictures, the hostel's website is www.flutterbyhouse.com and they have several pictures there... I'm staying in a tree house. Right now, it's just me, the lady who owns and runs the hostel, and a handful of guys from around the world who are there to surf. We're right on the beach, where I spent the entire day today, and you can hear the waves from the hostel.
Well, that's about it! Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pictures up in about a week when I'm back in San Jose.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Perez
So, I know it´s been a while...
As of today, I have been working at CEN CINAI in Coronado for exactly one month. I can´t believe all this time has gone by! There isn´t a whole lot to say about my job, host family, etc. apart from what I said in my last post, but I do have some pictures to post.
As of today, I have been working at CEN CINAI in Coronado for exactly one month. I can´t believe all this time has gone by! There isn´t a whole lot to say about my job, host family, etc. apart from what I said in my last post, but I do have some pictures to post.
My host dog (and best friend!) Bombón
One of the girls in the kindergarten painting a picture
A group of students from our older afternoon class
The piñata on El Día de los Niños, or Children´s Day
Our completed project on United Planet Day
Independence Day ceremony: schools all over the country pass along a torch, which the children carry by running from their school to the next one down the road and then passing it along to the next school as the national anthem is played. The children on the left are from the town to the south, and the ones on the right are from Coronado.
The small children with their paper torch, because they´re too young to run all the way to the next school.
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