Immersion C: From the big city to the rainforest farm on the “baby” bus

Hola Familias y Amigos!

Upon arrival in San Jose we were immediately greeted by Gabriels (sorry I cant figure out how to do an apostrophe on this foreign keyboard!!) jokes, which might have been funny had we not been so tired and groggy from the flight! We had our first of the now famous gallo pinto (beans and rice) after arriving to the hotel. We spent two relaxing days in San Jose, which included a group orientation of the trip and a lot of getting to know each other. One of the highlights of this time was the dance lesson, in which we attempted to dance merengue, cumbia (traditional Costa Rican dance and music), and salsa. While we had a great time, worked up a sweat, and learned some new moves, we were shown up at the end by the professionals who gave a great show.

Tuesday morning we headed off on a long trip, in what has been termed our baby bus by Jenna, to Finca Pura Suerte (Pure Luck Farm). The views were sweeping as we passed through misty mountain peaks and even saw a few Tucans along the way. We are staying in “Jungalows,” or bungalows in the jungle and are eating amazing food made with local ingredients.

Yesterday was spent hiking through the rainforst to Niyaca Falls, where we frolicked, caught some rays and watched Perry and Lisa destroy Gabriel in the swimming contest. After a beautiful day of sun and swimming, we ¨panted, huffed, suffered, ached, and worked our way back up the jungle¨ as described by Gwyn and Ellen in last nights group journal entry, but it was definitely worth the effort!

This morning we drove into San Isidro, the closest town to the farm, and went to la feria (farmers market). The farm chef, Merrick, came with us and taught us all about the different, exotic fruits and vegetables that can be found in Costa Rica. We were each then given colones (the money down here) to buy whatever we wanted and thought would be good and Merrick is going to take all of the ingredients and make us a wonderful meal tonight! Tomorrow we head to Manuel Antonio for some much anticipated beach time and hiking in the national park, where we are expecting to see the famed sloth!

Hasta Pronto!

Anna and Gabriel

Immersion C

Immersion A: Buena Vista, Siempre Te Queremos

Our lower backs hurt. For the most part, we are speckled with four different colors of paint and have dreamed at least once of drowning in a pile of wet, heavy cement. Our fingernails will never again be clean. Yet in spite of it all, we are happy, giddy even, at the realization that our time in Buena Vista was a smashing success.

That said, our joy is tempered by a dash of nostalgia. For two weeks this idyllic Costa Rican village was our home. We quickly came to feel part of the community as families took immediately to our students and incorporated them seamlessly into their daily lives. While the majority of our days were dominated by repaving a giant playground and painting the school inside and out, we also attended birthday parties, played in local soccer games and traveled to new parts of the country on family vacations. All of this in Spanish, of course.

In our last installment, we wrote at the midway point of the village time, having begun the massive project of mixing over 100 bags of cement by hand. During the second week, the weather improved and we were able to put the final touches on the courtyard a day before we said goodbye to Buena Vista. About five days ago, as the cement mixing was taking up less of our time, we began painting the classrooms, kitchen, office and roof of the school which stands at the center of town. Although classes were out for two weeks of vacation, packs of kids and a handful of adults showed up on a daily basis to help put the finishing touches on the much needed makeover. Yesterday morning, after a fun fiesta de despidida full of music, too much a food and a homemade piñata, it seemed the whole village descended upon the school to see us off. Children cried and host moms hugged hard, prompting some unexpected emotions from our students and making that last drive down off the mountain a little quieter than most would have preferred.

We are three days away from our departure back to the States, and will take the time that remains to enjoy the canopy tour in the cloud forest and white water rafting, but will also be sure to reflect on the unique experience of living and becoming part of a truly amazing community.

Look for more from us as our departure draws near…

Luke

Immersion A

Immersion C: Has arrived!!

Hola Amigos,

I just wanted to write and let you know that Immersion C has arrived safely in Costa Rica and is in high spirits. We will have a relaxing day to recover from the red-eye flight, but it looks like everyone is eager to start our adventure. More soon…

Immersion B: Pura Suerte, Manuel Antonio

Hello from the lush pacific coast of Costa Rica! The past 5 days have been filled with exciting adventures and growing friendships.

On Tuesday morning we left the city life of San Jose and headed towards Finca Pura Suerte to spend 3 days surrounded by the serenity and wildlife of the tropical rain forest. We arrived at the finca in the afternoon, dropped off our bags in the very cool “Jungalows” (friendly geckos included) and headed out on a brief nature hike. After walking around the farm and admiring the exotic plant life, we headed down to the restaurant where Chef Merrick prepared the first of our gourmet jungle fusion dinners. The delicious mix of organic, jungle grown vegetables and American-style cuisine left everyone with a full stomach and a happy face. After dinner we hung out in the Jungalows and played multiple games of Charades and a game called Patterns.

On Wednesday we started the day with an organic breakfast prepared by Chef Merrick. We were also joined by 2 new temporary group members, Mark and Max. Mark is our professional camera man and came along to capture some of our adventures on film. He quickly became an integral part of the group. Max is a volunteer at Finca Pura Suerte that is spending the summer there and studying the snakes and spiders of the rain forest. His knowledge and expertise were greatly appreciated and admired by the group.

Wednesday turned out to be an exhilarating and emotional day for most of the group. We hiked down to the Niyaca waterfall, which is a challenging hike with an absolutely breath-taking destination. When we reached the waterfall, we went swimming and most of the group took on the challenge of the heavy current from the waterfall in order to get behind the wall of water and look out on this gorgeous view of the river. After swimming, we made time for solos. Solos were a quiet time for everyone to find a peaceful place to sit, relax, and reflect on their own. Just before our hike back up started, the rain began to pour down, creating a muddy, slick trail to hike back up. The hike back up was tough, but the group agreed that it was overall a great adventure- once they got back to the dry comfort of the Jungalows that is!

The next day, we went to the farmers market (“la feria”) in San Isidro where Chef Merrick gave a quick tour and some guidance about picking out produce, before having participants shop on their own. We decided to have each student shop around the market and buy an item or two they wanted to see encorporated into dinner. This involved talking to vendors in Spanish, figuring out how much items cost, and looking for the freshest fruits and vegetables. Fortunately, everyone did a great job in their selections and Chef Merrick headed back to the farm to prepare a fabulous gourmet dinner that incorporated everyone’s items (except for the mangos, which we ate for breakfast). That afternoon, Drennan, the owner of Pura Suerte, gave us a tour of the farm and taught us a lot about organic farming, sustainable development, and the rain forest.

Thursday night brought us some unexpected excitement and a deeper appreciation for our new friends Mark and Max. After dinner, a strong storm rolled in and the power went out at the farm. So the girls headed back to their Jungalow and were hanging out discussing their newfound appreciation and oneness with nature and its lovely insects. They had taken in a friendly moth and were playing with it when suddenly Sarah’s flashlight came across a giant, hairy tarantula. The girls kept calm and without any hesitation, several of the girls went out to find our local spider expert, Max. After finding Max searching for snakes in the forest, the group then ran into Mark who had just seen a baby leopard up the path (only one of three leopards that has been spotted by the Drennan, the owner of the farm, in 9 years!). The excitement kept growing and the group made it back to the girls cabin where the fun truly took place. All we can say for now is that Mark caught Max’s heroic spider capture on video and it will soon be available for viewing on youtube. Be sure to ask about it when we get back!

Yesterday, we said goodbye to Pura Suerte, Drennan, Chef Merrick, and the real spiderman, Max. We hit the road early in anticipation of a great weekend at the beach in Manuel Antonio. We arrived at Manuel Antonio midday yesterday and hung out at the beach for the rest of the day, playing in the waves of the Pacific Ocean, getting tan, and shopping around. The Discovery A group, nearing the end of their program, were also staying at our same hotel, so we decided to go to dinner as a big group where we exchanged stories and heard about their experiences in the village. After a quick swim at the hotel swimming pool, and a few games of pool, the group called it a night.

Today was a day full of activity. We started off by having a great buffet breakfast (including pancake and omelet stations) before heading to Manuel Antonio National Park. Manuel Antonio is a beautiful stretch of jungle directly on a white sand beach that is overflowing with wildlife. This morning was a particularly good day for spotting animals, as we saw three sloths (a rare sighting, to be sure!), all sorts of monkeys, iguanas, hermit crabs, birds, raccoons, and all sorts of other cool flora and fauna.

But in the spirit of getting the most out of our time on the beach, the group then headed over to take surf lessons. Over the course of the afternoon, we can proudly say that everyone who tried to surf successfully got up and rode a wave! After thanking Ariel, our instructor and a former Costa Rica National Champion, for a solid afternoon of surfing, we went back to the hotel to regroup and head back over to the national park. But the weather had other plans, and right as we were about to leave the hotel, rain started pouring and we opted to hang out in the pool and lounge playing cards, talking and laughing and cooking dinner.

After a slightly rainy, picnic dinner the group met for a while to discuss each of our individual goals and how they were progressing so far. We had everyone write their goal on a piece of paper, fold it up, and put them in a pile. We then read the goals out load an had to guess who wrote what. Amazingly, after only five days together, the group guessed what goal belonged to who usually on the first try- a great sign of how cohesive and close the group has already become. As we start our homestays tomorrow and enter into the next phase of our program, this group cohesion will be tested, and hopefully strengthened even more. We shall see….

Alissa

Co-Leader Immersion B

Discovery A: Our Time in Canaán

The small mountain village of Canaán doesn’t appear on most maps. Google Earth hasn’t heard of it. The bus driver had to stop and ask for directions. My cell phone had no signal. All we saw as the bus pulled up to the village were green mountains, passing mist, a lone market, a few houses, a soccer field, and a group of smiling, unfamiliar faces waiting for us. We were all nervous yet excited, as for many this was the first home stay they had ever experienced.

We were greeted by Edgar Burbon, a member of the village council and Walking Tree’s liaison for the village. Soon, we were matched with families from the town, most of which had children and were located within 5 minutes’ distance from the work site. At first, most students were apprehensive about living with another family and using their Spanish. Yet by the end of the week, after celebrating birthdays, baking coconut cookies, milking cows, dancing cumbia, playing Bingo, shooting pool, kicking soccer balls, and playing cards, everyone felt quite at home. Not only that, but everyone noticeably improved his or her Spanish skills by leaps and bounds.

Working in the community was both challenging and rewarding. On the first day, the students hauled sand from the banks of the Chirripó river in order to make cement. I personally delighted in watching the burly Costa Rican men gawk at how much sand some small American girls could carry. We also worked at the site of a future community kitchen, where we dug out ditches for the foundation, mixed cement, carried massive stones, and cleared roots and brush. In addition, the group also successfully painted the town church a lovely shade of off-white. Although we were confronted by many challenges, such as afternoon downpours and occasional low supplies of construction materials, we all felt a definite sense of accomplishment and unity as we worked side by side with Costa Ricans to help improve their community.

The night before leaving, we organized a fiesta de despedida, or a farewell party. With all of the host families, kids from the community, and Walking Tree students together, we ate, gave speeches, danced, and shared a lovely evening. While some students, after a week of rice and beans, downpours and chilly evenings, were excited to move on to two days at the beach, all seemed a little sad to leave their host families, who within a week had made them feel like a part of the village.

We are now out of Canaán and writing from Manuel Antonio, a well-known beach town with beautiful white sand, monkeys hopping in the trees overhead, and familiar comforts like Internet cafes. Today we had a surfing lesson. Tomorrow we’ll hike through the national park. And within a couple of days we’ll be heading back for the US. I’ve heard more than one student remark that the past two weeks have felt like two months, yet somehow it has all gone by too quickly. For now, however, we can all breathe a sigh of relief – there’s still no signal on my cell phone.