The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 3 years to get that many views.
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Just some fun photos – Melissa bought s’more materials to share with the family, so last night we toasted some marshmallows over the stove and had a little party! :)
Finally taking a break from working on my final papers to write a little update! This past weekend, I spent Friday white water rafting on the Pacuare River with Braden and Lizz. It was a full day trip because we rafted down 18 miles of the river. There was so much to see along the way too — beautiful waterfalls, animal sightings, and groups of indigenous people who live along the river. National Geographic has even named the Pacuare as one of the top five rivers in the world for recreational white water rafting! Because it was my first time, I was a little nervous about falling off the raft. I think our guide, Abel, could sense this, because he made me jump off the raft and practice being pulled back in as a demonstration. I didn’t fall off though!! I remained safe and secure the whole time, and it was a blast. I don’t have any photos right now — their CD burner was broken, so a CD of pictures will be mailed to Lizz’s house!
Saturday and Sunday were spent at Playa Ostional. This trip was not quite what I expected it to be, but it was great nonetheless. I was expecting a weekend full of turtles – but it turns out, the only turtle I saw was the one we made on the beach.
Lots of free time to make sand art
A guide took us out on the beach to look for turtles, because Olive Ridley turtles do come out of the water every night to lay their eggs. We were a bit unlucky, though, because after an hour or so of scouring the beach, we hadn’t come across any. We went back to where we were staying, and our guide told us he would call us if anyone notified him that they had found a turtle. I tried to stay up for another hour or so, but I was exhausted from the early morning and the rafting activities the day before, so I gave up and went to sleep. All of the other girls did the same. The three boys, Braden, Bradley, and Shingo, were a little more persistent. They went back out on the beach on their own and walked around for a bit. I wish I had had the willpower (or maybe an energy drink) to keep me awake longer, but they saw an Olive Ridley turtle lay her eggs on the beach! While I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see one, I was glad some members of our group did.
The small community of Ostional seems to function around these turtles and work in a very mutual relationship with them. We were staying on the private property of a group of biologists and researchers, and we had come there to do some volunteer work. First, the man in charge, Herbert, showed us a video to explain how things work in Ostional. Their stated goal is to preserve the turtle population, in order to benefit the turtles as well as the community. All members of the community — men, women, and children — are involved in collecting less than 1% of the turtle eggs to sell as food. One of these turtle eggs has the nutrients of 40 chicken eggs, and no cholesterol. The community has created a cooperative to prevent illegal looting of the eggs. Everything is marked, stamped, and approved so that the number of eggs they take is fully regulated. Part of the money earned has been used to benefit the turtles, so while it may seem paradoxical, taking and selling the eggs is meant to benefit the turtle population as well. Herbert told us that over the past 29 years, the population of Olive Ridleys has gradually increased. They obviously cannot let the number of turtles diminish, because much of the community’s livelihood depends on it. Herbert emphasized several times that their work is entirely sustainable, to benefit the people and the turtles.
I was not entirely sure how I felt about all of this. As I watched the video of the eggs being taken out of the ground, I found it kind of upsetting — why couldn’t the turtles just be left alone? But I do recognize the importance of this relationship for the community of Ostional, as well as the protection it gives the turtles from illegal looting. I decided to do a little more research, and it turns out this is a very controversial topic. This article explains many angles of the issues (it’s long, but it covers it pretty thoroughly if you’re interested):
http://coastalcare.org/2011/07/legalized-poaching-turtles-eggs-and-playa-ostional-costa-rica/
Many people are upset by the work done in Ostional, because they see it as “legalized poaching.” I can’t quite make up my mind how I feel about it all, but in any case, it was interesting to see how a small community in Costa Rica has come to be so fully dependent on nature for survival.
For our part, we just did some beach cleanup. We picked up pieces of trash we found along the beach, in order to make it easier for little baby turtles to get to the ocean after they have hatched.
Cleaning up the beach
Other than that, we had lots of free time to enjoy the beach, which I can never complain about. I read all of The Hunger Games (so nice having time to read for pleasure) and definitely did some work on my tan.
More sand art!
Herbert also showed us another piece of local culture- taking shots of raw turtle eggs, combined with some sort of sauce. I don’t know how exactly this was safe, but it’s the second time I’ve been offered a shot of a turtle egg in Costa Rica, so it is apparently widespread and common. I’ve been told people will take shots of turtle eggs out at the bar. When I visited Anthony’s family with Imani and Alyssa, his mother tried to get all of us to try it as well — to no avail. Well, this time, almost everybody gave it a shot (pun intended).
Turtle egg
I wasn’t planning on being so bold, but after thinking about it, I decided to do as the Ticos do. I figured I’ve eaten enough raw chicken eggs in my life with all the cookie dough and brownie batter I’ve consumed, one raw turtle egg wouldn’t kill me (and it hasn’t)! Can’t say I was a big fan, but I can saw I tried it, and it had lots of protein.
Feeling skeptical, but going for it anyway!
A last main highlight of my time in Ostional was the chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset. While I didn’t see any sea turtles, I don’t think I have a right to complain, because I had this incredible view to end the day…
Beautiful sunset
Our weekend in Arenal started off very well, as we arrived and were given complimentary drinks at the “Arenal Hostel Resort.” It was one of the more expensive hostels we’ve stayed in. We only had to share a bathroom with a few other people, and they had a pool with a pool bar. They were having a BBQ Friday night, so we spent most of Friday enjoying the pool and resting up for our adventure the next day.
If I thought climbing the volcano in Nicaragua was difficult, this weekend took our physical activity to another level. When we arrived in La Fortuna, we decided to embark on a ten-hour long hike that Saturday.
The group before our long hike began!
Arenal is still an active volcano, so you can’t hike there, but you can hike Cerro Chato, a volcano right near it. It sits at an elevation of 3,740 ft. We had a guide, so throughout the hike, he would point out various plants along the way.
Our guide showing us flowers from the ginger family
There were three stopping points until we got to the lagoon. The lagoon is in a crater inside the volcano. It was a little disappointing when we arrived there, because it was a very cloudy day, so we didn’t get to experience what would have been quite an impressive view. I enjoyed it nonetheless. Inside the lagoon, there are small fish that are good for your feet because they eat the dead skin cells! This felt odd at first and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, but it was definitely something new to try.
After the lagoon, the terrain we were hiking got a bit rugged. We all ended up soaking wet and covered in mud. I had to walk carefully, because we weren’t walking on a very sophisticated path; we were climbing over rocks and roots and fallen trees. It really felt like we were in the depths of a jungle, but that’s what made it so cool.
One of our last stops was at a waterfall. It was more beautiful than the picture I have shows, but there was so much mist it was hard to take a good photo!
The last part of the day was a trip to the Tabacon Hot Springs, but before we got there, our driver pulled over to show us a red-eyed tree frog. Costa Rica is known for being home to these frogs, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to see one until then.
Red-Eyed Tree Frog
Finally, we got to my favorite part of the day – the hot springs! And we had definitely earned them. The water was at the perfect temperature. Our guide had collected mud from Cerro Chato as we were walking, and he used this to make mud masks for all of us. He explained how these masks were good for the skin because they are rich in so many minerals, like sulfur.
After spending some time in the hot springs, I was sufficiently relaxed. We ended the day by getting some pizza at a place called “Just Good Food.” The following day, we had to catch our bus at 2:45, so in the morning we just went on another walk to find a nearby waterfall, then it was back to San Jose! Crazy that I have less than 3 weeks left here now!
Last weekend it was a little weird to be away from home because Thanksgiving was on Thursday! While I didn’t get to run in the road race this year, I think everything I’ve been able to do here balances that out a little – and I’ll be back for it next year for sure! On Thursday, two of my friends from Emmanuel came to Costa Rica, Alyssa and Imani. Imani has a Costa Rican friend that she met when he was doing a study abroad in Cape Cod. They’ve stayed in close contact. She has always wanted to come visit him, so it worked out perfectly that I’m in Costa Rica now too – double the reasons to visit 
Alyssa, Imani, and Imani’s friend Anthony all got to meet my host family, see my school, and see where I’ve been living. Then they joined my friends and me for a ”Thanksgiving dinner” at a nearby Italian restaurant. It was nice having so many good friends to share the day with. That night, all of us stayed in Heredia at Anthony’s house so that we could be up early and head to Playa Tamarindo in the morning.
Anthony’s family was so hospitable. When we woke up, his mother had made us a typical Costa Rican breakfast, with gallo pinto, eggs, coffee, bread, and juice. Then we were off to the beach! It was so nice not having to use public transportation for this weekend, because Anthony took us everywhere in his car. We got a room in a hostel in Tamarindo for the night, then hung out at the beach until sunset. My friends Lizz, Nick, and Braden also came to Tamarindo for the weekend, so we all went out to dinner together at a place called Witch’s Rock.
The next morning, we were off on another adventure. We went to see Rio Celeste, which, according to the reliable source of Wikipedia, is ”notable for its distinctive turquoise coloration, a phenomenon caused by a chemical reaction between sulfur and calcium carbonate.” It was beautiful! We spent some time there, then went to a place called Thermo Mania, which was a bunch of hot spring pools. After a final dinner in Liberia, Costa Rica, we spent one more night at Anthony’s house. On Sunday, we enjoyed another homemade tico breakfast, then had to bring Alyssa and Imani back to the airport! Sad to say goodbye, but I’m so grateful I had some visitors from home over Thanksgiving weekend!!
This past weekend’s adventures took me to two of the main cities of Nicaragua, Leon and Granada! Well, the plan was to take the earliest bus on Friday morning from San Jose to Managua… but I managed to sleep through all of my alarms! I woke up in a panic, realizing I had missed the bus. I was planning on travelling with my friends Shingo, Bradley, and Laura, but they had obviously already left on the first bus. So, I rushed to the station and got on the next bus myself.
Our plan for the weekend was this: take the bus to Managua, then take another public bus from Managua to Leon on Friday night. Explore Leon Friday during the day, then take the public bus to Granada, where we would stay for Saturday night and Sunday night. As I sat on the bus to Managua Friday afternoon, I realized that by the time I arrived, the public buses to Leon would no longer be running. By some stroke of luck, the man sitting next to me on the bus had a phone that worked in Nicaragua. He looked up the number of the hostel I was supposed to stay at in Leon, called them, and the owner of the hostel drove to Managua and picked me up right at the bus station! I was reunited with my friends at Hostal Latina in Leon, and it was as if nothing had ever happened. I felt really accomplished travelling on my own and being able to communicate my situation entirely in Spanish to the kind man sitting next to me on the bus. When I arrived in Costa Rica three months ago, I never would have been able to relay my circumstances and ask for help as fully as I was able to on Friday. Truly a great feeling, knowing that I have grown and progressed! While I am still far from being fully fluent, I have mastered what I like to call “survival Spanish,” and I could also definitely consider myself a fluent Spanglish speaker.
Friday night, we were all exhausted from the long day of travelling, so we showered and got right to sleep. The next morning, we woke up early to start our exploring. We decided to go to Volcan Cerro Negro (Black Hill) to go on a hike and try out “volcano boarding.” We all piled into the back of a pickup truck, and when we arrived, I was a little intimidated by the sight of the volcano. It was much hotter in Nicaragua than it is here in Costa Rica, so the hike up Cerro Negro was probably one of the most physical exhausting activities I’ve done. It was a beautiful view at the top, so it was all worth it. After we reached the top, our guide Jesus taught us how to use our boards, which were essentially a piece of wood with a string attached. All we had to do was sit on the board and hang out to the string, just as if we were sledding down a snowy mountain – only this time we were sledding through ash down the side of a volcano! That was our adrenaline-rush activity for the weekend.
After we went back to the hostel and got cleaned up again, we took spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring Leon, simply by walking around. Nicaragua struck me as a much more fervently religious place than Costa Rica. While there are signs of the heavy Catholicism evident all over Costa Rica, it seems to me to be more deeply engrained in Nicaragua. Just in Leon, there are 21 churches. We walked up to the top bell tower of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, one of the largest cathedrals in Central America.
Next stop on our trip was the city of Granada! To make this transfer, we took a bus back to Managua, then got a bus to Granada. Our hostel there, El Caribe, was conveniently located right across from the bus station we needed to get home on Monday morning. And for only $7 a night, we got breakfast on Sunday and Monday morning! Granada is known for being home to Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake on Central America, so we decided to take a boat tour of the lake. Many of the islands on this lake are privately owned, both by foreigners and by Nicaraguans. Our tour guide pointed out islands owned by Americans, French, Taiwanese, and more. One of the islands is also owned by one of the richest families in Nicaragua – the family who owns the Nicaraguan beer “Victoria,” the run “Flora de Cana,” and has some stake in the bank as well. There were some islands left uninhabited by people, though – like Isla de Los Monos! Here, there lives a family of monkeys that were rescued from the zoo. There are spider monkeys and white-faced monkeys. We saw a father and son pair, Pancho and Panchito.
After the boat tour, we had lunch at a place called Henry’s that was right on the water. The rest of our day was spent exploring the churches and colonial buildings, as we did in Leon. The buildings were beautiful, and I loved how so many average houses were painted in the brightest colors. There were so many people out and about in the streets. Families would be sitting outside their houses in rocking chairs, just watching the world go by. There was very evident poverty, much more so than in Costa Rica, as I had expected. There were more beggars in the street and out on the sidewalks. But from the small picture of the country I was able to get, they also seem very rich in other ways. More content with a simpler lifestyle maybe.
When we went on our boat tour, we were joined by an older man named Mario. He was from New Mexico, and he was travelling to look for less expensive places to retire. As we were eating lunch after the tour, he looked at the beautiful lake and the volcanoes behind it, and commented, “I always wonder how a country can be so poor, yet so rich at the same time.” This is not something that’s easy to answer or reconcile, especially not in a visit as short as mine. There is so much beauty and poverty, happiness and sadness, all in the same place. But travelling to Nicaragua was certainly a worthwhile experience. It showed me another small glimpse of life, and how that will affect me, I’ll just have to wait and see.
Definitely a highlight of my time here so far – Mom and Dad’s visit to Costa Rica! I was so excited to show them the place I’ve called home for more than two months already. I met them at school after my class ended on Wednesday at 5:00. They experienced their first bit of culture shock, as there were some language barrier issues with the cab driver, but they made it safe and sound nonetheless! After we were reunited, they met a few of my friends, and we all went out to eat at a local “soda” – what they call cafes here basically. Melissa, Shingo, and Bradley came along for dinner too! The food was delicious, and Mom and Dad got a nice authentic taste of Costa Rican cooking.
The next morning, Bradley and I met up with my parents at Veritas again to take them to the orphanage. They had brought along some toys and books, so we gave those out to all the kids, then stayed to play for a while.
Later on Thursday, it was time to combine families! My tica family and I went to the Hotel Grano de Oro in downtown San Jose, where Mom and Dad were staying. All of us shared dinner and desserts, and as Jose said, it was a “lovely dinner and most importantly… the best company.”
I stayed in the Hotel Grano de Oro Thursday night, so that we could head to the next hotel early in the morning. Friday morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Marriot Los Sueños near Jaco. We had all day Friday to just relax, soak up the sun, and enjoy the many different pools. Saturday morning, we started the day with a tour of Carara National Park. Our tour guide, Walter, was great. On the way to the park, we stopped to see some crocodiles over the side of a bridge. I had never seen crocodiles out in their natural habitat like that before, and I’ve definitely never seen crocodiles that big. Inside the park, we saw macaws, tons of ant farms, and lots of other wildlife. Walter told us how macaws are endangered because people will cage them and sell them on the black market for $10,000-20,000. When macaws mate, they mate for life, and they can live for over 70 years. He also told us that there are only two animal species known to die of sadness after they lose their partner – macaws and dolphins.
When we got back from the tour, we were free to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool again. There was a wedding taking place at the hotel on Saturday evening. When I walked out to the beach to take some pictures of the sunset, I saw a man setting up fireworks for after the wedding, and I found out that they were setting them off at 6:30. After getting this insider info, we got some prime seats, nice and close to the beach, so we could enjoy the show!
Sunday morning was another early one, as we were going ziplining! Mom was definitely skeptical, but everyone did it and loved it. Dad and I even went upside down on one of the lines. After some more pool-time, it was time to go to our next hotel – a Hilton in San Jose, close to the airport. This hotel also had a nice pool area, so I didn’t lose any time in the sun. Our room had two doors, one leading to the hallway to get to the lobby, and one leading directly out to the pool. We spent most of the afternoon there, then enjoyed our last dinner together. The next day, it was time to say goodbye, as Mom and Dad headed to the airport, and I went back to my home here for another 6 weeks or so! It was sad to say goodbye to my parents (and to these luxurious hotels and endless breakfast buffets and pool bars), but we made some wonderful memories, and I know I’ll be back in the 860 in the blink of an eye. The only thing missing from this vacation was my big sister, but that gives me all the more reason to be excited for Christmastime in cold Connecticut!
