thanksgiving

it's almost thanksgiving...

i've so missed the holiday season... leaves ablaze, like the oven. inside is a turkey changing colors like the leaves.
stuffing.
cranberry sauce.
green bean casserole, even.
love and laughter.

hope everyone's thanksgiving is wonderful. and i hope you all get a piece of turkey. :)
i hope everyone remembers what they're thankful for. home. hot water. tomatoes. electricity. haha maybe that's just me....

bye sea

not much time to talk...

i'm in san jose now, away from the sun and the sea. it's so cold here, and it seems fitting somehow.
i'm spending the weekend with friends, barbequeing and cooking and exploring the city. i'm excited for a hot shower on monday...haven't had one in two months now. HA.

i've had so much fun, and i'm already planning my way back soon.
gotta go...onions need chopping, avodcados and tomatos need opening, fish needs frying.

love,
b

pescador

i´ve been neglecting the blog... sorry.
to catch up:

my internship ended about a week ago, and i´ve been having a blast enjoying electricity and fresh warm bread and coffee (yes. i´m drinking coffee now. sighhh, pura vida, i guess. haha)

last week, caitlin and i spent some amazing days visiting beaches nearby, some of which are the most beautiful i´ve ever seen in my life.

picture perfect: playa carrillo, just south of samara. a long crescent shape bordered by gorgeous self-manicured palm trees in white smooth sand. the water is perfectly blue and clear. it actually reminds me of samara, but here there are no houses, no restaurants, no buildings or people or parking lots or trash... just the sand and the silver sun on calm water.

best waves: camaronal. hands down. with the strong offshore wind from nicaragua, these waves represent some of the best of costa rica, swelling high and tubing in an unbelievable arc. to watch these guys disappear inside that tube and live to pop out the other side is mindblowing. downside: the strong current makes it impossible to paddle out and get in the pocket. takes forever, man. even trying to swim is taking your life in your own hands.

i was planning to go to san jose over the weekend and begin traveling around costa rica, determined to see as much as i could and try all the flavors of each region. however... plans changed pretty quick:

we´ve been hanging out with a couple of local surfers from samara who came to the project a lot of help out. they´re awesome and funny, and let cat and i crash in one of their bungalows (which they rent out.) they´re the best tourguides in costa rica, and we´ve seen and eaten so many things that traveling like a tourist would never get you.
they work everywhere here; renting bungalows, giving tours of the beaches by kayak or boat, teaching surfing, fishing.
on friday they took us fishing. yes, that includes both fishing poles AND spearfishing. i´ve been snorkeling with sharks in hawaii, but never while trailing a bait bag with four dead fish inside.
i won´t lie. i was nervous. haha

it seems sort of silly to go traipsing around costa rica like a tourist, spending two days in each city, barely having time to look around before i buy some cheap trinket, get a cafe frio, and get back on the bus. i´ve had enough of buses.

there´s also something irresistable about living and working in a small surf town in costa rica. i can walk down the street, and say hi to all the shop owners, who i know by name. mauritzio comes down on his bike, and we stop and chat and make plans to have a barbeque later. i stop by alejandro and ricardo´s place, and we hop in the van with Marc, their fishing boss from California. awesome guy. we head to the other side of the beach, where all the fishing boats bob out in the water. out to sea we go, fishing and snorkeling from 7 am to one or two in the afternoon.
when we get back, we´re sunburnt and exhausted. time for coffee! and pan con queso! the rest of the day is spent lounging in chairs and calling out to all the locals who pass by, commenting on the offshore wind or the lack of waves in samara. (they are very small here.)
it´s so much fun living here, working the sun and the ocean. the water here is startlingly blue and clear. going spearfishing with alejandro is crazy...he can hold his breath for three minutes, and i have to work hard to keep up with him. it´s amazing what he pulls out of the water. yesterday, a four foot durado (mahi mahi). he dives down to get what he´s caught, and goes so far that i have to dive down a bit as well so i don´t lose sight of him.

later, we cook what we catch. he´s the best chef in costa rica, i think. possibly the best i´ve ever had. it´s awesome that i´m working for such amazing food. we have a barbeque around the bungalow, with music blasting and locals showing up from the woodwork. i think they can smell the durado from the other side of samara.

bad news...my camera is broken. the lens won´t work. so i have no pictures of my fishing adventures. too bad, considering. but makes it more priceless, i guess. anyway...i should go ... gotta pick up some queso and agua for the guys. it´s a give and take :)

miss everyone...i´ll be home soon!

winding down

my last sunday in Samara is fresh and sweet. the sun isn´t as hot today, after the massive storm last night. the tide, too exhausted to move, is low and lets the white sand dry itself in the morning wind.

we crossed the river this morning, laughing and struggling against the extreme current. hey, if the dogs can make it, so can we. i´ll miss fording over the river on our days off, proving just how desperate we are for a cold drink, ceviche, and an escape from carrying sand. we´ll go to the bakery soon, and sit down with cafe frio and a warm croissant.
some of the tico surfer guys we´ve befriended here, alejandro and ricardo, will drive us on their fishing boat to isla samara, which is a stunning paradise, even compared to the deserted beach we walk every night.

on wednesday is my last day in this little town, before i leave and begin the life of a solo backpacker again. i´m excited to see other places. puerto viejo. montezuma. monte verde. arenal. it´s been strange to spend such a long time in one place!

yesterday a marine biologist from the ASVO project showed up at the camp, intending to stay through the weekend to survey our activity. she and i got to talking, discussing the turtles and the science behind what we do here. it was probably the most intelligent conversation i´ve had with anyone in two months. she discreetly revealed that ASVO is in dire need of biologists to oversee their projects, and she wiggled her eyebrows at me. i laughed and told her i´d give her a contact email.
hey, working in costa rica with marine biology conservation programs? why NOT?

samara

when you´re walking down a deserted beach
in a raging Costa Rican rainstorm
you´re soaking wet, even inside your rainjacket
and you just walk...for ten kilometers...for four hours
there comes a point while i´m walking, i wonder:

¨this must be the most ridiculous idea i´ve ever had in my entire life.¨

but the turtles like the rain. isn´t that interesting? when the rain pounds so hard, it´s hard to believe anything will get dry again, the turtles eagerly come out of the ocean, letting the sky wash away the salt as they dig a bed for their eggs.
it makes it worth it. it´s worth getting up and working three hour shifts in the middle of the night. it´s worth the rain. it may feel ridiculous at times, but the truth is that every day i dig my toes in the sand and it´s hard to believe i´m actually here.

more hueveros...egg stealers. i was put in charge of the hatchery shift, since we had several new people. it felt cool to run around with a machete, giving orders and protecting my ¨charges.¨nothing dramatic happened, but it´s still fun. haha

said goodbye to a lot of our friends yesterday. it´s amazing, the friends you make in three weeks. i feel like i´ve been with them for years. we all sit around the table, and a dozen languages are flying around...spanish, german, dutch, swedish, english... i´m so used to not understanding anything. i love hearing all of it, and i´m sad to see them all go.

Costa Rica knows how to do Halloween! Samara was lit up with excitement last night. the food was incredible, and cooked right on the streets. every store, every restaurant was blazing music and lighting up food on the barbeque. i didn´t know so many people existed in this town.

i only have a couple more weeks here... time is flying by so fast, and i know i´ll be sad to go. but i can´t wait for my bed at home. :)

hueveros

breakdown of last week:

we had a group of american first-year college students come for a week...it was really strange to hear so much English! it´s amazing how much i´m used to hearing three other languages and just not knowing what anyone is saying. unfortunately for them, a storm blew through and it rained nonstop all week. they´re gone now, and the camp feels quiet. but i like it. back to our little family. back to the stream of german, spanish, and english mixed together like gallo pinto.

all was quiet on the turtle front. baby turtles were sleeping as the rain pounded on the sandy ceiling above them, and we passed the quiet hours with Uno, ipods, and books. thank god i brought my hammock...it´s the perfect rainy afternoon nap location :)

last night was eventful...i´ll just say first for the record that everyone is safe.
local Ticos occasionally come to the beach to steal turtle eggs. we call them ¨hueveros¨. they carry sticks and wade across the river ( which has crocodiles) and sneak the eggs. luckily, we have patrol duty all night long. last night was the first night they´ve showed up since i´ve been here. as soon as they were spotted, wilbur, one of the leaders of the camp, ran back to wake up the big guys. they brought out all our machetes that we use to clear the trail, and alejandro´s BB guns.
all night as i walked up and down the 2 km beach, scenarios ran through my mind like a thriller movie...how i would react, if i was wearing dark enough clothes... it gave me a great boost of adrenaline, but in retrospect i´m very glad that all i saw were two guys running off in the bushes, spooked by our flashlights and the machetes in hand.
the good news? many turtles last night! better news? we saved every single egg. in 45 days, they`ll hatch and i´d sit on the beach with a BB gun just to make sure they get to the ocean. it´s so amazing to see their little flippers frantically moving as they run with dogged determination into the waves.

another sunday, another day off. after a week of rain, the sunshine today feels like a gift and I can´t wait to run into the sea. life feels so good here. like the rush of california doesn´t exist, and we can just play on the beach in the sun, knowing that there are hundreds of baby turtles out there somewhere.

another week

every night i look forward to my hatchery shift. i love picking up the small turtles, which are smaller than the palm of my hand, and watch them frantically move their fins as i weigh their little shells. we take them down to the beach and watch them book it toward the ocean, and i wish i could bring my snorkel gear and swim all the way out with them.
it kills me, how cute they are.

don`t have much time to talk today. the sun and the surf is darkening my skin, and it seems so surreal to be here on this beach while somewhere the world is still churning furiously.

it`s snowing in sweden.

the food is great...but i miss the creativity and diversity of food back home. we eat rice and beans every day...desayuno, almuerzo, y cena. it tastes good...but i miss blackberries, ciabatta bread, garlic butter and mashed potatoes. turkey sandwhiches, tuscan style pasta, bbq chicken pizza. my mouth is already watering!
in a few minutes we´ll walk down the small deli with yellow walls and bob marley. i`ll order a sandwhich, con pollo, because i miss sandwhiches so much. we`ll sit in wicker chairs by the street and when the birds have taken the last crumb, we`ll walk to the beach, past the waving sarongs and ice cream, and rest tiredly in the sand.

i`m tired. but it`s a good tired. the kind that comes from working hard and doing some good.

tortuga

it´s been two days and three nights since i arrived at my turtle project, which was an adventure story of its own. a little breakdown...

thursday: caught another bus in downtown san jose at 5:30 in the morning, and slept nearly the whole way to nicoya. our bus driver collided with a semi-truck, which stranded us in the dusty cowboy town for nearly an hour. finally making my way to playa samara, where i was scheduled to take a taxi to the river. i´d wade across, and staff would be waiting for me to walk me the 2 km to the project.
that´s when things started going downhill. my taxi dropped me off at the wrong place at the river. three long hours i waited, walking up the road and coming back, uneasy to leave the spot in case they showed up. finally a woman from philadelphia drove by in her 4-wheeler. she`d been living in samara for 3 years, and she took me to a small hotel nearby, where i called the project director, who promised to meet me there.
2 more hours.
nothing. no one.
taking the situation into my own hands, i decided to walk the rest of the way. it was far, but i knew the way. about a 20 minute walk, i reached the beach and began to trek. unfortunately, i was on the wrong side of the estuary, which i had to wade across.
i set my bags down in the mangrove trees, away from the quickly rising tide. wading slowly into the delta, i decided it was only about waist deep. so i went back for my big backpack. holding it over my head, i plunged back into the water, only to discover it was deep enough to cover my shoulders. finally getting to the other side, i raced back to beat the tide and grab my other bag and wade it over.
completely soaked, i walked the rest of the way through the dark...scary! i was alone, i was wet, and i had a little flashlight and a lot of prayers. three guys saw my flashlight and came running, helping me the rest of the way to the camp. i fell, exhausted, into bed.

friday, saturday: work here is great. the conditions are very primitive and it`s tough to get used to everything being wet and sandy. we haul about 50-60 bags of sand (each) every morning for about 3 hours...each bag weighs about 30 lbs. it`s hard, especially when it´s so hot, but i like the work and i´m glad to be busy. in the afternoon, we lay around, play cards, swim or surf. our real work begins at night, where we patrol the beaches for turtles. measuring the turtles, we gather their eggs and plant them in a watched environment. when the little ones hatch, we measure them and release them at the initial site the mother laid them. so far, i´ve personally found 3 huge turtles, and released a little over 100 baby turtles. they are probably the cutest thing´s i´ve ever seen! and it´s so funny to watch them run toward the water. some are confused, and we have to wait for an hour while they run around in circles. we have to watch for crabs and dogs, who eat the turtles, and "hueveros", the local nickname for people who steal the eggs.

it´s tough and the days are long, but i love being active and all the people i`m meeting. sundays are our only days off... gotta go buy batteries!

mariposa

it´s about a 40 minute walk from downtown Atenas to my little white house up the road. my bag slung heavy on my shoulder as i chanted all the way from the bus stop...¨left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot...¨
The rain was welcoming as it mixed with sweat, and i know somewhere deep inside that it´s time to go back to reality. After spending an amazing weekend on the coast of Costa Rica, it´s difficult to snap out of eden´s dream.
Alex, one of the guys who runs Hostel Vista Serena, took 3 of us snorkeling on Saturday. We hopped in his van, which takes two tries just to start the thing, and bumped our way down a local dirt road. He parked, and we began the trek through the jungle, slinging our snorkeling gear over our shoulders as we dodged the rocks and mud. Soon, the trees began to clear, and the ocean was finally before us. Hiding our belongings in the bushes, we raced across the black sand and into the pale green water, which is warmer than any shower i´ve had in the past week.
It´s about half a mile to the rock...maybe a 20 minute swim. With fins on, it´s good exercise. The little rock just offshore is tugged by the strong rip current, and i dig my fingers into the crevasses of the rock to hang on. My body has bruises from getting dragged against it in the current, but it was all in good fun. so many fish! colors i´ve never seen before...black and aquamarine tails, red and grey, stripes, spots...and all the fish hover lazily around the reef, laughing merrily as we clumsy humans labored in the current.
After a while, raindrops began to fall, and we swam back to shore, reaching the van just as the skies opened up. We stopped by the infamous Hotel Mariposa, one of the most expensive hotels in manuel antonio. Running through the rain, we hopped into their jacuzzi. The pool area is surrounded by almond trees, and has an amazing view of the ocean and the coming storm. we wished we could have spent a night here, but at $250 a night...we´ll just make do with their pool services, haha.
I´m back in Atenas now, under the thunder and jungle canopy. I already miss the lazy boho atmosphere of the coast, but i´m fond of this city and i can´t wait to get started on my internship on wednesday. I´ve met several people who have worked with turtles in this country, and they´ve got my blood pumping.
Off to the market to get some ice cream...and mail evelyn´s package for her host family! :)

vista serena

At the breakfast table, I have a daunting task before me:
The coffee cup.
Unlike seemingly everyone else on the planet, I strongly dislike coffee, unless it's diluted with ice or creamer.
My host mother is an amazing cook. I love everything she brings to me. All...except the coffee cup. She sets it before me with expectant eyes. "Es okey?" I nod, my eyes wide. As soon as she leaves...I'm heaping six spoonfuls of strong sugar into the cup and manage to gulp it down. so really, I'm drinking a cup of sugar water with a few coffee grounds added for color. haha

Breakfast is delicious...mango, papaya, pineapple....evelyn, I wish you were here to eat my papaya for meee!

I had my "clase de baile" on wednesday...and I actually had a lot of fun! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I took the class with two other girls, both americans, and our teacher was awesome and super funny. "Salsa es muy facil!!!" After the two and a half hours were up, I wanted to do it more! Wish I could find some classes down here...hmm...
my cooking class was also great. I learned to cook empanadas...HEAVEN. and postres and ensaladas. great great awesome delicious food.

this morning I hopped on a bus to San Jose, and then another to Manuel Antonio. If I thought I was in heaven before, it is nothing compared to this place. A small hostel, Hostel Vista Serena, is where I exhaustedly laid my bags down. Hammocks swing from the porch, overlooking the sea and the trees that tumble joyfully into it. Laughing and playing cards with the travelers around me, I'm making more friends than I ever hoped for, and I wish I didn't have to leave on Sunday.

I find myself longing for the people that I love. I'm discovering so much beauty and so many amazing people, all I want to do is show everyone how excited I am and share this experience with them. I miss you!

Costa Rica

Primero dia en Costa Rica...

Oh my goodness, it is so beautiful. I can´t get over it.
It was about a 25 drive from the airport in Alajuela to my host family in Atenas. It´s so lush and green here...not like the wild, tangled jungles of asia, but lively and deep and full of life. The rainy season has brought all the flowers out to play, and they curl up the sides of the colorful houses. Everything is so bright and happy. very hippy-esque...i could stay here VERY long time.

My host family is nice...although they talk fast and it´s hard to keep up :)
Alicia, the mother, is an amazing cook, although she keeps putting a cup of coffee in front of me. i have a feeling I´m going to be drinking more coffee on this trip than I ever have in my entire life! so far the food is simple yet amazing...I´m looking forward to taking my cooking class.

first lesson in español this morning. Isabel, my professor, is HILARIOUS, and she likes to play charades to act out everything I´m learning. it´s fun. It´s tough to be thrown into a place where no one speaks english and i speak very little spanish. I understand about 50% of what people are saying, but with the lessons it´ll get easier.

Atenas. It´s a little town that revolves around the little park in the center. The park is peppered with big trees and painted stone benches, and I look forward to relaxing and doing my homework there. Across from the park is a large, catholic church. the wooden ceiling is high, with old candle chandeliers dangling down. walking down the center aisle, I pass several statues, each very emotional. At the front, a table with two angels watching over the service. They are each holding a lantern, lighting the way.

Little red taxis circle the town, looking for customers.
An ice cream shop looks inviting, but it´s beginning to thunder and rain. perhaps tomorrow :)