Okay, so I am making Costa Rica sound boring. It's not, I promise. But the receptionist life isn't exactly for me. I have started to make some progress in improving my placement and went to the Caribbean for the weekend. Let's catch up.
Last Wednesday, (surprise) I did not meet with Ana Cecilia. It was a pretty normal day. My housemates and I traveled to one of the bus stations to buy our tickets for our weekend in Puerto Viejo only to find out that the direct buses no longer leave from that terminal. Luckily, we met an amazing gentlemen who explained to us what to do. We bought tickets to Limon City instead. This was actually faster and cheaper. Once in Limon, we would walk a block over and buy another ticket for the short trip to Puerto Viejo. We were so thankful that he was there to overhear our struggle and help us understand what to do. I also purchased a Costa Rican soccer jersey so I can show my spirit but in the process left my umbrella on the floor of the shop. That is not a good thing to do when you live in San José during the rainy season. :/
On Thursday, Ana Cecilia met with me for a few minutes and said we would meet on Monday with Carolina as well. I had dance which is always a good time and later another dance class. This time we worked on merengue, salsa and bachata. I was so excited to learn another type of dance. It was fun.
Friday, was a wonderful and refreshing morning. While I get so hard on myself and struggle to understand what to do and what is going on and struggling with my placement, I seem to find strength most days in reading good articles or books (I have been reading Mother Teresa's teachings), watching videos on the news, or just writing and setting new goals for myself. Friday I went back to sleep after breakfast...so nice. I enjoyed a peaceful morning with my coffee when I got up the second time and then went for a run. I had a great workout when I got back, showered, and packed up for the weekend. I like Fridays.
Off we went to the Caribbean Sea. (I was secretly hoping I would be whisked away into a Pirates of the Caribbean scene the whole time.) Puerto Viejo is a small town in the province on Limón. The town is quirky and fun with a mixture of indigenous or native indian people and culture and afro-caribbean culture mixed with the familiar Costa Rican culture creating an even more hippie-ish and rasta feel. We stayed at a nice hostel called Coconut Grove. (I forgot to take pictures.) We had our own room and bathroom which was really nice. It was already dark when we got there so we settled in and set out to check out the town and get some dinner. While checking out menus we found a rather peculiar man so decided he would promote his favorite restaurant to us. Turns out he has become somewhat of a local celebrity, flowery shirt partially unbuttoned, goofy sun hat, wine in had, without a care in the world. He attends El Pescador at least three times a week every week. Ps. he is not a local. He is from the U.S. and is one of the many who came here and decided to never leave. Needless to say, we went to El Pescador. I enjoyed my first Sex-on-the-Beach garnished with starfruit. So yummy.
Saturday morning, we were disappointed to hear that our snorkeling and hiking trip had been canceled due to weather. I was pretty excited and was told that we would see sea turtles, lion fish, and even sharks. Instead, we walked some more and found a sloth! Another hotel and restaurant had a sign that said come see our sloth. One of the guys that works there heard us questioning this as we walked by and yelled for us to come in. So we went through to the backyard and we happened to be there at the perfect time. The male sloth that was living there at the time was off the tree and crossing the yard.
The guy explained to us that they have the type of tree that sloths prefer to eat the fruit off of. They were later advised to plant bamboo as well. So their backyard is now a perfect spot for sloths. They are not always the same sloths but they usually have a few out there. At the time there was the male, a female, and a baby. He thought that the male was moving on to another area though because it was clear that they had stripped the tree of all of its fruit and would be back in a month or so when it was replenished. Being this close to a sloth was a strange experience. They are weird looking things and they move so slow that entire ecosystems exist on them in their hair. They can have bugs, parasites, moss and gross things like that growing on them. It was funny to watch him slowly move across the yard in the awkward way they walk. They are not made to walk on the ground but they have to when they can't get from tree to tree. They have some scary claws though and can swipe surprisingly fast at you if you get too close. I think they should be called three-clawed sloths instead of three-toed sloths because there is not toes on them..just insanely long and sharp claws.
We decided to rent bikes and ride them to the beaches. I chose a light purple and rusted beach cruiser. None of them were in very good condition but it was a great idea. We cruised down the road along the shore and ended up at Punta Uva. This is one of the nicer beaches in this area. There were few people. It was quiet and beautiful. We set up our area and I watched a guy set up is little sailboat and eventually sail away until I couldn't see him anymore. There were dogs everywhere, as usual in Costa Rica. A few didn't want to leave us alone all day and had us playing fetch. A larger group of our friends who stayed at a different hostel came shortly after we did. It was a great time playing in the water and laying in the sun. I ended up with some weird lines and burned spots but nothing too severe. After getting lunch and returning, we eventually decided we were done with being sandy and headed back to our hostels. Later we all went to dinner as a big group. We ended up at a place that was recommended to us by a local but no one was pleased with. However, it was here that I finally found a pirate!
For the rest of the night we walked around, checked out one of the night spots, and hung out at Rockin J's (the other hostel). In the morning, Mandi, Toni and I had an awesome breakfast at a little cafe close to our hostel. I had banana pancakes made with wheat flour and with and orange sugar syrup. Toni and I went for a walk to Playa Negra, a black sand beach.
We then started the journey back to San Jose and at this point there was no denying it, I was sick. I had the first inclination on Friday that I may be coming down with a cold and it was in full swing by the time we got home. Living with nursing students is a definite plus. Toni gave me alka-seltzer and some benedryl to knock me out.
In all, I am very pleased with the weekend. I loved the Caribbean and would definitely like to travel so some other Caribbean areas. It was gorgeous though it was lacking in the Jack Sparrow department. (Okay, I'm done now.)
The beginning of this week has been the same with the added struggle of having a cold. I figured I would stop at the pharmacy right by CAP on the way yesterday morning and grab some cold medicine and throat lozenges and be good. It wasn't that easy though. In Costa Rica, they don't have drugstores like we do or extensive pharmacy sections in their grocery stores. The basics are in these locations, sometimes, but everything else is in a pharmacy. You can get pretty much anything you need but you can't look at the shelf and pick it yourself. I told the lady I had a cold and she understood but I didn't understand when she brought out three separate drugs for me to take. I just wanted one simple cold medicine. She switched to something that I think was right but it wasn't in the whole box. Here, you can purchase drugs individually in blister packs instead of a box. This is nice but I wanted to fully understand what it was. I then asked for cough drops and didn't know how to explain that in spanish so someone else showed me a paper about some medicine in syrup or drop form. Eventually, I said thanks and left because I didn't want to buy the wrong thing. So I went to CAP in zombie-state. Ana Cecilia couldn't come to meet with me so I went to the ELAP group discussion and later, dance. Luckily I found some cold medicine while purchasing some orange juice from a snack stand in the university.
Today, I'm not much better. Still sniffly, stuffy, and annoyed. Hopefully it goes away quickly. Ana Cecilia and Carolina came to CAP today to discuss my situation. Ana Cecilia's solution is that I will come in later and stay later everyday so that I can see her and other board members more. Tomorrow, I will meet with her and Marcella to discuss the work I will do until I leave. I think it is going to be on their website or having to do with blogging, translating, or researching. So, nothing too exciting. Carolina better understand my concern and frustration with it all now and could see that I am upset. I am still unsure of how to feel and what to think about the experience and am frustrated that it is too late to change. I feel relieved that we finally all talked and there is a plan in place but I hope it is worthwhile work.
Rum and runny noses,
Taylor
