The Non Bucket List Bucket List

Like many, I have a bucket list, things I want to do before I kick the proverbial bucket, some of which I´m crossing off on this trip. But then I realized this trip is also satisfying the non bucket list bucket list. You know, those things which weren´t on your bucket list but that you now feel compelled to put on your bucket list since you´ve done them and they were pretty cool and should´ve been on your bucket list to begin with and you want to put them on there just so that you can cross them off. Here´s my evergrowing non bucket list bucket list courtesy of this trip, all of which I´ve already done (and if you didn´t know this then you need to do your homework by reading my blogs more thoroughly!):

• milk a cow
• help butcher a cow
• help butcher a pig
• drink liquor made only in another country (Cacique)
• find a boyfriend in another country who doesn´t speak English
• eat pig liver (sort of wish I could take this one back)
• ride double on a bicycle made for one (three times, once at night, always scared)
• touch a jellyfish
• make jokes in Spanish that make people laugh
• make a phone call in Spanish (which I´ve done numerous times now and which still makes me nervous); this item has prompted me to add to my real bucket list the following: ¨make a phone call in Spanish without having to say ´que´ even once because I understand everything¨

If you can think of other things that I´ve probably left off my non bucket list bucket list, please let me know. I´d hate to have an inaccurate non bucket list bucket list.

And then there are those things you see which you never thought you´d see. The three most recent ones I feel compelled to document here.

First, I saw a guy driving an ATV and brushing his teeth--at the same time. It was morning, and I´m guessing he was running late.

Second, I saw two people dragging car batteries down the street in Quito this morning. Strings tied to the batteries, just pulling them along as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

Third, I saw a guy with an IV in his arm and a drip bag (whatever those things are called) in the middle of the street panhandling. Panhandling is extremely common here in Ecuador as is walking down the middle of the street selling things. This guy was clearly playing his sympathy card, as were the little girls doing cartwheels in the street. I thought it was cute until I realized why they were doing it, and then I just felt incredibly sad for them.

As for my current location, I´d love to tell you, but then those insurance people might find me and force me to pay the bill that I really, really, really don´t want to pay. Then again, if you´re on facebook, you already know where I am. Hopefully, you can keep a secret cause did I mention that I really, really, really don´t want to pay that bill.

This is not the end of my good fortune

Made the decision to switch hostels yesterday when I checked out another one I had considered. It seemed much better and for only a dollar or two more. Packed my stuff--again--and have been quite proud lately that the backpack is much easier for me to handle now as I seemed to have gained some strength. Unfortunately, the stairs are slick, my shoes didn´t have traction, and I fell down a few stairs this morning (that´s what I get for being proud). My right leg went forward, my left leg bent under me, and of course as I was falling and feeling a stretch in the knee, all I could think was please let my knee be alright. OK, well the knee is alright. The left foot, however, isn´t. I´ve iced it and taken OTC painkillers. Neither the foot nor the toe are broken, but the joint where the big toe joins the foot is quite swollen and doesn´t bend too easily. Trying to decide if a trip to the hospital is necessary, and I´m thinking no at this point. Think it´s just a bad sprain.

Of course when I arrived at the hostel, further bad luck. I can´t stay two nights in a dorm bed for $6.50; I´d have to move to a private room tomorrow for $15 a night. Instead, I emailed the language school and asked to be picked up a day early. I´ve just received confirmation for that, so tomorrow I will be making a 2-hour journey in a taxi (paid for by the school, or my tuition rather) to Otavalo. I will be arriving on a Saturday, which is a huge market day, so I can only imagine the craziness that will greet me there. The driver will drop me off at my new home for 2 weeks, an Ecuadorian family. I am anxious to get there and find out what life is like here in Ecuador as compared to Costa Rica. This family definitely has big shoes to fill.

Today has consisted of the move to the new hostel, hobbling down the street to take breakfast, which I couldn´t enjoy because the painkillers hadn´t yet taken effect, lying on the couch in the hostel icing the foot, and then hobbling to the Internet cafe because Skype doesn´t appear to work in the hostel. My day, however, was made better when I was able to reach Diego on the phone, who as coincidence would have it is going to the hospital for an injury he sustained while at work this morning. What to make of that coincidence I really don´t know.

Feeling a big sentimental today, perhaps because of an email that I received yesterday. While I was in Bocas del Toro, Panama back in August, I met a Californian named Jazz. We were staying in the same room at the hostel and as coincidence would have it, we had both booked on to the same diving tour the next day. We had a great day diving and at the beach and then she was kind enough to make the call to Silencio for me to find out more about the project since she is fluent in Spanish, having lived three years in Guatemala. I emailed her a couple of days ago to express my gratitude for that phone call since Silencio worked out so well for me, as well as for leaving behind a great dress in the hostel that I have made good use of. I received an email back from her yesterday that meant a lot.

First I should say that when traveling you cross paths with many people. There are some with whom even exchanging email seems superfluous, and they fall out of your life as quickly as they fell into it. There are others with whom you find an instant connection (sometimes just by the nature of being fellow travelers) and with whom you exchange email; sometimes you contact them, sometimes you hook up on facebook, and other times the email address languishes in your travelogue for years to come. There are others with whom you find an instant connection and who then find a permanent place in your life. I´ve had many of the first and second, only a few of the third, among them Cat and Geoff, with whom I keep in regular touch with.

Up until I sent that email I thought Jazz would be simply another person who I enjoyed spending time with but whom I might never talk to again. Her email back to me, though, came as a surprise and left me thinking that she could end up being one of those people that you want to look up again. If I remember correctly, she´s only 21. For most 38 year olds, a friendship with a 21-year-old would seem odd, but then considering I have a whole circle of friends who haven´t yet seen 30, it´s not really odd for me. And then there´s the fact that she doesn´t seem 21 at all; after all, she´s been living in Guatemala for 3 years which has given her wisdom beyond her years. And then there´s also the fact that traveling has a way of wiping out age because we´re all in this together, doing the same things regardless of our age.

So why did the email mean so much? Because apparently I had more of an impact on her than I realized. For me, this trip seems completely normal. Even when friends at home tell me they wish they had the guts that I do, it doesn´t really register with me that I´m doing something out of the ordinary, maybe because so many people I encounter while traveling are doing quite the same thing. But I guess the reality is that not many people my age are able to do what I´ve done. She kind of drove that point home for me, and I copy part of her email here as the best way to illustrate this. She writes, ¨I just want to say it was really cool to see into my future a little. I dont mean that like you're old or something--please don't take it that way, cuz I totally don't mean that. But you are about 10 years ahead of me, have been through a little more of life, and have this great positive attitude that a lot of people lose real young for some reason. And there you are, adventurous, traveling the world by yourself still, like I hope to do. And I found that really encouraging.¨ I´m thankful that I was able to show her that she can still have whatever she wants when she reaches my age. And thankful that I just realized she thinks I´m only about 10 years ahead of her!

I´ll spend the rest of the day simply killing time here in Quito, probably making phone calls to people I haven´t talked to in a while, even some I haven´t spoken with since June who I miss and want to catch up. I might as well spend the day on the Internet. After all, it´s not as if I can really walk anywhere with this foot!

Always Good Fortune Finds Me

Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, should definitely be on your list of places to go if you really want to relax. 20 pools of varying temperatures, some so hot they were void of people, and swim-up bars. Danny, an instafriend from Spokane who I met in the hostel, and I headed over there one afternoon and soaked for over 2 hours. The buffet meal was half Costa Rican, half American, and they even had a chocolate fountain that reminded me of my mom.

Saturday Danny and I headed out for the walk to the La Fortuna waterfall, which is four miles, most of it uphill. Had I not run for 40 minutes that morning and stressed out my left leg, I probably wouldn´t have even complained. It took us a couple of hours to get there, but it was definitely worth it. As usual, I couldn´t resist a swim despite the lack of a bathing suit. Given the recent weather, we were certain that we would get soaked by rain on the walk back anyway, so I took a dip in my clothes. Sure enough, before I had even finished my 2 minutes, it started to rain. He took a quick dip and then we headed back, all 363 steps plus some unstepped inclines. And then there was the downhill walk back to town. I was certain I would sleep well that night.

Sunday, I said goodbye to La Fortuna and made the trip to Monteverde/Santa Elena via a van ride, a boat ride, and another van ride, none of which was as glamorous as the brochures make it out to be. It is, however, the shortest route between La Fortuna and that area. The weather was remarkably similar, rainy and chilly, and I was pleased to find both a fleece blanket and comforter on my bed, which I made use of both nights I was there. I wasted no time in getting started on activities.


Sunday afternoon I headed out with Extremo Adventures to do a canopy tour on the ziplines. I had been informed that they were the best company and had the longest ziplines. I was not disappointed, as my pics and video on facebook attest. Our third line was a 1 km line that we did tandem. All told we did 14 or 16 lines, not sure exactly, with the last being another 1 km line that we had the option of doing Superman style. It was more than worth the additional $5 it cost me. It was misting rain and the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was coming down sideways, but it only added to the exhiliration. I was a tad nervous doing it that way (just as I was a bit nervous for every single line), but I loved all but the very end when the line seemed to pick up more speed and made my stomach do a somersault. But it was a great way to spend an afternoon and I´d do it again in a heartbeat.

Monday I opted to sleep in and do an afternoon tour with El Trapiche. Trapiche is the name for a contraption that used to be used to process sugar cane into sugar. The tour included a tour of the farm where they grow sugar cane and coffee as well as the buildings where they process both of these. The farm is owned by a family who have resorted to providing tours as a way of staying afloat financially. I learned a lot about the processes, but there were some things that my time in Silencio had already given me knowledge of. For instance, the fact that when they harvest bananas they actually cut down the tree. What I hadn´t known was why. I learned that the banana tree will only bear fruit one time and if they don´t cut the tree down, it will only die more slowly and actually hinder the trees around it because of the water absorption. Thus, they cut down the trees and then use them as compost.

We had the opportunity to make a kind of candy from the sugar cane that really just tasted a lot like molasses, we drank some coffee, and we tasted piccadillo, which is a food made from the arracache plant. Because it takes so long to process, piccadillo is very rare and only served on special occasions, such as weddings. In fact, when I mentioned it to Diego, he wasn´t familiar with either piccadillo or arracache even when shown pictures. We also got to see how the farmers make their own homemade guaro (sold commercially as Cacique, that really nasty liquor that is made only in Costa Rica) through a still-like process, much like moonshine. Cacique is 30% alcohol; what the farmers make can be up to 80% alcohol, and it´s illegal to make, just like moonshine, not to mention a bit dangerous to drink.

The awesome tour was followed by an awesome phone call to Diego, in which he informed me he might be making the journey to San Jose the next day to see me. I couldn´t have been more stunned at the news. I dared to actually get my hopes up that I wouldn´t spend a lonely night in dirty San Jose. While I was on the phone, Simone, one of the volunteers I met in Silencio, spotted me from a restaurant. She had told me she was headed there, and I was glad that Santa Elena was small enough that she was able to find me. We chatted until 10 that night and made plans for lunch the next day. It was really nice to see a familiar face even if we had only known each other for one week.

Tuesday morning was an early rise for a walk through the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. On the one hand, if I hadn´t done it, I would´ve wondered what I missed. On the other, I really could´ve saved the $18 and few hours of sleep it cost me. I didn´t have enough time to walk with a guide, so all I saw were a few uninteresting birds and one tarantula. While the tarantula was cool, I can´t really say it was worth it.

Had lunch with Simone and then took in an ice cream at the Monteverde ice cream shop. I had been told the ice cream there was much preferable to Dos Pinos, the brand sold in the supermarkets. Yes, it was a little better, but I have to say that Costa Rica really doesn´t know how to do ice cream. I wasn´t impressed. Give me some Breyer´s strawberry, please.

My follow-up phone call to Diego at 2 confirmed my suspicion that he wouldn´t be able to visit in San Jose. He still wasn´t sure at that time, but his mood led me to believe that he wouldn´t be there. (He later told me sounded sad because he didn´t think he was going to be able to come.) So I boarded the bus at 2:30 for what I had been told was a 4-hour journey. Just as my mom would´ve wanted, I used the bathroom before I left AND when we stopped at 4, even though I really didn´t have to go. It was good I did because as it was, I still had two grueling hours from 5 to 7 (and you´ll realize that 4 hour journey was 4 hours of Costa Rican time) in which I would´ve paid someone a handsome sum for a pair of Depends undergarments. At various times I considered peeing in a bag and finally even resorted to having a go at it without success. I can safely report that man nor woman is not meant to hold his urine. I bounded off the bus in San Jose, quickly retrieved my oversized backpack, which I dragged it into a soda (one of those small restaurant-like places that serve typical CR food) and plopped it in front of the bathroom door, not even caring if it would be there when I returned. I still think that urologist I saw before leaving home was wrong and that there is something wrong with me. A bladder should be bigger than a walnut, and mine clearly isn´t. A few audible sighs of relief later I was actually able to consider hiring a taxi to go to the hostel.

Which is really easy to do. When you step off of any bus in any city, you are accosted with cries of, ¨Taxi? Taxi?¨ And good fortune continued to find me even in this. As usual, the driver asked me how much time I was spending in Costa Rica, what I was doing, etc. I responded with my usual, including that I had been living in Silencio, a small town south of Quepos. I was surprised when he said, ¨Yo conozco a Silencio. Tengo una casa en Matapaolo.¨ He knew where Silencio was because he had a house in the neighboring town. He wanted to know if I needed a ride to the airport in the morning, and I told him it depended on whether my boyfriend was able to make it into town that night, so he gave me his number in the event I needed a ride the next day and I promised to call if I did.

When I arrived at the hostel, I didn´t even know what to book without first making a call to Diego. I called and he joked with me that he was walking to San Jose. Actually, he was in the car on his way and it would be another hour or so before he would arrive. A few more phone calls later and it was decided that it was preferable that I meet him somewhere in San Jose that he was familiar with rather than his trying to navigate streets he didn´t know. Enter Carlos Perez, my friendly taxi driver, who promptly picked me up. I had called and told him I needed to go to the hospital that night and the first question he asked when I got in the car was whether or not my boyfriend had been in an accident. That possibility hadn´t even crossed my mind, and I laughed, saying no, it was simply easier for us to meet somewhere and that Diego was familiar with the hospital. He expressed relief and raced across town, running red lights to get me there quickly. We arrived and quickly spotted Diego, though I had to take a second look because he had had a haircut. We opted to follow Carlos back to the hostel rather than try to find it on our own. And, yes, I smiled the entire way.

San Jose isn´t a safe city at night and luckily there was a restaurant attached to the hostel where we took a later dinner at about 10:00 while I listened to more of his stories in Spanish, repeatedly reminding him to talk slowly. He´s like any typical person--when he gets going with a story, the words come rapidly. I admit I spent the entire night and the next morning, and even now somewhat, stunned that he came. It involved a rental car, a 3-hour trip in the car, and a day of missed work for which he had to ask permission. When he misses work, he doesn´t get paid, which means he´ll likely work 11 hours on another day to make up for the time he missed yesterday because like most people, he can´t really afford to miss out on a few days´pay. I´m a sucker for romance, and the fact that he did all of that seems pretty romantic to me and only confirmed for me even more that I want to return there in February. Who knows, maybe January?

We turned in late and had to rise at 5:30 in order for me to make my flight. This was one of those times I definitely would´ve traded for a later flight. We even had to say goodbye at the airport doors because international departures wouldn´t let in anyone who wasn´t a passenger. Despite the fact that he was wearing my backpack, I don´t think they would´ve believed us. So we said goodbye with his telling me that 9 weeks will pass quickly and with an agreement that I would call today, which I´ve been trying to do while writing this blog. It´s kind of hit or miss, though, because it´s his sister´s phone, so he´s not always there, and then sometimes the phone isn´t on. Not all things are simple in a country like this, but I will keep trying. He takes all three of his meals at his mother´s house, so sooner or later I´ll catch him there, or at least be able to leave a message with his sister with a time to call that he will be there.

When I checked in, I was told I would have to purchase a flight out of Ecuador before being allowed to check in. I was worried about this because Americans can only enter Ecuador for 90 days. I explained I wanted to take the bus because it was much cheaper but asked her to look for the cheapest flight out of Ecuador, which turned out to be $600. She consulted with another employee, who then moved on to another question. Was I returning to Costa Rica? Yes. To which I was informed I would have to have a yellow fever vaccine. Good for me that I once thought I was going to Bolivia because I have had that vaccine and promptly produced my verification. For whatever reason, this put me in their good graces and I was told I could buy an airline ticket when I arrived in Ecuador where it would be cheaper. Good fortune yet again it seemed.

The flights were uneventful as was the taxi ride to the hostel. The hostel is less than ideal, but at $5.60 a night, what really can I expect. It´s quite cold in the evenings, and the hostel seems to hold all of that cold air throughout the entire day, despite the fact that it´s quite warm in the daytime. I promptly set out looking for a great deal to the Galapagos. I had always read that you will pay less here than you would if you booked online from the States. That is certainly true as there are plenty of last minute deals. Nonetheless, the prices start with a $415 flight and $110 park entrance fees. That´s if you fly there and do nothing. So I was looking at spending around $1200 for 6 nights and 4 days, which would include a couple of dives. I took the information and headed back to the hostel where I did the math (after of course checking out my bank balances). While technically I have the cash to do this, it means making the decision to come home early. It´s a tough decision to come here and not do the Galapagos, particularly when that´s the reason I came to Ecuador in the first place. However, going there would significantly change the length of my trip, which isn´t something I´m willing to do.

Some have advised me to do it anyway, that I won´t regret it, that I may never get here again, that there are always credit cards. I certainly respect their opinions, but in response I say this. I wouldn´t regret the experience but having to leave CR early would break my heart. If I´m meant to be here again, I will be. After all, I did Australia twice. Using credit cards would allow me 6 days and 4 nights of fun but at a huge price: having to return home and get a job. My plans currently are to find a way to stay in CR for another year; barring that, I will be pursuing a PhD on a limited budget with no way to pay off credit card debt. No, the only option right now is to stay out of the tour shops lest I make an impulse decision that bankrupts me. If I´m able to sell my timeshare, then I can reconsider. I´m not leaving Ecuador for a while, so saying no to Galapagos today doesn´t mean I can´t say yes another day before I leave. And who knows what good fortune could find me in the meantime.

The other research I did upon arrival was figuring out how to get out of this place, which isn´t as easy as one would think. Turns out, having to buy that $600 plane ticket wouldn´t have been the end of the world, as I may have to buy it anyway. I had forgotten that because of the Darien Gap in Columbia, there is no overland route from Columbia to Panama. That area is riddled with drug lords and rebels and is the area most likely to result in a kidnapping. I want adventure, but I can think of better ways to find adventure than spending years living in a jungle with guerrillas.

That leaves two ways out of Columbia: air or water. Air isn´t significantly cheaper than flying from Ecuador, and considering I´d have to spend close to 2 days getting to Columbia by bus, I can´t say that that is preferable. Water remains an option, and not swimming, mind you. It is quite expensive, but as usual making contacts while you´re traveling is always valuable. While I was in Bocas del Toro, I studied briefly with a guy who is sailing for 2-3 years and just happens to be in Cartagena, Columbia at this very moment. And I´ve just happened to keep in touch with him in the meantime. (His blog is www.sailingforsos.com in case you want to check out his remarkable journey.) I know that he has plans to sail through the Panama Canal after the first of the year, so I´ve sent him an email asking what his plans are. I know that if the timing is right, and I could make the timing right I´m sure, then for a fee he´d let me tag along on his sailboat. Now that would be a cool way to travel. If not with him, then I know that he has met many sailors along the way, many in Cartagena even, with whom he could put me in contact. This option isn´t free, but combined with approximately $100 bus rides to Cartagena, it could save me a couple hundred and would definitely be a cooler way to travel. So I await his email and hope that good fortune continues to find me.

As for what I´ve been doing since I arrived, not much. I´m currently staying in Mariscal, which is considered the new part of Quito. Last night the streets were quite crowded, and I´m hoping it was because of some important soccer game that was going on. As I mentioned the hostel is cold, so I burrowed under the covers last night at about 8 and listened to a book on my mp3 player until I fell asleep. I have no idea where I left off in the book, which is one of the hazards of listening to a book. I couldn´t bear a shower this morning (even if it was hot) because it was too cold when I finally crawled out of bed at 9:45 (which incidentally is the latest I have slept in months). I took a long walk to get my bearings in town, seeking out a different hostel, and then a bar to watch the NFL game. The owner of the Irish American bar couldn´t find the game on the TV, so he loaded it up on the Internet and fed it through the TV to satisfy the Americans who had shown up looking for a football fix. I finally did find the other hostel, and I will be moving there in the morning where it is significantly warmer and looks much more comfortable.

And now I´m uploading the most current pics, writing this blog, and hoping to make some additional phone calls. (The first one to the family today was great, and here´s a shout out to the Lipskys who are apparently fans of this blog.) I´m now on the same time as my family and friends, but an hour ahead of Costa Rica, so I´m always having to think about who is doing what when.

I´ll be in Quito until sometime this weekend when the Spanish language school will be picking me up and taking me to Otovalo where I will live with a family and study for two more weeks. It´s a good way to pass a couple of weeks until Wendy´s arrival and won´t cost much more than if I just hung out in Quito doing nothing. It´s also better because I´m interested in learning what traditional Ecuadorian life is like and comparing it with Costa Rican life.

Lots of Internet access, so if you want to talk to me, let me know. Talking to people from home is a good way to pass the holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving and may good fortune find all of you as it has found me this year.

Next Adventures

When I returned to the house Monday afternoon, my Tica mother greeted me with gifts, a mug that says I love Costa Rica and a keychain, telling me she was going to miss me much. I gave her a framed photo of her two daughters, Natalia and Jessica. When I had told her on Friday that I needed to take a picture of them, she asked if it was for me or my mother since I had taken a picture of her because my mother wanted to see her. I told her the photo was for me, but when I gave her the gift on Monday that I had actually needed to take the photo for her. She was very grateful. Shortly thereafter, Jessica came in saying that she needed to come to the house because the new volunteer (who had just arrived that day) was sick. Arianna asked me to come with her, and it turned out to be quite entertaining as she asked me to translate for her. The guy clearly spoke Spanish, maybe as much or more than me, but she would tell me things to tell him in English. Imagine that, me as a translator.

Spend my last evening in Silencio at the albergue with several of my friends playing cards. I passed out Hershey caramel kisses (besos) to all of them, promising to return in February. I gave Amanda her first taste of alcohol ever (yes, I corrupted a minor!) in the locally made Cacique. I thought she'd pass out from the tiniest taste I've ever seen anyone take. Leoni and Kirsten were surprisingly not grossed out by it, but then again they're German and much more accustomed to drinking.

The next morning was a somewhat tearful ending for me as I dropped Diego off at work not knowing when I'll talk to him again. He has email but isn't able to check it very often, maybe once every two weeks. Returned to the house to load up my backpack and was surprised by another good conversation with Arianna. The family seems happy that I will be returning to them in February. So certain was I that I will return that I actually left a few things there.

I spent Tuesday in Manuel Antonio National Park. Opted to not use a guide and it was a good decision. Within minutes of entering the park, there were guides with groups everywhere. I immediately was able to see a sloth with a baby and then moments later another sloth with a baby that was so new that the mother hadn't even passed the afterbirth. Saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and white-faced monkeys. The views were amazing, the beaches beautiful. Would've been better to enjoy with someone but then that's part of traveling alone. Interestingly enough, the guy who is in the room next to me here in La Fortuna was in the park the same day I was. Considering the park is several hours from where we are currently, it's quite the coincidence.

A 3-bus ride put me in San Jose Wednesday at about 9:30 where I had a chilly reception, literally. Was surprised by the weather. Another 4.5 hour bus ride put me in La Fortuna where the weather was quite similar, just add non-stop rain. Settled in at Gringo Pete's Too, which is quite possibly the quietest place I've stayed. At $6 per night, the price is right.

Yesterday I did the waterfall rappelling/canyoning trip that as at the top of my activity list. It's low season so there were only three of us on the trip, which was perfect because we didn't have to spend a lot of time standing around. That was good since it could get a little cold just waiting. We had three guides who were great, and if I could I think I'd totally steal their jobs. I think I could rappel those waterfalls every day and be quite happy.

Since then I've simply been passing the time quietly. Yesterday afternoon I heard considerable noise coming from across the river. Headed in that direction to a sportscenter where I watched some indoor soccer games. Had never seen 5 on 5 soccer before. Wanted to go to karaoke last night, but the rain refused to stop and I was simply too lazy and too cold to tramp through the rain. Instead, Danny (the guy in the room next to me who is from Spokane) and I had dinner at a local soda (I was craving rice and beans if you can believe that) and then sat and talked for a while. He sold his house in Washington and quit his job to travel for a while with no predetermined itinerary or destinations, which just goes to prove that more people could do this if they really wanted to.

Again this morning the rain stopped me from doing what I wanted, which was a hike. Decided it really wasn't worth it though. The animals aren't going to be out, and when you've seen one rainforest, you've seen them all really. I had also hoped to see the volcano while I'm here, but the owner of the hostel isn't even doing the lava flow tours because you won't see anything but cloud cover. I don't really see the need to pay to see clouds. At 3 I'm heading over to some natural springs for my first dip in hot water in over two months. Am really excited about this as well as the traditional meal again. I remember when I went to Panama back in August I refused to eat rice and beans because that's what I'd been eating for two weeks and it's what I would be eating for the foreseeable future. I didn't want to eat it if I didn't have to. Things have certainly changed. I've grown so accustomed to eating it that I actually want them. The occasional pizza or non-Costa Rican meal is nice, but I'd honestly rather sit down in a local soda among the locals and have a traditional meal than to sit down in a restaurant where there are only tourists.

And this town is full of tourists. Virtually every store, every restaurant, every kiosk offers tours and souvenirs. Clearly the only locals who live here are the ones who are work in the tourism industry. It's not a place I would want to spend any considerable length of time. In fact, I'm not even sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. I don't want to spend a lot of money on tours. And I keep thinking, hmmm, I could've spent two more days in Silencio!

Sunday I plan to transfer to Monteverde and do a canopy tour. Also hoping to catch some Sunday night and Monday night football there. You can take the girl out of the US but you can't take the US football out of the girl! I'm thinking that in a tourist town like Monteverde there will certainly be a Gringo bar where I can catch some games.

Until then, just hanging out . . .

The End Isn´t Always the End

It´s been a good last week. I worked at the lecheria for two more days, the orchard for two days, and then one day at the chicken farm with the other volunteers. I really enjoyed the orchard, but I was utterly exhausted after Wednesday. Five of us worked to create a new compost pile, which took us about 40 man hours. We started from the ground with old compost and then followed that with chopped up corn plants that had already been cut. We headed over to the papaya trees where Carlos had been weed eating, and we bagged up grass for layer number 3. I opted out of helping with layer number 4--cow crap. Layer number 5 was cut up banana trees that Carlos had been hacking away at with a machete. I wondered why they would cut down the banana trees, but then realized the next day that when they harvest the bananas, they actually cut down the tree. It was nice to see they actually use the fallen trees for something. The next layer was carbon followed with old compost again. We followed all of this with pretty much the same layers, though we substituted goat, horse, and chicken crap for the cow crap, which was actually nice because it smelled less. They told me that the compost will be ready to use in about 3 months (February), which coincides nicely with my return to Silencio (yes, I´m returning, more about that later).

This week I´ve spent time with Leoni and Kirsten, two volunteers who arrived on Monday. Initially, they didn´t like it and by Thursday night had decided they would leave Sunday. Sometime between then and Friday afternoon, they decided they didn´t want to leave and made arrangements to stay the second week they initially planned. I´m telling you, this place grows on you! Friday was also interesting because while the three of us were playing cards in the park, we all experienced our first earthquake. I was looking up at the store when I started seeing it shake. Because I´ve never experienced an earthquake, at first I simply thought someone dropped something really heavy in the store (yes, I know that´s stupid), but afterwards we asked the girl who was sitting with us (the 10-year-old who helped us at the chicken farm that morning), and she told us it was a ¨tremblor.¨ I wanted another so that I could really pay attention. The Internet tells me it was a moderate 5.0 on the Richter scale that was felt throughout the entire country.

This week Diego asked me if I knew any of the southern coast of Costa Rica and when I didn´t asked if I wanted to go this weekend. After some confusion Friday because of my pathetic Spanish, I was finally able to understand and we decided we would go to the border for the weekend. We left Silencio Saturday morning about 10:30 in a car I had rented. We stopped in Uvita to see Tre, the owner of the hotel where I worked for two weeks. He was really happy to see us, and it was nice for me to show Diego some place I knew in Costa Rica when he was providing constant commentary along the way. It was also nice because we stopped at the supermarket there and I bought peanut butter and jelly and made sandwiches. Still in disbelief that he doesn´t like peanut butter. We went to Golfito and did some window shopping and had lunch--typical Costa Rican fare of rice, beans, and meat--took some photos and then headed the rest of the way to the border.

This border is much different than the one on the east coast, much busier with people and cars. We spent some time walking around the numerous stalls selling clothes and enough shoes for everyone I know to have five pair. We quickly realized that I was the only extranjera there (non-native)--literally. We saw no other people who weren´t Costa Rican or Panamanian. We found a cabina for the night and headed to a restaurant for a typical Costa Rican meal, this after I realized he doesn´t like pizza.

The next morning we headed to a soda for another meal of rice, beans, and eggs, but I admit I enjoyed every single bite. There was something about being the only foreigner in this town and sitting down at a place where the locals go. I told him I wonder what the people think when they see him with me, but it wasn´t something I worried about. When we left the border, I started wondering how far it was to San Gerardo where my friends Alle and Kevin are living and volunteering. He wasn´t exactly sure but said it was far. I told him I wanted to go and was thrilled when he promptly said, ¨Vamos¨ (Let´s go). When we made the turn toward San Isidro, the biggest town close to San Gerardo, he asked me if I knew San Gerardo, as in, have I ever been there. Well, of course not. Did I know where Alle and Kevin lived? Well, of course not. How are we supposed to find them? I told him San Gerardo is smaller than Silencio and I knew that if we asked anyone in town where they lived, they would know. After all, if they came to Silencio looking for me, they could ask anyone who I was and where I lived and the people would know.

Along the way we stopped to ask for directions several times, including picking up a guy who was waiting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere waiting for the bus. That´s one thing I love about this country. The people who live here can strike up a conversation with anyone and will put anyone in their car. I told him that would never happen in the States because it´s just too dangerous. But here it´s completely normal. We finally made the road to San Gerardo, but continued to stop and ask for directions--I should mention it was always him asking for directions obviously--and after one wrong turn, we were finally on the road there. As we headed up a narrow gravel road into the mountains, he said, ¨Si, San Gerardo es un pueblo.¨ Ahem, yes, I told you it was a small town. We´ll find them easily.

Two kilometers before San Gerardo, we passed through Canaan where there was clearly some kind of festival. As we drove away from there, he commented that they were probably there. We arrived in San Gerardo and asked in the store where they lived. The woman told us (see, I knew everyone would know) and we headed down a steep, steep slope to the house, where no one was home. We walked next door and were told they they were probably in Canaan at the festival. Why, of course. So we headed back to Canaan and walked around looking for them to no avail. Oh, did I mention we passed a bus on the way and we briefly wondered if they were on the bus? Had lunch in Canaan and he continued to ask after my friends and where they lived.

Back in San Gerardo we headed down the steep slope to the house where the door was open. While I crossed my fingers, he called out, ¨Disculpa.¨ Turns out Kenneth lives in the house, not Kevin. Halfway up the slope while I was feeling dejected, he told me to wait. He headed back down and went to the neighbors again and returned, running up the steep hill, with a smile. The guy had thought he´d said Kenneth, but when Diego said Kevin, the guy had more information.

We continued like this for another 30-45 minutes or so before we finally found people who actually did know where they lived. I kept telling Diego I was so thankful he´s patient and he said, we came a long way to see them, and we´re going to see them. And we did. (The pic is of the three of us in their house.) Turns out they had been at the festival and left around 3, shortly before we arrived. It only took us about 90 minutes to find them once we reached their small town of 200 people. Of course, they were completely surprised, which was really cool. They were disappointed that we couldn´t stay and that they had a dinner party to go to, but I felt my mission was accomplished. I saw them, and we had an adventure along the way. Diego told the story to his brother and sister today how I suggested we go to San Gerardo and halfway there he realized I didn´t even know where we were going. He now knows that´s completely normal for me. And they now all have proof that I´m somewhat crazy, though they´ve suspected it for quite some time already.

So my time in Silencio is almost up. I worked today at the chicken farm again to spend one last day laughing with Coco. I´ve invited virtually everybody I know in Silencio to the albergue tonight to say good-bye. In fact, one of the local guys was just in the Internet cafe here and I told him there´s a party tonight. He already knew. I also walked over to Lango´s house after lunch to say good-bye. He showed me a scorpion he had made from metal and told me if I wanted it, I could have it. My first going away gift--not counting the awesome weekend.

I´m trying not to be sad about leaving. I´ve made the decision to return in February for three months, so the thought of seeing all of them again does make it a lot easier to leave. Nonetheless, I have to say good-bye tonight as all of them will be working when I head out of town tomorrow. I definitely turned this place into a second home with a second mother in Arianna, a second father in Lango, multiple brothers in the friends I´ve made here, another grandfather, lots of uncles, and more friends than I can count with all my fingers and toes.

I know that some will wonder at my decision to return, thinking there´s so much of Central America I could see. Why return to a small town where there is so little to do? My answer is this. When I thought about returning, I thought back to my reason for traveling in the first place. What was my goal? And what I realized is that I´m accomplishing my goals in Silencio. First and foremost, I wanted to be away from home for an extended period of time. Second, I wanted to learn Spanish. Third, I wanted to volunteer. And fourth, I wanted to live with families where I can learn what it´s like to really live here, not just be a tourist. All of these are happening for me in Silencio, and if I´ve also found a second home, then why not return? Like I said in the last blog, there´s something really cool about making memories with the locals that just feels priceless. In fact, when I described it to Diego, I explained the Mastercard commercials and told him these are the types of moments I´m having here.

I am definitely one of those people who worry about staying somewhere because it´s comfortable and being afraid to take risks, and I´ve wondered if that´s why I´m staying. But I also know that right at this moment, the decision to return feels right, and I can´t imagine that spending three more months there next year is going to make me wish I had been anywhere else in the world. Now I just have to figure out how I´m going to afford it, which means tightening my money belt just a bit. I think that will be a bit easier, though, now that I have something tangible to tighten it for.

Tomorrow morning I head back here to Quepos. I plan to spend the day in Manuel Antonio National Park, which I haven´t yet seen, and then Wednesday morning I will travel several hours by bus to San Jose followed by several hours by bus to La Fortuna. There I will do some typical tourist things, like rappelling the waterfalls and seeing Volcano Arenal. I´ll leave there on the 24th to take my flight to Ecuador on Nov 25, the day before Thanksgiving.

The other good thing I have to look forward to is Christmas with a friend. Wendy will be arriving in Quito on December 17 and will stay until the 26th. I´m absolutely delighted that I don´t have to be alone for Christmas and that I´ll have someone to do some fun activities with.

If you read this tonight, be thinking of me and the tear-jerking goodbyes I have to say, which I will soften with some Malibu rum and juice, just enough to enjoy myself but not so much that I don´t remember the evening. This is one night I don´t want to forget.

Doesn´t Get Much Better Than This

This week was awesome. I´ll start with the best part, which was Thursday. By this time I had made friends with two volunteers who had arrived last week, Simone and Farina, and Diego and his friend Dano had invited us to go to the waterfalls at Coopecampesinos. I had seen pictures of the place and knew how beautiful it was, so I was grateful for the opportunity, especially since it was going to take a huge chunk of the day and a lot of walking and both of them had already spent about six hours working that day. We managed to get a ride to the river, which saved us close to a 2-hour walk, and then crossed the river in a cage suspended on cables, which we used to pull ourselves across. Or should I say that Dano used to pull us across. As soon as we let go of the platform, we realized that Juan Carlos, our driver, still had Farina´s camera, so the guys dropped us off and went back for the camera. One of just many generous things they did that day.

We walked for at least an hour, most of it uphill, to arrive at the soda in Coopecampesinos where we paid 8000 colones (about $16) for the five of us to enter. We crossed the most amazing hanging bridge, 40 meters above the ground, with a gorgeous view of the waterfall, before we hiked down to the waterfall. We swam a big, played in the waterfalls, the guys did stupid things as guys will do. It was perfect.

We started the trek back in the rain and were wondering exactly how we were going to make it all the way back considering it was already 4 and it begins to get dark at 5:15. Farina´s flip flop broke shortly after we departed and she walked the rest of the way with no shoes, something I definitely could not have done. Diego offered up his shoes again, but she declined. Crossed back across the river and made the walk back to Santo Domingo right around 5 o´clock. One of the things I love about this place, it´s easy enough to hitch a ride. Diego simply asked a local guy how much it would cost for him to take us back to Silencio: 5000 colones and a 15-minute wait. Totally worth it. Farina made me sing a capella all the way back to Silencio.

It seemed like an absolutely magical day. I don´t know if it´s because I´m getting sentimental about leaving or what, but I´d have to say it was the best day of my trip thus far. I told Diego he gave me a gift that day, but I don´t think he fully understands how much it meant to me, maybe because I don´t have enough words in Spanish to really express it. Saying, ¨me gusta mucho¨ just doesn´t capture the full extent of my feelings. It was really just a special, special day.

This week I worked at the rescue center, but only because I wanted to work with a friend, not because I really wanted to work there. I have to say, though, that it was worth it on Monday because of a funny incident with a monkey. At one location there are three cages of monkeys, and there is a wild monkey that has recently been hanging out there. We sat two bags and a bucket full of food on a bench while we were cleaning cages and taking photos. I looked over to see the monkey walking upright toward the bench while looking in our direction. Before I could get there he had snatched a bag of food and was starting to run away. When I yelled at him, he dropped the bag and fled. I´m still laughing about it because he reminded me of a small child sneaking into the kitchen to steal food from the table, walking in one direction but looking in another to avoid being caught. He later snatched food out of Farina´s hand.

On Friday I ended up not working because both of the places I contemplated working at were full of people. In the afternoon, I had to watch Simone and Farina depart, which was sad, so I cheered myself up by watching the guys butcher a pig. Watching them kill the pig definitely made me forget about the girls. I´d say I´m probably scarred for life for having watched that spectacle. I won´t describe it here because it´s just too graphic and horrifying. I did help scrape some of the hair and skin off, just so I could say I helped. And when you look at the photos of that, know that I´m smiling and laughing not because I´m enjoying it but because I´m in utter disbelief at not only what I´m doing but at the fact that my friend was taking pictures of me. I enjoyed hanging out there and watching, even if it was a bit disgusting, and I´m fascinated by the fact that those guys can consume 2 liters of Cacique while working.

The only downside to this week was the arrival of some volunteers for whom I really don´t care for. They arrived via San Jose where apparently they were living with families who had servants. They definitely aren´t accustomed to the kind of life that is led in Silencio, and they don´t care for the town at all. Rather than embrace the laidback lifestyle, they want to criticize. One of them said this morning that Andres was supposed to be work at 5 this morning but that he wasn´t up when she left the house, and the other one laughed that he meant 5 in the afternoon because it gets dark 5 minutes after that. Considering that Andres worked 12 hours yesterday butchering 5 hogs, I was more than a little annoyed. I tried to remind them that a) life here is different and you have to learn to not need entertainment 24-7, and b) that the work here is often hard. For instance, yesterday the guys working in the palm trees had to work with barillas (a long metal pole with a scythe on the end) that were extended to 8 meters. I´d say a few hours of that is a full days´work. Just a differing of opinions, I suppose, but I´m glad to see that two of them will be departing Monday, a week earlier than they planned.

This week I´m sure I´m going to be a little more than sentimental as it´s my last full week. But I´m consoling myself with the prospect of returning in January or February. I´m doing now what I came to do--learn Spanish and live the life of a local. I´m sure it´s possible I could also find that elsewhere in Latin America, but if I´ve already found it here, then why not return to it. This ¨vacation¨ is definitely different from others. When I went to Australia, it was a constant adventure with new places to see every day. I came to Costa Rica partly because I wanted some of that adventure, like the canopy tours and the whitewater rafting, and while there´s still a part of me that thinks that will be fun, I also know that what I´m going to remember most about this trip isn´t going to be the tourist attractions, it´s going to be my daily interactions with the people who live and breathe this air every day. Like walking across a hanging bridge with friends who live here, not a tourist guide. Like teasing Diego in Spanish about the reason his back is hurting. Like accepting a bracelet that David made for me. Like sharing french fries with mayonnaise and ketchup as if it´s the best food we´ve ever eaten.

Hasta la proxima semana . . .