monteverde

You know those places you happen upon where
without expecting it,
and without any real explanation as to why,
you find your happy place.

For me
Monteverde was that kind of place.

It could have been the good food,
the great company,
the beautiful views,
the fresh mountain air,
the wonderful room.

All I know is I was just simply
happy.

October 13

Tonight we went on our first turtle patrol!

It was quite an eventful night.

It, of course, was raining cats and dogs the whole time but we hardly noticed amidst everything that happened.

We started with a four mile hike through beach then jungle, more beach, 3 rivers, more jungle, then one more beach, and one more jungle climb to Playa Grande- one of the major nesting grounds for turtles. We had to be careful about shining our bright lights in case we happened upon a turtle- only red lights are allowed when you see one otherwise it will get confused about the time of day and the direction it needs to go to get back out to the ocean.

On our way there we encountered our first turtle! She had just laid her eggs and was heading back out to sea. We got to sit and watch her make her slow trek back to the ocean for a few minutes then we continued onward.

 

We patrolled Playa Grande for a couple hours, making sure the beach was clear for turtles to come nest then headed back when the tide started coming in again.

We didn't see much during the patrol- just a lot of desecrated nests that animals had gotten to before we could.

As we were getting ready to go back through the jungle one of our dogs, Sabrina, decided to pick a fight with an anteater. She barked and bit and it hissed and swiped and we all yelled and watched until finally we got our little girl away from it but not without a few scratches on her snout. It was an intense ten minutes. 

We continued back through the trees and beaches. When we got back to Playa Montezuma we passed the hatchery just in time to see another turtle- this time laying her eggs. We sat and watched for a good half hour. When she finished she used her big flippers to cover up the hole then did a kind of dance with her shell to pat it all down. Then as a decoy she did the same thing with her shell and flipped around some sand a little way away from the actual nest.

 

Walking down the street through town at 2 in the morning we all kind of laughed at what an epic night we had just had.

familia

Today I want to tell you about my crazy, dramatic Costa Rican familia.

Starting on the left and heading to the right we have Lindsey our cook. It was always an adventure opening up the pots at every meal and seeing what was inside. Some memorable dishes are the cauliflower fried in egg making them look like little cauliflower-egg space ships and the five meals in a row that had tuna in them. Aside from her cooking skills, she was fun to have around.

Next up is Emanuel our surf instructor. A memorable moment with Manny involves Jen and I paddling out to him during our second surf lesson, watching a huge wall of wave swell up, us screaming at Manny about what we should do, Manny laughing- with no advice, and us getting wrecked with surfboards and all by said wave. Little punk. Despite that he was definitely one of our favorite Ticos. 

And next to Manny is Sasha- the cutest Tico in Costa Rica. Sasha and I were buds- he was always up for a game of snap ball when I saw him in town.

Then we have Lenin our program director. He was a funny little Costa Rican man wrapped up in mystery who could tell the best stories on rainy nights.

Then there's Phil- our self-proclaimed-fill-in dad. He was a former rock star turned policeman turned beach bum. He was always good for a cigarette and impromptu guitar song if you ever ran into him.

Then there's "los tres chicas" plus Andrea who came to stay with us for a week. These girls were just a really good time.

Then up front we have Tony- our hired baby sitter (cue eye roll). I will never forget how he chanted "Mas! Mas! Mas Lauren!" as I took my usual second helpings at lunch and dinner every day. And the cute little nickname he gave me- Pebbles (from the Flintstones). He was quite the charmer. 

We are standing outside our home for the last week I was there- Hotel El Capitan (more of that story later).

Every day was different with our family- especially those men. I never knew men to be so dramatic. It was always an adventure to be sure. And like they always say- the more ridiculous things get, the better quality stories you have for later.

I have some quality stories.

october 20

Due to current weather conditions, we have started a Spanish class with Tony 
to keep our brains from melting out of our heads.

Today we learned a new word- lluvia.


For lack of a better word it means rain but this isn't just rain. 
It's RRRRRAAAAAAIIIIIINNNNN.NNN. 
It's the-constant-pounding-has-beaten-itself-into-my-skull--Phase 10-has-morphed-into-Phase 13--we-are-all-going-a-little-bit-loco--nothing-is-dry-and-I-am-afraid-my-hair-is-going-to-go-moldy--is-that-a-rain-drop-or-a-rain-nuclear-bomb rain.  That's lluvia. sigh


It never stops raining here. We arrived in Montezuma in the middle of a hurricane. This week we got slammed with a tropical storm. It has rained sheets, nay, mean, heavy grandma curtains for seven solid hours the past two days.  

We desert girls have never seen so much     rain     in our lives and never really care to see this much ever again. 

Today after lunch we were washing the dishes and Tony told us (in all seriousness, mind you) that we were in a drought so we needed to wash our dishes faster to conserve the water. I almost lost it. 

tico phrases

Before we go any further into this blog, I think I should teach you a few Tico words/phrases just  to make sure we're all on the same page for future posts.

The first one, appropriately, is Tico- this refers to Costa Ricans.

What do they call us? Greengos. Yep. I always thought that was a myth until I came down here.

Next one- tuanis- this falls into our "cool" or "sweet" category of adjectives.

And here's another one that will make you sound pretty tuanis- mae- (pronounced my) meaning "dude." If you listen to the right people (mainly surfers and Rastafarians) you can hear it every three or so words in a conversation.

And last but not least- my favorite- Pura Vida

In Costa Rica everyone lives by the phrase "pura vida" meaning the "pure life"

and this sleepy surf town is no different-

if asked how you are doing today, you can respond "pura vida," especially if you are surfing or driving along on your little motorcycle through town and see your friends, it is mandatory to yell out "pura vida!" so you can look extra tuanis

I, with my limited Spanish vocabulary, thinking I was really clever, came up with the phrase 

"tango una pura vida con Coca-Cola Light!" 

(I don't think my tico friends were very impressed.)

montezuma

Montezuma is a small, two-street-no-stoplight town known exclusively for its amazing beaches, incredible surfing, and- of course- its turtle nesting.

(playa grande- where I learned how to surf)

(playa montezuma- the waves that woke me up every morning)

This is the only place I have ever been where "no shirt, no shoes, no problem" actually applies. Nothing beats walking into a grocery store in not but your swimsuit, dripping wet from the ocean and grabbing a treat for the walk home.

Montezuma has a very interesting collection of people. 

When you take your first few steps into town you will see a pizza place that sells the best pizza you will ever taste in your life (seriously). It is owned by an Argentinian couple who moved here a few years ago to live the pura vida.

Take a few more steps and, if it isn't raining, you will see a bunch of artisans on both sides of the street selling their "unique, handmade" (ha) jewelry. Each of them has a very interesting story on how they got there. One that I met, Maureen, was from San Jose. She came to Montezuma on vacation many years ago and hasn't left since. She is dating an Italian- they met in Mexico and started traveling together. Next year they are going to travel down to Brazil. If they run out of money they'll just throw a table on the side of the road and make some of their bracelets and sell them for super inflated prices to all of the tourists down there.

Turn the corner and you will meet the Italian who runs the organic restaurant and the city newspaper. He has dreadlocks that probably weigh more than his little body. But he makes super bomb ice cream.
Go across the street and you will meet the super charming English/German lady who runs the only bookshop in town. She has my dream job- she opens and closes whenever she pleases, she is surrounded by books, and works right by the ocean.
What a life.

october 10/11

Every adventure has a beginning. Ours begins with  a long day of flying followed by a shuttle to Gaudy's, our hostel for the night-

(we slept with all of our stuff)

..............................

 the next day was full of bus rides, ferry rides, then two more bus rides

(seven hours total)

 which took us to this place

Montezuma, Costa Rica

Our new home for the next four weeks.

And by the end of those two days we were more than happy to not be getting on a
plane, bus, or ferry for a while.

We couldn't have picked a better place to crash ourselves.

Behold the volunteer house. Also known as The Compound or, if you will, Adventureland.

This place was incredible. It came complete with canoes for our use, a beautiful kitchen, two porches, one of the bathrooms had hot water for the shower, and plenty of room for all of us.

For three weeks we were quite spoiled.

(the view from our bedroom window)

(my bed)

(second story porch)

(our weekly schedule)

(ground level porch)