no more blogs about costa rica after this one. thanks for reading, i had a great time in costa rica!  right now im at the airport in CR.  it's 5.30am.  i get into houston texas aroun 11.30.  then i i head back home to oregon getting in around 6.30pm to be picked up by a group of friends.  i will be staying at their house in portland tonight, then the parents will pick me up the next day.  goood bye!

avocados

my last week here, i haven't written too much, i've been up to a lot lately. it's nice being isolated out in the foothills of Chirripo.  i finished my 3 week spanish course and started my week long massage course to finish up my trip in Costa Rica.  the cacao ceremony was very interesting, drinking pure chocolate... i can't really describe it through words.  movie nights at the yoga dojo, playing guitar and singing at Amrta, reading about raw food (i've been eating very raw lately and like it a lot) going to the farmers market getting a hefty supply of fruits and vegies for the week... im doing great.  i am ready to return back to the states though.  i need people that i know.  and i am ready for another 4 months of sunshine.  i have 5 more days here and it feels like people are fighting over me, wanting me to have dinner with them, play music, and watch movies.  the sense of community out in that pocket within the hills is amazing, truly amazing people.  someday i will come back to this place during a trip through central and south america (skipping mexico and panama). i don't know what more to say, i would rather talk to you in person at a family reunion, over coffee or run into you somewhere, and tell you how satisfied i am after taking a year off from going to school and taking this trip, getting away from everyone and everything im used to.  

so this is like my last two weeks in Costa Rica, it has been great, i've learned a lot about myself and had some amazing experiences.  getting away from everyone and everything was a great move on my part.  right now i am two weeks in on this farm that i am staying at, New Dawn.  it great there, i am the only student there right now and sleep in a bamboo cabin.  this is how my day usually goes...  wake up at 7.00am. drink "the special blend" tea and eat a light breakfast (papaya smootie with bananas and oats).  i then work in the garden for a bout two hours-- helping my teachers turn compost, pick the weeds and help with any bamboo construction that Ed needs.  i get a break around 10am--drink another smoothie--then help with any additional work till lunch is served around 11ish.  Jessica, my spanish teacher, is a great cook.  she makes the best salads fresh from the garden.  after lunch, 12pm, i usually go down to the river bank and spend 2 hours tanning and doing my spanish homework. sunscreen of choice... AD-spf 15 mixed with blended carrots that i buy at the market.  spanish class usually starts around 2pm... so i go to that.  spanish is going well, im getting my language wheel rolling again, the first week we zipped through book one and this coming week we're going to cram-in book number two.  im taking three weeks of spanish and the last week i am going to take a swedish massage and acupressure class.  spanish class ends at 4.  i eat the leftovers from lunch then i go up to the Yoga Dojo and finish the night with a movie with Noe and the wwoofers there--getting back to bed comfortably at 10pm.  

some other things i've been up to... i made a carrot cake the other day.  i have been going to the farmers market every thursday (this week i bought 3 papayas, 7 avocados, 2 melons, carrots, peanut butter and mangoes).  i am going to help noe brew some oatmeal stout this coming week.  tomorrow i am going to a cacao ceremony, where we spend the day grinding cacao and preparing it into a cup of liquified chocolaty goodness.  still debating the chirripo hike (tallest peak in CR).  this coming sunday im going to make a body smoothie from papayas, avocados and aloe and smear it all over my body and lay on some warm rock by the river.  then to finish sunday off, the farm right next to new dawn has a cob oven and we're going to make pesto pizza.

sha-bam!

then im off in a plane heading to texas, then to OREGON! see you in MAY

Some Pictures

above is a mural in Puerto Limon                                  below is a picture of buttercup

above is a caribbean restaurant that i went to in Cahuita.  i had this shrimp, coconut-milk and rice spicy soup.  very good

                                                                                        below is a white-faced capuchin, these little guys were very comfortable with all the tourists around, not such a good thing i guess...

me in Cahuita's free national park. 
.

aight... the "kah-reeb"

so the first place i went to on the caribbean was Parismina (population 400). this place is only accesable by boat and is known for their turltle saving program called ASTOP. so the first night i was there i volunteered and paid $15 to walk on the beach at night for 4 hours searching for leatherbacks laying eggs. i didn't see any, also to mention the fact that it is peak season for the leatherbacks. but it was still fun walking up and down the coast. the next day i took a tour with a local who takes you out on his boat and shows you some wildlife. saw some crocs, a couple sloths, monkeys, lizards and lot's and lot's of birds. the tour took about 3 hours and costed me 20ish dollars. it was fun. the next day after that, i decided to leave the small town and headed south for Cahuita. this was a nice town. more tourists...but more things to do. the first thing i did was the sloth sanctuary, which i had to take a taxi to. it was amazing! i watched a funny video about sloths, got to meet some and pet them in their cages and (the highlight) holding buttercup the first sloth that they rescued. buttercup hangs out on the patio in a wicker-chair. she is a three toed sloth and when our guide was introducing her, i asked if i could hold her. he said that he usually doesn't let the visitors hold buttercup, but since i was one of two in the small group, he picked buttercup up by her hands and lifted her to me. her legs wrapped around my stomach and i was holding a sloth. i got tons of pictures of this place! i'll post them when i get a chance. the next day i went to the Cahuita national park. it was free but i donated rougly 2 bucks. it was a long trail the followed the coastline. i saw two eyelash vipers, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin monkeys, tons of small lizards, some sloths, an agotti, and a racoon. it was a really nice walk. i got really close to the white faced capuchins (i'll post the photos...). now i am in Panama on the Bocas del Toros isands. it's really nice here, different than costa rica. i have a tour set up tomorrow to go snorkling with dolphins! really excited! everythings going fine, i have three ish nights here then im going back to Alajuela to pack for my month long spanish course in San isidro del General. pura vida!

The Carib and Panama plans

this is me with volcan Arenal and a disgusting beard.  !update! i finally had enough of it, and bought a razor, i feel younger and have way more confidence. 

above is the Celestial River that has a natural chemical that turns the water greenish-blue. very cool

below is Lake Arenal at sunset.  

so i have roughly 2 weeks before i start my month long one on one spanish course in San Isidro.  goin' to the Carib to see Parque Nacional Tortuguero and the Sloth Sanctuary and check out anything else that i see...  hopefully all that will take place in a week or less.  then i need to get out of the country because my 90 day visa is up.  so im going to go to Panama and see the canal.  i only have to stay there for a couple days, then i am allowed back into Costa Rica.  i think i will go straight to San Isidro after all that and stay there for a month.  that's the plan for now. i was thinking about going straight through Panama and going into Columbia but that would take too much time and cost way to much.  i have heard so many good things about Columbia, and i know all you people reading this are saying "Columbia is the most dangerous place right now behind the middle east, there are drug lords and guns... etc."   well every single person that i've talked to here has said that when they were in Columbia, it was a beautiful country, the people were very nice and it was safe.  Columbia was dangerous years ago, and i'm sure some remote (let me repeat "re-mote") parts of the country still have ex-guerilla fighters, but they're out there in the mountains.  i have been looking at some Spanish schools in Columbia, and im thinking about studying abroad there, or somewhere else in south america. chile maybe.

right now i am at a country club near San Jose sipping Imperial and i just ordered a hamburger (my first one since... i can't remember, but i couldn't resist).  i guess i can say "life is good."

Arenal Stories.

La Fortuna.  i finally saw the volcano without all those clouds during the day!  i had a great view of it also because my hotel was right in front of it all.  i sat outside my room reading Welcome to the Monkey House and glancing up here and there as the mass of clouds were slowly being lifted by the heat of the day.  i finally just dropped the book and watched the last bit evaporated--and there it was the shy volcano, Volcan Arenal.  it's a perfect looking volcano--it's a cone--it's like if you handed a piece of paper to a kindergardener and said "draw a volcano," it would look like that.  perfect.  though you couldn't see any of the lava--you had to go to the other side to see that.  so i booked a tour with mr. lava lava man, who has been doing tours to the volcano for ten years.  this cost me $15 dollars, very cheap considering some of the tours doing the exact same thing were going for $25-35.  he took us to a thermal pool that was free and more natural and full of ticos (not tourists :) ), a lot of the thermal pools in la fortuna have Las Vegan sprinkled all over them complete with water slides, mayan temples and roman pillars and cost a lot...... i'll go for the free and natural pools thank you very much.  after two hours of soaking, he took us to Arenal Lake at sunset.  beautiful!  then to the back side of the volcano to see lava.  it was dark, there were lots of people, the top of the volcano was covered with clouds... where's the lava?  we waited and waited then finally a small rumble and red-hot boulders came tumbling down the side along with a a little lava.  it was soo far away and soo dark i couldn't get any good pictures, sorry!  and almost every 5 minutes, another eruption would go and more lava rocks would come down.  it was pretty cool, i have never seen lava before.  i was expecting a river of lava and lots of fire..

  the next day i went to this place called ecocentre denues or something very close to that, and it offered a path that had many plants and animals to see.  i saw lot's of exotic plants as my ankles were fresh food for the mosquitos (i forgot the deet).  i came to a mesh dome that had a butterfly exhibit. wow.  there were so many of those things flying around. they had many of the famous blue morphos and tons more to see.  after that i walked around a lagoon that had caimans (similar to an alligator?) but i didn't see any.  i was told that there were sleeping sloths in the trees and i was always looking up to spot one, and here i did.  there was this grey sloth hanging onto a tree, sleeping about 3 meters away from me.  very funny animal, it moved a little when i threw a rock at him (just kidding).  they remind me of muppets.  i carried on and went to this frog house, where there were these tiny little red and blue poison dart frogs.  i got some good close up pics of them.  there were other frogs in there but they were hiding (nocturnal).  at the end of the trail there was this guinea pig type thing but with longer legs. i ended up following him around for a while.  all in all i enjoyed myself even though i had many itchy bug bites around my ankles.  the following day (my last day) i got up early to go see the La Fortuna waterfall.  the water is supposed to be a vibrant blueish-green color from some natural chemical ( i don't know).  it took me about an hour and a half to get there in the hot and humid weather, i was soaking in my own sweat when i reached the park.  i took a dip in the cold water watched the waterfall and soon enough i had to head back to Fortuna to catch my bus to Alajuela.  great experiences in La Fortuna.  Now... i just got an email back from Ed (the bamboo guy) and i will head down to san isidro to take a month long spanish course with his wife.  that start the first monday of april.  before that--because i have two-ish weeks to do anything--i am going to go over to the Caribbean Coast and see that side of Costa Rica.  it's supposed to rain a lot even in the dry season and have lots of mosquitos (i have started my anti-malarial drugs).  should be interesting if i get any of the drugs side affects which i hope i don't get.  that's that, see you all in the summer time where the living's easy.

covered by the clouds

so i am in La Fortuna, where the big bad volcan arenal is at. he's a shy guy. he always has a small cloud covering his top, so you can't see any spewing rocks or lava coming down the side. my hotel room has a great view though. this morning i woke up at 3am to leave with some people i met at the hostel and go see the other side of the volcano, it has a better view. we got to the other side and we had to walk down a trail to get to this really good viewing spot. BUT! the trail lead us to a river that we could cross and we ended up walking back to the taxi, from there though, we could see some flaming rocks falling from the cloud cover. i think i am going to stay here until i see a good view of arenal. hopefully within the next week, if not i might just go back, but i really want all these clouds to be blown away.

brand new.

after returning to Alajuela i felt much better.  i now know what i am here for, what i like, and what i am going to do.  Montezuma was great, but i couldn't just stay there, it would cost a lot and i wouldn't learn any spanish.  i met some great people there, but i had to move on.  i went to Santa Teresa and I immediately had bad vibes.  this place wasn't as green and shaded as Montezuma, the beach was more vast and deserted.  it had some great waves--but i don't surf.  and the tranquilo backpacker hostel was nice.  it was a bunch of surfers though and all they could talk about was "peaky-rights and lefts" and other surfing terminology.  english.  it hit me that i couldn't stay here.  the roads being so messed up, how touristy the beaches were, how hot and dry it was.  i was not expecting any of this.  i came to costa rica for spanish and to take it easy.  so now i am in Alajuela and i will soon be setting out for San Isidro del General to learn one on one spanish at New Dawn.  i have been there before, it's right below the Yoga Dojo and it's beautiful.  it is much greener down there.  so the program that i am doing is a month long spanish course for $400 which includes room and board.  i will have a two hour class every day mon-fri and have time to practice with my teacher throughout the day.  sooo excited. 

so here i am.

took off. took the ferry. took the bus to montezuma. montezuma is by far my favorite town in costa rica from what i have seen. i made some friends on the street the first night i was there. they were college students from the east coast, and i am glad that i found them, otherwise i would be that loner like i feel that i am now. they invited me to go snorkling with them the next day. $45 for all the gear, two one hour snorkling sessions, the boat ride there, and a great lunch on the beach (fish, rice, beans, fruits and yes... beer). that trip lasted almost all day and it was so much fun, i wish i could be the operators and do that every day. i saw under sea snakes, puffer fish, coral, and tons of colorful tropical fish. montezuma is a tiny town. it has two main streets where all the shops and restaurants are at, then scattered around those are some funky hotels. i stayed the first night at the Mochila Inn which was an open-to-the-elements hostel, they had pictures of all the monkeys that chill out on their site. i didn't see any there. the next day, snorkling and i was invited to stay with the college students i went snorkling with, in their room at the Los Mangos hotel south. this place had a pool and an excellent view of the pacific. we spent a lot of our nights by bonfires on the beach drinking Imperial (costa ricas trade mark beer, and it's delicious!) one of the days we went to these waterfalls. you had to hike up this trail about 1 kilometer. the first waterfall, the biggest, had a great pool to swim in and a giant rock off to the side to jump off from. at the very top of the waterfall you could see tiny people at another waterfall right above. me and one of the college students found the steep trail that leads up to the top. this was the big waterfall that people were jumping off of. the first one was the biggest but the pool was way too shallow. this waterfall had the deep pool. this one was way too high for me so i sat on the slippery rocks and took pictures. right behind that was another pool with two small waterfalls. the place was beautiful, this was the type of thing i was looking for. after three nights in montezuma, the students were heading back to their house in Gracia (near sarchi) and i headed to Santa Theresa. i am here now. i am now at the Tranquilo Backpacker Hostel. very nice place, but after talking to the people that work here i learned that walking around the peninsula (like i had planned) would be very hard because of the roads and how screwed up they are. so i am going to explore all over now. by bus. camp out. after that i think i am going to Tony's then see if i can land a spot on this bamboo construction farm in San Isidro de General where they also teach spanish, i am really excited about that one.

fuel station: FULL

so after working two weeks on the farm up at volcan poas and getting my debit card from the states, i am ready for the playa! i am going to pack super light (i think) and heading from Alajuela for Puntarenas to catch a one hour ferry ride to the Nicoya Penisula. i am really playing this whole trip by ear, hence "beach-bumming". i want to stay in Montezuma for a little while and hopefully find some other backpackers and see if they want to come along, but i am really not sure if that will fall through... their are some places that i definitely want to see on this trip like cabo blano national park, playa (im going to butcher this one) tarminado and the nation park there. i want to go to the barra honda caves, and finish at santa rosa national park. on my way back to the central valley i think it would be cool to stop at volcan arenal, the most active volcano in central america, and stay at a place with an excellent view of the lava spillng over the side of the volcano.

the big soccer game is tomorrow. it's san jose vs alajuela, they are the two big teams here in costa rica. they have both been league champions forever except in 1992 when some other team won the title. i am invited to a party for the match with a bunch of young guys who are at least 5 years older than me. should be fun. then on sunday i have a tennis match in the morning against one of Venessa's (Tony's wife) relatives who is a really good player. in the last two weeks i ahve played 4 indoor soccer games. it is really big down here (who would've thought?) i kind of have the disadvantage because i can't tell the othe guys on the field where i am at or what to do becasue my spanish isn't that strong... yet.

life is good down here, not a lot to worry about. i'll be back in 3ish months when oregon heats up with another summer. im gonna' be soo tan for next fall.

Broyan

man, just when i thought i couldn't wake up any earlier

here's a picture of a man holding the daily newspaper that features a new girl everyday!

At the finca in Sarchi i was waking up at 5.30-5.45am and having a little trouble getting up. now>>>i wake at 5am (and it's easy) eat breakfast and out the door at 5.30am. it's a 40 min drive up to the finca, it's a nice drive. the finca is on the slopes of volcan poas and i watch the sun light up the central valley of costa rica. it's very chilly up there in the morning. i was first put to work on weeding carnation flowers in one of many green houses.  my back was killing me>> i was constantly bent over for three hours pulling the suckers outta the ground.  had breakfast at 9, which was (can you guess?) rice and beans and eggs, another typical costa rican breakfast which could also be a lunch or dinner.  to be honest i could really go for a ribeye steak with some potatoes.  food here is somewhat bland, one thing i miss is the variety in the states.  i started work at 9.30am and did the same back breaking work then had lunch at noon. rice and beans again.  i ended up switching to some other work.  i had to move these crates full of soil for all these ticas to jab a baby plant into each little planter>>then moved the full crate to the green house.  that's really it.  since the finca is soo close to the top of volcan poas on a clear morning i am going to try to get up there and see its massive crater. 

still waiting for my debit card so i can travel the nicoya peninsula and guanacaste region.

paz.

left the farm today.  i was a little sad to leave Angel, Niko, Wayne and the new wwoofer who is really cool>> Elliot.  Frank... not so much.  the other night Angel, Wayne, Elliot and I went into Sarchi to go to the fair and celebrate Wayne and mines last night in Sarchi.  Our plans were focused around 9 o'clock>>>> the bulls!  They had set up this huge arena made from scrap metal for the main event, the bulls and the horses.  We walked around and talked to a lot of drunk Ticos who attempted to speak english with us. it was funny.  we sat down had a few beers with freshly squeezed lime from the farm.  it was then 7 o'clock, and we decided to check out the arena and see if we could catch a glimpse of some bulls behind.  there lots of horses but no bulls, i walked up to the ticket taker to ask how much it cost to enter the arena, and before i could say anything he just let all of us in.  the arena had a nice grassy field with a horse with its owner.  we climbed over the wooden railing and got down into the pit to walk over to the horse.  surprisingly nobody stopped us.  the cowboy smiled and gave us the ok to pet the horse.  it was a very nice and calm horse.  after many pictures, the cowboy asked if we wanted to see the bulls.  yeah.  we climbed over the wooden guard rail into a small holding space under the announcers stage, and there were the bulls tucked away.  wayne was at eye level with them and the bulls started to snort and horn each other.  our plan was to run from these guys tonight, but it was way too expensive.  3,000 colones.  none of us had that much, we thought it was only going to be 1,000.  it was cool to see the bulls and the arena before it heated up around 9 though.  we ended up not seeing it and walked all the way back to the finca.  the next day (today) we made a great last breakfast>>> french toast with a banana-oat-cinnamon-honey topping and also had oatmeal with bananas.  now i am in Alajuela, which is pretty close to Sarchi, i will be here for a week or until i get my new debit card from mommy and daddy, i lost it somewhere :/ 

anyways.  it's good to be away from Frank at the finca, but it's a bummer that i am not going to see Angel, Niko and Elliot.  I think Wayne and I will meet up in Montazuma on the Nicoya Peninsula some time. or.. anywhere, i don't really know.

Poas RE-FAIL.

i got up at 5.30am when i didn't even have to work on saturday to go up to Volcan Poas.  last time it was very stormy and wayne and i turned back around wasting money on a taxi.  in my lonely planet guide it says to get to the Volcano before 10am because clouds form around 10 and you can't see anything.  so im up at 5.30am, i take a shower, and hitch-hike into Sarchi, get a bus to Gracia, then get a bus to Alajuala.  it's now 8am.  the bus leaving for poas doesn't get into the station until 9.15, and it's an hour drive up to the top... i am already this far, i take a chance and board after getting breakfast at a soda in a market.  pancakes and coffee (which was delicious!).

finally at the top, it is somewhat clear, until i reach the crater look-out spot and the whole crater is full of cloud.  bummed out with a 3 hour wait for the bus, i take one of the trails that leads to this lake.  and again, it's blocked by clouds.  there were some really funny squirrels running around.  they used their tails like an umbrella because it was raining hard.  that's really it, i have almost lost all hope for getting a glimpse of the Poas crater.  one more week of work and im done with the coffee farm.

Nicoya

i am really happy that i am almost done with this farm that i am at.  one more week! the work is getting old, i am not learning to much about anything here except that i know i don't ever want to be the wwoof-host who owns the farm.  he's a weird man.  i think i am going to stay at Tony Thomas' house which is really close to the farm that i am at.  he is my dad's-cousins-best friend from college and he lives down in CR.  he owns some flower farms that i am interested in seeing and that i might possibly work on (who knows?)  so i will be with him until i head out for the Nicoya Peninsula and Guanacaste region of Costa Rica.  i am going to "bum" around, see water falls, volcanoes, swim in the ocean, play music, and camp a lot!  i am excited.  i think i will start in the town of Montezuma and work my way up the Pacific Coast heading North-West until i get to the Santa Rosa National Park in Guanacaste.  then i will head inland and see Volcan Arenal, the most active volcano in central america (it shoots magma and rocks into the air, super stoked for that!)  i really feel like i am just stationed at one part of the country and i want to see more of it while im down here.  i'll be wearing lots and lots and tons of sunscreen and carrot juice!  pura vida alll!

Pink Boy

this weekend i went to the beach!  i thought we were going to Jaco, which is well known for having lots of tourists, huge hotels and prostitutes, but instead we went to Playa Hermosa.  the beach is south of Jaco 5 km, and is less touristy and bad.   on the way over we went over this bridge and noticed that all these people were looking over the edge at something.  we stopped and investigated.  Crocodiles!  there were probably 10-15 of them and they were big.  we took tons of pictures and left to continue the nice drive through the green coastal mountains.  we got into playa hermosa at dark and checked into the Rancho Grande.  the hotel had this outdoor living space with a pool table and an outdoor kitchen.  there were lot's of surfers lounging about smoking cigarettes and drinking.  we got into our room which was very hot, unpacked and headed out for dinner.  the place we went to was a block away from our hotel, it was outdoor seating and had some delicious meals on their menu.  i got the mahimahi which came with a mango-papaya salsa and grilled vegetables.  it was the best fish i have ever had, no doubt about that.  after dinner the gang went to the beach, a couple of them dove right in to the black waves, i chose not. it freaks me out.  we just sat around and talked and got ice cream after a while and crashed back in the room.  in the morning i woke up at 6.30 am and was the only one up.  i went out and was in search of a breakfast bar.  i walked past the same place we ate the night before and noticed that they were serving breakfast, so i pulled up a chair to the bar and ordered the best tasting banana pancakes, 3 of them.  after that i walked out and noticed that there were tons of iguanas running about the street and up on the walls.  i took some pictures and headed back to the surfer grotto in the hot sun.  a couple hours later the sleepers were up and ready for the surf.  the sand was very hot, it was a black sand beach. there out in the waves were lots of surfers.  the waves weren't huge, but they were big enough to catch a wave and body surf in.  did that for several hours and got very sunburned.  sleeping that night was painful, every time i flipped over my body would burn.  i am still suffering and very pink.  later that day we decided to go into Jaco, just to check it out.  it was awful.  so many tourists and fastfood joints.  why would you come to Costa Rica to eat the same gross food you eat back in the states?  there were a bunch of high-rise-hotels.  i didn't feel like Costa Rica. it felt more like a small wealthy beach town in southern california.  ugh.  jaco was bad.  we ate again, i had civiche (raw fish cooked in lime juice) and then watched a much-awaited beautiful sunset.  surfed more in the morning, and headed back making a quick stop to feed the crocs some spicy sausage.  that was fun.  

POAS...fail

Same old routine on the farm, wake up... work.  eat breakfast, work some more then get off>>>shower, eat, drink, then play music or head into town..  

Wayne and I went up to Volcan Poas.  we were super excited until we reached the top and it was way to stormy to see really anything.  so we headed back down the huge volcano.  it was weird seeing all the destruction from the earthquake that happened a couple of weeks ago.  lots of houses crumbled to the ground, and people without their homes.  a lot of people were camping out in their lawns and getting food from the local church.  i guess a lot of people are volunteering, helping out the families affected by the earthquake. 

this weekend i am going to the Pacific Coast with a friend from CHS.  she is a year older than me and is on exchange from Oregon in Costa Rica.  i don't know her too well but we did go to the same highschool so we have something in common.  we will leave friday and spend two nights on the beach.. i am looking forward to NO coffee bushes for a couple days>> and spending time in the sun on the beach and most likely seeing amazing sunsets!  

So!  i am on a coffee plantation.  i wake up at 5.30 (3.30am for all you in the northwest) and start my day pulling out huge coffee plants and end the 6-7 hour day pulling out coffee plants.  i am going to be soo strong and tan after this month.  it's really hard though.  i work with one of the spanish speaking workers all day long.  one of us throws a chain around the base of the trunk and tightens it and the other (usually me) cranks this lever/pulley thing until the chain pulls the plant out of the ground.  some are easy and some are very hard.  it's a good bicep workout for sure!

the cabin that i am staying in has two bedrooms, i kitchen/dining area and i bathroom.  it's only wayne and me right now so we each get our own rooms, but tomorrow (saturday)  two girls are coming in and we have to share a room sleeping on bunk beds.  wayne and i are like college students.  we don't really know what to eat.  we are not very good cooks, so hopefully these two girls coming to stay are master chefs.  wayne kind of knows how to cook beans, i am learning... we're a work in progress.  we are strong bodies on the farm though.  each day around 9, is breakfast our wwoof-hostess (frank) makes us breakfast which is always rice and beans and squash.  sometimes we have tomatoes, which is a treat.  but nothing to special.  i bought some eggs and bread, and wayne bought some milk, so we made french toast the other night.  with a little peanut butter and honey, it was quite the treat!  i am posting some of the pictures i took of the house.  pretty fancy stuff.

almost lost.

man, so after i left the internet cafe yesterday i started walking back the way i came, and i got a little lost.  i had an idea of where i needed to head because i of the mountains, but was not sure which street to take.  i ended up going to a soda to eat because i was very hungry, got a carne empanada with a juice that i had no clue what it was.  i asked the ticos there if they knew how to get to Sarchi Fincas Trojas, and they pointed in a direction.  that was a little helpful, so after i left i headed in that direction.  i came to a street that forked, and i remembered Orlando going up one way to get to the farm.  i walked up the street for a really long time until the sun started to set, and i started to get a little freaked out.  what if i was heading up the wrong road and it gets dark and i have to trek all the way back?  i ended up going up to a house who had people sitting in the front lawn and asked if i could use their telephone.  they let me in and i tried calling the farm but nobody picked up.  they said they knew where the farm was and that i had to keep heading up the road for a kilometer.  so i did.  i walked and walked and walked and held out my thumb hoping someone would stop for me and give me quick ride up the street before it got dark.  i kept on doubting the people who let me use their phone, i felt like this farm that i am working at is kind of secret and that no one would know about it.  there was a point where i turned around and walked for a 100 yards then convinced myself to turn around again and keep walking in the same direction.  i kept on walking and i felt like i still was heading nowhere.  then someone stopped, it was a couple in a pickup truck and they asked where i was going.  i told them and they offered me a ride.  we literally went up about 100 yards around a corner and there was the driveway to the farm.  i felt a little stupid but super happy to be back at the farm.

the next morning i woke  up at 5.45am and started work.  i ended up not helping Anthony with his project ( i think i mentioned him in the last entry).  i had to clear these rain gutters around the perimeter of the wwoofers house and this triangular house.  lots of work in the sun.  i got a little burnt today.  gotta use more sunscreen.  Wayne and I are going to see Volcan Poas this weekend.  i guess you can see way down into the crater and see stuff, not sure what.  there will definitely be pictures of that trip!  later all!

Sarchiiiiiii

so i finally left the YogaDojo.  Noe was a funny guy.  i got out of San Isidro around 11.30 and went north on this super long and curvy road that went into the clouds.  i guess it's known as the "road of death" or something like that.  i sat next to a really nice guy from canada who was about 55-60 years old.  we talked the whole way to san jose about costa rica and what each of us were doing down here.  he gave me some helpful hints.  when i got to san jose, orlando was there to pick me up. we started driving and he was supposed to take me to the bus station going to Gracia but he told me he had a better deal, so for $40 he said he'd take me to gracia, i wasn't really sure how much the bus ticket was going to cost but he said better deal, so we went.  then when we got to Gracia he said he'd take me all the way to the Sarchi farm that i was heading to for a little more. i went along with it, and we headed in that direction.  Orlando then got lost and had to ask a lot of people where sarchi was and how to get to this farm.  he then told me "mas tiempo, mas dinero" more time, more money.  i started getting really pissed and when we finally made it to the farm he was asking $60.  i was mad.  very mad.  gave orlando the money and he instantly became happy, shook my hand and took off.  i talked to one of the wwoofers there about this who rode with orlando a couple of times and he said i totally got ripped off and that i shouldn't use him.  this wwoofer got from the yoga dojo to sarchi for 10,000 colones= $20.  he took some taxis (not orlando) and buses and got there fine.  ugh this is still angering me a lot.  anyways, we learn from our mistakes and orlando is not getting my business next time. 

this morning i was up at the crack of dawn, 5.45ish, and worked on the Sarchi Finca Trojas.  i took off the screens of the owners windows so they could be washed by the other wwoofer, Wayne, then helped one of the farmers take off two huge steel doors from his house.  i then had to get a couple of wheelbarrows full of sand and gravel so we could start mixing some concrete.  we got a foundation down and started laying one row of concrete blocks.  we are going to finish it tomorrow morning because i was done working at 1.oopm.  one month here and then who knows?  im shaping this adventure one day at a time.  

                                                           this is downtown San Isidro

so i don't have too much time right now, i am leaving at 11.30 to go up to San Jose on the Musoc bus.  Orlando is going to be there to take me to the next station that goes to Gracia then i need to get on ANOTHER bus to go to Sarchi where my next farm is at.  the 3 hour bus ride from san isidro to san jose is only  like 2,200 colones which is like 5 dollars.  pretty good deal.  i am uploading the last of the yoga dojo pictures.  i just sent out an email to this sloth sanctuary.  Terza, new wwoofer at the dojo, told me about it.  Sounds pretty cool, her friend went there and said it was amazing, so i'm going to see if i can land a spot in that.  that place is on the Caribbean coast (black sand beaches!) well i got to finish this up soon, more emails and messaging!  pura vida!  Ryan

gerrrrrrt. skeeeet skirrrrrt.

at the same coffee shop as yesterday.  yesterday was nice, after getting a ride into town on the motorcycle, noe picked me up with this young tica.  and we went back to his house so he could show her his animals and his dojo.  i waited and played with the baby bunnies until we left to go see a friend of his up the road.  he's been friends with this guy for like 30ish years, and the man had his family over.  i ended up talking to his son named adulfo who was relaxing in a hammock with his sleepy 3 year old son.  he barely knew english but it was better than my spanish so we talked in english.  he told me where he was from and asked where i was in my life.  he also told me about places to stay away from and must-sees in costa rica.  he was a nice guy.  noe, the tica, and i left about an hour or two later and went to this restaurant by a river, that had outdoor seating.  i ordered their casado which consisited of rice beans and a piece of pork.  it was alright, but for the price (2000 colones= ~4 dollars) it was a steal.  i also had a freshly mixed gwanabana fruit drink, sooo good, i am drinking one right now.  as i finished i saw that there were a bunch of kids playing soccer by the restaurant in a field with two goals.  so i got up and went over to the goalie and told him "quero jugar" i want to play.  he started speaking jibberish spanish and it was clear that it was boys versus girls, so i played on the boys team until i scored, then i switched teams until my team scored and i switched teams.  a lot of these kids were probably 10-13 years old.  it was a lot of fun.  if i had the ball i would do summersaults or do really funny tricks like holding the ball in between my feet and then doing a handstand launching the ball to another player.  i played for probably 20 minutes and then it was time to go back to the dojo.  finished the night with "gladiator" and went to bed.

this morning i did some yoga, ate some fruit and found another farm to go to after the dojo.  i am leaving monday from san isidro and going north to Sarchi, which i close to San Jose for about a month (who knows maybe even longer).  this farm is a coffee farm and the do mangoes and oranges and bananas.  im thinking about hiking up volcan arenal or irazu in that time.

 Ry-guy.

Baby Bunnies!

woo hoo!

still getting used to it all.  thursday was the market in San Isidro.  That was really fun, Noe got a lot of fruit, huge bags of them.  the market was huge! like two football fields and covered by a metal roof.  oh! so funny story, well just kinda weird, noe and i were walking down one of the isles getting fruit, beans and whatnot and who do i run into?  Kelci Pauk from corvallis.  she went to CV and we both knew that we were going to be down in Costa Rica around the same time, it was just a coincidence that i we saw each other on my third day in the country.  so we talked and she said that she had to leave the country for a couple days, go to Panama, and come back into Costa Rica.  i have to do this as well so i gave her my email, so we can leave together.  i feel like my trip is slowly shaping itself, it's nice.  after the market we went to get fresh carrot juice from a nice cafe that i am at right now. then we went to get civiche, which is raw fish in lemon juice and tomatoes. that was pretty good, a little weird though.  we went back to the house and ate fruit and worked on a new rabbit cage.  we then watched the Count of Monte Cristo and went to bed.  

Today i got up and did some yoga.  i am finally getting used to the time change and getting back to normal after the traveling.  i got up around 8am which would be like 5am pacific time.  did some yoga and meditation, ate a light breakfast and hitch-hiked into town.  i have never done it before, i got passed by a couple of cars then soon enough, after like five minutes of walking, a motorcycle stopped and i got a ride with him, that was pretty fun, it was a 10 min ride, beautiful scenery.  once we got into the valley/san isidro he dropped me off and i walked around until i found this coffee shop.  i ordered this really weird drink.  it's juice with milk, i don't know what kind of fruit it was though, but it was delicious!  i think noe is picking me up soon to take me up the mountain to a bee keeper.  peace out.

made it.

so i got into costa rica after like 24 hours of traveling. ek. so orlando picked me up from the airport he was holding a sign ("ryan") and he was pressed up against the glass with other taxi drivers.  i took his picture but i forgot to bring the connector cable to the cafe so i can't show him to you all.  anyways we got into his little white car and headed to the bus station>i thought he was taking me all the way to san isidro but i was wrong.  he drove like a mad-man, i called him a loco-tico.  we stopped at the bus station and he got me a ticket and i payed him.  the wait for my bus was more than two hours so he took me to a soda and we had coffee and quesadillas.  SOOOOO good, the coffee. very smooth and tasty.  we drove back to the bus station and he left me there.  30 minutes later the bus arrived and luckily none of my bags were stolen.  got on the bus and left san jose.  ok.  so this bus ride was some crazy ride.  it was three and half hours long and the driver was crazy.  the road was super curvy because we were going over mountains, and the bus driver was passing semi-trucks around corners!  i thought we were going to have a head-on collision with a semi, and actually we almost did! a semi was passing another semi coming our way and we had to brake right when we came around the turn, we screeched to a stop and the semi whizzed by our bus honking its horn.  scary stuff.  i thought i was going to puke after three hours of hot bus+curvy road.  i got into san isidro around 8.30pm and noe was there to pick me up.  he has a really cool jeep thats rusty and blue. no windows and a hay-bale in the back we drove for 15minutes back to his yoga dojo.  this house is three stories tall and made by noe.  he made it in the 80 i think.  but it's like a treehouse! it's all open to the elements, bugs are crawling around, frogs in the morning and a stray cat that comes by now and then.  i slept in the loft on the third floor on this foam mat.  i didn't get too much sleep because i had two cups of coffee running in my veins and i was in this humid hot place i was not used to.  i still am not used to it yet.   so this morning noe and frank (german wwoofer) went into town and noe insisted that i stay at the house to relax.  i really wanted to go into town.  so i just hung out took pictures of the house and then this girl named kristy showed up who will be staying tonight.  we talked for a while, we talked about wwoof and what we're doing here.  it was nice having someone to talk with while the guys were away.  we then decided to walk into town and come to this internet cafe, which we're at right now.  tomorrow noe is taking us to the thursday market which is huge, he said it's the size of two football fields.  so i am excited to see that. well i am done with this post.  sorry about not having any pictures to put up, next time.

pura vida!  Ryan

yo yo yo.  i am currently at the PDX in Portland, just had a great last american dinner--steak and mac'n'cheese.  very good.  my flight should be here in about an hour, my lay-over is in houston around 5.30ish and then i'll be off again around 9 landing flat smack in volcano-jungle-harryspiders-snakes-land... also known as costa rica.  surprisingly regan didn't shed any tears as i parted from her and the rest of my family going on to the security check.  got to go.

ry-guy

What this is.

so after seeing chelsea's blog,  and after doing hours of research on blogs, i have decided that this is the best and only way to let all of you know what i am up to while down in Costa Rica.  hopefully i can update it at least once a week with stories and pictures so you know i am alive and well.  I will start my adventure January 19th and will return June 13th just in time for a Corvallis summer.