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.