Hey everyone,
So, I think I'm on vacation here. I don't do anything!! Except for eat, sleep, go to the gym
and take weekend trips to the beach and rain forests. I guess I should just take advantage
of it because it might not happen for a while…It just feels weird not to have homework
due or to have to be at work and eat on the run. I'm actually here to do my master's
research and I can justify all the time I have been here so far. I spent the first week
taking Spanish classes, the 2nd week moving to Heredia and getting adjusted to my new
place, weekend trip to Monteverde, the 3rd week at the International symposium on
occupational epidemiology then the weekend at the beach, and now it's the fourth week.
I should really be prepping for the research that will start next week in the boonies of
Talamanca on the Carribean side. So hear are the updates:
Monteverde:
This place is in the north west area of Costa Rica that was settled by American
Quakers and it's full of cloud forests, NOT rain forests. The bus ride there was grueling
and super long because it was up this super windy mountain road that was really made for
one bus, but of course other buses would come down as ours was going up too. I was
really relieved to get back from that weekend trip because it was scary on the way there
and the canopy tour was scary too. Basically, the kinds of activities you can do at
Monteverde is walk on suspension bridges with a guide to look at animals, plants and
trees. If you don't go with a guide, it'll be pretty boring because everything will just look
green to you. Also, if you go, make sure you do everything in the MORNING before the
rain comes bc it'll just be a better experience for you. Other options include night tours,
zip lining, ATVing, horseback riding and so forth. The whole place is controlled by a
few companies that will come pick you up to take you to their section of the forest. If
you don't go with the company, you have no way of getting around because it's a very
sleep mountain village. And they charge everything in dollars so it gets expensive very
fast. I did a canopy (zip lining) tour with a guided suspension bridge tour. The canopy
thing was super super exhilarating! I had heard of it before, but was not really sure what
it meant till I started. You basically hang from a steel cable with a pulley to which you
are harnessed. Then the guides push you off the platform and you better listen to them or
else you'll be stuck in the middle of no where. Some cable lines are only 30 ft long, but
the last 2 cable lines were more than a 1000 ft long and about 400 ft up in the air. It feels
like you're the only person flying above all the tree tops. It's great and super fun, just
don't brake too soon and get suck in the middle of the cable bc no one can get to you!!
Our guide from the suspension bridge tour was only 20 yrs old. Super
knowledgeable, looks like any old white American boy, and talks just like one, but he's
half German and half Spanish. I went to Monteverde with 2 Germans, an American and
one Australian girl that I met at a bar the Friday before…yea, good idea huh? Well, one
of the German girls was really getting on my nerves in the beginning because she was so
full of stereotypes and just plain rude. She had to smoke every five minutes and always
felt the need to drape her stinky shoes over everyone's couches. Too bad for her cuz she's
freaked out of heights and needed to smoke in the forest. So she said that we should
celebrate with rum and coke afterwards and the guide thought she was hitting on him so
he flashed his ring finger at us. Turns out he just got married last month, but his daughter
is almost 2 years old….I guess that's what happens when you live in the mountain
villages =). But the German girl turned out a little better later in the day when we had a
huge conversation on our countries and how they differ and she was just surprised how I
didn't fit her stereotypes of Americans. They also told me interesting things about
Germans and how they feel the need to apologize for everything that is wrong and no one
dares to put up a German flag in their home for fear of appearing "proud". They also said
interesting things about East Germany and immigration and how racist some European
countries really are.
On the 5 hour bus ride back down the mountain, the bus made some very surprise
stops by picking up people that lived in the mountain. It just cracks me up how people
know when the bus will be passing by or do they spend the whole day waiting for the bus
to come? The bus also takes more people than there are seats for people. Anyhow, I
dozed off and woke up to some old man standing beside me. I felt bad for him so I
offered him my seat and he took it, said it was for a "ratito" meaning a little while.
Well…next thing I know, he dozed off for 45 minutes!!! But it was fine because the bus
was too hot to sit still anyways.
Well, I'm gonna send this email now bc if I keep writing no one will ever get to
the end.
Ciao,
Karen