A Good Week

Organic Farmers Market in Upala

Some other PCVs and I went to support the Feria that has started up in the nearby town. Even though it was their first one, it was a pretty exciting success. There were probably about 20 vendors, mostly produce but even a few artisans and a bit of other food. There were plenty of customers, despite the rain it started off with. I was so excited about all of the organic food, although another PCV did remind me that lots of farmers around here are organic by default anyways. And to top it all off, the prices were cheap for produce, let alone for organic produce. I got a head of lettuce, a bunch of spinach, 4 cucumbers, 2 small bags of momones (local yummy fruit), radishes, and mostaza (a spicy leaf) for less than $4, and delicious dark chocolate for $0.20 – all organic and locally produced. It was a very exciting shopping experience, especially since it is a real possibility that we will soon get something similar started up in Bijagua.

Pippa & Donald’s Place

Ryan and I finally visited Pippa and Donald at their place and finca. When we arrived, we had to ‘work’ a bit for our breakfast. We each tried our hands at milking their cows, getting back to my farming roots that I never knew. Definitely wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I was excited to see any milk coming out. The breakfast that Pippa prepared was amazing – homemade tortillas, banana bread, eggs, cheese, fried platano maduro, lots of fresh fruits, and coffee (flavored with fresh milk from their cows).

Loaded with way too much food, we set off to their finca outside of town. We drove until the truck got stuck in the mud. Then it was time to put the rubber boots to use (one of man’s best inventions), walking through the river to get to the finca. Even though it took us 2 hours to go the 2 km, it was a gorgeous walk that I wish could be conveyed by pictures. Then we explored around the finca, seeing lots of beautiful birds, tapir tracks, and noisy monkeys, drinking straight from the spring that was the source for a small stream, and enjoying some beautiful nature all around. The walk back on the road in mid development was the hardest part – for one, the mud was deep and I got temporarily stuck at least a dozen times on the 2km trek back; but the much harder aspect was seeing the deforestation the road was bringing about, which lead to the erosion and horrible mud that we were getting stuck in and was washing straight into the beautiful river we had walked through. It is a project to make a new entrance to Rio Celeste, which cuts through the rainforest and would give much quicker access directly through Bijagua. This would increase tourism traffic in Bijagua, but it is definitely not helping the rainforest it is cutting through. It is also such a fine line as to how much additional tourism I hope for in Bijagua. It is such an amazing community right now, and while I want to see development and additional business, I don’t want to see it ruined by over development, if that makes any sense.

After 6 hours of walking through mud and rain, my first hot shower in 2 months was beyond amazing. Then after a nice dinner, we had a movie night slumber party. It was such a simple evening, but so wonderful to feel like I have a close friend to spend a relaxing night with.

Futbol!

After wasting the majority of the next day, Pippa called to let me know that there would be a soccer game at the indoor field at 830pm. Even though it sounded too late after being
lazy all day long and my bedtime is usually 10pm, I decided to go. It was such a successful turnout! There were 6 girls and 8 guys (a few more showed up later). We split up and subbed on an off. It was such a fun game. It sounds like we are going to try to do it every week, which is really exciting.

Despedida

We had a little get-together of all of the local twenty-somethings since the French volunteer, Justine is leaving, Ryan is leaving and it was the German volunteer, Marjorie’s birthday. It turned out to be a pretty fun night. All of the fun people I have become friends with were there. There was good music, some great food (Marjorie’s pasta, Kim’s pinto, cakes, etc), beer, wine, and great company. I even got a bit of salsa dancing in with my friend Maikol. The porch of a house is just as good as a club dance floor, as long as your partner’s fun. I would love to get some sort of regular latin dance class started up. The evening wasn’t a crazy time, but it was just a great night of hanging out with friends. And it was a great international house – Costa Rica, USA, Germany, France, Australia – with people switching between Spanish, English, French, and German. I loved it.

Project Updates

Ryan and I went out to El Jardin to check on the greenhouse after 3 weeks of school vacations. Surprisingly enough, the only real problems were 2 dead rows of cucumbers that we had planted from seeds, some ants, and some possible fungus on some plants. Other than that, it was an impressive sight, most of the plants had grown so much. I’m really excited about this project and the food that is growing each day including cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, radishes, and peppers. I’m a little less sure about figuring out how to help get the structure of cooperative set up with the kids and parents, but I’m sure it will work out.

The computer lab is great. I have 2 students that I tutor, and other community members use the computers or come in and ask for help occasionally. Not to mention the free internet for me.

We are really trying to get the Farmer’s Market started soon with whatever we have. Even though it may start out small, we can slowly add to it and make it better every week.

There is a lot of work with the ECCs (community banks). We’re working on improving the accounting in Excel to make the treasurer’s life better. It’s great to be able to bury myself in Excel formulas every once in a while. And we are trying to work on the regional meetings to get them some training and make the meetings worthwhile. There is also an idea floating around of a regional work center for those ECCs that don’t have computers as well as for a central training center.

So I definitely have a lot of fun and projects to keep me busy. So much for any fears of not having much to do for 2 years.

Altamira

I got invited to visit the home of one of the members of my counterpart, Edgar, his wife Maritza, and their kids Esmerelda, and Edward in Altamira. The trip up itself was beautiful, though long – 5km outside of (mostly up) town. Looking around, I realized just what a good name Altamira (high view) was for the barrio, especially from Edgar and Maritza’s land. I somehow didn’t think to bring my camera, so you have to picture it until I can return to take some pictures (the picture shown is where I went, as seen from central Bijagua). When the clouds permit, you can see both volcano ranges, and waterfalls flowing off of Miravalles. Though the clouds only permitted me to see one of the many waterfalls, it was absolutely gorgeous. I could sit there all day and stare at it.

But staring wasn’t the only thing the day brought. We had a delicious lunch, made almost exclusively from the produce they grow on their land. I learned a little more about their home during the meal conversations. They first bought the land completely undeveloped. After clearing some land, laying down the concrete for their floor, putting up two walls, and putting up a roof, they moved in to finish it. They put in everything from scratch, including the electricity and water. I really love the idea of being able to choose what you want the view from your window to be. Their home is so amazingly theirs, with all the wood, concrete, electricity, and water put in by them.

Then after lunch, it was time for an adventure. After years of not doing it, and not doing it all that well when I did, I got to ride a horse. It is a good thing that Edward was the guide, otherwise I think this adventure would have had a disastrous outcome. We went on a 30 minute ride with lots of green nature to look at. When we came to a little stream, the horse crossed it with little problem, but then there was a hill where walking alone, I would have had to choose my steps carefully. Now imagine you’re a horse. At one point I remember thinking what an oddly sprawled out position the horse was in and wondering if I could jump off before falling along with the horse into the stream. But somehow, the horse avoided disaster and made it up the hill. Of course Edward didn’t seem to give this all a second thought. After a short trail, we made our way through fences and through muddy non-trail on foot (not so gracefully on my part) to the river. It was definitely pretty, but after a quick break, we headed back. This time, when we got to the hill leading down to the stream, I decided to dismount the horse and take it on my own two feet. I just imagined me and the horse crashing down, my leg getting crushed, putting me on the next plane home to the US, ending my Costa Rican adventure. Even though it most likely would have been fine, as I watched the horse basically jump down the hill, I didn’t feel so ridiculous for worrying with my limited equestrian skills.

By the time we finally got back, I felt really sorry for both the horse and Edward who had done all of the work, neither of which probably would have made the trip if it were up to them. But both of them were very good sports and I was appreciative of the adventure they made possible for me. I didn’t dare mention how after such a short ride, my rear already could feel it. It was a great time.

After a delicious cafecito, Esmerelda took me on a tour of their finca. After just over a year, they have their land producing just about everything they need – cows (milk, cheese – sometime spicy, yogurt), pigs, beans, tomatoes, aracache, corn, platano, banana, cilantro, and lots more. It was impressive walking all their land and all their agriculture, thinking about how only Edgar and Edward care for all of it, and they feed themselves almost entirely from this land.

After my time there, I fell in love with it. It definitely is a harder life, but I would argue it is also more beautiful – the view and the quality.

Tarbaca Family Visits Rio Celeste

My host family from Tarbaca (Jacky, Stephannie, and Melannie) that I lived with for 3 months came to visit me in Bijagua. It was so great of them to drive 5 hours to spend a week of their 2-week school vacation with me. They stayed here with my current host family and me since they had hit it off so well when Jacky dropped me off the first time. It was so nice to catch up with Jacky and spend time with the girls. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I got to see them again.

We went to Rio Celeste while they were here. Rio Celeste! I can finally answer ‘si’ when everyone asks me if I have been. It is the most famous attraction in the area for good reason. It is called Rio Celeste for the color of river that is an amazing blue due to some chemicals in the water. But on the 7km roundtrip trail, there is a lot more than just the famous waterfall.

First we made it to Mirador. It was beautiful to be able to see the whole range of peaks of Tenorio Volcano, up to 1916m. Then when we arrived at Laguna Azul, we were just about screaming with excitement with our first glimpses of the celest waters. We next visited Teñideros (the Stainers) where the different waters meet up and the celest color (due apparently to colloidal silica) begins. It was impressive to see how there is such a defined line where the color changes. Then we finally arrived at the hot springs. It was very different from the springs in La Fortuna. It was in the middle of the cold celest river, with just a little area set aside from the rest. There were various areas that would get really hot, with the cold water mixing it up – so nice. The smell was so odd, and it made you wonder if the combination of interesting minerals was a good thing or bad thing. But it sure felt great, and we all felt more relaxed as we started the walk back.

But still the walk back was not quite as easy going. The girls really started to get tired and Melannie kept on saying that she wanted to leave now, even though there were still a few km before the exit. But then we got back to the entrance to the waterfall, which we had saved for last. It was only 150m but very steep grade with really tall steps. The trail got a bit much for Jacky to handle with the girls so I left them about halfway to go the rest of the way. And what a beautiful sight! It was amazing to finally see live what I had seen so many times in pictures – which, as expected, just cannot really relate the beauty that you can only fully appreciate by seeing it for yourself. It was completely breathtaking. The waterfall is about 30m high (about 90ft) and it pummels down into the lagoon that is blue as ice. I tried to make sure that I got some good pictures, knowing full well that they would do it no justice.

VAC Regional Meeting

Volunteers Advisory Council is kind of like the PC form of ASB in school. Each region of CR has one to represent the PCVs of that region. Every 4 months the PCVs in each region meet up to talk about regional projects, raise common concerns for the rep to bring to PC staff, make announcements, share ideas, and just be able to hang out with other PCVs for a while. This time the meeting for the Naughty North was held in La Fortuna over the 4th of July weekend. La Fortuna is the little tourist town right next to Arenal Volcano.

The weekend was pretty eventful, starting with the trip out there. It just happened that Pippa (the Australian who lives in my site) was going out to La Fortuna the same weekend with her husband Donald, some volunteers in town for the month, and some visitors she had from Australia. We took a scenic back road that took us through beautiful Costa Rican countryside, past wind turbines, and out to Lake Arenal. Once we were back on paved road, it was still very low traffic. Unfortunately, that did not stop us from witnessing a horrible accident. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. A man ran to cross the road, but not fast enough to avoid the car just in front of us. I didn’t believe I was actually seeing a man fly feet first above the car and then go crashing back down to the ground. We were all sure at first that he must be dead, but he made a movement to get out of the road, so Pippa went to help since she had had first aid training as a teacher in Australia. She got him in recovery position, kept the woman who knew him from freaking out and trying to move him, and applied towels to the bleeding. Though he had moved, he was definitely in bad shape. The windshield had been broken, he was bleeding from his head, and we had no idea what kind of internal injuries there could be. Donald had called the ambulance and the police and helped keep the woman’s brother who showed up to the scene from punching the driver of the car in the face. The rest of us stayed in the car, not wanting to further crowd the scene when we could not help improve it. When they had done all they could, we left, still not quite believing what we had witnessed, a little shook up by the whole thing.

So we continued on our drive around Lake Arenal, appreciating the gorgeous scenery, and trying to not think about the accident. We stopped in the quaint little town of Arenal Nueva, which was new because the old one was under water from when they had dammed the lake. We didn’t spend too much time there, but we did get to enjoy the delicious, yet overpriced German bakery that was there. Even though I could have gotten a whole meal for the same price in a typical place, I definitely enjoyed the Apple Strudel I finally decided on. We were now entering tourist area and the accompanying prices.

The rest of the trip was beautiful, and I arrived in La Fortuna much more comfortable than if I would have come by bus. I easily found the awesome little hostel that was a converted house that I was staying in with the other PCVs for the weekend. And since there were about 20 of us, we just rented out the whole thing, leaving the kitchen, TV (which had shows in English!), and BBQs to us.

Well that day being 4th of July and us being a big group of Americans, we made a patriotic party of the night complete with hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, and topped it all off with fireworks! It was a pretty decent celebration and nice to share it with some PCV friends.

The next day was full of fun as well. We walked just out of town to a beautiful river that had the most perfect rope swing. Well I wasn’t planning on going in the water, but after seeing how perfect the rope swing was, I just couldn’t resist - and I have to say it was a good decision.

For lunch we ate at a delicious and touristy (read - expensive) lunch before launching into our official meeting. We talked about regional projects like supporting organic agricultural, supporting improvements in Nicaraguan immigrants’ rights, and starting an environmental committee. We also talked about any common concerns that we had as PCVs and PC announcements.

Hot springs were the activity of the night. God really knows how to make a good jacuzzi. There was even a little cascade that served as great jets to relieve some PC tension. It was perfect since it was a cool night.

The next day after some homemade crepes made by James for breakfast, it was already time to go home. But at least we got one more good look at the volcano before heading out. Unfortunately we left one day before the volcanic activity started up. But even though we didn’t get to see fumes going up and lava spilling down, it was a great view nonetheless.

1 Month Down, 23 To Go

After a month in my new home, it seems like time has gone by so quick, and has been laid-back yet busy. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how my initial time here has already been full of new friends, projects, and nature. See below for examples of said fullness.

Projects:

English in El Jardin
Ryan and my new Australian friend, Pippa, have been teaching English classes in the escuela in the barrio El Jardin every Friday. They teach 3rd through 6th grade. I have been tagging along and done a few of the activities, slowly feeling a little less awkward.

El Jardin Greenhouse
In the same escuela, Ryan helped get a greenhouse started with the kids. Thanks to some great donations and lots of hard work, it’s already looking pretty green. It is really exciting to think of all the good that could come out of this project, especially since it is organic. It encourages local agriculture, will generate some income for local families, make healthier options available at school, and give the kids some great business and agriculture skills not to mention some pride.

Tourism Farmers’ Market
This is just starting up with meetings and planning, but should be something really great for the whole community. The agricultural products will give small farmers a place to sell their product, encourage local food, and make cheaper produce available to the community. The art will allow local artisans to sell their works and attract tourists. Tourist stands will allow the local business to promote their business and draw tourists. I really think this could be an amazing project, but it will also be a big challenge to do it right.

Computer Lab
A computer lab with 6 computers donated by the government opened up 2 weeks ago. They run on Linux, which I hadn’t ever really used before, but have always been interested in open source programs. After playing around a bit, it looks like most of the programs are almost identical to Windows. I’m watching the lab and tutoring people at least one afternoon per week. I already had my first lesson with my host dad, Rafa, who had never even touched a computer before. And I’ve helped people open their email and search the internet. I’m excited about this project for all the possibility that exists to teach, not to mention the free (although slow) internet I will get.

Community Credit Enterprise (Agua y Sol)
Of course I will also be working with my counterpart, Agua y Sol. They are doing pretty good, but there’s still plenty of potential for improvement. Helping to keep all the socios buying acciones to grow the business, getting higher quantity and diversity of loans out, growing the kids program, and enhancing the capacities of the members are just some of the possibilities.

Camp Green
I will be helping Pippa put on a day camp for kids in 3rd to 6th grade during their vacations during the next two weeks. It should be a great camp, combining some English with environmental topics. We’ll be taking them on nature hikes, to a butterfly garden, a local farm, a sports day, and planting some trees, all here in Bijagua. It’s already past the 60 kid capacity that was set. It should be a really fun project.

Fun Stuff:

Hanging Bridges
I’ve gone a few times to the hanging bridges nearby. I have to figure out how to talk my US family members with a slight dislike of heights into crossing the bridges that hang about 90 feet in the air when (not if) they come visit. It’s awesome to look around on the same level as the treetops. I haven’t seen the monkeys that are apparently common. But I did see a sloth with her baby once and another time a boa snake.

Laguna Danta
There’s a longer trail up by the hanging bridges trails that leads up to an extinct crater on the Tenorio volcano. It is completely overgrown with trees, so you can’t tell it’s a crater, but it is still awesome. It is completely different depending on the rain. The first time I went up there, it was full. The second time, it was just a few puddles. It was neat when it was dry since we could see a ridiculous number of tadpoles that looked like some sort of huge single organism. We also found tapir tracks, which is where the laguna gets its name (danta is tapir in Spanish). My friend also saw a coral snake on the trail. The trail itself is pretty impressive. There are times when I felt like I was rock climbing, except it was tree roots instead of rocks.

Bijagua Waterfalls
I finally got to make it out to one of the local waterfalls. I set off one morning with Ryan and the French volunteer, Justine (who is working with a local hotel on sustainable tourism for 3 months). It took us a little less than an hour to arrive at the entrance to the trail. On the trail itself, I probably would have turned back quite a few times if it weren’t for Ryan insisting there was a trail beyond the huge fallen trees, figuring out which of the forks would lead us to the waterfalls, and deciding that after crossing the river, there would be a trail of some sort. And luckily I trusted him enough, since we did finally end up arriving at the first cascades. There was a nice little swimming hole and the freezing water was great after the long trail. Then as we explored in different directions, we only found more and more gorgeous nature. We walked up to the biggest waterfall that was made even more beautiful by the tree that had fallen in the middle of it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of this one since we had to swim to it. Then we rock/waterfall climbed shoeless and cameraless to another waterfall on the other side. With some exploring, we found a trail that led up to the top of the big waterfall which revealed the rest of the series of cascades and waterfalls. There was an amazing wall of small cascading waterfalls along the way that was beautiful. Then we followed the least trail-like walk of the day to see yet 2 or 3 more cascades. It was a work out to get to all of the waterfalls, but it was all very much worth it. No picture could do all of that beauty justice. I am most definitely planning on returning (who wants to join me?).

And I still haven’t seen the most well known Rio Celeste nor the other waterfall in Rio Zapote. Yep. I’m spoiled.

Fiesta
The other weekend was a Bijagua fiesta to raise money for the high school. So while all of you San Diegans were enjoying the Del Mar Fair with its concerts, corn on the cobs, and deep fried everything, I went to a surprisingly hoppin dance, saw a rodeo, and ate delicious tamales and ice cream, and not so delicious churros. The dance was a very encouraging event. Even though I had been told that most dances would have nothing but cumbia, the night featured salsa, merengue, hip hop, reggaeton, techno, and only a little bit of cumbia. And there were quite a few good dancers, even though I only got to dance with 2 partners. But the place was packed, and it apparently went until way past 3, much longer than I lasted. So perhaps once I make a few more friends, these occasional dances can keep me going on the salsa front.

The rodeo was an interesting cultural experience. I had been to a rodeo in the US, but in a huge stadium, in the nosebleed section. The nosebleed section doesn’t exist in Bijagua and every other tiny community that may not have a bank, but it has a small rodeo stadium. So everyone is right above the action. So I got a really good view of two guys being trampled by the bulls (one left in an ambulance). Then after the cowboy is bucked off, there are dozens of guys waiting to prove their manhood by jumping into the ring and trying to get the bull to chase them, then jumping up the side of the stands to get away from it when it comes after them. It was an interesting experience, but even though they don’t kill the bulls, they don’t treat them very well, so I’m not sure if I will be attending in the future.

I’m happy with the family I’m living with, love all the nature, am slowly making more friends, love the community, and am already staying pretty busy. So with 1/24 of my time in Bijagua (4/27 in Costa Rica) done, I am pretty content.