well here i am, in my room on lopez, the last of my welcome home snowfall melting in the yard, my clothes freshly washed clean of volcanic dirt, and my sunscreen tubes packed away in the cupboard.
our trip home lasted from 3am to 11pm (pacific time - we only got up at 5am) . .
we had a bit of an odd itinerary, flying to miami, then dallas, and finally seattle. our flight from miami was delayed due to mechanical trouble, and we missed the connecting flight by a mere 10 minutes. wouldhave had to wait for our luggage anyway, so we just found dinner and waited for the back-up flight. gotinto seattle sometime after ten, checked to see that the rum bottles hadn't broken, traded my sandals for sneakers and headed to grandma's house.
thursday morning, i got to start my day with a belly laugh, looking out the window at the fresh snow covering grandma's backyard. slightly confusing, all that crisp white in place of palm trees and banana plants. . . my dear molly fay came over for a visit before we drove to the ferry; we all sampled the chocolates we brought back for grandma and did our best to 'catch up'.
the last few days haven't held much in the ways of activities, which is exactly what i had hoped for. aside from visiting my lopezian family and friends, i have been sifting through my things in preparation for my move back to bellingham, and trying to keep up some spanish practice. .
thankfully, my mind is still working in doubles - haven't lost all the auto-spanish i had going. . certain english words escape me at times and i find myself stuttering in spanglish. while the cold weather is a bit harsh here, i am not as shocked my it as i expected to be, physically at least. it's more confusing than anything. i am enjoying the various reunions that a return to home brings; all the people and places i get to experience here are making up for those i miss from my travels.
and now that life is 'normal' again, back to the usual hum-drum-college-life-northwest business, i will likely cease updating this web log.
i have plans for a return to nicaragua -probably next winter, and that time around will involve school credits- so once i'm out of our lovely corner of the country, i'll dust off the antennae and start this thing up again.
i promise that i have more stories to tell in person than the meager highlights and ramblings that made it into these documents. i look forward to trading the stories we've missed - let the face-to-face communications begin.
thanks for reading; i'm glad to be home
....
Monday, March 2, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
managua farewell
hey all,
in the best western hotel in managua, (seriously...)
had a beer with pa in the harshly lit and overventilated hotel restaurant and am going to attempt to update within my 1/2 hour time limit. .
returned from el porvenir this afternoon/early evening - one of the most appreciated showers ofmy life took place today just before 6pm. .
we drove the little trooper that isthe cdca bus to leon on saturday, spent some time touring aroudn the old cathedral and then tooling around the city for a short whiel (tried to find the ruben dario museum but failed . .)
lunched at a nice little nica place that serves way too much food for almost no money, (fried ,mashed potatoes filed with cheese?! . woah.) then headed out for the campo. .
the total trip is about 4 horus, the last two being part riverbed dustball road (complete with 'window drills' preparing to shut the bus windows stat whenever we had to stop for cows, other busses or whathaveyou, to prevent the duststorm from invading full force) and part tractor pull.
yes, as some of you may remember from experience or stories, the last leg of the journey to the co-op entails either a steepish but not terrible hike up the mountain, or a bumpy but humorous ride in a simple trailer attatched to a tractor.
so. we were covered in dust head to toe and gazing out over one of the most amazing views i have had the privelage to experience. and that was that.
sunday was, well, sunday, so we did a whole lot of nothing, 'chileando' in the hammocks that also served as our beds, reading, writing, chatting. . not much else.
tooka breif tour of the finca and got to look out to honduras. .
worked monday on a waterline project - they currently tractor in their water, but are about a month away from having it pumped up the hill. . so we dug. and dug. and hammocked. and dug. some of us carried pipes. .
we chatted with the kids and were in cots/hamocks by 8. (no electricity. . )
we played at the school today, teching the hokey pokey and various other songs to the littler ones around 8am, then playing soccer and writing biographies withthe older kids later in the morning.
we had hit too many rocks (literally) to continue with most of the work, so we just sat around and played the backpacker's guitar and talked.
ate another lunch of gallo pinto, said godbyes and headed down the hill.
stopped for ice cream and other sugars along the way and made it 'home' around 5.
cannot really beleive that thjis time tomorrow i will be inthe states, but well. . so it goes.
i plan to wrap up these shenanegins with another entry once i'm home, to kind of catch some of the bits i've missed.
for now, i am going to go drink some flor de cana with dad and try to sleep before our 5am wakeup.
goodnight,
love
mak
in the best western hotel in managua, (seriously...)
had a beer with pa in the harshly lit and overventilated hotel restaurant and am going to attempt to update within my 1/2 hour time limit. .
returned from el porvenir this afternoon/early evening - one of the most appreciated showers ofmy life took place today just before 6pm. .
we drove the little trooper that isthe cdca bus to leon on saturday, spent some time touring aroudn the old cathedral and then tooling around the city for a short whiel (tried to find the ruben dario museum but failed . .)
lunched at a nice little nica place that serves way too much food for almost no money, (fried ,mashed potatoes filed with cheese?! . woah.) then headed out for the campo. .
the total trip is about 4 horus, the last two being part riverbed dustball road (complete with 'window drills' preparing to shut the bus windows stat whenever we had to stop for cows, other busses or whathaveyou, to prevent the duststorm from invading full force) and part tractor pull.
yes, as some of you may remember from experience or stories, the last leg of the journey to the co-op entails either a steepish but not terrible hike up the mountain, or a bumpy but humorous ride in a simple trailer attatched to a tractor.
so. we were covered in dust head to toe and gazing out over one of the most amazing views i have had the privelage to experience. and that was that.
sunday was, well, sunday, so we did a whole lot of nothing, 'chileando' in the hammocks that also served as our beds, reading, writing, chatting. . not much else.
tooka breif tour of the finca and got to look out to honduras. .
worked monday on a waterline project - they currently tractor in their water, but are about a month away from having it pumped up the hill. . so we dug. and dug. and hammocked. and dug. some of us carried pipes. .
we chatted with the kids and were in cots/hamocks by 8. (no electricity. . )
we played at the school today, teching the hokey pokey and various other songs to the littler ones around 8am, then playing soccer and writing biographies withthe older kids later in the morning.
we had hit too many rocks (literally) to continue with most of the work, so we just sat around and played the backpacker's guitar and talked.
ate another lunch of gallo pinto, said godbyes and headed down the hill.
stopped for ice cream and other sugars along the way and made it 'home' around 5.
cannot really beleive that thjis time tomorrow i will be inthe states, but well. . so it goes.
i plan to wrap up these shenanegins with another entry once i'm home, to kind of catch some of the bits i've missed.
for now, i am going to go drink some flor de cana with dad and try to sleep before our 5am wakeup.
goodnight,
love
mak
Friday, February 20, 2009
cdca
hello to all -
must be brief once again, but this internet sesh (the cdca dorm now has a computer?!? is 'mejor que nada' . .
dad and i had a successful trip up to ciudad sandinno, arriving in time to jump in on some work projects with the lopez group in the afternoon.
we leave early tomorrow morning for el porvenir, the coffee co-op in the mountains north of leon.
news of the passings of david fischer and leta marshal have been and doubtlessly will continue to be hard on the group - we had a circle yesterday to coincide with a gathering on the island, singing and speaking for david. .
dad brought new srtings for the guitar here, and we have been singing (i can hear 'paradise' coming up the stairs now) nightly, which has been a great help.
yesterday a few of us accompanied pat of the cdca to the clinc in nueva vida - not only was it wonderful to see the progress(completion! wallpaint! function!) on a building whose rebar skeleton i am familiar with, but we were allowed to attend a women's circle/support group. thankfully my spanish is good enough to have caught 90 percent of the conversatons, and i was even able to contribute a bit to the topic of the week, which was 'counseling'. .
today we went into managua to meet with some university student - spent the afternoon chatting, playing a delightfully disorganized game akin to sherades (sp?..) and then volleyball for at least an hour.
we danced a bit last night at an essentially deserted discoteque, but in true lopezian fashion didn't let the lack of latin dance skills or dancers phase us one bit.
will update on the progress of the cdca and all the co-ops in another entry.
i am truly having trouble understanding that i have less than a week left in central america. am definitely not letting this sad knowledge put a damper on things - still going full speed and making new friends along the way.
my love to home
--mak
must be brief once again, but this internet sesh (the cdca dorm now has a computer?!? is 'mejor que nada' . .
dad and i had a successful trip up to ciudad sandinno, arriving in time to jump in on some work projects with the lopez group in the afternoon.
we leave early tomorrow morning for el porvenir, the coffee co-op in the mountains north of leon.
news of the passings of david fischer and leta marshal have been and doubtlessly will continue to be hard on the group - we had a circle yesterday to coincide with a gathering on the island, singing and speaking for david. .
dad brought new srtings for the guitar here, and we have been singing (i can hear 'paradise' coming up the stairs now) nightly, which has been a great help.
yesterday a few of us accompanied pat of the cdca to the clinc in nueva vida - not only was it wonderful to see the progress(completion! wallpaint! function!) on a building whose rebar skeleton i am familiar with, but we were allowed to attend a women's circle/support group. thankfully my spanish is good enough to have caught 90 percent of the conversatons, and i was even able to contribute a bit to the topic of the week, which was 'counseling'. .
today we went into managua to meet with some university student - spent the afternoon chatting, playing a delightfully disorganized game akin to sherades (sp?..) and then volleyball for at least an hour.
we danced a bit last night at an essentially deserted discoteque, but in true lopezian fashion didn't let the lack of latin dance skills or dancers phase us one bit.
will update on the progress of the cdca and all the co-ops in another entry.
i am truly having trouble understanding that i have less than a week left in central america. am definitely not letting this sad knowledge put a damper on things - still going full speed and making new friends along the way.
my love to home
--mak
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
farewell bearded monkey
so we're checked out of the hostel, about to taxi it up to lake apoyo for a day of kayaking and rest.
tomorrow we journey to the cdca. . i have many memories of that compund, the neighborhood and the coffee coop, and am looking forward to refreshing and revisng all the sights, smells and sounds (always a curious mix) of the streets of neuva vida, the forests in the mountain, and the community at the cdca.
in recent hours, granada has delivered:
ancient (precolumbian - 800ad?) sculptures, a 14h century convent, a smelly walk to the lake, a street market, cuban cigars, a green cotton dress, women's co-op soap, conversations with the liquor and dress vendors (pirate whiskey and the merits of speaking spanish) . . excellent lunches and an evening of teaching dad about 'special verbs' in spanish.
more sometime - possibly after returning to the states.
my love to all,
--mak
tomorrow we journey to the cdca. . i have many memories of that compund, the neighborhood and the coffee coop, and am looking forward to refreshing and revisng all the sights, smells and sounds (always a curious mix) of the streets of neuva vida, the forests in the mountain, and the community at the cdca.
in recent hours, granada has delivered:
ancient (precolumbian - 800ad?) sculptures, a 14h century convent, a smelly walk to the lake, a street market, cuban cigars, a green cotton dress, women's co-op soap, conversations with the liquor and dress vendors (pirate whiskey and the merits of speaking spanish) . . excellent lunches and an evening of teaching dad about 'special verbs' in spanish.
more sometime - possibly after returning to the states.
my love to all,
--mak
Monday, February 16, 2009
vday danceathon, surfisde to granada
greetings from the bearded monkey!
i will begin this entry where i left off last time - -
from la penca, pa and i headed over to my host family's house, but had little luck - only cristian was home an erika wouldn't be getting back for another hour. we needed to meet jeffrey in town by 1, so we sent our hellos and started for the beach. we walked down playa potrero to flamingo, and spent a bit of time out on surfari - the sailboat that jeffrey captains. .
from there i took pa to flamingo beach, where we just chilled and swam for a couple hours.
we missed the 4pm bus, so shared a cab with an adorable couple from san jose.
after showering and resting a bit, we went out to el castillo for din din. . . we packed up, and jeffrey and i schemed a motorcycle mission to brasilito. that fell through when news of the traffic cop reached us - he doesn't have a moto license so that plan was foiled. . disappointing because we even had helmets - extremely ncommon for the area. .
so instead we headed out to see if there was a bus to the fiestas. . found heather and hannah at castillo - there was a valentine's event going on, with a mediocre cover band and lots of gingoes over 50. so, we decided to exchange heather's little scooter for the car, and drive to brasilito.
an excellent send-off night ensued; lots of Imperial ('the beer of costa rica'), strobe lights and dancing. .
we had a bit of a merengue marathon, where all four of us danced together - lots of improvisaton on jeffrey's part and more than a few bumbs and mixups. good fun. did our fair share of danehall/electro boogies, ridiculous and enjoyable..
yesterday, mark and jeffrey gave us a ride out to juacas, where we caught the 9:30 bus to liberia. .
and this is where the event of the day begins - a miracle if ever there was one.
my passport lives in my left, zippered pocket. while on the bus, said pocket was mysteriously unzipped (yeah, this is slightly embarassing, as i should have known to keep it on the side where dad was sitting, zipper or no)
so we get off this bus an i pat my pocket out of passport-security habit and FUCK, empty empty empty. .
after a few deep breathes to minimize my shakes of fury, i hunted down the bus we had just gotten off of.
unfortunately, it had already left.
fortunately, it was not headed to another town, but to the bus yard.
a taxi driver who was trying to convince us to take his cab to the border became extremely helpful, and got us the info on the busyard and ook us there. dad was sceptical but we figured it was worth a try, just in case the passport hadn't been stolen, and was waiting for me in the back of the bus. .
the whole 4 minute drive there my brain was on repeat - it is in between the seats, it is sitting there, blue and patient, just waiting for us to come find it - thisis ater the thoughts of -fuck, if i don't have a passport we might need to go 6 hours in the opposite direction to talk with the embassy, etc etc... -
practically ran to the abk of the bus once they opened it, and lo and behold, my little frayed passprt, sideways between the plastic seats. .
almost cried and definitely i some happydancing.
absolutely imredible.
now there's no way i unzipped that damn pocket. my guess is one of my neighbors took a looksee and, upon finding that there was no money there, just dropped the booklet.
i feel stupid and impossibly lucky. . and interesting mix.
so, ater those shenanegans, we heaed for the border. got through with good time, and continued on to granada. . the bearded monkey is a hostel i remember hearing about from a guy we met on the ferry to ometepe when i was here 4 years ago. on the trip, i promised myelf that i would go back to granada, and now here i am at last..
the monkey had sopace, so we got a double private room. it was up some steep stairs, the top of which seems to be a favorite nap spot of the hostel's adorably fat kitty. huge ponch, squashy face, and a few dreadlocks. . an excellent cat and my new best friend here.
we switched to a downstairs room today to minimize the heat - it's sweaty here almost 24/7. .
yesterday evening before the sun went down, we walked around the city a bit. there was music and dancing in the park, and we found a woman making tortillas flled with cabbage on the street - they were delicious. i had told pa that one of my missions for out time together was to find him some damn good homemade tortillas. . . checked that of this list.
we went to a little bar for adrink and i had a delicious, perfectly mixed flor de caña mojito. .
we stopped in a t a liquor store to get a couple bottles of the rum to bring home, and ended up chatting with the storeowver about scotches and nicaragua. .
we dined at the bearded monkey and set the fan to high power before going to sleep, and now it's 11am the next morning and we are planning our day.
going to check out some precolombian sclptures and a convent, then some other small parks and the market, plus whatever else we find. thinking of heading to lake apoyo tomorrow and spending one night there before going to the cdca. . we can kayak and swim, etc. . we will see.
more tomorrow, as i'm sure i've forgotten something,
love
mak.
i will begin this entry where i left off last time - -
from la penca, pa and i headed over to my host family's house, but had little luck - only cristian was home an erika wouldn't be getting back for another hour. we needed to meet jeffrey in town by 1, so we sent our hellos and started for the beach. we walked down playa potrero to flamingo, and spent a bit of time out on surfari - the sailboat that jeffrey captains. .
from there i took pa to flamingo beach, where we just chilled and swam for a couple hours.
we missed the 4pm bus, so shared a cab with an adorable couple from san jose.
after showering and resting a bit, we went out to el castillo for din din. . . we packed up, and jeffrey and i schemed a motorcycle mission to brasilito. that fell through when news of the traffic cop reached us - he doesn't have a moto license so that plan was foiled. . disappointing because we even had helmets - extremely ncommon for the area. .
so instead we headed out to see if there was a bus to the fiestas. . found heather and hannah at castillo - there was a valentine's event going on, with a mediocre cover band and lots of gingoes over 50. so, we decided to exchange heather's little scooter for the car, and drive to brasilito.
an excellent send-off night ensued; lots of Imperial ('the beer of costa rica'), strobe lights and dancing. .
we had a bit of a merengue marathon, where all four of us danced together - lots of improvisaton on jeffrey's part and more than a few bumbs and mixups. good fun. did our fair share of danehall/electro boogies, ridiculous and enjoyable..
yesterday, mark and jeffrey gave us a ride out to juacas, where we caught the 9:30 bus to liberia. .
and this is where the event of the day begins - a miracle if ever there was one.
my passport lives in my left, zippered pocket. while on the bus, said pocket was mysteriously unzipped (yeah, this is slightly embarassing, as i should have known to keep it on the side where dad was sitting, zipper or no)
so we get off this bus an i pat my pocket out of passport-security habit and FUCK, empty empty empty. .
after a few deep breathes to minimize my shakes of fury, i hunted down the bus we had just gotten off of.
unfortunately, it had already left.
fortunately, it was not headed to another town, but to the bus yard.
a taxi driver who was trying to convince us to take his cab to the border became extremely helpful, and got us the info on the busyard and ook us there. dad was sceptical but we figured it was worth a try, just in case the passport hadn't been stolen, and was waiting for me in the back of the bus. .
the whole 4 minute drive there my brain was on repeat - it is in between the seats, it is sitting there, blue and patient, just waiting for us to come find it - thisis ater the thoughts of -fuck, if i don't have a passport we might need to go 6 hours in the opposite direction to talk with the embassy, etc etc... -
practically ran to the abk of the bus once they opened it, and lo and behold, my little frayed passprt, sideways between the plastic seats. .
almost cried and definitely i some happydancing.
absolutely imredible.
now there's no way i unzipped that damn pocket. my guess is one of my neighbors took a looksee and, upon finding that there was no money there, just dropped the booklet.
i feel stupid and impossibly lucky. . and interesting mix.
so, ater those shenanegans, we heaed for the border. got through with good time, and continued on to granada. . the bearded monkey is a hostel i remember hearing about from a guy we met on the ferry to ometepe when i was here 4 years ago. on the trip, i promised myelf that i would go back to granada, and now here i am at last..
the monkey had sopace, so we got a double private room. it was up some steep stairs, the top of which seems to be a favorite nap spot of the hostel's adorably fat kitty. huge ponch, squashy face, and a few dreadlocks. . an excellent cat and my new best friend here.
we switched to a downstairs room today to minimize the heat - it's sweaty here almost 24/7. .
yesterday evening before the sun went down, we walked around the city a bit. there was music and dancing in the park, and we found a woman making tortillas flled with cabbage on the street - they were delicious. i had told pa that one of my missions for out time together was to find him some damn good homemade tortillas. . . checked that of this list.
we went to a little bar for adrink and i had a delicious, perfectly mixed flor de caña mojito. .
we stopped in a t a liquor store to get a couple bottles of the rum to bring home, and ended up chatting with the storeowver about scotches and nicaragua. .
we dined at the bearded monkey and set the fan to high power before going to sleep, and now it's 11am the next morning and we are planning our day.
going to check out some precolombian sclptures and a convent, then some other small parks and the market, plus whatever else we find. thinking of heading to lake apoyo tomorrow and spending one night there before going to the cdca. . we can kayak and swim, etc. . we will see.
more tomorrow, as i'm sure i've forgotten something,
love
mak.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
and the countdown begins...
hey
gotta be quick as pa is waiting outside -
we are about to go visit my old host family from potreo, then head to flamingo to meet efiam and go out on surfari for a sail.
we went to my favorite costa rican beach this morning - playa penca - and it started to rain.
rather enjoyed it but am now remarkably sticky.
yesterday pa came to class with me, which was quite fun and interesting. .
in the afternoon we bussed over to brasilito with the lovely norwegian girls in my class, and went to lunch. . they were kind enough to let us leave our things in their house while we went to playa conchal , so we got to go snorkeling together without having to worry about our bags.
snacked at 'outback jacks', a tacky but oddly endearing resaurant on the beach in brasilito. met up with the girls and went to watch the bull fights.
similar to zapote, but with a smaller ring and rickety wooden bleachers that we paid $4 to sit in. .
ate churros and cornpancakes and dad had a tamale and everyone drank beer..
then pa got pickpocketed, but we had money to get a cab home and he didn-t lose his passport - just a credit card. whheeee...
two other people we were with also lost money and a camera.
well, it was rather packed with people. . ah, well.
we just went back to outback jack's to hang out a bit then taxied home.
we will take the bus to nicaragua tomorrow, then stay in granada fora couple nights to check out the city and go to the nearby lake. (not lake nicaragua... the other one. apoya, i beleive.)
so anyhow, things are going well with the exception of the pickpocketing, and we are enjoying ourselves. it is interesting and moderately fun to have someone here to show around. . plus this way i get to visit all my favorite places int eh area one more time before i leave.
we will be meeting up with the lopez hs trip at the cdca as i may have mentioned, and if all goes as planned we will spend the 20th-24th at el porvenir, the coffee cooperative that the school visits each year. i am looking forward to spending some time there as my other visits were rather breif.
i hope to write again before we come home (really an having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that i will be in the northwest in less than 2 weeks..) but i am not sure i will be able to do so after leaving granada.
i'm getting excited to see everyone again, and to have some island time before (hopefully) returning to school.
love
mak
gotta be quick as pa is waiting outside -
we are about to go visit my old host family from potreo, then head to flamingo to meet efiam and go out on surfari for a sail.
we went to my favorite costa rican beach this morning - playa penca - and it started to rain.
rather enjoyed it but am now remarkably sticky.
yesterday pa came to class with me, which was quite fun and interesting. .
in the afternoon we bussed over to brasilito with the lovely norwegian girls in my class, and went to lunch. . they were kind enough to let us leave our things in their house while we went to playa conchal , so we got to go snorkeling together without having to worry about our bags.
snacked at 'outback jacks', a tacky but oddly endearing resaurant on the beach in brasilito. met up with the girls and went to watch the bull fights.
similar to zapote, but with a smaller ring and rickety wooden bleachers that we paid $4 to sit in. .
ate churros and cornpancakes and dad had a tamale and everyone drank beer..
then pa got pickpocketed, but we had money to get a cab home and he didn-t lose his passport - just a credit card. whheeee...
two other people we were with also lost money and a camera.
well, it was rather packed with people. . ah, well.
we just went back to outback jack's to hang out a bit then taxied home.
we will take the bus to nicaragua tomorrow, then stay in granada fora couple nights to check out the city and go to the nearby lake. (not lake nicaragua... the other one. apoya, i beleive.)
so anyhow, things are going well with the exception of the pickpocketing, and we are enjoying ourselves. it is interesting and moderately fun to have someone here to show around. . plus this way i get to visit all my favorite places int eh area one more time before i leave.
we will be meeting up with the lopez hs trip at the cdca as i may have mentioned, and if all goes as planned we will spend the 20th-24th at el porvenir, the coffee cooperative that the school visits each year. i am looking forward to spending some time there as my other visits were rather breif.
i hope to write again before we come home (really an having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that i will be in the northwest in less than 2 weeks..) but i am not sure i will be able to do so after leaving granada.
i'm getting excited to see everyone again, and to have some island time before (hopefully) returning to school.
love
mak
Monday, February 9, 2009
...
yesterday marked my 3 month anniversary (and the beginning of my final week) in costa rica; pa arrives on thursday afternoon, and we will be heading north on sunday.
i have changed residences - am staying in the lovely house of a lovely family from california - some of you may remember a mention or two of heather, mark, tara, and ben from my nicaraguan excursian of early december.
chilin with their dog kiki while they're out and about; pa and i may be sharing bunk beds for a couple nights while he's here. . it's a nice area of potrero, called surfside, not too far from the school and really rather close to one of cpi's bus stop.
haven't been up to much worth writing about, mostly writing, which is a welcome return - had been feeling a little frazzley and needed to get back to poetry and the like.
last week i stayed in the cpi residences, much like apartment stye college dorms. . uh huh.
really wasn't too terrible - lucked out on the roommate, a delightful gal from california, and the other residents all got along just fine. . sharing a small and ill equiped kitchen was less than desireable but the hot water (a marvel found only the b&b and the apts thus far) made up for the mild inconveniences.
went to tamarindo for dancing friday night - did not think i would be returning to that party party town, but the poweroutages that we've been having (yes, water's out, too..) made 'chillin alone for the night all calm-like and mellow' sing a whole new tune, so i jumped on in to the double-taxi exodus and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit. i still feel like that town's ratehr ridiculous, but the company made the evening and we got home before 3.
i requested miquelina as a teacher and am in her clas this week, along with two girls from norway - we've been getting along great; the laughs make up for the changes that come from a 3 person class. . (one-on-one may be intense but it's definitely more effective). .
am enjoying the hell out of being back by the sea - it's hotter than vita's on an august afternoon with cookies in the oven, but i am surviving just fine.
which brings me to:
the Ridiculous with a capitol R wind that're been blowing this past week. multiple days it's been too strong for safe sailing. however, i enjoy it immensely during the times when i'm not trying to relax on the beach/swim. with the wind chill, etc, the water feels a little mroe familiar .. aka fridgid. .
gotta surrender this machine to the horde of other students on the sign up sheet;
more later about other activites, observations, and most importantly nicaragua plans,
love,
mak
p.s. my dear brother is now back in the states. i say 'bollocks' to the japan border people, but i am not-so-secretly excited that i get to see him much sooner than planned. . .
i have changed residences - am staying in the lovely house of a lovely family from california - some of you may remember a mention or two of heather, mark, tara, and ben from my nicaraguan excursian of early december.
chilin with their dog kiki while they're out and about; pa and i may be sharing bunk beds for a couple nights while he's here. . it's a nice area of potrero, called surfside, not too far from the school and really rather close to one of cpi's bus stop.
haven't been up to much worth writing about, mostly writing, which is a welcome return - had been feeling a little frazzley and needed to get back to poetry and the like.
last week i stayed in the cpi residences, much like apartment stye college dorms. . uh huh.
really wasn't too terrible - lucked out on the roommate, a delightful gal from california, and the other residents all got along just fine. . sharing a small and ill equiped kitchen was less than desireable but the hot water (a marvel found only the b&b and the apts thus far) made up for the mild inconveniences.
went to tamarindo for dancing friday night - did not think i would be returning to that party party town, but the poweroutages that we've been having (yes, water's out, too..) made 'chillin alone for the night all calm-like and mellow' sing a whole new tune, so i jumped on in to the double-taxi exodus and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit. i still feel like that town's ratehr ridiculous, but the company made the evening and we got home before 3.
i requested miquelina as a teacher and am in her clas this week, along with two girls from norway - we've been getting along great; the laughs make up for the changes that come from a 3 person class. . (one-on-one may be intense but it's definitely more effective). .
am enjoying the hell out of being back by the sea - it's hotter than vita's on an august afternoon with cookies in the oven, but i am surviving just fine.
which brings me to:
the Ridiculous with a capitol R wind that're been blowing this past week. multiple days it's been too strong for safe sailing. however, i enjoy it immensely during the times when i'm not trying to relax on the beach/swim. with the wind chill, etc, the water feels a little mroe familiar .. aka fridgid. .
gotta surrender this machine to the horde of other students on the sign up sheet;
more later about other activites, observations, and most importantly nicaragua plans,
love,
mak
p.s. my dear brother is now back in the states. i say 'bollocks' to the japan border people, but i am not-so-secretly excited that i get to see him much sooner than planned. . .
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
writing once again from cpi flamingo's slow computers. .
after 2 luxuriously lazy days in san joaquin (didn't do much but wander, write, visit my old host-mom and watch 'ace of cakes') i took the bus back to guanacaste. the journey took 6 hours or so (with 1, count it, ONE ten-minute stop..) but unlike my first trip out here, i managed to stay awake most of the time to check out the changes in scenery.
i am staying in the student residences between flamingo and brasilito - tried for a private apt but they were all booked, so i am sharing a room with a gal named stacy from california (spent her first year in college at western. . ) and the kitchen with about 4 other shared rooms. .
everyone living there attends classes at cpi, in varying degrees of intensity and frequency.
on saturday, i will be packing up to move to surfside, a town between potrero (where i lived in nov/dec) and flamingo. the family i went to nicaragua with offered to let me stay at their place while they're on a little excursion to a park in the south. . so i will have the place (i.e. kitchen... mm) to myself (my friend Efriam rents a room attached to the house) for a week until dad comes. fortunately, they live rather close to one of the cpi busstops, and a walk along the beach to school would only be about 1/2 an hour.
i stopped by the divecenter today but missed my instructor; her coworker invited me tom come to a restaurant in surfside - el çastillo- tomorrow night to listen to some blues.. i am making a return to the debauchery and diversion that is ladies' night at las brisas, but i am considering stopping at el castillo along the way.
there is a swarm of students here this time around - slightly overwhelming but interesting nonetheless. i have 2 people in my class - 2 girls from norway who are traveling together. their next stop is cuba; i have met quite a few peolpe here who are on their way there and i can´t help but be a bit jealous. . .
am planning to take a real life surfing lesson right quick - figure it's worth it, for once at least, and the instructor is a friend of hannah and heather so it should be fun.
uhm. .
well it is about a thousand times hotter here than it was on the farm(s)
but nice despite.
gotta go do some stuff so i can write about it later. .
(home in <4 weeks?!)
love
mak
p.s. my little brother is stuck in korea for the moment, so if you know him write him notes so he has something to think about besides, you know, being stuck in korea. . .
after 2 luxuriously lazy days in san joaquin (didn't do much but wander, write, visit my old host-mom and watch 'ace of cakes') i took the bus back to guanacaste. the journey took 6 hours or so (with 1, count it, ONE ten-minute stop..) but unlike my first trip out here, i managed to stay awake most of the time to check out the changes in scenery.
i am staying in the student residences between flamingo and brasilito - tried for a private apt but they were all booked, so i am sharing a room with a gal named stacy from california (spent her first year in college at western. . ) and the kitchen with about 4 other shared rooms. .
everyone living there attends classes at cpi, in varying degrees of intensity and frequency.
on saturday, i will be packing up to move to surfside, a town between potrero (where i lived in nov/dec) and flamingo. the family i went to nicaragua with offered to let me stay at their place while they're on a little excursion to a park in the south. . so i will have the place (i.e. kitchen... mm) to myself (my friend Efriam rents a room attached to the house) for a week until dad comes. fortunately, they live rather close to one of the cpi busstops, and a walk along the beach to school would only be about 1/2 an hour.
i stopped by the divecenter today but missed my instructor; her coworker invited me tom come to a restaurant in surfside - el çastillo- tomorrow night to listen to some blues.. i am making a return to the debauchery and diversion that is ladies' night at las brisas, but i am considering stopping at el castillo along the way.
there is a swarm of students here this time around - slightly overwhelming but interesting nonetheless. i have 2 people in my class - 2 girls from norway who are traveling together. their next stop is cuba; i have met quite a few peolpe here who are on their way there and i can´t help but be a bit jealous. . .
am planning to take a real life surfing lesson right quick - figure it's worth it, for once at least, and the instructor is a friend of hannah and heather so it should be fun.
uhm. .
well it is about a thousand times hotter here than it was on the farm(s)
but nice despite.
gotta go do some stuff so i can write about it later. .
(home in <4 weeks?!)
love
mak
p.s. my little brother is stuck in korea for the moment, so if you know him write him notes so he has something to think about besides, you know, being stuck in korea. . .
Friday, January 30, 2009
a jumble of last week and new plans
back in San Joaquin, for a couple nights.
have had an excellent week at finca 'pura vida' (the unofficial name of the neighbor's farm)
farm activites/events:
shelling beans
preparing some beds for sweet potatoes - the costa rican variety with brilliant pink skins and light yellow centers
playing cards
- kelci taught them golf, then we taught them spoons ('cucharas') which we have been playing ALL the time since then
swiming in the posas - a few different swimming holes. . the last day i was there kelci jumped off the bridge into one of the deep ones. ridiculous but sucessful.
milking the cows
almost every morning! am now almost a professional. Luz says that kelci and i are the first two volunteers to 'get it' and milk with her regularily.
fixing the classical guitar
someone gave guillermo jr a guitar, and i spent some tme with pliers trying to tune it. . but there are enough breaks and cracks and missing keys that it doesn't stay 'tuned' for long/at all. but after almost 3 months of not playing it was a fun project.
went over about 4 hills to grandma's house, to visit luz's fam and to help paint the house. spent two seperate days there and painted our hearts out. i still have some of the blue interior on my clothes/skin.
our first visit there we got a tour of their backyard river, and went crabhunting. it was al ot like being a kid on the island beaches, except i only halfheartedly looked because when one was spotted, the sister that was leading the expedition ripped off it's legs and pulled the meat out to cook later. i'm talking tiny crabs like the purple and green ones the width of your thumb. . . odd, but interesting. i had resigned myself to eating them, but we left before they were cooked.
the day before we had gone on another (unsucessful) hunt - for iguana.
no kidding. one of the may cousins that was hanging out at hte hosue (they're on summer vacation to the place was fuull of kis all the time) climbed a tree and shook it down, but it escpaed before the dog/guys with machetes could track it down.
thank goodness.
helped make tortillas and empanadas
ate flowers. a lot a lot of flowers. there is this variety of white blooms around for a short time right about now, so we steamed and picadillo-ed them quite often last week. they're fairly delicious, if a litle bitter.
toasted and ate peanuts that grew onthe farm. undeniably awesome, as i love peanuts rather dearly.
used part of the peels of a large citrus to make what seems like an original sour gummy candy - the puffy part between the friut and peel that i should know the name of - we boiled it then candied it with sugar and some yellow coloring. luz made me a little bag of it to take on my bus trip yesterday, along with a sack of peanuts of course.
what else...
ah, we:
weeded the greenhouse
planted culantro seedlingd as wellas new seeds
they have two kind of cilantro here, both of which are called culantro. one grows wild - the 'coyote' cariety, and the other, familiar kind is referred to as 'castilla'.
encountered a terciopelo, one of the more dangerous venomous snakes in the area/country. it is as long as i am tall - i have pictures of course. guillermo spotted it next to the road we were walking on, sleeping in the roots of a tree (they're nocturnal). he killed it right quick, and brought it back to bury it - i guess that if ants eat it and then bite you, they can pass along a dangerous bacteria; one of his relatives was in the hospital for about 3 weeks from such antbites.
the other day i donned a beekeepers suite and accompanied two family friends to harvest honey from the farm's 11 bee hives. i brought my camera and took some video along with photos. i got one sting, but was far enough away from teh hives that no swarming ensued. we were in the little tent where they centrifuge the oney into a bucket, and a couple 'bravas' - fightey bees came in along with the chill ones. . got me on the finger but it didnt hurt for long and was essentially gone by the time we got back to the house. the bees here are differnt from the ones in the states - tey are all africanized, which led me to believe i should be more wary of their sting, but it definitely was a peice of cake in comparison to the last sting i received. . . quite a while ago..
i have two bottles of the honey to bring back with me. got to eat pollen fresh from the hive, too. delicious. .
spent my last day there (yesterday) at the feria again, then took the bus a little after noon.
my taxi driver from san josé to san joaquin was hilarious - spoke slowly and clearly, had a good sense of humor, and was familiar with the potrero/flamingo area and even had been to the las brisas ladies' night. .
and now here i am, blogging in the internet cafes of this town, once again. .
i am going to visit my host family from december, then head to flamingo on sunday morning.
might be fortunate enoguh to stay at the house of some friends in surfside, the town between flamingo and potrero, for my secnd week there.
dad flies in on the 12th, and he will get to spend some tie with me on the coast before we head to the cdca. it is tempting to go back south to visit luz, guillermo and the fam, but that would mean as many traveling days as visiting days, so monteverde or omatepe seem to be the best plans.
am looking forward to having my own kitchen and being by the ocean again.
more soon,
love
have had an excellent week at finca 'pura vida' (the unofficial name of the neighbor's farm)
farm activites/events:
shelling beans
preparing some beds for sweet potatoes - the costa rican variety with brilliant pink skins and light yellow centers
playing cards
- kelci taught them golf, then we taught them spoons ('cucharas') which we have been playing ALL the time since then
swiming in the posas - a few different swimming holes. . the last day i was there kelci jumped off the bridge into one of the deep ones. ridiculous but sucessful.
milking the cows
almost every morning! am now almost a professional. Luz says that kelci and i are the first two volunteers to 'get it' and milk with her regularily.
fixing the classical guitar
someone gave guillermo jr a guitar, and i spent some tme with pliers trying to tune it. . but there are enough breaks and cracks and missing keys that it doesn't stay 'tuned' for long/at all. but after almost 3 months of not playing it was a fun project.
went over about 4 hills to grandma's house, to visit luz's fam and to help paint the house. spent two seperate days there and painted our hearts out. i still have some of the blue interior on my clothes/skin.
our first visit there we got a tour of their backyard river, and went crabhunting. it was al ot like being a kid on the island beaches, except i only halfheartedly looked because when one was spotted, the sister that was leading the expedition ripped off it's legs and pulled the meat out to cook later. i'm talking tiny crabs like the purple and green ones the width of your thumb. . . odd, but interesting. i had resigned myself to eating them, but we left before they were cooked.
the day before we had gone on another (unsucessful) hunt - for iguana.
no kidding. one of the may cousins that was hanging out at hte hosue (they're on summer vacation to the place was fuull of kis all the time) climbed a tree and shook it down, but it escpaed before the dog/guys with machetes could track it down.
thank goodness.
helped make tortillas and empanadas
ate flowers. a lot a lot of flowers. there is this variety of white blooms around for a short time right about now, so we steamed and picadillo-ed them quite often last week. they're fairly delicious, if a litle bitter.
toasted and ate peanuts that grew onthe farm. undeniably awesome, as i love peanuts rather dearly.
used part of the peels of a large citrus to make what seems like an original sour gummy candy - the puffy part between the friut and peel that i should know the name of - we boiled it then candied it with sugar and some yellow coloring. luz made me a little bag of it to take on my bus trip yesterday, along with a sack of peanuts of course.
what else...
ah, we:
weeded the greenhouse
planted culantro seedlingd as wellas new seeds
they have two kind of cilantro here, both of which are called culantro. one grows wild - the 'coyote' cariety, and the other, familiar kind is referred to as 'castilla'.
encountered a terciopelo, one of the more dangerous venomous snakes in the area/country. it is as long as i am tall - i have pictures of course. guillermo spotted it next to the road we were walking on, sleeping in the roots of a tree (they're nocturnal). he killed it right quick, and brought it back to bury it - i guess that if ants eat it and then bite you, they can pass along a dangerous bacteria; one of his relatives was in the hospital for about 3 weeks from such antbites.
the other day i donned a beekeepers suite and accompanied two family friends to harvest honey from the farm's 11 bee hives. i brought my camera and took some video along with photos. i got one sting, but was far enough away from teh hives that no swarming ensued. we were in the little tent where they centrifuge the oney into a bucket, and a couple 'bravas' - fightey bees came in along with the chill ones. . got me on the finger but it didnt hurt for long and was essentially gone by the time we got back to the house. the bees here are differnt from the ones in the states - tey are all africanized, which led me to believe i should be more wary of their sting, but it definitely was a peice of cake in comparison to the last sting i received. . . quite a while ago..
i have two bottles of the honey to bring back with me. got to eat pollen fresh from the hive, too. delicious. .
spent my last day there (yesterday) at the feria again, then took the bus a little after noon.
my taxi driver from san josé to san joaquin was hilarious - spoke slowly and clearly, had a good sense of humor, and was familiar with the potrero/flamingo area and even had been to the las brisas ladies' night. .
and now here i am, blogging in the internet cafes of this town, once again. .
i am going to visit my host family from december, then head to flamingo on sunday morning.
might be fortunate enoguh to stay at the house of some friends in surfside, the town between flamingo and potrero, for my secnd week there.
dad flies in on the 12th, and he will get to spend some tie with me on the coast before we head to the cdca. it is tempting to go back south to visit luz, guillermo and the fam, but that would mean as many traveling days as visiting days, so monteverde or omatepe seem to be the best plans.
am looking forward to having my own kitchen and being by the ocean again.
more soon,
love
Thursday, January 22, 2009
animals, sugar, and the river is my backyard
one-hundred-and-eighty-degrees, i tell you - in just 1 km downhill, dramatic improvement.
i bid farewell to earthrose farm, received a hug from rosie and an actual 'have a nice life' sans eye contact from maji (honestly??) and am glad to go.
it's almost sad to see the untapped potential in that farm; i know they truly desire to improve it, and their wwoof exchanges, but i doubt that will happen soon whilest one of their halves spends every day in san isidro. . ah, well. i wish earth rose the best, but have no plans to return.
as for the present - -
in the 2 days i have been staying with the neighbors, Luz and Guillermo , we have:
visited a chicken farm to load and unload over 50 large sacks of feed
fed the cows
ridden horses around the farm to gather the cows in for the night
visited the largest tree on the farm (huge! and gorgeous, growing by the river)
milked cows in the morning
gathered eggs and fed the chickens
watered the little hydroponic garden
worked the trapiche!
- harvested sugar cane
- sent the canes through the trapiche, which presses the stalks to squeeze out the juice
- gathered/bundled the dryish stalks to use for fuel for the trapiche fire where we
- poured the juice into large vats above the oven where it cooks for abotu 3 hours before we
- scoop it into a large low box to cool and mix, then
- plop it into molds (400 in one day) like gigantic thimble shapes to cool and harden
- we ate every step of the process - the cane, the juice, the espumas (foam while it cooked), various levels of carmelization and the final, brown sugary, product- 'tapa dulce'
oh and we can swim in the river just about whenever.
i walked up the hill (the otehr direction from ER) with Luz to use a phone (they don't have a phone line that far out and can't get cell service in the valley) so i got to visit a parent-meeting of sorts with lots of ladies, babies, and coffee. .
they also have pigs, which is worth noting mostly because their kitchen stove is powered by gas from the piggies' poo. brilliant.
today we are back at the feria, selling some tapa dulce along with the usual wares. i have decided to stay for a week to keep working here, as it is much more relaxed and i am learning a ridiculous amount of interesting things.
next week i will head north, to san joaquin to visit my ol host family (there was an earthquake a couple weeks ago as some of you may know, and they live much closer to the epicenter. . we didn't even feel it here) then continue on to guanacaste - i'm going back to potrero/flamingo for 2 more weeks of spanish classes. .
dad comes to visit on the 12th of february, so i am scheming up adventures for us to have between here and nicaragua - probably a visit to monteverde to see the reserve/cloud forests, cheese facroty and delicious resraurants, maybe a coffee farm or two. . i also lpan to have us stop in grenada for a night on the way up.
might not have mentioned it before but i have extended my stay for 5 more days, so i can accompany dad to the cdca in nueva vida to wrok for a week and see the lopez hs group.
this means we head home 5 weeks from yesterday. i am excited to return to the nw but am enjoying the hell out of my time here, now that i've escaped tick country (mostly.)
am off for another week in the country, will write again next thursday with more farmy adventures
love
i bid farewell to earthrose farm, received a hug from rosie and an actual 'have a nice life' sans eye contact from maji (honestly??) and am glad to go.
it's almost sad to see the untapped potential in that farm; i know they truly desire to improve it, and their wwoof exchanges, but i doubt that will happen soon whilest one of their halves spends every day in san isidro. . ah, well. i wish earth rose the best, but have no plans to return.
as for the present - -
in the 2 days i have been staying with the neighbors, Luz and Guillermo , we have:
visited a chicken farm to load and unload over 50 large sacks of feed
fed the cows
ridden horses around the farm to gather the cows in for the night
visited the largest tree on the farm (huge! and gorgeous, growing by the river)
milked cows in the morning
gathered eggs and fed the chickens
watered the little hydroponic garden
worked the trapiche!
- harvested sugar cane
- sent the canes through the trapiche, which presses the stalks to squeeze out the juice
- gathered/bundled the dryish stalks to use for fuel for the trapiche fire where we
- poured the juice into large vats above the oven where it cooks for abotu 3 hours before we
- scoop it into a large low box to cool and mix, then
- plop it into molds (400 in one day) like gigantic thimble shapes to cool and harden
- we ate every step of the process - the cane, the juice, the espumas (foam while it cooked), various levels of carmelization and the final, brown sugary, product- 'tapa dulce'
oh and we can swim in the river just about whenever.
i walked up the hill (the otehr direction from ER) with Luz to use a phone (they don't have a phone line that far out and can't get cell service in the valley) so i got to visit a parent-meeting of sorts with lots of ladies, babies, and coffee. .
they also have pigs, which is worth noting mostly because their kitchen stove is powered by gas from the piggies' poo. brilliant.
today we are back at the feria, selling some tapa dulce along with the usual wares. i have decided to stay for a week to keep working here, as it is much more relaxed and i am learning a ridiculous amount of interesting things.
next week i will head north, to san joaquin to visit my ol host family (there was an earthquake a couple weeks ago as some of you may know, and they live much closer to the epicenter. . we didn't even feel it here) then continue on to guanacaste - i'm going back to potrero/flamingo for 2 more weeks of spanish classes. .
dad comes to visit on the 12th of february, so i am scheming up adventures for us to have between here and nicaragua - probably a visit to monteverde to see the reserve/cloud forests, cheese facroty and delicious resraurants, maybe a coffee farm or two. . i also lpan to have us stop in grenada for a night on the way up.
might not have mentioned it before but i have extended my stay for 5 more days, so i can accompany dad to the cdca in nueva vida to wrok for a week and see the lopez hs group.
this means we head home 5 weeks from yesterday. i am excited to return to the nw but am enjoying the hell out of my time here, now that i've escaped tick country (mostly.)
am off for another week in the country, will write again next thursday with more farmy adventures
love
Thursday, January 15, 2009
' i may be trying to squeeze a freckle out of my foot...'
well well well
i am taking a break from the feria - a gigantic farmer's market in downtown san isidro- to check the emails and attempt to fill you in on the last two weeks.
bullet form brainstorm, here we go:
spiderwebs. everywhere, cause mi jefa can't see them i think?
gorgeous sunrises. consistently followed by light fog, the hot hot sun starts around 10, then nice breezes til the sun goes down around 5:30.
batshit. on the kitchen table, always, cause they roost in the ceiling - - plus side: twe can use it inthe garden and bats are just generally wonderful.
seedlings! growing like mad and already some want to be transplanted - - thge oldest ones were only seeded on the 5th. .
clay. the soil is a burntish red, high in iron and hard as, well - clay.
compost. almost ononexistent cause the care(less) takers managed to mess that up, along with everything else.
'mess up' : understatement of the year. the people who own finca tierra rosa only live here during the dry season, and have had various (seemingly insane) caretakers over the past few years. the first round turned out to be the bet, but just didn't know much about farming and i guess the lady wasn't up for the coutnry life. the second was some guy who apparently had some episode and burned their large foam mattress outside in order to rid the farm of scabies???... meh.
the third set takes the cake - they robbed the farm blind, selling the horses, cows, power tools. . stole various appliances and even returned later on for the kitchen knives, propane, etc. . really truly crazy.
this story, all the facets and gorey details,m have been told and retold a hundredfold since the first account i recieved on the bus ride down here. this is barely an exaggeration, because honestly everyday there's something. . am officially driven mad by this overdigestion - gave then the benefit of the doubt at first, cause well, anyone would need some time to process such a grand loss, however i am fed up, because inevitably discussion of past events is accompanied by
money. all the time. it's rather awkward because i am just not used to discussing personal funds and complaining about how expensive everything is - - it results in discomfort and something akin to guilt, when using things on the farm, i.e. food. . which i'm paying for anyhow. turns out that most costa rican (if not all?) farms charge money. yes, this is contrary to the wwoof system and i am rather the opposite of 'down' with it. meh.
spanish. they don't speak it.
i knew that english would be the primary language of the farm , but not that they straight up don't speak spanish . . . i've recommended CPI to them - especially rosie cause i think with a few weeks of class she could get along much more easily.
the feria.
i'm spending my days off with the neighbors - luz, guillermo and thei kids nicol, fernanda, guillermo jr and daniela. yesterday i went to the rive (their back yard) with daniela (9 yrs old) and we exchanged friendship rocks and seeds. 'mejores amigas'. the seeds are maizio,(sp?) or ´lagrimas de ssan pedro´- tough little thi8ngs that have removable tufts that create perfect holes through the center - insta-beads. anyway, i'm staying with them until tomorrow afternoon, helping at their farm and just chillin. .
today we woke up at 4 am to drive to SI for the market. luz sells her milk, eggs, bananas, celery, marndarinas, lemons, and 'mostaza china' - literally chinese mutard, which looks like bok choy or something similar. i am practicing my spanish like mad, and it feels really good to be surrounded again. . after just two weeks on the finca , practicing very little, i felt like i had forgotten everyting and lost confidence, for sure. but now, after a 1/2 day with the neighbors, everythings coming back and i am less worried.
the 'bathroom'.
is seriously ridiculous. by ridiculous i mean disgusting. yes, it 'flushes' but it also leaks and is generally unsanitary. even a portapotty would be better, and i loathe those things. give me an outhouse or even a temporary latrine over this nonsense please. .
TICKS.
everywhere. didn't realize at first, cause i was on the lookout for the adulte, which are less plentiful and easier to avoid thatn the babies, who look like crawing dirt or freckles. the quote that serves as the title for this entry is courtesy of kelci, my latest wwoof comanion, during one of our nightly (really multiple times a day) tick-checks. .
water. we've been having problems with it, but all's mostly fixed now. i went with the local worker carlos to inspect the line, all the wasy to the souce a km away, through the neighbors cow feilds, which resulted in so so so many ticks. also had a little run in with a pejibayi tree, which is covered in 2 inch long spikes - - on the edge of the muc creek where carlos was working, i leaned to toss him something and almost slipped, but reflexively steadied myself on that damn tree. picked the last of my splinters out yesterday. . polka-dot hand to match my mosquito bitten ankles.
electricity. we don't have any. this is not so bad, as we only need it for the fridge and the lights in the house. we have solar panels to charge lanterns and i actually kind of enjoyed washing my clothes by hand yesterday. (there is a washing machine here but i never used it while we had power. . meh. )
the upside.
we have fresh bananas, coconut, yuca, and are drying cacao to make chocolate. i can now make some mean tortillas and empanadas from scratch, and yesterday i made an imitation 'mary´s best potato salad' out of yuca and it was delicious. also i am anjoying our new hens and their fresh eggs, as well as raw milk from luz's cows. .
well there's much much more to tell but i am off to work more in the market. am currently formign plans to return to guanacaste, maybe to teach enlgish, mabe learn to surf. .
will work for a while at l&g's farm, then spend some time in the city to internet and wash clothes. .
until next time, wish me luck
my best to you all
love
mak
i am taking a break from the feria - a gigantic farmer's market in downtown san isidro- to check the emails and attempt to fill you in on the last two weeks.
bullet form brainstorm, here we go:
spiderwebs. everywhere, cause mi jefa can't see them i think?
gorgeous sunrises. consistently followed by light fog, the hot hot sun starts around 10, then nice breezes til the sun goes down around 5:30.
batshit. on the kitchen table, always, cause they roost in the ceiling - - plus side: twe can use it inthe garden and bats are just generally wonderful.
seedlings! growing like mad and already some want to be transplanted - - thge oldest ones were only seeded on the 5th. .
clay. the soil is a burntish red, high in iron and hard as, well - clay.
compost. almost ononexistent cause the care(less) takers managed to mess that up, along with everything else.
'mess up' : understatement of the year. the people who own finca tierra rosa only live here during the dry season, and have had various (seemingly insane) caretakers over the past few years. the first round turned out to be the bet, but just didn't know much about farming and i guess the lady wasn't up for the coutnry life. the second was some guy who apparently had some episode and burned their large foam mattress outside in order to rid the farm of scabies???... meh.
the third set takes the cake - they robbed the farm blind, selling the horses, cows, power tools. . stole various appliances and even returned later on for the kitchen knives, propane, etc. . really truly crazy.
this story, all the facets and gorey details,m have been told and retold a hundredfold since the first account i recieved on the bus ride down here. this is barely an exaggeration, because honestly everyday there's something. . am officially driven mad by this overdigestion - gave then the benefit of the doubt at first, cause well, anyone would need some time to process such a grand loss, however i am fed up, because inevitably discussion of past events is accompanied by
money. all the time. it's rather awkward because i am just not used to discussing personal funds and complaining about how expensive everything is - - it results in discomfort and something akin to guilt, when using things on the farm, i.e. food. . which i'm paying for anyhow. turns out that most costa rican (if not all?) farms charge money. yes, this is contrary to the wwoof system and i am rather the opposite of 'down' with it. meh.
spanish. they don't speak it.
i knew that english would be the primary language of the farm , but not that they straight up don't speak spanish . . . i've recommended CPI to them - especially rosie cause i think with a few weeks of class she could get along much more easily.
the feria.
i'm spending my days off with the neighbors - luz, guillermo and thei kids nicol, fernanda, guillermo jr and daniela. yesterday i went to the rive (their back yard) with daniela (9 yrs old) and we exchanged friendship rocks and seeds. 'mejores amigas'. the seeds are maizio,(sp?) or ´lagrimas de ssan pedro´- tough little thi8ngs that have removable tufts that create perfect holes through the center - insta-beads. anyway, i'm staying with them until tomorrow afternoon, helping at their farm and just chillin. .
today we woke up at 4 am to drive to SI for the market. luz sells her milk, eggs, bananas, celery, marndarinas, lemons, and 'mostaza china' - literally chinese mutard, which looks like bok choy or something similar. i am practicing my spanish like mad, and it feels really good to be surrounded again. . after just two weeks on the finca , practicing very little, i felt like i had forgotten everyting and lost confidence, for sure. but now, after a 1/2 day with the neighbors, everythings coming back and i am less worried.
the 'bathroom'.
is seriously ridiculous. by ridiculous i mean disgusting. yes, it 'flushes' but it also leaks and is generally unsanitary. even a portapotty would be better, and i loathe those things. give me an outhouse or even a temporary latrine over this nonsense please. .
TICKS.
everywhere. didn't realize at first, cause i was on the lookout for the adulte, which are less plentiful and easier to avoid thatn the babies, who look like crawing dirt or freckles. the quote that serves as the title for this entry is courtesy of kelci, my latest wwoof comanion, during one of our nightly (really multiple times a day) tick-checks. .
water. we've been having problems with it, but all's mostly fixed now. i went with the local worker carlos to inspect the line, all the wasy to the souce a km away, through the neighbors cow feilds, which resulted in so so so many ticks. also had a little run in with a pejibayi tree, which is covered in 2 inch long spikes - - on the edge of the muc creek where carlos was working, i leaned to toss him something and almost slipped, but reflexively steadied myself on that damn tree. picked the last of my splinters out yesterday. . polka-dot hand to match my mosquito bitten ankles.
electricity. we don't have any. this is not so bad, as we only need it for the fridge and the lights in the house. we have solar panels to charge lanterns and i actually kind of enjoyed washing my clothes by hand yesterday. (there is a washing machine here but i never used it while we had power. . meh. )
the upside.
we have fresh bananas, coconut, yuca, and are drying cacao to make chocolate. i can now make some mean tortillas and empanadas from scratch, and yesterday i made an imitation 'mary´s best potato salad' out of yuca and it was delicious. also i am anjoying our new hens and their fresh eggs, as well as raw milk from luz's cows. .
well there's much much more to tell but i am off to work more in the market. am currently formign plans to return to guanacaste, maybe to teach enlgish, mabe learn to surf. .
will work for a while at l&g's farm, then spend some time in the city to internet and wash clothes. .
until next time, wish me luck
my best to you all
love
mak
Friday, January 2, 2009
whaaaaa???
HI
surprise internet session - in town buying supplies but may have to leave any minute so excuse the hurridness. .
well the farm is a beautiful fucking mess. seriously. gorgeous, but has been closed down for 4 months so there´s termite and bat shit, weeds up to my shoulders, and the water´s out cause an elbow joint int he pvc lines got trampled by cows.
someone stole the propane so we´re cooking on the wood stove in 80 plus degree heat, and i have 4 large red flybites on my arm.
on the upside: i learned to harvest bananas yesterday!
also i can see h ow the farm can and will turn into a marvelous place, once we´ve worked (much) more and once more peolpe arrive to help (2, tomorow). .
and: i met the tico neighbors, and they are grade A people, absolutely excellent. i have an invitation to stay at their house on the weekends, and will get to check out the process of turning sugar cane into tapa dulce and molasses. the mother, luz, makes cheese and might be able to teach me to make the farmer´s cheeses they eat here that i love so much. she is going to find a kitten for the farm very soon as well.
upon arriving to the farm, part of me considered backing out, taking off, leaving early, because of the disorder, disfunction, etc. . . but i figure that´s just about the shittiest way to start the new year - abandoning commitments when the going gets rough. i considered carefully through the day, and have decided to stick it out. i am excited to see what we are going to turn this place into; also i think the experience of kickstarting a farm from somewhere near scratch will eventually be very valuable.
not sure what else.
ah, my boss here really does not speak much spanish, which surprised me. she´s made friends with the neighbors, and can communicate, but not insentences; i had expected someone at my level or beyond but apparently, no. .
i have been acting as unofficial translator, which i do not mind in the least. one local will be hired soon to work with us - carlos who has worked for them before, and according to the farmbook (memories of past volunteers - very interesting read) he is 'awesome' and 'amazing'. . so i should learn a lot working with him, and be able to practice and improve my spanish. looking forward to becoming pro with the machete. .
things i forgot from last week:
took a trip to the mall and bought 2 small paperback cookbooks - one of batidas/frozen blended drinks and refrescos, and the other of desserts that all involve CHEESE - a disgusting word but favorite food. . hilarious and awesome.
in the bookstore was playing a modern soft rock version of the irish folk tune 'wild mountain thyme' which cracked me up.
joyce recommended that i read isabel allende's 'house of spirits' while down ehre, and whil i did't get it before leaveing i have checked every bookstore i´ve found here with no luck. lame. .
however the farmhouse has some interesting reads - one by deepak chopra (sp?) and lots of survival skill/ farmy things and herbal medicine.
i am wishing a very happy birthday to my most excellent brother lars who is already 19 and a day in japan, and very newly 19 almost everywhere else. way to go, kiddo.
well happy new year to everyone, while i won't be writing much (maybe ever) until i come back, i definitely would not object to a full inbox of tidbits from you all. .
love
mak
surprise internet session - in town buying supplies but may have to leave any minute so excuse the hurridness. .
well the farm is a beautiful fucking mess. seriously. gorgeous, but has been closed down for 4 months so there´s termite and bat shit, weeds up to my shoulders, and the water´s out cause an elbow joint int he pvc lines got trampled by cows.
someone stole the propane so we´re cooking on the wood stove in 80 plus degree heat, and i have 4 large red flybites on my arm.
on the upside: i learned to harvest bananas yesterday!
also i can see h ow the farm can and will turn into a marvelous place, once we´ve worked (much) more and once more peolpe arrive to help (2, tomorow). .
and: i met the tico neighbors, and they are grade A people, absolutely excellent. i have an invitation to stay at their house on the weekends, and will get to check out the process of turning sugar cane into tapa dulce and molasses. the mother, luz, makes cheese and might be able to teach me to make the farmer´s cheeses they eat here that i love so much. she is going to find a kitten for the farm very soon as well.
upon arriving to the farm, part of me considered backing out, taking off, leaving early, because of the disorder, disfunction, etc. . . but i figure that´s just about the shittiest way to start the new year - abandoning commitments when the going gets rough. i considered carefully through the day, and have decided to stick it out. i am excited to see what we are going to turn this place into; also i think the experience of kickstarting a farm from somewhere near scratch will eventually be very valuable.
not sure what else.
ah, my boss here really does not speak much spanish, which surprised me. she´s made friends with the neighbors, and can communicate, but not insentences; i had expected someone at my level or beyond but apparently, no. .
i have been acting as unofficial translator, which i do not mind in the least. one local will be hired soon to work with us - carlos who has worked for them before, and according to the farmbook (memories of past volunteers - very interesting read) he is 'awesome' and 'amazing'. . so i should learn a lot working with him, and be able to practice and improve my spanish. looking forward to becoming pro with the machete. .
things i forgot from last week:
took a trip to the mall and bought 2 small paperback cookbooks - one of batidas/frozen blended drinks and refrescos, and the other of desserts that all involve CHEESE - a disgusting word but favorite food. . hilarious and awesome.
in the bookstore was playing a modern soft rock version of the irish folk tune 'wild mountain thyme' which cracked me up.
joyce recommended that i read isabel allende's 'house of spirits' while down ehre, and whil i did't get it before leaveing i have checked every bookstore i´ve found here with no luck. lame. .
however the farmhouse has some interesting reads - one by deepak chopra (sp?) and lots of survival skill/ farmy things and herbal medicine.
i am wishing a very happy birthday to my most excellent brother lars who is already 19 and a day in japan, and very newly 19 almost everywhere else. way to go, kiddo.
well happy new year to everyone, while i won't be writing much (maybe ever) until i come back, i definitely would not object to a full inbox of tidbits from you all. .
love
mak
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