Costa Rica 2011

Interesting weekend

2011-12-20T03:20:00.001-08:00

Took a van trip up to the Arenal volcano, hoping to get in a zip-line adventure, but it rained pretty much the whole day Saturday. I lounged around some ornate hot springs. Sunday morning cleared up, and I headed off to the local canopy tour, hoping to take movies of a leisurely descent.

Not likely. One hand is busy holding on to the harness buckle, the other has a leather device for gripping the zipline and braking as you do segments from one jungle platform or another. Inside you're screaming for your mommy.

A long time

2011-12-16T02:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long time since the last post. In the meantime, classes every weekday for 3-5 hours, mostly discussing, in Spanish, the politics, history, economy, geography and soul of Costa Rica. The discussions often get intense, in a low-key Tico way.

Breakfast and lunch in the school cafeteria and dinner every evening with a local family. Vegetarian meals all around, pretty amazing variety of tasty food.

Weekday afternoon trips to Alajuela and San Jose, capitols of their respective provinces. Both have a strong Central America flavor, very much unlike Buenos Aires.

Weekend trips, so far, to a family beach eco-resort island on the Pacific side and coffee plantation, volcano, and private eco-zoo just north of the central plain. No zip-lines yet.

So far, the trip has been something of a revelation.

¿Que pasa?

2011-12-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

After a couple of days of the very pleasant Katherine, do I have a new teacher?

What's going to happen this weekend? Nobody's telling me anything.

I'm starting to build up pool time. At 6:30 in the AM, everybody thinks I'm crazy.

Coffee

2011-12-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a surprise. I thought I was going to tour the local provincial capital - Alajuela. Instead I got carted off to a coffee tour - not a real farm, but a bean buyer and roaster with a small plantation for tourists. I and many dozen other old gringos walked through the coffee plants, learned about the different stages and etc. When the presenters asked for a couple of tasting volunteers, I jumped up and earned a cap for my expert opinion, which got a couple of laughs.

An interesting adventure

2011-12-04T02:57:00.000-08:00

My flight arrived at the main Costa Rican airport at about 3pm. I had previously learned that you can get a short-term SIM card for your cellphone at the airport, I did so and also set it up for data. Carlos, a teacher at the school, picked me up and brought me to the campus nearby.

A rural setting, no tourists, the other side of the world from tourist CR.

The school is a large walled collection of jungle-y gardens with buildings scattered about. My dorm is interesting. Carlos showed me about, very confusing, and then we walked to his aunt's house where she cooked a great vegetarian meal.

It got dark, she walked me back to make sure I knew the way, and said good night at the locked gate. I went into the school grounds, few lights, no people, got thoroughly lost trying to find my building. Lost in the jungle, story of my life.

Sharpening Pencils

2011-11-14T00:45:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a 4 week trip to Costa Rica in December, and am setting up the blog.