Irazu, Cartago, Orosi Valley, and Heredia

Every moment here continues to be an adventure. I would say that by now I feel entirely settled in my new home in San José. I haven’t necessarily developed a “routine,” but that is how I like things. Leave it up to spontaneity to create the best adventures.

            Although my study abroad program only had a single day of excursions planned for us, this past weekend turned out to be full of exhilarating escapades to markets, cities, volcanoes, and churches. 

Irazu

            On Saturday, CEA had planned a trip to the Irazu volcano, Cartago, and the Orosi valley. I had an incredible time exploring parts of the central valley of Costa Rica and learning more of the history of this country. Our bus exited the city around 9 AM and began to climb into the nearby mountains. The morning was cool and cloudy and as we ascending into the highlands you could see the valley below. The clouds came closer and closer to us and as we winded through the roads, water began to condense on the windows of the bus. Volcano Irazu erupted almost exactly 50 years ago this year and showered San Jose and the surround area in volcanic ash. The resulting rich soil has created a haven for farmers and their crops. Our bus passed copious agricultural fields as the vegetation opened up into the mist. The ascent was gradual and by the time we reached the top of Irazu, the flora had transitioned into a montane wilderness with herbaceous plants and shrubs growing out of the opaque volcanic ash. 

the Main Crater of Irazu

Poor man's umbrella plant

            We exited the bus at the highest point in the Irazu National park, about 11,260 feet above sea level. Irazu is the highest volcano in Costa Rica and has 5 craters. From that viewpoint we were higher than the clouds. Initially, we could see the main crater of Irazu that is almost 1000 feet deep and 3,500 feet in diameter. It looked like a strange rocky peak piercing the endless field of white clouds. We watched as the clouds began to cascade down the crater edges, eventually obscuring it entirely from our view. We were left standing a cloudy wilderness and 

so we began to walk down the primitive road to get a closer view of the crater. The vegetation was dense and rich. Many of the plants were in bloom and the brilliant reds, oranges, purples, and yellows of the flowers accented the deep emerald green of the surrounding leaves. My favorite plant on that mountain is commonly referred to as “poor man’s umbrella plant” (Gunnera insignis) and has gigantic circular leaves about twice my size. Walking through the volcanic forest made me realize that my favorite places on earth are montane forests; whether it is the afroalpine jungles of the Virunga volcanoes in Rwanda, the alpine tundra of the Rocky Mountains, or the volcanic montane vegetation of Costa Rica, I am in love with the peaceful and mysterious mountains of our world.

Coati

Soon, we reached a large flat volcanic plain that overlooked two of the craters of Irazu. Over the steep edge, you could see straight down into the main crater where a small strangely green and red colored lake resided. Since it is the dry season here, the lake looked more like a puddle stagnating at the bottom of the rocky precipice. I won’t even attempt to describe the view, for it is something that you must see for yourself. On our way back to the bus, we encountered two curious coatis wandering around the parking area in search for tourist leftovers. They were quite adorable little creatures.

Orosi Valley

Back on the bus, we descended the mountain. On our way, we stopped to take photos of the valley beneath us where you could see the city of Cartago sprawled out against the green hills. It was nearing lunchtime and we drove towards the Orosi valley, a picturesque small town. We veered off onto a dirt road and climbed up a hill to a small restaurant with large windows that boasted a spectacular view of the valley below. I ate typical arroz con pollo with mushrooms and bacon mixed in and papas fritas and Fanta roja for a drink. After our meal, we stepped outside to marvel over the view. A distant river wound through the center of the valley and was surrounded by rolling hills covered in orange flowering trees.

Iglesia de San Jose Orosi

We drove through the small town to the Iglesia de San Jose Orosi, the oldest church still in use in all of Costa Rica, dating back to 1743. It was a small building painted white with a simple bell town and red tiled roofs. A wedding was going on in the church while we explored the gardens. The interior of the church was wooden and modest, save for the elaborately painted and decorated pictures and artifacts that all date back to the 18^th century. A painting of San Francisco holding a skull was depicted next to a sculpture of Christ at the front.

Our next stop was Cartago and the Basilica de Nuestro Senora de los Angeles, the same church I had gone to on my Spanish field trip. As an interactive activity, Leo (one of the CEA directors) split us into pairs for a scavenger hunt around the basilica. We had one hour to complete 20 questions both about the church and community, and all in Spanish. I was paired with Hayden, who speaks relatively well in Spanish and the two of us set off around the church to find all the clues. Some questions pertained to history of Cartago and the Basilica, while other required that you take pictures or obtain random objects such as a newspaper from yesterday and a packet of sugar from a nearby restaurant. We asked several people in Spanish to help us answer the historical questions. I drank the holy water (fortunately I found out later that it is safe to drink, although not formally purified) and somehow got a taxi man to awkwardly shake my hand. It was pretty hysterical. Hayden and I ended up coming in second place—so close…

Basilica de Los Angeles

By the time we were finished at the church, it was nearing 5 o’clock. We drove back home and almost immediately Diego (my host brother) marched into my room proclaiming that we were going to a movie. We looked up the schedule for the Multiplaza theatre in the Zapote neighborhood and discovered that the next showing of "Life of Pi" in english was in 20 minutes! Michele hopped out of the shower and Gustavo (another host brother that lives in a nearby neighborhood in the city) drove Macey, Michele, Diego, and I to the large mall. We got in a long line and paid for tickets. Apparently when you purchase tickets in cinemas here, you choose your exact seat in the theater. We ended up sitting in the front row, however the movie was lovely. Diego (who we have nicknamed "Diegs") even bought us carmel and butter popcorn. When we got back home, mommy made us a delicious dinner of papas, arroz, pollo, and copious verduras. 

Shaking the taxi driver's hand

On Sunday, Anita, Lainey, Michele, and I were planning on going to a famous coffee plantation in Barva called Café Britt with Graham, a friend I met through my cousin Matt on my second day in the country. Leo had helped us figure out the bus system to Heredia, where we would take a taxi to the plantation. Sunday morning we woke up around 8 to discover that the plantation was full booked in tours for that day. We decided to take the risk and head down to Heredia anyways and hope that they would open up spaces for us. We walked downtown (I actually can find my way around here…fancy that!) and after some confusion found the bus station where we climbed onto a red and yellow charter bus called “Busetas Hereditas” that cost only a dollar. On the drive to the third largest city in the country, Graham called to inform us that the possibility of securing a tour at Café Britt was highly unlikely. Since we were already on our way though, he agreed to meet us for the day in Heredia. The bus stopped downtown in the city (which really felt more like a town to me) right by the central market. The market was quite similar to the one in Cartago with rows and rows of stalls and restaurants and fruit stands, although since it was Sunday only about half of the cubicles were open. We wandered through the maze of vendors until Graham found us and we set off to explore the city. We went to the central park which is adjacent to the main cathedral. Many ticos were simply sitting on the benches and talking or relaxing in the warm summer air. A group of cheerleaders were practicing their routines in front of the church and we decided to sit and relax tico-style. After a woman kindly told us to move because a coconut could fall on our heads, we found a lovely bench in the park. Apparently many ticos do this on Sundays, it is their day for rest. We then walked through the town to a small soccer stadium where teams of high schoolers were playing. We then meandered to a Caribbean restaurant Graham recommended called “Mami.” The food was excellent and I ate some of the typical Caribbean cuisine, including “rice and beans,” squashed and fried plantains, and “frogwater” (which is really a lime and ginger flavored drink). After our meal we went to a tico ice cream store and tried a typical ice cream slushy concoction composed of fresh fruit, powdered milk, flavored crushed ice, and some sort of sweet sauce topped off with ice cream. We went back to the park to enjoy the afternoon. I felt like I was really experiencing the tico culture, despite the fact that the coffee plantation had not worked out. What a relaxing day!
           When we arrived home, Diego took Michele and I with him to his church on Sunday evening. The church was a short walk up the hill in the direction of my university. A pentecostal church, it was fascinatingly different than what I am accustomed to. It was quite a large sanctuary and when we arrived, there was a band playing loudly on the front stage with flashing bright concert lights. They sang songs for almost a half hour. I actually recognized some of them... although they were in spanish. I found it quite fun to sing in Spanish. I am coming to love this language. Strangely, the preacher that day was a guest pastor from the Copenhagen that spoke in english! How convenient. Diegs wore earplugs and it didn't take long for me to realize why. The pastor worked himself up into such excitement that he was yelling and people were collapsing on the ground and yelling back at him. The chaos was immense and it was hard for me to understand what in the world was happening. At the end, he gathered anyone who wanted healing to the front and people were shaking and dropping to the ground every time he touched someone. Interesting to say the least...
          On another note, if you asked me what my favorite part of Costa Rica is, I would immediately answer my host family. Of course I love the culture and the beauty of this country, but I can't get enough of my host mother. And my uncle Jose and brother Diego are equally interesting to live with. I don't know how I am possibly going to leave here, but when I do, I am certain that I will come back.

Semana Tres (week three)

My spanish class with Liannette

What a week this has been. After spending a spectacular weekend up at the Arenal Volcano in the north and the Baldi hot springs, I have had the most interesting week of school yet. It all just keeps getting better and I wonder if I will ever come back home at this point… I feel like my life has done a few somersaults and now nothing is the way it once was. Time has flown by here and it is hard for me to believe that I’ve been in Costa Rica for 20 days already.

Probably the most exciting part of the week happened in the middle of the night on Wednesday. A little after 1 AM I was jolted awake by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. My bed was shaking and I could hear the house moving around me. Oddly, I just laid there more excited than scared that I could actually feel an earthquake. There have been several quakes since I've been here, 2 of which I have felt. The other quake I felt was when I was doing homework with Diego. It didn't register to me that it was an earthquake until after. I had thought it was just someone very large marching through the house...
The week began with my Espanol written midterm promptly at 8 AM. My miniature teacher, Liannette, has pushed my little class of 10 hard enough that we all did well on the exam. Sometimes I feel like learning a new language is a lethargic, drawn out process, however if I look back on where I was three weeks ago, I have learned more than I thought would be possible. I can have very basic conversations with people and I have begun to understand a significant amount of what my host family speaks to me, although I have a difficult time responding.

The same day as our Spanish exam, my Costa Rican history and culture teacher took my class on a walking tour of San Jose. The more I explore this city, the more I see and the more I appreciate. As she marched us through the chaotic traffic and bustling streets, she narrated the stories of every statue we passed and each significant building. By the end of her tour, I had learned about several different presidents, heads of state, and other important people in Costa Rica’s rich past. We wandered through the judicial district with the tall marble buildings with wire woven in circles covering the windows. Neatly manicured lawns with rows of blossoming rose bushes incased the imposing buildings. We walked through the humble china town neighborhood and deep into the streets of downtown. We walked through the Social Security park with a statue of “The Doctor” or Calderon, full of pigeons and loud little green parrots flying overhead. We maneuvered the maze of walking streets bounded by little shops. We walked to the Teatro Nacional and Gran Hotel located next to the pigeon-and-street-performer-dominated Plaza de la Cultura. It felt like there were many more people around us than when I had gone on the CEA city tour. Maybe I was just more aware of my surroundings. We circled around and headed towards the national museum and the artisan market. Helen, our British teacher, pointed out a pre-Columbian stone in the shape of a perfect sphere that was encased in a protective structure near the museum. To this day it remains one of the great mysteries of Costa Rica’s past as to why or how the spheres were created.

Basilica de Los Angeles

After a week of studying Latin names for my land vertebrates class and Spanish vocabulary that has accumulated after a total of 56 hours of Espanol class, I can easily say that I am tired. In a good, satisfied way. My mommy here still lavishes love on my roommates and me. Another girl in my program, named Michele, moved into our humble little home this week. Myrna, my mom, was ecstatic all day for her arrival. Now there are six of us living in the tiny house and Myrna cooks for at least 10 people a day. I don’t know how that woman does it. Macey asked her the other day what her favorite trait about herself was and she responded that she loves to take care of people. I have never met anyone like her and I love her very much already.

The Cartago market

The week ended with an exciting field trip in my Spanish class to Cartago and an exploration of downtown San Jose with Macey, Michele, and Anita. The class excursion to the former capital of Costa Rica was intriguing. All the Basic I Spanish classes took a large bus deep into the old town. We stopped at a basilica deemed Basilica de Nuestro Senora de los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angels Basilica), a beautiful old cathedral connected to an ancient tale from 1635 about a little girl and a black virgin doll that mysteriously would return to a specific rock even when taken away. Churches have been built on that rock ever since. The second portion of the field trip consisted of a vibrant market where our teachers told us to talk to the vendors and purchase new kinds of tropical fruits that we didn’t recognize. The market was noisy and exotic. Fruits and vegetables surrounded the exterior of the unassuming building where rows and rows of little shops, restaurants, and butchers were crowded inside together. Back in San Jose, four of us ventured down into the heart of the city to explore. We found beautiful parks and museums and shops. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I live in the capital city of a country. And what a wonderful city it is. 

Tico culture

The Costa Rican world that I am now immersed in has impressed upon me cultural ideals of a Central American society that I have never before experienced. I am intrigued by the presence of a female president in a primarily machismo society. I am captivated by the central importance of family to the tico people. I am interested in the seemingly eclectic combination of races and peoples than comprise the all-encompassing "tico" heritage. The indigenous people are few here and this nation has clearly been influenced by Spanish and Afro-Carribean societies alike. This may be classified as a developing country, however I am impressed by the advancements this nation has made in terms of conservation of biodiversity. I have learned that food is a focal aspect of tico culture and getting a meal at a restaurant may extend for hours. Additionally, the ticos highly pride themselves upon a country that remains peaceful. Instead of supporting an army, this country funnels money into universal healthcare and education, thus further promoting a culture of amity. I especially love how kindly my tico family treats me; they welcome me into their home as a sister and a daughter. The national motto, as it were, is "pura vida," reflecting the Costa Rican essence of plentiful and joyous life.

Week Dos

Observations for week two: 

Jessica, Diego (my brother), Macey, and me

• ·      I seem to be unable to escape taxonomic name memorization even here in Costa Rica. My land vertebrates class is structured around species classification...
• ·      We are going to the Costa Rica versus Belize soccer game tonight in the San Jose stadium!
• ·      On my walk to school, the sidewalk and parks I walk by are surrounded by beautiful flowers
• ·      My host brother tried to teach me the merengue in the kitchen the other day and I discovered that my 64-year-old host mother can move her hips far better than I can
• ·      I have made over 400 notecards already for my Spanish class. Talk about intensive…
• ·      Wednesday evening, I went to get ice cream with Diego (my host brother) and my roommates at a place called the Southern Mall. The six of us are already like siblings.
• ·      In the courtyard of the university there is a little food stand where you can get custom-made cheep empanadas and plantain burritos that I find myself craving in the middle of class
• ·      Most of the CEA students hang out at the CEA building during breaks between classes. The building has a kitchen where we cook lunch and rooms for us to study in. It almost feels like the dorms all over again when I am there.
• ·      My roommates and I all had Spanish tests and orals today and my mama tica spent all of breakfast quizzing us on flashcards and wished us luck hundreds of times as we walked out the door
• ·      All the homes in San Jose are locked and gated
• ·      The ants here are tiny and EVERYWHERE, including in the honey I ate this morning in my oatmeal
• ·      The tico students arrived this week and I learned that Veritas (my school here) is one of the most expensive private schools in Costa Rica. Veritas is also a premier art and architecture school. With this combination, the tico students appear to all be very tasteful in their dress. I have also noticed that they don’t seem to want to talk to the international students. I am not sure if this is because they feel like we are invading their school or what, but I have yet to see one of them smile back at me.
• ·      I am very grateful for Diego and his translation abilities and my mama’s patience as I stubble through sentences in Spanish while I try to learn this new language
• ·      Its summer in Costa Rica right now
• ·      My tica mama went to the store after dinner just to buy me special lactose-free ice cream. I am obsessed with her. She also magically removed all the stains from some of my clothes that have been stained for months... I am completely spoiled....

Bahia Ballena and Manuel Antonio

This weekend was spectacular. It was our first CEA excursion to Bahia Ballena and Manuel Antonia along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Right after our morning Spanish courses, we packed up and headed to the CEA building. A small blue and white bus was sitting there waiting for us. The driver set off through the chaos of San Jose and out into the hills and mountains of Costa Rica. As the labyrinth of buildings and city roads diminished, the landscape transitioned into a mosaic of deep emerald mountains and bright flowering trees. The hills directly around San Jose were somewhat dry and many of the trees were bare as if it was winter back home. The roads curved through misty blue mountains and slowly the vegetation became lush and dense. The mountains sketched an elaborate jagged horizon across the deep blue Costa Rican sky. Eventually, it felt like we were surrounded by thick rainforest. The trees were dripping with moss and lichen and draped with profuse vines. Some of the tallest trees were a brilliant yellow color that created a fantastic contrast to the dark greens of the jungle. This country is beautiful.

Crocodiles

Our bus stopped right before a long bridge over a river between the mountain slopes for a rest break. Immediately upon exiting the bus, humidity and heat engulfed us. The intense tropical weather made me grateful for the wind and cool in San Jose. We inched along the narrow sidewalk on the edge of the bridge to look into the water for crocodiles. On the right side of the bridge were copious crocodiles basking in the afternoon sun or wading in the slow-moving water. I was glad to be so high above the massive reptiles; they each appeared to be at least 4 meters long. Chomp chomp.

After we were finished examining the crocodiles from above, we were back on our way towards the Pacific. We passed Jaco beach and you could see glimpses of the turquoise ocean peaking from in-between the trees. We stopped briefly to take a photo at an overlook by the side of the road. The ocean was far below us and you could see out across the glittering pacific waters for what seemed like miles. A breathtaking view with the rainforest-covered mountains cascading into the tropical sea.

The pacific

As our bus reached the coastal town of Manuel Antonia, someone shouted, “Monkeys!” and I looked over my shoulder out the window to see little white faced capuchins and a couple squirrel monkeys running along the hotel roof and crashing through the trees followed by a pack of zealous tourists. I dropped my bag off in the room and within seconds was outside looking at the monkeys. They came incredibly close to us and would stare and tilt their heads in our direction. One lady was feeding the monkeys a banana she had purchased down the road. In all honesty, it was difficult for me to watch the capuchins clamber over cars and street signs and eat from human hands. How much longer until they become pests?

Our hotel was located across the street from the beach. And what a gorgeous beach it was! The sand was fine and white and the sea was clear and warm. As the sun began to set in the west across the waters, we walked along the sand through the gentle waves. It was the most majestic, spectacular sunset I have ever experienced. A brilliant mirage of reds, pinks, yellows, oranges, blues, and deep purples lit up the sky and reflected across the ocean surface. I cannot deny that there is a God, for there is no other explanation for such beauty.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go to breakfast before our whale watching tour. Then, the bus took us about an hour away down the coast to a little town called Bahia Ballena. When we arrived, we went directly to a small somewhat run-down office for the whale tours. A guide gave us all life jackets and we walked down a path and into the Bahia Ballena national park and onto the beach. The ocean tide was far out, making the beach wide and flat. We were told to wear our life jackets at all times and then walked out into the surf to enter the boat.

On the boat

Our boat was just a simple motor boat with two benches lining the outer sides and one bench at the very front. It had a canvas covering sheltering us from the sun (thank goodness, it is so easy to burn in the central American sun). We began by boating out to the whale-tail shaped formation composed of sand and rocks and the guide handed us each a snorkel! One by one, we slipped into the warm water to snorkel the coral reef. It was beautiful. The corals created massive formations underwater that were frequented by colorful reef fish. There were schools of turquoise parrot fish and exotic wrasses that swam underneath me. I loved watching the tiny blue fish dart between the rocks and some of the larger fish defend their plots of coral from intruders. Such a fantastic ecosystem under the sea. We were called back to the boat all to soon and I saw a yellow puffer on my way out!

Our boat driver then pushed the motor into full gear and we bounced across the waves out to the open sea. Flying fish flicked out of the water next to our boat. You could see the layers of mountains on the shore in the distance with white bulbous clouds clinging to their peaks. We drove towards two other boats huddling together and found a pod of dolphins jumping and swimming along the surface. Some of the dolphins had spots along their backsides and some of the dolphins were the well-known bottlenose. It was exhilarating as our boat dashed back and forth in attempt to follow the dolphins swimming patterns.

Humpback whale mother

When the dolphins had swum too far for reach, our boat again sped along the sea surface back towards the shore. We stopped several hundred meters from the shore and the boat driver began to exclaim that there was a whale in the water. We all stood up and strained our eyes to see. Suddenly, a large dark fin protruded from the water just 20 meters away. Our guide told us this was a humpback whale and her calf. The pair came within 10 meters of our little boat and you could see the barnacles on the mother’s back and watch her spray water lightly out of her blowhole. It was incredible, I have never seen a whale before.

Costa Rican sunset

After several hours on the ocean, we arrived back in Manuel Antonio. A few of us walked to the beach and waded through a river/swamp connection and walked over a small volcanic island and onto a beautiful deserted beach. The swamp was labeled with a sign that said in Spanish “Be Careful, crocodiles, do not swim.” Oops. However, the beach we emerged onto was well worth the risk. Apparently it was located in Parque National de Manuel Antonio, but no one was monitoring the gate and we snuck in. The jungle crept right up onto the pure white sand of the beach. Palm trees and mangroves lined the shore and the Pacific ocean was calm and clear. It was a spectacular sight as we swam in the tropical waters and watched the sunset begin to paint the horizon with vivid colors.

A white faced capuchin monkey

The next morning, we all woke up early so as to be at breakfast and then out into the national park Manuel Antonio by 8 AM. The initial road leading into the park is wide and was clogged with tourists and tico guides with telescopes and lenses leading around clueless mobs of white visitors. With that amount of disturbance in the forest, there was little chance that we were going to see anything. We had acquired a map at the entrance and decided to find a secluded trail as soon as possible to leave the tourist hordes. We found a trail that led to an overlook near the ocean and quickly entered into the jungle. Almost immediately you could here the forest come alive around you: insects hissing, howler monkeys bellowing, and birds singing. 

Sloth

The forest became denser as the trail narrowed and we were surrounded by massive palm trees and buttress roots laden with dark mosses and fungi. Our group soon began to split into three as some people walked swiftly down the trail and other people, like myself would stop to listen and watch everything. Courtney, Jordan, Lani, Michele, and I found ourselves left far behind the rest of the students as the five of us silently walked through the rainforest in attempt to see all that we could. Later, when we got back, we learned that we had seen more animals than anyone else because we had taken our time and reserved our talking. It wasn’t long before we saw a sloth dangling from a palm branch and a troop of capuchin monkeys foraging high in the canopy above. We hiked up crude steps and found little lizards and insects scampering beneath our feet. At one point, we heard an animal gnawing on a nearby tree and turned to see a small tailless rodent consuming his mid-morning meal. Apparently he was an agouti. The overlook at the end of the trail was spectacular. If this place is not paradise, then I do not know what is. The jungle canopy opened up to look out over the magnificent Pacific with clusters of bright red hibiscus flowers in the foreground. You could see the shore curving in the distance and the jungle hills meeting the turquoise sea.

The view of the pacific from the rainforest with Lani and Courtney

On our way back down the steep trail, we encountered a troop of howler monkeys foraging in the trees above us and saw another small family of white-faced capuchins. We decided to take another trail out onto a land formation called a tombolo that the park had named the “cathedral.” We passed a beautiful white sand beach with groups of tourists picnicking and raccoon families scavenging on the left over food scraps. Then, the trail turned into a series of staircases as we hiked through the coastal palm forest. There were fewer animals in this section and we only saw raccoons and an iguana that ran ridiculously fast. However, the vista points along the hike were well worth the climb. The views of the ocean kept getting more and more unbelievable. Eventually, we ended up on the beach that I had visited last night before sunset. The beach only had a few tourists basking in the hot tropical sun. We walked all the way down to the far end nearest our hotel and went for a quick swim to rinse off the sweat from the rainforest. Besides the Indian Ocean, I have never felt an ocean so warm.

When we got back to San Jose, we were all exhausted but exhilarated with the wonderful experiences we had just had. This country is more than I could have wanted with all its biodiversity and beautiful landscape and intriguing culture. I cannot wait to explore more.

The beautiful beach

"Pura vida"- the pure life

Squirrel monkey