ecojava

Adios!

2009-11-03T09:52:00.000-08:00

I am leaving here tomorrow and going back to regular life. Don’t know what that will be like, having immersed myself in this other world for 2 months. Part of me is excited. Places I can go, people I can see. Then the other part is a bit nervous. What’s it going to be like? Will I be overwhelmed by the freedom? Our ability, as human beings, to adapt to any given environment never ceases to amaze me. I never thought that I would ever adapt to the isolation, but sure enough I have. Within my limited space here, I’ve made a comfortable little life for myself. I have my worker friends and my animal friends, the jungle, my books, my laptop, and my life seems very full. I even have routines, like checking on the puppies when I wake up, or watching Jeopardy at 7:30 (the only show I watch here). I’m going to miss this place. I can’t believe it, but it’s true. Helen, one of the dogs who was such a scared little thing when I met her, lets me pet her now, and kiss her head, and she lets out these little cries as if to say that she’s wanted to be pet for so long. It breaks my heart every time. And it breaks my heart to leave her and the puppies. Definitely going to miss the view. Ahhh, and the chironjas. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I crave one, but the thought of it is super depressing.

Let me switch to the things I’m not going to miss. The machismo. The men and the way they think they can talk to me. I’m so not going to miss that. The awkward dynamic in the house. Always having bugs in my room. Clean dishes that aren’t actually clean. And mold.

Many things I will not miss, but I appreciate them all. Each in their own way has made me a stronger more adaptable person, better equipped for this unpredictable thing called life:) So thank you Puerto Rico. You’ve been a wonderful host.

Another life pondering heading your way

2009-10-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Like I've said before, I have so much time to think here. I could be writing about what I’m up to, but honestly, I’m really not up to that much. So instead, here’s what’s up in my head. This is a goodie.

As you know, I’ve been working on putting together episodes for my YouTube coffee channel, Behind the Beans (man I love saying that name!). In my upcoming episodes, I’m going to talk about what coffee picking is like, how a typical day goes, and then spotlight 2 or 3 of our pickers. I think it’s going to be awesome.

I have filmed quite a bit of it already. The last couple of days I have worked alongside two different pickers, filming them in action, and “interviewing” them (that alone is worth tuning in for, cause it’s all in Spanish!). It has been eye-opening and truly educational. It may have given new life to my stay here.

The first picker I filmed was Negro (just a nickname people!). He is a little man (more pequeño than me-see picture below!), 59 years old, and always in a good mood. He has picked coffee his whole life and worked in construction. As you’ll see in the video, he is very difficult to understand, even if you know Spanish, and it doesn’t appear that he makes any effort to enunciate when it’s pretty darn obvious you’re struggling. It’s actually pretty hilarious. But if you laugh too much, he’ll think you understand, which then makes you laugh even more. God bless him. He is so nice to us gals, shares his delicious sweet coffee with us in the morning, brings us candy, and even brings food for the dogs.

The second picker was Papo (again a nickname). He is 60 years old and the foreman at the farm. Again, similar story. He has been picking coffee since he was 5 and also worked in construction (he and Israel built the house I’m in right now). He’s a bit gordo and jolly, kind of like a Puerto Rican Santa Claus.

That’s just a bit of random background info. It’s pretty amazing that they are doing such physical work at their age. Even more amazing is what I learned in the interview. They both actually love picking coffee and love working. Papo called it therapy. I couldn’t actually get out of either of them a single negative comment about the work. Could it be that they really love it that much?! I was like ‘what’s the worst part?’ and they just drew a blank. Subsequently, I drew a blank. I was astonished. We girls could probably name 10 things we don’t like about it (starting with bugs, mud, and hills), but they couldn’t come up with one! There was such a genuine enthusiasm in their faces when they talked about their work.

Equally if not more interesting was their answer to “what do you think about all day when you’re picking coffee?” Both of them looked a bit confused by the question and answered “I think about picking coffee.” What? I start rattling off things that I think about, hoping to inspire a new answer, but Papo gave me nothing. Negro eventually said he thinks about having a girlfriend…ok, now that’s more like it! Then it made me think, wow, they are just so zen, so in the moment, so everything I try to be, and yet my mind goes a million places…mmm, like having a boyfriend ;)

My conversations with them have got me thinking about their work in a larger context. The passion with which they spoke about their work made me realize that what they do truly is a respectable and admirable thing. They are proud of what they do, and why shouldn’t they be? They are the reason we can drink coffee every morning. It has me thinking how sad…no, tragic… it is that we Americans really place so little value on agricultural work. In America, you’re supposed to get the best education possible and then get the highest paying white collar job you can find. Well what would happen if, in my ideal hypothetical world, we all got an education? Then what…would we all be too good to be farmers and then go starving? Or shall we just continue down this path toward more synthetic and genetically modified food?

Agriculture is the most valuable industry there is, if you base value on real wealth (food) instead of a symbol for wealth (money). And yet the farmer, especially the small farmer, continues to lose importance in our society and is even looked down upon. How have we let this happen?

I don’t really know. I am still trying to wrap my head around it, though the more I do, the more disheartened I become. Looking for answers…anyone have any?

Hype, you make me so tired

2009-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Coffee is a world of hype. Everybody claims to have the best coffee. Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Guatemalan Antigua, Ethiopian Harrar, Costa Rican Tarrazu, etc etc., each with their own magic recipe that makes theirs the best. Some special combination of altitude, volcanic soil, rain, sun, and shade, makes this one better than the other. Then there is the outrageous and absurd hype. Like Kopi Luwak coffee, the one that gets eaten by a civet and then pooped out, selling for over $100 a pound. That’s what I would call, in coffee speak, single origin shit. Okay, I’ve never actually tried it, so I can’t knock it too hard. But seriously, all this hype has begun to disgust me. I’m so over it (hype that is, not coffee!).

Knowing what I do about coffee, I would say that there are certainly a number of factors that make one coffee better than another. I guess it’s like any product. Better care will result in a better product. The most important factors, in my semi-professional opinion :), are ripeness of the fruit (obvious, no?), drying the beans to the right moisture level, proper storage, and, perhaps most importantly of all, freshness. These are all common sense though. You pick your product ripe, you process it with care, store it properly, and get it to your customer fresh. Can’t it just be as simple as that? Or is that just too simple? Will nobody buy your product if you just tell it to ‘em straight? Does honesty have no value in our consumerist culture?

I’ve been thinking about hype a lot lately. And it’s not just coffee. It’s everywhere. In every aspect of life…work, dating, religion, politics…too many voices just telling you what they think you want to hear. Misleading and disappointing one innocent victim at a time. I think about what this means for society as a whole. Is this what makes us distrustful and cynical? It surely must be a part, a significant part. Sure, life will inevitably have its share of disappointment regardless, but the incessant spewing of empty words must accelerate that spiral.

Maybe the key is to just take it all with a grain of salt. You hear the message, you acknowledge it as hype but know better than to fall for it. But then that begs the question: when do you know when you’re hearing the truth? If you’re brushing off words that are actually being communicated to you, which ones are actually going to stick? Over time, I suppose, your gut sort of fine tunes its compass and makes it easier to distinguish the truth. Bouts of paranoia aside, we generally have an instinct that tells us who to trust. If we’re talking about a product though, trust can only come about through trial and error. I don’t think our guts have the same instinct about laundry detergent or plastic wrap (that Press 'n Seal stuff is crap, but I sure believed it would work wonders).

All ranting aside, I have a point. Life would be so much better if everyone was honest. A white lie here and there, for the sake of being polite, is fine with me. Beyond that, lies just pollute the natural state of our universe and harden our hearts.

So may our words hold meaning
Our message be true
And don’t spend a fortune
On coffee from poo.

Dream log turned blog

2009-10-04T04:17:00.000-07:00

It’s about 6am, probably the earliest I’ve woken up on a weekend here and certainly the earliest I’ve ever started a blog!

I just remembered my dream. Well, actually, all I remember is the end, but that’s really all that matters right now. It has to mean something, something big and wonderful, but I don’t know what! At least not yet.

(wow, I really am sharing too much information, but I think I’ve stopped caring!)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had, and pretty regularly I might add, these dreams where I have a plane to catch. Usually, I’m going on a significant trip, where I’m moving to Germany for a few months, or something major like that. Sometimes, in the dream, I’ve forgotten all about the flight until just a couple hours prior. Other times, I’ve known about the flight all day, but somehow forgot to pack until the last minute. Either way, the dream always involves a lot of stress. Sometimes I try calling the airline to see if there’s a later flight I can catch, but I never actually get through. (You know that helpless dream feeling I’m talking about?) Well, it always gets to be too much. Too stressful, too impossible, too overwhelming…and so I wake up. Then I thank god, in typical bad dream fashion, that it wasn’t real, and acknowledge myself as a responsible organized person who would never let that happen to her :)

Well, something unusual and magical happened in this dream. For the first time ever, I made my flight!!! It was the most amazing feeling. Not only did I make the flight, but I even had time to pop outside to wave goodbye to my mom and dad and let them know I made it. It was a beautiful beautiful ending.

What it all means, I haven’t a clue. I am so interested to know, even to hear some ideas (any dream decipherers out there?). I just know it has to mean something really really good. It just has to. That’s where my investigative skills have gotten me so far :) It’s still early.

A film critique

2009-10-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

This was a tough week. Too much confrontation with myself. It all came to blows when I tried to film my first video for this coffee project. I wanted to make a brief intro, explaining a bit (maybe a minute’s worth) of who I am and what the project is. Well, that was overly ambitious. There was no way to cram all that into one minute, and it ended up being about two and a half. I found it excessive, for one. Just too much of me talking. And it doesn’t matter what I’m saying or how I look, it’s just not interesting to listen to someone talk that long. That’s the conclusion I came to.

Secondly, I had to watch myself on playback. Awkward. Painful. Embarrassing. Those are just a few of the emotions I experienced that dreadful Tuesday. I guess I hadn’t really thought much at all about how I appeared to the outside world. I guess I assumed it was all good, cause I felt good about myself and knew that the things I said and did to other people came from a good place. Well, unfortunately, there was nothing warm and fuzzy about the way I felt when I watched it. It was like I was looking at a stranger. She sounded kind of ditzy, a bit like a valley girl. Oh my god, I thought, people must think I’m stupid! What an odd realization, to think for the first time in my life that I probably have had to convince people, over time, that I’m intelligent. I was under the impression that was the most apparent thing about me. HA! Then there are the facial expressions, which people have warned me of, but I had never actually seen for myself. Yikes! I’m just giving a straightforward speech about coffee…how many faces are really necessary?!!

So I saw myself as an overly expressive borderline airhead. Great.

That sort of put a damper on the project. I thought a lot about it. Can I use this footage, I wondered. Will it repel people? Will anyone (other than of course my friends and family) really give a $%*? These were just some of the horrible negative thoughts running through my head. My lovely roommate Tracy, who filmed it, was like no, no, it’s good. God bless her. I was dumbfounded by the whole experience. I was talking to the other new gal, Andrea (who by the way is great) about it later on in the week. I was telling her that after the whole watching myself trauma, I was wondering, ‘is it acceptable?’ I was questioning whether or not I can accept that person on the video, me! She’s like, yeah, it kind of has to be. Ha! What a brilliant moment! Of course, it HAS to be! Ahhhh, I felt relieved. I didn’t have to fix anything. I just had to accept it. And I did. So I sound like a California girl. Well, I am, and I’m proud of it :)

I’m sure that you, my small audience of friends and family, will read this and protest. I can already predict my mom saying ‘how dare you call yourself an airhead?!’ Well, I write this not to seek comfort or praise. I know I’m not stupid. To be perfectly honest, my intelligence is something I’ve never questioned. It is amazing, though, that I can see a projection of myself that is so misaligned with my own personal truth. Though I’ve made peace with the video and accepted this projection as merely a vantage point, it sure got me thinking.

See, I’ve long held this theory that you can never really know another person, and this story illustrates why. If how you feel inside isn’t being accurately reflected to the outside world, then how can anyone really understand you? Over time, a really long time, it’s possible, I suppose, to come close. Think about the person you know the best in the world. How do you really know what’s in their heart? A heart, a soul, a spirit, even a mind…these things live and breathe in their own cozy cocoons. They’re not readily available for examination, but rather expose themselves gently, in their own time, at their own pace. You can catch many glimpses at somebody’s essence, through telling looks or a colorful bursts of laughter, but you can never see enough to really get the whole truth.

That’s just how I see it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even without getting someone one hundred percent, you can still reach a heightened level of intimacy and reap its beautiful benefits.

Maybe that’s a bit of a tangent, but it’s definitely a theory I stand proudly behind. You might not totally know me, nor me you, but what would the world be like without a little mystery?

reflecting reflecting and more reflecting

2009-09-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe I’ve been here almost a whole month. Reflecting on my experience so far, I feel that perhaps it’s a bit lacking. By that I mean that I haven’t really added as many interesting experiences or stories to my repertoire as I had a month into my time in Hawai’i or Costa Rica. That’s okay though, and you know why? I came here with two basic expectations: isolation, and the opportunity to do a lot of reflecting, which I certainly have done.

The isolation factor has been, undoubtedly, a challenge, but isn’t that what an adventure is about? A time to challenge yourself, to see what you’re made of, to test your physical and mental adaptability to a new environment, and to integrate new perspectives into your life? I suppose, if I look at it this way, it has been a pretty intense adventure. I’ve had to adapt to being alone with my thoughts, A LOT, and that alone is quite the challenge. For one, it makes me very aware of them, a bit uncomfortably so. In regular life, it seems rare to actually see a thought through to its end. Usually you get interrupted by some regular life incident/stimulus, like the phone ringing or someone calling your attention, and you happily put the thought to the side. Sort of like, hmm, that was a nice healthy bit of thinking, glad I did that, ok, on with my day. Here though, there isn’t much to distract me from my thoughts, so I’m pretty much stuck with them, forced to confront them and thus confront myself.

For example, this project I’m about to start, the YouTube coffee channel…well, I could easily have started it already. I’m actually quite anxious to start it. I think about it constantly. I make up excuses to myself for why I haven’t, but because I have so much damn free thinking time, I am forced to find the truth within myself. Then I realize that it’s fear, which then leads me to realize that it’s the fear that it won’t be perfect, which then leads me to realize that my perfectionism could very well have a crippling effect on my life. Ahhh, see? This is what too much thinking leads to: very real answers.

Not only do I end up seeing my thoughts through, but I also have become quite astute at noticing my thought patterns. The more aware I am, the more I notice that I think the same things over and over and over, day after day. I was somewhat aware that the human mind works in this way, but now that I can catch it, I can rebel! How dare I waste my mind on the same old thoughts?! It’s no easy task to break out of the habit, but when I do, my soul stirs with excitement about where my mind can take me. And now it ventures into some pretty interesting unexplored territory.

So though it can sometimes be tough and taxing on the mind, I have to say I’m getting a lot out of this situation, learning a lot about myself, and developing a new skill for navigating this life. God knows, I’ll take any skill I can get my hands on. If I can last like this for a couple months, I’m pretty sure I’d turn out a stronger person. So I suggest to anyone to spend, even for a little while, some time isolated from the world. You might go on an adventure…with yourself:)

Tis the Season

2009-09-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

Fall is here! Fall is here!!
I didn’t think I was going to notice it, but I do, and it’s amazing. I thought it might be disguised by the heat and the tropics, but it’s as evident and lovely as ever.

And so I realize that a season is so much more than a change in the weather. For me, it’s a particular feeling of comfort and excitement programmed into my soul, only to be released in the month of September. It’s 15 years of waiting for my favorite time of year: the start of the school year! Woo hoo!!! I could pretend that I was sad summer was over, so as to fit in, but the truth was that I couldn’t stand the wait. Especially August. I liked to say that it was my favorite month because of my birthday, but that was a lie too. It dragged on by torturously slow, hot and boring and empty. At least that’s how it seemed at the time. (Wow, it feels surprisingly good to admit this)

Then you get your school supplies and your class schedule and life suddenly seems so full and exciting. Suddenly I am in my element. I feel, once again, a purpose. I have been anticipating this moment so intensely that when it comes I am practically bursting. My competitive spirit reaches its peak. I’m ready to learn and to kick some ass! Bring it on education!

And so it begins: the homework, the books, the notes, the tests, the football games, the tennis practice, the dances, or, in the later years, the frat parties, the new classmates and the exciting new crushes :) Oh, school! Glorious glorious school! I loved school more than I ever even knew. It wasn’t until it all ended 8 years ago that I realized how deep it ran in my veins.

Though the giddiness has subsided, it remains, through some biorhythmic magic, a part of my life. Even here in a remote coffee farm in the jungle, I feel that same sense of comfort and excitement. I’m in competitive over achiever mode, as I start this new project (details to follow), and it feels great!

September couldn’t have come at a better time :)

2009-09-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

The new girl arrived yesterday. Se llama Tracy. So I thought this would be a good time to bring you, dear reader:) , up to speed on the crew here.

First of all, there are my lovely hosts, Israel and Sandra. See pic below. If I base my criteria for judging hosts on how comfortable I feel in their home, then they are, quite simply, perfect. Israel is from Cuba and one of 13 children! And Sandra is a gringa from Oklahoma. They met in the Peace Corps in Bolivia, lived in Jersey for a while and then moved here 14 years ago to live out his dream of having a coffee farm. He’s super passionate about coffee, pretty silly, and doesn’t take life or himself too seriously. So we get along brilliantly. He’s also quite tenacious in his struggle with the government to get coffee pickers from outside the island (I’ll go into more detail about that later, bit of a complicated situation), so it’s not uncommon to hear him ranting about his cause to any willing ear.

Sandra is also quite the talker. Between the two of them, you get very little silence. I’m not a very big talker (probably on the quieter side of the vocal spectrum ), so it’s a lot to handle. However, if it’s in Spanish, it just means more practice, so I’m all for it. They do bicker quite a bit, but it seems like nothing compared to my parents (sorry mom&dad, just telling it like it is). Regardless, Sandra is great. And very smart. She seems to have an acute awareness of what’s going on around her and a sensitivity to how other people are feeling that is so rare and wonderful. She also makes a wicked potato salad :) Unfortunately, she twisted her ankle about a month ago and hasn’t been very mobile since. She has mostly been sliding around in her office chair for the last 2 weeks, but recently has started to walk, though it’s more of a hobble :-/ Hope she recovers soon.

Let’s see…then there is Bert, Israel’s brother (the youngest of the 13), who is quite possibly my favorite person. I’m not sure what it is, but the way he speaks (in English) makes everything seem funny. I don’t think he even means to be funny most of the time, but I laugh at just about everything that comes out of his mouth. He must think I’m weird, laughing at him when he’s being perfectly serious. He spent his career in the fur industry and apparently is quite the master furrier. Below is a pic of Bert and Ilidia. I awkwardly call her his wife, though I’m not so sure that’s accurate cause apparently he hasn’t divorced from his first wife. I get the impression, from all the drama I am told, that marriages have a low success rate here.

They live about 2 miles down the road. I just found out though that they are actually here temporarily, which I’m pretty bummed about. I thought they lived here and were just going to Arizona this month on vacation, but apparently they live in Arizona and came here to possibly live in his house. But it turns out she doesn’t like it here all that much :( They got here just a couple days before I did and are leaving on the 29th. They asked me, jokingly I suppose, if I wanted to buy the house..I’m still hoping they will just give it to me :) I will miss them both. She laughs about stupid things with me, which is nice. And she is one of the few people that I’m forced to converse with in Spanish. I find it rather surprising that she gets by in Arizona without speaking English (I imagine that this will annoy you mom), but to each their own I guess.

Then there’s my new friend Ventura, who I met last Friday at a coffee event where he immediately started flirting with me and then helped me serve coffee (see pic). So glad to have met him! And not just cause he has a car. That would be so high school :) Or because he’s a chef…ok fine, I admit it, these are both factors, but he is actually nice and interesting and we have a lot in common, including our age. Come to think of it, he may be the only 29 year old friend I have! He showed me around town Saturday night and cooked me a pretty sweet meal. That was a pretty solid first night out.

Tracy, the other volunteer, arrived yesterday. She was already here on the island with her cousin in San Juan and had been looking for a teaching job. Apparently to no avail, so she looked for a volunteer opp instead and ended up here. She is 32, I think, and from Rhode Island! (I’ve never met anyone from Rhode Island and, honestly, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about it except for its capital.) So far so good. Sandra described her as shy, but I definitely don’t see that. She is friendly and nice and smiley and agreeable. Ooh, and she likes playing games, which is a huge huge plus. We played a couple silly games today, during which I had some really cheesy ‘I’m sure glad she’s here’ moments.
Ha. If only she spoke Spanish...

Well, that’s the main crew. There are a number of other characters, who I may at some point mention. One of the workers here is starting to give me the creeps…and so I ask god, why? Have I not had my share of old man farm pervs?! Dejame sola por favor!

En conjunto, todo va bien aqui en La Isla del Encanto.

Where am I?

2009-09-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

I’m in a funk today. I hate funks, especially when I can’t explain them. Maybe I’m just adjusting. Or still detoxing from the fiestas of last weekend. I haven’t been sleeping too well here. There’s always some bug to kill or frog to escort out of my room before bed, which puts a damper on the whole unwinding thing.

And I feel a bit homesick. Not sure what I call home really, which makes me even more homesick. Ughh. This is a depressing blog.

I’m not sure where I am. I don’t feel like I’m in a foreign country yet I certainly don’t feel like I’m in the US. Most people don’t speak English here, and I’m struggling with my Spanish. There’s a conversation going on right outside the door and I can’t even understand it (something about roasting a pig, I think). I’m having the realization that my Spanish just isn’t what I want it to be. Even when it was the best it ever was, I could never quite follow Spanish television or really be sure what people were saying about me when I walked down the street in Costa Rica. To make matters worse, Puerto Rican Spanish is quite different than anything I’ve heard. They drop their s’s all the time and merge words. Buenos dias becomes buen dia (easy enough example), voy por alla becomes voy palla...this will definitely take some getting used to.

I feel lost. And a bit dazed. I miss my mom.

I did discover something pretty wonderful today though. It’s called a sapote and it’s the latest and greatest in my world of tropical fruits. It sort of looks like an elongated coconut, brown and hairy, and on the inside is a big black pit, that I’m oddly afraid of, and the most unique and stunning pinkish-orange flesh. The texture resembles a squash and the flavor is balanced and mildly sweet. It’s creamy and comforting and brilliant. I feel that same joy I felt when I tried my first cherimoya, like life just got a little bit better. What can I say, fruit just makes me happy :)

I'm back

2009-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

I hope for good this time. I really have no good excuse for not writing in so long. Sure, my laptop died, but I fixed it back in June and haven’t written since. I’m definitely a bit disappointed with myself. I think the main thing that has kept me from writing is the whole audience factor. I have had some personal issues that really have no place here. If I could write anonymously, perhaps this blog could have helped me deal with it all. The things weighing most heavily on my mind, the things I wanted to write about, I just couldn’t post on the internet. Well, enough about that. I’m free of those distractions now and want to start writing again :) And I think I’m in a good place to do it.

Right now I’m in a private little studio in an isolated hacienda surrounded by a tropical rainforest in Puerto Rico. If I can’t manage to get any writing done here, then surely this blog was not meant to be.

I will write more soon. Gotta head up to the house now. I broke a mug and a bowl and I need to come clean about it :-/

To being practical

2009-03-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Laptop Update: It turns out the motor in my hard drive died and the repair shop can't recover my data. There may be a way to recover it, but it seems complicated and expensive. So I started to question whether or not it was worth it. I knew most of my photos were backed up online. Funnily enough, I actually backed them up before going to Costa Rica, thinking that there was a decent chance my laptop would be stolen. Well, it went against the odds and died instead.

Unfortunately, everything since that point was not backed up, so I've lost a lot of photos from CR and HI :( BUT I still have the pics on my blog and all the ones on Facebook (reevaluating my shameful feelings of FB usage right now). Since I usually put my favorite ones online, I can't say I'm too bummed out about it. Besides, the memories remain pretty vivid in my mind, and much more spectacular. I lost all of my music, but I can always just download it all again.

But then there was my writing. All the secret conversations I had with myself as I moved to New York, created my life there, contemplated career changes, relationships, and just got to know myself better-those I would greatly miss. I thought maybe there was a chance I backed some of it up but was scared to find out. Well, this morning, I finally brought myself to look and was overjoyed with what I discovered-my entire diary was there! What a relief! I just felt so happy with myself, having been so responsible and practical for thinking to save those.

Now, while it may seem like I'm rambling or overdramatizing a seemingly minute success story, there is actually a valuable lesson that I've learned. And that is, it's important to be practical. I've never been a big fan of practicality or related well to the cautionary type. I'm a bit more of a whimsical, spontaneous, emotional, play-it-by-ear kind of gal, and becoming more so, it seems, as I get older (errrr, yeah, I think it's supposed to be the other way around). Or maybe I am a fairly practical person whose practicality is practically dwarfed by the super practical people in my life. Ha. I don't know.

What I do know is that, as I try to navigate the uncertainty that lies beyond this trip, I will remember that a healthy dose of practicality, and some prudent planning, can really pay off :)

My laptop is broken...

2009-02-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

...which may help to explain why I haven't written in a while. Sad face. Now I write on a desktop in the studio. The screen is exposed. It just feels weird and formal. I do get to sit in a chair, though, so it's definitely better for my posture.

My laptop got dropped off at some repair shop on Friday. Bob has some arrangement with the computer people where he pays them in coffee, which totally works for me:) However, my computer has been pretty unresponsive the last couple of weeks, so I don't know if it will be revived. Trying to stay optimistic.

In the meantime, if anyone reading this can send some positive vibes to my sweet little laptop, I'd appreciate it.

And until I write again, please enjoy some photos...

me roasting coffee

me with a crazy chameleon on my arm

hanging out in the studio with sophie

Kealakukua bay...great for snorkeling but a wee bit scary. sliced my hand on something, not sure what, but it's healed now:)

and finally, I get to drive, woohoo!!!

Yesterday

2009-02-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

I was about to write my mom an email about yesterday's adventure and thought, why not just turn it into a blog? It wasn't super crazy or anything, but definitely a solid day of adventuring.

While the boys went down to the beach for the regular Friday night potluck, I stayed home planning my trip. I have to say, and this may come as no surprise, that I enjoyed my evening immensely. Reading my travel book, drinking tea, looking at maps, drinking more tea, researching the bus....ahhhhh, the sweet joy of adventure prep.

The plan was to make it to the opposite side of the island to Hilo, one of the oldest and largest cities in the state. There are 2 possibilities for getting there without a car: the bus or hitchhiking. Well, I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle and uncertainty of hitchhiking, especially since I wasn't sure if I was going solo, so I chose the bus. Unfortunately though, the bus system here is quite laughable. There is just one bus per day, it's not very clear where it stops, and oh joy, it comes at 5:55 am! Insanity!!! (See picture of my hand-written bus schedule. I don't have a printer, plus I get off on this type of detailed work.) On the plus side, however, it's free!

Another plus, Tim decides to come with. Relieved and excited, I set my alarm for 4:30 am. Getting up before 5 is unnatural and just plain wrong, I just have to say. Got up, ate, packed our bags, and left here at 5. It was pitch black, so I carried a flashlight as we walked along the highway for almost 2 miles to Honaunau Elementary School, the supposed bus stop (I say supposed because I called the transit line, and the woman who answered wasn't sure and told me to ask around (ha), then put me on hold and asked someone else who said it was at this school). At moments, the walk was miserable (our lack of sleep kicking in), and at other moments magnificent (the incredible harmony of frog, insect, bird sounds electrifying the night). We got to the bus stop a bit early and waited. (That's Tim in the picture, sitting at the side of the road, probably wondering how he got sucked into this.) We had never ridden the bus or actually even seen one, so this was a suspenseful moment. Sure enough, around 5:55 it drove by. We waved frantically, but it kept going. Shit. All that for nothing, you got to be kidding me, I thought. Well, the bus driver must have had a delayed reaction, cause he eventually stopped a ways ahead of us. Totally relieved, we caught up and hopped on:) Yea! The adventure continues!

Once on, we were both pretty focused on sleeping, and since it was still dark, it was the perfect opportunity. The bus driver couldn't just leave his damn foot on the accelerator though, so it was a bit of a jerky ride. I got in a bit of shut eye though and was then ready to take in some island views (here we are on the bus, somewhat more alert).

The bus windows were all smudgy, so I don't have any great shots, but I'll include a couple just so you can get an idea. The most amazing thing about travelling the island is watching the landscapes and ecosystems change before your eyes, from desert to grassland to forest...dry, wet, and everything in between. Incredible.

We got to Waimea, at the north tip of our route at about 8:00, where we were told we got a 30 minute break AND were welcomed by a Starbucks! I have to admit, I was actually excited about that. Kona shmona, I'm tired of all the pretension. Plus, I had my Starbucks card with me, so I got a coffee and Tim got a latte (thanks Mom). Got back on the bus for another hour and a half and then arrived in Hilo. Wow. Huge difference from Kona. An actual town, a more authentic local vibe, and....the best Farmer's Market ever!!! See pics (look at Tim, enjoying my obnoxious touristiness). Loads and loads of enticing goodies and beautiful flowers. Had some rambutans (hairy thing pictured). Deelish!
I wandered through the market a couple times, entranced and overwhelmed, and soon became very hungry.

So we walked around a bit, checking out town, looking at food options, and ended up in a tiny joint where we saw some local-looking people and menu of traditional Hawaiian food. I got a loco moco, which is a ground beef patty and egg over rice, smothered in gravy. I didn't take a picture, so I'm stealing one off the internet so you can see what it looks like (that's legal, right?). It was really yummy, but left me feeling quite full and nasty.

So we walked around, ventured off the beaten path, and found some sweet little pockets of natural beauty. It's amazing how many secret spots there are around the island. I'm always wondering why more people haven't caught on to them. We walked along the Wailuku River, spotted some mini-waterfarlls, found a little pathway down to the water, where, eventually, we got in for a swim (well, Tim swam and I just waded, but that still counts for something). Here's a sampling of the stuff we saw.

We contemplated staying the night at a hostel, but to save money (they aren't dirt cheap like in Costa Rica) and avoid the challenge of hitching back Sunday (bus doesn't run), we decided to head back on the one and only return bus at 1:30. The time in Hilo was short but sweet and I will definitely be back soon. The bus returned on the same route, stopping again at the same shopping center in Waimea. We had a different driver who was kind of an ass. I was lagging a bit to get off the bus cause I had been sleeping, and he yelled at me :( Anyhoo, he said to be back in 20-25 minutes. We hung out at Starbucks again and headed back to the bus 20 minutes later, but the bus was nowhere to be found. Sad face again :( I was still kind of groggy from my nap and just could not grasp what had happened. It actually left with out us! Unbelievable!

Somehow, Tim wasn't really too bummed out, and I just followed his lead as we set out for our first hitching attempt of the day. Made it to the main road and hoped for the best. In record time, a truck pulled over and we were welcomed by a couple heading into Kona. They were incredibly nice and friendly. Ooh, here's a freakish coincidence: they lived in Carlsbad for a while, about half a mile from where I grew up. We were headed to a friend's house in a slightly different direction from where they were headed, so they dropped us off at the road to Holualoa. Before we got out, the driver gave us his business card and told us to call them if we ever want to join them for a ski/snowboard trip to Mauna Kea (which I am dying to do). Too nice, too nice.

Well, we were still about 4 miles from our destination, so it was time to stick out our thumbs again. Again, in lightning speed, a truck pulled over for us! This time we were relegated to the back of the truck, and, since there was very little room, we actually sat on a couple plastic chairs! Good thing it was a short ride, cause that was a wee bit dangerous.

In less than 10 minutes, we were at our destination, a friend's house who was having a get together for some huge UFC fight on Pay-per-view. Not exactly my cup of tea, and I wasn't exactly invited, but it was easier if Tim and I just stuck together. I ended up being the only girl there, so that kind of blew, but I actually kind of enjoyed the fights. There were maybe 5 fights, culminating with the main event fight with a Hawaiian contender named BJ Penn (who unfortunately lost). I got freakishly engrossed in the second fight, cause one of the fighters, Karo Parisyan, was Armenian! That was exciting. I bet $1 against one of the guys, and won. Woohoo!!! :) Hung out there for a while after all the fights and then got a ride home from one of the guys. Man was I happy to be home. Took a nice hot shower, made some tea, and watched some Aussie Open. What an incredible match! Too bad I missed most of it, cause I passed out on the futon after the first set. Ahhh, it sure felt good to sleep.

So that was my first big adventure in Hawai'i and, hopefully, just the first of many. Mahalo for reading :)

The power of aloha

2009-01-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

Oh blog, what a flake I have become. Over two weeks here and I've only written in you once. Here I sit, unperturbed by the pressures of life, free of nagging responsibilities, and yet, you manage to make me feel guilty. To make things worse, you're not even real. You are mere flotsam in a sea of virtual material. You only exist because I created you. Damn this tangled web I've woven.

Though my love-hate relationship with my blog continues to cause some mild distress, I can now rejoice in telling you of my new-found love for Hawai'i. Yes! I love this place! So it wasn't love at first sight, Costa Rican style, but maybe that's a good thing. Maybe this is real love, the kind that builds so slowly and subtlely that you don't even realize that you've fallen in love. Heavenly, like the sweet nonsense flowing from my fingertips. Seriously though, things are great. I think the problem I initially had was a general resistance to all things American. I wanted foreign. I wanted to frolic in my exotic uniqueness again, struggle as an outsider to find my way in, adapt to a wildly different culture. Unfortunately, that may just be an impossibility here in the US (though perhaps more domestic travel could prove otherwise).

Once I began to accept Hawai'i, and its heaps of whities, as America, it's uniqueness started to present itself. The nuances and subtleties of Hawai'ian culture worked their magic and I became one with the aloha spirit. This is one special place. Beautiful tropical weather, a laid back friendly (aloha) vibe, loads of natural beauty, exotic fruits, all here in the good ol' US of A. Who knew? ;-)

Comparing Hawai'i to Costa Rica was also kind of silly. My experience is so different here, in some ways better (better accommodations, cleaner roommate, safer, less fear of spiders crawling on me at night). The point, though, is that I've finally moved on from the pura vida and can now embrace the aloha. They are not to be compared but each appreciated as a separate unique paradise.

It's just so relaxing here. I spend the weekends at the beach. Swim, snorkel, sunbathe, hike. I eat avocado every day. Drink Kona coffee every morning overlooking the ocean. Drink tea every night. I have lots of fun with my roommate. Oh, and I just got a care package from my mom, full of little treats (incredible!!!!!). I just feel lucky today and, after all, really glad I came here.

Hawai'i, Haole, Potato, Potahto

2009-01-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

Aloha,
Been in Hawai'i 2 full days now (wow, is that all?)
Just want to write a quick recap and post some pics.

So far so good. My flight was smooth, Hawaiian themed, and included a meal! Pesto penne and chocolate cake. Nice. I had an hour layover in Honolulu, where I felt disgusted by tourists and comforted myself with a small Frappuccino that cost $4.45. Ahhh, the disgust fuels itself with more disgust. Somewhat happier, I hopped on the next plane and experienced the most beautiful flight of my life, watching as we passed island after island. It was surreal. Definitely a crucial time for a window seat.

I flew into Kona around 2:30 and my hosts, Bob and Beryl, were waiting for me, holding up a sign. Isn't that sweet?! They were so nice, chatting with me as we waited for my bag, and waited, and waited, and waited. The bag apparently didn't get off the plane with me. So we went to lunch and returned to the airport afterward. Thankfully, it had arrived. It was a gorgeous day and I was happy to be back in tropical air. Apparently, I came just after the storm and it was as clear as it ever gets. Bob and Beryl then showed me some places on the way to the farm, including the beach:)

Got to the farm and saw the accommodations. Pretty sweet. I have a studio with its own little kitchen, a pretty comfy bed, a nice shower, a tv with a million channels, internet, and a very nice roommate named Tim. He's a 24 year old cook from Australia. The only bad thing about the place are the annoying roosters. They crow at the oddest hours, usually quite early, and one in particular does it just outside our window. There are a number of chickens too, some adorable baby chicks, and I believe 6 cats (that's Sophie pictured, she has one eye). They are the friendliest cats I have ever seen. I quite like them, and I'm not much of a cat person. Yesterday, I saw the most amazing creature, called a Jackson's Chameleon. See pic!

Tim has been showing me practically everything about the work. Yesterday we mostly sorted coffee beans and roasted a bit, and today we washed, dried, milled, and sized beans. (that work picture is of Tim sizing beans and Bob milling them) Today he showed me around the farm after work and we picked some fruit. The highlights: sweet basil, oranges, lychee (sooooo good), and tons of avocado!!! To give you an idea of their size, I'm posting a picture of me holding one.

Another challenge about this place is that it's pretty isolated. There isn't really anything within walking distance, so, just like a typical suburb, you have to drive everywhere. Luckily, Bob and Beryl have like 4 cars, which they let Tim drive (eventually hopefully me too). We drove down to the beach last night for this bbq for the new guy named Joe. Well, he's not exactly new. He was here for 7 months before, and now he's back to stay at another farm, but for 2 weeks here at our farm (not worth going into details). The beach was beautiful, as was the sunset, and the magnificent sky of stars (never seen so many in my life!). So we get down there and I'm all excited about the idea of seeing a "local" scene and maybe meeting some more authentic people. Oh my god. It was like a haole nightmare. (Haole is the Hawaiian word for gringo). I felt like I was in Cancun. I hate to come across as judgmental but it felt like white trash. There, I said it. That's how I feel.

At one point during my first work day, Beryl called on me to help her translate to some Mexicans who drove up to the farm. I was so relieved. Finally some non-haoles! Well, it wasn't as enjoyable as I expected.
Something was different and sad…the girl in the back looked at me with what looked like disgust. That never happened in

Costa Rica

. But I understood.

Well, it's too soon to tell. I'm going to stay positive and hope I find some culture here. And if not, at least I know where to find avocados:)

What I Learned about Coffee

2009-01-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

I wrote this to attach to a gift I gave my brother and sister-in-law. It turned out to be sort of a children's story. Enjoy!

Everything has a story…

Welcome to mine! This is the story of me, the coffee bean, and how I got here into your home.

I grew up on a farm in Sarchi, Costa Rica. Beautiful place, you should definitely visit. Here’s a picture of me and my family, hanging out at home. Each of those little pods has two of us beans inside, so you could say we’re a pretty close to one another. Most of us are mature and ready to be picked, though those little greenies will have to stay behind. Ahhh, and here comes a picker now.

Well, she looks nice. This might be fun. Ok, this is it…she’s coming in for the pick!

Ah, that wasn’t so bad. What soft hands she has!

Oooh, where to next? Looks like a colorful basket with a bunch of other travelers, and ooh…what’s that, a blanket? This sure looks cozy. Look at us, all cozying up together. This sure beats being stuck to a tree all day, creepy crawlers freaking me out all day.

This next part was kind of embarrassing, so I shooed away the photographers. We were poured into a large pail of water, where we swam and just putzed around for a while. Then it got really weird. Soaking in that water made me kind of mushy and, uh, really really stinky. Next thing you know the nice soft-handed picker lady is pulling off my shell. Oh my gosh, suddenly I’m stripped down to my undies in front of everybody! Fast forward, fast forward.

After a got over the initial trauma, it wasn’t actually that bad. Before you know it, everyone else was naked too, and after a while, it didn’t feel so weird (gosh, maybe I’ve been brainwashed by society to be ashamed of my body). Anyhoo, all together and naked, we dried off in the hot sun and worked on our tans. That was one beautiful, toasty-warm day.

After we were nice and dry, turned out we had to lose the underwear too.

This time I went through a grinder. Guess this layer is tough to remove…

Wow, take a look at that. It’s me! Shiny, sparkly me! Am I a stunner, or what? Seems like a lot of work, but it looks like I’m worth it:)

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, I’m whisked off to the airport, smuggled through Customs and on my way to the United States! Look at me now, I’m an international coffee bean. And organic to boot.

After a long flight, and a 3 hour layover in Denver, I finally arrive, totally exhausted, in lovely Carlsbad, California. And just in time for Christmas! Hung out here for a week or so, and then got roasted into the New Year. Well, I’m much much tanner now, a bit oily, but boy do I smell good.

Tomorrow I’m off to Portland, Oregon, where my story comes to an end. My life sure has been fabulous. Growing up on a beautiful farm, travelling the world, and ending up in your home, ready to be brewed and enjoyed. So have a cup of joe…it’s on me :)

My Costa Rican Vacation

2009-01-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

I know what you're probably thinking about the title...'uh, I thought you already were on vacation..?' Well, you are mistaken. I was working dammit. Thirty hours a week of physical labor, mind you, with the added burden of fending off the farm creeps and pervs. Rest assured, it was no walk in the park.

So when the opportunity came up to leave the farm for a while, it was pretty much a no-brainer.
This is how it unfolded. Toward the end of November I received a very special email. It was from a special person who was a big part of my life while I lived in New York. His name is John. John and I met at work and became friends and occasional lunch mates. As you probably guessed, that friendship eventually grew into something more, as I just became more and more addicted to his delightfully offbeat sense of humor. So we gave it a go and had one heck of a roller coaster ride. Lots of back and forth, off and on, hot and cold. Sure felt like a lot of work. However, being the stubborn person that I am, and seeing an unusual special something between us, I just kept trying. I figured if I was patient enough, it would have to work out. Well, it didn't. We ended up going our separate ways when I left NY for CA in September. He left for a 10 week wilderness adventure, and the following month, I left for Costa Rica.

I just wanted to provide a bit of background. There may be like one stray reader in here that doesn't already know the story :)

Though Costa Rica was treating me very well, I still thought about John quite a bit. Physical labor, especially the simple repetitive sort (raking, weeding, coffee picking, etc.), is very conducive to daydreaming, as you could probably imagine. So I zoned out a lot and thought about John. Suffice to say, I missed him.

One day in late November, I went to the internet cafe and there was an email from him. Without going into details (sorry, he might read this), I will say that it was a incredibly sweet letter about how he missed me and wanted to be with me. I loved it. I actually printed it out and taped it to the wall next to my bed when I got back to the cabin. That's kind of embarrassing, but oh well. I wrote him back a few days later, telling him how much I liked the letter, and then we emailed a bit more and video chatted on Skype. Next thing you know, he's buying a ticket to Costa Rica!

I did a ton of research and planned what I thought was a pretty cool itinerary. I was so excited that I would finally get to start exploring the country (I hadn't really gone very far from Sarchí , just some day trips to towns within a couple hours bus ride). Then John arrived on December 11th and my vacation began!!!

This is a recap of what we did and where we went:

12/11-John arrives. I went to meet him in at Maleku Hostel in Alajuela, very close to the airport, and about a 90 minute bus ride from me. It was my first hostel ever, and I loved it. I got there at 3:30 and just waited outside on a bench, listening to the new reggae music on my ipod (if you've never heard Alborosie, I highly recommend you check him out). His flight was delayed a couple hours, but when he finally arrived, it was oh so nice. We hung out at the hostel a bit and chatted, then went to dinner at KFC (which a bit more fancy and expensive than in the US), walked around a bit, then came back and went to bed fairly early.

12/21-I was the first one awake at the hostel at about 5am, partly out of habit and party out of excitement! I had some complimentary breakfast (they provided coffee, crackers and bananas) and used their computer until John got up. We did some more research on our trip online, hung out at the hostel a bit, then went into town. I had been to Alajuela a couple times, and I love it. It's sort of a smaller version of San Jose, just a lot safer and cleaner and less crazy. We hung out at the main park there (Mango Park, named for it's giant mango trees) for a while, then caught a bus to Sarchí . Back at the farm, I got to show him around, go for a mini-swim in the lake, make some traditional food (rice, beans, plantains, tortilla chips) and introduce him to the farm crew. He got to meet Frank, who was surprisingly normal and, for the first time ever, kind of engaging. Weird. And we got to hang out with Martha, which was really nice.

12/13-12/14-The real adventure begins. First stop, Arenal Volcano. Arenal is like the mother of all volcanoes, and for me it was a definite must-see. So we headed out fairly early to catch a bus to another bus to another bus that would 4 hours later take us to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is the closest main town to the volcano. We went to the hostel where we had reservations, Arenal Backpackers, but had a bit of a glitch there. The front desk guy wouldn't honor the price that was on the website ($12), after I pointed out that I was overcharged, and his manager wouldn't either...so we left. Didn't really dig the vibe there anyway. So we went to another hostel called Gringo Pete's, where we stayed 2 nights. It was only 6 bucks! The ladies who worked there were young and crazy and running around and screaming a lot. That was weird, but entertaining.

Well, as far as the volcano goes, we didn't see anything:( It was completely covered in clouds both days. We went on a night tour to see the lava at night, which you can only see from one side of the volcano. These guys picked us up in a van, and some other people along the way, and took us first to a natural hotspring. It was basically just a river off the side of the road, naturally heated by the volcano to the most pleasantly warm temperature. Oh so relaxing. Stayed there about an hour then travelled on to the lava viewpoint. Well, once again we saw nothing:( We all sat there for an hour, but only got to see a couple small sparks of red. The guides were nice enough to share a bottle of cacique (alcohol) with us to at least partially compensate for the disappointment. Arenal, I will see you one day, just you wait.

12/15-16-The plan was to head to Monteverde, home of the famous Cloud Forest Reserve. One way to go is this jeep-boat combo that cuts over Lake Arenal but was a bit pricey, so we tried something else. We thought it would be cool to spend some time by the lake, so we took a bus to a town called Nuevo Arenal, thinking we could either stay there or take a boat across there. I think the deciding factor was this German restaurant we read about in my guidebook. Well, it turned out to be a really small town, not much to chose from as far as accommodations, and no boats across. But the German restaurant was there (called Tom's Pan), and it was sehr gut! Kind of pricey but totally worth it, cause we were totally beat. We also spent some time just chilling by the side of the road overlooking the beautiful lake (we could't find a way to actually access the lake, very strange). We even saw a family of monkeys hanging out in one of the trees. That was amazing. Especially watching the baby monkey swing around. So cute! I absolutely loved that town. It was so peaceful and serene. I remember thinking, 'if I moved to Costa Rica, I would live here.'

Since we knew we wouldn't be able to make it to Monteverde that day, we trekked on to a city that would at least get us closer: Tilaran. Good move. This was such an authentic, non-touristy town, kind of like Sarchí but larger. Another great tip from my book led me to a great hotel called Hotel El Sueño, which was only about $27 a night for both of us. It had a TV too! We were lucky enough to catch most of Mrs. Doubtfire, which was as entertaining as ever:) We had some tasty fried chicken at a place called Super Pollo and hung out in the plaza a bit.

Next morning, I went out looking for an ATM (I was having problems with almost every bank's ATM except one, which I couldn't find there. So I continued to borrow from John). I did find, however, a little fruit shack. Yea! Got a pineapple, which the guy cut up for me and put in a bag, perfect for travelling :)

We headed out soon after that for our shadiest (and most memorable) bus ride ever. (Note: the roads are generally pretty bad all over CR. What looks short, distance-wise, actually takes us several hours, so we spent A LOT of time on the bus.) That was one rough dirt road! At one point we reached a bridge that looked so fragile that I was told by the lady next to me we would all have to get out and walk across first! To top it off, it was raining. Well, luckily, the bus made it across without us having to get out. Gave me a good scare though.

Later that afternoon, we arrived in Santa Elena, the town next to Monteverde. We went to our next hostel, Pensión Santa Elena, which was highly recommended by my book. It was pretty cool, nice layout, nice kitchen, and only $7. Only problem was that the walls were paper thin. Heard some stuff I would have rather not, but luckily I had my ipod handy. Had dinner at a soda called La Amistad that was out of the main touristy area. Pretty good and super friendly service.

12/17-Woke up really early the next morning to take a bus to the Cloud Forest Reserve. I was so excited to finally get to hike and see all the species of mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. that I read about in my book. Adult admission was $17 (I used my ancient Bruin Card to save $8 though), so I figured it had to be good! But sadly, it was pretty lame. I couldn't believe all the hype about this place. All we saw was one cool centipede. No joke. The forest was nice (who doesn't like trees?) and the "cloud" part was cool, but overall, it was a giant letdown. There are more creatures in my backyard.

We hiked all the trails (about 4 hours worth) and then walked to our next destination, the Monteverde Cheese Factory. This is the main cheese producer for the entire country, and they don't export, which is pretty cool. So we got a tour there, which was a pretty interesting (mostly cause I love cheese). We were both hoping for a nice sampling at the end. I had been craving cheese for a while, as I hardly ever had it on the farm because it's so expensive (moreso than the US!). So we were very pleased at the end, when we all sat in a room and the tour guide passed around a platter of cheese. We got to sample about 7 cheeses. My favorite was the Monte Rico, a lighter white cheese unique to Monteverde. The tour guide said whatever doesn't get eaten gets tossed, so John was happy to resolve that problem. After that we headed back to the hostel, chilled out, and cooked up some dinner (pasta and garlic bread, yum).

12/18-19-Ahhh, it's already Thursday, and we haven't made it to the beach! We got up very early again and caught an 8 am bus headed to the coast. Well, we had a bit of a mishap on the way (sorry again, John). We were supposed to get off to change buses at a stop in Chomes, which I had never heard of. It was just some small town along the highway which would lead us to Playa Samara. It wasn't clear which stop was which and I was hoping the bus driver would say something, but we ended up missing it.

Luckily I had a backup plan:) We took the bus to its end at Puntarenas (a super muggy port town), then took a ferry across and then another bus, and ended up at a different beach called Malpaís. The town basically runs along one street, a very dusty dirty road, and is quite touristy. The beach, though, is absolutely gorgeous. And once again, we found another great hostel to stay in, Casa Zen. Thank you again, guidebook. It was buddha-themed and colorful and, best of all, steps away from the beach. The beach was something else. The shoreline seemed to have no end. Just miles and miles of gray sand and beautiful crystal blue water. The highlights of my time there were swimming in the beautiful warm water at sunset and sitting under the palm trees at night looking up at a sky full of stars. Also worth mentioning is the food we made. I was craving some rice and beans, so we bought dry beans, which I soaked overnight in our room (weird, I know) and cooked up the next day. Quite time consuming but totally worth it (so much better than a can!). We made so many beans that we had them for every meal. I just cannot get sick of beans!!!

12/20-Got some good beach time in before we left Sunday afternoon for San José. Our bus left around 2 and got into San José around 9 (we stopped, waited for the ferry, etc.). I thought maybe we should spend a little time in San Jose, which would mean less travel time the next day. Plus, it's the capital, and that has to be worth something. The only disadvantage of this plan is that it's dangerous. I've heard a lot of bad things from the people I've met, so I was really scared about arriving at night. Also, we weren't really sure 1) where the hostel was or 2)if they even had room for us! I was about as nervous as I ever get. But we walked through a main street and played it pretty cool, so thank god, nobody bothered us.

At the end of our risky walk, we were greeted at the most wonderful hostel by the most wonderful friendly guy named Johnny. I was so relieved at that point to be safe and warm, that Johnny seemed like our angel. God bless him and that amazing hostel. For real though, that hostel, Costa Rica Backpackers, was definitely the best of our entire trip. Too bad we got there so late and didn't get to spend more time there. It had a pool, a bunch of hammocks, a big kitchen, free unlimited internet 24 hours a day, hot showers, complimentary coffee, movies every night in the TV lounge, and of course an angel of a host named Johnny.

12/21-This place was also the reason I left Costa Rica. Yep, in case you didn't already know, I am back in CA. I was so excited about the internet access that I spent all morning looking for a last minute flight home for Christmas. John was leaving the next day. My friends at the farm were in Nicaragua for Christmas. I was planning on going to another farm but the host told me rather last minute that he couldn't pick me up as planned, which would have meant travelling all day on the bus with my big duffel bag. A giant hassle and dangerous to boot. Put all those factors together, and I felt compelled to leave. I found an amazingly cheap flight to LA that left the very next day. Just under $200. Frontier Airlines and Costa Rica Backpackers are the reason I'm here right now.

To wrap the vacation up...we spent the afternoon checking out San José. Just okay, a bit too chaotic for me, reminded me of New York. We saw a couple of the more noteworthy attractions: the National Theater and the Central Market. But overall, I was happy to move on from there. We took a bus back to Sarchí , where the rest of my stuff was, said goodbye, and headed to Alajuela, so we would be close to the airport. Went to one final hostel, Mango Verde, which was nice (though I was too tired to remember much), and we had one final date together. A hamburger and a beer at a nearby restaurant. Yum.

12/22-Bright and early the next morning, we took a cab to the airport, where we parted ways. I had a wonderful time travelling with John and it was really sad to leave him :( As far as Costa Rica goes, my heart is still there. I miss it so much. They just had a 6.1 earthquake and I feel bad that I'm not there. I wish I could have stayed longer and just seen everything. I am sure there will be many chances to return, and I am already dreaming about it. (Actually, Angel is going to let me know when Frank's in the US, so I can come back and stay there.)

After a whirlwind trip and an abrupt departure, I found myself back in the US, wondering if I can find some small piece of that lifestyle here. Perhaps I'll find a bit of it in Hawaii, where I'm off to next. I leave tomorrow, believe it or not. And so the journey continues. Off to another coffee farm, where I will continue to write and hopefully, this time, truly learn a lot about coffee.

Since I still have to pack, I better wrap this up. Check in with me next week, when I'm a coffee farmer in Captain Cook, Hawaii!!! :)

Happiness

2008-12-31T15:15:00.000-08:00

I realized many things in my time in Costa Rica, but one thing in particular really excites me to no end. Though I risk sounding really cliche or jinxing my own good fortune, I really want to further explore this realization: happiness is everything.

For anyone who is really truly happy, I congratulate you and say just keep doing whatever it is that you're doing (as long as it's not hurting anyone). For the rest of the population, attaining happiness is an ongoing challenge, an internal dialogue full of some combination of self-doubt (why can't I make myself happy, dammit), identity crisis (do I really know myself and what makes me happy), longing (I just want to be happy so bad), comparisons (hmm, I wonder if so-and-so is happier than me), worry (shit, what if I never become happy), greed (maybe more money will make me happy, even though people say it shouldn't) and so on. It's not such a happy dialogue. I've been there and it got me nowhere.

Well, something wonderful happened to me in Costa Rica. I stopped trying to be anything. It coincided with a book I was reading about Eastern philosophy called The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts. I became a fan of his over the summer and realized through my readings that I already was an Easterner, in my own outlook of the world. Most of what he writes about is man's relationship to his environment. How man and environment are actually one, despite man's inclination to view himself as a separate entity, at odds against the world and trying to navigate his way through it. And what we think makes us so highly evolved, the human mind, so often works against us when we 1) divide everything in the world into endless compartments, 2) use it to live in the past or the future, in a world of hypotheticals, or 3) analyze shit to death. One particular quote that I jotted down was about the possibility of man's role in the universe as "neither an isolated person nor an expendable, humanoid working-machine," but instead "one particular focal point at which the whole universe expresses itself." I absolutely love that possibility. So I got to Costa Rica feeling so much more harmony with my environment. And with such a lighter load. I was simply living, just BEING, observing the world, observing my own feelings and appreciating them for what they were. (Granted they were not always good, which I guess is pretty obvious if you've read any of my previous blog drama!) It's amazing what can happen if you just stop trying.

Now, there's another part to the new-found happiness. I loved my environment. It was just what my soul had been craving: tons of natural beauty, a very simple way of life, nurturing the earth, maximizing the resources we had, including those within us, spending our free time just hanging out and talking, no cell phones (and hallelujah, no texting!), no showing off, no makeup, and a whole lot of self-discovery. It was like a dream. I had escaped the madness of New York and the lame suburban sprawl of San Diego. I lived in a town that was actually a community. A town that had a center, where you could count on running into your friends or sometimes meet new people. A town so simple that my visits usually involved just two people: pineapple guy and internet lady. Ok, and sometimes ice cream nazi:) And there is nothing that brought me back down to earth like my struggles to communicate in Spanish. Though sometimes quite embarrassing, those humbling moments brought out a childlike innocence I didn't know I still had. And perhaps most importantly, I was out of the rat-race. No corporation, no competition, no pressure to buy stuff, no malls, no excess (or shall I just call it waste). It makes me wonder if the American way of life is really something to be desired. Is all that stuff making anyone any happier? Then I wonder about the Ticos...are they happy or are they poppin' pills too, wishing that they just had more stuff? Maybe the grass is always greener until you've actually rolled around in it for a long time.

For me, the choice is easy. I don't actually like stuff. I like people. I like nature. I like experiences. By finding a lifestyle that better suited me, I became so much happier. So if I can impart any words of wisdom, they would be this: surround yourself with the things that you value the most and just experience life. It's actually pretty amazing when you're not judging it too harshly. I'm living a very off-the-beaten-path kind of existence, slowly but surely running out of money, but it's so worth it! I love being happy. If it means being a broke-ass embarrassment to society, so be it. I have dropped out of the race to nowhere, so now I can just sit on the sidelines and watch. It is so much more fun.

Wishing everyone a very HAPPY New Year:)

Back in action!

2008-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

Why hello!
It's been a while now, yeah? :-/
So much happened and all so quickly, and I'm so excited to start writing again. Let me start to recap on what has happened in the last month. As you know, there was quite a bit of drama on the farm. Frank almost kicked me out, changed his mind, had a nasty egg-white orgy with himself, made up a new rule to test our slave-worthiness, and that's where I left off.

In time, the drama with Frank eventually subsided. But first, in another attempt to "test" me, he threatened to take away my bed. He tried to pass it off as a logical request as follows: a new volunteer, some guy from Switzerland, was coming. Since he could very well weigh more than me, it made more sense for him to take the thickest mattress. So I asked, 'is he really large??' and Frank answered, 'well I guess we can weigh him when he gets here.' I suggested we wait and see. Then the joke, or at least the totally fun image in my head, was making the Swiss guy into a giant Pillsbury Doughboy, trudging through the farm, barely squeezing through the doorway into the cabin and then crushing his bed. Again, if I could draw better, this would be a cartoon. As it turns out, Swiss guy came just after another couple arrived, and there turned out to be no room at all for him. This is after he got mugged at the airport, poor guy. Frank took him to a friend's resort the next day where he could stay and volunteer. The ironic part was that he was actually really small and frail. So it worked out. Lucky little Swiss guy gets to stay somewhere far better, and I get to keep my bed:)

The next day I had a follow-up conversation with Frank. I told him I was willing to be more cooperative, but that I wasn't willing to be mistreated (ie, bed threats and slavery). He essentially agreed to stop picking on me, and there were no major weird or note-worthy incidents after that. He also revoked the new rule. Unfortunately, oh-so-unfortunately, more drama ensued on the farm, but this time amongst the volunteers. Ugh, I'm feeling reluctant to relive it right now, so I'll just recap it super briefly by saying that the couple, Carol and Allen, berated me one night for what they thought might be an affair between me and Angel. Ha. Ha. Ha. Actually, I shouldn't laugh. Though the idea is funny, the incident was absolutely horrible. It was a perfectly pleasant Friday night and they ruined it by yelling at me, in front of everyone and totally out of the blue, making a boatload of assumptions about me and Angel because he flirts with me. I just sat there in shock, not knowing whether or not they were really drunk or totally crazy, and eventually brought myself to say something like, 'I'm sorry, but I can't communicate like this. If you want to have a regular conversation in a regular tone of voice, I'll listen to what you have to say.' Well, that never happened, and we hardly talked from that point on.

Luckily, I had plans to leave the farm anyway. Hallelujah, no more farm drama!
(enter ex-boyfriend's love letter...I'll save that for a future blog)

My one month anniversary

2008-11-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Today marks one full month in Costa Rica. It has been an adventure like no other. I feel like I’m in a movie, or maybe in an investigative news program like 20/20. Week 4 was a whirlwind of drama. Where to begin…

This week we went from 5 volunteers, down to 4, then back up to 6 on Monday. Two that we gained are a married couple (Allen & Carol) who were having bad wwoof experiences here in CR and had nowhere else to go. To summarize who is here now and their relationship with Frank, which may be important as the saga unfolds:

-Martha (24, Wisconsin, can’t stand up to Frank though she probably despises him the most)
-Gerome (24, Belgium, told Frank off yesterday, earning major respect from me)
-Justin (20, Massachusetts, kind of like teacher’s pet, acts as sort of a mediator between us and Frank)
-Carol (28, New York, also outspoken with Frank)
-Allen (26, Argentina, totally agreeable with everything)

Prior to Allen and Carol’s arrival, Frank told us that they were here on a trial basis for one week, possibly because there may be some upcoming space issues but more likely because he gets off on that kind of power. Suffice to say that the first few days of their stay were quite uncertain. Frank also made up a new rule just for them that they would have to work 7 days in a row in their first week. Bitching about Frank rose to its highest level. (I’m far less involved in these talks, as they have lost their fun for me.) Things got really uncomfortable on Wednesday. I wasn’t there to witness it, but some of the others saw Frank parading around the farm, holding hands with some young girl. They said she looked like she was 16, tops. Let me say again, Frank is 50 years old. Needless to say, we were all repulsed. Repulsion then grew into serious concern, as we may have become witnesses to something illegal (prostitution is legal here, but not under the age of 18). It definitely adds a new layer of complexity to our situation.

Justin had a talk with him about it. Frank says that he doesn’t sleep with them but admitted that he gives them money because they’re in need. Hmm, not sure if 1) I believe it, or 2) that that makes me feel any better. Then I was brought up. Frank has come to believe that I am “poisoning” the group and referred to me in a metaphor as a moldy orange. Ha. Since I had been the only one to confront him about anything, he believed that I’m persuading the others to dislike him. He also expressed disappointment in our not including him in our Thanksgiving festivities, assuming that I was the primary reason for that.

That brings me to our happy day. Who knew I would have one of my most memorable Thanksgiving meals in Costa Rica. Justin, Marta and I cooked for the group, and we pretty much rocked it out in our tiny kitchen. I made cornbread, mashed ñampis (tastes sort of like potato) and sweet potatoes, which are yellow and not as sweet as the US version. Justin made this incredible stuffing using some old bread, some butter, some herbs, celery, and homemade vegetable stock. Martha takes the cake though…or the pie rather. In addition to making green beans, she made these two incredible pies (pictured), one squash and the other banana cream. The squash was out of this world, better than any pumpkin pie I’ve ever tasted. Top it all off with some blackberry wine and there you have it, our Costa Rican Thanksgiving. The best part of all was simply being able to celebrate the holiday with food from the farm. No canned or boxed anything. Never in my life had I ever felt so connected to my food or more inspired to grow my own some day.

It was hard to get up the next morning, but we managed to drag ourselves out the door to go to work. First thing, Frank told me he needed to talk to me and to wait outside his house. I headed over, while he continued talking to the others. Allen and Carol were in Frank’s kitchen and gave me the warning: he’s planning on kicking you out. Oh brother, just what I feel like dealing with at 6 in the morning. So he came over and we moved to the table. I was feeling mostly calm and confident, though I had no idea what I was going to say. He started by saying that he’s not happy and neither am I and that it’s not working out. I said that I needed to tell him something that would basically explain my behavior that I should have mentioned a while ago. And so I brought up all those creepy things he did to me that first week I was here. He definitely didn’t see that coming. I mentioned his invitation to go in his jacuzzi tub with him, and he interjected “but with a bathing suit,” as if that makes it okay!!! Anyway, it turned out to be a great way to start the conversation, because 1) it explained why I’m so distant with him and 2) he ended up apologizing several times. At that point, I could tell he wasn’t going to ask me to leave.

We continued to talk for another 45 minutes or so. He brought up a number of seemingly petty things I’ve done that have bothered him, like leaving my laundry in his washing machine overnight, and I brought up things that are real problems, like his sexism. He asked me to be the Anti-Gossip Ambassador, which involves stopping any gossip I hear and running to grab him so he can be included in the conversation. I never actually agreed because that would just be too exhausting. He seemed most concerned about the gossip going on about him and the young girl. I think he’s scared of getting in trouble, as I’m noticing this new strange nervous energy about him. I said very little about it, since I didn’t actually see the girl, and it seemed that that worked in my favor. While nothing was actually resolved (we agreed to continue talking later), telling him how uncomfortable he made me was definitely a much-needed cathartic experience.

I found out a bit later that he had told all the volunteers, right before talking to me, that he was going to kick me out. He asked them individually if they would leave if he did kick me out. I was touched to learn that Martha told him that she would.

Overall, I felt pretty good after our talk, but then found out that during lunch, he told Carol and Allen that he was going to make things hard on me for a while. Sure enough, next day, he was prepared to test me. He came over to the cabin and seemed rather angry. Martha and I were giving ourselves egg white and lemon facials. He saw this and then asked if he can use some. So we said okay and he stuck his dirty hand in the bowl and started to complain again about the gossip that’s going around about the girl, saying that he’s disappointed and disgusted with us. This is while the nasty old pervert is slathering egg whites on his face, dripping egg whites on the floor. If I could draw better, I would make one sick cartoon out of this scene.

Then, in yet another power trip, he tells us he’s implementing a new rule. If we want to continue to use his washing machine, we have to work an extra hour in advance, cleaning “common” areas of his house that we don’t even use. It is such total crap, but at this point, I’m not even surprised. There was no way I could agree to that. My heart was racing. He’s slathering on more egg white, telling us how good it feels. At this point, I’m thinking that this man is actually crazy. Is this how he’s going to test me, by treating my like his slave? Well, he’s got another thing coming, because I don’t want to stay here that bad. I told him I was unwilling to do that and that I prefer to wash everything by hand. Unfortunately, Justin and Martha agreed and ended up spending an hour of their day off cleaning his house. However, when I told Jerome about the new rule, he ran over to Frank’s house and told him off! That was pretty exciting, but I think the new rule still stands.

So that’s where things left off yesterday. Despite a lot of wavering, Frank decided that the new couple could stay, which I’m very happy about. Supposedly, two more people arrive today.

This is the saga of volunteering on an organic farm. One month full of drama, but also full of life and adventure and beautiful scenery:) I feel like I have finally adjusted to the physical demands of the work, to living in a small space with others, and also to just being dirty A LOT. Going to go celebrate my anniversary now with some beer and maldito, my favorite new card game. Adios!

Thank you

2008-11-27T09:44:00.000-08:00

Every so often Thanksgiving falls ever so fittingly on my mama’s birthday, and today is one of those special days. So today I just want to give thanks for my little mama, who is the greatest blessing a girl could ever be given. It’s amazing to think there’s someone in this world who has devoted her whole life to loving me. What I ever did to deserve this I’ll never know. Possibly I was something exceptional in a previous life. I just feel so overwhelmed with gratitude when I think about my relationship with my mom. Nothing hidden, nothing fake, nothing forced, just the most beautiful natural easy friendship. To be able to laugh about something random the exact same way, with the same depth and the same interpretation, nobody else understanding it the way we do…that’s one magical thing. What else to say? I am too choked up, at a loss, no way of comprehending this fortune I inherited just by being born. I love you Mom, I wish you the happiest of birthdays, and I thank the universe for working so magically.

It’s only 9:30 and this is already turning out to be one amazing Thanksgiving. My cabin-mates and I sat around giving thanks, not kumbaya style or anything, just talking about the foods from the farm that we love, admiring the beautiful weather. We were in the midst of a cold front, endless drizzle all day, but TODAY is all sunshine and clear skies. Absolutely amazing. We are already starting to prepare our Thanksgiving meal. I’ll be making camote (sweet potatoes) and cornbread. Martha is making a pie from a beautiful fragrant squash from the farm hoping it’ll be pumpkin-y. I was going to make stuffing but passed the responsibility to Justin, which is just as well cause I was just going to wing it. The three other volunteers are working today, so we’ll see if they are going to have any energy left to cook anything. Maybe we’ll have some more tilapia from the farm (turkeys are very expensive here). Regardless of it turns out, it’s going to be a joy to prepare.

We are extremely blessed here on the farm. We went around the table this morning and named our top 3 farm foods (yeah, totally cheesy and my idea). My top 3, in order, are:

1) aguacate (avocado)

2) jugo de caña (sugar cane juice)

3) banano (I'll let you figure that one out)

My oh my, the food, the food! So many runners-up…fresh squeezed orange juice, plantains, tilapia, pejibaye (a small starchy palm fruit that tastes more like a vegetable), oh, and all the fresh herbs…basil, rosemary, mint, lemongrass, and the heavenly smell off the oregano. Sometimes I carry some around in my pocket just to take whiffs when I’m doing some boring farm work. And though we don’t grow them on the farm, the pineapples in town are incredible and only like 75 cents!

I’ve grown to appreciate some totally random things too, as we live so minimally here. For example, ziploc bags and paper towels, which our host doesn’t provide, are like gold. What he does provide is oatmeal, rice, beans, pasta. So we eat oatmeal just about every morning, which gets pretty old. Today we threw in like 6 raisins that we found, which was so exciting. Every time we got a spoonful with a raisin we celebrated. I never would have thought that a raisin could make me so happy. Then there’s my ipod, which is my savior. Serves as entertainment and a clock while I work, ear plugs when I sleep, and a very effective way of ignoring (or pretending to ignore) Frank.

Lastly, the lovely volunteers here who I would go crazy without. A big thanks for them. Excuse the excessive cheesiness...and HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all!

My dilemma

2008-11-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

I’m falling behind on my writing and for no good reason. Perhaps my thoughts have been too scattered to convey any one message. So I am finally going to stop trying to focus and just write. I can’t think of a better way to figure out my own feelings.

Week #3 went pretty smoothly. No major bug incidents occurred. We went from 3 volunteers (myself included) to 5. Four of the five are long-term volunteers, so it should be interesting to have a more permanent group here. Frank continues to be a lingering obstacle in my pursuit of la pura vida. I have confronted him on a couple issues, which seem to only make matters worse. He makes me out to be the complainer, while the others get off scott free by saying nothing to his face but badmouthing him constantly behind his back. A bit frustrating.

One of the concerns I shared with him was that I wasn’t learning enough about coffee, though I made it crystal clear prior to arriving that was a primary reason for my visit. I remember talking to him on the phone, saying that I just didn’t want either of us to end up disappointed, and he said something like ‘well, I certainly don’t want to see any long faces around here.’ As it turns out, he hardly knows anything about coffee. He’s not even sure what color coffee beans he should pick (definitely a bad sign). However, he makes no apology for misleading me nor does he seem to empathize with my frustration.

Now my other main frustration is how he treats women. In a nutshell. he is a sexist pig. (Note, this is all aside from him hitting on me when I first arrived.) Whenever Angel isn’t running the day’s activities, Frank will give the female volunteers (me and Martha) the lame, boring tasks, like weeding or raking, while the men go around carrying machetes, whacking down trees and building things. You know, I really don’t need to say any more about what a bastard he is. I’ve figured out my feelings: I really despise this man. It’s really unfortunate because I really wanted to find a way to at least sort of like him. (Note: creep is pictured above)

Then there is Angel, who I previously referred to as the anti-Frank. Well, as it turns out, there is an unfortunate similarity. Like Frank, Angel has no problem hitting on a volunteer. And unfortunately, that volunteer would be me :( I’m not sure exactly what happened, as it all seemed to happen so fast, but awesome new friend somehow turned into crazy friend having feelings for me, blowing me kisses, whispering mi reina in my ear. Ughhh. Why????? I don’t understand why I attract this kind of nonsense. I guess our friendship was just too good to be true. However, unlike Frank, Angel continues to be exceptionally generous and patient with all of us and I can’t take any of that away from him. And since our relationship was built on joking around, I can’t take his come-ons too seriously. I guess a part of me still hopes it’s all a joke. (Note: loco is pictured above)

I will say no more about the details of my weird problems. The last I ever wanted to blog about was problems with men, but what can you do. Life is just full of surprises. It is sufficient to say that I feel conflicted about what to do next. I don’t enjoy working for Frank. I don’t like the way I feel around him or the ugliness my own thoughts about him. However, I love love love Costa Rica and I want to experience it to the fullest. I have contacted the WWOOF organization and informed them about my situation and they plan to evict Frank from the program. (I haven’t actually given them his name yet and am not sure I should until I have an exit strategy). I am considering going to a different farm, but am finding that so many have hidden fees that aren’t listed in the packet. WWOOF wants to remove those farms too, as they are not supposed to be charging volunteers. So, as usual, I’m stirring things up, speaking my mind…that’s just my way of making things right:)

Not sure what I’ll do next, but I’m definitely exploring my options and hoping that a better opportunity arises. Any advice, I’m all ears.

Buggin' out

2008-11-15T14:17:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, this week resembled real life. Damn. My streak of highs was too good to last forever. I’d like to think that it is simply a matter of attitude, but I can’t imagine even the most positive person enjoying the source of my torture: BUGS! I’m even paranoid that in writing this I will piss them off more. Maybe they can sense my fear. Maybe they are plotting their next attack. Or maybe I’m giving them way too much credit right now.

It started out small, with some ordinary fruit flies swarming around the kitchen 24/7. Not really a problem. Moths circling around the cabin at night, occasional spider roaming about. Totally manageable. Then there came the giant slug in the shower. I decided to go to bed dirty that night and pray that it would leave by morning. It did.

They came on stronger as the week went along. Wednesday was a bad day. I worked with Frank that day, which in itself is torture. He micromanages every stupid last detail of the even the most basic project. All that the project entailed was fertilizing some trees, but he blabs on and on about the best strategy for carrying buckets, how many trees a bucket will feed, how to minimize the number trips to get more fertilizer, etc etc ad infinitum. Then he might revise the strategy, at which point I just stop caring altogether.

The icing on the cake was my lovely run-in with a mound of angry ants that swarmed into my boots in record speed. I still can’t fathom how they made it all the up and over my practically knee-length boots before I even noticed them. Needless to say, I totally spazzed, frantically took my boots off, tried to brush them off, then awkwardly ran through a wet obstacle course to get back to safe ground. Eventually I got them all off me with the hose and rinsed out my boots, but the damage was done. I will refrain from counting how many bites I have and just say that my legs are sufficiently hideous and I don’t plan on wearing shorts any time soon.

Then came Thursday. Frank gave me a small window of opportunity to do my laundry after work, so I tried to move fairly quickly (but not too quickly, so I could annoy him a little). I went to fetch my dirty clothes, which I keep in a plastic bag under my bed, and out crawled a tarantula. Ah yes, just what I felt like dealing with. I just stared for a minute, at a loss for how to best approach the hairy little dude. Surprisingly, he didn’t make even the slightest movement. That was promising. So I grabbed the broom and a bucket with the intention of course to sweep him inside. Well, I swept him inside pretty quickly, but he crawled out before I could trap him in, damnit. But then he just stayed put (such a cooperative little fellow), so I thought I could just keep sweeping him until he was out the front door. And sure enough, he stayed frozen, and I just swept him outside. That was a proud moment for me, conquering my fear all by myself, and I am actually fonder of tarantulas now. If only all our insects were so agreeable!

Friday’s incident was much more traumatizing yet so very fascinating. It involved our cute little friend, the caterpillar. The caterpillars I’ve seen on the farm (the name in spanish gusano

ciprés) are a beautiful lime green color, making them nice to look at but also hard to find amidst a field of green coffee plants . Unfortunately, the act of finding them is usually a very painful one. Picking coffee Friday morning, my left hand brushed against one hidden amongst the branches. I felt a very sharp isolated pain on the edge of my pinky finger. Initially, there was no visible mark, but slowly my finger started to swell and subtle white circles appeared where the caterpillar’s spikes made contact. It seemed like a manageable pain at first, but time proved otherwise as I grew nauseous and dizzy. Frank, in a very nice gesture, put my coffee sack on the ground and suggested I lie down for a while with my hand elevated, which I did for about 20 minutes. The pain eventually subsided but didn’t completely go away for about an hour.

Believe it or not, it actually happened again later on the same day! This time though, Angel came over and busted out this crazy cure. I have a short video I’m posting on here, cause it will help explain what happened, and gross you out as an added bonus. He grabs the caterpillar with a couple of leaves and pulls it apart, then rubs its slimy green innards on your hand, which then turns red! It’s supposed to help ease the pain. I think it helps, but it’s still pretty darn painful. Even worse than the pain though is the paranoia that I’m going to encounter another. The rest of the day I worked like a snail as every single branch required a once-over before I would even touch it.

I appreciate the abundance of life here, but I’m not sure how to cope with this many bugs. I am trying my best to coexist peacefully with them, but they are certainly making it difficult. First Frank, now thousands of mini-Franks…isn’t one giant pest enough?

Life is good

2008-11-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

This may have been the most memorable week of my life. Perhaps of your life too. It suddenly feels like a great time to be alive. There’s a new and unfamiliar vibration in the air, eerie yet electrifying. I have to wonder, is it all Obama? Is there some universal wave of excitement that made its way to Costa Rica? I can’t say for sure, but here at the farm, we are thrilled.

Obama aside, my first ten days in Costa Rica have been amazing. I absolutely love it here. There is so much to say, so much more than my tired coffee-picking fingers can type, but I will share as much as they’ll allow. I’m just going to break it down by topic, hopefully answering the basic questions that you might have.

The people: The main people in my daily life are Frank, the owner of the property, Angel, the caretaker of the farm, and the other volunteers. When I first arrived, there were five others, and now there are just two. All in all, there have been 3 guys and 3 girls here, ranging in age from 19 to 29. It is so fascinating to see how all these strangers come together and build relationships so quickly and how, even in such a short time, it is sad to see people leave.

Early on, we seemed to have bonded over one topic: Frank. A nice soft-spoken man in his 50s, from New Mexico, kind of quirky and funny, seemingly harmless. Yet somehow he manages to give all of us the creeps. Don’t be alarmed, it’s under control, but the guy has said some weird things to me. My first night he asked if I wanted to go in his jacuzzi tub with him, the next invited me over for dinner and a movie. He has offered to teach me massage, suggested we do yoga together, and the list goes on. (In case you weren’t sure, I said no to all of them.) Boy is he creepy, but, thankfully, pretty easy to avoid. We have too much fun making fun of him to really be bothered.

Then there is Angel, a 41 year old Nicaraguan man, who is like the anti-Frank. He is such a huge source of joy in my life here. He lives with his family in a house on the property and started working here about 11 years ago, long before Frank bought the property in 2005. Though Frank owns the farm, Angel really runs the show. He knows everything about all the plants we grow and leads the volunteer crew every day. Actually, he seems to know everything about everything. He is an amazing teacher, so patient and helpful and just so much fun to be around. We are extremely lucky to have him on the farm. Even if I left here with nothing other than my friendship with Angel, I would be perfectly content.

The layout of the farm: Frank’s property consists of the farm land, his house, an a-frame we call the chalet, a cabin, and Angel’s house. The first few nights I stayed by myself in the a-frame, but then moved into the cabin because I didn’t like the darkness. Here I get to wake up to the sunlight in the morning and our view is spectacular. We also get hot water here (a huge plus) and have a little kitchen. We had 4 people in here, but now it’s just me and another gal Martha.

The work: I have worked 6 days now. Most of my time has been devoted to coffee picking which is pretty tiring but enjoyable in a meditative kind of way. Every weekday we work from 6am to 1pm, with a one hour lunch. First thing in the morning, we are given a canasto (basket) that we fasten around our waists and a sack (see picture). Angel leads us to a section of the farm where coffee has ripened and we divide and conquer. Usually he puts us close together, which makes it much more enjoyable (I like to make up games). All it really entails is picking the ripe cherries, which are usually red, though sometimes yellow. It is pretty straightforward, unless there are questionable cherries, which look a bit dried out. I usually just squeeze them and determine the ripeness by their juiciness.

Angel told me that his family, who helps with the coffee, gets paid about 80 colones (approximately $1.50) for a basketful of cherries, which weighs about 20 pounds. This is about the average pay. It would probably take me, at my leisurely pace, the whole work day to fill just one. With 2000 hand-picked cherries equaling just one pound of coffee, you may find new appreciation for your morning cup of joe. I know I have.

The city: The city of Sarchí is small, quaint and artsy. We are about a 30 minute walk to town. Since we’re at the top of a long hill, I sometimes walk to town and take a bus back up, though today I rode on a tractor. Buses are very common here and take you to neighboring towns as well as San Jose, the capital. They are super cheap, about 25 cents to get to town. The city has everything I really need, including a couple different internet cafes I go to about twice a week. I enjoy just sitting at the park and people watching, New York style.

The food: Frank provides us with staples (rice, beans, oatmeal, pasta) and we can eat anything the farm grows. Unfortunately, there isn’t very much to eat on the farm on a regular basis. I’ve been waiting on a bunch of bananas to ripen since I got here. I am very excited about those. We have avocados, which are delicious. I have two in the cabin right now that need a couple more days to ripen. My favorite plant though is the caña (sugar cane). I will post a picture of this contraption that Angel made that we use to squeeze out the juice. The juice is so refreshing and I like to munch on the cane when there’s some juice left on it. There are also some oranges, though I avoid them cause they sometimes have small transparent worms that blend in too well.

The culture: The national expression is “pura vida,” which translates to pure life. I thought that sounded pretty cool, though I didn’t really understand it until spending a week here. It’s quite a magical feeling. Life just feels more real here, the experiences more rich, the interactions with people more genuine. I have had a difficult time finding time to write because life is just so enjoyable that I just want to keep taking it all in.

One of my Costa Rica books said that this country ranks #8 in the list of friendliest places in the world. I have to disagree. While people are quite nice and helpful when you ask them something, people on the street don’t come across as warm at all. They mostly look at us gringas (white girls) like we’re aliens. It’s one of my few frustrations.

Language: I love speaking Spanish. Most days I speak more Spanish than English, mostly because of Angel, who only speaks Spanish. Sometimes it is quite difficult, like when I’m tired. I was telling Angel last night that it’s hardest first thing in the morning and late at night, but in the middle of the day, it’s really enjoyable. I can communicate well in town, going to the internet café, the post office, the market, etc. I even got in an argument with the guy working at the ice cream shop…in Spanish! That was a trip. Not a good person to piss off, since ice cream here is so good!

It just keeps getting better here every day. Skyped with my parents today. Life is good :)

The next big adventure

2008-10-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hello blog. Hello readers. This feels odd. I don’t really know who I’m talking to. Less than a minute has passed and I’m already feeling exposed and uncomfortable. I miss indulging in the privacy of my journal. Ok, so maybe it’s going to take some getting used to this blogging thing…

I envision the content of my blog to be an account of my Costa Rica experiences interspersed with social commentary and general life ponderings. I’m really just planning to write with the intent of writing. Any other “goal” would probably take the joy out of it. Writing is my therapy. When I feel conflicted about anything, I start to write about it, and every time, without fail, my own truth will present itself. It’s a pretty useful little trick.

So for those of you who don’t know, I’m going to Costa Rica tomorrow to learn about harvesting coffee. I’m going through a work exchange program called WWOOF, Willing Workers on Organic Farms. This trip is significant for me on so many levels. I’ve never lived in a foreign country. I’ve never even traveled alone. I’ve never raised a single plant, nor, sadly, been able to keep one alive. On a deeper level, I’m opting out of a corporate/consumerist way of life that just isn’t for me and fully honoring my relationships with those things that do make me happy. Best of all, the day has finally come when I have simply stopped caring about what I should/could be doing or about what so-and-so is doing. May everyone be doing what they enjoy doing. Amen.

That said, I hope you will enjoy the blog. It will be very much me, in the same way that I talk- with little filter yet determined to always say what I mean. Then there’s my selfish reason for you to read. Perhaps you following along will create the illusion of company if I get lonely.

Ok, back to packing. Check back next week, when I’m an official farmer in Sarchi, Costa Rica.