Upsetting News...

Day 32:

WARNING: This post may contain content that is upsetting to some readers. Read at your own risk. (CHRIS this means you!)

I am so glad I live in Canada where we have government-funded healthcare and options in terms of obtaining financial help for beyond that point. I think we sometimes take this for granted, until stories like the following give us an awakening.

Yesterday when I was at home Reina (the housekeeper here) came into my room flustered and obviously upset. She asked me if I was alright and I threw the question back at her.

She had just found out that her son, who lives in Nicaragua, was in the hospital. She was pretty flustered so I didn’t catch the exact cause or timing, but apparently he had suffered a deep gash under his right arm and was in pretty rough shape.

The family member who had called had left her a number to call back, but Reina didn’t have any money on her for a phone card.

Reina is an absolutely sweet women in her sixties, a fact I was surprised to learn because her energy level and appearance are those of a woman at least 10 years younger. She moved here with her husband over ten years ago, but a lot of her children either elected to stay in Nicaragua or have returned there since. Like a lot of people financial reasons have made it hard for them to return and visit as often as they’d like, so she is pretty excited about our trip at the end of October.

I, of course, helped her with the money for the phone card. And after a number of failed attempts she got through to a family member. I left her alone to finish her call and simply made myself available if she wanted to talk afterwards. But the doctors were still assessing the situation, and all she knew was that he was still in emergency.

This morning, at breakfast, Reina gave Mari and I an update on the situation.

Her son was awake and she had been able to talk to him, but that was where the good news ended. Apparently the major tendon running under his arm and down his side had been severed and he had lost sensation and mobility of his right hand and fingers. Moreover, I gather that he had not gone to the hospital as quickly as he should have, or the care was not sufficient, because he now has gangrene going up his right arm and the doctor was presenting amputation as the only option. But they were uncertain if the cut would be made halfway up the bicep or at the shoulder.

Reina said her son didn’t want to go through with the operation, he would not be himself without the arm and wanted a second opinion, but the doctor was telling him it was limited. Reina was frustrated for her son and felt that there may be another option. I didn’t want to dash her hopes but I think that that much gangrene is difficult to fight.

She went on to explain about how they would have to find a way to pay off the surgeon after the operation, because they had no where near the $500 they needed to pay for the operation now.

This made me think of how much money that must be in Nicoraugwa, where the per capita income is about $475. It made me glad for the fact that in Canada life threatening or necessary medical treatment is covered. How hard it must be to not only worry about the emotional and life-changing effects of such a situation, but to at the same time worry about the very real financial obstacles as well.

There is also the cost of Reina returning to Nicoraugwa, she was going to have the money for the end of October, but at this time is short. Unfortunately, although both Mari and I want to help, we aren’t able to do so before the week after next, because neither of our cheques kick in earlier. This was another fact that hit me hard, thinking about credit cards and how a $181 flight would not be an insurmountable obstacle in Canada for a mother who wanted to see her hospitalized child.

It really hit me, because although I have had people state that being poor was not the same in Canada as it was here. And I knew and agreed with that, but also would state that we too have our problems and limitations and it is not a Never Never Land with gold paved streets and money growing on trees.

Right now, for the first time, looking through Reina’s eyes I can see that Never Never Land and how far away the medical advancements must seem. She will fly out to see him next week, but the surgery is scheduled for today, and although he has other family with him, and although Mari and I keep trying to reassure Reina of this fact, we know it is not the same as having your mother there.

Prosthetics are another concern, definitely something they would want to consider, her son is only 26 years old.

There is a 5 year waiting list (not too different than in Canada, prosthetics aren’t easy to come by in Canada either and it will take atleast a year for the wound to heal sufficiently), but then there is the cost, which has to be covered by the family. No government grants, special funds, or organizations like CCAC to come to their aid.

Twenty-six years old, loosing your right arm with the prospect of a prosthetic being only a distant dream . . . I can’t even think about what he must be going through, it is too horrible.

I am sorry if this post is unpleasant to read, but I just felt the story needed to be shared.

Yay projects!

Day 30:

Today was another good day. I spent most of it at MUSADE, and my meeting with Enid went well. I am going to start off by doing a few session of the support group on Human rights and Monday I am going to meet with the social worker who is in charge of the school projects, so that I can work on more of a community level. Cincia, Silvia and I have also been asked to help bring order to MUSADE’s library…if we have time…and ok it isn’t strictly social work, but that library is nuts and it would take us hours to find the resources we need otherwise.

In the evening, I attended a meeting with various members of the community to talk about an action going on October 7^th.

Day 31:

Sniff….I’m siiiiick….stupid stomach decided to wait a month before taking an aversion to Costa Rican food. I think it is the pinta that did me in. Damn over buttered rice and beans.

Day 29

Somewhere along the way I think I messed up the numbering of the days here, but I am now back on track, thanks to my hand newly filled out calendar.

Today was a pretty cool day. It was another long day filled with a lot of driving. But with more interesting and useful experiences to fill in the time.

On drive up to Upala, we were stopped and asked to wait because there was a cycling race and it would be coming around that road soon. So we stopped and had a front row seat to see them coming around the corner, which they finally did 20 minutes later.

Enid told us that there were cameras with an international feed there and that we should wave to our families. Lol, somehow we resisted the urge, but if you should have been watching the _____ race and they are going around a turn in the Costa Rican mountains and you see a large white van with the word MUSADE on the sign. That’s me!

When most of the cyclists had passed we were signalled to carry on. What happened next I must admit surprised me.

After moving from the turn we saw 2 cyclists stuck behind a truck on one of Costa Rica’s many one laned bridges. We felt bad for them and decided to cheer them on, but as the truck and then passed us we saw them both grab onto the handles and hitch a ride up the hill.

Lol…I would have been affronted by the blatant display of cheating, except that they were too far back to have any real chance of placing well.

On our way we picked up Natilie in La Fortuna, she is a student here studying for her social world licence and her and I had a pretty interesting discussion on the different systems. I still believe that Canada and Costa Rica have a lot of similarities.

After the meeting in Upala, one of the police officers who had family on the Maleku reserve nearby offered to take us there so we could learn a bit more. Of course, none of us was turning down this opportunity and we went.

It amazed me how a lot of the core beliefs about the circle of life and using nature resonated and reminded me of first nations and six nations back home. They even had dream catchers! And very large wooden sculptures that reminded me of the totem poles out west, but which I was assured were masks.

They are self sustained community and only grow and farm what they need for themselves. Their only “export” are their artistic creations. Where are a sea of colour and vibrant design.

All in All this was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I meet with Enid to go over my practicum plan and potential projects for me to pursue. Yay!

The cyclists…woohoo!

My first taste of Costa Rican Beer….lol…both are Costa Rican, but I think Imperial is the more favoured drink. Both are pilsners and pretty similar in taste, except that the Imperial is much stronger from start to finish where as the Pilsen starts off smoother and has a slight kick at the end. I would still prefer a Corona.

Pictures from the reserve in one of the large community buildings, where they were working on masks and other artistic creations. Note the drum in the picture on the left. I am not sure how much of the skin pulled over the top you can see, it is pretty hard to tell without touching actually, but this is an iguana skin. They also eat the meat.

These are the earrings I bought, I am totally in love with the Blue Morpho butterfly. Always have liked it…but am not sure I can bring myself to buy one of the jewellery boxes with a preserved one between glass. There is a tag that said it was done in accordance with the preservation laws of Costa Rica, which have a reputation of being strict. But I am not sure if I could buy one, despite its beauty and rarity.

This picture is for those of you who really liked the other Arenal shots...it is my first set of sunset shots too. Not bad.

Random thoughts:

• Yup I am definitely an ale drinker…pilsners just don’t do it for me. Although yay I was able to finish this one without wincing.
• One of these days, I will learn that if I flip to the front of my dictionary I will get Spanish words translated into English, and at the back I will get English translated to Spanish. One of these days.
• Hmmm….a sign advertising clean bathrooms….

Day 23: Bumpedy bump bump ...

It is quite possible that I have suffered from whiplash and a minor concussion from driving around yesterday.

Enid took, Sylvia, Cinsia and myself yesterday when she had a meeting in Umtapa. We left at 6:30 am, got home at 6:30 pm and spent about 9 hours of that time in the car. Granted not because Umtapa is 4.5 hours away, no because we stopped at 3 cities along the way and made a big circle, to pick up and drop off various people. Don´t ask.

So Costa Rica has potholes...so did Peru and the Dominican was just gravel, I think most people coming to a latin american contry should come expecting this. However, potholes take on a whole new meaning when you experience them in a 12 seater van with absolutely horrible suspension (probably because of the potholes). And where there are nto potholes, because most

To be fair most of Costa Rican´s major highways are paved with some potholes, but mostly dips and tight turns and speed bumps....which were fine when I experiences them in Enid´s SUV going to Volcano arenal.

Here there was a constant up and down motion of the car as it reverberated because we had to keep slowing down for tight turns and then speeding up again...there are three sets of tires so going over speed bumps at the bottom of a hill was interesting, because for each set of tires there were 3 bumps (like I said, no suspension). And I became increasingly glad for the fact that the van had a high ceiling and I have a shorter torso.

The situation became increasingly intersting towards the end of the day whenEnid was getting tired and a thick fog set in (the kind where you can se maybe 4 meters ahead of the car)....

Lesson learned: I am taking my tyelonal with me tomorrow.

Day 22

So, I am officially finished Spanish class....Scary! I have a certificate and everything....but I thik I am goign to still take a weekly class in San Ramon...to help advance it more...and it is reassuring in a way that is hard to explain.

And language is such a large part of my life here and at MUSADE not only my own learning, but there are a lot of new volunteers from so many places. This night, friday after work, Mari, a new volunteer form Brazil Silvia, and two people form MUSADE Dilena (eek hope I spelt that right) and Manual ...lol...and my smallest friend here, Dilena´s 4 year old daughter Mari Celeste (way to long for such an energetic girl, we call her Celeste) went to a mountain cabin of Manual´s. It has the most spectacular view, and I am going to post those pictures as soon as I steal them form Mari. =) You can see the Pacific in the day, at night we saw the lights of the port near by.

But back to language, we were discussing it and what people knew and the ins and outs of learning it. It is such and interesting process.

Ok, I just realized this post is kind of rambling, I think I have written too much this day. I warned you this might happen.

Hasta Lluego.

Days 16 - 18 - Cahuite

I love going to the non-tourist beaches and Caribean...soo much better that resort styles and much more relaxing.

So from when I left San Ramon it took 5 hours on a bus to get to Cahuita...not bad actually...the slowness is mostly do to the rocky windy mountain roads.

Cahuita, although having some tourist qualities was mostly unspoiled when we got there and not packed and quiet and nice. I loved it right away. Plus I could hear the waves and the monkeys.

I am not sure I can describe the water, it was amazing, we enjoyed diving into the waves and playing a game where we dared them to try and move us. Lol...Miroke had the advantage given her height...but the best part was if we walked out of the door of our room, we could see the beach and the waves and they weren´t filled with people.

The first night we ate at the hostel, they have amazing food, I had fish that was fresh and cooked beautifully. But my favorite was the atmosphere the owners, an amazing older couple setup. There was classical flute music playing and the windows looked over the garden to the Ocean and the lighting was perfect. You know how I like lighting...and the room was cozy and filled witht he most amazing paintings the owner had done himself. I spent most of dinner staring at them one by one and deconstructing them. I can´t say enough about how much it makes a difference when you can see and artist really connect with his or her work. There was just so much life in the pictures he had done of people in the town. He was very nice and put up with my spanish to answer my questions...

The second day we took a bus to Manzinilla another smaller town with an amazing beach, and an apparently amazing restaurant that was too packed with locals for us to try. Mari, Hiro and Miroke tell me though that it is awesome, they have come twice before. Lol..we ate at the small soda nearby...lol....it was a long wait...

Then in the evenign ont he way back we stopped in Puerta Viejo, a total tourist town but with some really cool artists shops along the way and clothing stores...unfortunately a little more expensive as well. But nice to walk through.

The last day was spent ont he beach again...I got a lot of reading in and time to draw. It was absolutely a beach weekend and kind of typical I guess, but with good people and beautiful scenery I loved it.





So the background is the terminal in San Jose, it was pretty nice, much nicer than the one for buses leaving San Jose for San Ramon...the cemetary is in Limon the largest Carribean city in Costa Rica...seems liek a typical city, but not as well kept up as San Jose. The cemetaries here though are interesting with everything seemign to be above ground. Not sure why yet. The rest is just osme scenery form the 4 hours bus ride, oh and the tree witht he blue bad hanging from it is a banana tree...there were tons of them and all with blue bags over the bananas, I am told to help keep away the bugs.



Self explanitory...



The hostel we stayed at, a decent price and amazingly beautiful. Plus one of the oweners is a painter and for the first time on a vacation I actually wanted to buy a painting...they seemed real. But he doesn´t sell them. Which shows how much they mean to him...the one above the guitar is of his wife, and even without being told that I think you caould know that the artist was inlove with his subject..it shows. It was my favorite.



Beaches both in Cahuita and in Manzinilla. And the road we had to walk down to get to the very tranquil beach in Manzinilla. I still prefer Cahuita though, less people.



So I don´t know either of the dogs´names...but they were cute, the retreiver was totally in love with Hiro. The spider was near our spot at the beach...we names him Manual...he was about the size of my first and had a web to match. The cayen is called Roberto and comes for lunch at the hostel everyday. The oweners feed him scraps of raw meet. Lol...the turtle is Pavlo and was very brave in running in to sneak in a bite. He was watching froma distance for a while and waited until Roberto looked full. He made it out alive. Lots of iguanas, and birds around as usual.



Monkeys!!!! They needed their own picture. They loved the trees by the beach in Cahuita...the white faced one is a white faced Capuchin, they were a lot more camera shy than their Tamarin cousins. Lol, I got to witness two young males in an arguement as well while what appeared to be the alpha male watched non-chalantly. He eventually broke up the fight and yelled at them. Oh yeah these monkeys love to make noise, we could here them from our hotel both evenings. Thank god they are diurnal.

This is Verdie, the parrot who lives at the resort. Lol, Mari was in love with him and wanted him to climb on her shoulder, but he is picky about such things so she tried to bribe him with breakfast. He ate breakfast with us both days. He prefers strawberry jam over peach and ets abotu half while decorating the ground with the rest. He likes to sing, but not dance. He never did let any of us hold him, but did stay nearby and tried to eat the chair when breakfast was late the second day. He is a very smart bird, knows exactly how to get what he wants.

Random pics...the girl with Verdie is Miroke (I hope I spelt that right). Lol...pink thing is a very festive garbage can...they like pink here. The drink is my watermelon juice, I am in love with it. The restaurant is where we had dinner the second night...it had amazing Caribean curry and was the only place open with food at 10pm. Both very important qualities.

Impressions form the trip...

• I love Cahuita!
• I think I may need to learn more Japanese....
• Wow...and I though an hour for a coke was long (which only needed uncapping)...but and hour and a half for a burger comes close.
• Ooops...hold the ham on my HAMburger please.
• heeheee...mokeys. we meet at last.
• Wow, the Listerine drinking stories still shock people.
  
  
  

Dia de Independance... aka Day 15

Ok so the actual Independence day here is was on Monday September 15, but it was the friday before and preparations were under way.

So for Spanish class Olma (my professor), Anna (another student from Germany), Ruth (Anna´s teacher) and I headed into San Jose to practice doing directions in Spanish and imperative tenses, etc...

Thankfully, the Spanish part went really well.

Interesting moments though, we went first to the Holiday Inn here, lol and were told they were fixing some things out front so we were directed to go and talk to the guy in the parking lot to answer questions. Find this very odd, and Olma did too, we decided he wasn´t the accomodating time.

Also interesting is the central market in San Jose, you have to be really careful with your things here, as Olma and Ruth kept reminding us, because pickpockets love the narrow spaces betweent he stands. But it is an awesome place to find things cheap and get a sensory overload of sounds, smells, and colours. I really wished I could have taken a picture, but given the pickpocketting it was recommended not.

We had lunch there, I had Cias juice for the first time...Highly recommend it...but not sure it exists in Canada. Will research more.

The best part of the day though were the little touches of preparation around the city for Independance day. Apparently all historic buildings in the city set up a stand or presentation of their connection with the history of Costa Rica and there is a competition to see who has the best.

There is also dancing and traditional music played in these places. And of course a lot of shows put on in celebration the day of. Everyone was rehearsing it seemed Monday morning. Not just in San Jose too, my supervisor´s daughter was goign to dance with a group on Monday, and I could hear the band practicing the anthem as I passed the local high school on my way home.

It was a kind of not shoving it in your face kind of pride that I enjoyed immensely.



Ok so I am trying something different with the photos, since I have too many to post one by one and they are too large. I hope this turns out alright.

The background is a central park in San Jose and the kids int he white shirts were a marching band practicing for Monday. The maniquins were part of the display at the post office, they represent the cattle and coffee history and also have old mailbags. The kids were preforming in the National Bank...they were pretty good. And the building with the green roof is the Teatro Nacionale...it is just pretty.

Impressions of the day...

• Ok, so there is really only one post office, so what it is 4 stories and huge.
• Wow they put more into Independance day here than we do into Canada day...
• Oooo...postcards for $0.25 yes please.

Day 14

Sorry if I haven't been posting much this week...as I've told some my days are pretty much school-work-study-sleep and repeat.

Two things about today, however, there is a new volunteer at MUSADE, from Switzerland, she is going to be here for 2 or 3 years. Which is ridiculous...awesome..but yeah...at least she is allowed to visit home by her organization.

And secondly...I have something new to add to my list of things that are similar here and in Canada...salespeople.

There was a salesman who came by MUSADE today and spent 15 minutes tryign to convince the three of us that this book about the medical properties and healthy aspects of various foods was the best thing since sliced bread.

We were polite but he went away without a sale.

It got me though, lol the same tone the same speed and the same insistance as others, and the tactics were also the same...it was interesting...

Streetlife...

So everyday on my first city bus in San Jose I pass a building with three people sleeping in front on the sidewalk, on cardboard and bits of foam. For 4 days this was the case.

Then yesterday there was only 1 person with a cardboard overtop of him...

And today there were none, only some bits of foam and cardboard.

This is a back alley sort of area, not very sketchy, but run down, and given that there are people on the street in a few more high profile spots I am not sure if they were asked to leave...or simply moved on of their own accord.

But it really got me thinking about what street life is like in San Jose, and well Costa Rica...it kinda made me want to look up a shelter and volunteer...although I am not sure this is possible given my location and work...



An ad on a bus stop in San Jose , it is talking about a shelter in the downtown area...oddly, I don't think our ads are this obvious.

Random Cat

And this is a random post...lol...is anyone missing a cat that may have wandered randomly into a house in San Ramon, Costa Rica....he/she is very cute, mostly white, with some black.

Lluvyo ... rain

There is a constant dampness in the air here. Nothing is ever completely dry, I learned that after waiting a full 2 days for my hand towel to dry, it never did. Even the pages of my journal have a hint of dampness to them.

I am not sure if this is only because it is the rainy season, but it sure makes the colours more vibrant, the green a shocking emeral that seems almost artificial.

Another pleasent side effect would be the mysterious mist and clouds that lie low over the hills. So low in fact that they occasionally appear like cotten candy caught in the teeth of the earth.

Es estrano, pero a mi me gusta. (Strange, but I like it.)

My First Peer Group!!!

Day 9

I got to sit in on my first peer group at MUSADE today! I was so excited!

It was a group of women who have been having problems at home with emotional abuse. In this case, the three women present were still living with their spouses, but felt trapped. Stefanie is the name of the group leader from MUSADE.

The discussiong centered on Basic Human rights. It was so interesting listening to the women´s stories and kind of sad as well. There was a lot of ¨no I don´t enjoy beign treated that way...but...¨ There was a general feeling of disenpowerment to do anything about their situation.

I felt like Stephanie had a difficult position, for obviously the women wanted a change, otehrwise they wouldn´t be there, but they had painted themselves into an inescapable box, where their domestic life was unlikely to change.

¨But he has a hard day at work and when he comes home, of course he wants dinner on the table, should I let him starve...¨

¨Well, no, but I should have had more control over the children.¨

There is one older more mature lady there who seems to bridge the gap, she sort of acted as a mediator when Stefanie would insist the women needed to care more for themselves, but it clashed with daily necessities.

I also learned from Enid today, that there is actually 1 organization in Costa Rica that helps men wo experience domestic abuse....there are 5 for women.




So Scotiabank has a strong foothold in Costa Rica.



Traffic going out of San Jose.


Impressions

• I think I am beginning to get this Spanish thing, I totally followed that Peer group.
• Hmmm...need a key so as not to get locked in the hosue in the morning if others leave before me.
• Yay Carribean next weekend!
  

6 buses and 3 taxis later . . .

Day 8

This my first official day of Spanish lessons and it went well, despite my having to get up at 5:00 am so I could leave the house before 6 am to catcht he buses to get me to class in time for 8 am...

My teacher´s name is Olma, she seems nice and is 27, so there is some understandign there. Actually, interestingly enoguh she is studyign for her Masters in what is equivelant to Linguistics, so we had a nice chat about the differences between that here and in Canada.

As for other students in my class...well...uh...there aren´t any. Which is both good and bad...it will mean that I can have a more tailored program and move at my speed, plus I get one on one treatment while still only paying the group rate. But it kinda sucks for meetign people. Lol...apparently more people in San Jose are taking English lessons rather than Spanish....funny that.

Later I went to MUSADE ...and got to sit in on Enid talking to another couple university students from Costa Rica, who hope to do their placements there. It was nice becasue I understood most of the conversation.





My landmarker for where i switch city buses. Interestingly enoguh it is the Ministry of Social Services...I laughed when I was told this, becasue the note I made in my book was to change at the building that looked like the Toronto Ministry fo Community and Social Services building.




The street with my first transfer point in San Jose.



Impressions:

• Directors of Social Service Organizations the world round are doomed to have chaotic offices.
• They say the only two things certain in life are death in taxes. I believe there are two things simuilar the world round. Teenagers and gass prices. Most Costa Ricans take the bus.
• Uhhh....ok....so I can officially say there is no such thing as a central bus station in either San Jose or San Ramon....ah shit.

And the ants go marching....

According to lonely planet there are over 35, 000 species of insects recorded in Costa Rica. About a thousand of one of those species lives in my room. Ants. Little red ants.

I have some little spiders, moths, and thankfully only a rare mosquito (they appear to like the gastronomic delights of Mari´s room better).

But there are these little red ants, about a millimeter in size that have taken up residence in and around my computer. Don´t get me wrong they are clearly present and a controlling stakeholder in the rest of the house as well. But my labtop seems to have become their Mecca. They like to weave in and out of the keys, crawl around back behind the monitor and then out front in a peek-a-boo like dance.

Even now two ants are moving in formation across my screen. I wander, like the dolphins in A Hitchiker´s Guide to the Galaxy, they are trying to tell me something. I wander if they know I am here.

And the ants go marching on and on and on....

Days 6 & 7 - Arenal & Spanish School

Day 6 - Pools and Volcan Arenal

Enid and her friend Flora took myself, Midori and Mari on a trip to see Volcan Arenal, the largest active volcano in Central America. But first we went to id´s "cottage", which was awesome I felt like being at a resort but without the mobs...the house is cute, small, but totally idyllic. I finally felt the Costa Rican heat and humidity, so the pool was nice.

The volcano was magnificent. Enid kept stopping on the road to La Fortuna for another spectacular view. As a result, I believe i have about 20 pictures of Arenal. We also heard explosions while driving, which I thought was thunder because it was raining, but Enid said was the volcano. Given that there was no lightening, I think I believe her.


Day 7 - Instituta Brittanica & the bus system

I did it! Three buses and a 15 minute walk later, I managed to navigate my way back from Spanish class to San Ramon without problem. It´s a bit of a commute, but doable when I think of how much commuting I do in Canada. 1.5 hours total. The buses here run frequently thankfully.

As for Spanish class, I offically start tomorrow. ;)



The "Cottage"


The pool. It is shared by about 10 cottages I saw that back onto it...Enid´s is like 1 minute walk away. Very nice.


Me and Mari.


Una bonita flor.


1.5 lane bridge on way to the cottage. The entire road is 2 small lanes...which is very interesting given almost everyone drives SUVs and a truch takes a bit more than one lane. A lot of people drive as if it is one lane and look out. Maximum possible speed was 60 km and hour....for the longest straight stretch of rad we had, maxing out at about 300 m.

Volcan Arenal & La Fortuna


View of Arenal from the town of La Fortuna ... this is a fairly cloudless shot. I hope to go back at night, because the volcano has regular, even daily activity and at night you can see the rocks and explosions better, even lava sometimes.



"Close up" shot, not long after we heard a "bang"


View from roadside Cantina where we had lunch/dinner. It was cute, Flora was confused when I told her that yes Canada had mountians, but not where I lived. She said it would make for an odd skyline. She understands now why I can´t stop staring.


Picture of La Fortuna´s central park. The blue building int he distance is a tourist office with lots of wonderful information of whitewater rafting and ziplining. Apparently this area and Monteverde closeby are THE are for that.


Impressions for the day ...

• Wow, that is a cool volcano!
• New water handstand record = 2 minutes
• New skill = handstand in water with 1 arm
• Yay! San Ramon, I made it!
  

Pictures 2 - Sculptures at Festival

Sorry, about the weird layout last post...I will try and do better this time. These are pictures of those sculptors I wrote about.

Hmmm...

Well, apparently I am not allowed to edit old posts to add pictures. Not that I can figure out anyway. So I will add some of them here...en mass.

To start off here are some people I have met!

The little girl, I confess I can´t remmeber her name, but she enjoys rock paper scissors alot. The other two are Mari and her friend Midori, who is here with the same japonese organization, but works in Santa Clara.




















This lovely group of ladies is a group of volunteers at MUSADE. Jessica, the one giving the thumbs up is pretty much running at 110% of excitement and cheer and energy 24/7. The one in blue on the left is my supervisor, Enid.










La Festiva San Ramon!

On Sunday there was a parage of bulls and oxen with cartes. To celebrate the agricultural history of San Ramon. People lined the street.

The clown is from Saturday...I like the picture afterwards...both young and old were enjoyign the show.

The last two pictures are from out booth at the Festival. The women at MUSADE made the articles to sell, some are pretty creative, like the bags. Lol...pop can tabs are not just for wheelchairs anymore.

Pictures as Promised - My room

So, because I am still impressed at how big it I thought I would add a couple of pics of my room....it is also very pink. Very pink. With puirple stripes. And cheerleading posters.