Pura Vida Costa Rica, en casa

Costa Rica truly started the day before we arrived to Puerto Limon… I offered a Salsa/merengue lesson and that just set the most amazing mood! It was fantastic! -I actually saw my students using their moves on another day in port =)

I left the ship as quickly as I could because I needed to reserve the hostel for the next day… A taxi driver said: welcome to Costa Rica, need a cab? I responded in Spanish and he said… Pura Vida, bienvenida a casa… I was definitely home.

I called the hostel (I was trying to get a phone card cause it was Heshi’s birthday- my best friend home but only got someone to lend me her cellphone to call the hostel). We were set for hammock hostel the second day… $5 for the one of the best nights of sleep I have ever gotten ;)

I went to the Chiquita biodigester the first day. It was truly amazing to see how much they have advanced on producing energy from their wastewater. I will leave the technicalities for my energy resources class but I admit I was impressed and asked about an internship there… I may be coming back to Costa Rica in a few months to learn more from them. The manager admitted that in earlier days banana plantations were abusive to the communities but now they are committed to maintain a good relationship with them ( I want to believe this is true, it seemed legitimate). Their biodigester  is used by the community as well and has significantly reduced the bad odors released to the environment. They talked about how they tried to implement good relationships with the passion fruit producers in Ecuador (that is their other office) but the middle men between the farmers and them would not step back… Chiquita Costa Rica is now growing passion fruit. It was disappointing to hear about the middle men back home, I know them… I could recognize their abusive nature with my smell. We need better policies, not for Chiquita to be able to buy their products but for farmers to be able to get fair prices for what they grow…

Anyways, at night I went out with a group and sang, danced and met a lot of really amazing people, including someone that worked for Del Monte… I guess they are all concentrated around here.

The next morning, my friend and I took the bus to Cahuita National Park and I understood. During the 8.3 km walk I was in awe… It was not the yellow viper, the morfo butterflies, the raccoon or the howling monkeys… it was the leaves… Randomly a leave would be rotating on its axis in comparison to the ones that surrounded it being stagnant. My awareness of their anima (Heshi, esta es por vos, su alma, su movimiento) was inevitable. They were there alive and I was there with them… I breathed. I understood then why everyone I talked to was so excited about the commitment of the government to become carbon neutral by 2021 (their 200 year anniversary of being a nation). They all see it and understand that there should not be any other way…  A taxi driver that I talked to said that although major changes will have to occur to change the fleets of cars, he wanted it to happen too, the Chiquita people talked about it… It was pura vida… At a point I just had to jump into the water, it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen… Ferreira, you were right. The water was so warm and we had the beach to ourselves and swam and walked and walked and walked.

It took us 4 hours to finish the trail… Exhausted we took the bus to Puerto Viejo. There we met other friends and ate rice and beans, had daiquiris, listened to some music and then took a nap in the hammock hostel… It was AMAZING!

Puerto Viejo, on the other hand, reminded me of Montanita back home… I felt harassed by men and the drug offering was abundant and scary… (my tour guide, Olga, said that this all happened because this Spanish writer wrote a book about Puerto Viejo being a sexual mecca and many women coming in with such desires; it was sad to see all the people that were not functioning trying to walk) I was still able to go out dancing, firs reggae (oshi’s) then moved to a touristy place because it had a lot of people (mango) and then I moved to another reggae style place (Johnny’s place) and danced and danced until I went outside and saw the sky… I could not help it and had to go for a swim… The starry night was swimming with me.

I slept for two hours in my hammock and took the bus back to Puerto Limon… It was my opportunity to see Tortuguero… I saw sloths and thought of Sarah Sutliff… I miss that girl! I even made an impression in her name… I also saw a Jesus Christ lizard walk over the water and eat a pretty cricket! This place was breathtaking.  I heard great music by a group of musicians there at the station; I simply had to get their CD… I’ve been dancing to eat since then.

That day, as the first one I had the same tour guide. Her name is Olga. The first day we talked about social problems in Costa Rica and how even though there are so many protected areas, the all-inclusive hotels are taking up a lot of land, even destroying the mangroves without shame but the worst part is that they are using up the neighboring communities’ water without shame. More and more communities are being affected and they are asking for justice. It is not even benefitting the towns, these are hotel chains to which people go to never leave the hotel and meet the people… She was disappointed of the driven society dedicated to take pictures as proof of what they see. I think it is because people do not know how to react to beauty anymore, she agreed that a lot of people have become insensible due to the heightening of emotions and visuals we receive from television… It is not so easy to impress her tourists anymore… Being mesmerized with simple things holds the beauty in life…

Anyways, hopefully the people near the hotels will be heard. I guess it is a theme for this voyage… I do not approve of all inclusive hotels or resorts… She was also telling me that almost a third of the population was from Nicaragua (Costa Rica is also home to the biggest colony of US citizens outside of the US) and that there is a lot of tension as they claimed this island to be theirs because of a google map- ridiculous excuse (I remembering reading these news from Kevin)- because they are working on a new canal financed by Iran… I do not know the other half of the story but I also heard about this when I was in Panama… It is scary to think that they are willing to change the geography of the continent to pay less money to cross… I feel like there should be some amendment to the Human Rights or some type of agreement that inhibits the ability to do this… I know countries are sovereign but taking away hills can definitely affect habitats for all living… I hope this does not happen.

The last day Olga and I talked for a while about how amazing life is, our lack of television and how traveling is even possible from home… I adored her; we are definitely keeping in touch. The afternoon I fell asleep in Playa Bonita and then found the little market… I wished I did not have to leave Costa Rica. The amazing people I met, including Maria and David singing in the karaoke with me –I sang to Selena and got lots of applauses ;) – and Olga… Oh I feel revived and more connected to life again. Pura Vida.