In early December, I booked a volun-tourism trip so that I could start 2013 off by making a dent in my new year's resolution: to give more. I had been bit by the travel bug, but what I desired was to experience not just the touristy sites, but to understand people better. It's ironic how I felt the need to travel 4,000 miles to understand people better, especially when I live in a city teeming with people at every corner. True to my expectation though, connecting to people doesn't even require knowing the same language. Connecting does not require a computer, a TV or a facebook like. In seven days, I felt a tremendous warmth and sense of giving towards the families that we ate dinner with, and the volunteers and coordinators I met on my trip.
Thanks to Iris who sent me to Costa Rica with a care package that included a travel journal, these are some of the thoughts I documented on my trip. I wrote some more too, but it's so odd writing thoughts out on paper... It's so slow, and it gets messy to erase, and it's definitely not as fluid. I guess actual literal writing with pen and paper is a certain exercise that takes practice too.
January 18, 2013- Dinner
Frommer's recommended Jalapenos Central in downtown Aljuela for dinner. It was the only place they recommended and I could tell why after strolling the streets. There wasn't much in terms of attractions, and streets were lined with local supermarkets, Mickey D's and a scattering of small restaurants. I should have chose the adventurous route and ventured into some place with an entirely spanish menu but instead I had Tex-Mex fajitas for dinner. The menu was in both english and spanish, and the beef was over-cooked and quite overrated. I'll stick to Lonely planet guidebooks from now on. Another volunteer mentioned how disappointing it was that Frommer's recommended Asian fusion restaurants and sushi in San Jose, when all she wanted was to eat local Costa Rican food.
The strangest thing happened during dinner and the owner said that he'd never seen anything like it in the 10 years that he owned the restaurant.
Seemingly out of no where were two sets of bongo drums, placed between the parked cars in front of the open aired restaurant. Three dread lock, possibly pot smoking, "new-age" (as the owner called them) teenagers started beating on the drums, while one guy started juggling and balancing this glass ball across from one arm, rolled it across his chest and slickly onto the other arm (not sure what such a feat is called). It was quite entertaining and then when the performance was over, the bigger dread locked hair dude passed his cap around the restaurant for tips. Then with a hard cart, they loaded the huge drums in search for their next audience.
The owner says that there's been an influx of the new age hippie kids in town. On the last Wednesday of each month, they show up in Parque Centrale to play bongos and smoke weed. Recently cops were capped to the event and they them to disband, but they pleaded their case to the mayor who let them congregate legally since they didn't technically bother anyone. I think the hippie ski bums in Colorado should summer in Costa Rica (good surf waves too).
January 19, 2013- Breakfast
I went the adventurous route this morning and ventured to Trigo Miel bakery for breakfast. I figured it was easy since I could just point to the pastry I desired and cappuccino is the same in english as in spanish. When the bakery lady asked me if I wanted it "Ahora" and "aqui," naturally I nodded. The other words she spoke outside of that was totally lost of me. She kept talking though so clearly I was missing something. After a series of confused looks, a kind gentleman behind me explained that if I were to eat here, they would serve me and I would pay later. Dang it, my 97 in Regents level Spanish from 15 years ago has been useless in Costa Rica thus far.
While eating my second meal alone, I noticed how conscious I was when the flaky pastry broke into tiny crumbs all over my face and when the steak and onions from my fajita sloppily dropped from my mouth to the place. It's okay to eat alone. I have no issue although I may need a book or I may need to fidget with my i-phone while I wait for my order. The only thing I worry about is having a juicy morsel of food at the side of the mouth and not noticing, and not having anyone I trust around me to give me a heads up. It's okay to eat alone, but when you have food sloppily left on your face, people will make judgments. They may wonder if it's the sloppy eating habits that have scared your dinner companions off. Breakfast: Empareados- Chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato
January 20, 2013- Villas Alas Azules "Villa of the Blue Wings"
Summing up Costa Rica requires only one word: verdant. I will bet half the photos on my camera and iPhone are of the lush jungle landscape of Orosi Valley. The scenery is beautiful no matter what the weather is like. When the sun is out, the jungles are uniformly golden, when it's grey out, a mist covers over the mountains and the sky seems to be almost within reach, and when it's cloudy, the mountains capture the beautiful contrast of sun and shadows. Each morning, afternoon and night, I feel the need to take photos of the view from the Villas Alas Azules- just to capture all the amazing sights that I've seen from the place I will call home for the next week.
Other than what's above, here's also a more well crafted piece edited by Iris. I wrote it for GlobeAware's volunteer of the month feature. Read it before they take it down April 1!
http://www.globeaware.org/volunteer-month
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