¡Pura Vida!

This is probably the most common expression in Costa Rica. It will be on your souvenir t-shirt, sarong, beach towel, candle, coffe mug, and so on. It can be a statement, a question, or an exclamation. Like this:
How was your bus ride? Pura vida.
¿Pura vida? Pura vida.
What do you think of Costa Rica? ¡Pura Vida!
It translates literally to “pure life.” It is used for everything positive. And in Costa Rica most things are positive most of the time. Life here is relaxed. The people are welcoming and helpful. I keep telling our friends here that they make this an easy place to be.

Unfortunately, it is a place I get to be for only a short while. Tomorrow Marie and I head home to Minnesota. I hope you have enjoyed my blog. I have thought of it like writing postcards—without the space limit : ) Writing it has been interesting, though different than I expected. I had hoped to have Marie write more, but it quickly became clear that her contact would be through Facebook. (If you haven’t already, you could find her there and see her pictures and comments.)

I also imagined a bit more for comments from my readers, but the hiccup at the beginning when I had to re-create the blog kind of got in the way of that. If you haven't yet, please email any comments to me at pederchild@gmail.com. I would be interested to hear what you thought of this travel-blog or what your favorite part was or whether you have questions or anything else you want to share.

Please stop by soon—I would love to see you, to swap stories, and to treat you to a cup of Costa Rican coffee. ¡Pura Vida!

Poas Volcano

During my last week here, I visited two more volcanos—Poas and Irazu. They are both among the mountains that ring the Central Valley, so relatively easy to get to. They also are both in national parks with wide trails leading to overlooks right on the rims of the main craters. Poas's main crater is more than a mile across, and it often sends up steam from the geysers and the lake in that crater. Irazu's last major eruption was in 1963, and it is known for its lake that is distinctively fluorescent green (see below). I feel lucky to have seen the lava flowing down Arenal and now these craters.

Irazu Volcano

Playa Hermosa--Weekend #8--The LAST One

For our last weekend tour, we splurged on a rental car and a trip to the northwest part of Costa Rica, to the province of Guanacaste. This is the region many people from the US and Canada visit and buy time shares. Since it was the week after the big Easter holiday, the beaches, hotels, and restaurants were quiet. Just what we wanted! We lounged around,swam, checked out the tourist shops, and ate lots of fresh seafood (including a shrimp, mango ceviche that was fabulous). Hermosa means beautiful and it was. From the picture you can see that our hotel had a pool and Jacuzzi (which does wonderful things for the ladies' hair)—plus it was way up on the hill so it had a fabulous view.

Driving went well. We were glad to have had some time to learn our way around and to observe the driving patterns. Two months ago, it seemed chaotic. Now we know the main roads and the main cities and generally where one place is in relation to another. Traffic still is pretty fast and fluid, but we were more prepared to go with the flow. “Drive like a Tico” was our slogan.

By the way—Tico or Tica is the Costa Ricans’ name for themselves. It comes from their tendency to add a –tico suffix to words. For example, “un momento” becomes “un momentico” (“one moment” altered to “one little moment”). And I use a time example so that I remember to tell you about Tico time. That is the name for their relaxed attitude about time—things happen eventually but no one it too uptight about schedules. Ironically, everyone is up early and off to work. Our students were surprised—they thought Tico time would mean everything would start later. Part of the earliness is that it gets light about 5, and the equatorial sun is already high in the sky by 8, so the cool morning time for doing things is early and brief. Then there’s time to be slower (or late) the rest of the day. And it’s warm enough that rushing around in the mid-day heat does not make sense. We hope to bring at least some of this casual sense of time home with us. Do you think my boss will like it?

Lounging around with the family was wonderful, and this was a good place to do it. It’s hot and humid, so a slow pace is the way to go. The town is small with mostly gravel streets; life centers on the beach. There’s a Rastafarian feel to it—lots of dreads and reggae. It was busy with tourists for the Easter week holiday, but it wasn’t too crowded. After our evening meal, we would head back to our room before the partying got wild. We stayed at a lovely small hotel with a nice garden and hammocks for reading. The kids and I played some rummy and laughed a lot. With easy access to tasty homemade ice cream and a good internet place, we could have stayed longer.
Like the picture? You may see it again at Christmas : )

More Puerto Viejo

Puerto Viejo is about as far south as the coast goes, but we went even farther south for some incredible snorkeling. At Manzanillo there is a national park along the shore with some interesting rocks outcropping and points, plus coral reef to explore. We each spent hours floating around finding incredible fish and plants to observe. I don’t know any of the names of what I saw, but my favorite fish was the little black one with purple spots along its spine and a bright yellow tail. The coral that looks like a brain was pretty interesting, too.

Juan Santamaria Day

Monday, April 13, was a day for celebrating in Alajuela--Juan Santamaria Day commemorates the national hero (see the statue silhouetted against the sky to the right of the lightpost). The historic date is April 11, 1856, and April 11 would usually be the holiday, but the festivities were moved to the 13th this year to avoid conflict with Easter weekend.

The story is that Santamaria was a drummer boy who volunteered to set fire to the building where William Walker and his band were barricaded. Walker was an American trying to gain control over a Central American state that he could make a slave state. Santamaria succeeded though he was mortally wounded doing so. Walker and his men were captured.

The holiday focuses on school children, so they have the day off from school in order to be part of the parade. They practice for weeks to be ready for this big event. The dignitaries who spoke before the parade all emphasized the importance of education. Once the parade begins, each school is introduced and off they go.

Juan Santamaria Day

The parade included many school groups--drummers and bands, dancers and baton twirlers. They were all spiffed up in costumes or uniforms--despite the hot sun and the noonday heat. The littlest ones started the parade and had lots of teachers and parents guiding them along. The older ones waited the longest to join in but still performed in style.

Juan Santamaria Day

An important guest was President Oscar Arias, who spoke about his own school days and the importance of education. After he spoke, the parade started, and he stepped forward to greet people. I guess that's what is expected--only a few security guards and people being able to be close to their president.
In case you are wondering, he is the same Oscar Arias who was president in the 1980s and who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to bring peace to Central America.

Growing Kids Growing Freckles

Gotta love 'em--Marie and her smile, Eben and his (almost) non-smile

Puerto Viejo & Snorkeling

Puerto Viejo is about as far south as the coast goes, but we went even a bit farther south for some incredible snorkeling. At Manzanillo there is a national park along the shore with some interesting rock outcroppings and points, plus some coral reefs to explore. We each spent hours floating around finding incredible fish and plants to observe. I don’t know any of the names of what I saw, but my favorite fish was the little black one with purple spots along its spine and a bright yellow tail. The coral that looks like a brain was pretty interesting, too.

Puerto Viejo--Surfer Girl

Puerto Viejo--Surfer Boy

Puerto Viejo--aka WEEKEND #7

We spent the last part of the time that Dave and Eben were here on the Caribbean coast, enjoying some serious beach time at Puerto Viejo. The one thing the kids had asked to do was to learn to surf. So the first day, they got a lesson from Herschel, a local guy with a big smile and a love of surfing. Marie and Eben took to it right away—they practiced the surfer stance on land, then went in to try it on the boards. Both of them were riding the waves within the first couple of tries. The waves were small but kept coming, so Herschel helped them with the timing, giving them a little push. By the end of the lesson, they were jumping up to turn themselves around on the board. Even watching from the shore was pretty fun. Now the kids will have to teach the parents.

WEEKEND #4--National Theater

On the Sunday of that test/Tortuga weekend, Marie and I went with my students to a play at the National Theater in San Jose. The play we saw was Las Bizarrías de Belisa by Lope de Vega, one of Spain’s first and most prolific dramatists, who wrote about the same time as Shakespeare. All I knew before we went is that this play is a romantic comedy that would be performed in Spanish (of course), but we figured we would probably understand enough from the words and actions to get the gist of the story. And that was true. We even got some of the jokes!

WEEKEND #4--National Theater

The National Theater is a beautiful and historic building, built in the late 1800s with money from coffee exports. The production we saw had good actors plus interesting staging, costumes, and music. Later I learned that the company performing it is from Spain and has been touring Europe with this production. So we happened onto a high-class production in a high-class theater—a great combination.

WEEKEND #4--Isla Tortuga

Isla Tortuga is an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Nicoya—that’s on the Pacific coast about an hour west of here. They took a bus to Puntarenas, then a boat (a large tri-maran) to the island. While the crew prepared lunch on the beach, the passengers could swim or sun or snorkel. The boat was packed with everything the tourists would need while they were there—including beach umbrellas and portable toilets. Marie and Joyce opted to go snorkeling and saw lots of brightly colored tropical fish. The gorgeous day was topped off by dolphins leaping in the distance as the boat headed back.

BACK TO WEEKEND #4--Isla Tortuga

One Saturday back in March, I had to take an online test for the program I am doing through MSU, Mankato. It was kind of a challenging day as I experienced some interesting computer moments with odd connectivity issues. But it must not have distracted me too much since I passed the test.
While I was slaving away on that test, Marie went on a tour to Isla Tortuga. Joyce is the other MnSCU faculty person who is also teaching here this semester. We have been traveling with her and greatly enjoying her company. She has been a good friend to both of us. As you can see, she and Marie get along famously.

A Nice (and not so mega) Mall

Lest you think that I am limiting Marie to only educational sorts of activities, I should tell you about the fancy mall we went to. After having been there for lunch with a teacher group, I treated Marie to a Saturday afternoon at the Multiplaza. Located on the west side of San Jose, we got there by bus and taxi in less than an hour. The shops and food court are upscale, designer, and international--about twice the size of the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud. We had falafels for lunch and browsed the shops. Favorite stores for us were Zara and Day-a-Day. We did more looking than buying but had fun. Our time there ended with Pops' ice cream and a stop at the international supermarket. Something for everyone : )

ARENAL VOLCANO

We kept an eye on the volcano, which tends to have clouds near the summit during the day (like in our picture). A few times, the clouds moved off so we could see the smoke/steam coming from the volcano. When it started to get dark, our bus took us around the volcano a ways to where we had a good view for seeing flowing red lava and rocks coming down the slopes of the volcano. It was amazing. If we were quiet, we could hear the rumblings. It is easy to see why this nearly continuously active volcano is a favorite with tourists.

ARENAL VOLCANO aka WEEKEND #3

In the beginning of March, we took a day trip to Arenal Volcano. The drive into the mountains was interesting as we wound our way through forest and sometimes through clouds. This volcano is near the town of La Fortuna, a farming community with a pretty central park and lots of hotels, restaurants, and tour companies to accommodate the travelers. We traveled beyond the town to Baldi Hot Springs for an afternoon of lounging in the pools. The water comes from under the volcano, and the pools capture it at various places, thus the temperature in the pools varies, too. Some of them are quite hot, so they have a cool pool set in the middle of the hot one. There were artificial waterfalls and water slides and swim-up bars and options for spa treatments—quite the place for an afternoon of lounging.

WEEKEND #6

Tourists go to Tortuguero to see turtles (the name is after all a Spanish version of turtle), and we hoped to see at least one of the leatherback turtles that nest this time of year. We did a night walk on the beach looking for signs but saw none while we were there. Being on the beach at night was interesting anyway and the star gazing was fabulous. During the day, we found the beach to be a pretty fun place to play in the waves and learn about the undertow. The water was cool enough to feel refreshing but nothing to prepare us for the upcoming first dip in Green Lake—if the ice ever goes off it : )

WEEKEND #6

One of the big draws for tourists is Tortuguero National Park, which you explore mostly by boat. On our trip through, we saw lots of new birds—parrots, oropendolas, anhingas, trogons. We also saw some herons and egrets—probably down from Minnesota to visit their Central American relatives. The other highlight was the monkeys, howler and spider (shown here) and capuchin. We watched one troupe feeding, complete with a baby on one of the mama’s backs. We also got to see a troupe swing its way through the trees above and across the canal.

If I knew how to zoom in on this picture, I would. Then you would get a better view of this charming critter. Maybe using your photo skills you can bring it in a bit. Or call Eben and ask him to describe it for you. He loved the monkeys!

WEEKEND #6

Marie and I had spring break the week before Easter, so the family went on a tour of Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. We started out on the northern part in a remote village called Tortuguero. It’s a small town with no roads or cars, but it does have an inland canal that serves as its “highway.” The canal connects with various other canals and rivers to create a network that will get you fifty miles south to the main port of Limon.

The town is long and narrow, squeezed onto the sliver of land between the canal and the beach. We stayed at a B&B right on the main path so could walk around to check out the local bakeries, tourist shops, and restaurants. The heat and humidity encouraged us to slow down and to enjoy time on the canal-side deck reading in the shade. An interesting and relaxing place.

WEEKEND #5

Here's Eben in his Costa Rica soccer jersey--a wildly successful birthday gift. The team played on Saturday and lost to Mexico (a big rival) by a score of 1-0. They played again on Wednesday and beat El Salvador by 1-0. We still don't know much about the game but the enthusiasm here is amazing. It's hard not to get interested.

WEEKEND #5

This one is a bit blurry, but that's because the coati is in motion. Eben had fun following it as it sniffed out things to eat. We heard that they are a bit too interested in human food, so were glad Eb had none to share.

WEEKEND #5

Our first journey with Dave and Eben took us into the mountains to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. It is just what the name says, a rain forest that is in the clouds. This is one of the oldest reserves in the country, a private one begun in the early 1970s. A group of Quakers from the US had come to this part of Costa Rica in the early 1950s to get away from the war-mongering US government. They settled in the mountains and started dairy farms. Eventually they became concerned about deforestation and the preservation of the headwaters of the rivers that fed their herds and crops. Thus began the reserve.

We traveled by bus to Santa Elena and stayed in a small, family-owned hotel there. In addition to visiting the reserve and learning lots about the plants and creatures living there, we did a canopy tour. That is basically a zipline through/above the forest. Well, actually it is a dozen or so ziplines--plus a Tarzan swing. What fun! Dave set aside his ropes course expertise to enjoy the zipping with us (tried not to think too much about the quality of the set-up, but still got a few ideas for new brake systems).

Once we got done zipping and started walking, we saw all kinds of beautiful birds (including the endangered quetzal), animals like the coati, many butterflies (love that blue morpho), and a few poisonous frogs.

A highlight for us all was celebrating Eben’s 13th birthday there. The crowning touch of that day was dinner at a nice Italian restaurant where Eben got his favorite, fettuccini Alfredo, and a birthday serenade from the waiters. A memorable trip for us all!

Hi Everyone!

We haven't forgotten you. As you may know, Dave and Eben arrived here on Friday the 27th, so we have been busy being hostess. It's been fun to show them around Alajuela and let them experience the food and busses and all. They are adjusting so well that they are currently on the couch watching the Costa Rica-El Salvador futbol (soccer) game on television. Costa Rica is up by one point and there's lots of cheering and yelling going on.

We have already been on a little family trip to a place called Monteverde, up in the mountains and cloud forest. We saw lots and learned lots. Next week we will go to the Caribbean coast looking for critters and beaches. More details and pictures will come later.

THE BUS

Back in the old days when I rode the MTC around Minneapolis, my view was never like this. But here it is--what I look at as I wait at the bus stop near the truck full of pineapples being sold to passersby.

To get to ICLC, I walk to the corner (5-10 minutes) and get on the Dolce Nombre bus—that’s “sweet number” in English. And sweet it is. It’s a lumbering old Blue Bird school bus painted white with a couple of hot pink stripes around it. I can tell when it is coming because its squeaky brakes announce it.

I ride for 10 minutes or so to the main intersection with the road into Alajuela. There I transfer to the bus that will take me away from the city to the small town of Carrillos near where ICLC is. If I get to the corner by 7:15, I can take the one bus that goes all the way to ICLC. If I go a little later, I get off the bus in Carrillos and take a 5 minute taxi ride the rest of the way. All this public transportation costs me about $2.75—25¢ or 50¢ for the bus, $2 for the taxi. And the bus drivers make change!

That may sound like a pretty complicated path to work. It seemed that way at first, but now I hardly think about it. Most days it’s 45-60 minutes from when I leave home until I arrive at ICLC. Yesterday I hit the timing just right and was there in slightly over 30 minutes. Fast or slow, I enjoy the scenery and watching the people. And I am glad not to be commuting by bike as many do on these busy, narrow roads.

One of the drivers on the Dolce Nombre recognizes Marie and me, so we get an extra-friendly hello and know that he will remember our stop. We also have begun to recognize other regular riders—like one of the security guards at Marie’s school and a couple of people who live on our road. By the time we leave, we will feel like locals.

WEEKEND #2

Here's our new role model showing us what to do at the beach.

These little white-faced, capuchin monkeys hang out near one of the beaches in the park. They put on a show for the tourists but can also get into mischief. Between them and the raccoons, beach-goers better watch their food and bags. It can be pretty entertaining to watch.

WEEKEND #2

Joyce and Ruth took a guided tour of the park and saw a bunch of sloths. This is a juvenile female having a little morning snooze.

The guide had a telescope that we could look with and take pictures with. We also saw green tree frogs, monkeys, herons, land crabs, cicadas, and much more.

WEEKEND #2

The beach on the Pacific coast at Manuel Antonio National Park. It was about a three hour bus ride to get here, but it was well worth it. With several beaches to choose from, we spent a day just exploring them and taking in the scenery.

WEEKEND #1

Three babes on the beach at Punta Leona—Ruth and Marie, of course, with Joyce, the other instructor traveling with us.

WEEKEND #1

On the way to the beach, we stopped by the Tarcoles River for a cruise to see birds and crocodiles. In the picture you may notice a shadow—that’s the boat driver in the water with this big old croc. The croc appeared to be waiting for the chicken the driver is about to serve.

WEEKEND #1

We headed out of Alajuela toward the Pacific coast, by way of this lovley view over the valley--and many more views over many more valleys. Notice that it is a mixture of green and brown because it is the dry season. We have been here a month and have not had any rain. By our standards, things are still pretty darn green.

sorry about the comment issue. the blog was set by default to only allow registered users to comment but now anyone should be able to.

The Institute of Culture and Language, Costa Rica (ICLC) is the school where the Minnesota students are taking Spanish and two other classes (including my World Literature class). It is set on a lovely hillside campus in the countryside. Most of the classrooms and meeting areas are outdoors—small gazebos and patios with a table and some chairs, like the one in the picture. The indoor facilities include a reception/office building, a cafeteria/library/ office building, and a computer lab/indoor auditorium, plus the baño (you know, the bathroom).

The staff at ICLC is wonderful. Everyone has been helpful in getting us oriented to the school and the city. Marie met them on the first days we were here, and they keep asking about her and her school experience. They are pleased that she is here to learn more Spanish, and so that I am not all alone, as one of them said. I am pleased, too.

Even though I am not taking the Spanish classes, they help me learn a few new words each day I am there. While some of them speak English, some don't so we have interesting conversations with gestures and actions. I have lots of words but not much for sentences (you know, all those verbs and conjugations slow me down). Many times I wish for better Spanish so I could get to know more people here.

The students, however, are expanding their language all the time. They take intensive Spanish classes, from eight to noon Monday through Friday. They also live with Costa Rican families so are immersed in the culture and required to get along in Spanish. They seem to be learning lots and having a good time. My class meets one afternoon a week for three hours; this week we finished a book by an African author and next week we start one set in China. It’s quite a multi-cultural term for us all.

You notice that I have not posted a picture of me in my uniform for you--no uniform : ) Well, except for the same old shorts and t-shirts that I wear everyday. The other school picture I might include would be pretty boring--me on my computer. That's because I am working away on the online classes I am taking. I am learning lots in those, too. I try to squeeze that work into the time when Marie is at school to leave us time for walks or errands in the afternoons. Then we do homework together at night. And travel on the weekends. But those stories are for another blog.

If you want to see me ICLC pictures, go to

http://www.iclc.ws/

School is going quite well. I’m starting to catch on more to what is going on and my Spanish listening skills are improving. The school day starts at 7:30 and ends at 3:15 Monday thru Thursday and on Fridays we get out at 1. I have 8 different classes but they don’t all meet every day. They are: math, civics, social studies, English, Spanish, gym, religion, and biology. We have a rotating schedule which I think is kind of nice because it makes each day a little different. All the classes are taught in Spanish except English, but luckily the teachers and a couple students know enough English to help me if I’m totally confused. On Fridays we have a special activity from 12 to 1. We could choose art, music, dance, or soccer. What a surprise I chose dance! Here I am in 11th grade which is the last year of school, so I’m a senior. It’s kind of cool because we get to wear different uniforms than the rest of the students, and they are slightly cuter. There are only 13 other kids in my class, but they are all really nice and make a point to include me. Last Friday I went with a couple of them to a pool after school. There is one other exchange student in my class. Her name is Marte and she is from Norway. She has been a big help to me. Over all I’m having a really good experience!

Here's a shot of the pool at our apartment--it's one of Marie's favorite after-school spots. The temperature is usually in the 80's and the sun is hot, so a cool dip feels good. These apartments are called Apartamentos Palma Real. It's a small group of one-story buildings with a total of sixteen apartments. Each one has a front door off a covered walkway and a back door to a little patio. The neighbors are from all over (Costa Rica, the US, Europe) and are friendly and helpful. It's a five-minute walk up the road to Marie's school and another five minutes past that to the bus stop. Lots of trees and flowering bushes make it green and pretty.

This will give you a little bit of an idea of what the farmers' market looks like--amazing!

Each Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in Alajuela (and in many other towns around Costa Rica) the feria del agricultor, farmers’ market, takes place. Held on the edge of downtown, people come from all over to sell and buy fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, baked goods, and miscellaneous wares. A roof covers the open-air market, sparing us all the hot sun. The area under the roof is expansive—maybe as large as half a football field.

Vendors are arranged in several rows. On one side are the stalls with t-shirts and watches, trinkets and homemade aprons. On the other side are the coolers of the cheese makers and butchers (complete with long rolls of sausage that Marie thought looked like fire hoses from across the market). In between are the produce sellers. If you walked the aisles, you would recognize the beautiful strawberries, black berries, pineapples, melons, lettuce, potatoes, onions, carrots. You, like us, might be amazed at the large variety of fruits and vegetables you do not recognize—guanyaba, pejibaye, tamarind, mamones, and many more.

The vendors are generous with samples; we tried to guess first—will it be sweet or tart or bitter? It was sort of odd to not know but interesting to taste so many new flavors. A few stands sold snacks like the delicious churros we bought to share (no sharing next time—we all want our own).

We did not see more than a handful of other non-Costa Ricans there, and we did not find many vendors who spoke much English. Yet we managed to fill our bag. Quite a delightful experience—a sensory binge we will return to soon.