Lessons Learned in Costa Rica

As I  prepare to leave Costa Rica on Thursday, leaving the comfort of SFS (“The Compound” as we affectionately call it) at 3:30 in the morning, I have been reflecting back over my experience here. First of all, thank you for reading about my time here. I blog for me; it helps me process things and I like to share my thoughts with anyone who might be interested. But, it is even better to blog knowing that people you love and that are several thousand miles away are reading. So, thanks! Second, this will be my last post from Costa Rica. Tomorrow and Tuesday, we have Directed Research presentations and lots of wrap-up activities. Wednesday will probably be crazy with final preparations and such. Then, Thursday I arrive in North Carolina at 4:17 pm.

In light of this big change, I wanted to write about what I learned during these really meaningful three months. Warning: there are probably so many things I am leaving out but this is my best attempt at summing up the semester.

I don’t have to plan everything, sometimes the best things are serendipitous. Some examples include finding a hotel in Manuel Antonio which turned out to be perfect, our whole time in La Fortuna, and an unplanned but amazing Lord of the Rings marathon.

I need alone time to reflect on the day, to think and just be with own thoughts; journaling daily has really helped me with this.

Costa Rica is wonderful but I also need to get know the United States better. I have been to more national parks in Costa Rica than the US and I have lived there for 21 years; also, there are many places that I want to go and things I want to see. Traveling with friends/family is definitely a priority. At the top of the list are: New Orleans, Seattle, and the Northeast (Boston, Maine, and all of my SFS friends in the vicinity).

Me at Volcán Mombacho, my favorite volcano we visited

Mangoes are pretty good, ripe and unripe….. until their sap gives you a rash (akin to poison ivy).

I can eat beans; they are still not my favorite and I don’t eat them without hot sauce and/or Lizano sauce, but I can eat them and sometimes enjoy it.

A typical breakfast of gallo pinto (with natilla, similar to sour cream), fried plantains, and tortillas with cheese

The sunset on Ometeppe Island

Yoga brings me a sense of peace and generally adds to my quality of life. One of our leaders led a yoga class that helped keep me sane and in shape. She was also such a peaceful presence and I am glad that I was able to spend that time with her.

At Finca Magdalena, a good view of Volcán Concepción

Walking and running are my pura vida times; everyone needs their own pura vida time. (Pura vida is the Costa Rican equivalent to the Southern saying of “stopping to smell the roses,” basically taking your time and enjoying life.)

At the trapiche in El Sur, making tapa de miel (a sweetener made from sugar cane)

Living in a different country with a unique culture is one of the biggest learning experiences you can have; the culture/language barrier has made me feel:

-like an utter fool: that time when I asked for soup to wash my clothes in at the local convenience store and got a very strange look (sopa= soup, jabon= soap)

-frustrated: when I couldn’t express my thoughts in Spanish

-uncomfortable: at my homestay, eating the most rich food and in such abundance that I thought I would have to fast for a few days, or when sketchy Costa Rica men tried to strike up conversations at El Sports Bar

-at home: relating to my host family about the everyday things dear to our hearts like family and food

-gratified: speaking to locals like taxi drivers and tour guides and learning firsthand about the culture (I surprisingly even got a few compliments on my Spanish)

-stretched: on those days when I really wanted a hot shower, my own bed with crisp, clean sheets, the smell of whole wheat bread wafting through the air, and to be surrounded by the familiar faces of the people I love

Everyone that can, should study abroad for all of the above-mentioned reasons. It gives you a new outlook on life and makes you more culturally aware. Although it is cliché, you really do learn a lot about yourself through such an experience.

I really do like all four seasons like you find in North Carolina. Costa Rica has two distinct seasons, the rainy and the dry season. I have been here only for the dry season and the very first hints of the rainy season. There have been a lot of hot, dry days, especially for February, March, and April. I think I will be very ready for fall when it comes to NC.

I am independent; I always have been. I was that kid that wanted to do things for themselves. I wanted to make my own sandwich for lunch or go to summer camp by myself, assured that I would make friends and be ok. College has made me even more independent but being in another country, especially traveling on your own in a foreign country where you aren’t fluent in the language, will make you feel even more independent (especially when nothing seriously bad like muggings, injuries, assaults, etc. happens).

My friend Kelly and me on Ometeppe Island

Explore as much as possible, try as many new things as possible, spend as much time learning from others as possible, read as much as is politely possible, and go on facebook as little as possible.

Tapirs and red-eyed leaf frogs are unfortunately not very easy to spot in Costa Rica, especially in the dry season. These were the two animals that I REALLY wanted to see while here because they are both endemic to Costa Rica but they eluded me.

Directed Research in Monteverde

Directed Research was one of those concepts that was very abstract to me when I first learned it was a key component of SFS. It sounded like an amazing experience but I did not have a concept of what it actually would be when I signed up for this program. Would it be a completely independent project? If so, would I be ready for that? I don’t consider myself an expert in anything really. Or, would we have lots of direction? Also, I have found in my time at Davidson that research is not something that I am particularly good at or am passionate about; I have accepted that it is completely okay for me to be a biology major and not want to do research, it just rules out some career paths which is something I have a hard time choosing.

The hummingbird garden at Selvatura, one of our sampling sites

Because of my lack of expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the research options we were given. Working with professors in their area of expertise was a unique opportunity. Our Directed Research counts as a whole 4-credit class crammed into less than a month, so it is pretty intense; Directed Research consists of a week of preparations which included meetings and lectures, a week of field work, a week of data analysis and writing, and two days of presentations. Right now, I just turned in the first draft of my paper, fingers crossed! Obviously, the week of field work and data collection has been my favorite part. A few years ago, I never would have guessed that I would work with hummingbirds in Costa Rica, holding, measuring, swabbing pollen from, and learning about them. Nor could I have imagined how many different species of hummingbirds live in Costa Rica; around fifty species inhabit the country which makes North America, especially North Carolina, seem kind of lame in terms of hummingbird diversity. But, now I can easily tell the difference between a Green Violet-ear and a Coppery-headed Emerald, a Violet Sabrewing and a Purple-throated Mountain-gem, among others. I have to say that I think the Purple-throated Moutain-gem is my favorite! The males have beautiful purple throat and a iridescent blue spot on top of their head that you can only see if the light hits it just right. The females have an amber colored breast that is still beautiful although not as flashy as males. Also, these hummingbirds are petite and were very abundant at the places we sampled.

 

Photo courtesy of: http://500px.com/photo/19987327

Photo courtesy of: http://monteverdemanakin.blogspot.com/2011/01/less-than-week-to-go-list-of-birds-i.html

The week also provided lots of time for bonding with our group. I feel fortunate to have gotten to know some people far better than I did before. When you work with people catching and observing birds and riding around in a packed van for a week, you see their real personalities and get to share lots of laughs (especially from creating hummingbird jokes). Also, I played so many hands of Hearts and loved it. I also had some really good food, like fig with condensed milk ice cream from the Monteverde Creamery, a humongous banana and dulce de leche crepe, a Peruvian seafood and yucca dish, so many slices of the best pizza Costa Rica has to offer (at Tramonti in Monteverde/Santa Elena), and enough bean and avocado sandwiches to be sick of them by the end of the week.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week:

That’s my finger, with a Green-crowned Brilliant on it!

 

Left: we were obsessed with waiting for hummingbirds to land on our feeders, these were not shy around people, they would zip right past your head and after a while land on your finger if you were still enough. Right: we set up mist nets to capture hummingbirds and take morphological measurements of them. During our measurements, we had a few escape artists. G, our program director and DR supervisor, said that you have to treat hummingbirds like children and be firm but gentle.

 

 

 

Left: our data collection table; yes, it is a kid’s table that we bought in Monteverde because G forgot to pack a real table; right: Hannah and Hillary measuring a hummingbird’s wing length.

Directed Research ended up being a very memorable experience and I have learned so much more about not only hummingbirds but the research process in general.

Vamos a la Playa

Last weekend was our last weekend away. Being the last one of three, I think that everyone was a bit torn about where to go. For those of us going home right after the program, this was our last chance to see Costa Rica on our own and for everyone it was a last fling before Directed Research began. My group of friends decided to go to Manuel Antonio for my friend Lauren’s birthday. For most students, a requirement for destination was that it had to have a beach. Ours fit the bill, and had a national park with lots of monkey spottings to boot.

We set out for Manuel Antonio early on Saturday morning, arriving at the bus stop before 7 (although  I was sweating it, sometimes it is hard to get everyone out the door at such an early hour). I was a admittedly dragging because I had stayed up watching Lord of the Rings the night before as a part of our three movies, one day LOTR marathon (this isn’t a regular thing for us, but it was pretty epic). But, I was able to sleep away an hour of the bus ride and read or look at scenery for most of the rest. When we got there we literally didn’t have a game plan which made me nervous. But, we figured out the connecting bus to get Manuel Antonio and then wandered upon a very pretty, inexpensive hotel that had vacancy. I have definitely learned to be more relaxed about traveling while here. Also, the hotel offered Wifi, hot water, clean towels, and air conditioning which is about all that a student traveling in Costa Rica could want.

Hotel Almendros: left, the blue tiled pool; right, the rows of rooms

We went to the beach for the afternoon. The stretch of beach near where we stayed was very unique, it had nice sand but also lots of pebbles and small shells right along the shore. It started to rain around 2; afternoon rains are a regular occurrence during the wet season. We still stayed on the beach for a while though. I went back and took a shower and then napped in the cool room. Later, we went to a restaurant for warm beverages and birthday cake. The drinks were good but the cake was amazing! It was vanilla cake with a dulce de leche filling and lots of sugary colored icing. Lauren was not surprised (because we hauled the cake around for much of the day) but loved the cake nonetheless.

Lauren and Cynthia as we sang “Happy Birthday” to Lauren

That night, we went to dinner and then went out on the town because the birthday girl wanted to find a place to dance. We went to nearby Quepos, where there was much more nightlife than Manuel Antonio, and found a place called Republik, a Cuban disco-lounge. We danced for several hours; I will readily admit I am not a great dancer but it was fun to dance with my friends and the Costa Rican music was fun to listen to regardless. I crawled into bed around 2 or 2:30 which is very unusual for me. But, my old soul needs to branch out every once in a while.

The next day, my friend Elizabeth and I were eager to go to Manuel Antonio National Park. On the way to the park, we stopped a hostel with a sign out front advertising a big breakfast for $4. We figured it would be fast and cheap so decided to go for it. It surpassed my expectations! I had black tea, a pancake, watermelon, pineapple, a banana, gallo pinto, and eggs. All of it was actually good quality and the two plate breakfast was very filling.

We bought some snacks, including aloe water (a new favorite of mine), at the grocery store and then kept walking to the park. We paid the entrance fee and then started to walk to the main trails. We scanned all along the trail for animals; the park is known for sloth and monkey sightings. Some cool animals that we saw included a treeful of playful squirrel monkeys, a well-disguised green vine snake, clever white-faced capuchin monkeys, crab-eating raccoons, and some crabs. After we first saw the squirrel monkeys and watched them for fifteen minutes, I already knew that my ten dollars was money well spent. Squirrel monkeys are officially my favorite kind of monkeys.

 

Left: a squirrel monkey in a tree that was full of about ten monkeys; right: a capuchin monkey laying on a limb

We followed cool, shady trails down to beaches that surrounded the park. We hiked to Playa Gamelas, Playa Manuel Antonio, and Playa Espadilla Sur. The beaches were beautiful and all unique; Playa Gamelas was rocky and hidden in a cove, Playa Manuel Antonio was sandy and the most crowded, and Playa Espadilla Sur had beautiful views of islands right off the coast. We spent our last hour in the park playing in the water and building a sandcastle.

Playa Gamelas

Elizabeth and I at Playa Gamelas in the national park

A map of the park

 

 

Left: a view of the beach from the trail; right: snails on rocks lining the shore of the beach

A brightly colored crab on a tree

I just got back yesterday from a directed research trip to study hummingbirds in the Monteverde area, more on this soon!

Getting Some Culture in San Jose

San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica. It is the historical and cultural center of Costa Rica. Therefore, when I was thinking about what I wanted from this day trip on the bus I wasn’t exactly sure but I knew I wanted to see the cultural and historical side of Costa Rica that I frankly hadn’t seen much of yet. I had seen no real Costa Rican art or music; only three movies have ever been produced in Costa Rica and I had been fortunate enough to watch one of those in Spanish class; the architecture didn’t really stand out in places I had visited; the food was good but didn’t seem embedded with history and tradition or even tons of flavor. Although I had been living here for over two months, I wanted to make sure that in my last month, I had gotten a true taste of what Costa Rica is.

The Artesans’ Market

La Avenida Central

Fast forward a few hours and I was sitting in the classiest Pizza Hut I have ever visited, in San Jose. It was about the last place I had imagined myself; but, I cannot say that begrudged the cheese personal pan pizza that I ordered. Also, I was with five of my closest friends here and we were simply sticking to our theme for the day, “Everyone gets what they want.” Lliterally everyone got to pick something that they really wanted to do and we did it. My request was to “get some culture” by visiting the Teatro Nacional and getting warm beverages/dessert there. My friend Lauren’s was to go to Pizza Hut; thus, we ended up at Pizza Hut and not having eaten pizza in two months, I have to say that enjoyed the reliably good pizza(certainly not spectacular, I will have to wait for Mellow Mushroom for my favorite).One of my other friends, Sarah D., had a burning desire to go to Subway for her lunch (Sarah S. shared this wish too). It was interesting to see how a Costa Rican Subway varied from a United States Subway; it looked basically the same but there were more exciting options like a seafood sub or gallo pinto for breakfast. Tori wanted to get her second holes and cartilage pierced. By the time we found the least sketchy piercing place, everyone else had decided they wanted piercings too, except for me and Lauren (she was scared of getting an infectious disease while I just didn’t have a desire to get another piercing). Unfortunately, Tori had to have one of her holes pierced twice to get it in the right place, but eventually everyone was happy with their new piercings. Sarah S. wanted to go shopping and we did lots of that; she even ended up with a leopard print romper. We strolled down the Avenida Central which was a pedestrian street (we didn’t have to worry about crazy Tico drivers thankfully) and stopped at clothing stores, shoe stores, and markets. I only got some last souvenirs (a patch for my backpack) and gummies from a store called Bee Sweet. The British candy store had every kind of gummy you could imagine; I bought frog, dolphin, egg, pepper (it actually had a hint of spice), and a slice of pizza gummies. All were delicious but I especially enjoyed the dolphin and frog. Louisa is very chill and didn’t really have a burning desire, although she jokingly said that it was for us all to get our tongues pierced.

Correo Central- the old Post Office Building

For what my wish, we walked to the Plaza de Cultura and were amazed by the regal Teatro Nacional. It is considered the most historical building in San Jose; its construction was finished in 1897 and there are still performances held there regularly. It starkly stood out from the stores in the vicinity and the plaza full of people. I was so excited to be there. The theater is a symbol of wealth from the time when the “coffee oligarchy”informally ruled Costa Rica’s political and social spheres. Going inside, it was very ornate; there were frescoes on the ceiling with angels and clouds. Beautiful marble statues of famous composers like Beethoven lined the lobby. Rather than paying to enter, we explored the lobby and spent just as much on dessert and drinks in the fancy café instead.

Left: the entrance to lobby of the theater; right: the fresco on the ceiling in the café featuring the Costa Rican flag

Left: queque zanahoria (carrot cake, with cream cheese frosting and slivered almonds); right: agua dulce con especias (sugar cane tea with spices)

Left: the café; right: Tori and Lauren sampling each other’s desserts

Sarah D. and Sarah S., it seems like the three Sarah’s always sit beside each other

I ordered the carrot cake and agua dulce  with spices (sugar cane tea). The carrot cake was really good, it was slightly less sweet but more spiced than the American version (I had already found this out though so my expectations were adjusted) and more like a quick bread than a cake. It also didn’t have as much icing because it was baked like a bundt cake. But, regardless, it was still very delicious with the cream cheese frosting and large shreds of carrot and lots of raisins. I definitely would order it again (although they also had some caramel mousse and tiramisu that I had my eye on); I also sampled a friend’s apple pie which was surprisingly good and served warm with ice cream. The agua dulce was less sweet than the last time I tried it (and I opted for the version without milk) but tasted akin to spiced cider. It was a nice complement to the cake. I think it has become obvious why we joked that we ate every hour (we also went to a café before lunch but I just can’t eat/drink tea all the time).

Gummies: dolphin, frog, pizza, egg, and chile pepper

We got back to the Center by 8 at night and it was nice to make a relaxing dinner and just hang out. Overall, it was a great girls’ day in San Jose. I couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday; it is always nice to be independent and just explore.

Santa Rosa: A Visit to the Dry Forest

Santa Rosa National Park was the first national park established in Costa Rica. The park is located in Guanacaste, in the very Northwest of Costa Rica. As we embarked on our trip there, one thing in the back of all of mine and my friends’ minds the whole time was that this was our last field trip all together. Although saddened by this remembrance, we were all very excited to actually camp out. Most of us had camped and had some wilderness experiences; we had expected to do more camping this semester so we were extra ready to be out in the wilderness. I personally was ready to use the sleeping pad and sleeping bag that I had yet to use but that had taken up half of one of my suitcases.

A view from the lookout that we hiked to on the way to our second campsite

When we arrived at Santa Rosa National Park, we rode through a forest unlike what we had seen so far in Costa Rica. Most people imagine Costa Rica as a country covered in rain forest with brightly colored flora and fauna, full of life. However, this was not at all like that typical view of Costa Rica.

Our campsite

When we first got to our campsite, it hit us just how hot it was here in the dry forest. We set up our tents and had lunch. Then, the lethargy set in as the heat escalated after lunch; some of us slept and others read (I was obsessed with Divergent at the time). We hiked through the dry forest. It was so different from anything else I have seen here, most of the trees drop their leaves as an adaptation to the six-month dry season so the trees were bare. There were also cacti and the vegetation was not lush or particularly beautiful. But, the highlight of the hike was seeing a tree full of white-faced capuchin monkeys! They were so cute; there were lots of babies too.

 

Hiking through the dry forest

Monkeys!

Students that act like monkeys

We hiked to La Casona, a museum that is a replica of the original house (it burned to the ground by arsonists in 2001). William Walker fought against the Costa Rican army here in 1856 and was quickly defeated. The museum takes visitors back to 1856 and a day in the life of a cook or a cowboy of the time that would have been at La Casona. It also detailed the battle and William Walker’s manifest destiny-driven campaign across Central America, mainly Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We had a Natural Resources Management class outside of La Casona and then hiked back. There was spaghetti for dinner; seriously, always having spaghetti is the main thing I don’t like about camping. An after dinner lecture and then a night hike. My professor, Edgardo who is a bird expert, caught a Night Jar (a kind of bird found in Costa Rica that nest on the ground) with his bare hands. His agility and ability to handle the bird was amazing. They have a really large mouth and interesting coloration. We also saw a spectacled owl; the way that it could move without  sound was slightly unsettling but also fascinating. No tapir though; I was really holding out hope for seeing one of these unique mammals but alas it didn’t happen.

La Casona

The next day we hiked 13 kilometers to our campsite by Playa Naranja. It was a really easy but nice hike. When we got there, the beach was our first priority; I walked out onto the beach and then down to La Piedra Bruja (The Witch’s Rock). The waves were huge and the ocean (Pacific Ocean) ranged in color from aquamarine to emerald green. It was mesmerizing to just watch the braves break in this place with renowned surfing and infamous rip tides (we were not allowed to swim for safety reasons but were allowed to wade in to our knees). After the nice long walk on the beach, with sore legs I settled into reading for a bit before lunch. Then, I collected tamarind from a nearby tree with some other students. This is a fruit that comes in a pod; you eat the flesh around the seeds by sucking on the sour fruit. It is delicious and some people even add it to water to give it flavor. Class and then another lazy afternoon. I played hearts with some friends, helped prepare dinner, and took a short walk on the beach. Most of us went on the beach to see the sun set. It was breathtaking; I don’t think I had ever seen the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. I was struck by a fierce dragon and unfortunately the only bathroom was an outhouse. We had to carry our own toilet paper and then use our own hand sanitizer. I think it might be a long time before I can venture into an outhouse or port-a-john again.

Rip tide warning sign by the beach

Tori and me in the ocean

Another early morning (“breakfast” or whatever food was left was at 5) so that we could pack up and hike back before it got too hot. Another nice walk and interesting conversation. When we got to the main park building, I joined everyone else in eating ice cream. I had some of the best I have had here. It was a prepackaged Cero Grados (Zero Degrees). This is dulce de leche ice cream in a ring shape, covered in chocolate, and mounted on a stick. It was amazing after being so hot and tired. We played cards and read until lunch. The trip back to the Center was quiet, as most people sleep on the bus, and I was able to reflect on my time abroad. I thought about how fortunate I was to be there and although it was our last field trip together and with the professors, we have so much to look forward to. Long weekends away, directed research (I am studying hummingbirds at Monteverde), making pizza in the pizza oven, and just bonding with my friends, learning from each other.