Oh there you are Costa Rica!!!

It took me about a month, but I finally found it. I finally found Costa Rica, the Costa Rica that I fell in love with in 2003. In Sarapiqui, the environment is harsher, not in an aggressive way, but rather a gentle refusal to consider human necessity or desire as part of the plan. It is a place that requires a certain type of human spirit - one that is flexible, full of acceptance, and willing to live on mother nature's terms. It is place full of change, a place that is always changing your plans, or reminding you not to to have to many. The river could, and often does, flood. The rain restricts what one can do, and to be agitated by the environment would mean maintaining a certain level of discontent year round. I decided that all of this creates an ambiance of relaxation, or at least of slowing down. The gentleness of this place was reflected in the eyes of every person that I met, flowing as freely as the river and the rain. All of the stress of San Jose, of horns honking, constant fireworks, cars backfiring, florescent lights, barred windows, and dirty streets was washed away. At times, in between the pitter patter of raindrops and the waves splashing against the boat, I could almost hear the wind whispering, "Tranquilo....tranquilo". Oh, the places you end up when you stop trying to plan and just let go and roll with the punches (or invitations)....

This past week marked the end of my month of Spanish classes at Conversa in San Jose. I really wanted to get away and head to the beach to bask in the sun, but my friend Megan convinced me otherwise. I cut my classes short by one day, so I could go with the Rotaract Club on their service trip to Sarapiqui. I didn't know what to expect - I was told to bring clothes I didn't care about, mosquito repellent, rubber boots, and that I wouldn't need a bathing suit because the river is full of crocodiles. Gulp.

Of course, I had to do it Sarah style, which meant squeezing in a night of dancing even if it meant total sleep deprivation. On Thursday night, David, fellow volunteer and avid salsa dancer, and I packed up our stuff, went Salsa dancing until 2 a.m., took a taxi to the apartment, showered, slept for 15 minutes, and then got up to catch the 4 a.m. ride out of town. There were ten of us total, sitting on the curb outside the church in the moonlight waiting for the truck to pick us (and the 10 garbage bags of presents) up. Dave and I were the only gringos, but his Spanish is perfect after living in Argentina doing mission work for almost two years, so I was a little "behind the tree" as they say in Spanish - translation: totally lost. However, everyone seemed to find the look on my face completely endearing, and they did a wonderful job of making sure I made my way out of the woods and into the conversation, even if it meant explaining things over and over again.

We loaded up the truck with our luggage and the presents/supplies and headed out in a mini-bus. Two hours later we arrived in Sarapiqui, where we all loaded into the back of a truck for the next two hours of the journey. As the door closed and we were left with darkness, people started cracking jokes about the "Migra" and border patrol, until the truck started moving and it was too loud to make talking worthwhile. Two hours later the door opened and our driver jokingly asked us for our passports as we all scrambled out of the truck to stretch our limbs. We then piled into a water-taxi for the final leg of the journey, and I was informed to keep an eye out for crocodiles. I spent the entire trip imagining the boat tipping, me falling into the water, and being pulled under and eaten alive. We finally arrive at "The Mission", a self-sustaining Christian mission camp/farm on the river. Anna, the founder, came to Costa Rica 15 years ago, and this place is the end result of over a decade of work. She and the volunteers eat what is available on the farm, and use electricity when the solar panels are working properly and candles when they are not. They have a main kitchen structure, another structure that serves as a bodega (storage space), and then they have a house boat with five rooms with bunk beds, where we slept for the weekend. It rains here 9 months out of the year, and I was really excited to break in my new rubber boots, which I had decorated with Rock Band 2 stickers spice them up a bit! Man o man, did they get a lot of use, as it rained 80% of the time.

Anna has been working with the Rotary club for the last few years to organize Christmas parties for the community. During the days we put on christmas parties, complete with masses, singing, puppet shows, games, bobbing for apples, handing out presents, and lots of laughing. The children were precious. At night, we sat around playing cards and telling stories in the candlelight. I feel like I made some long lasting friends, especially with a girl named Daniella. I liked Daniella immediately, mainly because she has short hair, and because she is hilarious. I also got to know Megan better, whom I will be sharing a room with for the next five months, and we get along really really well, which sure is nice to feel sure of!

I didn't necessarily want to come home, but Monday morning was the day that the Spanish school was coming to pick me up at my host family's house to give me and my suitcases a ride to Heredia, where I will be living from here on out. I gathered up my things and spent one last night in San Jose with my host family and then moved to Heredia. Daniella had called me to see if I wanted to come help her and her little brother set up her grandmother's Nativity Scene, and of course I accepted. We took a series of buses to get to Atena, where her grandmother and most of her family live. We then proceeded to put together the most elaborate Nativity Scene I have ever seen in my life, which included a number of animal figurines that I don't remember being part of the Bible but that she insisted on their presence, like dogs, a rocking horse, a giant rabbit, four or five little bo-peep look alikes, etc. It took up half of the living room! Her grandmother is 83 years old and still lives alone. I decided that there are five levels of fluency in Spanish - level four is UNDERSTANDING GRANDMOTHERS. She spoke very fast and I only caught about 50%, but she was a riot. At one point she looked me straight in the eye, and wagging her finger, and swore up and down that washing machines are a total joke (she prefers to wash everything by hand).

We stayed until the sun set and night came, and she fed us tortillas, gallo pinto (typical rice and beans mix), and arroz con leche until I was sure I was going to explode. We took the bus back to Daniella's house and I crashed on the extra mattress because it was too late to bus back to my house. I think that Daniella's family is going to officially adopt me for the holidays, now that Tom and I are going to move our Xmas travels to mid-January to ensure good weather. Her little brother helped me make a list of "Costa Rica slang" so I can fit in more. As we were laying in bed talking, Daniella asked me what I learned this weekend. I said that for the first time since I arrived, I feel like I live here - that I am happy to be here and have this country as my home. Like I am finally getting the hang of "Pura Vida". Life is good. Life is really, really good.