Semana Santa Costa Rica Style!

Semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter, is a big deal to Ticos. Thursday and Friday are a national holiday but many take the entire week off to head to the beach or visit with relatives. For us tourist/exchange students this means a shorter week at work but longer lines at the bus terminal. Where to? La Fortuna, Volcan Arenal and Monteverde cloud forest.

La Fortuna is a very touristy town mere kilometers from the base of the active volcano Arenal. The volcano is known for its largest eruption in 1968 when its ashes covered much of the region and buried two nearby towns. More recently, lava flowed in 1991-92 and gaseous eruptions killed tourists in 2000. Today, the mountain is home to numerous naturalist tours and hikes as well as many extreme sport activities such as rappelling and zip-line canopy tours. Arriving in the afternoon on Wednesday, I wandered the streets of La Fortuna in search of something to do. Drawn in by the accented call from a pretty Tica shouting "Tours, zip-lines!" I approached the desk and was shortly suckered into a package "deal" that would keep me entertained for the next two days.

Day one consisted of rappelling. For those of you who may not know, rappelling is the act of lowering one's self down a sheer rock face with the support of little more than a rope threaded through a body harness. That’s right, your gringo friend with a fear of heights entrusted his life to a couple of ropes… The good news about rappelling is that since it is all done facing the wall it’s actually pretty easy to avoid looking down entirely. This particular tour was made up of a trek through the beautiful forests at the base of the volcano interspersed with rock faces ranging from 50 to 200 feet in height. Not to worry, they started us off nice and slow with instructions on the proper technique and the height of the rappels increased gradually, allowing us to adjust as we went.

Day two was an all-inclusive "combo" package that started off with zip-lines. This activity is similar to rappelling in the sense that you’re in a harness hanging by a cable high above the ground. The main difference? You’re facing forward and moving at speeds up to 75 kph (or about 45 mph). Talk about a ride! After a couple of lines we took a "break" to rappel 260 feet down the sheer rock face of the canyon over Rio Fortuna. Although this was the largest rappel I had completed, the way down was not the most memorable part. Once reaching the bottom in a semi-controlled fashion we were met with an unpleasant surprise. How do we get back up? Oh, that’s right; just climb the 260 feet back up a free hanging ladder loosely slung to the rock face. This was hands down the most frightening experience I have ever had. The man ahead of me would periodically shake the ladder forcing me to grab a hold tightly. My life depended on the sureness of my footing and a single cable attached to the guide below me. As I reached the top I had a new found appreciation for solid ground. After several more zip-lines that provided an incredible view of the La Fortuna falls from different angles, we stopped at a hut built in the style of the Maleku native tribe of Costa Rica. They taught us the traditional greeting “Capi, capi” and a bit about their history and culture. The day was finished off with a swim in the pool at the base of La Fortuna falls and then a horse-ride back to base camp. Top that off with a traditional casado of rice and beans and I was one happy camper.

Our transport to the Monteverde cloud forest gave us another extraordinary view of the volcano from Arenal lake, an artificial body of water that covers what used to be the town of Arenal prior to the eruption of 1968. In Monteverde, we chose a much more subdued series of walking tours including an evening tour where we were able to see several giant tarantulas, a sloth, a cute raccoon and a kinkajou, or honey bear, which is a relative of the raccoon. A walking tour over the “hanging bridges” proved to be fairly tame when compared to the other high flying adventures from the weekend. Here I also had my favorite meal of the weekend, an arugula and fig hamburger garnished with plantain chips, delectable. The last evening, outside our hostel, we were treated to a closer look at the two-toed variety of sloth as one shambled along the power-line toward its favorite tree just across the street. This poor fellow only had three limbs, having lost one to electrocution according to the owner of our hostel. Furthermore, our guide the previous night must have been right about sloths being blind as his destination was one sad looking excuse for a tree. There certainly wasn’t enough foliage to make the dangerous trip over the power-lines worth it. Treacherous is the life of the urban sloth!

All in all, I had a great weekend with lots of time spent over and under the trees.

Puerto Viejo

Last weekend Megan, a classmate, and I hopped a bus to Puerto Viejo, the Caribbean costal town with a reputation for parties and great surf. We got in late and unfortunately were met with rain and a mile long hike to our hostel, Rocking J’s. Other than the anticipated collection of European and American tourists, this hostel was unlike any other place I’ve stayed. The décor included tiled mosaics covering the walking paths and carved out trees for benches. It was almost completely open air and offered campsites and hammocks along with a couple of enclosed rooms. Feeling adventuresome I decided to brave the $5 hammock which I only partially regret due to all the mosquito bites I’ve been itching ever since.

The next day we were treated to clear blue skies and decided to venture out from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo, a town and national park just down the coast. A group of us, including several Brits, a Canadian and a guy from Seattle that Megan had rounded up the night before, rented cruisers (you know, the bikes that brake when you pedal backwards) for $4 and hit the road. On the way, we happened across a pack of howler monkeys in the trees. They look like you’d expect monkeys to look with gangly limbs, long, agile tails and big balls (as Megan graciously pointed out and insisted: “well they do!”). However, what’s unique isn’t their appearance but rather the sound they make that has earned them their name. It’s a deep, eerie, guttural noise that starts from an individual monkey and is then compounded as others join in. It sounds like something you might expect to come from a creature in your favorite horror flick. Occasionally, as we biked, we’d hear the noise come from deep within the forest, each time giving me the creeps.

The second most notable part of the trip for me was… breakfast! At the hostel, the most popular item on the menu consisted of gallo pinto (rice and beans), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs), fresh fruit, tortillas and coffee. Lather that in salsa picante (the Canadian’s idea) and you’ve got “El Desayuno Mas Famoso de Puerto Viejo. “ Yum.

Sadly, much of the rest of the weekend was slowed by torrential rains allowing me to meet my alcohol quota for the whole trip, engage in broken conversations in English with some of the foreigners at the hostel and finish Running with Scissors. As it turned out, that was for the best as getting back early made it possible for me to see Shakira live in concert! And yes, I’m still bragging about it! :D

SHAKIRA: Rock Goddess

O.M.G. That about sums up how I feel after seeing Shakira live in concert last night. Thankfully, it was raining in Puerto Viejo this weekend (more on that later) and I took the early bus back to San Jose just in time to find out that Shakira would be playing at the new Estadio Nacional as the final inaugural event. Having been a long-time fan, the 13 year old girl in me was thrilled. The event started at 7:00 and Katie and I made a mad dash to the stadium as soon as she arrived home from her weekend trip. With the Minnesotan fear of having arrived too late at 7:30 we quickly picked up some scalped tickets, armed ourselves with Bam Bam noisemakers and glow in the dark bracelets and then headed to join the crowd. As we waited for the show to start we were subjected to all the commercialized accoutrement one would expect. A warning was shown on the large screens that in case of seismic activity we should remain calm and in our seats… We treated ourselves to foot long hot dogs and café con leche. We were giddy. The slightest change in lighting on stage caused us all to smash our Bam Bams together and howl.

And then, right on Tico-time at 9:18, there was a stir in the crowd. The cameras zoomed in on a figure dressed entirely in neon pick. It was the gorgeous Shakira, singing Pienso en Ti while making her way through the crowd and onto stage. Once on stage, everything went dark and there was a pause. In the next instant we were bombarded with flashing lights, booming bass and Shakira’s rock hard abs and hips in all her gyrating glory. Her dress was gone, replaced by skin-tight leather pants and a glitter top. The crowd was losing their minds.

Ten orgasmic minutes go by when, without warning, the sound cuts out and the projection screens go black. If you ever want to see a stadium full of teenage girls turn into a pack of angry wolves, give them ten minutes of Shakira and then rip it away. She returned about 5 minutes later with an apology and the show went on.

Many theatrics followed including a scene where she faked her own death and was resuscitated on stage with invisible paddles showing off her iconic chest thrusts. She invited several young girls to dance with her and taught them to shimmy. There was belly dancing during Gitana, again highlighting her abs. As she hit the climax of Sale el Sol the glitter top came off, ripped down the middle in a show of her bestial strength. That outfit now ruined, next up was a pair of green and black Zubas with matching top. Throughout it all there was much dancing, howling and Bam Bam banging from the crowd. At this point, Katie and I had completely embraced our inner 13 year old. This was much to the chagrin of the 50 something French tourists ahead of us, in who’s ears we banged the noisemakers. The encore consisted of all-time favorites including Hips Don’t Lie and Waka Waka. As we exited, a fireworks show surpassing any I had seen in the US lit up the sky in celebration of the new stadium.

Later, as we walked home, the adrenaline of the night began to fade and I realized that I had lost my voice, my neck hurt, and my 27 year old body was tired from a weekend of boozing at the beach. The tween in me didn’t care; she had never been happier. Smiling, I fell asleep humming the tune to Waka Waka.

Pura Vida!

Your favorite gringo is back on the trail! I’ve just completed the first week of my latest adventure in Costa Rica and have been loving every minute of it. I've taken the first couple of days to get settled in with my host family, orient myself to San Jose and start work at the hospital.

My host family is fabulous. They live just west of the center of San Jose conveniently located near four different American fast food chains (Quiznos, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut), specifically for my pleasure... My family is used to having students from the U of MN and I’m currently living with Katie, a classmate of mine. My host mother talks constantly about Sam (also a classmate), who stayed here before me and what a great guy he is, so I’ve got big shoes to fill. :) As with my previous host stays my mother is always concerned that I’m enjoying her meals and that everything is “todo bien?” My host father and I have bonded over billiards. We play Bola Negra, the Costa Rican equivalent of 8-ball with one additional rule. The player hitting stripes must hit the 15 ball into the right side pocket while the player with solids must hit the 1 ball into the left side pocket. It’s fun and adds an extra challenge. My host father is hilarious as he can never keep the 9 ball straight and is constantly asking whether it is the 9 or the 6.

Work at the Hospital Clinica Biblica has been slow to start. I’m working with a pediatrician in Urgencias which is just like it sounds, lots of runny noses and children with diarrhea. We have had a couple of good learning cases and I’m gaining a bunch of new Spanish as the docs are very patient and willing to explain anything I don’t understand. I’ll be working in Urgencias for one more week and then on to an Ebais in La Carpio. This is a small clinic in one of the poorer areas of town that serves all ages free of charge. From what Katie has told me, the clinic sounds a lot like my experience in Guayaquil so I’m excited to compare the two.

The evenings have been busy! Tuesday I went with Katie and my friend Rula from NYU (who also happens to be here studying medical Spanish) to live music at the Jazz Café. The band was a Latin fusion group complete with French horn and flute. The only thing that was missing was more cow bell! Ok just kidding, there was lots of that too… ;) Wednesday the three of us attended an album release party for a local rapper named Sirius. His album titled Get Sirius has tracks in both English and Spanish, sometimes interchanging between the two during the same song. The opening DJ played tons of early 90s hip-hop which took me back. Sirius was fun but you could tell he was still new to the rap scene. His mic kept cutting out and yet the vocals played on… He also had a couple of hip-hop dancers for added entertainment that were dressed in sliver baseball caps worn backwards and white sneakers. What a hoot!

My weekend in Puerto Viejo was a blast. There's more to say than I have time for at the moment as I'm off to see Shakira (!!!!!!!!) but I'll post again soon! Thanks for reading. :)