Back to Work!

The last week was lovely!  Richard and Roth came down to visit, and I took them around downtown San Jose and to visit Mesoamerica to show them where Elon Costa Rica happens.  On the Sunday after they arrived, we traveled by bus to Monteverde.  I had been there the previous weekend, so I had lots of plans for us.  We stayed at the Hotel Montana and relaxed for a couple of days, enjoyed some good food at the Treehouse, Pizza by Johnny, and Moon Shiva and loved the views.  On Monday we had every intention of ziplining, but none of us felt like it that morning, so we walked the canopy bridges, watched hummingbirds and coatis, and had a very informative tour of the butterfly garden.  We enjoyed the sunset from the jacuzzi that evening.  On Tuesday morning a shuttle took us to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast, with a stop to look at the crocodiles off the bridge (see earlier post).  We had to adjust to the hot, muggy weather at the beach since Monteverde had been cool, but the beach was beautiful and our room had air-conditioning!  We enjoyed the beach and the pool, watching the white-faced monkeys in the trees around the hotel and the iguanas constantly laszing around by the tree under our balcony.  We enjoyed one of the best meals I have had in Costa Rica at El Avion, a restaurant built areound an old spy plane that holds the bar.  Our long walk through Parque Manuel Antonio on Wednesday was a good chance for us to see sloths, birds, lizards, and more monkeys--especially at the third beach, where tourists were encouraging them to take chips and other food--something that is definitely NOT encouraged in the park. Mostly we just loved lounging around on the beach, in the ocean, and at the pool.On Thursday, we headed to Quepos to catch the public bus (old with no air-conditioning, but enjoyable just the same) back to San Jose and the infamous Coca-Cola station, where it took a bit of doing to find a taxi with a working "maria" (meter), and the one we finally did find drove all around our neighborhood before dropping us off.  I don't know whether he didn't know where he was going or thought that he could take some sappy American tourists for a few more colones.  Either way, we arrived home, wishing we had had a few more days at the beach.The guys went home on Saturday morning, and I've been missing them, catching up on blogs, doing Spanish homework, and preparing class work.  I'm having a stay-at-home day today because I have the sniffles and just didn't feel like getting out today.  The real world starts tomorrow.The group heads to Nicaragua on Saturday for our mandatory get-out-the-country visa trip.  I'd like to wish my brother Richard in Knoxville, TN, a very Happy 50th Birthday on April 3!  Feliz Cumpleanos, mi hermano!!

Goodbye to winter and hello to spring--at least at home. This is the first spring I can ever remember missing in my 55 years in Tennessee and North Carolina. In Costa Rica it's summer dry or summer wet--no spring. Sweaters and scarves come out when it's 65 degrees, which seems perfectly pleasant to me, but I get odd looks when I go out in sleeveless tops on such days. The flip side is that the birds sing down here as if it's spring everyday and the flowers are always in bloom--nice tradeoffs. I am missing my daffodils, camellias, azaleas, roses and new vegetables this year, but I will have to say that thus far it has been worth it!

The students and I journeyed to Monteverde last weekend. I haven't posted many pictures because I posted lots before. We stayed at the same hotel that Landis and I stayed in before, and the kids did a zipline--a different one than we did--much higher and faster. I opted out of this one and did a hanging bridge walk instead. It was nice, but we didn't see anything that I hadn't seen earlier in the day at the Monteverde Reserve. Monteverde is a Quaker-settled community, and the Friends influence is everywhere, from the meeting house and school, to the cheese factory and reserve. Monteverde is one of the few places in the world to see the Resplendent Quetzal, a bird that harkens back to ancient mesoamerican civilizations and is known for its beautiful coloring (red, green, blue--iridescent)and long double tail feathers--at least for the guys anyway. The females are beautiful in their own right, but not as majestic as the males. Resplendent is part of the name and not just an adjective that people attach because of its beauty, but it IS beautiful. The minute a tourist walks into the forest their every sense is heightened to see this bird. Some people plan their visits to Costa Rica around this bird. Groups have guides with large telescopes, and if one is spotted, 40 crazed tourists and guides scramble over each other to get a glimpse before it flies away. I don't have a good picture of "ours," so you'll just have to trust me. We saw a female first, then a male in a large avocado tree. A big turkey bird was giving him some grief, so we got to see him fly (very awkardly I might add) back and forth three times. We could see him beautifully through the binoculars, but not all of his body clearly. I really wanted to see his cute little ruffly head! A few of the students got some excellent pictures, which I hope they will post on the class blog. As amazing as this was, I still believe the day that Landis and I spotted a blue-crowned motmot on a fence post in the woods behind our hotel was more magical. Motmots are beautiful in their own right and much more common than quetzals, but for sheer beauty and showmanship (a showoff might be the better word), that sighting was unexpected and bright. We didn't have to look for him or wait for him to arrive. This weekend, one followed us through the woods as we walked and didn't seem to mind being very close to us. Don't get me wrong. I loved seeing our quetzals, and I hope to see one again this weekend, but sometimes moments just can't be forced.

Richard and Roth arrived today for spring break, and we are heading back up to the mountains this weekend and then to the beach, so there will be more opportunities to be close to nature. It surely is nice to have them here! I'll post pictures and stories after we return later in the week. For all my Elon friends, happy spring break!

Tirimbina

Last weekend, the students in the Environmental Sciences course, their professor (Alejandra), her TAs (Olivia and Nacho), and I journeyed into the mountains near the Sarapiqui River to visit the Tirimbina Reserve (near the La Selva Reserve).  The trip is part of a course project to catalog organisms in the river to study their habitat.  We left on Saturday morning and arrived at lunch time.  Originally, we were scheduled to hike for two hours to the biological research station where minimal accomodations (bunkbeds and communal bathroom) awaited us, but once there, we discovered that we would have to stay at the hotel instead.  Oh, darn. I've posted some pictures of our surroundings, the Sarapiqui River and hanging bridges, wildlife, and students playing ... I mean, researching, in the river.  We enjoyed some of the best food we've had in Costa Rica.  Following lunch, we hiked in the forest to look at plants and crossed the river on the many hanging bridges, the students enjoyed an afternoon soccer game and a dip in a nearby pool.  I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of reading, listening to the rain on the metal roof of the hotel, and flower/hummingbird-watching. And even though our evening frog and bat tours and morning bird watching trips were rained out, we still had a wonderful and educational two days, seeing bats in a classroom,toucans and hummingbirds in the wild, and our first snake(a non-venomous variety)scurrying into the forest. I appreciate so much more now the work that biologists such as Alejandra do in their research with the fauna and flora of Costa Rica.  The river was so much higher and swifter than in previous trips that the students were unable to complete much of their laboratory work in the water. Such a fragile balance exists, and we learned firsthand how an earthquake many miles away can affect the ecosystems of the rivers and forests.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's eighty-fifth birthday, and the only time I've been out of the country for it. So . . .I baked a cake, found some candles, and my students sang Happy Birthday to her (in San Jose). I videotaped it on my camera (see video on my Facebook page)and took a picture of the cake. I'm sure sorry I missed this big one, but she was in my thoughts all day. Happy Birthday, Mom!! Another birthday wish goes out to my nephew, Russell Lyday, who shares his grandmother's birthday. Happy Birthday, Russell!!

Three weeks later . . .

Hola mi familia y mis amigos! How time flies when you're having fun (or grading papers or dealing with sick students or whatever issues happen to come up). I'm going to do a few different posts from the last few days to catch you up on life down south.

The most important news is that Landis returned home safe and sound, and it's only a few days before the other half of our family arrives. Hurray!!

Before Landis left, she, I, and one of the students went on a most exciting and busy overnight adventure to the area of Tortuguero, on the northern Caribbean side of Costa Rica, best known for its turtle nesting. Unfortunately, the only turtle we saw was a little river turtle since the big sea turtles aren't around this time of the year. We left San Jose early on a Friday morning on a tour bus and traveled through the Braulio Carillo National Forest for a good part of our day and eventually down a very narrow, gravel road until we reached a Del Monte banana plantation--a fascinating thing to see, but I'm not sure I'd appreciate busloads of tourists snapping my picture all day long. From there we traveled through interesting little villages until we reached the river and canal systems of Tortuguero and the national park. From that point we traded our bus for a covered boat (much appreciated with the rain) and traveled with a new guide to our lodging for the night, the Evergreen Lodge. We were welcomed with a fruity drink and shown to our cute little rooms, had lunch, and got back on the boat for a tour of the canals. I don't have a lot of pictures of the birds and animals because a) it was raining and b)you need a really good camera--and some luck--to capture them. And I'm starting to favor the philosophy that you can either watch them or snap them--it's hard to do both. Suffice it to say that I wrote down over 30 birds named by the guide, marveled at him when he literally pulled a caiman out of the water because some of the tourists couldn't see it (he promised us that no animals were harmed . . .), lizards, one turtle, Spider and Howler monkeys, and some huge, scary crocs (two separate canal visits). We visited the Caribbean Conservation Center and learned about the sea turtle rescue and research that takes place there, walked along the beach to the village of Tortuguero and looked around there for awhile. Back at the hotel we swam in the turtle-shaped pool and enjoyed more wonderful Costa Rican food.

That night at dinner, I looked up and who should be walking by but Terri Kirchen (a retired friend from Elon and avid birder who was there with her husband and friends on a birding trip). Es un mundo pequeno! I saw my first toucans and several other beautiful birds around the hotel grounds and trails. The next morning we set out again for more water travel, but were not able to walk through the national park because of the rain. We did stop once to walk around a glade to find poison dart frogs (also called blue jean frogs), tiny one-inch red frogs with blue legs. Landis got some good pics, so maybe she'll send me one to post. After lunch we traded transportation again and had a rainy bus ride home. Since it was Saturday, we saw local residents socializing, couples riding bicycles, and cowboys herding steers in the road. All in all it was a fine couple of days to a place full of really interesting critters. A highly recommended place to visit in CR.

Scroll down for pictures.

Weekend in Monteverde

Buenos Dias, todos mi familia y amigos!!  I can't get my computer to do the accents, so bear with my Spanish, por favor. I survived Valentine's Day without the love of my life, mi esposo, Richard, but I was so sad that I made Landis take me zip lining in the cloud forests of the Santa Elena Reserve in Monteverde.  Well, not really.  I DID miss my sweet husband, but Landis wanted to go, too.  But before that experience, I'll back up a day or two. Classes are going well at Mesoamerica (our classroom facility).  The students are beginning to realize that they are not in the Elon bubble anymore.  Some are very happy about this, while others are missing family, friends, and American food.  They have, however, discovered the mall and the cheap movies on Wednesdays. They all love their Tico families and talk about their hermanos/as and madres/padres all the time, but it is rough being here away from all the comforts of home.  They haven't quite dug their heels in yet or gotten used to having to take Spanish every day as well as 2-3 other classes/practicums.  On Thursday, we used my class time to visit the Museo Nacional (national museum of Costa Rica), and some of the students were disappointed because it wasn't as "fine-tuned" or well-presented as our museums back at home. We had an interesting discussion about the expectations we bring with us to a new place and culture.  There was a fascinating art exhibit (that I didn't know about in advance)of oil and acrylic paintings of pulperias (the Costa Rican equivalent of our general stores.) These little stores are quaint and can be found across the rural areas of CR, but they are slowly but surely being replaced by the AM/PMs (7-11s) and the supermercados (supermarkets), so this was a very culturally meaningful exhibit.  The students, however, didn't understand this until class on Tuesday, so many of them wished they had had this information before they had gone.  Me, too.  I still don't have pictures of the downtown area because I'm not in the habit of taking my camera downtown.  Afterwards, we had lunch at a touristy but good restaurant called Nuestra Tierra.  Most of the kids took off that afternoon for the town of Puerto Viejo (apparently where all the old hippies who left the US live), and Landis and I went to get our bus tickets to Monteverde. San Jose has several main bus terminals, and you have to find the one where the buses depart for your particular destination.  For the trip to Monteverde, we had to go to Terminal San Carlos, in a fairly sketchy area of the city, past the central market and through neighborhoods where locals came to buy their produce (and probably drugs).  In the daylight, it's not so scary, but I wouldn't walk around there at night.  Bus tickets were $4.50 one way for a 5 hour bus ride (but only about 120 miles). Bright and early on Friday morning (5:45), Landis and I took a taxi back to the station and met mostly American and European tourists ready to board the bus.  During the journey, many local people joined us.  We left at 6:30 and arrived at Monteverde around 11:15.  The buses are tour-like buses, but usually older vehicles with no air-conditioning--which you really don't need going into the mountains.  We traveled mainly on larger highways on this excursion except for the last 24 miles or so; then the road was hard-packed dirt and gravel, winding, hairpin turns, and scary drop-offs, but the driver was obviously very experienced, and everyone drove v-e-r-y slowly (it took nearly 2 hours to go this last bit).  The end of this road is the tiny village of Santa Elena (no pics of this either--I'll post some the next time I'm there), which is a small triangle of 3 roads, many hostels and hotels, and several restaurants/bars and information centers.  After looking at our map, we decided that we could walk to our hotel--just a few blocks--no problem.  What the map didn't show were the two really steep hills we had to navigtate to get there.  We were so tired, but proud that we had hoofed it.The Hotel Montana Monteverde is situated on the crest of a ridge in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been (see pics).  We had very basic rooms, but the location was amazing.  The hotel owns a patch of forest and trails down below where we took several walks and saw coatis (odd-looking anteater/cat-tailed/monkey-looking critters who are so cute and didn't seemed very bothered by us), leaf cutter ants, a mother and baby sloth, and a gorgeous iridescent bluegreen Motmot bird. I've posted a video of the ants, but I have no pics of the others.  Maybe another time. On Valentine's Day, the van from Selvatura tours picked us up at the hotel and took us to the Santa Elena Reserve for our canopy tour.  This is an amazing place, and I highly recommend it.  [A However Note: If you want to see animals other than humans, don't do this kind of thing.  They have hummingbird, butterfly, and amphibian exhibits, but you'd be very fortunate to see anything while zipping or walking on the hanging bridges.  If you want to see the cloudforest birds or animals, head to one of the smaller ecological sanctuaries or to the Monteverde Reserve and hire a guide.] We, however, had our priorities straight.  Our goal for the day was to hang on large wires and careen through the cloud canopy.  I've posted some pics of us in costume and a couple of videos of Landis and others on the Tarzan swing and zipping.  Suffice it to say that it was very scary (I nearly backed out on the third platform), but exhilarating and so much fun!!  If you get too scared, one of the guides will serve as your "taxi," and you don't have to do anything but hold on. This is not for people with vertigo, but once you learn to relax, sit, lean back, and work your free hand properly to brake and keep you from spinning around, this is a thrill of a lifetime. Landis met three French guys and decided to stay at the reserve and do the hanging bridges with them, but I went back to the hotel to read and enjoy the view. What an amazing day! On Sunday, we walked down into town after breakfast and toured the Serpentarium (you all know how much I love snakes :))and got to hold a beautiful Oriole snake.  We had lunch and hung around downtown until the bus arrived at 2:30 (there are only 2 buses--one at 6:30 am and one at 2:30, so you don't want to miss yours), then back to the city.  This time the ride took 6 hours because of "last weekend of the summer" traffic into San Jose and the fact that our bus driver agreed to drop the Tico riders off wherever they wanted--the airport, random corners, other bus stations . . . .  We got back to the apartment around 8:30, in time to see the last half of The Amazing Race--which we sort felt like we had been on all weekend. Today (Wednesday), Landis is spending the day at El Volcan Arenal, hoping to see the mountain let off some steam and lava and then soak in the nearby hot springs (An interesting fact: all volcanoes in Spanish are male).  I, on the other hand, had to go to Spanish class and meet with students (and update this blog).  Our group gets to go there in April, though, so no worries.  I have discovered Skype, so if anyone wants to try it, I'm usually on in the evenings here (Central Standard Time). Well, enough for today.  We're heading to Tortuguero on Friday on an overnight tour, so I hope to have some good pictures of the land of the tortugas (turtles) next week.  It's not turtle nesting or hatching season, but I hope we'll see lots of cool things.  Adios from San Jose. Kathy 

A week later!

I have been busy! The students and I spent three days of orientation, learning to ride buses around San Jose, figuring out how to order food in the local cafes (sodas), and getting to know each other. On Sunday, Feb. 1 we took a bus to Volcan Irazu; the old capital of CR, Cartago, to see the very famous Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, a very famous and popular pilgrimage place to Catholics in CR; and to the old city of Orosi. The countryside was beautiful, but the only pictures I got of it were from the bus--not so flattering in blur. I have posted some pics of the volcano and the church. Later that night at Mesoamerica, we all watched the Superbowl and ate pizza.

Groundhog's Day brought with it classes, mine included (homework was a composicion on Groundhog's Day since my teacher thought that was a funny thing to celebrate), and the reality that we were all really here to study and learn--not just play. Landis arrived on Wednesday, Thursday the entire group went on a walkabout through the University of Costa Rica and the San Pedro area, and early on Friday, we all climbed aboard our small bus for the 5 hour ride to Manuel Antonio National Park (with a couple of stops included to see crocodilos and have some lunch in Quepos).

The scenery was some of the most beautiful I've seen, full of steep, winding roads and very diverse vegetation--some parts like northern CA, other parts like East TN. MA is only about 100 miles from San Jose (the distance to Charlotte from my house), yet it takes so long because of the conditions of the roads and the traffic. But it is worth the wait. I've posted some pics of our hotel (much posher than I had expected), the park, and the beach (at sunset and otherwise). On Saturday we arrived at the park for a guided hike (very hot and humid), where we saw Squirrel and Howler monkeys, lizards, a bat, two sloths (a 2-toed and a 3-toed)--all very cool, but also touristy in some ways. The park limits the number of people in the park, so that's good. We also could opt to stay in the park all day to explore the areas we didn't go to--as long as we stayed on the trails and out of the reach of the snakes (just a few kinds of vipers and constrictors). No problem!

We had nothing planned for Sunday, so most of the kids slept in. I spent most of the early morning watching Capuchin monkeys playing in the trees next to our outdoor breakfast area. They were harassing the resident sloth and trying to drop coconuts on the tourists taking pictures. I relaxed at the beach in the shade, read, and swam a bit. We all practiced our Spanish, ate some fine food, and met far too many English-speaking tourists--but it was a nice weekend away from the hustle and bustle of San Jose. Yesterday it was back to work. On Friday, Landis and I are heading out to the cloud forests of Monteverde for a little ziplining and nature walks. I'll update next week. Hasta Luego.