Cliff Notes

I keep thinking that I'll have time to catch up on everything extensively, but whenever I feel up to catching up, that means I feel up to going out and doing other fun things. And when I don't feel up to going out, well, I don't feel up to catching up.

But I'm leaving tomorrow morning, so I figured I better catch up before I leave and forget the whole thing ever happened. (Which is what tends to happen, odly). SO, I'm giving you the cliff notes version of this past week, except for what I did today. THAT will be in more detail, only because I'm copy and pasting it from an e-mail. So here we go:

Saturday 7/16
Finished my final paper in the morning in a cafe in Ciudad Colon. Then I bussed into San Jose, bought bus tickets for the next mroning, and I chose a hostel that I suspected my best-Upeace friend would pick for her overnight in San Jose. Then I went to a museum. When I got back, my UPeace friend Natalie was at the hostel (I was right!). We at dinner. Then I met up with a friend that I had met in Costa Rica, and we went "Jazz Club," which is a bar/show place that in no way reflects jazz. The singer of the band reminded me of Stuart. It was a super fun night. Slept at the hostel.

Sunday 7/17
Early (6:00am) bus to the Carribean side of Costa Rica. The bus let me out at the SLOTH SANCUTARY! Saw grown up sloths and baby sloths, took a small boat tour, bought a corny t-shirt, and I was very happy. Then waved down another bus and it stopped on the side of the road to pick me up. Super awkward because I had my backpack, which usually isn't a big deal for busses because you just throw it in the under-compartment, but I couldn't do that because I wasn't a real stop, so I brought it on with me, and then I was that obnoxious tourist with their huge back pack on a crowded bus. So that was embarrassing. I got off at the next stop: Chauita, population 600.

Wandered around Chautia, chose a hostel, and went to the beach for what I thought was like 3 hours, but in ended up only being a little over an hour and a half. Then I came home and went to sleep (at about 4:15pm) and slept 'till morning.

Monday 7/18
Woke up, went to the beach all day, almost got attacked by crabs (seriously!!!), got sunburnt out of my mind despite my (albeit hastily applied) sunblock, rented a bike and rode it all around for an hour, $2.00 hamburger for din-din, Sleep.

Tuesday 7/19
Woke up, bus to Sixatola, walked across the bridge to Panama, weird visa nonsense, bus to random town I can't remember the name of, water taxi to Las Bocas Islands, found a hostel, rented a bike, rode a lot, jumped in the water (in my clothes), rode back to town, met friends, explored, went to dinner with new friends, drinks with friends, sleep.

Wednesday 7/20
Woke up, packed, stored my stuff, bought boat/bus ticket for later, water taxi to Isla Bastilmientos (I don't think that's really the name. . . but I'm forgetting it), hiked a giant hill, went to this really cool organic coffee & chocolate shop/cafe on top of the hill, played go-fish and uno with a 6 year old and a traveler from South Carolina for an hour (the 6 year old won every game), hiked down to Wizzard beach, went swimming, discovered riptides, ate a pb&j, hiked back over the hill/mountain (why do I keep hiking??!!), water taxi back, ate some food, bought a hat, picked up my stuff, water taxi, real taxi, and then got on a night bus.

Thursday 7/21
Night bus dropped me off in Panama City at 4:00, which is exactly the time I didn't want. Taxi to Luna's Castle (hostel), they squeezed me in (even though there was a loooooooong wait list. Hurray for taking pity on me!!), and I went to sleep. Then I woke up. Then I did the stuff that I wrote to Stuart about in the below e-mail:

This morning I wandered around Panama city for a looooooong time, feeling increasingly more uncomfortable. I dunno why. But I think it was a combination of me being tired, taking a night bus last night and not sleeping well, feeling done with stupid small talk, and being SO SICK of men/guys/boys/whatever yelling at me and whisteling at me. And I didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything. Super exciting, I know. But I was (am!) tired.

So I went to the Panama Canal, which was incredibly boring. EXCEPT that there were TWO football (football = soccer) teams there! TWO! One from Nigeria, and I didn't know where the other one was from because they were all super stuck up and had their own room and ice tea and such. (A guy just walked by with a tattoo that I'm sure would be cool if he lifted up his arm, but right now just makes it look like he has exceptionally hairy pits. Don't do that). Anyways, OBVIOUSLY I wasn't going to miss my chance to meet Nigerian football players, so when they were doing that awkward camera trade off where someone is taking the picture and then they all shuffle around so someone else is taking the picture with someone else's camera stuff, trying to make it so they all got pictures with themselves in it, I walked up and asked if they wanted me to take a picture of all of them. They said yes, and then they all wanted pictures with ME! I was like a celebertity! I don't even CARE if it's the blonde hair and blue(ish) eyes, it was awesome! So we parted ways, but then a little later there was the movie thing about the dumb canal, and I was sitting by myself, and then they all came and sat with me! So that was fun. And they all wanted my facebook and for me to come to Nigeria, and when we were talking things came up like, "Oh ya, my sister got married in the states last year, but I couldn't go because I was in South Africa." And I was like, "oh" but in my head I was like, "FOR THE WORLD CUP!!!" Needless to say, it was pretty cool. But at the end, I was glad to leave because they were still guys and I have lots all my tolerance for guys hitting on me. Even if it's a entire soccer team of very beautiful people.

Then I went to the mall and watched Harry Potter. . . twice.

I would call today a SUCCESS! And I'm tired and taking it easy for the rest of the night. (You: But it's your last night! You should go out! Me: No, I don't want to.) I'm very happy chilling here on the couch. Maybe I'll go grab a beer. But that would require me getting up. . .so maybe not.

Conclusion
So, that's it. I'm tired. It's 8:30, is that too early to go to sleep? Maybe I'll shower. Either way, my computer is going to die, so I have to stop writing this. NIGHT! See you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooon.

(Future Plans: Sleep in Luna's Castle, tomorrow flight to texas to los angeles to fresno, conference in fresno, drive to sc, chill/sleep in sc, drive to berkeley.)

Coming Up For Air

I just realized that my last post was my 100th post. I should have done something special. . . oh well.

Anyways, this is me coming up for air and letting you all know that I'm alive!

I can't write much, because I have to go catch my boat.

Paradise

I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow. I feel like I just got here. . . Probably because I DID just get here. It's only been, what?, ten days?

I have so much I want to write, but I don't have the time. Every second that I spend here at the computer, I'm not spending with the grandkids & family at the house.

I almost started crying yesterday because they keep giving me things. (Okay, that's a lie. I DID start crying. But not 'till I was in my room by myself). The whole family does it. The grandma bought me jammies, the kids are giving me their stuffed animals, the parents gave me a mini mug and some old indeginous statues. The things that have practical uses (they try and give me jackets, etc.) I can refuse by saying that I don't need it, and they understand. But all other protests ("no, it's yours, I couldn't take it from you." "No really, you should keep it." "I couldn't possibly take that. It's beautiful, but it belongs here.") are futile. They won't accept my excuses, and they look increasingly more hurt with all of my refusals. But when I accept their gift, their faces light up!

But I feel so bad, because I don't have anything to give back!!!!!!!!!!!! I've told them this, too, and they instantly point to the post cards from Berkeley that I've given them (that they have all FRAMED and hung in their respective houses) and then they say that I gave them the gift of me and my heart.

BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (that's what I'm yelling in my head).

I've exhausted the rest of my duct tape (1/2 a role, maybe more) making crowns and bracelets and jewelry for the kids. I've bought out the town of art supplies (a total of $7, if that), but everything that the kids make THEY GIVE TO ME! Today I made a rule that they could only make things for their parents and grandparents, which proved to be effective.

But I just feel so bad, because I don't have anything to give. All the clothes that I have with me are dirty & gross, and it's not like I'm carrying around lots of "trinkets" when all I have is a backpack. All my nice stuff were gifts from other people down here. The only thing that I might be able to give is a t-shirt from UPeace, but how to do give a t-shirt to a family of 10ish people that live in different houses without causing problems? Especially when the kids already fight over . . . everything? And can't go buy them something because a) the only money I have left I need for my bus ride home & they don't take cards here, b) I feel like buying them some little piece of crap would de-value everything they've given me, & c) I wouldn't know what to get.

So I guess my only option is to accept their more than generous gifts with as much gratitude as I can translate, keep loving on and playing with thier kids, and promise myself that someday I'll come back and spoil them all rotton. They deserve so much more than what I am able to give.

I just feel so blessed that I've been able to be a part of this family for the past 10 days. They've really made my experience here incredible. They've been more than generous with their love, patience with my spanish, drawings, time, food, etc.

EVERYONE.

Not just the family (my family, I mean grandparents that I live with and MULTIPLE sets of cousins/aunts/uncles). But everyone in the community.

Oh ya, now I remember what I was supposed to write about here. I wanted to write about those "life doesn't get any better than this" moments. And how I've had more than my fair share of them, whether it's with new friends in a foreign country or with my family Christmas morning when were all sitting contently in the same room and not fighting about Catan. I've had so many. And I was going to write about how on Sunday I had one, standing in the back of a pick-up truck holding onto the bar thing that goes over the cab as we drove through the Costa Rican high lands. And this was with a family that I didn't even know 11 days ago, and it's was an entirely different family than the one I'm living with.

A whole other set of people that I'm so grateful for. They brought me to this little place that you have to drive through this dirt road to for a long time that was apparently "the place to be" on a Sunday afternoon, because practically everyone I've met here was there. Just the drive alone was enough to satisfy me (probably my least favorite thing about the states it the illegality of truck-bed riding). But this little place was a paradise. I got to go FISHING and I caught 3 FISH! (Fishing may be a bit of an overstatement. It was a stocked pond). But I caught the fish on my stick with string! The son Brando, who is 11, caught two also, and then we ATE them. It was awesome!!

And there was a rope swing and nice people and a waterfal. In the middle of the Costa Rican highlands.

I'm in paradise with some of the most generous people you'll ever meet!!!!!!!!!! I really can't believe how lucky I am.

I know I've mentioned this before (a long time ago), but one time when I was in Yosemitie with my family, my unlce mentioned something that's stuck with me. He said, "It may get different-beautiful than this, but it doesn't get more beautifult than this."

I may have different-amazing experiences than this, but life doesn't get any better.

(But I still wish I had more to give back. . .)

Fantasy World

(7/7/11 @ 19:46)

I really just can’t get over how magical this place is. I couldn’t figure out the adjective for awhile, nothing seemed to fit quite right. But then I got it: magical.

It’s like it came right out of a fantasy book. Lord of the Rings or something (ha, ya, like I’ve ever read that). But it’s the kind of place that I can picture heroes of a book stumbling through in the middle of their quest.

The town of Llano Bonito really is right at cloud level, so there’s a 33.33% chance the clouds will be overhead and you can see the lush, green coffee valleys below. And there’s a 33.33% chance the clouds will be BELOW you, so that your mountain and all the other mountains poke out as if islands in a sea of clouds. And there’s a 33.33% chance that the clouds will be exactly on you, so that you will see – nothing. Literally living in the clouds.

Time and distance mean nothing here. I asked someone where the school was, and they pointed to a tiny blue roof way in the distance on a different mountain. Then we walked there.

All of the houses are bright and colorful. My house is bright green – inside and out. I feel like I’ve been shrunk down and am living inside of a bowl full of lime jell-o. Other houses are orange, purple, blue . . . A common get to know you question is “what color is your house?”

When I went on a walk today with my host-family, I had an “ah-hah!” moment about how Costa Rica (“Rich Coast”) got its name. Although I’m not actually on the coast, I did see the richness of the country, so I’m saying that it counted. We walked (hiked!) for maybe an hour, and we ate so much fruit. On every bend was a new tree, and in a heart-beat the kids were up there throwing fruit down. So much fruit that I’ve never even heard of before. There was this one fruit that looked & felt like a green egg, and when you break open the hard peel there are a whole bunch of pomegranate-like seeds inside. You have to suck out the seeds, because you can’t eat the shell/peel. I kept asking myself: how is this real?

I think I get kind of annoyed when people wish different worlds existed (except Harry Potter. That one is an acceptable wish . . . and Narnia). But when people just watch movies and wish for the world to be like those in the fantasy movies, I want to tell them to get off their butt, go outside, and open their eyes.

If we had fairies, would we appreciate them any more than we do humming birds? If we had Avatar’s tree-network, would it get any more attention than the already existing networks of red woods? If we had plants that light up, would we care about them any more than the plants that close when you touch them? If we had dragons, would they mater more than fatty, 10m long crocodiles? Would we care about mermaids any more than we care about fish & whales & sharks & dolphins? Is Atlantis somehow more majestic than Machu Picchu or Angkor Watt? The whomping-willow compared to giant carnivorous plants?

Anything you want,* we have a version of.

I wasn’t planning on this being a “save the trees” kind of blog, but I do wish that people realized that their actions have consequences. And while they’re spending their time day dreaming of a different, somehow better or “cooler” world, they’re chipping away at the already amazing one we all have right under our feet. It doesn’t make sense to long a different world while simultaneously destroying one that is pretty close to fantastical.

Sometimes I just want to shake people and buy them a plane ticket.

*Except for a) talking plants/animals, & b) flying animals that you can ride on, which I think is our greatest short coming.

What The Place Holder Was Holding

7/4/2011
19:21
Warning – I am the bad combination of exhausted + coffee. Just so you know what you’re getting into.

My head is spinning. I’m been living in Spanish, and I just had to write in my log for the day for school, and there’s other stuff that I want to write here, and then I have my journal-journal too, plus I just want to go to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Entonces, I’ll just write about a couple things. Ok, there are two things I want to write about here: 1) Storms, & 2) Matilda.

Part 1 - Storms
Have you ever driven through an electrical storm? I don’t mean under where it’s raining on you and you see the flashes of lightening ahead of you, I mean THROUGH.
Like instead of seeing a fork of lightening, the whole world flashes as if God flicked on & off a light. Like instead of hearing a boom somewhere off in the distance, you hear it as if you’re in the belly of a dragon and it’s growling? Like instead of having water pouring down on you, you might as well be driving through a pool or sitting under a waterfall? Like instead of seeing the angry storm clouds above you, you're in them?

I did that today. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part 2 - Matilda

Have you ever seen the movie Matilda? If yes, proceed on. If no, go watch it right now, because I don’t know how we’re even friends if you haven’t seen the movie Matilda.

To those of you who have seen it, welcome to this part.

To those of you who STILL haven’t seen it, wow, okay, you haven’t seen it AND you’re continuing on. Fine, I’ll explain what I’m going to talk about, since you obviously can’t be troubled to go watch a movie for an hour and a half (don’t pretend you have a life – you’re reading my blog). Anyways, in the movie there’s a scene where Ms. Trunchbule (excuse spelling, I have no internet and therefore no imdb access) makes Bruce eat a whole chocolate cake about the size of a 4th grader curled up in a ball.
I’m Bruce.

They just keep feeding me here – AND I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! I’m going to burst. But it’s super rude to not finish what you’re given, and I’m never there in time to stop them from heaping SO MUCH food on my plate. Seriously, they’ll give me a plate full of food that is probably about the equivalent of what I normally eat in a DAY, PLUS fruit, PLUS soda, PLUS weird cookies. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!

For example, this morning my host-mom packed me 3 sandwiches, 2 apples, a box full of 10 servings of chocolate cookies, and a soda for what I ASSUMED was lunch.

IT WAS A SNACK!

After eating 1.5 sandwiches (and nothing else because I was still full from BREAKFAST), I came home to a HUGE plate of food bigger than my head. I got up the nerve to ask for smaller portions – saying that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED the food, I just couldn’t eat very much – and they took off maybe . . . 2 tablespoons worth of food from a plate with 4-5 cups worth of SOLID food (chicken, potatoes, rice, beans. . .). And I had to eat it ALL.

Like I said, I’m Bruce.

Ugghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . . this is going to be a problem unless I figure something out. I’ll keep you posted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

7-7-2011

The food situation has improved a little. I was able to let them know that their food is DELICIOUS, but I only have a small appetite, so I can't eat that much. So now they've cut my portions down to enough to feed. . . a small army.

But at least now it's only a SMALL army!

Oh my gosh, and I'm exhausted ALL THE TIME. My mind is tired from living in Spanish, my legs are tired from these hills, my arms are tired from making shampoo, and my body is tired from being at such high altitude & DIGESTING ALL THIS FOOD.

But I'm very happy. The people are amazing, and every time I get home, I have some collection of grandkids waiting for me. Which is fun.

Oh my gosh, I'm so tired.

Happy, but tired.

Tired.

OH! The tree that we have in our front yard that nobody knows what it is, THEY HAVE THEM HERE! They're all over. I wrote down what they were called, but then I forgot the paper I wrote the name on. Nipero. . . nispero. I think that's it. Hold on. . .

YA! Here it is -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ADspero
Look at the picture in the middle! Super good.

Bon Jovi is playing in the background right now. First English in awhile.

Place Holder

I have a very insightful, deptful, entertaining, and wonderful post to put here, but I forgot to put it on a flash-drive so that I could put it here. (My computer that I write on is my computer, the computer I use the internet on is a public computer).

So this is saving a space, and somewhat of a sneak peak.

Okay, it´s not really a sneak peak, because I don't want to write anything. I just want to go check my e-mail.

And just so you know, the post I'm going to post is no more insightful, depthful, entertaining, and wonderful than all the other ones. So don't get your hopes us. It's just normal.

Okay, e-mail.

Clouds

Dude! I'm living in the clouds right now! I'm living in a tiny town that is LITERALLY in the clouds. I couldn't find it on a map, and I don't know exactly what I'm doing here, but I'm very happy.

I was a little nervous at first, because exaclty 0.00000% of the people here speak english, and I'm okay with spanish one on one, but it gets a little difficult when EVERYONE is speaking it quickly and AT THE SAME TIME. I'm able to understand everything, but I'm not able to understand everything AND TALK. It's hard & exhausting. But then two little girls (the grandkids of the woman I'm staying with) took me under the 12 & 13 year old wings, and they're helping me!!

(LITERALLY an answer to prayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This afternoon I was like - God, what the heck am I supposed to do? I'm working so hard to understand, that everyone thinks I'm an IDIOT. - Then the little girls popped up. YAY!!)

I can practice with them and not feel dumb, and then go out into the real world and talk to the grown ups. Plus they're super fun. We play games and do each others hair, and it's like having little sisters. Yay!

Okay, I have to go, but I just wanted to give a quick update. Also, I am largely without internet, but I just wanted to let you know what's going on.

Okay, that's it for me.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

New Chapter

I was going to title this "end of chapter one," but that seemed dumb because I'm really on chapter 4,234,536,234,456,748 or something. And who am I to say when one chapter ends and the next begins?

BUT what I can say is that as far as this trip is concerned, one chapter ended today and another starts tomorrow.

I feel like it's a pretty good transition. I ended this chapter by going bungee jumping off a bridge this afternoon, and just now e-mailing off one of the hardest assignments I've ever had. DONE!

Tomorrow I pack up everything I own (okay, everything I own down here) into a little backpack and get on a bus that's bringing to me a city that I forget the name of to do something that I can only hope I'll get more information about once I'm there. Because right now I don't know what's going on.

But what I DO know is that right now someone on my street is playing music, some dogs somewhere are singing along, and I'm exhausted.

Goodnight.

Dear Bugs (Part 2)

Hello Bug Warriors,
Though I appreciate your continued avoidance of the facial-region, your recent behavior is unacceptable and can only be understood as a declaration of war. I realize that I hold the responsibility of being the bigger person, being that I am both bigger and a person, and I should stop the maddness by refusing to escalate the violence, but you have left me with little choice. Your actions and creation of a ping-pong ball sized welt on my wrist will not go without consequence. Consider yourself warned.
Kindly,
Lila Carpenter