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| Vanessa's in Costa Rica |
| "I am learning all the time. My tombstone will be my diploma." -Eartha Kitt |
These are Vanessa's blog entries from her second week in Costa Rica. Which
week do you want to see?
week do you want to see?
 |  |  |  |
sabado, el 21 de julio
Playa Manuel Antonio is a dream! Today I had the best day, scouring the beach
for seashells, jumping into the tides, and relaxing beneath the shade of an
umbrella. I love the sand here; it´s a dark loam color and the softest I´ve ever
felt.
The beach is a popular hang out for families, artisans, and surfers. A local potter
was successful in enticing us to buy several of her wares. Suft instructors
abounded, and it was just as much fun to watch the professionals ride the waves
as it was the first-timers. (Actually, the first-timers were more fun to
watch--naturally.) And families came with their dogs-- lots of them. The dogs had
a pup-tacular time playing fetch as they raced against the waves. Their barks of
delight provided fine background music for our sun worship and devotion to the
mermaids.
Whipping in the ocean breeze were hundreds of colorful scarves adorned with the
country´s beautiful flora and fauna. I brought home two pieces, but I wish I could
brought home more. The beach was embellished with too many of these dancing
beauties to count-- together they constituted the wardobe of a rainbow, hanging
out to dry on the line.
My, but it is hard to say goodbye to the Pacific.
En route to San Jose on the morn,
a wistful Vanessa
_________________________________________
viernes, el 20 de julio
It seems that my immune system has picked up strength during my Costa Rican
stay. Although almost everyone in my host family caught a flu bug and passed it
among themselves all week, I came through the ordeal relatively unscathed. After
a day of mild flu symptoms, I spent Thursday and Friday in good health and
decided to follow through with my original plan to visit Manuel Antonio beach for
the weekend.
My trip this weekend began, ironically, the way a trip to the doctor usually begins.
I walked up to the airline registration table, gave my paperwork, and was then
asked to step on a scale. Snap-- wait a minute! I´m at an airport in Costa Rica,
not MedNow! What a bizarre experience. Apparently, on domestic flights,
luggage is not the only thing that must adhere to weight requirements. (Luckily I
wasn´t asked to pay a fee for excessive body cargo.) Here´s a picture of the man
behind me in line-- he was in the clear as well.
The plane from San Jose to Manuel Antonio was super-small, and the flight was
super-short. What would have been a 4 1/2 hour bus ride was only 18 minutes
by air. The co-pilot himself gave us a personal explanation of the aircraft´s safety
features. Did the flight attendant for our 15 passenger plane have the day off?
We´re staying the weekend at Hotel La Mariposa. Distance from the beach: a
10-minute bus ride. Hot water and air conditioning? Yes. Claim to fame: one of
the 1000 locales in the world selected for the book 1000 Places to See Before
You Die.
The hotel itself resembles an old coffee plantation and has a to-die-for vista of
the Pacific Ocean. The restaurant is outdoors and offers a panoramic view of the
water.
Ocean waves call, and sandy beaches abound. I´m off to the coast!
Hasta luego,
Vanessa of 999 more places to visit
_________________________________________
jueves, el 19 de julio
Well, I have good news for all of you who were pulling your hair and knashing
your teeth because you thought there would be no journal entries this weekend.
As it happened, I´m going to kick it back in San Jose instead of trekking to Manuel
Antonio for 3 days. So... here I am with lots of time to write!
I read a news article this morning on the new youth culture in China-- here´s the
link in case you´d like to read it too:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/ChineseTee
ns.aspx Drifting on an Internet wave, I then started reading about Generation X
and GenY, and I started wondering where I fit into all of it, and how my realm of
experience compared to the experiences of young women here in Costa Rica.
To me it´s a really interesting topic. Obviously, young women of my generation
face a world much different from the world faced by women of the 80´s and 90´s,
who felt they had to be all things to all people: full-time workers, full-time wives,
and full-time mothers. The young women of my generation tend to put more
emphasis on the notion that moderation and compromise are important elements
of ''the good life''. We also seem to be more tolerant of the idea that there are
different answers to what this good life means for different women. Like our
predecesors, we want to be both professionals and mothers. However, our
generation of women has become more aware of the need to do with so with a
sense of balance and with a respect for our own limitatons.
We have identified our ideals, and we have accepted the fact that we will need to
make compromises and modifications in order for our dreams to become reality.
But we are still trying to find ways to make these necessary changes occur. How
will we open doors in society to make a better work/home balance a reality for
more women? I think solutions that are practical as well as pragmatic rank
among the major contributions that the young women of my generation will make.
We have much to consider. For example, there are many issues involved with
cutting back on our careers during our childbearing years. What will the
professional repercussions be for withdrawing (in varying degrees) from our
careers during the child-bearing years--a time when our full-time working
counterparts are experiencing high professional growth? If we reenter the
workforce after our children are older, how will we do so while maintaining respect
and value as members of the workforce? There is much in the current paradigm
of what it means to be a professional that we must consider.
Additionally, current young women are bound to encounter opposition from what
I´ll call the ''new traditionalist'' expectation-- the idea that what is normal and
necessary is for both husband and wife to work outside the home. Since women
entered the workforce en masse during World War II, the American economy has
adjusted to reflect this heightened household income. With inflation rates
adjusted, homes cost more than they did previously. Far fewer one-income
families are able to purchase a home with the traditional 20% downpayment than
such families in decades past.
In the present moment in which I write, I am myself experiencing a pause from my
working life as I pass the summer in Costa Rica. Here, I have the opportunity to
view the changing expectations of women from a Latin American perspective.
In my limited experience, Costa Rican women have lived an abbrieviated version
of the societal process of women in the U.S., who were first disenchanted with
working solely in the home, then exhausted from working both in the professional
realm and in the home, and now expect satisfaction both at work and at home
without being overwhelmed.
Young Costa Rican women (as citizens of what is arguably the most affluent Latin
American country) are achieving more education and professional success, and
in many ways are aligning themselves with the experiences of contemporary U.S.
women. But in contrast to American young women, the current young women of
Costa Rica seem to have skipped the stage of being exhausted from full-time jobs
at home and full-time jobs in the work force. Young working women are instead
relying on their own mothers, who remained in the ''stay at home'' generation, to
care for their children. Thus, the guilt and anghst among working mothers
appears much less here than it did in the U.S., as the children in Costa Rica are
for the most part still being cared for by family. The day-care phenomenon of
the U.S. is not as strong in Costa Rica. What will happen in future generations,
when the grandmothers in Costa Rica are working as well as the mothers, is an
interesting point to ponder.
Women in the U.S. and around the world have an abundance of choices because
we live in a time of such prosperity and freedom. But because the opportunity to
choose alternate balances between work and home is relatively new, we have
little historical precedence to guide us in our decisions. And so we ourselves
must be the ones to create the precedence.
Thoughtful today,
Vanessa the working-young-woman
_________________________________________
miercoles, el 18 de julio
We had an interesting class today, talking about new ways to explain concepts in
Spanish that don´t exist in English. So, that was pretty cool. Yesterday Kathleen
and I had a long lunch at a Polish restaurant, although I guess I messed up the
whole ethnic thing by having an Italian salad and a peach milkshake. Hey,
there´s some really good Italkian food here, by the way! Much better than what
you find at home.
Well, as it turns out, I can´t buy the last Harry Potter book in Spanish this summer,
as I had hoped. I guess they´re just releasing it in the Mother Tongue right now
to minimize the chances of having the plot leaked. But the new Harry Potter movie
is a big hit here, as I imagine it is everywhere else.
Roxanne has been really sick. Some kind of flu. She went to the doctor for a
shot, got much better, overdid it, and now is feeling more sick than she was
before. Last night her fever was 39. I can´t figure out the calculations, but
normal body temperature in Celcius is 37, so 39 seems pretty high. I guess I
could easily find a converstion chart on the web. Guess I´ll do that....
So, for now, Roxanne can´t be around her new grandbaby at all. The night Sofia
was born makes for an interesting story, though...
Thursday morning (July 12th), Carolina woke up with pains and soon began to
have contractions at 5 minute intervals. She went to the hospital, but they told
her to go back home. So, Caro passed all day Thursday-- at home-- having
contractions with increasing frequency... until at 9:00 at night when her
contractions were at 2 minute intervals. She and her husband Vidal got in the car
to go to the hospital. But by the time they arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later,
Sofia was already on her way, and it was all the nurse could do to get Carolina in
a delivery room so she didn´t have her baby in the car! Carolina and Vidal had
left the house at 9:45, and at 10:18 baby Sofia was born.
Nothing about this seems totally unusual to anyone in the family-- I think everyone
is just so pleased that Caro and the baby are doing well. But I´m a bit freaked out
by the whole thing. All I know is, if I were having contractions more often than
every 5 minutes, I would have myself parked in a hospital room, doctor´s request
or not. I mean, good grief, she could have had that baby while riding down the
highway! I just don´t get it.
There are other aspects of Sofia´s arrival that seem less weird to me but are very
interesting. For example, Sofia has a gauze curtain that falls on all sides of her
bassinett, surrounding her in white lace like a little angel. Apparently, all new
mothers here use them to protect the babies from the chance of insect bites.
Another interesting custom is called The Cuarentisma. After giving birth, new
mothers and their babies make a little nest at home and don´t really leave the
house except for doctor appointments, etc. The intention is to stay away from
wind, rain, cool weather, and other people´s germs. So, none of us have been
able to spend much time around Sofia because she´s sort-of cloistered up. The
interesting thing to me is that the custom lasts for exactly forty days, hence the
name ''Cuarentisma''. One would suppose the number in some way related to the
Old Testament.... but I guess it´s also a practical length of time for such a
precaution.
I´m travelling this weekend with pretty much the same group of ladies to El Parque
Nacional Manuel Antonio. There are many wildlife tours, and there´s a beach,
and I think you can see turtle nests too. I hope to volunteer one day for a
conservation project called... oh, I forget the name. Anyway... hope all of you are
doing well!
Signing off from the land of Strange Deliveries...
Vanessa
_________________________________________
lunes, el 16 de julio
Well, as promised, I have much to report after a really cool weekend in Arenal!
I left on Thursday afternoon with three other ladies from the MLSA program, all of
us totally ignorant of the long trek ahead of us. We used the public bus system
which, while efficient and inexpensive in San Jose, is definitely not the way to
travel through the rest of the country. The first leg of the trip, from San Jose to
Quesado, wound up and down mountains with circular curves and narrow roads.
Much car sickness was experienced by all. (Interestingly enough, in Spanish the
word for carsick is the same as seasick: mareada. As in, ''On the bus ride to
Quesado, I felt terribly mareada.'' Makes sense, when you think about it.) We
then waited an hour for the next bus, which gave our stomachs a break, and then
endured two more hours of bus travel until we arrived at our destination of Arenal.
We all agreed upon one thing: we would not, repeat would not, return home the
same way.
On the ride, I did get to know my travel companions a bit better. Kathy, the eldest
of us, works as a librarian in San Diego, California. She has a totally awesome
spirit of adventure. Working towards her undergrad degree as a non-traditional
student, Kathy really values the college experience and counters naysayers with
laughter. She came here not knowing much Spanish and is really learning a
substantial amount.
Leanne is close to my age and is also a high school teacher. She teaches
English in Ohio, but studied Spanish for several years in college. She came to
the MLSA program this summer just for a cool, new experience. Like me, she did
some study abroad in Spain, so we were able to compare notes a bit.
Jennifer, the youngest of our group, just finished her sophomore year at U. of
Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She is double-majoring in Spanish and Biology. She
plans to study pharmacy at Auburn U. after she gets her undergrad degree from
Alabama.
All in all, the four of made a great travel group. Everyone was laid back and
really considerate, which worked out great since we were sharing a hotel suite.
Speaking of the hotel, it was fantastic! We stayed at Los Lagos Resort, which is
situated at the base of Volcan Arenal. We awoke Friday morning very well-rested
and ready to enjoy the hotel's various amenities. After a delicious breakfast
buffet (included as part of the hotel stay), we were ready to hit the hot springs, or
aguas termales, as they are called here. The springs weren´t cascading springs
as much as they were swimming pools, with 90ª water heated by the volcano,
somehow. (Can anybody who is into earth science tell me how that works?)
Leading down into the pool was a great big waterslide, which was great fun, and
fast! We spent the day alternating between the hot springs and the various
swimming pools, topping off the day with massages at the hotel spa to work out all
our muscle kinks from the bus ride the day before.
Then.... Saturday. With the morning came our canopy tour-- or, canopy flight, as
it were. The resort offers an excursion to see the jungle from cables that zip
through the canopy, and we took full advantage of the opportunity. The trip took
us flying through the canopy on 14 different zip lines. We wore equipment that
was roughly the same as that worn on ropes courses--a harness that supports
14, 000 lbs... you know, strong. Trusting our gear with abandon, our group felt
really confident on the lines-- so much so that our guides (there were six) taught
us some more inventive ways to ride as we neared the end of our tour. The pose
with arms outstretched they called ''Super Woman'' to us, but among themselves
they called it ''Super Gallina'' (Super Chicken). (I'll stay with the super hero
interpretation and let other people be farm animals if they want to, thank you very
much!) At the penultimate platform, we were delighted to encounter a family of
monkeys who allowed us to take several pictures before they monkeyed
themselves away to other parts of the forest. If you look carefully you can see a
baby riding on his mama´s back-- very cute!
The only mission yet to be accomplished was that we all really wanted to see the
other side of the volcano, where visitors can sometimes see hot lava flowing from
the top. Volcan Arenal has two spouts, one more active from which eruptions still
occasionally occur, and one which now just spews smoke and a bit of ash.
(Thank you, Hotel Los Lagos, for having the infinte wisdom to situate the resort
on the non-hot-lava side.) We found out that visitors have the best chance of
getting a clear view of the volcano at dawn, so 5:00 am Sunday morning found
Kathy, Jennifer, and me on a taxi headed towards the active side of Arenal. We
had a really fantastic cab driver who doubled as a nature guide-- along the hour
drive he stopped to show us wild toucans and howler monkeys. (If you´ve never
encountered a howler monkey, it sounds the biggest, most ferocious jaguar or
lion or human-eating carnivore you´ve ever imagined... until you see the small
monkey-fellow making all that racket up in the trees.) The taxista stopped to
show us a perezoso (sloth), but apparently he was feeling non-slothful that day
because he ran away too quickly for us to see him in all his slothful glory.
The driver dropped us off at the volcano´s park entrance and we proceeded to
hike through about 2 km of rain forest. Local history estimates that the last
eruption through that thick part of the forest occured back in the 1400's. With
Spanish conquest and the like, somehow the knowledge that Arenal was a
volcano was lost, and so by the 1900's the area inhabitants had no idea they
were living by a volcano. After 500 years of dormancy, the volcano erupted in
1968 for the first time since the 1400´s. Many villages were destroyed, and many
lives were lost.
The taxista told us interesting stories about the 1968 eruption; for example, hours
before the eruption, the Arenal cattle herds all left the area. Women awoke early
in the morning to gather milk, but there were no cows. Then, there were
rumblings and tremors, but still people stayed, apparently not understanding the
danger. We humans can be really dull, sometimes.
The trail that Kathy, Jennifer, and I followed through the park that morning was a
bit scary, because we kept passing signs warning us the area had a ''high risk of
volcanic activity''. The moral I took from the cab driver´s story was: when in
doubt, follow the animals' example...so.... as we walked along and I heard birds
chirping and animal life all abuzz, I used their chatter to convince myself,'' OK.... I
hope it´s safe.. here goes!''
The three of us could tell a stark difference the instant we walked into the part of
the forest that had been in the path of the 1968 lava flow. The forest was just 10
or 12 feet high-- not so much a forest really as much as a cluster of bamboo.
Basically, it took 40 years for the forest to recover just to that level of growth.
The volcano erupted again in 1992, and the change in vegetation as we entered
that part of the park was even more obvious than the prior transition. After 15
years, the area was not even close to recovering-- the only vegetation to be
found was moss growing on huge boulders of solidified magma. We never did get
to see red lava in the distance, but the very real sound of lava bubbling
somewhere out there was quite, quite close enough to me. The sound was
eerie-- the only way I can think to describe it is that it sounded to me like when
grits are cooked too long and bubbles of air start to escape from the solid mass
of grits. Hopefully those of you from the South know the sound I'm talking about...
Sorry, Kerrville folks, I can´t think of an equivalent Texas sound.
All in all, it was definitely an awesome weekend excursion. We hired a van to
drive us back to San Jose, which was infintely better. The trip this time took only
2.5 hours, so....all´s well that ends well!
Returning to the city, I was shocked back into reality after having 3 days of ''hotel
Spanish'' with the staff, where they speak very slowly, changed rather quickly to
everyday Tico conversation and slang. But...
I was even more shocked to find Carolina flat-bellied and a very small, very sweet
Sofia sleeping in her arms! The family is ecstatic, and everyone is doing very
well. More about baby Sofia the next entry.
Hasta pronto, companeros!
Starting to miss home,
Vanessa
Playa Manuel Antonio is a dream! Today I had the best day, scouring the beach
for seashells, jumping into the tides, and relaxing beneath the shade of an
umbrella. I love the sand here; it´s a dark loam color and the softest I´ve ever
felt.
The beach is a popular hang out for families, artisans, and surfers. A local potter
was successful in enticing us to buy several of her wares. Suft instructors
abounded, and it was just as much fun to watch the professionals ride the waves
as it was the first-timers. (Actually, the first-timers were more fun to
watch--naturally.) And families came with their dogs-- lots of them. The dogs had
a pup-tacular time playing fetch as they raced against the waves. Their barks of
delight provided fine background music for our sun worship and devotion to the
mermaids.
Whipping in the ocean breeze were hundreds of colorful scarves adorned with the
country´s beautiful flora and fauna. I brought home two pieces, but I wish I could
brought home more. The beach was embellished with too many of these dancing
beauties to count-- together they constituted the wardobe of a rainbow, hanging
out to dry on the line.
My, but it is hard to say goodbye to the Pacific.
En route to San Jose on the morn,
a wistful Vanessa
_________________________________________
viernes, el 20 de julio
It seems that my immune system has picked up strength during my Costa Rican
stay. Although almost everyone in my host family caught a flu bug and passed it
among themselves all week, I came through the ordeal relatively unscathed. After
a day of mild flu symptoms, I spent Thursday and Friday in good health and
decided to follow through with my original plan to visit Manuel Antonio beach for
the weekend.
My trip this weekend began, ironically, the way a trip to the doctor usually begins.
I walked up to the airline registration table, gave my paperwork, and was then
asked to step on a scale. Snap-- wait a minute! I´m at an airport in Costa Rica,
not MedNow! What a bizarre experience. Apparently, on domestic flights,
luggage is not the only thing that must adhere to weight requirements. (Luckily I
wasn´t asked to pay a fee for excessive body cargo.) Here´s a picture of the man
behind me in line-- he was in the clear as well.
The plane from San Jose to Manuel Antonio was super-small, and the flight was
super-short. What would have been a 4 1/2 hour bus ride was only 18 minutes
by air. The co-pilot himself gave us a personal explanation of the aircraft´s safety
features. Did the flight attendant for our 15 passenger plane have the day off?
We´re staying the weekend at Hotel La Mariposa. Distance from the beach: a
10-minute bus ride. Hot water and air conditioning? Yes. Claim to fame: one of
the 1000 locales in the world selected for the book 1000 Places to See Before
You Die.
The hotel itself resembles an old coffee plantation and has a to-die-for vista of
the Pacific Ocean. The restaurant is outdoors and offers a panoramic view of the
water.
Ocean waves call, and sandy beaches abound. I´m off to the coast!
Hasta luego,
Vanessa of 999 more places to visit
_________________________________________
jueves, el 19 de julio
Well, I have good news for all of you who were pulling your hair and knashing
your teeth because you thought there would be no journal entries this weekend.
As it happened, I´m going to kick it back in San Jose instead of trekking to Manuel
Antonio for 3 days. So... here I am with lots of time to write!
I read a news article this morning on the new youth culture in China-- here´s the
link in case you´d like to read it too:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/ChineseTee
ns.aspx Drifting on an Internet wave, I then started reading about Generation X
and GenY, and I started wondering where I fit into all of it, and how my realm of
experience compared to the experiences of young women here in Costa Rica.
To me it´s a really interesting topic. Obviously, young women of my generation
face a world much different from the world faced by women of the 80´s and 90´s,
who felt they had to be all things to all people: full-time workers, full-time wives,
and full-time mothers. The young women of my generation tend to put more
emphasis on the notion that moderation and compromise are important elements
of ''the good life''. We also seem to be more tolerant of the idea that there are
different answers to what this good life means for different women. Like our
predecesors, we want to be both professionals and mothers. However, our
generation of women has become more aware of the need to do with so with a
sense of balance and with a respect for our own limitatons.
We have identified our ideals, and we have accepted the fact that we will need to
make compromises and modifications in order for our dreams to become reality.
But we are still trying to find ways to make these necessary changes occur. How
will we open doors in society to make a better work/home balance a reality for
more women? I think solutions that are practical as well as pragmatic rank
among the major contributions that the young women of my generation will make.
We have much to consider. For example, there are many issues involved with
cutting back on our careers during our childbearing years. What will the
professional repercussions be for withdrawing (in varying degrees) from our
careers during the child-bearing years--a time when our full-time working
counterparts are experiencing high professional growth? If we reenter the
workforce after our children are older, how will we do so while maintaining respect
and value as members of the workforce? There is much in the current paradigm
of what it means to be a professional that we must consider.
Additionally, current young women are bound to encounter opposition from what
I´ll call the ''new traditionalist'' expectation-- the idea that what is normal and
necessary is for both husband and wife to work outside the home. Since women
entered the workforce en masse during World War II, the American economy has
adjusted to reflect this heightened household income. With inflation rates
adjusted, homes cost more than they did previously. Far fewer one-income
families are able to purchase a home with the traditional 20% downpayment than
such families in decades past.
In the present moment in which I write, I am myself experiencing a pause from my
working life as I pass the summer in Costa Rica. Here, I have the opportunity to
view the changing expectations of women from a Latin American perspective.
In my limited experience, Costa Rican women have lived an abbrieviated version
of the societal process of women in the U.S., who were first disenchanted with
working solely in the home, then exhausted from working both in the professional
realm and in the home, and now expect satisfaction both at work and at home
without being overwhelmed.
Young Costa Rican women (as citizens of what is arguably the most affluent Latin
American country) are achieving more education and professional success, and
in many ways are aligning themselves with the experiences of contemporary U.S.
women. But in contrast to American young women, the current young women of
Costa Rica seem to have skipped the stage of being exhausted from full-time jobs
at home and full-time jobs in the work force. Young working women are instead
relying on their own mothers, who remained in the ''stay at home'' generation, to
care for their children. Thus, the guilt and anghst among working mothers
appears much less here than it did in the U.S., as the children in Costa Rica are
for the most part still being cared for by family. The day-care phenomenon of
the U.S. is not as strong in Costa Rica. What will happen in future generations,
when the grandmothers in Costa Rica are working as well as the mothers, is an
interesting point to ponder.
Women in the U.S. and around the world have an abundance of choices because
we live in a time of such prosperity and freedom. But because the opportunity to
choose alternate balances between work and home is relatively new, we have
little historical precedence to guide us in our decisions. And so we ourselves
must be the ones to create the precedence.
Thoughtful today,
Vanessa the working-young-woman
_________________________________________
miercoles, el 18 de julio
We had an interesting class today, talking about new ways to explain concepts in
Spanish that don´t exist in English. So, that was pretty cool. Yesterday Kathleen
and I had a long lunch at a Polish restaurant, although I guess I messed up the
whole ethnic thing by having an Italian salad and a peach milkshake. Hey,
there´s some really good Italkian food here, by the way! Much better than what
you find at home.
Well, as it turns out, I can´t buy the last Harry Potter book in Spanish this summer,
as I had hoped. I guess they´re just releasing it in the Mother Tongue right now
to minimize the chances of having the plot leaked. But the new Harry Potter movie
is a big hit here, as I imagine it is everywhere else.
Roxanne has been really sick. Some kind of flu. She went to the doctor for a
shot, got much better, overdid it, and now is feeling more sick than she was
before. Last night her fever was 39. I can´t figure out the calculations, but
normal body temperature in Celcius is 37, so 39 seems pretty high. I guess I
could easily find a converstion chart on the web. Guess I´ll do that....
So, for now, Roxanne can´t be around her new grandbaby at all. The night Sofia
was born makes for an interesting story, though...
Thursday morning (July 12th), Carolina woke up with pains and soon began to
have contractions at 5 minute intervals. She went to the hospital, but they told
her to go back home. So, Caro passed all day Thursday-- at home-- having
contractions with increasing frequency... until at 9:00 at night when her
contractions were at 2 minute intervals. She and her husband Vidal got in the car
to go to the hospital. But by the time they arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later,
Sofia was already on her way, and it was all the nurse could do to get Carolina in
a delivery room so she didn´t have her baby in the car! Carolina and Vidal had
left the house at 9:45, and at 10:18 baby Sofia was born.
Nothing about this seems totally unusual to anyone in the family-- I think everyone
is just so pleased that Caro and the baby are doing well. But I´m a bit freaked out
by the whole thing. All I know is, if I were having contractions more often than
every 5 minutes, I would have myself parked in a hospital room, doctor´s request
or not. I mean, good grief, she could have had that baby while riding down the
highway! I just don´t get it.
There are other aspects of Sofia´s arrival that seem less weird to me but are very
interesting. For example, Sofia has a gauze curtain that falls on all sides of her
bassinett, surrounding her in white lace like a little angel. Apparently, all new
mothers here use them to protect the babies from the chance of insect bites.
Another interesting custom is called The Cuarentisma. After giving birth, new
mothers and their babies make a little nest at home and don´t really leave the
house except for doctor appointments, etc. The intention is to stay away from
wind, rain, cool weather, and other people´s germs. So, none of us have been
able to spend much time around Sofia because she´s sort-of cloistered up. The
interesting thing to me is that the custom lasts for exactly forty days, hence the
name ''Cuarentisma''. One would suppose the number in some way related to the
Old Testament.... but I guess it´s also a practical length of time for such a
precaution.
I´m travelling this weekend with pretty much the same group of ladies to El Parque
Nacional Manuel Antonio. There are many wildlife tours, and there´s a beach,
and I think you can see turtle nests too. I hope to volunteer one day for a
conservation project called... oh, I forget the name. Anyway... hope all of you are
doing well!
Signing off from the land of Strange Deliveries...
Vanessa
_________________________________________
lunes, el 16 de julio
Well, as promised, I have much to report after a really cool weekend in Arenal!
I left on Thursday afternoon with three other ladies from the MLSA program, all of
us totally ignorant of the long trek ahead of us. We used the public bus system
which, while efficient and inexpensive in San Jose, is definitely not the way to
travel through the rest of the country. The first leg of the trip, from San Jose to
Quesado, wound up and down mountains with circular curves and narrow roads.
Much car sickness was experienced by all. (Interestingly enough, in Spanish the
word for carsick is the same as seasick: mareada. As in, ''On the bus ride to
Quesado, I felt terribly mareada.'' Makes sense, when you think about it.) We
then waited an hour for the next bus, which gave our stomachs a break, and then
endured two more hours of bus travel until we arrived at our destination of Arenal.
We all agreed upon one thing: we would not, repeat would not, return home the
same way.
On the ride, I did get to know my travel companions a bit better. Kathy, the eldest
of us, works as a librarian in San Diego, California. She has a totally awesome
spirit of adventure. Working towards her undergrad degree as a non-traditional
student, Kathy really values the college experience and counters naysayers with
laughter. She came here not knowing much Spanish and is really learning a
substantial amount.
Leanne is close to my age and is also a high school teacher. She teaches
English in Ohio, but studied Spanish for several years in college. She came to
the MLSA program this summer just for a cool, new experience. Like me, she did
some study abroad in Spain, so we were able to compare notes a bit.
Jennifer, the youngest of our group, just finished her sophomore year at U. of
Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She is double-majoring in Spanish and Biology. She
plans to study pharmacy at Auburn U. after she gets her undergrad degree from
Alabama.
All in all, the four of made a great travel group. Everyone was laid back and
really considerate, which worked out great since we were sharing a hotel suite.
Speaking of the hotel, it was fantastic! We stayed at Los Lagos Resort, which is
situated at the base of Volcan Arenal. We awoke Friday morning very well-rested
and ready to enjoy the hotel's various amenities. After a delicious breakfast
buffet (included as part of the hotel stay), we were ready to hit the hot springs, or
aguas termales, as they are called here. The springs weren´t cascading springs
as much as they were swimming pools, with 90ª water heated by the volcano,
somehow. (Can anybody who is into earth science tell me how that works?)
Leading down into the pool was a great big waterslide, which was great fun, and
fast! We spent the day alternating between the hot springs and the various
swimming pools, topping off the day with massages at the hotel spa to work out all
our muscle kinks from the bus ride the day before.
Then.... Saturday. With the morning came our canopy tour-- or, canopy flight, as
it were. The resort offers an excursion to see the jungle from cables that zip
through the canopy, and we took full advantage of the opportunity. The trip took
us flying through the canopy on 14 different zip lines. We wore equipment that
was roughly the same as that worn on ropes courses--a harness that supports
14, 000 lbs... you know, strong. Trusting our gear with abandon, our group felt
really confident on the lines-- so much so that our guides (there were six) taught
us some more inventive ways to ride as we neared the end of our tour. The pose
with arms outstretched they called ''Super Woman'' to us, but among themselves
they called it ''Super Gallina'' (Super Chicken). (I'll stay with the super hero
interpretation and let other people be farm animals if they want to, thank you very
much!) At the penultimate platform, we were delighted to encounter a family of
monkeys who allowed us to take several pictures before they monkeyed
themselves away to other parts of the forest. If you look carefully you can see a
baby riding on his mama´s back-- very cute!
The only mission yet to be accomplished was that we all really wanted to see the
other side of the volcano, where visitors can sometimes see hot lava flowing from
the top. Volcan Arenal has two spouts, one more active from which eruptions still
occasionally occur, and one which now just spews smoke and a bit of ash.
(Thank you, Hotel Los Lagos, for having the infinte wisdom to situate the resort
on the non-hot-lava side.) We found out that visitors have the best chance of
getting a clear view of the volcano at dawn, so 5:00 am Sunday morning found
Kathy, Jennifer, and me on a taxi headed towards the active side of Arenal. We
had a really fantastic cab driver who doubled as a nature guide-- along the hour
drive he stopped to show us wild toucans and howler monkeys. (If you´ve never
encountered a howler monkey, it sounds the biggest, most ferocious jaguar or
lion or human-eating carnivore you´ve ever imagined... until you see the small
monkey-fellow making all that racket up in the trees.) The taxista stopped to
show us a perezoso (sloth), but apparently he was feeling non-slothful that day
because he ran away too quickly for us to see him in all his slothful glory.
The driver dropped us off at the volcano´s park entrance and we proceeded to
hike through about 2 km of rain forest. Local history estimates that the last
eruption through that thick part of the forest occured back in the 1400's. With
Spanish conquest and the like, somehow the knowledge that Arenal was a
volcano was lost, and so by the 1900's the area inhabitants had no idea they
were living by a volcano. After 500 years of dormancy, the volcano erupted in
1968 for the first time since the 1400´s. Many villages were destroyed, and many
lives were lost.
The taxista told us interesting stories about the 1968 eruption; for example, hours
before the eruption, the Arenal cattle herds all left the area. Women awoke early
in the morning to gather milk, but there were no cows. Then, there were
rumblings and tremors, but still people stayed, apparently not understanding the
danger. We humans can be really dull, sometimes.
The trail that Kathy, Jennifer, and I followed through the park that morning was a
bit scary, because we kept passing signs warning us the area had a ''high risk of
volcanic activity''. The moral I took from the cab driver´s story was: when in
doubt, follow the animals' example...so.... as we walked along and I heard birds
chirping and animal life all abuzz, I used their chatter to convince myself,'' OK.... I
hope it´s safe.. here goes!''
The three of us could tell a stark difference the instant we walked into the part of
the forest that had been in the path of the 1968 lava flow. The forest was just 10
or 12 feet high-- not so much a forest really as much as a cluster of bamboo.
Basically, it took 40 years for the forest to recover just to that level of growth.
The volcano erupted again in 1992, and the change in vegetation as we entered
that part of the park was even more obvious than the prior transition. After 15
years, the area was not even close to recovering-- the only vegetation to be
found was moss growing on huge boulders of solidified magma. We never did get
to see red lava in the distance, but the very real sound of lava bubbling
somewhere out there was quite, quite close enough to me. The sound was
eerie-- the only way I can think to describe it is that it sounded to me like when
grits are cooked too long and bubbles of air start to escape from the solid mass
of grits. Hopefully those of you from the South know the sound I'm talking about...
Sorry, Kerrville folks, I can´t think of an equivalent Texas sound.
All in all, it was definitely an awesome weekend excursion. We hired a van to
drive us back to San Jose, which was infintely better. The trip this time took only
2.5 hours, so....all´s well that ends well!
Returning to the city, I was shocked back into reality after having 3 days of ''hotel
Spanish'' with the staff, where they speak very slowly, changed rather quickly to
everyday Tico conversation and slang. But...
I was even more shocked to find Carolina flat-bellied and a very small, very sweet
Sofia sleeping in her arms! The family is ecstatic, and everyone is doing very
well. More about baby Sofia the next entry.
Hasta pronto, companeros!
Starting to miss home,
Vanessa
