Trail Blazing in the Cloud Forest

Last week we did work that was pretty different from the work we've done before. We worked in a forest reserve, which is basically all the area around the adventure park where we went ziplining last month. We created trails for groups of students and volunteers that will study the area for the climate change impact. They're going to try to figure out what all the environmental changes are and why they're happening. The trail making was hard physical work and even though we did hard work on the farm, this time we were right smack in the middle of the forest. Taking out all the roots and branches to make a trail is really hard. It was all fun, though, at least for me. One thing that was not so fun were all the bugs but hey, siempre tiene que haber un pelo en la comida (a spanish saying that means "there always has to be a hair in the food"). We basically had to bathe ourselves in bug spray. Although it was fun sometimes the feeling of destroying parts of nature kind took hold of us. I think it helped to focus on the fact that we were mainly taking out small roots and leaves to make a narrow trail for a much bigger project. I really liked the work we did and I thought it was awesome to swing a hoe in the middle of a cloud forest.

My Grandparents, the Rain Forest and Sloths

A few weeks ago my grandparents came to Costa Rica. My grandparents live in Iowa so I only see them a few times a year, but this time I hadn't seen them for over a year, so I had really missed them. Even though I don't see them as much as people that live in California it's been amazing to actually see someone from home here in Costa Rica. The feeling was really really awesome because it completely removed all the homesickness I had, at least temporarily and I also feel like it reminded me that home still exists, that everybody is still there. It made me really look forward to going back home in a few months. Other than finally seeing someone from home I've had a really good time with them. We've played a lot of games, gone on some hikes and really just had some quality time together.

On Friday we went on a hike through the cloud forest, then the rain forest for about an hour and a half to see a huge waterfall. The hike was really fun, as all hikes are when you're surrounded by so much vegetation. At one point we had to take off our shoes to get across a river, or in my case, jump from rock to rock. The waterfall itself is beautiful, or better said, was beautiful. It's a huge waterfall that's about 300 feet high. When we went last time (when I was here last July) there was a ton of water and it was an actual waterfall but this time it was just a tiny tiny little trickle of water where you would have to stand under it for 10 minutes to finally get wet. It really reminds you that we have a shortage of water on our hands, even in Costa Rica. Last time we were there we saw some puma tracks when we were heading back. The guide had some clay that you put in the tracks to make a mold of them. After we waited for them to dry I went back to check on them and there were some new tracks right by the old ones. A puma had passed by just minutes after we had been there! We also found some beaver tracks but I don't think those were nearly as cool as the puma tracks. This time around, we did not see animal tracks. Still, it was a memorable walk. The waterfall is incredible and I'm lucky to have seen it twice. On this trip, I've really come to appreciate all nature has for us to see and all that it has for us to learn. 

2 weeks ago we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. The drive was about three hours from Providencia, pretty close but completely different landscapes and environments. The whole area is on the Pacific Coast, but the actual national park is a rain forest. We went on a half hour hike through the forest to get to a little beach. My favorite part was the hike because we saw so many awesome things. Our guide was amazing at spotting all different kinds of plants and animals and he was also just really good at his job, we really learned a lot. We saw sloths, bats, birds, deer, scorpions, spiders and monkeys. I think the sloths were really the highlight. We saw six in total, of both kinds, two toed and three toed! Two toed sloths are mean and aggressive, and we didn't really see them up close. On the other hand three toed sloths are gentle and peaceful so we got to see them up close. We even got to see a baby that was less than a week old! Now I can tell you from personal experience that they really are as slow as everybody says they are. My favorite bird that we saw was one that was super, super camouflaged. It looked exactly like a crumpled leaf but you could see its big brown eye that was the only thing that would give away its position. We saw a bunch of white-faced monkeys that put on a a show of taking people's food and throwing it. The beach itself was amazing too, it was like what you would see in pictures of a paradise beach, with the jungle right up against it. The water was calm and it felt perfect, although it was burning hot outside. After the beach we went to our hotel that was in a town called Dominical. The hotel was amazing with a fun pool, and I wish we could have stayed there longer than one night. The next morning most of the group went surfing but I couldn't go because I had an ear infection. That Sunday we said goodbye to my grandparents which was sad but it helped to know that I will see them not long after I get back. It was all around, an awesome Easter weekend!

Next week we visit Tortuguero, which is a completely different part of the country on the Caribbean side. That should be interesting.

Sand, Waves, Ziplines and a Giant Red Diaper

I love the beach. Over the weekend we went to a beach town called Tamarindo in Northwestern Costa Rica. Tamarindo is a super touristy spot with a lot of stores everywhere. It's about an eight hour drive from Providencia and a completely different landscape than the cloudforest. We went from mountains to beaches. The beaches here have white sand, unlike Monterrico in Guatemala. In Tamarindo, we got away from the stores and visited different beaches. My favorite beach was Playa Negra. It's called that not because of black sand but because of the rocks that line the coast. Almost everywhere you can see black rock, in a few places there's sand so it's safe to go in but it's mostly rock. It's really cool when the waves, that were quite big, smash against the rocks. Costa Rica has a lot of beaches, but this one was especially awesome because of the wide space, fun waves and perfect water temperature. The whole trip in general was really nice, and we got to have a couple days relaxing just playing in the ocean.

Here in Providencia they have built an adventure park, which is basically an amusement park of cables wrapped around trees in the forest. It’s mostly made up of zipline and rope-swing type activities. The first one we went on was Jungle Fly. In Jungle Fly they strap you up in a huge, red “diaper” and then everybody else pulls on a rope to hoist you up. Once you’re pretty high they release you and you go flying through the jungle. I love the feeling of falling and swinging up and down with the wind in your face and birds chirping all around you. The next one we did is my favorite one, the Hollow Tree Climb. You can probably get what it’s about by the name but I’ll explain better. You have to climb up the inside of a hollowed out tree that’s 35 meters high (115 feet). I have an absolute obsession with climbing trees so you can understand why this one was my favorite. I climbed the tree in two minutes and thirty nine seconds. After the Tree Climb came a traditional zipline. This zipline was only like twenty seconds, not nearly as long as the one we did in Guatemala, but still fun. When we landed after the zipline we were on a platform and the only way down was to do the Tarzan Swing. The Tarzan Swing was kind of like Jungle Fly but instead of you being pulled up and let go, you have to jump off of the platform yourself since you’re already up high. I did it upside down and it was super fun to feel both the wind and my blood rushing to my face. After we were on the ground we went across the Monkey Bridge, the last activity. The Monkey Bridge is a cable that you have to walk on. There are also ropes hanging down from above that you can swing from, hence, the Monkey Bridge. The whole park is super super fun and I had a great time. With all the work we've been doing, and my new school (with loads of homework), I was ready for some fun. Costa Rica has so many options! My grandparents come for a visit this weekend, and I can't wait to show them around.

Arriving in Paradise

We’re in Costa Rica! We arrived here in Providencia (the town where we’ll live for three months) late afternoon last Tuesday, Feb 23. Providencia is in the middle of the cloud forest, basically in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is more than an hour drive so it’s completely isolated. Providencia is one of my favorite places on earth, probably the number one. When we first got here it was dark and and cloudy so we couldn’t see much but the next day, I woke up and immediately was amazed by Providencia’s beauty. There’s nothing but nature all around and it’s in the middle of the mountains with an incredible view. There are also a lot of rivers all around, including the cleanest river in Central America (Rio Savegre), so you can always hear the rush of the water. In a place like Providencia, it’s impossible not to feel relaxed. Anybody who’s ever been here can back me up. Here in Costa Rica we’ll be going on some awesome trips and doing some really fun things so I’m super excited for what’s to come. Since the first time I came to Costa Rica four years ago I have absolutely fallen in love with it and even though I was sad to leave Guatemala, I’m so glad to be back in this incredible place.

Carlos and I are going to school here in Providencia! Even though school just started here 2 weeks ago, we entered the grades that we’ve been in since India, 6th and 2nd. I know that some kids will think I’m crazy for saying this, but I really like school and I’ve really missed going to class with other students. Now whenever I go I don’t want to stop. I want to go all day. In Costa Rica, like in a lot of other countries, they wear uniforms to school. We had to buy uniforms and whenever I put it on to go to school I feel super formal and official. Another thing that’s different here, that is true only for Providencia, is that there aren’t many kids at the school. At my school in California, there’s about 30 kids per class and 150 per grade. Here, there are 25 kids in the entire school and about five per grade. There are only 3 in Carlos’ class.

I’ve loved being in a class with other kids, receiving instruction from a teacher up front. Even though the  work is a bit easy, I’ve liked every bit of it. Although we’re going to the local school, here we’re still keeping up with our homeschool program. That’s why this blog is late. With school in the morning, then homework, then homeschool work I’ve been pretty busy. It’s been a great experience so far to attend school here because we get to see what it’s like to be a normal kid in Costa Rica.

In India and Guatemala the volunteering was mainly teaching kids, but here in Costa Rica we’re mostly volunteering with environmental projects. We’re doing organic farming, finishing the construction of a recycling center out of eco-bricks, and a little teaching of the local kids at the school about sustainable development and the environment. You might be wondering what organic farming is, or sustainable development, and you’re probably saying to yourself, what in the world are eco-bricks? Organic farming is what it’s called when farmers use organic materials instead of chemicals. Since pretty much everyone in Providencia is a farmer, when they use chemicals, it’s a lot of damage to the ground and the rivers. This is really important work and I’m learning a lot about what we need to do to fix our planet.

This weekend we’re going zip-lining! I’ll tell you all about it next week.

A March for the Earth and Saying Goodbye to Guatemala

**This blog is late on purpose because I wanted to get the very end of our time here in Guatemala.  

I’ve been forgetting to update you on our projects with the Young Dreamers. Our main focus was the community clean-up campaign.  We had the march and rally last Sunday! We did it in both Vuelta Grande and El Hato. In Vuelta Grande we started the march in the school. Almost all of the young dreamers (33) went to the march so when we started off we immediately started with quite a bit of noise. We also had a microphone and a megaphone to make even more noise and attract more people. We walked from the school to the soccer field (45 minutes) screaming and yelling chants and slogans. We attracted a crowd with our noise, which was our intention because we wanted to teach as many people as we could about helping the environment. When we got to the soccer field we talked a little bit about what we were doing and why we were doing it. On the way back to the school we walked, still chanting, while picking up trash. A lot of the kids of the village helped too. When we got to the school some of the Young Dreamers talked about putting trash in its place, recycling, and the consequences of polluting our planet. After the speeches we had the skits. The skits also touched on recycling and the consequences of throwing trash in the street. I think the project turned out great. Especially, of course, the rally. Everyone was super happy and joyous. I think I never stopped smiling during the whole march. When you’re in that kind of environment it’s almost like you’re a magnet for joyful feelings. It was a success all around and I think we really managed to get across the message.

On Friday we said goodbye to the Young Dreamers, who are no longer acquaintances, but friends. We had our last gender specific meetings where we passed over the reins to some of the Young Dreamers so they could continue planning and executing them on their own. After that, we all got together to say our goodbyes... well after us boys had one last soccer match. We had some mini performances where some of the Young Dreamers danced and sang. People got up to say some parting words, both gap year volunteers and Young Dreamers alike. Everybody was sad that our time together had to come to a close, as all things do, but I think it was also a happy reunion where we recognized everything we did and accomplished together. Just yesterday we said goodbye to the school kids in Vuelta Grande. We started off by playing with all the kids, we did games and relays. I think that the last day was the best day where we really could have fun and connect with all the kids. The games lasted for a while and then it was time for a formal goodbye. All the teachers said thank you and bye as well as the principal of the school. We each got certificates and little cards from the kids. When we were done with that it was time for us to leave the kids and leave the beautiful school that we’d been working at for the past three months. Everybody who had gotten close over that time said goodbye promising to see each other again. We were especially sad to leave the school but we knew that of course it wasn’t goodbye, but so long.

We’ve wrapped up the second leg of our 9-month journey here in Guatemala and in just a couple of hours we’ll commence the third leg in Costa Rica. Guatemala has been amazing, from going through a cave full of water, to building classrooms, to visiting Mayan ruins, to having Spanish classes. It’s been a huge variety of great experiences where I’ve learned a ton. Here in Guatemala we’ve been on some awesome trips around the country. My favorite one was Semuc Champey where we got to explore both dry caves and water caves. We also got to go in the seven natural pools that make Semuc Champey famous. Even though that was my favorite trip, all the other ones were great too. Like a few where I could really learn more about the Mayan culture. In addition to the sightseeing that we did we also have some awesome memories of volunteering up in Vuelta Grande and El Hato. The first half of the trip we were volunteering alongside the Young Dreamers working on beautifying the school. When we were beautifying the school it involved a lot of hard physical work, but it was super fun when we wanted it to be. I learned a lot in that time about how to be a hard worker and to really believe we could do any project we wanted, from painting murals, to building a classroom. I also really got to get to know all the Young Dreamers really well for the first time because whenever we come for a week it isn’t enough to build friendships with them. The second half of the volunteering was a whole lot different than the first. We weren’t working with the Young Dreamers, but with the kids of the school since classes started on January 15. The volunteers were tutoring some of the kids that needed it. Instead of the physical labor we did mental labor to teach the kids language arts and math. I don’t think I told you this before, but my mom was actually teaching all of kindergarten pretty much since the first day of school. The real kinder teacher was pregnant so she had to take a couple of months off after only one week of school. In Vuelta Grande, there’s no substitute system, so my mom took over. We all took turns helping her and my cousin (who was staying with us for a while) with the kids. From this volunteering I learned that no matter how young or how old you are, you’ll always have something to learn and to teach. Guatemala has been truly special and amazing for me this time because I really got to delve deep in all of its complex layers. Goodbye Guatemala, thank you for everything you’ve done for me, I’ll be back soon. Bring on Costa Rica!

A Young Dreamer's Life and Tikal

            Lately we’ve been doing a project that involves filming some of the Young Dreamers and their daily routines. A week ago I tagged along to see the morning routine of Juan Jose, a 14 year-old Young Dreamer in Vuelta Grande. My dad and me, one of the volunteers, the assistant director, and a video production team went up to Vuelta Grande at 4:00 in the morning to see Juan Jose waking up and getting ready to go to school. When we got to his house he was already awake since he gets up at 4:30. Let me tell you that at 5:00 it gets very, very cold in Vuelta Grande. Juan Jose usually gets up and takes a shower. Before he takes a shower he has to heat up some water on the stove since there is no shower with warm water. Imagine having to take a bucket shower outside in the freezing cold at 5:00 in the morning. Once you imagine it you would think, I wouldn’t like to do that every day. After the shower he changes into his school uniform. A lot of times Juan Jose doesn’t have breakfast and if he does it’s usually a piece of bread and coffee. A lot of the families there don’t have tables or chairs so they either eat standing or sitting on the dirt floor. After breakfast he brushes his teeth and gets all his school supplies into his backpack (he does his homework the day before.) At 5:45 am he heads down a hill to wait for the bus to pick him up. I think that this was a great experience for me to delve deeper into the Young Dreamers lifestyle and the culture of Vuelta Grande. I hope you guys also understand more about the Young Dreamers life and that you’re learning as much as I am to be grateful, very grateful, for what we have.

            Last weekend  we went to Tikal! For those of you that don’t know what Tikal is, it was one of the biggest cities of the Mayans in the Classic Era, built in the middle of the jungle. A few weeks ago I talked about some ruins called Iximche. Tikal is much much, much bigger. It is estimated that only 30% of the whole city has been uncovered. The other 70% is covered by jungle. A lot of times you’ll walk by some huge hills that don’t seem to fit in with the rest of the jungle and you’ll immediately guess that it is some building that hasn’t been excavated yet. Tikal is huge so I won’t be able to tell you about all of it, (you’ll have to look it up) but I will explain to you some of the most important places. First of all, there’s the Grand Plaza, home to temples 1 and 2, a palace, and several houses. The most important buildings in the great plaza are the two pyramids, both were built by Ha Sawa Chaan-K'awil who brought Tikal’s rise to power. Because he had brought Tikal back to its position of power after a war with Calakmul that resulted in a hiatus in Tikal’s power for 130 years he built the new temples to add to the image that Tikal was powerful again. Ha Sawa Chaan-K’awil was actually buried under Temple 2. Another really cool place in Tikal is what they call the Lost World. The Lost World is believed to have been built in 500 BC and was the main part of Tikal before the Grand Plaza. The Lost World has some different style pyramids because when it was being built Tikal had an alliance with some Mayans in Mexico and the Mexicans showed them their architecture. I think the Grand Plaza and the Lost World were my two favorite plazas in Tikal because you could really see the Maya buildings. Not far from the Lost World is Temple 4. Temple 4 is by far the tallest temple and when you climb to the top you have an amazing view of all the temples and a lot of the rainforest. I think that on top of Temple 4, having a magnificent view of all of Tikal, is my favorite spot. The whole time I was on the trip I was wondering how the Mayans could have lived so long ago, been so advanced, and then suddenly disappeared. I'm really fascinated by the fact that a huge civilization could have fallen so quickly.

The Dump, the Beach and Women's Rights

Unfortunately, here in Guatemala women don’t get much respect. I talked a little bit about it in India and here it is much the same. One of the biggest problems is that they are often abused. Sometimes the husband has too much too drink, which is a whole different problem, and he comes home and abuses the wife and children. They also take out their anger by hitting. For some men, any time they are angry they let it out by hitting their wives, which is not the way to do it. Other than abuse, in some places, women are just not thought of as important, which is not true. A lot of times the women are left to take care of the house and the kids. Now don’t get me wrong, that’s a very hard important job, but they’re not really recognized for it. Sometimes they are not thought worthy or capable of having another job. Here, the women are expected to do everything at home, usually the men don’t do anything. In Guatemala there’s usually more household chores than back home. They cook, they wash clothes by hand, they have to fetch water(usually pretty far away,) they take care of their smaller siblings, they clean the house, etc. With the family, the girls usually get less preference with education. If for any reason at all the parents have to stop sending the one kid to school, whether because they need help in the house or because they can’t afford it, it will usually be the girl, which is unfair. With the Young Dreamers we’ve started group meetings just for girls and just for boys talking about these problems, among other things. We are talking about what the problems are and to how we can help fix them. It’s not cool at all that some women are treated in this way, but it can get better.

Last weekend we went to a beach called Monterico on the Pacific coast. I think it was nice nice relaxing weekend where we all got to just hang-out. We left on Saturday morning and got there about midday. We had lunch and then immediately hit the beach. I loved it because the waves in Monterico were huge and you could get thrown around like you were in a washing machine. One time a wave even took my shirt off! We all had a great time at the beach but we got out around 4:00 to go on a tour of a river that lead to the ocean that was pretty close. The tour was really nice. We got to see all kinds of awesome birds, one time we even saw one dive for a fish. My favorite part was when we saw hundreds and hundreds of white pelicans all in the same spot, it looked like the river had turned white. After the tour we got presented by an cool surprise, we got to free baby sea turtles to the ocean. All of us, among many other were each given a baby turtle to set on the sand and watch it make it’s way to the water. At once there were tons of little turtles slowly walking to their home. A lot of the turtles had trouble getting there but eventually all of them got swept away by the waves. By that time the sky was getting lit up in splendid colors as the sun started going down. There was blue, yellow, orange, pink, purple and even though I’ve seen a lot of beach sunsets they’re still beautiful. We slept in Monterico that night and awoke for being by the beach the whole day. This time I had even more fun since the waves were even bigger. Back home I go to  the beach quite a few times a year and I’ve missed going this year, so this was awesome, a weekend at the beach.

A few days ago we went on a trip to a dump. Actually we went to a community living in a dump, they call it Dump City. When I first heard about it I thought people would literally be living in trash. When I got there I was very surprised to see what was basically a small town. There were tons of houses made of tin as well as paved roads. What we found out later is that it used to be covered in trash but they cleared it to the side and live next to the actual trash dump. There are three leaders that volunteer to help run the town. The story that one of them told was incredible. She was the third person to get there and had come with her two kids. When she got there it was all a dump but it was space where she could live since she didn’t have anywhere else. Life was hard for them. They had to live in trash. In the night they could hear rodents running around. One time she woke up and saw a giant rat about to bite her daughter. They had to work all day, every day to try to clear away the trash and earn a little bit of money. The people living there paid 10 Quetzales ($1.40) a day for dump trucks to come and help them take away the trash. After two years they finally managed to move the trash and have space for 136 families. Almost everyone there works in the dump, finding and scavenging things that could still be used and selling them. Everybody, well most everybody, volunteers to help the community with different tasks to make it better and keep it up. The leaders had a list of who volunteered and who didn’t. When donations came in the people who volunteered got something as a reward but the ones who didn’t work, didn’t get anything. One thing I found really cool was that there was pretty much no crime or major conflicts. There was a mutual respect for one another there. Another thing that I find amazing that happens there (or rather doesn’t happen there) is abuse of women, which I talked about earlier. There have only been a few cases there which is amazing in a community like theirs. The organization and sense of togetherness there is incredible. Our group came out of it being thoroughly impressed that they could have a system that works so well. If it was like that in all the other poor areas in the world I think we would have a lot less problems. It was really, really great to learn about this community.