My roommates in Costa Rica are amazing! What were you thinking?
Long story short, being the random and travel freak that I am, I decided to take advantage of my time between jobs and do a completely different type of trip.
I now suddenly find myself lying on a top bunk of a four person shared room in Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica. Who said camp was only for kids?
There are no beautiful beaches and I do not have a tropical drink in hand. Actually we are not even allowed to drink here. I am participating in a 2 week volunteer program “teaching” English at a small school to a bunch of Tico (“Costa Rican”) kids. Why teaching is in quotes, I will explain in a later blog posting.
After a quick stop in NY to see friends, I flew to Costa Rica to begin my program with the 40 other volunteers. Upon arriving at our “home base” which is like a cabin Costa Rica style in a Costa Rican suburb, I am ushered into a little room with 3 other girls, all teachers, between the ages of 25-32. I suddenly discover we are the “old women” of the program.
After meeting the other girls (almost all students and while nice, well, just young and quite a few of whom unappreciative of the experience, I am so thankful to have my roomies. Although, in defense of the students, I will admit that I spent more time running through the streets of Barcelona while studying abroad at 3am with an open wine bottle in hand than sitting through my Spanish classes, and would have most certainly never agreed to a trip involving no alcohol during my college years. I mean, wasn’t that what university was for?
But in my old age, I thirst for sophisticated conversation and early evenings to bed. Well, actually, we have somehow seemed to regress into sarcastic childhood jokes and just mesh well personality wise. Then again, while I would like to think they like me because of my witty and sweet personality, I think they may only be nice to me because I am one of the only ones with a laptop which I let them use in exchange for letting me into the “popular girls group.” This place really is like summer camp, complete with the annoying girl always trying to join into our group..whom we have secretly established a code word for as well as the “Wah wah” girl we all cannot stand who constantly complains and all avoid like the plague. Any of this bring back memories?
Weekends we have off, and this one is planned for a trip to Monteverde for some zip-lining, hiking, oh, and we knew we were all meant to be when looking hotels we saw one which had a private Jacuzzi on our own balcony and the first image we all had in our head was sipping champagne in our Jacuzzi overlooking the rainforests…needless to say we booked.
Oh, yeah, but I did mention the purpose of our trip was to volunteer right? I guess I am getting a bit side-tracked in my true ADD fashion. But as the tone will be quite different, I will save this for my next posting.
"Obtaining knowledge isn’t always about getting new information. Sometimes it is simply about seeing the ordinary from a new perspective."
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Disclaimer of liability
As with all American things, I would like to direct your attention to the following disclaimer of liability prior to your reading of this blog.
#1: Please be aware that I write these posts keeping in mind that others may read them, and therefore try (key word "try") to make them somewhat entertaining. Therefore, while it is all true, I tend to put a very sarcastic twist on most of it, as is my nature. So, please do not find any offense to the following posts. If you do, then maybe we shouldn't be friends.
#2: For those of you who know me well, I have the attention span of a three-year old child and a pinball machine for a mind. I apologize in advance if I jump from one thought and/or event to the next. Please bear with me.
#3: For those of you who don't know me well, I really am a nice person..or so some tell me. So I hope I do not come across a bit strong. But do you really want to read a blog with the following: Today I took an airplane to Costa Rica. The woman I sat next to on the plane was very nice. We had an interesting conversation. The rainforests we drove through to the place I was staying were very beautiful. I am teaching at a school in Costa Rica. The children I work with are really great. Get the point?
#4: Yes, I do work. But I don't think you want to hear about my typical day of waking up at 5:30am going to work, sitting in front of a laptop for 12 hours doing very boring things, going to the gym, and then going to bed..often in a lonely hotel room, now do you?
#5 My intention of these posts is not to brag about all the places I have been. Believe me, living a nomadic lifestyle is a bit exhausting and often times I am even envious of those friends who are a bit more settled with their homes, friends, families, significant other, etc. In the journey of life, there are many paths to follow, and it is a good thing we do not all take the same one. Always keep in mind, the grass is always greener on the other side.I am therefore not liable for any offense taken.I hope you enjoy
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