I have an uber tan!

Yes, 5 days spent snorkelling and lounging on the beach will do that to you. I have the biggest bathing suit tan. I forgot my proper togs in my hasty packing before I left Brisbane, so being inspired by what we did in Grafton, I just jumped into the water with a sports bra and undies (it was ok, they looked close enough like togs). 5 days later, I have a huge white patch on my back in the shape of my sports bra. It's actually pretty funny! Everyone at the hostel has been commenting on it (when they can see it). It's really distinctive. I guess now I know why you wear a bathing suit as opposed to a sports bra, lol! Thankfully, despite having a huge tan, I didn't get sunburnt. The sun here is really strong, which reminded me to constantly reapply sunscreen, so yay!

So anyway, a bit about where I've been. After the farm, I headed to the Caribbean coast with 2 other people who decided to tag along with me from the farm. We went to a town called Puerto Viejo, which is right at the southern end of the Costa Rican Caribbean coastline. The town had a strange vibe to it. For one thing, it felt like the gringos completely outnumbered the locals. There were white people everywhere you looked, it was incredible. Obviously it was a tourist town, but it just felt different. Banos in Ecuador was also a tourist town, but that one felt right as a tourist town. I guess it was more developed. Puerto Viejo was like a small town being infiltrated by tourists. Despite the copious numbers of tourists, the streets, bars and clubs were mostly empty. That was another strange thing. The hostel we stayed at was pretty much fully booked, but we hardly saw anyone throughout the day and night, just handfuls of people scattered around the place.

It's funny, there are lots of people here of African-Caribbean descent, and they all speak spanish with a caribbean accent! It was cool! Also, you know you're in a beach town when all the roadkill are crabs...

The Caribbean Ocean has really warm waters and small waves. There's one big surfer beach (called Salsa Brava) but apart from that, the waves were pretty small, just gently lapping at the shore. We were in Puerto Viejo for 2 full days, where we went swimming the first day and snorkelling the next. It was good to swim/float in the ocean. Good body surfing waves were irregular and generally far apart, so in between waiting for a wave, I'd just float in the ocean. That was fun, now I can sort of understand why people lie in those sensory deprivation tanks, it's actually really relaxing! The snorkelling here wasn't that good though. At this stage, I was comparing to the Great Barrier Reef, and there's almost no basis of comparison. The reef here was small, the corals were brown and there were scarcely any fish, just little ones randomly swimming around. It was pretty disappointing, but I guess I shouldn't be comparing to the GBR, which is one of the best in the world (I think). We hired bikes to ride to the snorkelling place, it was fun! The bikes were basic, old school bikes. At first I freaked out cos they had no brakes on the handle bars, but then we figured that you can brake by pedalling backwards, so it was ok after I had gotten used to it.

The beaches here are so stereotypical though. Mostly tranquil ocean, white sand and a coast lined with coconut and palm trees, right at the beach. I never thought it would be so stereotyped! I guess this must be what it's like all over the Caribbean.

After a few days in Puerto Viejo, we randomly decided to take a sidetrip to Panama, to another sun, snorkel & dive place near the border called Bocas Del Toro. It's a series of islands also on the Caribbean coast. Although this is also a tourist town, it didn't feel weird like Puerto Viejo did. The locals balanced out the gringos, and the place just seemed more natural. I liked it better than Puerto Viejo. We went snorkelling here as well, and it was heaps better too. The corals were actually colourful, and there were lots of little fishies to swim after, lol! Plus I had a better snorkel, one of the ones that can drain water out of the bottom, so I didn't swallow salt water like I did in Puerto Viejo. I wish I'd brought my own stuff, which would've been heaps better, but I guess that would've been impractical due to my already ridiculously heavy bag! It's getting heavier as I go along, unfortunately...

The border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama was so small. On both sides, there was a small, one window immigration office to stamp your passport. An old bridge connects the two countries, and most people just walk across. It was very cute.

So anyway, I'm heading off to Mexico bright and early tomorrow morning. I'm going straight to the farm, cos I have no idea what else to do in Mexico and hopefully I will have inspiration there. I think they have internet access at the farm so I can keep you all updated...i hope this is not wishful thinking.

No TLC, yea!

So I got back to San Jose this afternoon, after a week in the Caribbean Coast. I got off the bus, and walking along to the hostel, I see hordes of people wearing "No TLC" t-shirts and badges, carrying flags and all sorts of jazz. It looked pretty awesome! Apparently there was a rally earlier today to protest against TLC (which does not stand for tender loving care! It's Tratado de Libre Comercio, which is Free Trade Agreement in spanish. The internet is so wonderful!). I arrived at 1.30pm, just in time to catch all the people walking back from the rally. It looked like a really good rally though, judging by the amount of people walking in the streets with "No TLC" paraphernalia. The entire main street in San Jose was blockaded to allow for the protestors, I wish I could've seen the march, I imagine it would've been amazing! There was so much graffiti all over the city (yes, more than usual) against TLC, "oligarquía ≠ democracia" and the like. They weren't anti-bush or anti-USA as such, more pro-Costa Rica and national pride. Lots of people were wearing "Me ♥ CR" shirts and waving the Costa Rican flag.

So a bit of background, as far as I know, Costa Rica and the USA have a proposed FTA on the table. At first, an unofficial poll revealed that most people supported the FTA, something to the tune of 80%-20%. A few months later, however, the figure changed to 50-50 (I don't know why). So far, all the local people I've talked to are against the TLC, and I've seen more stickers and graffiti around the country that are against it. The government is putting it to the people, and there's going to be a referendum on 7th of October. Apparently, the current president got elected on the promise that he would sign the TLC with the US?! It'll be interesting to see the outcome of the referendum!

The chocolate factory

So a little catching up. I just lost the entire entry that I was typing before, so this one is going to be short as I can't be bothered retyping the entire thing.

So I spent 2 weeks at the wwoof farm, La Iguana Chocolate. It was ok, I learnt a whole lot about chocolate process, or rather from the cacao fruit to cocoa powder. They are not chocolatiers here, so they don't make chocolate as such (like chocolate bars etc). They produce cocoa powder, pure powder without the butters and liqours taken out, it's really just very finely ground cacao beans. It's really awesome. I definitely had my chocolate fix during the 2 weeks that I was there. We made brownies and chocolate sauce, and it was decadent.

Speaking of food, we ate with the family when we were there, and you guys are not going to believe what they have. They eat rice and beans every single day, 3 meals a day. It's incredible, it's not even a variation of rice and beans, it's always white rice with red beans (they also have a bean plot, along with the cacao!). There are side dishes that go with it (like salad) which change, but aside from that, it's a rice and bean staple! Lucky I like beans...Fortunately though, there was a Canadian woman, Caryl, who was there for half of the time that I was, and she'd usually try to cook something different to accompany the rice and beans, so there was some variation. Oh, she also cut my hair, which is awesome. I now have uber short hair, like boy length, which I quite like. I'd forgotten how short short hair feels like, and I'm really enjoying not having hair in my face all the time, or billowing around my neck. I really like it, it looks ok too and is absolutely no maintenance, which is awesome.

So there will be more updates later, when I am not so put off by the computer wiping out my last half hour's work!

Off to the farm

Hey hey! I'm heading off to the farm today for 2 or 3 weeks, I don't know whether they have good communication networks there (i.e. phone and internet), so if you don't hear from me, it's not because I've forgotten or whatever.

I'm looking forward to the farm, but a little apprehensive at the same time as I don't know what to expect. All I know is that they're primarily cacao growers, and they make chocolate. Sounds interesting huh? Maybe I can learn how to make chocolate? That would be so very handy! Never will I have problems buying chocolate again, yay! Which reminds me, in Ecuador, they don't eat block chocolate. All the chocolate comes in the form of chocolate biscuits, or wafers, or chocolate bars and the like. Needless to say, they all have milk and are all very sweet. The only block chocolate they have there is cooking chocolate, which also had milk. I had a serious chocolate craving at one stage but couldn't get anything. It was very sad. I ended up finding chocolate biscuits (like oreos but not. Even te oreos have milk products there) which didn't taste anything like chocolate. It was quite disappointing. But coming back to the farm, I don't even know exactly where they're located, seeing as everyone I ask has never heard of the town, and it doesn't exist on any map. It's probably very small (perhaps akins to Chiriboga?). Well, we shall see after I arrive tonight then. The good thing is that I can leave whenever I want, and am not bound to stay for a set amount of time (unlike in Ecuador).

Well, wish me luck!

Damn computer

For some reason, the paragraphs in my last post aren't being published properly. There's supposed to be a space in between the paragraphs, and because I am anal and a perfectionist, it rather irritates me that it's not publishing as I have typed it, despite me having edited it several times. I just wanted to clarify that it's not my fault just in case any of you are also just as anal and are bothered by it.

Blah blah

I've been bumming around San Jose city for the last few days. I was right in my thoughts on the first day, there isn't that much to do around here. But I don't really mind. I've been taking things very slowly, and today, I even went to the park and read Harry Potter (they had the 5th book in the hostel, in english too!)! Oh the joy.

In other news, I bought a camera yesterday! It's the most manual and most basic of cameras, I'd say it's just one step above disposable. It cost 3000 CRC (about USD$6), and the film for the camera was more expensive than the camera itself, which I thought was a little ridiculous. But at least I can now take happy snaps, and you can all see photos when I get back :o)

Since I'm now cooking for myself, I've been totally avoiding potatoes and rice! It's soooo good! I bought a whole heap of chickpeas and lentils in the wet market (I love wet markets, it's so much fun shopping for food outside a supermarket!), then I went to the supermarket to find tomato paste, and ended up finding textured soy protein!! It's supposed to be a meat substitute, but it's the kind that doesn't taste at all like meat. It just tastes like soy, the kind that I like :D it also absorbs whatever flavours you put in it, but unfortunately, I didn't have any exciting flavours to go with it, just a whole lot of tomato paste and ginger (yes, I managed to bring it with me from Ecuador!). I figured it would be completely irrational to buy a bag of spices seeing as I'd never be able to finish it in 1 week. But it worked out well anyway. I'm also no longer eating bread for breakfast. I bought some rolled oats and bananas from the market, and am having oatmeal! It is so amazing, I love it! Oh the simple joys of food!!

What to do???

There doesn't seem to be many things to do in San Jose...I walked to the Contemporary Art Museum today, but they were in the process of changing exhibitions, so there was nothing to see! It was ever so disappointing, as that was the only museum which looked interesting. I'm not sure what else I can do here. There are trips that can be done out of San Jose, but I haven't found anything interesting yet. They all seem to be the same old stuff, like horse riding, volcano tours, hiking and various other naturey stuff. I'm having a bit of a lull at the moment, and am feeling disheartened and possibly also disorientated, so am not in the best mood to go out and do stuff. That's not too good, is it? Plus I've gotten used to cheap stuff in Ecuador, so everything here just seems expensive. I think Costa Rica is the most expensive country in Central America (so says a book I read). Anyway, will keep you posted with updates. Hopefully I'll feel more lively tomorrow...

San Jose, Costa Rica

I made it to San Jose! Yesterday, after I checked in for my flight, I realised that my ticket included a 'technical stop', which turned out to be Guayaquil. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador, and is a very prosperous (and apparently also very dangerous) port city near the southern coast. So my route to Costa Rica turned out to be Quito-Guayaquil-San Jose. Much time spent waiting. And speaking of waiting, when we were in Guayaquil, we got word that San Jose airport had suddenly closed, and will remain closed for 3 hours because apparently a plane broke down, or had some sort of incident. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but we had to wait at Guayaquil airport for another 3 hours! I was so bored. The airline compensated us for food though, which was nice of them to do so, seeing as the delay wasn't their fault. The food wasn't that good, it was just a croissant and a softdrink from a cafe, both of which I now regret consuming as the croissant had cheese and the drink was overly sugary and artificial. But I was hungry at the time, and you can only have morals and values when your needs have been met. Oh the shame.

We arrived in San Jose at 8pm local time. Costa Rica is 1 hour behind Ecuador, so that makes it a 16 hour difference between Australia. On the plus side, my phone actually has reception here, what a bonus! I hadn't organised a hostel to stay in yet, as my credit card, for some reason, has decided to stop working, so I was slightly stressed about not having anywhere to stay! I need not have worried. Outside the airport there were a few people holding accommodation signs, and I just picked 1 of them, Costa Rica Backpackers. I had intentions to go to another place, but couldn't get any confirmation for availability, so I just went with the people at the airport. BAD decision. I really don't like this place. First off, I got completely ripped off with the exchange rate. I paid for the hostel in USD (it seems to be widely accepted here) thinking that I would save my CRC for markets etc. It was $33 altogether, and instead of giving me $17 back, they gave me change in CRC, at a rate worse than at the airport! It was ridiculous! The room I'm in has 4 bunk beds, but there's not a lot of space for everyone's luggage. Plus they didn't even provide a pillow! I had to use my sleeping bag for a pillow. There were no matches/lighters in the kitchen to light the stove either. I'm very disgruntled with this place, and am not recommending it to everyone! Needless to say, I went out and found another hostel this morning, the one I had originally planned on going to anyway. I should've gone there to begin with, there were no space issues. Plus they're cheaper and offer the same services.

School in Jipijapa

I forgot to mention something about my school in Jipijapa in my previous post. Just to give you all an idea about the shack status of the school, one day we turned up and discovered that the entire school had been picked up and moved 5m down the road! Can you imagine a school/building that can be moved as and when you desire?! Yes, we were just as shocked when we discovered. We couldn't believe it. And I only realised because I needed to go to the toilet (the bush toilet, there are no toilets at the school) and the bush wasn't in its usual position.

The other day, we had a sudden gust of strong wind, and it blew off part of the school's corrugated iron roof! We didn't realise the roof wasn't even nailed on before that. The corrugated iron has just been placed on top with no fastening device, it's ridiculous. Seriously, you can take the school apart and put it together again like lego! I guess that's how they moved it in the first place...

Winding down in Ecuador

Ok, I did elaborate further in the previous post (I decided to build on it and explain our fiesta in Puerto Lopez a bit more), but it didn't end up being published, so I can't be bothered spending another hour typing the same thing which should've been posted. You'll all have to wait till I get back (or some other time when I feel like elaborating on it) for details. In a nutshell though, we went to Puerto Lopez to celebrate one of the other volunteers' birthday and we stayed the night there. We went to a bar later in the night, got talking to the owner/manager, and he ended up giving all of us free drinks and taught us how to make mojitos. We all got shots of aguardiente (local liqour made from sugar cane), and we made 7 tall glasses of mojitos. Needless to say, we were quite happy by the end of the night, which is why we only had 3 hours sleep!

Anyway, to the present, I am currently in Quito (for the last time). I'm almost finished stage 1 of my trip. I'm jetting off to Costa Rica on Monday. Overall, the volunteering has been ok. Not exactly what I expected (especially for the Chiriboga part, which consisted of absolutely no reforestation on our part, but quite the opposite instead!), but it was alright. Teaching children was very interesting. You really need a lot of patience for it. It was frustrating at times, but quite satisfying when they've learnt and understood what you've taught them. It was slightly difficult for me (due to the spanish), but we got along fine, and they understood what I was trying to say anyway, which was good. I think my spanish is improving, at least now I can get around and buy stuff without having to look up the dictionary for every second word!

On the food note, I think I've consumed enough rice, potatoes and sugar here to last me a lifetime! Every meal has some kind of rice or potato, and all the juices have lots of sugar in it. Towards the end, they just made us salad all the time, cos we're all pro salad and fruits. Oh, in Jipijapa, they bought papayas, but they are nothing like you've ever seen. They were MASSIVE!! They were about 30-50cm long, probably 15cm diameter. And they were really good too, just sweet enough and soft enough to melt in your mouth. They are nothing like the ones in Brisbane, and are by far the best papayas I have ever eaten. There are also lots of bananas here. I've been eating heaps of them too, both raw and cooked. So far I think I've tried bananas that have been cooked in 3 different ways. I think they were different types of bananas too. Bananas are the ones you eat raw, platanos are ones you have to cook, and plaintains are probably something else altogether, I forget what. Oh, also, here's another way to have orange juice. What we did was peel the skin (just the outer part, leaving the inner part, so you end up with a white orange), cut the top off, and then squeeze and suck the juice straight out of the orange. It's as natural as you can get it, you don't even need a cup! It's awesome, we're quite obssessed with the oranges.