Thurs., 1/9: Day 3

Today I woke up to roosters crowing, chickens clucking, and some other animal sounds that I couldn’t quite identify.  Welcome to rural Costa Rica!

The animal pens of our family's home

I took a cold shower, got ready and then ate breakfast.  Bernarda made us gallo pinto (black beans and rice), scrambled eggs, toast, and hot chocolate, a very Costa Rican way to start our day!  Maggie, the pet parakeet was wandering around the kitchen while we ate.  Natalia accidentally stepped on her when she got up from the table and Maggie squawked quite a bit, otherwise she’s been pretty quiet.  This morning the guys (who I think are a combination of cousins, uncles and farm hands, along with Daniela) were working milking the cows and Bernarda was working in the kitchen.

We left for “Pozo Azul” Adventures at 9:00 to go river rafting.  It was a ton of fun!  We had a beautiful warm day, so the water felt great.  Our group was split into three different groups in three rafts.  James, our guide, was very fun.  He had us singing karaoke songs and everything.  After being fitted for protective equipment and a brief lesson on the basic commands we were off!  At one point the guides led us to a rocky beach and pointed out a low cliff (about 9 feet) that we could jump into the water from.  It was very fun and refreshing!  Most of us did it three times.  After jumping in we floated a little ways down river back to the rocky beach.  Then we got back into our rafts, and at another point we got out and our guides cut up fresh pineapple for us to eat.  We each got 1/4 of a pineapple - ¡qué rico!  When it came time to end we were all disappointed because we wanted to continue.

Then we ate lunch at the restaurant at Pozo Azul, which was delicious.  I had chicken, which was marinated in something delicious, with rice and vegetables.  The meal also came with a delicious squash soup and coconut flan for dessert.  We timed our rafting trip very well because during lunch it started to rain, and we had rain showers on and off for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We are in a rain forest, after all!  

After lunch it was back to San Isidro, our home stay community.  At our home, Julie and I started talking with Bernarda and Natalia, and then Julie brought out a deck of cards and we taught Natalia how to play “Go Fish”.  She is a quick learner, but a little sneaky and tries to cheat sometimes. :)  After several games, Ademán offered to take us on a tour of their land, which I was very excited to do!  He had described to us yesterday how his family’s land went past the river we could see, over a hill and back to another river.  So, Julie and I put on our tennis shoes and went for a tour.  First of all we walked through the cow pasture (which is quite muddy right now) closest to the house.  Then we got to the first river and the bridge was a very large fallen tree.  It was just a little slick from the rain showers, but it was very sturdy and makes a pretty good bridge.  Then we walked through several different pastures all the way back to the second river, which is wider and has more of a current to it.  Very scenic!  Along the way Ademán told us about some of the different trees that are native to the area and we also learned that Daniela doesn’t live in the home with them, she has her own home farther back on their land.  They also have a son, Greivin, and he and his wife and two children live in another house on their land.  In all, Ademán and Bernarda own six hectares of land, but his mother and several siblings of Ademán own many hectares next to his own land.    Ademán told us about how he worked and worked to save the money to buy the land and how much more it’s worth now - you could tell he was very proud.

Daniela's and Greiven's houses

What a bridge!

Ademán used his machete to clear a path for us through some treacherous terrain.

When we got back to the house Natalia wanted to play more Go Fish.  Ademán and Bernarda’s other granddaughter was also there, so we taught her to play.  Her name is Jennifer and she is 8 years old (she’s the daughter of Greivin).  Eventually two more boys, Nelson and Josué, joined us.  I’m not sure if Nelson and Josué are cousins or friends of the family, but we’ve seen them around quite a bit.  I think that Nelson might be Daniela’s boyfriend, but I could totally be wrong about that.

Supper tonight was picadillo (ground beef with diced choyote, which is like a potato) served with homemade tortillas, and of course rice and beans.  I feel like I’ve been on carb overload with all the rice & beans, potatoes, bread and tortillas we’ve been eating.  I was so excited to eat some vegetables at lunch today!  The pineapple while we were rafting was a welcome change, too.  

After supper we left for the bat program at the Tirimbina Reserve.  We saw how they catch bats in the reserve with nylon netting.  Then we had a brief lesson on the different types of bats, myths about bats and how important they are to the ecosystem not only here in Costa Rica but in the U. S. and throughout the world.  Then we got to see the bats they caught this evening, 3 bats total.  I can’t believe I’m writing this but they were actually cute. :)  When they catch the bats at Tirimbina Reserve they study them and also watch for and treat diseases the bats may have that can affect their health.  It was a very interesting and informative evening.  The gentleman leading it did a great job.  At the end we watched him release the bats.  

I never thought I'd say bats were cute, but these were!

This morning Mrs. Petty and I were really excited to hear about how everyone’s family stays were going!  We figured that when we got to the bus everyone would be very chatty and full of stories, but when we were all there and we asked how it was going we were met with silence.  So, I was afraid that it wasn’t going so well.  Some of the households had been going great, but in some of the households there was some difficulty in communication and just some overall awkward feelings, I think.  Thankfully, however, this evening was a completely different story!  The students were going on and on about what they had done that afternoon with their host families and how they were getting used to their accents, and if they didn’t understand something they’d just say, “Repite, por favor” or “¿Qué?”, etc. and eventually they understood.  It was so exciting for me as a teacher to see them all get excited about the relationships they were forming with our Tico host families!  I’m looking forward to seeing what the next day brings in that regard.

Tomorrow we go back to the Tirimbina Reserve to go on a Cacao tour, eat lunch, and then do the hanging bridges hike.  Late tomorrow afternoon we’ll have a soccer game with the families in our host community, followed by a fiesta.  It should be a great day.  For now, it’s time to get some sleep. :)