Costa Rica Day 11

Hola from Tamarindo!

Yes, as you can tell by my greeting, I have changed locations. After backbreaking labor, numerous insect bites, a couple torrential downpours, and one electrocution, I have moved on to phase 2 of my trip: the vacation away from my vacation.

I actually write this with a heavy heart. Though comparing my current hotel with my past amenities would be like comparing the Bellagio to the Jockey Club (actual Vegas hotel name), I miss my group-mates and even the work I have had to do. Maybe its just me, but I am far more comfortable with people telling me what to do rather than asking what they can do for me. Or maybe it’s because I work with teenagers (oh, snap!).

Some final stories from the field: we went to an organic farm. By organic I mean buggy, muddy, and vegetation so lush you cant see more than three feet in front of you. Did I mention it was at about a mile climb straight up a mountain to get there? The farmer was super enthusiastic about his organic farm and preserving wildlife, and he was so articulate he could probably be a college professor. Unfortunately, he might lose his organic certification because I fouled off our duct tape baseball into a garden and couldn’t find it. Whoops….

I have learned a ton about fair trade, organic, and green practices and have to say the experience will come with me back to the states. I will now have to find a way to do this without sounding like a total high-horse Cambridge resident (oh, snap!). But this whole experience has taught me as much about economics and social/political issues as much as it has about science. Also, I know I won’t ever be able to look at a bag of coffee the same way again. No word yet on if they will certify the bags of coffee beans that have touched my hands and sell them for 50% more.

So anyways, what about my beach trip? My bus ride was way long and I’m pretty sure there was a drug dropoff right in the middle of it. After that, I have really only scratched the surface of what they have to offer here. The hotel is all inclusive, so it would be very economical just to stay here and mooch, but I want to explore too. The hotel casino will not be one of those to further explore after last night- let’s just say if you ever go up against a Costa Rican blackjack dealer named Henry, run. He will be called up to Vegas in no time I’m sure.

You might think our coffee trip was packed with wildlife, but I saw more wilflife in Tamarindo in one day than I did in the past week (unless you count dachsunds, which are oddly the pet of choice in Santa Maria). Our bus stopped at a rest stop with about ten parrots, and there are raccoons and iguanas walking around our hotel grounds. I booked a zip line canopy tour for Thursday and am hoping to finally see a monkey…

I booked a surfing lesson for tomorrow, so say a prayer for my bones tonight. It should be fun as long as nobody feels I am endangering the small children in the area (true skiing story).Or, at the very least, it should make for good blogging. Until then…