adventuras de la finca...

Hello my loves.
I am here. In Costa Rica. And it is amazing. My first flight was late so I missed my connecting flight to CR and had to stay overnight in Newark. Yuck. The airline put me up in a Howard Johnson hotel with some food vouchers, but I just wanted to get here. Anyway... there was a little confusion in getting ahold of Kristen and whatnot, but it worked out fine. I ended up traveling solo from the airport to the finca (with directions from Kristen) and it felt kinda like I was on the Amazing Race... mainly because I had my big hiking pack on my back and didn't really know exactly what I was doing. Anyway, I got there fine, but it took all day (and three buses). I had to walk to down the driveway of the finca in complete darkness until I saw the lights of the outside dining area and was greeted by several dogs and then Kristen. So good.

My first day was great. I helped Rafa fix a gate for the horses stable, feed the cows, plant things in the garden, take the horses down into the woods to graze, water flowers and plants, etc. Yesterday I helped Maribel clean out the goat pens and we also fed and collected eggs from the chickens which is very dangerous (I have a battle wound on my hand to prove it... ok it's just a scratch), Juanita and I hung up some gourd decorations and then we hauled goat poop into the place where they use worms to make organic fertilizer (I got baptized by a goat aka got peed on while we were underneath the pens shoveling the poop... Kristen said, Welcome to the farm), I watered the plants again, etc. There are also dogs and cats that can be found hanging out all over which I love. They are sweet.

The food is amazing. Always some sort of salad with mysterious vegetables or lots of mysterious fruit. When I say mysterious, I mean that I don't know what they are because we don't have them at home. It's very good though. Of course, beans and rice which I like here even though I don't ever choose to eat in the US. Lots of veggies, eggs, etc. A lot of things that are hard to describe and very different. For instance, last night we had these scramble eggs with grean beens cooked into them. I don't know... good food though and always a lot, but it's not like when I lived with a Costa Rican family where you HAVE to eat a ton (bufett style). We eat in an outdoor pavilion around a big table and it's so wonderful. I love it. The ladies that come in to cook are really sweet and I like to help them cook.

I love the people. The other volunteers are great (there's one from Grand Rapids, one New Jersey and two from Quebec). The people that work there are also amazing. So cool. It's so tranquilo. And we're up in the mountains so everywhere you look is a spectacular view. I've been staying in Kristen cabin and there's a back porch balcony with a hammock. We're surrounded by trees enough that there's privacy, but there is still a beautiful view.

It's so good to be here with Kristen. So good to see her. It's really cool though because I don't feel like I'm just her friend, but I'm starting to feel like a part of the farm. Her Spanish is so good. We speak Spanish most of the time when we're around other people and English when it's just her and I. There is so much I need to learn.

This weekend we're going to another town that has a national park... maybe do some hiking... swim by the waterfall... vamos a ver (we'll see). It's so good to live in a Pura Vida culture and travel light and live so simply. I'm loving it all to say the least. I feel really happy.

Anyway... off we go... Paz afuera.

(By the way, I'm sure you all care to know that we are both wearing our adventure pants... look out Costa Rica!)

PS- Kristen says: Rock it and roll it.