Jan 29
The Klong Kheaw Waterfall was nothing like I had expected. Although I’m not too sure what I really had expected, it was so much more. Walking along the trail at first everything appeared the same as any park or hiking trail in America, but when you took a closer look you could see it was much different. The vegetation was so lush as well as beautiful and interesting to see. I think my favorite thing in the woods were the intertwining tree roots all over the ground. Some of them stretched as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful walking through the paths and looking at all the bamboo trees and exotic plants.
I really loved the part in the vegetation when the path was full of tree limbs and plants over your head like a covered bridge. It looked like something you would see in a romantic movie. The actual waterfalls were amazing. The water felt so refreshing and cooling. At first we walked down into the water and tried to navigate our way through the rocks and water.It was not such a good idea!!
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Jan 26
Every year Palmares, the nearest town to San Ramón, hosts a huge festival called Fiestas de Palmares.
An association run by a board of members –Asociación Cívica Palmareña works together with the community for its improvement. The association puts together the Fiestas de Palmares festival which is the biggest festival to be held in Costa Rica so far. The event runs for 13 days and includes activities such as a lantern walk on the opening day , a horse parade (tope), concerts with international performers, , and a huge fair ground with food stands, souvenirs and ginormous bars and discotheques erected for the festival where you can dance for up to 12 hours.
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Jan 24
On the eve of the Immaculate Conception in San Ramón there is a very unique tradition. It has been happening for over a hundred years.
The tradition started with a family in the rural district of Piedades Sur when a lady named Paula Mesén decided to give to her neighbor María Vargas “melcochas “. Paula gathered the children from the neighborhood to go to doña Maria’s house and shower her with candy. An interesting fact of this first event was that it was held indoors because it was raining outside.
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Dec 21
Who has lived in Costa Rica for more than three months is quite familiar with the infamous “visa run”. It has nothing to do with running a marathon or winning a race – it refers to renewing one’s visa so that you can return to Costa Rica and stay for another 90 days. Costa Rica is conveniently situated between Nicaragua and Panama, and so one can head to one of these countries for a quick weekend trip. So that’s exactly what I had to do a couple of weekends ago…
A friend and I decided to head to Nicaragua (I had been to Panama last time). We chose to go to San Juan del Sur since it is so close to the Nicaraguan border crossing at Peñas Blancas, and only about 5 – 6 hours by bus from San Ramon. At least that’s what we thought… ! When we arrived at the border after just 3 hours on the bus we were surprised by an enormous queue… at least 200 people were lining up to enter Nicaragua. It was hot and we were lining up at around 30 degrees Celsius in the sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 15
Last week we celebrated the graduation party for the English community class. The class started in February and finished the last week of November.
The classes were held at night at the Universidad de Costa Rica, about half a mile away from the uVolunteer dorm. These classes are a part of the teaching English program and they are a great way to get involved in the local life and to make Costa Rican friends.
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Dec 11
Our trip to Laos was a trip I will never forget. I wasn’t sure what to expect for just a simple Visa run but it was much more interesting then I had expected. First off, I had never been on a train before and I wasn’t sure how happy I felt about a five hour bus ride followed by a twelve hour train ride. Surprisingly it all went really well, although it could have been nice simply because I was excited to be traveling somewhere new.
The train was really interesting. There was a restaurant and a bar in one of the train cabs which I thought was very exciting. Of course we found ourselves sitting in the bar to waste time before trying to sleep on the upper bunk in the train cabin. The bar was small and had limited seating so we were sitting next to complete strangers from all around the world. By the end of the night we had found ourselves getting our palms read by a Korean documentary film maker, and telling stories with a man from Holland. It was so much fun to encounter many different people. Once we headed to our beds we tried to catch some sleep on the bumpy train ride. For me it was difficult to sleep but not impossible. I am lucky to not have motion sickness or feel nauseated easily. I am sure there were lots of people feeling quite sick, because I literally was rolling around in my top bunk all night.
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Dec 09
On Monday the 11th of November, our Sports and Physical Education volunteer Joanna and the Ghana uVolunteer coordinators went to the Kingsby Girls’ Senior High School in Koforidua. The girls at the school are between the ages of 15 and 19 years, which is the “senior high level” in Ghana. The Headmistress, the administration staff and the students welcomed us upon arrival.
The volleyball team and sports teachers of the school need training on how to play volleyball properly. So the headmistress told the students during her welcome speech that Joanna was there to help the team to improve their Sports skills.
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Dec 09
During the last weekend a lot happened in mere 2 days; Joanna always wanted to travel to the South-Western coast of Ghana since the beginning of her volunteering. She was very interested to see elephants, monkeys and crocodiles.
So Annette, Joanna, and I decided that it would be a rewarding expedition if we go and travel to Cape Coast together. Friday 18th of November we ventured off early in the morning and left Koforidua at around 4:30 am to catch the first “tro-tro” to Cape coast.
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Dec 05
This week was fun. Ligia (The new coordinator for Costa Rica), Hannah Thompson (a volunteer from New Zealand), and I visited San Rafael school on Thursday. The school is located in a very nice rural district of San Ramón.
We were invited by Nelson Abarca who is a music teacher at the school, and also one of the advanced students from the community English class.
The purpose of the visit was to get to know the school and give the sixth grade class a new intercultural experience. We started off by introducing ourselves, then Hannah talked about her country and explained fun facts like most people in New Zealand know how to swim, and it doesn’t matter where you live, you will always be about 10 minutes by car from the beach. The students asked her questions about the kiwi bird and the already extinct Haast eagle. She commented on the Maori war ritual presented to the adversaries before every sporting event when a national New Zealander team is competing.
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Dec 05
In Thailand, Trat is considered one of the smaller cities. It is not considered a tourist destination, which most westerner’s would assume meant that it was lacking in culture and significant experiences. But in my eyes, Trat is the very essence of Thai culture. One of the most rewarding experiences on my journey so far has been the local market.
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