A Costa Rican Adventure

 

The Costa Rica Service Project was an adventure, a challenge and most of all a learning experience.  Throughout our travels, we were able to learn about different cultures, see new ways of living and experience a worlds unlike our own.  We stopped at three very different locations that each gave us a new perspective on the way people live.

 

WIDECAST was the first of many amazing destinations in Costa Rica.  We travelled north up the Caribbean coast to the coastal village of Nuevo Pacuare, where we worked with the WIDECAST conservation organization to help conserve Leatherback and Green Turtles.  When I heard that we would be staying at a sea turtle conservation project, I envisioned this “Instagram-gold,” picturesque scenario of a baby turtle in my hands.  This was not the case. 

 

We did a lot of digging trenches and sifting sand, only for it all to be washed back in overnight.  I’m not a sand-digging expert, but I was doubtful when we dug a trench big enough for me to comfortably live in, only to fill in right back in.  But the thought of saving all of the sea turtles gave me motivation, even if I didn’t get to ride one out to sea.

 

While we were there, we also worked in the mornings at a small one-room school with only 11 students, where we helped mix cement for steps and a kitchen counter, filled holes with organic matter, cleaned up the beach waterfront, and even planted some trees.  It was a great feeling to be able to see firsthand how our work affected the school and how happy it made the students. 

 

WIDECAST was an incredible experience and a great first service location.  I loved being able to sit outside on a hammock and read my book, and go jump around in the ocean after a hard day of work.  To say that the weather was unpredictable would be an understatement - in the blink of an eye it would suddenly start pouring rain, but it made things a little interesting when you had to try to run back to your cabin after dinner in the pitch black, your clothes soaking wet upon arrival.

 

I was certainly grateful for my bug net, and there were a few times when I had to save the girls’ cabin from a terrorizing abnormally large bug of sorts, but with a little bug spray, we were all fine.  For me, WIDECAST was a paradise of sorts.  It was a beautiful location with a beautiful purpose.  It was a home away from home that couldn’t have been a better way to start off the trip.

 

We then travelled south to Yorkín, an Indigenous village deep inside the tropical rainforest on south Costa Rica, which shares a border with Panama. We travelled for an hour and a half by big canoes to get there.  Before we went to Yorkín, we heard that there was no electricity there and there are big scary bugs everywhere - we were a bit terrified.  But in fact, we all fell in love with the village as soon as we got there. Yorkín was a paradise in the heart of the rainforest. We had a nice big tropical-styled cabin with neat rooms and four clean washrooms (this was a luxury for us!). There were tasty banana breads and fresh juice for refreshments (twice a day). And the view of the rainforest was amazing.

 

I kept a journal for each day in Yorkin- here is one entry that helps to describe our experience:

“I’ve never lived like this before: There is no electricity at all, no lights, no way to charge any devices.  We went to bed everyday at around 8:30 p.m. to save the batteries of the flashlights, and at the same time, avoid more contact with beetles, spiders and other bugs.  Everything we eat here is very natural and healthy.  I have wanted to live without any sort of social media and with the right group of people for so long, and here we are!  It’s awesome.  We communicate with each other in person, we can see each other’s tanned funny faces.  We don’t post pictures and videos everyday on the trip, not just because we can’t, but also because you don’t necessarily need to waste time to post stuff when you are really having fun.”

 

We did a lot of hard work in Yorkín.  We carried bags of sand, built a laundry house, moved pieces of rocks and woods, dug trenches for water, built and fixed roads, drove nails and so on.  Some of the work was really hard, carrying sand from the river to the top of the mountain repeatedly for four hours - but there were adorable little children running and dancing around, some of whom tried to help carry some sand. Their minds were so pure and they would like to help the girls kill big bugs, they were just the best group of kids I’ve ever met.  Those lovely little people made our times in Yorkín so much fun…they were the best part of Yorkín.

 

Some of the fun things we did while in Yorkín were; We learned how to make chocolate from the cacao fruits, we played with traditional Costa Rican bow and arrows and felt like we’ve got “the Katniss power” deep inside ourselves somehow; and we swam across the river and stood on the land of Panama; and the people in Yorkín made Star and Mike a delicious healthy birthday cake.  We would never forget the 5-day experience in the village Yorkín.

After Yorkín, we had an enjoyable Caribbean beach day and a canopy tour zip-lining day.  The two days of rest had given us enough time to recover and prepare for another two days of hard work in La Carpio. 

 

Lastly, we went back to San José and helped a community of squatters.  It was incredible to see how these people made their houses from scraps that they found on the street.  They were kind people with the same hopes and dreams we have.  They had cell phones, televisions and electronics.  They did not have kitchens or bathrooms like you’d expect.  Their water all came from a hose hung on the wall.  The stairs were made of cement blocks and wood scraps nailed together.  It was shocking to see how they lived - but they seemed happy.  We were able to help make staircases to make getting to their homes safer.  The people here appreciated our work so much.  They celebrated with cakes at the end of our trip.  Though seeing some of their living conditions were shocking to us - it was so meaningful to see their excitement over our contributions to their city.

 

The overall trip was truly life changing. We were all able to try many new things.  What made this trip so great was that while we were working, we could see how needed our work was, and how grateful the people we helped were.  It is amazing to see how people can have so little and still be so happy.  After being on this trip, I’m going to have a different outlook on life entirely, and definitely not take anything for advantage.  Throughout the hard work, fun days off and enough rice and beans for a lifetime, I think we can all say that we couldn’t have done anything better this March Break.