Tribal Paint, Mangos & Massage

For the bulk of fourth quarter our afternoon bodywork class was CranioSacral Therapy. I'm still unsure how I feel about this modality. I appreciate that the subtle work has great effects on the mind and body but I'm certainly not passionate about specializing in it.. yet.  The technique is soooo slow, concentrated, and subliminally intentional that the client (and possibly the therapist) usually drifts in and out of conciseness. Your on a level that is not quite sleep but not completely present in your body. During treatment I lost the ability of knowing where I was in space.. physically and mentally. I checked out and didn't realize where I had placed my arms (on my abdomen or on the table) and I often felt disoriented when the session came to an end. A couple times I was surprised that I was still in the classroom? It's unreal that I disconnected from my environment within minutes. When we exchanged 30 minutes of this work, our time was spent holding our clients head, listening to our clients body, and subliminally moving, shifting, and rotating their cranial bones. This work is extremely intuitive and therefor intriguing. Our teacher Leesa, explained that she has a sense of knowing. In other words she knows what I'm feeling from my client only by looking and being present with my work.  One time in class when I was receiving the treatment she walked over to the section of the classroom and said 'someone over here has a headache' and I said 'well, I have a slight headache from straining my eyes' and she responded 'I thought so'. If you can even imagine how flabbergasted I was. I still wonder how much of it is guessing and how much she can actually sense on another level. Practice or innate ability? It took me a few days to begin to understand, feel, and stop trying so hard to define what I was supposed to be doing. As a class we joke about doing less.  Touch your client with the weight of a nickel, 5 grams. Yup, almost, but do less.

Every time I work in the student clinic I fall in love with massage all over again. It's always inspiring and motivating to work on a variety of people and above all - to work within a relaxing environment. My favorite memory from working in the clinic would be massaging as the jungle rain hit the tin roof. It's one of the best sounds. I feel blessed that I can enjoy my work so much.

Another favorite memory would be eating, drinking, and throwing mangos over trees and onto the church behind our house. Because some of the mangos can be too stringy to eat, Jill taught us to massage them until they're soft and juicy and then poke a hole in the skin to drink the mango juice.. instant smoothie mMm! A simple memory that I'll remember and smile about.

A couple weeks ago there was an electrical fire at the top of a telephone pole on main street. It was amusing to watch the fire department react to the situation on 'tico time'. There.. was.. no... real rush. They drove up to the fire.. leaned their tall-ish ladder against a tree.. climbed up the ladder.. and I'm pretty sure they put the fire out with a garden hose. Dayann and I were laughing because it looked like he was using his thumb on the end of the hose to create more pressure. Before they could spray the electrical fire with water, they shut off the power for the entire town of Samara. It was crazy to witness all of this activity in town, simultaneously tuning into the sounds of the ocean and the darkness of the streets. We ended up at a bar by candlelight. (The Glenohumeral Joint).

Welp, I've given up on learning spanish. Hands down, the most frustrating element of this experience is not knowing a lick of spanish. Communication is so important for so many reasons and situations and to have that taken away from you is a terrible feeling.

The other day I gave a presentation on my 5 year plan for my life and my business.. the business of my life. I surprised myself when I came to the conclusion that I am interested in sports massage and more specifically pre/post surgery. This target market developed from the combination of planning to move to Colorado and my innate nature to nurture others. This was a challenging assignment, but I'm happy I was able to manifest what I want to be doing for the next 5 years. I've released a version of it into the universe so I'm curious to see what finds me.

I hear that the rainy season is beginning early this year. It's been raining more often.. usually around sunset. I think as the fruit blooms and we find more crabs walking around campus, the season is shifting. It was pretty powerful when, moments after we completed our written and hands-on finals, a strong and loud downpour of rain dropped for a solid hour. A sign for ahhhh we can release, let go, and breathe as one chapter closes another great one opens.

Last week a big weekend-long bull fight was in town. We were warned that people would be traveling from all over (especially from San Jose) to be here for the fight, which means an increase in people therefor an increase in thieves.. in town and possibly trespassing our campus. We were all safe for the most part, nothing was stolen. I was shocked as I curiously soaked in about 10 minutes of the bull fight. As I walked through the isle of food vendors, past the dance floor, and up to the rickety wooden stadium - I witnessed ~ 25 men and 1 angry bull sharing the ring below. It was wild to actually see a bull kick up dirt behind him and charge someone. It was just as I imagine it but it was really happening in from of me. From what I heard, people could pay 2,000 colones ($4) to dodge the bull.. people we sliding under and jumping up onto the sides of the stadium to stay clear from the bull. I saw one guy get charged and his legs trampled and that was enough to make me leave the stands. It's amazing what traditions are created for entertainment.

I also decided to ride this 'wheel of death' ferris wheel.. twice. Once with Matthew and again with Dayann. It was fun to spin around and around and upside down. weee!

Last week in our pathology class we played an intense jeopardy game to prepare for our final. As we walked into class that morning, we picked a number and randomly divided into teams of 4.  The grand prize for the winning team was a lomi lomi massage from 4 people (8 hands) simultaneously. Our team won. It was interesting.. there was a lot of touch to pay attention to, it was slightly overwhelming (yes, there is such a thing as too much touch) but overall it was a cool sensation especially when 4 people facilitated a tapotement (percussion) train down the backside of my body.

To complete our fourth and final quarter we were surprised (yet again) with dedicating our class time to painting each other with tribal designs from head to toe. After our canvas' were complete, we all ran through town and straight into the ocean.

Today was our cleaning day for equipment on campus. We inspected massage tables, cleaned exercise balls, yoga mats, bolsters, skeletons and loaded everything into the clinic for the 3 week storage period before the next class arrives. With all of us working together it only took about an hour. After cleaning and a swim in the pool, we were invited to the directors house for the first time for an afternoon brunch. We had a feast of fresh fruit, rice and beans, hand chopped salsa and guacamole, uber fresh orange juice and coffee with almond milk, followed up by chocolate cake filled with dulce de leche and vanilla ice cream. I'm really looking forward to graduation tomorrow, I know it'll be a day filled with positive waves of colliding emotions. Happy, sad, excited, anxious, relived, exhausted, proud.

I imagine myself walking off of the plane and laughing.. did that just happen? Is this real? Did my mind and hands really just retain all of that information? Hello world, please welcome 20 more incredibly passionate massage therapists.

Orange Limes, Spices & Time

You know you've been in Costa Rica for 3 months when your snacking on frozen grapes, the howler monkeys become apart of your morning alarm, the mangos are falling on your tin roof at all hours of the night, and an iguana running through your class is normal. Twice, both times happening in third quarter, we had an iguana slide down the tin roof of our classroom, crash onto the ground, and spastically run through the center of our class because a dog was chasing after it. It certainly interrupted the class as people jumped up onto chairs and massage tables but moments later we were back in lecture. Another normalized classroom occurrence that I have become less aware of but want to acknowledge, is when birds and butterflies gracefully float through our classroom and no one seems to flinch. And what's even more special and unreal is when Chapone (the 90 something y/o that owns this property) harvests mangos from 8am-9am and very obviously comes to the edge of our classroom, looks around at all of us, smiles, and unloads dozens of fresh fruit onto the wooden floor.. boom boom bang.. and back into lecture. Can you see the iguana listening in on Pathology?

Another funny and practical thing that appeared last week was about a dozen free-range roosters running around campus.. but more directly right in front of our house because they're fed and taken care of by my neighbors and owners of the property. I'm not sure why they're all roosters, but I guess it doesn't matter if they're being raised for meat. They will roam around between houses, come up onto the porch, walk under our table, and then are corralled into the gated area at night, usually by Chapone waving a stick with a purple string attached to it.

As the temperature rises (to about 94*), snacking on frozen grapes or mangos and making random fruit/vegetable smoothies has become a common trend around campus. I've rediscovered my love of drinking carrots. YUM. I need to remind myself that I can make smoothies at home, even when it's snowing outside.

Another simple pleasure that I've forgotten to mention because it seems so normalized now, is that the inside of limes are orange rather than a white/green. This makes me wonder if limes are meant to be a radiant orange inside.. and maybe America is mass-producing a different/dull variety? Or maybe it's just another variety of a tropical fruit that grows in this area.

A couple of spices that I've really incorporated into my cooking are cinnamon and cayenne pepper. I've also been playing around with cooking or rather pan frying plantains for the first time ever. It's amazing how naturally sweet they are. I've never been a fan of baked goods or really any sweets other than dark chocolate, but I've been on a cinnamon roll kick. Don't worry I've done my research. I've compared all 3 bakeries in town and I think I determined the winner today when they topped it off with a cream cheese frosting.

We started fourth quarter with Pathology, Business, more Thai Massage and CranioSacral Therapy. Ahh stress and reality are starting to set in. I was torn between naming my business 'Elevated Bodywork' or 'Sol Bodywork'. I ultimately went with Sol Bodywork because it resonated with me more and seemed like a simple concept that the public could more easily relate to. As I created my 5 year life and business plan (the business of my life), the color scheme and other details started to fall into place and now it's really exciting to envision. It's always nice when anxiousness turns into excitement. It always helps to look at the 'big picture'.

I received my fourth and final professional instructor massage from Kaysie who specializes in pregnancy massage and is a practicing doula. Her touch was so confident and experienced, I've never felt more whole and connected to my own body. Receiving such experienced bodywork is always inspiring and further motivates me to improve my own touch and techniques.

I had a funny sighting on my lunch break today. I went into to town to grab a sandwich and an iced coffee and as I walking back to campus I saw 2 men outside of the hardware store brushing their teeth? I'm assuming they were brushing after lunch.. well, okay.

My days are so long and my nights are like the blink of an eye. I'm a person that's always appreciated at least 10 hours of sleep a night, but since I've been here I'm getting anywhere from 4-8 hours a night. I believe that the warm and bright mornings help deflect the lack of sleep and feeling completely exhausted, but I'm seriously amazed at how fast time has been going by. Don't get our group started on the topic of time. It's not just me, everyone in this program has slightly lost conception of time. The best example I can give is when someone thinks an event or comment happened yesterday or even last weekend when it actually happened that morning. Our days are so full and mentally productive that it feels like many days. We also discussed in one class that the earths rotation is spinning slightly faster possibly causing time to elapse in a different way. Something to think about.

I keep meaning to mention the monotone yet beautiful chanting that comes from the church on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. The church is nestled just behind our house, which allows the sound to carry seamlessly onto campus. It's nice to enjoy the predictable sound waves without actually participating.

Nicaragua, Pineapple & Buena Vista

I've been so preoccupied I haven't had a moment to write ~ so I'll do my best to recap the most recent events.

Another campus dog that I've been spending some time with is Kofu. We didn't meet Kofu until the second month of the program.  Apparently, he doesn't come around very often but when he does, he follows any of us (especially females and especially those who feed him) in and out of the gate. He will intentionally follow us down the street, up stairs, into bars and restaurants, onto the dance floor, to the beach, and will wait outside of the grocery store until your ready to bring him back to campus. He loves going on adventures. He is the most loyal yet vile smelling dog I have ever encountered. From my understanding he has been hit by cars numerous times which leaves his left ear barely hanging on.. and often bleeding. Kofu definitely holds dominance among the other dogs on campus, they are sure to move when he wants to spend time at a specific house. I'm sure I've mentioned before that the dogs here are different in many ways - mostly hygienically but also they don't really respond when their name is called and they are extremely aware, independent and protective of those who are familiar and consistent in their lives.

The 'room temperature' (80-90*) fruit selection is always changing depending on the season and availability. Avocados, plantains, and limes are always plentiful. I'm usually hoping for bananas without fruit flies and crisp apples. I almost forgot to mention my morning addiction over ice ~ orange and carrot juice blend.. simply delicioso.

Sometimes I'll treat myself to fresh orange juice on the corner when I'm feeling extra hot or low on energy in the afternoon. Noah recommended finding and embracing fresh-squeezed orange juice if I came across some. Lo and behold, three guys and a truck filled to the brim with oranges is often posted up on the corner of our school and town. You can practically taste the vitamin C. Nothing compares to real OJ. Find it. Get it. Do it. YUM.

Speaking of fruit, I'm f*ing allergic to pineapple. I basically gave myself this allergy by overdosing on fresh pineapple and therefor the enzyme, Bromelain. The corners of my mouth cracked and my tongue became inflamed. For about a week I wasn't sure if I was consuming too much salt or if it always correlated to pineapple. Sure enough, after a delicious frozen piña colada I had the same reoccurring reaction. So, I'll just add pineapple to my expanding list of allergies. Speaking of ODing on fruits, just as the mangos started to ripen and fall from the trees last week, three of the boys developed a very similar looking rash on their chest and stomach.. possibly related to the resin in the mango skin. Everything in moderation. 

Once a week our house gets cleaned and a fun towel design appears on my bed. It's not necessary but I don't hate it.

Also, once a week we are responsible to work a shift in the student clinic. This includes giving three massages from 4-5pm -- 5:30-6:30pm -- 7-8pm.  To ensure that this time is beneficial for my learning experience, I am always experimenting with new techniques and sequences. I always try to incorporate and therefor practice the most recent modalities that we've learned.. of course, only if my client is able and willing.


A few weeks ago we learned about Hydrotherapy within massage therapy. We practiced using heat packs filled with clay and experimented with ice treatments. The heat treatment was incredible, encouraging an increased blood flow to an area of the body which allows the muscles to relax and easily receive massage. It's like massaging butter. The ice treatment was interesting, almost a painful sensation, but afterwards felt amazing as it cooled down my body temperature. I can see how it would be beneficial for athletes or for injuries with an inflamed area. R.I.C.E. (Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation). 


One afternoon, our class was dedicated to creating our own aromatherapy bath salts. I chose to combine Helichrysum, Neroli, and Ylang Ylang. The fragrance is very simple and slightly floral (orange blossom). To complete our second quarter, we exchanged a full-body pineapple and sugar exfoliant. Again, the enzyme in pineapple, Bromelain facilitated a reaction with the sugar to make our skin super smooth. I was hesitant about participating in this assignment because of my new found allergy, but external exposure was completely fine and totally worth the results. 

  

Once we completed the pineapple/sugar scrub and our written finals, second quarter closed and we were off to Nicaragua - for a well deserved break but mostly because we had to leave the country for 3 days to get another 90 day stamp on our passports to complete the program in Costa Rica. The bus ride was a hot and dirty adventure that forced our group to bond in a different way.  I quickly learned to limit my water consumption based on the scarce bathroom stops. It was about 2 hours to Liberia, another 1.5 hours to the Costa Rica/Nicaragua boarder, and then finally another 1.5 hours to our beautiful hotel in Granada, Nicaragua. Crossing the border was surprisingly easy and funny. There were literally tables set up as checkpoints to check passports and baggage, but as a large and somewhat americanized group they let us pass without inspection or hesitation. When the bus dropped us off as close to the border that was allowed, we continued on foot through 'no-mans land' where the land was ambiguous and not exactly claimed by either country. Our time spent in Nicaragua was colorful in many ways. Each building and church was painted a different color, the streets were filthy, the town was plentiful with street vendors, sleeping children, and horses dressed up with ribbons, and the men were extremely forward and disrespectful as they honked horns, made kissing sounds, and blatantly stared. It was actually refreshing to get out of Samara for a few days and explore new territory -  it was the perfect intermission to our program. 

   

The bus ride to Nicaragua

Costa Rica/Nicaragua Border

 

Walking into Nicaragua

  

Girls in Granada, Nicaragua 

For our first full day in Nicaragua, five of us decided to boat around Lake Nicaragua with the recommended tour guide, Ricardo.. who, by the end of the day, we dubbed Retardo. This is certainly an adventurous day that I'll never forget. It was a really fun way to spend our first day in a new country but we had a hard time shaking Retardo at the end of the day. The experience began when we piled into 2 cars as his 'drivers' drove us through town and down to the docks. We gave him money for the boat, that he immediately spent on drinks for us at the grocery store. I'm still not sure how he made any profit? When the boat ride was over, he wanted to get food with us, hang out, come back to the hotel, barrow money.. nothing seemed to add up. As a result of his sketchy behavior, the girls walked back to the hotel and the boys stuck it out for a couple more hours until they made an excuse to disconnect. We laughed about this experience for the next week.. at least it makes a good story. High-five for life! 

The following day, I spent my time shopping and walking around the markets in Masaya, the town just 30 minutes outside of Granada. I found some beautiful wooden bracelets, a colorful hammock, an authentic blanket, a long purple skirt.. and a mandarin, watermelon (sandia), mango smoothie. Success! I also discovered what a cashew fruit looks like, I had no idea that 1 nut rested on top of the bright red fruit.. it all makes sense why cashews are so expensive.. the harvesting and roasting process must be extremely tedious. The prices at the market were reasonable, certainly not crazy cheap, and haggling only knocked items down a small percentage.. always claiming that they were giving YOU the best price. It was certainly stimulating to adjust to yet another currency (22 córdobas (Nicaragua) = 500 colones (Costa Rica) = $1 (United States).

As our Nicaraguan adventure ended, our third quarter promptly began with Shiatsu and Anatomy in Clay. I really enjoyed Shiatsu as it related to the meridians and systems within the body, the hara assessment of the abdomen as it related to physical and emotional indications within the body, and briefly touching on acupressure/acupuncture points and related supplemental techniques. Anatomy in Clay was a class that I was anxiously anticipating because I knew it would allow me to touch, visualize, and retain the muscles within the body. I would highly recommend this learning modality to anyone in the healthcare field - or any human being that wants to know how and why their body moves. In 8 days for 5 hours a day, we completed 1/2 of a model that was 1/3 to scale of a real human. It was satisfying, challenging, and certainly a lesson in letting go - just as we finished putting on the last muscle, within seconds we had to rip all of the clay off for the next class to use. 

A couple weeks ago, I had an unexpected visit from Dylan! The wave of friends from home that have crossed my path in Costa Rica only further convinces me how strong the island connection is. Dylan was in town for about a week, I was happy to reconnect with him and show him around campus. It always feels great to have a piece of home when your traveling. International connections are so crazy and so meant to be. 

For both 'travel breaks' in March, I decided to stay in Samara to catch up on sleep and sun. My time off was really quiet and relaxing, mostly spending long days on the beach. I would commit to the beach in Samara or walking ~45 minutes to Buena Vista.. the privacy is totally worth the trek. 


It doesn't rain often, but last break it seemed to rain for about 30 minutes at sunset for 4 days in a row. When the rain came, you could find most of us in the ocean or the pool.. we celebrated and welcomed the warm rain showers with swimming, chicken fights, and watsu (water shiatsu). 

Recently, we ended third quarter with Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT) - Trigger Point, Myofascial Release, and Thai Massage. I found these techniques extremely useful and practical for most massage therapy sessions/goals. I discovered a greater understanding and appreciation for Myofascial Release - almost every population could benefit from this and it seems to support healthy lifestyles and aging. It's incredible the difference you can see and feel after an area is worked on.. you can even do it to yourself! Fascia is totally underrated. 


To end third quarter and our long weekend/travel break, five of us decided to go banana boating for Jill's 19th birthday. I wish I had a photo to show our enthusiasm.. but we walked to the beach wearing simply a bathing suit and hopped on the banana boat for a hilarious 20 minute ride around the shore of Samara beach. We were bouncing and laughing the entire time. It was the best $5 (2500 colones) I've ever spent. 


If my (lack of) blogging is any indication, third quarter was such a blur, I barely believe that it happened. The days were so full and the weeks went by so fast. I think I had class and went to the beach? It's impossible to put this experience, shifting emotions, personal evolution and gained knowledge into words. I often ask myself 'where am I', ' Is this real life' and 'Is this really happening' - it's unreal what could happen if you push yourself to live outside of your comfort zone - and why not? Everyone deserves to do exactly what they want.


As we begin our fourth and final quarter, the mangos and guavas are dropping from the trees and I'm trying to enjoy each day to the fullest by spending time outside and with those who surround me. I'm not ready to leave Costa Rica and have our close group of 20 disperse, but it's exciting to know I'll have at least 19 strong connections all over the world. Always a perfect excuse for more travel.

Bags, Bruises & Blindfolds

I often find myself at the authentic leather vendor on the street. This man is probably my favorite local. I don't know his name (yet) but he is always walking around with an enormous fish or working at his leather stand on the beach. The other day a beautiful tan leather purse with a simple snap caught my eye. I asked 'Cuánto Cuesta' (how much does this cost)? - it turned out to be 7500 colones ($15).. soooOOo I said 'gracias, maybe mañana' and walked away planning to sleep on it and decide how I feel about a purse made out of calf leather? I thought about it.. kept thinking about it.. and went back the next day to buy it. He sized it three times, adding more holes and cutting the excess strap until the length was just right, falling to the side of my hip. mmm I'm hoping to hold on to this for a long time.

Now that I've been here for over a month I have accumulated an imaginary wish list - things I would like to have, but do not need would include: speakers, a watch, an underwater camera, dove dark chocolate, a few more pens and 1 more notebook, fiber bars, 1 more nail polish color (dark purple), 1 more skirt (long enough for massage), 1 more tank top and/or strapless top.. hmmm other than that, I did a decent job of packing. 


After 12 days, Jess is continuing on her Costa Rican travels. It was so nice to have a piece of home here, introduce her to all my new friends, and show her the lush campus that I'm living on for these four months. We had a great time reconnecting with delicious food, cold cerveza (beer), the road trip to montezuma, and beach time. The same day that Jess left, Rachel arrived. I was eating at my favorite place to get pollo casado with my roommate, Mary, when I recognized Rachel on the street in front of me. I was in disbelief, but I knew she was toying with the idea of coming to Samara, so I shouted her name! Sure enough it was her - it is truly a small world.. or a small island. For as small as Martha's Vineyard is, there always seems to be an international connection. 

The one month injury list: 1) Jillian sprained her ankle by slipping and falling at the edge of our classroom. She has been alternating between using a previous students boot, a cane, and wrapping it in bandage for support. Every day her walk is getting stronger, it's definitely on the mend.  2) Early last week, Justin woke up with swollen and blistered hands. Most of us assumed it was just poison oak and that it would subside in a couple of days. However, after two days of the infection rapidly spreading up his arm, he was driven to San Jose for private medical attention. It was determined that he had some kind of staphylococcus infection, that would've been contagious through open wound contact. He was away for about 4 days until they released him to take the bus back to Samara. It really felt like a part of the group was missing, there was always an empty massage table and a group of 3 because of his absence. It feels complete to have him back. As for massage, he has to wait 21 days before he can give or receive massage (because it was an infection), totally disappointing to have your hands compromised at massage school, but he's observing and staying productive with everything else that we have going on. 

Last Monday, I was lucky enough to be Hillari's model for our class as she explained new/deeper techniques for the back, shoulders, and scapulas. It's always a treat to have an experienced touch and it's always a test of comfortability to have your body exposed in front of 20 people who are trying to learn through detailed observation. However, to enjoy the demonstration client experience, I just remained relaxed, confident, and professional.. assuming that everyone else was in that same state of mind. Ultimately, I feel safe within this group because I believe that there is no judgement, which allows everyone to be comfortable in their own skin. 


Specifically on Monday and Tuesday there was a lot of noise coming from the chickens that boarder our campus. On Monday it was just annoying and disruptive to our lecture, but on Tuesday the slaughter screams seemed more distinct - and the hanging and plucking was even more distracting than the screams. Once I got over the initial grotesque interpretation of what was happening.. I simply got excited for Pollo Fresco! As much as I cringed when I saw the chickens hanging upside down to get their necks slit through a plastic gallon jug while still having moments of movement - I became aware of the larger picture - these chickens have been running freely around our campus, which means I know exactly where the chickens are coming from.. therefor my protein source is free-range and organic. Believe me, it's a win/win situation. 

Last Tuesday was also a day filled with trust and blindfolds. We had partners to blindfold and lead through the streets and stores of Samara. We did this activity without speaking, allowing us to increase communication sensitivity through hearing, smell, and touch. It was fun to lead my partner around town blindfolded, but it was even more of an experience to be led. Once my eyes were covered, my hearing senses heightened.. I heard all different kinds of music, my partner even had me dance to some music playing on the beach, I also felt different textures on the ground as I walked, I sat in a rocking chair, and had water sprayed on my arm.. I was amazed how much I understood, absorbed, and saw without my vision. 

That same afternoon, we used our blindfolds again for Bodywork Experiential. There were 10 of us on the massage tables (blindfolded) as 10 of us rotated and massaged a different section of the body.  The goal of this activity was for the clients (blindfolded on the table) to guess which massage therapist was touching them, to determine who's touch was most similar to their own. As for my touch, Matthew and I had the most matches, therefor our touch is somewhat similar. It was an interesting experiment and totally appropriate, because as massage therapists we will never be able to experience our own touch. 

This past Friday we learned pregnancy (prenatal) massage techniques. We learned how to support the head, neck, and upper back with the headrest and pillows to ensure that the mother is comfortable and that the blood supply continues to circulate and reach the baby. We also learned how to bolster (support) a client lying on their side. This can also be used for the elderly population or anyone who is more comfortable on their side, as opposed to lying face down (prone) on the table. Everyone got to be pregnant for the day (even the boys) as we exchanged pregnancy massages.. ahh it was one of the most relaxing massages I have experienced.. it's like floating on a cloud of pillows. I highly recommend it.. even if your not pregnant. 


That Friday night, I worked my second shift in the student clinic, but my first shift with the public. I was nervous and anxious to receive real clients with real health issues and requests. I had three very different clients, but I felt capable of everything that came my way. I have to continually remind myself that every day is filled with surprises, related to massage or not. It was a positive reality check and once again I was relieved that I loved doing it. I honestly feel so lucky to have figured out my passion so young in life and that I have been given the opportunity to pursue it.  


Saturday was the first half of the Cancer Massage Workshop. I signed up for this extra workshop because not only is it a unique opportunity to specialize in something that is so prevalent, it will add 21 hours to my transcript towards obtaining my license and I will be a more valuable massage therapist as it will open up job opportunities within the clinical field. It was significantly more interesting than I expected and is seriously making me reconsider what I would like to specialize in. This technique focuses on very light touch and some energy work, such as Polarity Therapy. I have always been skeptical of energy work, but after having such a positive experience in feeling intuition, heat from friction, and energy vibrations within my personal space, I have learned to believe in energy work if it done with the right intentions. I enjoyed giving and receiving the cancer massage - it was light for the purpose of human touch, slow, more meaningful and full of positive energy. I've always been passionate about deep tissue work.. so we'll see how I combine the two modalities. 

Yesterday, we learned techniques for child and elderly massage. Again, the program is timed perfectly because these two techniques are extremely similar to cancer massage techniques.. meaning that the touch is very light.


Today.. I think every.. single.. one of us was having an off day. We've been here and together for over 6 weeks now and I can feel our energy/motivation declining - especially during our early morning lectures. The program is just so intense that we never have the chance to breathe and catch up.. full steam ahead. Although, usually by our third and final afternoon class we all perk up and are reminded why we're here.. for massage therapy. Our class this afternoon totally shifted my mood from negative to positive. We used our blindfolds again.. this time to exchange a full body in prone position (face down). I happened to be exchanging with Matthew (who was compared most similar to my touch, so I payed close attention to his strokes so I would have an idea of what mine felt like - if you can even imagine that concept). As he was blindfolded and giving the massage, his techniques felt more intuitive and connected.. I would have never known his vision was taken away. As I was blindfolded and giving the massage, I also felt more connected to the client, was forced to used advanced body mechanics (posture) in relation to his body, and noticed that I was using gravity more to increase my pressure/depth while really feeling the muscles and knots with my hands rather than my eyes. It was an empowering and inspirational experience.


F*ing fire ants. 

Jess visits Samara & Montezuma!

As we complete the first quarter of the program I'm feeling energized, educated, overwhelmed, professional, comfortable, exhausted, confident, excited.. and hot.


The ocean is noticeably saltier compared to home - I can taste it, feel it, and it stings my eyes slightly but even more of a reason to treat it as a cure-all remedy for my body. The higher salt content is also great for buoyancy and makes it easy to float in the waves. I feel at ease to be so close to the ocean, it gives me a small piece of home and direction - I really like knowing where exactly the coast is in relevance to my location.


Mm the wild purple orchids are such a treat to have outside my bedroom window. Orchids are one of my favorite plants - I've taken care of orchids before, but they never seem to make it through the winter. It's nice to be in a climate that supports their care and growth.

Protein, meat, meat, protein.  This has become a huge challenge for me. For the past week I have been getting dull headaches, feeling irritated, and exhausted for no apparent reason. I was contributing this to the hot and sticky weather, the 'three week itch' of the program, and mental exertion. I was in total denial that it had anything to do with my diet. I have been overloading on fruits and vegetables and I was assuming that eggs and beans were fine sources of protein - rationalizing that I was eating as a vegetarian would.  However, I have realized that I would be an extremely grouchy vegetarian. I also learned that when you are lacking protein you tend to crave sweets - I think I went through two dark chocolate bars that week.


I'm trying to improve my spanish by immersing myself in the town and culture. Recently, there was a man at the gate for the family that lives on campus - so I went to their house and tried my best to explain 'Hola, Amigo at the gate' - totally broken but he seemed to understand and responded with 'Bueno, Muchas Gracias'. Immediately after that situation, I walked to the carnicero and asked for 'Fresco Pollo? or Mañana?' My spanish is extremely minimal, but I was proud of myself for getting my point across. I figure some words are better than all charades. 


I was in temporary shock when Jess was standing at the gate to campus last Thursday around 2pm. I remember running to embrace her and her large, weathered travel backpack. She is courageous for traveling by herself and managed to piece together the transit puzzle to visit me in Samara. She took a bus, was woken up by the driver to get off and grab a taxi, and then walked until she stumbled upon my campus. Her timing was perfect because our first quarter break was that weekend = long weekend without homework :D


To celebrate the end of our first quarter, 11 of us (including Jess) ventured to Montezuma - which is another town on the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula about 4 hours south of Samara.  We were lucky enough to arrange a bus shuttle with a friend (of the family that lives on campus) who charged $25/person roundtrip (or 12,500 colones) - it was well worth it. The road there was extremely bumpy, dusty, and barely existed - as we climbed vertical inclines and literally drove into rivers where families were bathing and doing laundry. At times I thought the bus would breakdown, but it just muddled through every obstacle.

About 2 hours into the ride, we stopped once for the bathroom and a snack - I found a yummy, interesting, somewhat pulpy aloe vera honey drink from the isolated general store. 

The bus ride was exactly 4 hours (1:30pm-5:30pm) - When we reached Montezuma we had to figure out housing? We were fortunate to find a vacant hotel.. for 11 people.. on the weekend. We got 2 rooms for both nights that included 3 double beds, 2 hammocks.. and a shower (!) for about $14/person. 

The main attraction in Montezuma is the waterfall - The next day we had a substantial breakfast of rice, beans, eggs, and iced coffee before hiking the vertical, winding path that barely existed that was lined with roots, water tubing, and green shiny leaves.  Oh, and I was barefoot - poor planning, but was easier than sliding around in my flip flops. A group of more adventurous souls reached the top of the waterfall but Rachel, Debbie, Justin and I opted to hike down and enjoy a swim at the base of the waterfall. There were families, jewelry vendors, and travelers from all over enjoying the natural beauty. The water was clean, ice cold and exactly what I needed at that moment.

Montezuma is a busy little town, with a night life, great food, authentic jewelry, right on the beach. I would definitely recommend it if your traveling around Costa Rica. The coast line was gorgeous, the sand was white and the ocean a bright blue - there were also a lot of volcanic rock structures that lined the shore. After the waterfall hike, most of us spent the day on the beach. We set up a hammock in between two trees in the shade and had a picnic lunch of multigrain bread, goat cheese (different from home, hard cheese literally made with goats milk), honey, carrots, avocado, watermelon, papaya, beer and water. Our only utensil was a jackknife, which was all we needed.

By the end of the weekend I was exhausted but equipped with new jewelry and a golden tan. I considered that an even trade. The bus ride home seemed to be easier and quicker compared to the ride there - maybe because we didn't drive through any rivers or have to ask for directions at every 'intersection'. This time around I also noticed that the driver silently thought a prayer and motioned 'the father, son, and the holy spirit'. I'm assuming that was routine for a treacherous road trip? I don't know, the bus experience was funny - we never stopped for gas? and our driver didn't speak english, so there wasn't a lot of communication. Some key words were 'Baño and Agua'. Although, Dayann speaks perfect spanish (from Mexico) and luckily arranged for them to pick us up around 10am that Sunday. I'm pretty sure they dropped us off on Friday night - drove the 4 hours back to Samara - picked us up on Sunday - drove the 4 hours back to Samara. I'm even more impressed that Chapone (front seat - 80 something y/o) came along for the ride! We all made it back to Samara safe and sound, it was nothing short of a miracle that no one was injured. The trip was a success.

The one morning I was especially hesitant about waking up early before class to walk on the beach - I was debating in bed from 6-620am - then decided to just get up and check out the sunrise. I was walking barefoot from campus to the beach (which I don't normally do), when the sole of my left foot landed directly on a sharp, stinging sensation. All day I assumed it was a pricker, because I had to pull it out with tweezers. However, as the day went on the area became inflammed and tough, which leads me to believe that I must have stepped on a bee or hornet. OuwwwwCh! The swelling, redness, and toughness went away after two days, but the point of insertion is still visible :/ One of my roommates, Julie, suggested that I muddle up some plantain leaves with oil or water to help with the inflammation - her idea was completely genuine and creative, but I never got around to doing that?


For our Professional Inventory class we were surprised with kayaks waiting for us on the beach and we kayaked to the deserted island off of Samara! Every day is filled with unexpected happiness. As an instinctual planner, I am learning to go with the flow and roll with the punches - being more open and available for things throughout the day has led to amazing adventures and funny experiences. When we arrived to the island, we were greeted with fresh pineapple and water - so satisfying.

A few days later for that same class, we met at 4:45am to watch the sunrise for an hour. It's something that happens every single day, but that I rarely experience - it was a simple treat. 


This photo shows the island that we kayaked to and the sunrise at about 5:20am..  

This past Thursday, I worked my first shift in the student clinic from 3:45pm - 8pm with 30 minutes in between each massage session. Along with each massage, I had to fill out a SOAP (Subjective Objective Assessment Plan) note (which was reiteration from college - but this time pertaining to massage instead of nutrition). The combination of giving full body massages, filling out SOAP notes, and reading client history forms - gave me the feeling that 'this is really happening' and I loved it. By the middle of the second and third massage my hands were beginning to cramp, so I relied on using my forearms, elbows, and knuckles to give my hands a some relief. I mentioned it to one of my instructors, and she explained that I am building up stamina and hand muscles, and I could practice on squeezing bags of sand and to massage and stretch my own hands. I actually recognized that I was gaining more confidence and experience with each massage. I value the feedback that I received from my classmates and instructors because it will only help me to modify and improve.

This program is amazing in many ways, but a great example would be that we'll learn about a part of the body, like the scapula, and then that same afternoon we are learning how to massage and stretch the scapula. They've got it all figured out - our morning academic class always compliments our afternoon massage class. Now that we have completed Swedish massage, we are in Bodywork Experiential learning stretches for the scapula, playing with our depth/pressure, finding pressure points, using our forearms and elbows, and how and when to get on the massage table - specifically to stretch the hip and massage the hips/gluteus. I am so excited to find my very own massage table and show my family what I've learned.