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 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.
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