Kids & Pets

I believe we just finished our second full week of classes.. I'm losing track of weeks.. days.. and time. Our first Sunday night here we gathered for a potluck dinner. Everyone brought a dish to share along with their kitchen table, chairs, plates, utensils, and drinks. We put our tables together (round & square) to create a long banquet table. We had a feast of pasta, fresh tomato sauce, crisp salad with homemade dressing (olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt & pepper), fresh baked garlic bread, and for dessert vanilla and 'vanilla chip' ice cream with a fluffy chocolate mousse that was created by our 'raw foodist' (Justin).  The mousse was made from raw cocao (ca-cow) powder, whipped avocado, and other secret raw ingredients. It was extremely inventive and delicious!  It tasted like real dark chocolate - bitter, not too sweet.. satisfying.  As we go into our third week, I can feel everyones energy dropping a bit, the newness is beginning to ware off. Personally, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by the constant workload and the lack of personal time, but it's truly difficult to be upset in an environment like this. So, I acknowledge those feelings and continue on.

Just a general observation, that the most difficult foods to find are chocolate, cheese, and meat (protein). It seems that proper refrigeration is hard to come by, especially with the constant heat and humidity. So, foods that should be stored at a certain temperature (meats & cheeses) or that will melt in the heat (chocolate) are more difficult to find, and therefor more expensive. I'm always looking for new and different sources of protein (aside from eggs and beans), but I have yet to find tofu or any other soy products.

I shop at two different grocery stores depending on what I need. 'Pali' has more essentials and is generally less expensive. 'Super Samara' has a greater selection, more specialties (cheese & chocolate), and is generally more expensive. I did find some herbed gouda cheese there that cost 4,800 (almost $9), so basically it's a treat that I use sparingly. I also go to the butcher (carnicero) for chicken (pollo) and the bakery for sweet rolls mMMmm

I am fascinated with the mayonnaise here. First of all, it comes in a flexible pouch with a spout. Second of all, it ONLY comes in fun flavors like, lime and salsa. 

The other day I had an intense experience with costa rican coffee.  I brewed some fresh coffee, put it in the fridge to cool off, added some milk (leche), and minutes later I was shaking and feeling foggy.  I had to load up on water and rolls before I gave a massage later that day. I think I can only drink coffee in moderation, on weekends, in the afternoon. It was deeeeelicious but powerful :x yikes! 

I hand-wash most of my clothes, but sometimes it just doesn't do the trick. So, yesterday I treated myself to laundry service in town.  I brought a small bag of clothes, they weighed them, and a few hours later they were clean and folded. ahhh totally worth it.

 

Somehow, I've forgotten to mention the thick black smoke that sporadically wafts through our outdoor classroom. Any guesses? ding ding! It's burning plastic and trash.. and sometimes leaves! It recently became illegal in May 2010 to burn trash in Costa Rica, but obviously it's still happening! Not only are some of us are having allergic reactions (sneezing & congestion) to the carcinogens in the air, but we had to cancel yoga the other night - it didn't seem right to practice deep breathing and meditation amongst the burning plastics :x

As for the bug situation, it's honestly better than I expected.  The most annoying insects are the tiny red fire ants. I've learned to walk quickly when barefoot and to avoid standing near their nest that is built directly in front of our porch.. duh.  However, if I do get attacked, the best remedy is to run for the pool. 

Speaking of bugs, there are also campus dogs. There is one dog in particular that I am most familiar with.  Her name is Canela (cinnamon)..  she welcomed us to campus by breaking into our house on the first night. She propped herself up on our porch, pawed open the screen, and jumped through the bars that line our window frame.  I heard this loud bang at 3 am, but thought nothing of it becuase I was in new surroundings with new noises. However, the next morning she was in our living room and the trash was knocked over in our kitchen.  Since that night she has been partial to resting on our porch but I avoid physical contact beucase I don't know how healthy she is. I would say that I have a love/hate relashionship with her, as I do with most dogs.  Although, as the days go on, I'm warming up to her and sometimes she helps me color my anatomy homework by the pool.

It has rained three times since I've been here.  It doesn't last very long - it's mostly refreshing and cools everything down.  However, it does increase mosquito activity! My legs are proof!

At low-tide the beach is a mecca for treasures of all different shapes, sizes, and colors! There are a lot of coral pieces and bright pink shells but here are a few that I've collected - I was happy to find that curvy green piece of sea glass!

There is a family that lives next door to us, who owns the land that the campus is built on.  They are very friendly, always saying Hola, Pura Vida, Buenos Dias, Buenos Tardes, and Buenos Noches. Last night they called me over to look at an anteater that was climbing the trees above their house.  It was really sweet of them to include me in their family sighting!  They have two little boys, Michael and Orlando, who are extremely entertaining; they climb trees, swim in the pool, and ride dogs like bulls (influenced from bull fighting).

On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to be Jill's model for the demonstration (in front of the class) for the back of the legs and feet (prone position) which included more draping techniques and manual manipulation of stretching the legs and hips. ahh it was such a treat to have her touch.

On Wednesday we learned draping techniques for the back of the legs and hips. By the end of the week we learned how to give a full body swedish massage! YAY! This is an absolute milestone in our education!  This coming Monday and Tuesday we'll be exchanging full body massages (with another student)! Lectures and demonstrations are done for swedish massage, so now we are just practicing and improving -- until we learn the next technique!

Friday night I had my professional massage from Jill (one of my instructors and cofounder of CRSMT). It would be impossible to put into words, but she created a technique called 'Mindful Expressionism', which is more like reconstruction bodywork than it is massage.  She broke up calcified toxins (what feels like crunchy knots), used myofascial release on my lower back (separated connective tissue from my spine), and climbed on the table to manually stretch my legs and hips. The experience was unique, tranquil, comfortable, cool, emotional, and calming.  She expects her clients to be sore for the next three days and advises them to drink plenty of water and limit physical activity for 24 hours. The next morning I felt fluid and free. My shoulders had dropped and the tension in my jaw had been released. After feeling her work and experienced touch, it only encourages me to become a better massage therapist.  I am blown away by her creativity.

Oh, and the internet sucks. It's constantly cutting in and out. I tried to post this last night and I lost everything I wrote from the past week. :# I f*ing freaked out and then collected myself to rewrite this - so enjoy! sigh. Life is full of obstacles.

Monkeys & Domestic Males

The monkeys are a huge part of the experience here, they all have a great presence and personality. They purposefully climb on the roofs of our house and classroom while making a deep howling noise.. either for mating or warding off predators, I'm not sure.. but it's very distinct. I never realized how smart and alert they were until I observed them in this tree right outside my house! It also took them a few days to show themselves, they were giving us time to settle in. They will look you right in the eyes, and most times travel down the branch to come closer. The momma monkey is currently carrying a baby on her belly.. I'm pretty sure she climbed down closer to give me this spectacular view.. so sweet and right outside my door.

Within the program there are 16 females and 4 males (20 of us). The 4 boys happen to be our next door neighbors (they have dubbed their house 'Man Camp' for obvious reasons) and they are amazing and inventive cooks! I'm pretty sure they think they're on some form of 'Survivor'.  They have been concocting hummus in the blender, baking fresh honey bread, and harvesting and cutting up fresh fruits from the campus trees (coconut, papaya, and hot peppers). The other night, Mary (my roommate) and I were studying on our front porch when hot fresh bread was hand delivered by Matthew, followed by homemade hummus and fresh cut watermelon from Justin. Is this real life? Today Matthew baked honey bread with raisins and oatmeal, and it sounds like baked apples will be in the oven tomorrow night.  Speaking of food in paradise, the best example of pure happiness was when I jumped into the pool to cool off.. swam over to the other end where I was offered a fresh piece of papaya that had just fallen off one of our campus trees.. and swam back again. It was the perfect break from class.

Samara beach is also full of life, local characters, and differences from home. I'm always pleasantly surprised when a herd of horses trots by my beach towel. This guy leads horseback riding tours on the beach, and usually has a baby horse in tow.. you can also see a stray dog tagging along. There are a lot of dogs and horses just roaming around town.  The car and street situation is ridiculous too.. very narrow streets without painted lines or sidewalks and extremely aggressive drivers in cars, mopeds, or 4-wheelers.  

This is the field just outside of our campus filled with broken glass, trash, dog shit, sticks, and.. horses in front of Hotel Playa (Beach) Samara.. 

As for massage therapy, we are now practicing the entire front of the body (supine position), extremely overwhelming but even more exciting. We are connecting the dots and on our way to completing the full body swedish (classic or basic) massage. We have learned techniques for the hand, arms, feet, legs, head, face, chest, abdomen, and how to flip a client safely under the linens, which includes setting up and using the head rest. I feel so lucky to be here.  As intense as this program is, we still make time to play at the beach, this was last weekend - Nathan got turned into a mermaid under the sand.. more pictures to come!

Class & My 24th Birthday

During orientation we were assigned our first reading and coloring assignment for Anatomy & Physiology. We began class the next day on Thursday January 6th, 8:00am-3:30pm. We have breaks from 10:05-10:25 and again for lunch from 12:30-1:25pm. 3 classes a day, Monday through Friday. I usually wake up around 6am, swim in the pool or walk on the beach before class at 8am.. everyone gets up around sunrise and does.. something!  In addition to class, I'm estimating about 3 hours of homework a day. This is the first time since college where there are not enough hours in the day! The first day of class was positive, full of quality information, and moved quickly. By the end of the first day we were setting up and breaking down massage tables, and then exchanging hand massages on the tables. We learned a variety of techniques and sequences, but there seems to be a lot of room for creativity.  By the end of the second day we were exchanging hand and full arm massages, along with draping techniques (keeping the client safe and covered with the linens).  After only two days of class, I felt confident, I had the urge to practice and improve, and I was relieved that I loved doing it. I had an Ah-Ha moment of 'this is what I'm supposed to be doing'.

My 24th birthday happened to fall on the first weekend of the program, Saturday January 8th.. I couldn't have planned it better. Friday night after our first couple days of classes, most of us went out dancing, at a bar right on the beach, it was reggae night.. so the music was right up my alley. It was fun to see everyone in a social setting and come out of their shells a little bit. When the night was winding down, we went swimming in the ocean.. buddy system, don't worry.. and walked back to campus on the beach. The next morning (my birthday) one of our instructors taught Zumba in our outdoor classroom. It was my first time doing Zumba and I had a really fun experience; smiling, sweating, and barefoot. I would say it's a mix between hip-hop, salsa, and aerobics.. I was moving the entire time and was totally sore the next day. When the class was over, everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me, which was embarrassing but nice.. ha. After Zumba, we all spent a few hours on the beach.. exactly where I wanted to be for my winter birthday. The tide was sooooo low that you could walk forever until you reached the water, it was beautiful and hot hot hot. I felt content.

After the beach, I made a yummy lunch of quesadilla with mozzarella and salsa, fried egg, beans, corn, and a salad with purple cabbage and pear. My meals have been creative to say the least, but super fresh and delicious.  I also hand-washed some clothes and went swimming in the pool until 6 of us went out for Thai food. I got pad thai with chicken, it was slightly different than I was used to, still with rice noodles but not as sweet, more flavor and spice, which I prefer, so it was a nice change. The restaurant experience is a little different here.. there is just.. no.. rush.. and no... water. So if you want to take your time and drink beer.. go out to eat! 

When we got back to campus, I got changed for bed and stepped outside to sit on my porch ~ and from the center of campus I saw some flickers of light.. everyone was walking towards me with a chocolate cake that had sparklers on top! Little did they know that I love CHOCOLATE and SPARKLERS! I also got a card and a bright pink, sweet smelling flower from the butterfly house.  I felt really loved from people who had I met just 4 days earlier.  

The next day, on Sunday, to end our first weekend, most of us went surfing! We compared 3 surf schools on the beach; 2 of them were charging $100 for 4 lessons and unlimited board use, and then we found $25 for 1 lesson and unlimited board use, so we went with that one. We figured 1 lesson would suffice.  It was a lot of fun and totally addicting.. you always want to ride just one more wave! ChiChi and CoPo had us practice safety, paddling, and standing up on the beach, and then we went into the water.. just before high tide, around 3pm.  They were very thorough instructors, we were split into 2 groups, they turned each one of us around and pushed us the first few times, and then we were on our own. I got up my first time - which was so satisfying - and everyone.. yes everyone.. was surfing on their own by the end of the lesson. I'm pumped about the unlimited board use for 4 months, when and if I have time, it'll be a great study/mental beak after class and on weekends. I hope to do it at least once a week. There I am.. in the blight blue bottoms and navy blue rash guard! Ready to go!

Yesterday, by the end of the third day we were massaging legs and feet, while practicing more advanced draping and tucking techniques (of the linens). This brings me to today; by the end of our fourth class, we were massaging head, face, and neck. Yes, we're moving as fast as it sounds. I've been here for 1 week today and we are already practicing the hand, arms, legs, feet, head, face, and neck! We're moving onto chest and abdomen tomorrow.. I'll keep you posted.

Welcome to Costa Rica

Sigh. I have arrived. I am thrilled to say that the campus, program, housing, town, and beach exceeded my expectations. I am overwhelmed with love from the new people in my life. It's truly amazing that we are all here at the same time, for the same reason, with no distractions.  It's a great feeling to know that we are all meant to be here together.  You can imagine how close a group would feel to one another in a remote setting, on a private campus, in a small and extremely unique setting.. and then add massage therapy to the equation.. basically it's been 4 days, and it's unanimous that it feels like we've known each other for months. The internet has been down/extremely weak for about 3 days now, so I'll have to backtrack a little.  

Getting to Costa Rica was a lot more efficient than I expected.  I left home, stayed over in Boston, left at 5:30am.. left Miami at 10:25am.. arrived in Liberia, CR at 12:20pm.. the entire travel experience was smooth. I was also surprised and glad that I wasn't emotional when leaving home or flying.. I think my emotions have been somewhat stable simply because I was ready.  Immigration and customs was a breeze, as soon as I stepped out of the plane my face was hit with warm wind and I was funneled through a very small airport. Immigration, customs, baggage claim, and then I found the man holding the sign for CRSMT.  He helped me with my bags, offered me cold agua, and lead me to sit in an air conditioned shuttle van. There I waited for over an hour as 6 more students climbed into the shuttle one by one.  Once we were all accounted for, we drove 2 hours to Samara and arrived at our campus for the first time. Our first night in Costa Rica we all went out to dinner at a restaurant on the beach, we sat at a long, strong and beautiful wooden table. I had a blackened fish sandwich and salmon sashimi with an imperial beer.. everything was delicious and reasonable. In addition, my stomach hasn't felt sick or off since I've been here, which is saying a lot for me.. hoping that means the food is fresh and clean. 

I'm just starting to get used to the money exchange, most places will take american dollars, or visa credit card, but it's just easier to pay with colones.  For every $1 it's 500 colones.. so I've been thinking 'how many 500's fit into my total?' but it's much easier to double your price and take away some 0's.. example: 10,000 colones.. double that is 20,000.. take away some 0's and it's $20 dollars. You can imagine my confusion when my grocery bill was 16,000!? ($32.. get it?) I think every thousand is also called a MIL, so my grocery bill was 16 MIL. It always sounds like I'm spending a lot of money? But that's not the case, it's comparable or less expensive.  My second day here I just went to the ATM and got colones that way.  The campus is nestled right in the town, so everything is close.  The bank is just outside the gate, the grocery is right across the street, and the beach is directly in front (about a 1 minute walk). Perfect. 

My second day in Costa Rica was orientation for the program. Our central classroom is unreal. It's a beautiful outdoor circular classroom, with strong wooden floors, no walls, no shoes allowed, a tall cone ceiling similar to a yurt, surrounded by lush greenery, dogs, and monkeys. Orientation began with a dreamy yummy breakfast of watermelon, papaya, pineapple, quiche, muffins, and fresh orange juice.  I found my name, and a big CRSMT binder and a gift bag was placed at my seat.  Inside was a nail clipper, nail file, tongue scraper, breath drops, hand sanitizer, emergenC's, Yogi teas.. and bunch of other massage therapist goodies.

Packing & 5 Day Countdown!

Finally! I have 5 more days to embrace the snow & wind and drive up & down island. Okay, I'm ready! I've been packing clothes, toiletries, shoes, and school supplies. I've settled on bringing 11 dresses, 2 pairs flip flops, 1 pair sneakers, 1 pair crocs, 3 bars of soap, 22 tank tops, 4.5 bathing suits, 8 pens, 3 pencils, 4 highlighters, 2 notebooks, 1 beach towel (thank you emily), 2 dark chocolate bars... almost done! Good riddance 2010, I will enter 2011 with an open mind & heart. See you in Costa Rica! 

text books & packing!

YAY! My text book package arrived a couple days ago, which makes this all seem real. I feel like I've been waiting, waiting and anxiously waiting to start this program, and now it's only 22 days away! I've started to read 'Food and Healing', so far it's right up my alley and I'm feeling excited about investing in my education again.  I've also started to gather toiletries and a wish list of other things that I might need while traveling.  I just have to photocopy a few documents and certifications, finish packing, make gingerbread houses with friends, celebrate the holidays, and then I'm ready to go!   

location, location, location

I am attending The Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy (CRSMT) during the Rana Session, from January 4 - April 22, 2011. This is the dry season or summer (verano) months, so I'm expecting hot days and ripe fruit! The school is located on Samara Beach, which is on the Nicoya Peninsula. I'm extremely excited, anxious and proud to be attending this program.  After months of working on the application, completing the phone interview and communicating with the school, I was accepted into the small group of 20 students.  Check out the website: http://www.crsmt.com/