Day in the Life

This may end rapidly because I’m using the internet right now accompanied by a rather busy and flighty man, and whenever he says we leave, we LEAVE so I will barely have time to send let along flinish sentances.

So here is my perfect ideal daily life right now, just so you all know how darned LUCKY I am!

I wake up alone, rapped in a blanket in a BIG HUGE bed in a cabaña…. if it´s still dark out I roll over and light a candle, then make my way into yesterdays clothes and down the stairs. Usually there are a lot of noises, but most of them, especially in the early mornings, are leaves falling. I walk carefully along the path watching for snakes and then arrive at the house, hopefully in time to help Isidro (the dad) milk the cow… it is nice because he doesn’t feel he needs to fill silence with talking, but sometimes he gets into the mood and tells me stories about the cows’ births or how handsome he thinks they are. Then I chill a bit, wake up, do some laundry, and wait for breakfast or coffee, usually fruit, and empanadas or gallo pinto or some other deliciousness. After breakfast get ready for work. Work varies a lot. When there are other volunteers I have been spending time digging up new garden beds and cleaning out a trail in the jungle (which for me means wandering through the pure underbrush with a machete hacking at things!). When I’m alone I sometimes help Isidro with gathering lemons, on unlucky but suprisingly frequent days I have to rake and clean leaves from the yard, and sometimes I chill on the picnic benches listening to music and painting signs. One of my favorite jobs, cause it makes me feel really cool, is to clean teak, basically stripping the outer bark layer and any inconsistancies off with a machete. Basically anything involving machetes is good.

Lunch is always great, and always involves rice and beans, and then usually I get an after lunch siesta at least for a bit. Afternoon work can involve more of the same, or it sometimes is translating information into english, or pretending I’m working while really I ride around on the motorcycle with Marcos or go swimming with other volunteers. Sometimes another volunteer, Chris, and I wander down to the WWOOF farm and “happen” upon them cooking brownies…. Before dinner is my favorite time, when I go to water the garden. It is very nice to watch the sun set and give water to plants, and since I’ve been here since they were planted this is the first time in a long time I’ve felt like I am cultivating something. Usually Chris and a girl from the WWOOF farm come, just to enjoy the peace, to talk, maybe drink a little rum, so I get to enjoy their quiet happy chatter as I water. If theres time and I’m in the mood, I plant more seeds or weed portions of the garden, sometimes bringing the extra mustard plants home to cook.

By the time I get home dinner is almost ready. Usually I help finish it up, and the Mom Arabela and the two daughters and I joke, sometimes with Chris also. Often at Chris, although he takes it all very well and usually laughs with us even if he doesn’t understand.

After dinner events vary on the night and the mood. Sometimes I go to the bar with Marcos, where I drink a few beers, try out my spanish on drunken men, and sometimes play futbalin (fooseball?). If I’m lucky someone wants to dance a few, espcially when there’re lots of gringas and drunk ticos there. Other nights I accompany one of the girls, Gabi, on visits to practice dancing with one of the local boys. She wants to be able to teach dance lessons for the tourists, so she’s learning with this guy, who’s a really good dancer, and he’s learning some stuff from her as well. I’m gonna try to teach them both bachata, but we’ll see how that goes. Anyways, it works out great for me cause I get to listen to their spanish slang, watch their dance moves, and even dance a few! Some nights there is a bonfire at the house and we all chill and talk, and enjoy the beauty of the area. And sometimes I just head down early to the cabaña to enjoy the night and read. The cabaña is where it all ends every night anyways, with the 10 minute flashlight walk watching for snakes and occasionally chancing on a kinkajoo, a skunk, or an armadillo, listening to all the night sounds. There is usually several spider webs near the cabañas but I’ve learned to catch them on my flashlight and avoid them, enjoying the power and stillness to the spiders nighttime food vigil.

Overall, life is very good here. The jobs vary enough I will not get bored, and the family, all though sometimes harsh when they make fun off me for not speaking correctly, clearly really enjoys me being here. I don’t have to think about money at all, all my necesities are paid for and Marcos is even really good about providing occasional beer and ice cream, which is really all else I need in life, and even paying for me to come to town and help him today and use the internet and all…. I also got to do like treasure hunts earlier, running around town looking for places to pay bills and buys things….

Hope things are going nearly as good for you all as it is for me here. I’m thinking about you all, and perhaps someday I will tear myself away from this place to come home and visit you all…. ok sometime for sure I will, I just keep pushing the date back……

Saludos y abrazos grandes!