This is what a typical orphanage volunteer experience looks like. Thinking about volunteering? Why not bring joy and companionship to children ages 1-12? Some are orphans while others have been put up for adoption by their parents or have been taken from their parents by social services.
Costa Rica Frika volunteer Teagen talks about her immersion experience:
After curiously perusing the aisles of Miller and Son’s supermarket, the Costa Rican crew settled on some familiar cans of pop and headed for the check out. They bought the drinks and just as they were about to leave, one of them remembered to ask the cashier for straws.
“The straws are located in aisle 10.” She replied politely.
There was an awkward pause punctuated only by the beeping of the check out machines where the cashier may have been thinking: “Why did he ask for straws after he paid?” while the Costa Ricans were definitely wondering “Why won’t she just give me a straw?” In Costa Rica, when you buy a can or bottle of pop at the supermarket, they usually give you a complementary straw. After talking up the friendly, hometown service at Miller’s, this was a difficult one to explain and it was one of many among other surprises my Costa Rican family would encounter on their 10-day quest through the Midwest.
I first began traveling to Costa Rica in 2006 and after experiencing the hospitality and kindness of the Costa Ricans, it has always been my dream to share that same experience with a Costa Rican in Wisconsin. That dream became a reality last fall when guest writer Bernal Blanco shared his one month experience in Verona. This time, however, would be different.
In January, I married my lovely Costa Rican wife. I knew I was marrying into a large family, but wasn’t exactly sure of its proportions. I found out fast as word got out that my wife and I were planning a trip to Wisconsin.I had invited the in-laws, but before long aunts, uncles, and cousins came calling to see if they could get in on the experience too. In the end, there were eight of us and a ten-month-old infant.
I’m sure this had a lot to do with safety in numbers. Costa Ricans are known to travel in packs. To given you an idea, San José – the capital city of Costa Rica – is 60 minutes by bus from San Ramon and my 27 year old wife has never gone there by herself. If she can’t go with her parents or a friend, she won’t go. The majority of our family travelers didn’t have passports and had never been on a plane before. As you can see, telling someone here that they don’t get out much really takes on a whole new meaning.
The “pack” mentality became apparent when we decided to cram all of us into one large vehicle to visit Minnesota instead of dividing up into two comfier cars and even more apparent when the whole group spent one gleeful night on air mattresses in my parent’s living room. For them seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, and smelling the smells—- both good and bad—- together, are what makes the experience special for them.
I knew this coming in and I had repeatedly pledged to keep the trip simple. We did spend close to 10 hours in Target and Walmart and we may be responsible for the uptick in sales at the Verona St. Vincent de Paul store, but even I overestimated when purchasing water park tickets for the group.
I had envisioned screams of fear and excitement as they experienced the water park rides, but in reality, I was only able to get half the group to go into the water. The other half were content hanging out at the hotel and relaxing. I even got passes to the indoor/outdoor water park so they couldn’t say it was too cold outside, but nonetheless, my raging river idea went over a little more like a trickling stream. I soon realized that I had been going for the big impression when they were looking for the little things. Watching the squirrels run around
the yard, seeing the ducks at the park, and riding our lawnmower were just some of the small details that they really enjoyed.
For them, the most fascinating mystery of my hometown was how anything survived the winter. Being from a tropical country where plants bloom year-round, they were particularly perplexed by this dormant period. “Where do the squirrels and birds go? Do you have to replant the grass every year? What about the farm animals? What about the cows? Does their milk freeze?”
What about the cows? Well, a trip to Wisconsin wouldn’t be complete without a dairy farm visit. Cattle and dairy farming are very common in Costa Rica and if you have even 15 cows, We took them to a local farm where approximately 600 cows are milked three times a day and I was finally able to impress them with something BIG. The level of efficiency, organization, and calculated production that happens in our local agricultural industry is something that doesn’t exist in Costa Rica.
In the end, the little things always win us over. Seeing the awe and appreciation for our small corner of the world through the eyes of my Costa Rican in-laws was definitely the best part and even if they couldn’t get straws at the supermarket, they had the experience of learning to drink from a can.
This post originally appeared in a local publication in May 2014 in Verona, WI. It highlights the experiences and adventures of Costa Rica Frika founder Dustin, now living in Costa Rica.
If there is one thing that resists the times of change, it has to be a park. Grandparents can watch their grandchildren play just as their grandparents watched them play as children. For me, it is a capsule that brings time to a halt as the world races around it and nowhere is this phenomenon better observed than in San Ramon.
In Costa Rica, to be considered a “town”, an area must have the following: a park, a church, a school, a soccer field and a bar. The best designed towns use their park as the main gathering space and the rest of these amenities make an orbit around it, like the sun at the center of the solar system. Only at the center, no one is running around trying to complete their own world orbit. Here, you can find couples eating ice cream, the elderly playing chess, and families watching their kids play. In other words, everybody sits comfortably on their axis. This is where people go to get their entertainment: meeting up with friends, watching community performances, or just people watching. The park is where the laid back “pura vida” lifestyle really shines through.
Any day of the week you can go to the main park in downtown San Ramon and see people hanging out. My wife goes to the park just about everyday. It doesn’t matter if she has to run errands or not because it’s really her way of getting refreshed and socializing with whoever she might bump into.
I force myself to make it to the park a few times a week now I could never believe the amount of people I would find there. What are they all doing? Are they waiting for a bus? Is there going to be mass soon? Are they waiting for their kid to get done with school? Don’t they have anything better to be doing? Usually right after I get done asking myself those questions, I bump into somebody I know and we start to chat and before I know it we have been talking for 20 minutes. Didn’t they have to be somewhere? Weren’t they wondering if I had to be somewhere? What is so special about this park?
Finally, I concluded that being from the “land of opportunity” drives me away from the park everyday and into the office. I am a workaholic. It now makes sense to me why I rarely saw people at the park in Verona growing up and even less if the park didn’t have a playground or a soccer field (San Ramon’s park does not). Many of us are workaholics who are taught to continuously strive to improve our situation. Still more of us are just trying to get by. The majority of Costa Ricans fall into the latter category, they are trying to find make ends meet with the limited employment opportunities that their country offers.
A wise Costa Rican friend of mine once told me that there are rich people and poor people lying sick in hospital beds. What difference does it make should they both die? They both go to the next life as equals. It doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked when you can’t take any of that with you. He did mention the importance of having a good lifestyle, but quality of life takes precedence. (And while he has a good quality of life, he agreed that he wouldn’t mind having a little more lifestyle as well). That’s the choice I find myself having to make on a daily basis. Is a smart phone considered a lifestyle or life quality choice? Watch enough TV commercials and I’m sure you’ll be thoroughly convinced otherwise. Maybe that is what I miss when I stand there, perplexed, looking at the 60 year old man chatting with his buddies at 10am on a Tuesday at the park. He doesn’t have an iphone or a 60¨ flat screen, but he is emanating life quality in HD.
The park in San Ramon not only serves a purpose for the day crowd but it also provides a haven for nightlife. I used to joke with my friends that the only thing to do in San Ramon was to go the park, but this isn’t far from the reality. The highlight of a teenager’s weekend might be to go with their friends on a Saturday night to the park and watch everyone drive their cars around the park. After a long week of work, people like to display themselves and one way of doing that is to take a few laps around the park. If you can do it in a nice car, even better.
This is a scene that is repeated all over Costa Rica. Consumerism is alive and well throughout the country, but locals are willing to do it at their own pace. Even those with employment reason that if they work less now and have to wait a few more months for the gratification of having the latest gadget, then they’ll gladly take their time and do things at their own pace so as not sacrifice “park time” or “life quality.”
About a year ago, the city gave the park a face lift. It put in new sidewalks, re-landscaped and installed cool LED lights that allow the color of the park to change every few minutes. All this effort affirmed the great pride that the town takes in displaying its prime attraction. You see, without a park, a town looses its center of the universe. With nothing to orbit there is no base, no starting point, no common ground or identity to the town. All you have are cold concrete buildings, open for business.
***This article was originally published in a local newspaper in January 2013***
It was like sticking my head in the freezer on a hot summer afternoon.
You know the feeling – when you’re looking for that refreshing burst of air to take your mind off the excessive heat. You know you’re in for a climate change when you open that door, and even though your sweat glands pucker right back up the second you close the freezer, that moment in time feels forever etched in your mind.
Or, like in my case, it’s frostbitten to your forehead. That moment in time, that’s exactly how I feel whenever I touch down in Costa Rica.
I returned to Costa Rica in late December after a Wisconsin winter holiday and from the moment I arrived I unconsciously began to savor every moment, just like if it had been my first time.
Stepping out of the terminal I welcome the warm burst of tropical air. I sense the full moon as it illuminates the surrounding mountain ranges of the central valley. Traveling home my ears are tuned to the salsa and bachata beats coming from the radio, as well as the incessant chatter from the taxi driver about how his team should have won the national soccer championship.
That night I fall asleep, paralyzed with glee knowing that I’d left the wind and grind, ice and snow, and sub zero temperatures behind.
The next morning I spend what feels like an hour just sitting in the yard basking in the sun. Everything feels refreshingly new to me. Taking in the aroma of the orchid plants, drowning out my thoughts with the chatter from the parrots in the nearby trees, and blinding the neighbors with the glare of the sun off my ghostly pale vitamin D deprived skin.
Had my dog, Ruffo, not awakened me I’m sure I could have been harvested as a tomato that same afternoon.
Ruffo seemed to be telling me that it is time to go visit my 86-year old adopted Costa Rica grandmother who lives tucked away in a sleepy, countryside home. I set out by bus to pay her a surprise visit. We take a shot of tequila (her customary greeting for any visitor) and I tell her the news and adventures of everyone in my extended family. She follows along intently, despite knowing very few of them personally, as if they were her own children.
I sit down with her for a typical lunch of rice and beans and instantly long for a slice of pizza, a hamburger, or even pasteurized milk. It’s going to be awhile before I can savor those tastes again.
Fortunately, there are plenty of other delights to keep my taste buds happy: starfruit juice, freshly harvested coffee, fried plantains, and of course salsa Lizano.
Now on the move, I am filled with the inexplicable desire to explore Costa Rica all over again, as if I were seeing it for the first time. I go to a traditional “tope,” or horse parade. The next day, I take a hike in the largest private rainforest reserve in Costa Rica, the Children’s Eternal Rainforest and finally, I spend an afternoon picking coffee for 50 cents an hour at one of my friend’s plantations. To top it all off I even managed to bring in the New Year in a swimsuit (a first for me) by viewing a fireworks show on the beach.
I have always loved visiting Costa Rica, since my initial volunteer abroad experience, in 2006. I always feel the spark of curiosity and adventure when I arrive here. There is always something new to see and experience.
Whether its a short or long stay, volunteering or touring, alone or in a group, I still feel as giddy as the first time (and even more so especially if coming from winter in Wisconsin.)
So now I have since stopped visiting Costa Rica and have made it my primary residence. With each stay here, I’ve become immersed in the culture, made more friends, and developed stronger relationships.
The love and affection shown by Costa Ricans is second to none and thanks to my adopted grandma I’ve been introduced to my girlfriend, which has allowed for even more cultural immersion.
Now I am dedicate to duplicating this experience for other visitors to Costa Rica. I love being at the airport to greet them. To see their initial reactions and then watching as they develop and change over the course of their stay is really gratifying to me. When they go from the “this is strange” expression to the “I could get used to this” expression then I know I’m doing my job.
With January being the start of the tourist season, I couldn’t think of a better way to have prepared for this than by returning to Costa Rica myself.
I encourage everyone to open that freezer door. The initial shock might leave your senses tingling and put you on edge, however once the vapor clears you’ll find yourself adjusting and comfortable again. Whether that door is open for only a week or as long as six months you’re certainly headed for climate change both literally and figuratively.
No doubt, it will leave you awake, refreshed and renewed.
Immersion Experiences 