Teddy pictures at last!

I know, I know, it took me a while, but here are the pictures of what Teddy was up to at Establo San Rafael!

Teddy loves hammocks as much as I do

Teddy of course had to get in on the acrobatics.

But bears need a lot of rest in the shade in such hot climates...

Kind of cool by the pond, plus he could watch the fishes (he wasn't allowed to catch them though, much to his chagrin) 

Teddy liked the aerial silks as well.  Cameroun gave him some lessons.

I think he picked it up fairly well!

Teddy enjoyed finding little nooks and crannies to hang out in...

Teddy also spent time getting to know the other animals on the farm...

And more acrobatics to finish things up. he sure had a fun time with this place!  (I think he's enjoying being home in the colder weather though...)

"Home"

The whole time I was in Costa Rica, I talked with various people about the "culture shock" I was likely to go through when I got back home.  But to be honest, I had no idea what "culture shock" was.  I'm not sure I do, even now, when I would supposedly be going through it.  But, maybe I am going through it?  I don't know.  I think maybe the "culture shock" is just another way people talk about the fact that, rather than unadulterated joy about being home, when you come back from a trip like that, it actually entails a crazy muddled mix-up of emotions.
Or maybe, it just means the feeling that everything is... weird.  I can't put my finger on what exactly it *is* that is weird, other than... everything.  Which conflicts internally with the deep sense of familiarity of everything.
Some things I can pin down. 
All the usual sounds are gone.  Complain as I may have about the roosters and other birds, it was weird as fuck not to wake up with the jungle noises around me.  
People here throw their toilet paper in the toilet.  How weird is that? ;-)
My body is pretty convinced, despite the rain, that we've relocated to a dry desert land, and my nose and lips and eyes are suffering from the lack of humidity.
Seatbelts are once again the norm.

But, it is, I think, something deeper and more fundamental, and really a bit disturbing.  I want to be all bouncing and bubbly smiles about being home.... and I'm not.

Don't get me wrong, I'm *SO FUCKING HAPPY* to see the people I love again.  And my wonderful family at the PDC (my home) did an amazing job putting together my new room for me (art and books everywhere! :-D).  Jason made a fabulous welcome home dinner.  Sleeping next to a warm body again was sumptuous.

But.

I don't know.  Maybe culture shock is just when you're gone so long that "home" was where you were traveling, and real home, where you're coming back to, became the strange and exotic place.

Whatever it is, it really does cause a sort of brain numb shocked sensation.  It will be interesting to see how long this takes to pass....

Keep looking here for a few posts of shit tons of pictures (including Teddy's adventures at the ranch) now that I have reliable, fast internet again.

Surreal

Over the course of this trip, I’ve had a lot of different feelings about or dispositions towards home.  I’ve missed it, yearned for it, contemplated it, been proud of it.  It has seemed terribly distant, or right around the corner. It has at times even been frightening.

But sitting here in the kitchen at the ranch a mere two mornings before I will be on a plane for home it seems mainly… surreal.

I had a little bit of this sense when Kelly and I first arrived at the luxury resort where we spent her last night.  As I walked in the lobby I was actually slowed by a sense of un-reality.  Was this place where everything was shiny and clean and expensive looking really still in the country I’ve been in for three months?  It happened again when I went to the high-end mall with Cameroun.  No dirt, no bare feet, clean clothes, the Spanish equivalent to Muzak playing over the speakers…..

Weird.

And now I’m going back to a whole culture/world of “weird”.  I mean hell, I haven’t driven a vehicle in three months.  I haven’t woken up to an alarm in three months.  I haven’t used a dryer, or microwave in three months.  Most of the roads I’ve been on have been dirt, and everything has been at least a little bit dirty.  I haven’t lived with the consistent sounds of traffic, haven’t heard car alarms or sirens, haven’t shopped in a grocery store where you could get anything, haven’t seen a layer of smog hanging in the sky…

It’s gonna be weird.

I’m tremendously glad I’m headed home from the ranch, and not leaving directly from the first farm.  At least here I’ve been online consistently, and we’ve watched movies, and have some neighbors. I think if I’d gone home straight from the farm I’d have fainted from the culture shock of it all.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to go home.  Excited to see the people I love, excited not to be alone when I go to bed at night, excited to see the daffodils and all of spring, excited to have a wider variety of food choices, reliable internet, an income…

But it really seems quite a bit unreal still.  And, odd as this may sound, I’m going to miss the… inconvenience of many things.  If that makes any sense.

Only two more days…

Almost home

Things I will, and will not, miss about being in Costa Rica (an incomplete list).

I will miss:

• Almost never being cold
• The actually useful (if at times terrifying) bus system
• The beauty of the flora and fauna all around me (yes, home is gorgeous too, but it’s different)
• The ocean and it’s warmth
• The sunsets
• The brightness of the stars and moon (damn light pollution back home)
• The sense of life being more simple
• Not “working” (obviously I’ve worked hard, but not had a job in the traditional sense)
• The lack of commute
• Cameroun (little sister I never had)
• The whole family here at Establo San Rafael
• The tribe at VerdEnergia
• True community living
• Farm work
• The food
• My leg hair
• Any and every body of water being warm enough to enjoy comfortably
• Early to bed/early to rise being an acceptable norm
• The goats
• The sound of rain on tin roofs
• Not needing to know the date
• Waking up with no alarm, and only fullfilling things to do in a day
• Fresh juices from native fruits

 I will NOT miss:

• Roosters. OMFG the roosters
• Other loud ass birds at 5am (or 4am sometimes, damn things)
• Being able to tell when it hits 8am because I have started sweating
• Ants
• Ants
• Ants
• Also, Ants
• Chiggers
• Mosquitoes
• Ants
• The instability of internet access
• The inherent terror of being in a vehicle on the roads
• Hell, the roads themselves
• The fact that there is an epic hill between any point A and point B in this country
• The constant itching
• The swollen feet
• Giant spiders
• Cockroaches 
• The feeling of jeans when you've dried them on a line.  So.. crunchy!

TATTOO!!!

Of course the damn pictures loaded in the wrong order. *sigh* anyway, I have my tattoo!  I thought it was good luck when the artist I found was named Jeremy, like my artist back home.  And the shop looked good, and was good!  The tattoo took about 2 hours, and was painful as all get out, but I love the results!  What do people think?

That's right, Beach!

So, last night at the farm, Kelly and I were chatting with a couple of folks, and mentioned that we were heading to the beach this weekend.  Their eyes got big, they gave each other a significant look, and they asked "...You have a reservation then?".  Kelly and I then gave each other a look before I said "...No....".  See, I had never needed one before where we were going.  The people we were talking to went on to explain that this weekend is, like, memorial day, or fourth or July at home.  A huge national holiday.  Apparently they had tried to get a room at the beach (different towns though) and had called 18 places and not found a single place with a room.  Kelly and I gulped a little and said "well.... We'll figure something out!"

This morning started off in an irritating and amusing fashion.  At 4:30am, the grass chopper in the barn that my room shares a wall with started going.  Kelly and I woke up with a groan and a Why The Fuck Is That Going At This Hour??!?.  A few minutes later, Abel knocks on our door and says "It is 5:30, I don't know if you know, you might want to be getting ready..." and we both say "Noooo.... it isn't 5:30.  It is 4:30."  "Oh, is it?  My watch is wrong..."
*grumble grumble*
I don't think either of us got back to sleep.  Still can't figure how he thought is was 5:30, since it was still dark and the sun is peeking over the horizon by 5:30...

Anyway, the "fun" continued when we pulled up to our bus stop.  Abel quirried the woman standing there to make sure it was the right bus stop.... only to learn that the bus had already come and gone... more than 20 minutes early. O_O
Another truck pulled up and got the same information right about then, and we all tore off down the bus route.  It was.... exciting.  I think Kelly nearly wet herself around a few of those turns.  But!  About 10 minutes down the road we caught the damn thing, and boarded.

3.5ish hours of bumps and squeaks and dust and Kelly's back killing her later, we boarded our second bus.  There, an ex pat basically repeated the act of being very dubious of our chances of finding a room.  At this point Kelly and I were thinking we might be camping, or having to bus on to another city or the like.

Finally, round about 1:30, we get off the bus in Domincal.  Fingers crossed and hope in our hearts, we approached the peeps at my favorite hostel.  They beamed to see me return, and handed us a key.

Ha!

The rest of the afternoon has been spent with drinks, waves, and hammock naps.  :-)  Gonna be a good couple of days.

My sister is coming! My sister is coming!

My sister arrives for her visit tomorrow, and I am just so very excited!  Washing all my clothes, and the sheets and sweeping the room in preparation.  Making plans, and looking forward to showing someone I know a small taste of what I have experienced here.  I realized how much I am looking forward to one on one time with my sister, which has been scarce for a few years (yep, twins, I'm looking at you. Lol) but also just how much I'm looking forward to seeing someone I know, something from home.  I am feeling ready to start wrapping up this grand adventure. :-)
Can't wait to see my sis and show her the sights!!