Some (more) pictures from the beach

A lot more pictures!

Better internet connection, so I'm hoping these will load quickly....

On pounding tires, full moons, and photo-shoots

I have found an activity on the farm that rivals boxing for using every muscle group in your body.  Pounding tires.  There's a house being built right now, and the walls, at least the inside of them, is built of used tired that are packed full of dirt/crushed rock.  "Pounding tires" is the name given to the task of packing the tired with the dirt/crushed rock.  It sounds simple and easy, no?  Well, while relatively simple, it is anything *but* easy.  Probably 15 or more 5 gallon buckets of dirt can fit into one of the big mac-truck tires.  it has to be absolutely packed tight, and this involves shoving the dirt in by hand, shoveling dirt into buckets and hauling them up the wall, shoving the dirt into the wall? of the tire with wooden wedges, with long polls, pry baring the tire more open to pack more in, and eventually slamming more in with a sledge-hammer.
All in the sun.
OMG.
I may be getting muscles in places I didn't know there were any. Ha!

The other night was the full moon.  A bunch of people at the farm stayed up late, had a fire, drank, and had a little full-moon party.  But, since I'm a stick in the mud and needed to be up to do breakfast the next day, I went to sleep at my customary time.  However, when I woke up to use the bathroom around 11pm, I saw how wonderful the moonlight was, and I decided to celebrate in my own way, and stripped off and took a naked dip in our pool. :-)  It was magical, floating on my back in the water, I felt like I was made of moonlight.

In other amusing and fun farm news, we had a short photo shoot with most all the women at the farm the other day.  A few weeks ago I mentioned the idea of making a sexy calendar of the farm girls to sell to raise money for the farm, and Maiju fell in love with the notion, and we we've begun putting it in action.  The cover and the last month are going to be group shots, which is what we shot the other day.  One photo will be the women in shorts and like bikini tops at the tire wall mentioned above, all dirty and posing with tools.  Other shot is in the river, all in white shirts and shorts or underwear or bikini bottoms.  Was a very fun time doing the shoot, and I'll post pictures when they get to me.  And I get to bring a calendar home!

Anyway, I'm at the beach in a town called Dominical right now.  I'll post more about this trip when I get back to the farm. :-)

Love everyone!

Day to day stuff

So, two super surprising things to report right now.  One, there was an earthquake yesterday morning!  At about 1:10am.  I was only half awake, and it was brief enough that I was not actually sure it had happened until the morning when other people were talking about it.  It wasn’t too strong.  Nothing was knocked over or the like, but it vigorously shook me in the bed!  Only the second one I’ve experienced.  I’m kind of excited. J

Second thing is cacao fruit.  Holy cow.  Douwe walked up with these decently large hard yellow squash-looking things.  I got all excited and asked it if was more squash.  He said no, is was cacao, and I exclaimed “Really??”  He chuckled, and told me I was in for a treat, hacked one in half, and extracted this kind of gooey looking white kernal, a little bigger than a grape, and told me to suck on it, not chew, and to spit the bran out into a bowl when I’m done.  I put it in my mouth with come trepidation due to the look of it but OMG.  Sososososososososososo good! Sweet, and a little sharp like pineapple, and juicey…  Just wow.  Most surprising thing ever I think.  The same plant that produces chocolate produces this awesome tart fruit. I’m so excited.

Hmmm… what else to report?  I’m falling into the rhythm of life here.  I miss everyone at home terribly, but I’m finding that I could get used to living here/this way.  It is simple, and engaging, and it feels good to be so active, and to know that my activities all go towards benefiting my community and myself.  I can be busy the whole day and never have to leave, and everything is very close to nature… I don’t know, I just really like it.  Makes me want my dream mini-farm even more than ever.

I am the breakfast guru. Lol.  I am the only person who seems to enjoy taking the breakfast shift, and so am on it 5-6 times a week.  It entails getting in the kitchen by 5am, but that suits me just fine since I am usually up without my alarm by 4:15-4:30am.  Also, I am actually cheerful at that hour, which certainly can not be said of most of my “tribe-mates”. It is kind of funny.  I’m seen as the breakfast expert now, and when someone gets on the breakfast shift for the first time, they come to me to ask how to do everything, or get put on the shift with me so I can train them. J  It certainly is an experience to plan and execute two breakfasts for like 20 people so often, and with limited supplies, most of which I’m only slowly becoming familiar with utilizing.

Not much else going on.  It is beautiful, and hot, and wonderful.  I enjoy the work a lot, and the down time more.  There have been belly dance classes, yoga classes, and guided meditations, and there are always dunks in the pool or trips to the river.  There’s cooking and cleaning and butter making and animal tending, and in a totally different way than ever before in my life I am thoroughly busy. J

Ant Rant

I did not know before this trip that I hated ants.  I may have been occasionally annoyed, or dismayed, but never before did I hate them.

That was then.

This is now.

And now, I hate them.  They are everywhere, and in everything.  All different kinds and sizes.  I used to have a hard time believing that the mass of ants in the world outweighed the humans.  I believe it now.

The super tiny ones are the most prolific and are in the most unexpected places, like under the cap in my bottle of honey, swarming around the hand-soap tray, and on my computer screen just now as I’m writing this.  They are mostly just annoying, as most of the time they don’t cause any pain or serious mischief.

The slightly larger black ones are the worst. They tend to hang out on the food we need to handle, like the beans we needed to shell bags and bags of.  They also tend to be about on the ground, say where you’d like to walk, or where you’re sweeping.  And these ones are the suck.  I thought they were biting me, or stinging me in some way.  Nope.  Turns out they piss on you.  And their piss is acidic, and burns like a son-of-a-bitch.  For, like, a long time.  So randomly, throughout your day, you’ll go to brush something off you and it will be one of these fucking ants, and they will piss on you as they depart, or you’re foot will just start burning in a few places and you’ll realize you should probably not be standing where you are….  Ugh.  They are awful.

There are also red fire ants here.  Thankfully, I have not yet had an encounter with them, except for seeing them.  Apparently they hurt you really badly, and is lasts a really long time.

There are bugs of all sorts all over the freaking place here, but I do believe the ants are the worst, and may never forgive ants for what they have done to me this trip.

Schedule

A semi-typical daily schedule (so called because no two days are the same, but this is a decent look at an average)

4:45am: Wake up to do breakfast shift (I’ve discovered I really dislike doing lunch or dinner, and we’re encouraged to sign up for at least 5 meal shifts a week).  I’m always up before my alarm goes off though, closer to 4:20-4:30.

5:00am: Start “first breakfast”, which mainly entails preparing fruit, some sort of protein, and putting on water for coffee and tea.

5:30am: Eat.

6:00am: Start on morning chores.  If I’m on the breakfast shift, this includes filling the solar shower, emptying and cleaning the compost buckets, sifting the leaves out of the pool, and, my personal favorite “caca”, which is cleaning out the “composting toilet”.  Fun stuff.  After those are done, if it is before 8am, I find some other chore to do, like peeling turmeric, doing farm laundry, making butter, or the like.  If I’m not on breakfast, 6-9am is time for chores such as morning rounds (checking the water system and watering a couple of the gardens), rabbits and chickens (probably my least favorite chore.  Entails finding and chopping copious greens for the rabbits, and stomping all over hell’s half acre to feed and clean the cages of and replace the water for the various rabbits).  This time can also be used for working on projects like weeding, pounding rocks, harvesting things, etc.

8:00am: If I’m on breakfast, this is when we start prep for “second breakfast”, which is a lot more complicated and a lot larger than the first.  I should mention meal shifts are 3-4 people strong, so I’m not cooking for 21 people all on my own.

9:00am: Second breakfast.  Yum.

10-1:00pm: Time for either more chores and project work, or time for things like doing personal laundry (BTW, when I get home I am giving my washing machine a big, wet, sloppy kiss.  Laundry using the bike powered machine is so much work).  I generally find myself something near the house to do, like riding the bike powered grinder to grind dosa, because I’m a giant pansy, and don’t enjoy working out in the glaring sun during these hours.

1:00pm: Lunch!  The food here is awesome!

2:00pm: This is generally a down time for people.  Time to jump in the pool, run over to the bamboo house to get online, take a siesta, and things like that.

4:00pm: Afternoon chores start happening, such as the afternoon installation of the chickens and rabbits (which you have to do both morning and afternoon is you’re on that chore for the day), afternoon rounds, the horse (probably my favorite chore, difficult though it is), or milking the cow (cow is also milked at 5:30am, but those are two separately assigned chores).

5:30: Dinner!  After dinner people hang out and talk, it is a good time to plan projects for the next day, play a game, etc.

8:00pm: If you’re me, this is about when you head towards bed.  I may read for a while, I may journal, but most of the time I’m unconscious by 8:30pm.

More pictures!!

River trip

Yesterday I had a most fabulous experience!  One of the first moments in my trip that has felt like a vacation rather than some sort of odd working internship adventure.  Sundays are “rest days” here on the farm (though a good portion of the chores still have to be done, like milking the cow, watering, and feeding various animals.  We just don’t work on any of the projects that are underway) and so people get to go out on adventures.  Today a group of 7 of us (plus the toddler) went on a 30 minute or so walk to a place where two different rivers converge.  One of them flows through open fields much of its course, and so is fairly warm, and the other comes out from the jungle, and so is about 10 degrees colder.  Where they meet is fairly deep, and the water swirls cold one second, and warm the next…. It is so awesome.  There are big rocks to lie on, and a rocky beach, and the walk there is gorgeous in and of itself.  It was so much fun!  Swimming, and sitting in the fast current letting the water rush over me, talking with the people who came with and basking in the sun.  On the way back, we noticed some orange trees in one of the fields we were walking through and stopped to pick them.  It was fun to watch human determination in progress, as we leapt, and picked each other up etc in order to get the oranges we decided we wanted.  Upon actually breaking one open, we discovered it to be more sour than most lemons, but we think it will be good for making “orange-ade” and for making cheese. J  On the whole, a really wonderful way to spend the late morning and early afternoon.  I know today will be one of the memories I hold on to when I come back home.

Hope to post pictures from the trip sooon.

Things that surprise me

-         How many people here eat meat, and other animal products.  I fully expected that most if not all the people here would be vegan or vegetarian, but it isn’t so.  Only I think…. 5? Out of 20 people are vegetarian, and I don’t think we have any vegans anymore.  Roosters and rabbits are actually raised here on the farm for meat.

-         How fast and easily I get dehydrated.  This one shouldn’t surprise me, but it did.  And it still sneaks up on me.  The other day I was so dehydrated I had to drink 3 liters of water before I got hydrated again.  Holy lord, the heat!

-         How into technology everyone is.  Dad thought everyone here would be a bunch of luddites, but they aren’t.  Almost every night people are watching movies or tv shows on their laptops, people are blasting tunes over various sound systems connected to their I-pods all day and into the evening, and they are always wandering over to the bamboo house to use the internet….

-         How freaking delicious fresh (though chilled) milk is.  Holy cow, literally.  It isn’t full fat, because we skim the cream off the top first to use for making butter, but it is pretty thick and luxurious and I adore it.

-         The quality of the cooking.  Wow, do I feel spoiled.  Not only are we using almost entirely farm fresh (literally, from our farm) ingredients, but the quality of the meals is incredible.  Even the non “chefs” seem to be able to dream up and execute amazing meals on this massive scale (cooking for 20 plus most meals).  Some of what I’ve seen made here I intend to attempt to make when I get back home.  On a related note…

-         How well I’m doing without caffeine, or much if any sugar, or crap food of any sort.  Almost no salt too. 

-         How little time I’ve spent reading, writing, or listening to music.  Not a lot of down time on a farm I’m learning.  And by the time everything is done in the evening… I just want to go to bed, even if it’s only 7:30-8:00pm.  Here I was imagining I’d be plowing through the classic novels, and I think I will be impressed if I get through one or two…

-         How many people do drugs and smoke.  I suppose the drug bit, most especially pot, shouldn’t have surprised me, but I think I am literally the only person here who doesn’t do it, which surprises me some.  And considering how earth and health conscious most of the people here are, the number of tobacco smokers surprises me a lot.  At least 5 people here smoke regularly.  Oh, and a huge number are morning coffee addicts.  Ha!

-         How fast days are going past.  I know I’m not too far into my journey, but each day flies by so fast, I’m starting to think the whole trip may do the same.

Cast of Characters

This is a little difficult to write, because every time I go to do it, the number of people here changes.  So, I’m going to do my best, and you’ll just have to bear in mind that by the time you read this, it’ll probably be wrong.

Maiju and Joshua: These two are two of the sort of ruling forces here on the farm.  Joshua was one of the founding people 7 years ago, and was really the seed for the idea.  Majiu didn’t come until 2 years ago, but has been here since, and is one of the contact people here if you want to stay at the farm.  Joshua has a very large, boisterous personality, is something of a conspiracy theorist, and always talks very loudly and with energy.  He’s a hard worker, and is usually busy on whatever is the biggest, hardest job on the farm.  Maiju is more quiet, but can be very stubborn, and speaks her mind quite clearly.  She owns the horse on the farms, and is into the animals and their care.  And she’s super petite!  Only 107lbs.

Yamaya: Yamaya is Joshua’s ex, and was also a founding person for the farm.  She has an equally strong personality, and it isn’t rare to find her in conflict with someone or another.  She is a belly dance instructor for her living in the states, and is very into herbal medicine, and energy work, and meditation, and the like.  I imagine she and Charles would get into spectacular disagreements. J  She occasionally teaches workshops here at the farm, and was one of the people who was very kind to me when I was sick.

Kaileah: One of the kids here on the farm.  She belongs to Yamaya and Josh, and is 9 years old. She is amazingly outgoing and confident.  She loves to dance, and has more energy than an atom bomb, I swear. J  She drives me a little crazy from time to time, but she is also a source of light and laughter here.

Melissa:  Melissa is a “Tica” or a Costa Rican native. She speaks decent English, but it is definitely a second language still.  But she is very cheerful and kind, and is an amazing artist!  All the murals on the walls around here are by here, and are gorgeous.  She is also a wonderful cook!

Edo:  One of the “tribe members” here (or people who own shares in the farm), even though he’s only been here a few weeks.  He is from Holland, but speaks English more or less perfectly.  He is a huge conspiracy theorist.  It can be quite entertaining to listen to some of the ideas he has.  He can have something of a acerbic wit and sarcastic humor, but also a temper, so he can be a bit much at times, but he is very helpful for me with the computer and internet, and is ready and willing to help teach me how to do chores etc.

Casper: Also a tribe member.  Also from Holland.  One of the “prettiest” people here. ;-)  A genius at turning a hodgepodge of leftovers into casseroles that actually taste good.  We call them “Casperoles”.  Probably the most tech savvy person here, also very good at carpentry.

Douwe: Another tribe member harkening from Holland.  He is tropical forest engineer, and is the lead guy on everything going on outside on the farm.  He can be gruff, especially if he’s been drinking the night before (and he’s something of an alcoholic) but when he’s in a good mood he’s very informative and funny.  His drinking is mostly a problem when it means he is up late with his music blaring, and ends up being an ass in the morning and having a hard time getting up and going.

Wouter: a Dutch friend pf Douwe’s, he’s only been here a couple days and will only be here a couple weeks.  But he is nice, and funny, and he and I have been showing each other critters and interesting insects we discover on the farm.

Catherine: One of the two newest and two youngest people at the farm, she is 19 and in college studying environmental design.  She actually gets to stay here for 6 months for school and it counts towards her degree.  She’s a bit of a pot-head (though, in reality, most people here are.  I am in the definite minority in my abstaining) but is super sweet, smart, and amazingly hard working, especially for someone so tiny.  She’s into construction in particular.

Chris and Marie: Both tribe members, but from Oregon.  Chris is a wonderful chef, and seems how to do most things around here.  He is also one of the most laid back, easy-going people here, and more quiet than most.  I enjoy time around him a lot.  Marie is his partner/wife.  She is a little less competent seeming and is less sure of herself, but is super kind, and I enjoy learning how to do things from here, because she seems to allow for error more than some here.  She is also super laid back and mellow, and more of a peace keeper than many around here.  Back home they teach conscious connection workshops.  Not exactly sure what that means, but something about being genuinely present with yourself and the people you’re around.

Mariska, Vincent, and Kaya:  Kaya is the baby here, ringing in at not quire 2 years old.  He doesn’t talk quite as much as my nephews did at his age, but he is tri-lingual (Dutch, English, and Spanish when he does talk, so I figure it’s just taking him a while longer to assimilate that many words.  He is often the farm alarm-clock at 4-something in the morning. J But he is a sweet kid, and well-behaved for the most part.  Mariska is quiet most of the time, but very kind, and has a fun sense of humor and awesome LONG dreads.  She teaches yoga classes here and there on the farm, and does Thai massage.  Vincent is our other most awesome chef, as it is his actual profession back home.  He is also one of the people I’ve talked with most and would say I am closest to here.  He likes to take advantage of my gullibility though. :-P

Jordan: The other youngest and newest person here, and friend to Catherine, also in school, but for environmental science, rather than design.  I don’t know him too well yet, but he seems to have a good sense of humor and be willing to lend a hand.

Sioned:  One of out two folks from Britain, she is actually Welsch, and that was her first language.  My lord, and don’t know how she makes her mouth make those sounds.  Another person I’ve grown pretty close to here, she is funny, nice, and a willing assistant whenever you’re trying to do anything. 

Qat:  Qat has a big personality, and is a tribe member with a lot of force behind her.  She is often at the center of conflict.  She is the lead for all the food processing and inside the house stuff that happens on the farm.  I worship this woman’s stamina.  Most days she goes endlessly from sun up to sun down, hard work stuff!  She’s very impressive, but she also comes across strong.  She has an especial issue with Spencer, who we’ll get to shortly…

Robin: One of my roommates.  When I got here she was the next newest person, having been here only 5 weeks.  It was great, talking with her, because she went through a lot of the same experiences and thought processes that I’ve been going through, and so could sympathize and tell me how she got through it etc.  She’ll be moving to Portland when she returns home, and I’m hoping we can stay in touch and see each other now and again.

Tosca: Also very new here, only showed up 3 days ago.  She’s another “youngin” at 22, and is also in college, though she’s about to graduate.  She’s in some sort of independent study, and she gets credit for her time here, though she’ll have to write papers.  Very into holistic healing and yoga, and was actually teaching yoga before she came here, she’s also one of my roommates.  I enjoy talking with her, and I think we’ll grow to be friends, especially since we’re here a similar amount of time.

Spencer:  Last but very much not least.  Spencer is from England.  He was a professional musician for many years, and still has the remnants of that kind of personality.  He plays guitar very well, and sings.  Sings often.  And Loudly.  He can be very sweet, and is the only person here who really flirts at all, but man does he flirt, but he can also be abrupt, self-centered, and abrasive, especially if you make the mistake of approaching him in the morning.  He and Qat clash often and with vigor, but he also grates on a lot of other people.  On the other hand, he’s a hell of a worker, especially in the kitchen, and he sweet with the compliments etc.

Pictures

I'm sorry to say, there won't be many forthcoming.  Turns out the internet here makes uploading things take roughly forever.  :-( So, I will post a couple, here and there, when I can, but most will have to wait until I am back in the states. :-)  Then I'll make a massive album on facebook or something. :-)  The above pictures are of the bamboo house (not where I live), me grating some Turmeric, the view from where I get online, the view from part of the property, and my bed. :-)
Love everyone!

And another post. 35 days and counting

At least, at this farm.
Figured I'd give another quick update while I'm online and since I actually wrote the last post 4 days ago.  Kidney infection seems to be all gone, though I'll continue my meds like I should.  I'm writing this with hands stained yellow and orange from peeling and grating turmeric all morning.  I hear they wil stay this color for 3-4 days. Ha!
Kidneys are all better, I'm happy to report, so in the next week or so I should be able to learn a good portion of the chores and get into the swing of things here at the farm.  Can't wait until the first time I get to deal with the composting toilet (see "bucket").  Not really.
I am sleeping *so much* here!  I often nap mid-day, and I'm ready for bed by 8 or 9pm.  I suspect it has something to do with the heat, so maybe I'll get more energy as I adjust.
Didn't get the chance to upload pictures, but I will next time, I swear.  There's so very much green!  I have to remember that you all don't need to see endless pictures of green hills.... :-)
My room is soon to be full, so five people in it, but I think it will be an all girls room then, which should be fun.  Very much liking my three gal roommates, Robin, Tosca, and Sioned.  Not that I don't like the guy, but he took a vow or something to only speak Spanish this month, and he doesn't speak it well, nor do I understand it well, so there isn't a lot of communicating going on. :-)
Having a good (and very hot!  Lord almighty the heat...) time.
A little sad, because my lack of funds means I'm really going to be tied to the farms where I'm staying.  I feel like I'm going to be in this country for 3 months and not get to see any of the culture, or parks, or beaches... :-(
But mostly, I'm happy to be experiencing something totally new, and I'm happy to be learning new skills, and a new way of living (not one I imagine I'll continue later, but it may impact some of my choices down the line), and happy to be meeting new people!
Anyway, miss you all!  And thank you bunches for the comments on past posts, I really appreciate them!  They made me smile when I got to read them today, so keep it up!

First post from First farm

My gosh.  What to say?

Got here safely, though the second bus ride was…. Exciting at times.  I am super glad I don’t have to drive in this country, I must say.  The twisty-turny dirt road that the bus took was very sketchy in places, and it was a bit heart in throat at times.  But, I arrived alive!

I live in a room with 5 beds in it.  When I moved in there were 2 guys and one other girl in it, but one guy and the girl are moving out (leaving the farm), but another gal is moving in, so there will be three of us in here.  I have a lower bed, tucked into a corner, one edge along a wall.  I have a mosquito net, which is an adventure to get in and out of at night when I need to go to the bathroom.  None of the buildings here are really enclosed.  There are open holes for windows, and most have an opening all along the rim of the room just under the roof.  You can always hear the outside, and what’s going on in other rooms.  Most of the people here sleep in different rooms in one building, though there are rooms in the main house (where the kitchen is), and above/behind the yoga studio, etc.

Right now there are 18 people here, plus one toddler (almost 2) and a kid (9). But it will be down to 16 when my roommates leave.  I’ll write a cast of characters before my next post.  They are very interesting.  Most from America, though a few from Holland, and one from Britain.  I can report that the people here are as human as anybody, and there are tensions, and disagreements, and bickering.  In a weird way, it is nice to know that you just don’t get community living without stuff like that.

The chores here are essentially endless.  Not that people don’t take breaks, but if one wanted to be working all the time, it would be easy to accomplish.  Take the simple seeming chore of feeding the chickens and rabbits.  Well, first off, they are a goodly walk from the main house. Plus, you have to harvest the greens for the rabbits as you go, which requires hiking up and down these very steep hills to grab banana leaves, spinach, hibiscus, and other greens.  Then you have to clean the cages, and re-fill the water, etc… all in all, it probably takes about an hour, and you have to repeat some of it in the afternoon. And that’s just one of the smaller chores! I think in the kitchen alone one could probably work endlessly, between prepping meals, cleaning up from meals, and food processing (making cheese, making butter, etc).  Most of the chores are assigned.  Each person is assigned a letter of the alphabet, and the chores rotate through alphabetically, so it’s nice and fair.  Some chores you sign up for, like cooking, though it is encouraged that you sign up for at least one kitchen shift per day.

I’d tell more about more of the chores, except I haven’t done most of them, due to the most “exciting” thing I have to report so far.  The bladder infection I was fighting with before I left decided to turn into a kidney infection.  I decided to use the antibiotics that my doctor sent me with.  They were incase I got diarrhea with a fever and/or blood, but reckoned that a kidney infection warranted the use of what I had to keep me out of a hospital.  The pain got pretty damn intense for a while, and I was laid out entirely for a day.  As I write this, it has gotten better, thought it is not yet “good”.  Still in pain, etc.  But, I’m hoping I’ve gotten over the “hump” and will continue to get better from here.  If not, I’ll let people know.  (Update: Wrote the bulk of this two days ago.  Yesterday I went to the doctor in town.  Too provincial to take insurance, but all in all it wasn’t too costly.  About $84 for the visit and the correct antibiotics)

I’ll try to take some pictures before the next time I post, so that you guys can see where I am.  It is pretty beautiful.

First morning (90 days and counting)

Well, I certainly slept.  Be it the stress, or the headache, I slept for far longer than I wanted to.  However, I thought it was important to get as much sleep as my body thought it needed since today will probably be another seriously stressful day, and I need my reserves.  Feeling dehydrated and groggy right now, waiting on the continental breakfast that looks like it may be..... lacking. *sigh*.  However, i should have plenty of time to figure out my way to Puriscal and then to... wherever my second destination is (I can't remember just now) as my current goal is the noon bus in Puriscal.  It is 8:20 here.  The gal I've been emailing at the farm thought I should catch the 7am bus here if I wanted to catch the 9am in Puriscal, so I figure if I catch a 10am bus here, that should put me in time for the 12pm in Puriscal.
If possible, I'll post again tonight, letting people know I'm there safely.  If I can't do that, I'll post as soon as I can, and then about once a week.
Loves and Kisses.

Here

This was going to be a lot longer.
But it is a lot later than I thought it would be, the internet signal isn't great, and I have a raging headache.  So, I will sum up.
Didn't die on the trip here (despite a bit of a scary moment or two just after taking off from Phoenix).
Met and talked some with a family on the plane who was headed home to San Jose.  They were very kind, and it was nice to talk to them.
Anxiety due to late arrival lead to my making a probably poor decision about where to get my first funds in cash, and I think I was a bit ripped off.  Ah well.
Learned that no one, even in the airport here, knows how to hurry.  Or, at least, they feel no inclination to move with any sense of alacrity.  Oh holy gods did that up my anxiety in the airport, knowing my ride to the hostel was waiting.
It is balmy here, which is nice.
Kind of wish I'd splurged for an actual hotel room.  The whole mixed gender shared bunk bed dorm thing is more than a wee bit weird/uncomfortable for me.  Here's hoping I sleep alright tonight.
More than a little terrified still of making it to the place I'm supposed to get picked up tomorrow for the farm.  I hope all goes well.
Love everyone, and miss you all already.

Departure

Mere minutes from heading to the airport. Next update should come this evening from the hostel Casa Colon in San Jose, Costa Rica!

Address #1

Be forewarned, mail is a little dodgy in getting to the first place.  But, I will certainly welcome attempts!  The address is VerdEnergia, 500 m oeste de escuela en Lanas, Mercedez Sur #2, Puriscal, San Jose, Costa Rica, Centro America

:-)  I'll post the second one as soon as I know it.

Last day

Woke up at 4:42am and couldn't get back to sleep as my head was busy making lists of things I need to do today, and things I need to pack.  Finally got up around 6 and have actually started writing those things down.  I'm thinking I'll use our dining room table as a sort of packing staging area so I can see that I have everything together before I start shoving shit in bags and have the inevitable "wait, did I already pack that?" moment.
List of things I need to do today is unfortunately long.  Between my natural penchant for procrastination and my being pretty terribly ill for a few days, a lot has gotten shoved to the last minute.  But, maybe that's for the best.  Maybe keeping busy will help to occupy my mind, keep me from getting bogged down in fear/anxiety etc.
Having a lot of "this is my last time for a long time doing..." moments.
Last early morning with my tea on the couch.
Tonight will be my last night sleeping next to someone.
My last dinner at home.
Last opportunity to text about a billion people.

Lots of thoughts and realizations like those.

Tickets were purchased a long time ago. I've booked the hotel now for my first night there, and arranged to get picked up from the airport (despite the fact that it costs... 7x as much as the bus.  What can I say, I just don't want another thing to be nervous about the first few hours there).  I'm all set up with two farms who are expecting me for the dates arranged...

And it *still* doesn't feel real.

Always do what you are afraid to do

Quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I don't think I've ever done anything that scares me this much.  Been crying off and on in terror all evening.  Good lord, this is going to be scary.