So apologies for the delay, but ever since we arrived in our homestays on Saturday morning, life has been a whirlwind of wings in silent flight, walking for hours and hours from Canitas, Santa Elena and Monteverde to wherever I'm going, and visiting friends both CIEE and Costa Rican. And apologies too for the nature of this post. I'm heading out in about 40 minutes to begin night two of my owl-chase. Last night was successful: three individuals near the station, four instances of hit-the-deck-oh-my-god-it's-so-cool-how-they-come-out-of-nowhere-when-attacking-you (feathers designed for silent flight are -so- amazing), and one wonderful walk back home with a fellow nocturnal peer and a new friend and conservationist from the Monteverde butterfly garden. Also worth mention is an AMAZING night in La Taverna with my professor's band, Chanchos del Monte. They're a biologist power group: the son of Eladio (of Eladio's refugio), Robert Dean (who illustrated the Costa Rican bird guide and was the victim of my endless fan-girling all night long), a CIEE-official bus driver, and of course: the badass director Alan. We can only hope to rock as hard as he did when we're his age. Rock and Roll in Spanish or English--didn't matter. We danced and sang to an absurd degree. But man, is that old news--things have been happening so fast!
My homestay family is the best.
Here are the specifics: I am on a farm that keeps a cow for milk, gardens to provide for the family and neighbors (the entire "block" seems to be related---okay, the entire surrounding area, really), chickens for eggs and to eat, two dogs and countless farm cats, cabins which are trip-advisor approved (where I can get internets), in a room with a double bed to myself, with 30-some-year-old parents that have two kids: seven and two, respectively. The food is fantastic: lots of gallo pinto, TONS of mango, good soups, coffee.
The house has the color scheme of a female blue dacnis. Amber and I discussed how we want this in any future house we inhabit.
Their daughter is a huge fan of butterflies. Love this mobile in the kitchen. The house is so open, too-wooden rafters, chairs, tables: fresh air from the laundry room window always. It's glorious.
Baby roooom. Love the tile, too.
And these two. On top of being exceedingly intelligent for a seven and two year old, they're hilarious, and they get along famously. The daughter loves to give "besitos" to everybody all the time--and the son described his sister as cuddly or loveable, teaching me new words in Spanish. It's awesome.
I have a lot of school photos and artwork in my room. Jorge el curioso. Adorable.
Simple. Stunning. Love the small touches.
And I love to play harmonicas with energetic seven year olds. I really do have a little brother now. We played a little futbol and went on an easter egg hunt at sunset on Sunday.
All of the cute. She squeals and loves my bird books and journal--always calling birds "pipios!"--which are the young chickens in their sheds. She copies whatever you do: for example, when you try to do situps, she joins in. She calls me "NiNi"--just like my sister did when she was that age. Dying of the cute.
Their son knows a TON about animals. Dinosaurs, birds, sharks--you name it. Apparently biology is a huge part of elementary school education in Costa Rica. He came out to look for owls with me on a woods trail behind his house two nights ago, and he was flipping through my book and teaching -me- what their calls were. So great.
Homestay house! Their yard is full of birds' nests and flowers. Lovely sweeping view of the valleys.
Their son took me on my first tour of the place. They have a timber operation in addition to the farm, which is the main use of this shed.
Nesting white-eared ground sparrows in the rafters. Yeeeee.
Pollos! For eating.
Pipios! For being adorable. And I suppose eventually for eating.
Gallo lindo.
And a garden, freshly stripped of all tomatoes.
Oso, the collie, and Bambi, the mutt.
So many delicious fresh things. I've taken on chicken care and I got to collect eggs this morning: there are breadfruits, plantains, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, duranzos (a sour sort of green peach, pomegranate in color on the inside), and various other things. This is the grandparents' ranch-type house, a short walk down the road. All the family gathered here for Easter. Kids screeching and fighting for chocolate eggs in the sunset, dogs and cats stealing scraps.
And a swing!
AND something crazy: another study abroad student, who is calling the grandparents' place home. He's also 21, and he's from SHADYSIDE ACADEMY. My rival high school. Crazy as anything. My mama Tica was right in saying, "Que pequeno es el mondo."
Did I mention how fantastic the fresh vegetables/cooking are?
Mmmmm. Tomatoes.
Oso. Again with the cute. I handed over my camera to their son so he could snap a few shots.
So he got this one of the tractors and the dog.
And he loved my necklace. Colibri means hummingbird.
In exchange for the treats I brought from Chinatown in San Francisco and for playing harmonica with him, Fabian gave me some erasers. He failed at teaching me the word for rainbow, which was entirely my fault for having such bad Spanish. I'm getting along just fine, though, really: my conjugations may be iffy, but my Italian makes it easy for me to understand most things. I've gotten through an entire hour of showing my Tico family pictures of my actual family, a game of soccer, Easter, farm work, telenovellas, and keeping up with various young children that speak with lisps from missing front teeth.
I love it.
While I was unpacking, their son showed me his Max Steele figurine and took me through a bunch of facts about the planets and the solar system. Again, amazingly sharp for seven. And he's such a good kid.
Obligatory parts of the room shot.
Max Steele had a theme song, which I was treated to. Their son is full of performances--last night he danced four different manakin dances, including a Michael Jackson level moonwalk. Definitely check that video out.
I love me some crazy biologists.
...have I mentioned how much I adore Costa Rica?
Their daughter is TOO ADORABLE. She loves my journal. For the "pipios".
...She wanted to play harmonica, too. Her brother helped her out. Sibling love.
So that's about half of the story! Heh. I can't begin to tell you all how incredible it is to be in the forest at night, calling owls, bats coming in and out of the dim red glow of my headlamp, buggies and frogs galore. There was a ton of wind last night and the moon didn't emerge from the smoky mountain of clouds until we were leaving.
I love walking around town with my huge measuring tape in tow and my binoculars around my neck. I love how I can stop in five or more houses around Monteverde to say hello to cooks, fellow bird watching friends, fellow biologists. I can stop at the homestay homes of my friends as well: and gosh, if I could live like this forever---travelling everywhere on foot, picking up small amounts of food from markets, studying in the tropics and living with a small farm family---I would. I can't express the contentment, the elation, the straight up health of it all, and my love for all the people I've come to know over the best two months of my life.
Getting carried away.
I am officially late for my professor and my owls. How time flies. I'll try to keep updating as soon as possible, but no promises. The creeping realization that this only lasts a month and a week more is going to keep me off the computer and in the woods as much as possible.
So cheers, write later, and as always--Pura Vida.
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