Pura Vida Mae

Pura Vida is the best way to sum up Costa Rica. Pura vida means pure life or super great, chill, and/or happy. It is what people respond when you ask how they are or when you just say hi.

Montezuma Sunrise

It has been great returning to Costa Rica. Costa Rica was the first country I traveled to outside of Canada and the US. I studied abroad here for a short month and was able to visit Guanacaste, Puerto Viejo, and Volcan Arenal for some beach, zip-line, and rafting adventures. Now finding myself here again is super comfortable and leaves me more doors open to see some of the things I missed the first time around.

I headed to Costa Rica (unknown to me) on their independence day. As soon as we walked across the bridge making the border crossing with Panama- yes we literally got to experience crossing the border by walking the bridge- we were greeted with song, dance, and parade sporting the Costa Rican flag. It was a great welcome back for my first time returning to a foreign country.To start off Costa Rica I ended up in a place I loved the first time around: Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is a town with a lot of Jamaican influence on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica. Needless to say it is a great place to sit back and relax. Something I needed very much. So I rented a hammock for a few nights and was able to decompress. I spent the nights playing cards, sitting by a camp fire near the beach, and making dinner with people I met in the trip our in the giant room of hammocks. I spent the days getting out for a run and renting a bike to get some fresh air and listen to the awesome sounds of the birds and monkeys (I think) hiding in the trees. Just the refresher I needed before moving forward to San Jose.
I was fortunate enough to have a home base in San Jose. My mom's classrooms aide's cousin lives in San Jose with his family. He also happens to be the cousin of someone from my graduating class. Small world. The Convery family was kind enough to take me in and feed me some of the best food I have had on this trip. Keith's mother just moved down to Costa Rica and caught wind of my love for coconut so on my last day there we combined our language power to prepare a sweet shrimp and rice dish to be followed up by chocolate coconut bars. DELUXE! It was great to be integrated into this bilingual household. The highlight: helping the youngest son with his Spanish homework (which he speaks fluently...just a tid jealous) and had far too much fun for it to go unnoticed for me.

Keith and I solved the bus system to get me off for an early departure to Montezuma on Friday. My good friend Jackie studied abroad here for a year and spent a good chunk of her free time in Montezuma dancing so I knew it was the place for me with my intense desire to go dancing since I left the DR.

Montezuma is on the pacific peninsula of Costa Rica so to get there is a few buses and a beautiful ferry ride. On the ferry I knew I was headed to the right place thy were blasting Latin tunes and the garbage man kept us all entertained with his interpretive dance.

Upon getting to Montezuma I quickly met a quirky Danish girl who was ready to hike the waterfalls there. With a short break to drop my bag and get a passion fruit smoothie we were off. A group of is hiked along the river and weaved up and over trees to reach the first of three waterfalls. There we met a local Tico (term here for Costa Rican) who showed us how to get in under the falls and climb up a bit to sit and enjoy the spray- after my last experience I was a bit nervous of slipping and sliding, but he took good care of me. Since we befriended the Tico he decided to show is the way to the falls that were higher up. To get there we had to use a rope to stable part if a climb and again maneuvering around lots of tree roots and rocks. A total adventure! After getting there the Tico immediately ditched his backpack and took a jump of the fall. It seemed totally crazy to me because he jumped right through a bush! Yet, after seeing him do it I couldn't resist. So once everyone wasn't looking and he jumped off a part directly on the water fall I followed suit--44 feet later I made a splash. It was WILD! We were then able to see over the first fall and hide in the cave under this fall too. When I got to the top no one could believe that I did it- but were super impressed with my tenacity. The hike out was again complicated, but a great adventure. I was glad we had an experienced person to show is the way.

When we got back we grabbed dinner made a few rum and cokes and head out for the only bar in town. I had told everyone my main goal in Montezuma was to dance so they introduced me to a few of the locals who danced super well. I was utterly impressed by the Tico merengue skills. Merengue is a dance originally from the DR, but when they mix all their salsa turns and spins WOW! I have never had so much fun being thrown around a dance floor. Not to forget they played a good half hour of just bachata and with my excitement and evident love for it some started calling me bachatera. So perfect!

While dancing I met a Tico who lives in the states and was heading back soon so as a celebration he was going to Tortuga Island and could get me in for Tico prices. Needless to say they next day I was on my way to la Isla Tortuga not knowing anything about the tour. I was nothing but impressed for a tour free to me. We stopped at the island to let them prepare lunch while we got to snorkel around for an hour. The highlight... A massive blue star fish. After we headed to the island for some fresh fish and rice while my new friend struck up a deal to get some fresh oysters. We spent the afternoon eating and preparing the biggest oysters I had ever seen and the tiny lobsters that were doing some cleaning inside of it...totally fresh and still kicking as we bit/cut into it. Que Rico!! On the ride back I was excited to see hump back whales jumping around and giving us some "ooooohhhh ahhhhh" entertainment.

I spent that night dancing and talking in the street until I got sent back to my room by the storms that rainy season never fails to bring. Rain lasted the good chunk of the next day and allowed for a perfect movie night.

The next day I finally made it to explore the beaches around Monteverde and enjoy some local ceviche after a solid match of soccer with gringos and Ticos alike. It made me happy to play with men who didn't mind pushing you around. I left Montezuma beaming, doing nearly all of the things that give me that natural high. So many times that weekend I made sure to give thanks to how fortunate I was for that experience. 

My Costa Rica experience as far from over. I heard to Monteverde for the cloud forest. The bus ride here was longer than expected so I made sure to head to get on my feet the next day in the Santa Elena Reserve. I spent my first morning exploring through the clouds on my own and finding an exciting 14 new settings on my camera and lots of colorful flowers. Uh oh! In a nerd moment I was likening waking through the cloud forest to swimming in the SAV of the Chesapeake because of all the biodiversity that lives there. Any who,

my timing was  great, I found the lookout tower to climb and enjoy the sandwich I packed myself to dine with a clear view of Volcan Arenal- which was cloudy on my last visit.   Lindisimo! The afternoon I returned to my room to find I had a roommate-the first one after five days of sleeping alone in a dorm (one benefit of traveling in low season), but I was lucky because he was off to a great adventure. In the forest near town is a tree that was hollowed out by another tree that you are able to climb in the middle of. The locals we met there called it Fincus Extrangulador- or Strangler. It was a super neat experience literally being IN a tree to pop out the top of it.

My last day in Costa Rica was spent doing what those who come to Monteverde come to do: zip-line. Having already done a canopy tour in Costa Rica I was hesitant to come out here for it, but man was it worth it! I signed up for a tour that included 13 lines, a repel, and a Tarzan swing. After working at EHOS I thought I was totally prepared, but this way way more exiting than what we have on the Eastern Shore. With this zip-line you are in control of stopping yourself and the view is absolutely breathtaking. The tour takes you through some shorter lines and on some that you ride double with a friend (I found a group of Spanish girls to tag along with.) The last of the lines is 1 km long and you ride it superman style with all parts of your body attached to the line and your arms outstretched airplane style. This was breathtaking going over the valley as the clouds set in, the scariest part was not knowing how we were stopping at the end. The pictures of my face at the end are priceless. Yet, I have to say the best part was the Tarzan swing. Since I decided to stick with the Spanish speakers for the tour I ended up at the end of the line. While they were hooking me in the told me to turn around, so naturally I obliged only to be tossed off facing backwards with the most authentic scream I have ever produced. It was so much fun and such a thrill to be added to something already full of adrenaline rushes. Overall worth it and something anyone who makes the bumpy ride to Monteverde shouldn't think twice about doing.

After the tour I decided to get a good cup of coffee and some high quality chocolate to relax for the afternoon. The tour guaranteeing me the same wasn't worth the extra $25 dollars I would pay- but the chocolate was totally worth the food splurge.
I am off to Nicaragua in the early morning for a volunteer project after climbing the hill to the office three times to bus ticket. I am excited to be working with some Spanish speaking kids in a school setting and testing out how that shoe fits for me.

Before I can log off I must give a big thanks to Jackie. Upon getting here I was hammering her with questions about what I should do, how I should do it, and how to get there. Jackie's second home is here in Costa Rica and she really knows a lot about it. Ever since I starting traveling Jackie has been there to answer all questions and give some of the best advice I have ever received. Because of her talent and experience with travel she has started a website and just got a book published. If you are interested in learning how to travel on a budget and live it up while abroad you should totally check it out! There is a link on the middle right side of my blog about The Budget-Minded Traveler and how to buy it (right about the photos you should check out.) Don't miss this chance-believe me I wouldn't be able to do all my travels without having this guardian angel and reference at my finger tips. In supporting Jackie you would be supporting me as well, as I am an affiliate of her budget-minded travels and can benefit from your purchase as well. Thanks Jackie for always being there for me!
PURA VIDA!

Pondering Panama

I traveled to Panama with a few things in mind and quickly everything changed for me there.In making plans to go to Panama with AB back in March we were dead set on teaching English. Since then AB spent her summer on Europe and I spent my summer in the Dominican Republic. Each of us in that time decided we wanted to achieve different goals in the next few months than thought previously. For me, after being in Santo Domingo and completely immersed in the Spanish language I realized how important it is to me to continue improving my Spanish. Something, shown my my experience in Guate, that can be very slow if you are required to speak English during the whole working day. So we decided to dabble in the world of vacation and work away...
On landing in Panama AB's dad, Dale, joined us for a week of vacation and touring. With him we found a friendly, and now much richer, cab driver who toured us around the city. I acted translator while he showed us all the hot spots for Canal history. He took us to see the Maraflores locks on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. It turns out we were really fortunate for our timing; we got to see a handful of boats cross and the gates open and close for the water to rise. We later found out from our work away experience that the boats only cross at certain hours of the day so timing is fairly critical (not exactly what our hotel or our taxi driver told us, so that fact with a grain of salt). After the famous locks we made our way to Cerro Ancon which has an extraordinary view of the quick growth the Panama Canal created as well as the Panamanian flag where once stood the American flag. It was in this moment that all of us realized we were ready to leave the city. Sky scrapers can be beautiful, but the water and hills behind were far too tempting. In our day's adventures we also managed to visit a hight way constructed from the earth removed to make the canal and stop for local cevichel. No matter what Lima, Peru says I say the ceviche up here is way better. Even though AB's dad didn't like how it "grew in your mouth" he came to like it by the end of his stay.
We spent one day more day in the city getting some souvenirs for Dale to take home, enjoy the pool our hotel had, and eat some Dominican food (yes, con con) and sushi. Something we did learn (or Dale did) even though your taxi driver is nice and helpful don't invite him to join you at your hotel pool-because he will.  But more importantly we saw and experienced how such quick growth and clash of culture could change a place. All of us found that the city had quickly sprouted up with little consideration for environmental and health impact resulting in icky water everywhere. We were also able to see the huge income gap. Panama has a 30% unemployment rate, but all the cars we rode in were 2013 with the plastic still on the seat. I also found it one of the least Latin minded places I have been. People were very business and money oriented, they were less likely to greet you on the street with a kind hello than most places I have visited in the US. I even experienced my own kind of culture shock being in a nice hotel and in a city that was what I expected, but so far from what I expected at the same time. That wasn't what I was expecting going from one side of the Caribbean to the other, but it was still good to see.From the city we headed to Isla Toboga. An island off the pacific coast of Panama with a view of all the ships looking to cross with the buildings making up the skyline. Super representative of Panama in as of itself. On Toboga we stayed in a hotel with the dining room hanging over the rocks that became good areas to snorkel at high tide. Although the accommodations and service was less than extraordinary it was super nice to be able to see some colorful fish right off of the hotels steps. We experienced a lot of rain while staying on the island. That didn't stop us from seeing the second oldest church in Central America, hiking to a cross on a hill (with three stories as to why and  how it got there), spending a good chunk of time at the beach, and talking a boat around the eight mile circumference of the island.  It refreshed me to get some slope under my shoes, it excited AB to some snorkeling in, and Dale was thrilled to get a chance to try and catch a barracuda. When vacation came to a close we headed back to the city to take Dale to the airport and to be picked up by our work away job we had set up before arriving.
From the get go it looked like a pretty sweet gig. We would be selling tours and first had to take a few o the tours in order to know the material. We started off by visiting Casco Viejo. The old town of Panama City with churches and monuments to honor the French and specific individuals for starting the Panama Canal. We stayed that night in the city at a hostel paid for by out work away dude, Manuel, and headed to the area we would be working the next morning. The afternoon was spent with Manuel and his little girls visiting the Anton Vally where we saw a few waterfalls, a zoo with animals in far too small cages, and a petroglyph with a fabricated history of the Anton Valle explained by a local boy.Although I wouldn't have chosen the tour myself and we spent most of the time in the car it was a nice intro to a new place. The day we visited the beaches we were going to sell the tours at. Since all the beaches in Panama are public we walked the water line of some big all-inclusive resorts. This time of year there are never many people so we were really pulling to even talk to people who weren't just visiting from the city. The afternoon was spent in a long car ride to see a pretty awesome waterfall. There was a small hike in and we were able to swim and explore a bit. This was wild! We climbed along the rocks below the actual falling water and I was blown away by the pressure. I am pretty sure I got everything I missed out of my last month of bucket showers in a mere few seconds. Upon getting down from the fall I so gracefully slipped and bruised my tailbone-which proved to be an issue the next day. Although all the small experiences we had seeing the bits and pieces of tours were fun AB and I had a hard time with the big picture. We spent most of the day in the car and if we weren't in the car we were waiting hours (literally) for Manuel to get started or we ere getting back late and not able to leave the fenced house if needed. Beyond that we weren't excited about interrupting the handful of people as they were sleeping and relaxing on the beach. So the next day when AB and I were allowed to hit the beach alone we talked about shortening our stay. By the time we reached the end of the beach after getting a lot of "we are leaving today's from customers" and "this isn't worth it for you girls you should travel" we decided to pack up that afternoon and make plans from there. Mind you, this is my birthday and Manuel is treating is to lunch when we break the news. He was clearly not happy with or decision because he had put a lot into our short visit, but his loss seemed minimal to how miserable and trapped we felt. That afternoon we packed our bags, AB moved her flight home, and I got overwhelmed with the pace of the decisions I would have to be making in the next few days.After having a good Thai birthday dinner to officially start my birthday (we decided it had a delay due to too many emotions and being somewhere where time is a much less strict concept) we were on an overnight bus to they archipelago of islands on the Caribbean known as Bocas del Torro  (extremely painful with a bruised tail bone). When we landed ( or floated for our final leg) we found that the main island, Isla Colon, was an environmental awareness festival which made it a little harder to find a hostel, but still doable. AB and I immediately dropped our bags and went to the nearest beach before walking the souvenir shops, fried food, stages, ad booths that made up the festival. We signed a petition raising awareness for the Panamanian government about the dolphins and turtles that are unique to this region and later that night enjoyed a beach side performance of some good ol' Latin times.
The next day I was thrilled to finally have the time and freedom to go for a run and then later go on about tour of the islands. We picked a tour with a mix of everything. Our first stop was to Dolphin Bay where I was captivated by the grace and serenity of their swimming. From there we headed to snorkel and explore at Coral Caye. We saw all sorts of colorful fish and AB picked up a sea cucumber for me to test out. It was totally what we were looking for. From there we headed to paradise... Literally this is what every person wishes they had when they go to a beach. Zapatilla Island is a national park so it is literally untouched white sand beaches with crystal clear lukewarm water. We got to explore and circle the island for two hours. In that time we found another awesome reef with schools of fish, map-like coral, and loads of sea enchants. From Zaptilla we had a break for lunch which we opted out of to save room for sushi and headed (unsuccessfully) to spot sloths. You'd think they'd be able to find them doing these tours everyday seeing how their name is Spanish translates to lazy bear, but that's ok. Our final stop was a place called Hollywood. At Hollywood there are an uncountable number of Star Fish... Another first sighting for me. Super neat! From our tour we made great timing for half off Sushi, got my phone back working since I would now be solo, a packed up to split ways in the morning. AB headed home and I made my way to Costa Rica.

Although Panama wasn't what we expected and I probably won't go back, unless I get a guaranteed sighting of a Quetzal, we learned a lot... Mostly (as always) about ourselves. After getting some time to sort things out I am excited about what is coming next for me. Although  I haven't picked exactly what yet I have a few options and plans that all seem like great fits for me, my interests, and my future goals.

DR: Touring turistas

Through the eyes of a tourist in the Dominican Republic... Touring the DR on the tourist belt was really interesting for me to see. The areas that we went were packed full of people vacationing in the DR for a week or few and those people from Europe who decided to up and leave home to start a hotel or tourist agency of sorts. Needless to say I was blown away with how different the overall feeling of this part of the island was in comparison to Sabana Perdida and those areas we visited with our participants.
We started off our trip on the Zona Colonial. This is a part of Santo Domingo that I have spent a lot of time in on days off or with the kids. It is a hot spot for those who get off the cruise ships to get a peek at colonial life of the Dominican Republic. The streets are lined with your typical tourist gear and paintings while all around town are ruins and old churches in which they now hold a number of dance nights or wedding photography. Alec really enjoyed getting to walk around the ruins and getting bits of the history behind everything that lines the little sector or Santo Domingo.
From Santo Domingo we headed north, bypassing the mountains because of the rain that tends to get stuck there. I decided this because of a past day off when I had my hopes set high to hike Manabao with a friend of Alberto and it poured all morning and stayed sunny with intermittent down pours through the rest of the weekend,  I wasn't ready for heart break again. Thus, we trekked north to the beach town of Sosua which huge draw is snorkeling and, forgotten by me at the time, the ladies of the night. We scored big with our hostel, which I picked merely because if its name: Coco Hotel. What we didn't know was it had private beach access that led to an uninhabited beach where all the scuba instructors bring their groups to dive.  So after getting setting out to get Alec a taste of some Dominican food and waking up in the morning only to find four "ladies of the night" in their short dresses prancing out of the hotel we decided it was a good idea to hide away on our easy beach access. While we were out there we enjoyed the clarity of the water, buoyancy,  and got to use my snorkel gear to follow the scuba boats marking the reef so we could see massive schools of bright fish I couldn't even start to identify. This was pretty wild and super lucky- I felt like we were part of some secret club. Despite or awesome location we decided to head over to the next beach town, Cabarete. Sosua during the day was only filled with old men sitting at the bar around noon with a pretty obvious objective for their evening.We found a much better fit for our company at the surf hostel we found in Cabarete. This town has a huge draw for kite surfers and surfers alone. Meaning the energy level and thrill for new things with palpable through the air. Although we didn't surf or kite surf during our stay, we enjoyed walking the beach with the sky painted with eating at our hostel (which apparently had the best dinner in town), and experiencing the night life that also is part of Cabarete's claim to fame. It was wild to me seeing so many restaurants and tourist agencies run my retired Europeans and experiencing the night life felt like I had landed myself back in the states. Bachata and merengue could only be found at one discoteca and only for the start of the night. It was definitely the tourists lens of the DR. I had a small debate with a guy from Spain that the DR was loosing its culture because of all the tourists. Which it was easy to agree with in the north, but I could not make him believe how different life was in Santo Domingo. I suppose the longer the tourists don't try to see outside of the Zona Colonial the longer I will be right about that.
Upon leaving Cabarete we booked a trip to see the 27 waterfalls in Puerto Plata and visit a Dominican farm, taste some good coffee, see how Domican cigars are made and taste, and of course go up and down the first 7 of the 27 waterfalls. I finally got some great use out of my waterproof camera- which was enjoyed by everyone in out tour group.
After this trip Alec and I headed back to Santo Domingo. We stayed the night in the Zona Colonial and took off in the morning to Elio Franco. It was really important to me for him to see the DR I know and love and not that that was described by the Spaniard. We toured the neighborhood  and visited some of the kids and friends before sending Alec off to the airport.
Being unemployed with nothing to do in Elio Franco turned out to be just what I needed to top off this summer. My friend Yeiron's family was so great to me. His Grandma is a great cook and his brother is a riot. I had lots of fun with him and their neighbor Yessl washing clothes/having a nice impromptu bath, making all sorts of jugo, batidas, and OH! and ending up on a national TV program promoting a new Dominican Artist (I ended up being a kind of back up dancer with Yessl and her family that was there. As a thank you to Yessl's mom helped me make dulce de coco for people in the neighborhood and to send to my parents as a recruero (sorry Mom an Dad... We didn't have a fridge so it may not make it.) It was also great to spend some time with our director Alberto and the family when he wasn't crunching numbers for Visions. He even got up at 3 this morning to give me a hug goodbye which made my day :)Don't you worry I didn't leave without a lot of Bachata. A neighbor had a birthday party this weekend and Bachata dominated the radio... Along with some to retry intensive dembo dancing. They just didn't want to hear no when I wouldn't dance with them.
Now I find myself landed in Panama with another tourist lense, but extremely thankful and grateful for everything at happened in DR and the perspective it has given me.

Ya tu sabes Coconaaaa me entiendo mano

As my summer with VISIONS Service Adventures comes to a close it is hard to recap the whole experience. The programs came and went in a flash, but not without totally experiencing this country and learning more about my strengths and weaknesses than I thought possible in such a short period of time. VISIONS of the DR truely has a community built behind it that makes the experience extremely enriching for both the participants and the staff. I am greeted every morning by a hug and a kiss on the cheek from out neighbor/father of our director/maestro at the work site, I can´t leave the house without hearing my name or my new adopted nickmame ¨Coco naaaaaaa,¨and the kids and staff are constanly sought out by the neighborhood kids and friends.

The Dominican Republic where:

:Sleeping and sweating is a way of life. For those who didn't know... It's HOT here and some nights with no power (thus no fan) left me in a lovely bath of my own sweat.
:Banter is the only way to have a real converstaion with someone. Dominicans have a lovely way of conflict resolution that only ends with smiles and laughter and everyone feeling stronger after a bit of verbal abuse.
:Music and dance IS the culture.
:Checkers is an itensely competative game.
:You have to proove your way as a woman..Machismo dominates. Many times I had to fight off neighborhood boys to tote things around. 
:Fresh fruit juice costs about $0.50 AND they reconize me at the window.
:Coconuts are everywhere! Trees, beaches with straws, cookies, and rice.
:I have adopted the name Coconut because of my obsession with coconuts and coconut water or anything coconut flavored. Coco naaaaaaaaa is something I respond to faster than my own name. 
:A brunette is concidered a blonde. After many debates with a coworker I convinced him to call me morena instead of rubia.
:Rice cooked with Con Con at the bottom by far surpasses any other rice I have ever tasted. For those of who haven´t tried it they let the rice sit and a lot of it cooks to the bottom. This makes a hard and flavorful rice which they call ¨con con.¨ I have been told that I will be remembered as the Coco girl-Coco, con con, and Cocacola.
:The locals have a hard time drinking anything but cold water.
:Bachata and Merengue music can be heard and danced to on every street corner. Bachata is easily my new favorite dance, it has so much feeling behind it and is just plain old fun!
:People are more than willing to lend a helping hand at the drop of a hat than any other type culture I have confronted.
:It is not everywhere that you get escorted to the dentist by their son and treated with family homemade juice while waiting.
:Last minute decissions to go out dancing or to travel to the North Coast are unbeatable. Especially when you pull up to the beach at sunrise.

:Outdoor Salsa festivals happen every Sunday. Their is so much spirit and pride behind the celebration that it just hooks you to the Dominican culture right then and there.
:Living, working, and playing with the same people everyday really builds a tight and understanding community.

:The locals serve Coca-Cola for guests... No matter what hour of the day. Numerous mornings I was visits people and they sent people to the store to buy a good ol' Coke to share with me and my buddies.

:If you run... You run to win. I have had numerous people extremely confused my my love for running and fun dress up races, yet my lack of metals to show for it.  

:Bucket flushes and bucket showers are your best bet for maintaining a clean toilet bowl and body.

:Street light, thus power, in houses comes and goes on and off on an hourly. 

:Plantains and or yucca accompany most every authentic food. The average family of five can survive on about $7.50 USD a day.
 

As I wrap up VISIONS and head for vacation in this country. I am more than thankful for a real peak into the Dominican world... Now off to see how the tourist see it!

Un chin chin... Dominican Republic

After looking forward to this trip/job for months it hasn't let me down yet. For those of you who don't know I am working for a program called VISIONS Service Adventures. The company itself has handfuls of different sites around the world for teens to sign up for and volunteer with the locals. It is something I would have done in a hearbeat as a kid and now I am getting paid to be here.

The trip itself started with a weekend adventure to Boston and training the Conniticut for six of our sites. Although training was a challenge for me, sitting the WHOLE day learning the things I know will come in handy, it was great to connect with people who have very similar stories and even more similar interests. Hearing all the cool things people have been doing really got me thinking ahout other future opportunites.With that said it sounded like one of the jobs that those people returning enjoyed most and found most rewarding was VISIONS. The photo blew is all of us before boarding our flights or taking a few days if rest bride it all gets started.

Upon departure I knew someting was different. I exeperienced the luxery and strange feeling of traveling  with people. I met a few of my new coworkers, Sarah and Chris, at training in CT and we took off together for the DR for  our first week consisting of set up and preparation. Having training so spaced out made us all a llittle anxious to get there. We flew late at night and were greeted by our director Alberto, our carpenter Santos (Alberto's father), and our support staff Juan de Dios. At first I was a little antsy, I haven't spoken Spanish since I left Guatemala almost a year ago and many people we met at training are extremely fluent. But that aniety went away when they brought out the fresh pineapple, banana, and melons. Something about fresh fuit can really make you feel at home. Furthermore the fact that I was understanding the conversations we were having quickly killed the anxiety I was having on the plane surrounded by a whole new accent and a whole new vocabulary... Even as a write this I am trying to write in Spanglish.

Our first day in the Dominican started off slow and relaxed. We were greeted with fresh fruit and eggs while sitting outside in our new neighborhood. As we layed out plans for the week Alberto really helped us to understand the importance of VISIONS in the specific community and how it fits into their current political system. We then set out for a day of touring our new house and walking to the local market to get what we needed to make some progress the first day. After returning we were greeted by part of a big and amazing community that has been by our side ever since. There are a number of Dominican boys/men who do whatever they can to help us and the mission of VISIONS. They spent a good two hours perfecting our welcome sign for the participants and have spent many hours since moving stuff into our houses, helping with meals and overall clean up,and most importantly adding a lot of Dominican flavor and volume to everything we do. 

The people of the DR are different than the other Latin Americans that I have met in my travels. They still have the open arms and positive attitudes that I confronted in both Peru and Guatemala, but they add a big BANG to it all. By far Dominicans are the loudest, most disruptive, and easiest people to make laugh. There is never just a simple distribution of duties. It must be done with a lot if talking over one another, a lot of jokes about this and that, and loud music in the background. I say this is the most positive way because it is extremly energizing to see how everyone in the community- literally everyone- can communicate with such expression and passion and still get everything done much more creatively than any American (even my Echo Hillians) could think of.

What has been best about this first week is truly learning about the country and creating the experience for ourselves. We had a chance to relax on the beach Boca Chica for an afternoon and we have hardly eaten anything that wasn't truly Doninican in some way. With that we have really learned the bonds and divisions that exist in this country and how we are going to be playing a big part in a story much bigger than ourselves or our participants. The Dominican has a number of national problems one of witch is poverty, felt the most by the Batey communities. Bateys are Haitian immigrants who don't have citizenship in Haiti or the Dominican Republic. The Dominican constitution specifically says that all people born in the Dominican Republic are automatically Dominicans- exept for Haitans. This keeps them in a no mans zone that really increases their suffering. Now to understand why we have to go back to the 1800s in the 1840s the Dominican gained its independence for Haiti. Since then the history books have painted in Haitians as evil people. Not only that, but the Hiatians speak French, they practice Vudoo, they have different food; they are a totally different people on one island. The last thing that creates tension between the Haitan, Batey, and Dominican communities is similar to the US Immigration debate. The Haitians will come in and work here for less- theoretically taking those jobs away from the Dominicans. With all these pieces set you can see how much of a cultural rift we are seeing, and how much suffering has and does occur on a daily basis. VISIONS side by side with many other organizations that Alberto either directs or facilities have in mind sustainable solutions to hit the problem where it starts. They are investing in developing a community focused on the eduction of the children-starting in preschool. They have motivation to build schools, provide scholarships and create a productive community in which everyone can prosper. Being a part of something that has a future and a future in the people it is helping is truely a relief and a sense of accomplishment for me. I normally have conflict with volunteer and aid normally because it creates dependency, but we will, and have, put the power on the hands of those directly impacted by the community's success and be able to create a system they can prosper in under their own control. Out projects this year will be a summer camp, English classes, finishing a community center, and constructing a community garden to top off the school VISIONS started five years ago in the pueblo San Luis. 

As the last member of our team comes today we are nearly ready for participants. It will be interesting to see what sort of kids come our way and how that will impact the dynamic we have created here. But here is to what looks like a rewarding as successful summer!!

Eastern Shore Once More

There is something to be said about returning to a place you know and love. Lately, with how vagabond-esk my life has been, the feeling of returning has been a foreign concept to me. Returning to EHOS this fall was an enchanting experience.

Last fall felt like college (in a way) all over again. I crammed more knowledge than into my noggin than I thought possible. I learned all about the Chesapeake Bay, the history of this area, aquatics, survival, and much much more. I was confident in our approach to experiential education and had the fundamental facts mastered. This season has been much more enriching. The kids have really empowered me and every encounter with a new group has brought a new energy and a new way of learning. Additionally, I have been able to add an impressive amount depth to my knowledge and really apply it to my every day life- I am constantly curious to learn more from all of my coworkers and the schools that come through here. Rather than wanting to visit friends in nearby areas over the weekends I found it much more enriching to spend a day canoeing through the swamp to see what new forms of life and colors might have popped up in the glorious spring sunshine.

What has really amazed me is spring itself. Being in Montana and North Dakota spring was more of a dreary happening during which the snow turns brown and eventually the grass turns green from the melt off. The changes that happen here in Maryland are much more gradual and of course colorful. We started season with the surrounding ecosystems full of brown with little movement in and along it. As spring quickly snuck up on us there were little things sprouting everywhere. Leaves the size of my finger nail lined our swamp board walk, buds on trees were turning the tips of the red maples a fire like, and miniature animals of all shapes and sizes were making their first spring appearance. This may seem so normal to some of you, but for me this was utterly fascinating and it kept my attention consistently for three months. Every day I would see a new color catch my eye in the form of a bird, fish, bud or flower. One of my coworkers truly discovered my obsession with colors one day while we were canoeing through the swamp when my thrilled exclamations about the rainbow of colors fully exploding all over the swamp filled our afternoon  along with his girlfriends enthusiasm about any movement happening in and around the swamp . As spring developed and summer approached more and more, when I thought things were pretty set and grown for the season BOOM the lush green plants took over everything. Our adventure course was almost unrecognizable because of the wall of green blocking the view of the other side, we even woke up to a baby goat surprise!

There were also some really great excursions over the past three months. We spent one of our first weekends brewery touring in Delaware and visiting the beach in eastern Maryland. A spur of the moment weekend trip brought is to Black Water National Wildlife Refuge where we explored some more marshy areas where I got the chance to break in Sarah's new fancy car with mucky hand prints and of course see all sorts of cool creatures. Another weekend was spent camping at Maryland State park with a swamp right behind our campsite. We hiked around and explored the area only to come up with the best got it sequence of beautiful and ecosystem equaling swamp. Yes, I may be a little in love with the swamps around here which is why I also jumped on board a weekend program to take kids marsh mucking. I don't mind making a little bit of extra dough while doing something I had been voluntarily doing in the weekends past.

Yet this season we saved the best for last. Chestertown is the nearest center of population to EHOS campus. Every year they celebrate the Chestertown Tea Party on Memorial Day weekend. The weekend is kicked off with a fundraiser run for a local school. A few of my coworkers and I decided to participate. Some of us did the 5K and others of us did the 10 miler. I have to say that ten miles is the perfect distance to run at a race, and I discovered afterwards that is was much more fitting for me than I thought. I ened up placing second in my age group for the 10 miler, I have to say I wasn't prepared to hear my name called after all the race festivities because my short legs really don't give me much pace. Yet, it was really thrilling! The rest of that day was spent helping at our booth and wandering the cool local artists that had set up camp for the day. The highlight event of that Saturday was the Tea Party reenactment. It is said that when the Boston Tea Party occurred Chestertown followed suit to protect their beloved Chester River. A big part of the EHOS staffs puts together a reenactment of this event where they hold a town meeting and then march down to the river to literally throw the red coats overboard along with the boxes labeled tea. Beyond the questioning of historical relevance it was really fun to see my coworkers totally in their colonial element. The next day went by in a whirl wind. The Tea Party has an annual raft race in which you have to put together a raft and oars to race around some buoys in the Chester River. Some staff members and me got up and rolling on our raft the morning of. We attached a whole bunch of five gallon water bottles to bamboo and used lunch trays as oars with a letter of EHOS tapped to every one. They called us an optical illusion once all five of us mounted the boat. Our boat was completely submerged for the entirety of the race, yet despite Echo Hill's track record we finished the race AND didn't even come in last. We were rewarded afterwards with a can of farts and the Biggest Spectacle award- which was quite accurate since half of the race to crowd spent cheering us on to the finish line. Not too shabby of a showing for a race day construction!

Along with all the things described in the first part of this post I was most happy to be able to share this home with people who mean a lot to me. About half way through the season my parents were able to visit me, and after spending three days in DC doing the tourist thing we were all more than happy to make our way to the Eastern Shore. I think my parents understood instantly why I like it out here. It is peaceful and full of life and things to be learned around every corner. They got spoiled out here and got a ride on the Annie D up the Chester River, and, despite their initial apprehension, I got them up and down the zip line. We enjoyed some good beer, some great seafood, and the mellow pace that the Eastern Shore of Maryland is so well known for. In addition, one of my best friends from elementary school was able to make a weekend stop. Sophie came at the perfect time in which the humidity  was to intense to do much more than sit on the beach. So sit on the beach we did ALL day. It was lovely to enjoy the sunshine and the refreshing brackish water of the Chesapeake Bay and to share a place I call home with those who know me so well.

As I am leaving EHOS (for now) yet again for another adventure south of our borders I feel completely alive. I am inspired by the nature all around us and want to continue learning more. What is more I feel pretty lucky to be able to explore the various types of education that American students experience. I have seen students from inner city Baltimore public schools out here, charter schools, small private montessori schools, and everything in between. Each student walks away from here a bit stronger and with a bit more knowledge, whether that be about nature itself or more importantly themselves. It is a great opportunity to be able to provide such a positive experience for such a large range of youth who all seem to leave this place beaming. I hope to only be able to imapact others as much as this and other jobs have allowed me to do.

Worlds Biggest Pizza Road Trip

I have landed back on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the road trip here was fabulous on so many levels. My family, being the caring and loving people they are, didn't want me to make that drive alone. Although I have done it a few times under varying circumstances (once without AC or cruise control in the dead heat of summer), I was very thankful to have my friend from EHOS, Alex, to be my roadside entertainment and navigator.

Alex had never been to Montana and we had about 36 hours to give her the best quick tour ever, while finishing up some presentations and of course packing. Alex got in at noon so we went to get some good New York bagels located on the wrong side of the country, walked up and down Main, enjoyed a margarita, send her to a brewery with my friend Brad during my presentation, reconvened with a group of 12 of my friends packed around a booth at my favorite pizza spot in Bozeman (MacRiv) for a perfect send off and start to a PIZZA road trip. We topped off the night enjoying server industry night at a hoity-toity bar downtown (Plonk). If that wasn't an action packed day we squeezed in a few more things the next morning. After getting my car loaded and running a few errands we drove up Bridger Canyon show her my favorite mountain range, then pulled off to hike up to the M overlooking Bozeman. We then continued on to meet my friend Micheal for a warm/hot/cold dip in the Boiling River of Yellowstone National Park. After a frenzy of a last few days at home this was the perfect way to start off a road trip. We got a chance to enjoy the scenic beauty (and abnormal surplus of buffalo) in the park  and get our muscles good and relaxed for long hours in the car.

We got a head start on the first leg of our trip and headed to Billings for the night. It worked out quite well because we got to get dinner with my good friend Randi and my favorite sandwich shop (Staggering Ox). This place is always my favorite to show off, because they bake the break in a coffee canister and hollow it out to fill it with all sorts of goodies. The entertainment of figuring out how to eat it is enough entertainment for any one the slightest bit sleep deprived. Alex and I then continued to my sisters house where I got to give my nieces and nephew a big hug goodbye. Both of us hit a wall at this point and once the kids went to bed we took over my sisters couch for a siesta until my friend Jenn got off work. Needless to say we went to Jenn's and headed straight to bed. Jenn was my first road trip co-polit when I first joined on with MyFight so she totally understood our fatigue and our need to hit the road bright and early.

Now, as I continue to write this blog, I must explain that this trip was so new and exciting yet FULL of flashbacks of my summer(s) with MyFight. It is also going to be quite a read. Poor Alex had to hear all about it, but it was really exciting to step back to where I was a few years ago and see how much I had grown from that experience and since that experience. Additionally, it was totally worth the extra money spent on gas vs. a plane ticket because I got to see a big chunk of the people I love and care about most in this world (I did have a mid breakdown in Chicago about gas pricing-Alex dealt with me and we got through it). Lucky for Alex (at least I think so), she really got a full tour of my life and the beautiful people that are intertwined in it.

To continue: Alex and I started our trip at Harper and Madison in Billings. This place is special to me for a few reasons. When Caleb and I left for the first leg of our road trip over the summer of 2011 H&M had heard about our trip and treated us to delicious coffee and scrumptious treats. This time around as I was leaving for, yet again, a loooong drive we started there and who was working? The one and only Caleb. Caleb was gracious enough to treat us to a coffee and desserts to send us off on our drive. We then headed towards the North Dakota. It never ceased to amaze me how much the scenery changes right outside of Billings, you literally leave the city headed east and see a whole lot of nothing.... or a whole lot of miles. Thus, the theme of our trip A) Pizza and B) Worlds biggest (Those of you just reading this via the email version may want to go to my blog to see pictures). Granted there is Theodor National Park, but besides that on the drive the best parts are the Worlds Biggest Cow (Salem Sue), a ginormous eye shaped thing kicking of the enchanted highway, and of course the Worlds Biggest Buffalo in Jamestown.  Although Alex was able to point out some natural beauty that I have become so accustomed to in the drive, I still find those the best part of the flatlands. Thus, we stopped and got some quality photos at all of these and arrived to Jamestown in time to tour campus (what takes all of 5 minutes) and get me set up for another presentation to lour collegiate students into teaching English abroad. This turned out to be super rewarding, because I had contacted a few of my professors the room so they helped to insure it was full! My last events were at universities over 10x the population and I presented to a significantly smaller group of students.

What was best about this event was the of presenting to the two professors who have had the greatest impact on my education, passions, need to follow my heart and pursuit my dreams. Dr. Johnson was shocked I was public speaking in general and Connie was probably shocked that I wasn't making random thematic conclusions from my experiences. It was nice to get the reversed perspective of a student to professor and it was quite a compliment to have them attend and participate in my rants.

Entonces Jamestown is where we really began the pizza aspect of our tour. MacRiv is great, but most of the other pizzas we ate along the way were pretty unique. IDK in Jamestown knows me quite well for ordering the Mac & Cheese pizza- I know it sound bad, but you really can't go wrong with a pizza crust topped with a bit of BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheese noodles! Some of my lovely people (Thanks Bob, Bitty and Bryan) joined us for dinner and then followed up with dessert at Applebee's for dessert to visit my normal pizza partner in crime Lauryn. Bitty and Bryan hosted us for that night and after getting a window chip repaired in some man's home garage, we stopped by the new Meeting Grounds to see my boss Kristi and get a good caffeinated start to the day.

Next destination: Twin Cities for another round of pizza, but not before a stop at the Worlds Largest "Booming" Prairie Chicken and the Worlds Largest Viking. We headed straight for Punch Pizza which is a certified Neoplotin Pizza joint. My good friend, Jackie, who has lived in Italy a few times says that a glad of wine and a pizza there is like taking a step into Italy. I had nothing of realistic value to compare that to, but I can say that it was a very unique, delicate, and tasty pizza that I could easily enjoy more than once in a lifetime. Someday I hope to get to enjoy the real deal, but until then enjoying this pizza with Alex, Angie, Kyle, Kendra, and Steve (friends from college) will definitely fill my quota. Alex and I left right after dinner after catching up with both her friends and mine to a Bed and Breakfast in Wabasha, MN (Yes, Grumpy Old Men was based on this town).

This world really is all about who you know. A new friend Michael owns the lovely Turning Waters Bed and Breakfast right on the Mississippi River (http://www.turningwatersbandb.com). He was kind enough to welcome us in to enjoy a few cozy nights of sleep and the best breakfast I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. What was best about this step of the journey was kayaking the winter worn Missisippi. Michael also owns a kayaking company so we broke out the boats and spent an afternoon on the water. This was the ultimate experience-not a lot of people would choose to kayak in March, but in doing so we got to see sooooo many bald eagles that we lost count in the first 100 yards. Wabasha is famous this time of year for eagle viewing and we got a front row view of their soaring and water hunting. Lucky us- on top of that we spent the evening getting the best small town fish sandwich (me-while wearing my purple wet suit) and crossing the river for some authentic cheese curds-fulfilling Alex's one request for the trip.

Michael sent us off the next morning with cinnamon and sugar bacon (TO DIE FOR) for our trip to the Windy City. Before arriving the Chicago we stopped to visit the World Biggest Bicyclist (Ben) in Wisconsin. I only wish I had a bike as cool as his!

As you can guess, our main objective was the classic Chicago deep dish pizza and of course the (we decided) Worlds Biggest Reflective Bean. Alex and I pulled into the Mexican neighborhood of Chicago where my adviser for the TEFL Institute so graciously housed us and headed into an evening tour of the city. Alex being the good citizen that she is went to pick up an envelope (trash) only to find it marked with a big dollar sign with $30 dollars in it. This street money ended up treated us to some much needed greens and a deep dish pizza. After walking to find the bean, navigating the navy pier in the chilly breeze of Lake Michigan, and getting stuck on public transportation under construction we were more than ready for a massive pizza and a good night sleep. As many of you probably, deep dish is a creation of its own-basically inside-out fatty pizza. After having experienced this glorious cheesy creation once before I was smarter to consume less and a bit slower so Alex wouldn't have to roll me down the street.

The next morning spent the morning back in the city to get a good cup of coffee with our coworker Zu who happened to be in the neighborhood and enjoyed some good authentic chile rellenos before heading to Indianapolis.

En route to Indianapolis we couldn't find any worlds biggest, so instead we stopped by a big interactive park with a few other photo opportunities. We found a big playground that we got to climb around on and let out our inner kids. We then wrapped up the pizza aspect of our tour and grabbed a garlic greasy totally average American pizza- a good finale to what was an American road trip. Having done this leg of the trip numerous times, we had what I can almost call a second home to stay at with my friends Sara and Joel-whom I met at our first festival in 2011. They have a nice home in a confusing neighborhood of Indianapolis and proved to be just what we needed, drinking tea and watching an evidently consuming Zombie show.

From here we made our longest leg to Annapolis- as for the theme of our tour the roads in between Indi and Annapolis didn't give us many worlds biggest. We did find the Worlds Biggest Candle and ended up spending too much time in the store that accompanies it. And after stopping in Columbus, Ohio to see the Worlds Biggest Graduation Cap we were disappointed to find that they had taken it down to repair-so we made do with an abnormally large preying mantis found on their university campus. We set out from there stoked about the Worlds Biggest Beer Bottle ahead of us- after our last disappointment Alex decided to look up the details. We found that it had disspeared long ago, the only photograph show was in black and white, so who knows where it is now and really what kind of beer was it?!?!  Thus, we pulled into Annaplolis with an incomplete worlds biggest tour of the last few states, but that just leaves us a chance to go visit Philly for a famous cheese steak and and few of the worlds biggest to round off the tour. Always ready for more adventuring!

This drive was quite the experience, I am so thankful for all the people who lent us a hand, bed, coffee, or company along the way. I am thankful for the memories Alex and I get to annoy our coworkers with for the next month or so, but most of all I am thankful that something like this is event possible and I had an awesome co-pilot to join me along the way. Although in the desolate area of the mid-west I did question my intent of going back to Maryland I was ecstatic to be greeted by the hills of the Western Shore and the ready to bloom vegetation on the Eastern Shore. Leaving my Montana mountains is much easier when you are greeted by a whole new world of nature ready to bloom. Plus, it is such a great feeling going back to something you know and people ready to give you a big hug! New is nice, but renewal is almost better! Signing off at the Eastern Shore for what looks to be a beautiful spring!