It Is Good To Be Back!

It has been a busy few weeks. Between going home for Thanksgiving, making two trips to the Nicoya peninsula, and graduation week at the elementary school, I’ve had a full schedule.

Thanksgiving was incredible. Just being with my family and friends was comfort enough, but the festivities were over the top. The first weekend was occupied by a two day party with my college friends with whom I celebrated the end of the worst season of Michigan football ever. People came from LA, Chicago, Philly and DC, and I was truly touched that people would travel that far for me. We caught up, discussed the Michigan season the way the Germans must now discuss World War II, and stayed up till morning at my friend Derek’s apartment. It was the most fun I’d had in a while.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying intimate time with my family, and eating. I got to eat Indian food, bagels, and my mother’s world famous chili. Regretfully, I did not get to eat Thai or Chinese food. This is something I will get to if I go back next Thanksgiving.

When I got back from New York, I was surprisingly at peace. Before the trip, I feared that I would get back to Costa Rica and want to go back home or become depressed. But in New York, I saw that I wasn’t really missing too much. People are getting laid off, fed up with the jobs they are lucky to have, or being pounded by graduate school work. While my job is hard in the fact that it can be unorganized, lonely, and stressful, it is no worse than what I would be doing in the US.

I also found perspective. I had glorified New York in my mind during the lonely times here in Costa Rica. I fantasized about everything that I loved about it. But in going back, I saw that the city is still just the city, and that eighty degrees and sunny is better than freezing and cloudy. I realized that New York will be there when I get back, and this is where I need to be right now.

It felt great to be home. My family seemed to have genuinely missed me and was glad to have me back. I felt the same way. In a place that has consistently made me uncomfortable, I felt comfortable. That night, I doused my rice and beans in hot sauce, and ate them with a smile. It wasn’t my mom’s chili, but it did the trick.

The next week, my friend Meagan asked me if I would help her with a nature camp she was putting on with a park ranger in her site on the Nicoya Peninsula. Since the trip is only a ferry ride away, I agreed, and packed my bags. However, in the great Tico tradition, the camp was postponed.

“Do you still want to come?” Meagan asked. I looked at my bags.

“Why not!”

So I headed across the Nicoya gulf and went to pay Meagan a visit. I disembarked in the small town of Paquera where I got on a bus to the small beach town of Montezuma. Meagan met me on the bus where we chatted about America until we pulled into town.

We found a backpackers’ lodge a bit outside of town and decided to stay there. The place had two cabins built into the jungle, with large porches. After Meagan and I put our stuff in our room, we lay in hammocks on the porch and enjoyed the late afternoon sun. Not five minutes had passed before we heard a racket in the trees. We got up, looked around, and found about a dozen Cappuchin monkeys on the branches of the trees, and even sitting on the deck. They seemed pretty comfortable with humans, and got close enough for people to hand feed them bananas. We hung out with the monkeys for a while, then headed into town for dinner.

That night as we lay in bed, we could hear the crashing of the waves, and the sounds of the jungle. It felt good to be back in Costa Rica.

The next day was hot and sunny. We decided to hike up the river to the town’s famed waterfall. We hiked with two Swiss girls from our lodge; one could speak English, and one could speak Spanish. So while climbing through the cool river, I made myself dizzy going back and forth between English and Spanish. By the time we got to the waterfall, I didn’t know what language I was speaking.

But I didn’t have to speak. The sight of this five-story high waterfall was captivating, and we all stood and watched for a while. In the middle of the jungle, the waterfall crashed its way into a deep pool where we swam. Around the pool were outcroppings of rock from which we jumped into the pool. We even got to climb behind the waterfall and stand in the loudest place in the world. Jumping into the waterfall was, more than anything, a comical experience. After a second in mid air, the water pounded me into the water with great force, and before I knew it, I was ashore. While climbing rocks to do some diving, a European man turned around, looked at me and said, “It’s fucking paradise man!” It really was.

The next week, I went out to the peninsula again, this time to do actual work. Meagan did eventually get the camp together, and I did a nature themed art project with the kids. It was fun, and the kids really liked it.

Now, I am attending graduation events at the elementary school and planning my schedule for the next school year which starts in February. I have also started a new photography workshop with the Albergue kids, in addition to the poetry workshop we started a few months ago. And in a few days, my parents will be here to visit!

As the holidays and vacation approaches, I hope that everyone back in the states is well. To all my Jewish brethren, Happy Chanukah! To my goy friends, Merry Christmas!