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Published: March 30th 2007
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A bridge to a new perspective!
Sometimes you have to go a long way to make it a short distance! Perspective…
Perspective is something I’m not sure I ever had! At my age, that is kind of hard to admit. But, with that, my time here in Costa Rica has opened my eyes to many things. Some of which I would have preferred to remain closed. When out of America…you learn a lot about America, more specifically the mentality of Americans.
I recently had the opportunity to meet some amazing people. As luck would have it I made a new friend…for which I am most grateful. At a lunch I met Rob and he told of his work with the indigenous people who live on a reservation about an hour outside of Puerto Viejo, with Panama a stones throw away in the town of Watzi or Uatzi (both pronounced What-zi) where I spent several amazing days.
He volunteered there for 2 weeks and decided to create a project that would be both educational and profitable for the reservation. He is building a B&B, hostel and cabins for rent. Along with that, there will be day tours and opportunities for short and long term volunteer options and with this I decided to check things out. So, a
Mi Casa!
My hotel! week or so later…I was busing it to the Caribbean. Meeting Rob allowed me to cross into a new arena:
To be honest I had no vision of where I was going or what my experience would be! But, I am always game for the road less traveled! With that we took the 40 minute bus ride from Puerto Viejo to Bri Bri (a town and name of the indigenous people). Then a 20 minute cab ride to the reservation. In route…our taxi’s alarm went off for about 10 minutes while we waited for someone to come either pick us up or fix the alarm. Oddly enough, when I saw where I would be staying, it didn’t faze me one bit. As you can see - this hut was like the guest house with 2 bedrooms upstairs and a meeting area below!
I should mention that this house had no bathroom. In fact of the 5 families/house we interacted with - there was only 1 indoor bathroom. The lights in the guest wing, shown above consisted of an extension cord run throughout the 3 rooms. The living/kitchen area consisted of a sofa that was of 1x4 construction with
Mi Cocinero!
My kitchen where I ¨International chef´d¨ for 40 people! worn cushions, a hammock & 3 plastic chairs. The hammock doubled as a bed for the head of the family with dinner prep done on a 4 burner camp stove or a covered fire pit at stove height. Oh yes, the phone was a pay phone just off the road!
Upon arrival we are introduced to the families that were hosting us! We were fed a most delicious Rice, Beans & Sausage…I think we were so hungry that it didn’t really matter what it tasted like… But in broken English/Spanish we attempted to communicate!
The next morning we awoke to prepare for 20 volunteers to arrive. They were to work on various projects. Rob asked me if I would you like to “help” cook lunch??? Well…it turned out to be me cooking with 3 assistants who spoke no English. Needless to say it was a great learning experience and my “kitchen” consisted of the following…
Well on that open fire, I proceeded to cook for 40 people and since we only had food enough for 10ish…it was a stretch, but in the end we pulled it off and I was nicknamed “international chef”. Which even funnier when
Michael & Carlos
2 of the guys - who gave me grief - in a good way! you factor in that until last October…my culinary skills consisted of the many uses of Velveeta!
During my time there I encountered a warm, gentle & welcoming feeling that I’m not sure I’ve felt before. By the end of the second day…we were all joking and teasing. As it would turn out…I cooked dinner Saturday night as well. What amazed me about the people was what joy and fun (all ages) had every day!
Well, I think that I pseudo adopted Emerson, Gina & Abner! They are the best kids. In addition I think I acquired not 1, not 2, but 3 wives…didn’t seem to matter that all 3 were already married. This was a running joke during my stay.
I guess what amazed me most about my time there was the fact that they had so little and yet at the same time had so much! Yet it seems to be the opposite elsewhere…Since shedding almost ALL of my material possessions…I feel much freer and lighter!
So, I now have a new project in development and I will keep you posted.
Thank you for letting me share my ramblings!
Catch you on the
Abner & Emerson
2 of my ¨adopted kids¨ next go round!
TravTer
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Omar
non-member comment
Doing Good
So I see you are giving back to the community. That's very noble of you, i know that you can be good. looks like you are having fun in the sun. keep up the good work. Lydia says hi. Omar