11 (or "in the clouds").

my head runs in dual scripts.

where to begin? i suppose where i left off. i met up with the group of 22 other students from goucher and mount holyoke in la sabana sur in san josé. joined by our four professors and course coordinator, we enjoyed a few days in the city before beginning our journey to other parts of the country.



that's genna. i like her lots.



first, volcán irazu. it's the highest volcano in the country. the air was thin and the land was flat but boy was it pretty.



from irazu we went to cartago, costa rica's first capital. this is the country's most important church. i love churches. i do not have the capacity to believe in god, although in many ways i believe my life would probably be much easier if i could, i know what my heart believes, and it doesn't believe in that. however, i'm still fascinated by it. watching women and children and families crawl through the nave to the alter, heads down in prayer and yearning, it makes me hold my breath.

from there we went to sarapiquí and tirimbina to spend four days in the lowland tropical rainforest, where i woke up to howler monkeys and more earthquakes. i spent most of the week in pain and at the field station, sick with some infection what went from bad to worse to worst, to the point where i had to go to a doctor in sarapiquí. and it was super rural and he gave me three medications (antidiarrheal, pain medication for abdominal cramps, and an antibiotic), the former two proved of no immediate help and i got worse (there was a lot of blood and tissue coming from a place neither are supposed to come out of). so i missed quite a bit of activity and research but got a lot of love from the group. if i never have to put electrolyte powder in my water and eat rice starch ever again it may be too soon.



thursday afternoon i finally perked up and was able to go on a tour of the Dole pineapple plantation, my introduction to monoculture:



and finally by friday my sparkle was back! just in time to enjoy the hot springs at la fortuna and see volcán arenal, costa rica's most active volcano, at night.



and now i'm in monteverde. it's colder here than i thought it would be. we're in the mountains. it's green everywhere. on my way to/from the institute i can see the nicoya peninsula, which means i can see the pacific ocean. from the mountains. i also know when we're in clouds because there are periods of time where it's clear skies but very misty. i'll have photos soon.

classes started yesterday but this week is all introductions to my sociology/ecology classas and intensive spanish every morning. i'm really bored and want to be in a higher level, possibly. my spanish professor this week starts off every morning with stretching, in class we listen to classical or jazz or some sort of calm music, and then we end the class with a meditation. she's cool but i want to be challenged this semester. maybe next week when classes officially start with Cristina it will be better.

i live in cerro plano, closest to the institute. two other students live in my cluster. my host family rules. i think the boys run a car wash on saturdays. my mom, maribel, is a baker and we get along really well. she feeds me too much, however she is not a huge fan of meat and is lactose intolerant, so food-wise i'm doing very well. her son, ariel, is 15 and the sweetest boy. emile, also fifteen, lives upstairs but eats every meal with us and is always around, so i think of him as another brother. there's a great energy to the house but the dynamic gives me a lot of space. i like it. i'm on my second book since i arrived here.

and my spanish skills improve everyday, of course.

and then there's today, january 20th. the inauguration. we all went to the lodge up the hill from the institute to watch the events. it's very surreal to watch from abroad. everyone around me was crying and clapping and listening and it was a very positive moment, one that's still very hard to believe since we are away and separated. especially for me, seeing dc so chaotic and filled and not being in my city for it. i have a lot of thoughts about the whole thing but very little motivation to write extensively about it, so i'll just say it was a great experience to be a part of here and i know i'll see some good to come in the next 100 days, at least in optimism and hope.

-h.