Yesterday, over lunch on the deck looking out over the tropical vegetation, we had an opportunity to chat with our students about their experiences in Costa Rica.  The students mentioned the usual challenges and frustrations with foreign travel: not knowing how things worked locally, like bus systems or telephones; adjusting to different food or family customs; and general discomfort with the unfamiliar.  They articulated their feelings of loneliness, anger, resentment, frustration, and anxiety during the adjustment period.  After airing a number of aspects that had led to discomfort, the students began to explore the relationship between expectations and finding themselves outside their comfort zone.  Consciously, or more often, unconsciously, we found ourselves expecting things to adhere to normative U.S. practices.  Understanding and appreciating local culture and practices could only come about after letting go of these expectations.  Discomfort gave way to learning that will strengthen students’ practice later on as social workers, teachers, and health professionals.

The students have completed the main service project, that of repainting the cafeteria in the local elementary school.  The past two weeks, students have also volunteered in a children’s center and in an eco-preservation nursery.  The students are preparing games and activities for the children, and working one-on-one with them as time permits.  At the nursery, students are planting trees for reforestation and helping with nursery maintenance.  These experiences have broadened the perspectives of the students on daily life in Santa Ana, and on the ecological challenges of preservation in a tropical environment.

Community service also offers students the opportunity to reflect on giving and receiving.  Community service is often thought of as a way “to give back” to the communities where we study and travel; students learn, though, that there is no giving without also receiving.  Community service teaches students that even while giving, they are receiving the benefits of broader perspectives, deeper understanding cross culturally, and stronger relationships.  These benefits, when shared later in professional practice, will benefit others, strengthening our communities.

After I posted on “cien metros” and getting directions in Costa Rica, I began to wonder how does the postal service deliver the mail?  They do have mail carriers, and they don’t seem to have any trouble putting mail in boxes along the road.  But no one, not even official looking offices, has an address posted on the outside of the building. Coming from Salt Lake City, with its neatly planned and numbered grid, this seemed to be a mystery.  I looked on the back of the bag of plantain chips we were munching on the way home yesterday and found this business address for the product:  Ciudad Colon, del Hogar de Ancianos, 100 metros al sur, 400 metros al oeste y 100 metros al sur, Brasil de Mora, San Jose, Costa Rica.  Roughly translated, Ciudad Colon is the neighborhood, then find the Elderly Folks’ Home, go 100 meters south, 400 meters west, and 100 meters south.  So, you’re all set, as long as you know where the Hogar de Ancianos is.  But that is really how all addresses are set up here in Costa Rica, and I guess it works well (for most folks here, anyway).

July 17-19: We traveled to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, quite close to Panama, to the pueblo of Puerto Viejo, south of Limon. In many ways, it was hard to tell which country we were in. There is a mix of indigenous, Afro-Caribbean, and Costa Rican cultures and populations, with people speaking Spanish, Creole, English, and various mixes. Stores accept dollars and colones with equal ease. The food was different, a bit more spice and kick to it, which was welcomed by all.

We stayed in tropical bungalows in the midst of the wettest forest I’ve ever visited; I can’t imagine that anything or anyone is ever completely dry here. The rains were truly torrential, lasting 12-15 hours, drumming our rooftops all night, and we awoke to five inches or so of water covering the forest floor.

the water levels outside our bungalow after a night of rain in Puerto Viejo

When the rains let up, the sun came out, and we experienced 95 degree weather with 90% humidity, enough to make even the most strait-laced Utahn strip off all clothing (or at least think about it seriously)! We headed for the beach in Manzanillo and cooled off in the Caribbean – the surf looked rather rough from the shore but turned out to be a lot of fun. On the road to Manzanillo, we spotted two howler monkeys, small black creatures making noises way out of proportion to their size, and we spotted a sloth moving in slow motion down a tree.

Sunday, on our way back to Santa Ana, we were delayed for about an hour as road crews were cleaning up from a huge rock and mudslide in the mountains. Hundreds of cars, buses, and trucks waited to cross the mountains, but there was no honking or yelling; folks just got out of their vehicles, got cold drinks, and started making new friends. That’s the Tico way: Try to have a good time, no matter what is happening. By the time the mountain road was cleared, many people were hugging and kissing goodbye before they hopped into their vehicles. I wonder if this scene would be replicated in the US?