Back home

Being back home is very weird, I once heard someone say that the reintegration into your own culture is more startling than the initial culture shock experienced when visiting a foreign country –and I couldn’t agree more. Larissa, the internship coordinator, has asked us to reflect on the cultural differences between our host country and Canada, and while I could go on forever about this topic, I’ll just pick a couple things I’ve noticed during my time spent abroad.

“Pura Vida” is pretty much Costa Rica’s national motto – in Spanish it translates to “the pure life.” It’s a greeting, and also a way of life. During my three months in Costa Rica, I saw this phrase exemplified in the lives of the Ticos I encountered everywhere, as their lives seemed to go at a slower pace than my North American one. I found Costa Ricans to be generally more relaxed and extremely appreciative to live in such a beautiful and prosperous country. "Tico time" is another phrase to describe the lax Costa Rican lifestyle, as nothing is ever on time and things seem to go at their own pace. I found this to be the very opposite of  my North American lifestyle, and the motto:  “time is money”.  I think this says something about my own culture’s obsession with productivity and efficiency, we are too focused on working ourselves to exhaustion. Everything has to be on time and structured and we don't allow ourselves to stop, relax and enjoy the little things. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is the Costa Rican attitude towards what we as North Americans would consider basic safety precautions.  I’ve noticed this in the way that some Ticos raise their children, they do not try to place restrictions on their kids in the name of safety (I have seen SO many Costa Rican babies taking themselves for a walk, pants and/or parents optional.) Contrast this to the way that we raise children in Toronto, with helmets, child leashes, car-seats and constant supervision.

 I’ve noticed that the same applies to the dogs in Costa Rica, which are rarely leashed (unless guarding something) and are allowed to roam through the streets as they wish. Roads do not have guard rails, speed limits are mere suggestions, and I’ve seen a trend in piling an entire family onto a single motorbike.  Coming back to Canada, I felt like everything was too safe, too sterile and too organized. I feel that the North American attitude towards safety is almost hysterical –and I think that is because our culture is too afraid to allow anything bad to happen to ourselves or our loved ones.  

Since I've been home, it's been very easy to make comparisons between Canadian and Costa Rican culture, and I'm still processing the things that I've witnessed while applying the lessons I've learned since April. It's nice to be back in civilization but I miss my pura vida lifestyle!

Week 14

Warning...this is a picture heavy post!!

Kirstin and I left the station early on July 28th, it was so hard to say goodbye to everyone and the place we called home for three months but we were looking forward to enjoying the comforts of civilization!

We met up with a couple of friends from Toronto and drove to Manuel Antonio National Park, on the Pacific side of the country.  On the way, we passed the Tarcoles River, which is famous for it's numerous crocodiles that hang out under the bridge. 

We spent a couple of days at Manuel Antonio and hiked some of the trails. The views of the Pacific ocean were beautiful!

 We also saw the park's white faced capuchins, which were a little more used to people than the ones at the station. We got to see this baby up close.

After a few days in Manuel Antonio, we took a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula to a small surfing town called Montezuma. 

Somehow I had contracted a terrible flu (which I feared might be dengue) so the ferry ride was treacherous for me. Turns out it wasn't dengue and I only lost one day at our hostel laying in bed wanting to die. Who would have guessed that surfing is an awesome cure for the flu. 

 On our way to Monteverde, we stopped at El Manantial Parrot Sanctuary, an organization that is working to protect Costa Rica's endangered parrot species, such as the Great Green Macaw (Ara Ambiguus) and the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

The sanctuary acts as a rehabilitation centre for many parrots that are threatened by habitat loss and exploitation from the illegal pet trade. Unfortunately, pet macaws that are confiscated by the Ministry of the Environment become too used to people to ever be released into the wild again. Through a breeding program, their offspring are raised and released, and many of them return to the sanctuary year after year to nest (sometimes bringing their wild mates with them!) Programs such as this have allowed Costa Rica's pacific population of Scarlet Macaws to thrive since their severe decline just a few decades ago.

The sanctuary also takes in non-native species confiscated  in Costa Rica:

Sun Conures (Aratinga solstitialis) from South America

 Goffin's Cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana) from Australasia

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara arauna) from South America

African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus), which have the intelligence of a 5 year old human child

The endangered Hyacinth Macaw (Andodorhynchus hyacinthinus), from South America, the largest parrot in the world. 

From Montezuma we drove into the mountains to Monteverde (for some reason all the places we chose started with 'M"). The drive was beautiful but a little unnerving, given the gravel roads, steep drop offs and lack of a guard rail. 

We even spotted the elusive Resplendant Quetzal (Pharomachrus moccino) at the Curichancha reserve. I was especially happy because I've wanted  to see one since my first visit to Costa Rica in 2008.

A strangler fig, a type of ficus that begins as an epiphyte but grows quickly over top of its host tree, preventing it from obtaining light and nutrients. I'm standing in the empty column where the original tree once was.

Anyway, that's all for now, more blogs and reflections on being home will be posted soon!