This is my second last day in Monteverde. Early Friday morning I will be leaving for Alajuela where I´ll be spending the night, then at the crack of dawn Saturday I´m off to the airport and will be back in Vancouver the same evening.
I think this is a good time to assess the value of this trip. I would say that on the whole it´s been very successful. I did not sell any art as I was vaguely hoping, but I did give a couple of drawings away as gifts, one in exchange for a drawing by the bed and breakfast manager´s little niece, and another to the manager and his family, as they have gone well out of their way to help me feel comfortable and welcome here and we have come to be friends. Neither have I knowingly connected with anyone who might facilitate some kind of future involvement for me here in Monteverde, but on the other hand, I don´t think this is the direction I should be exploring right now.
I think one really important thing to consider about travelling is this: we are always bringing ourselves with us. The same selves that we usually are at home. The same flaws, the same irritability, the same lack of patience with others, the same unrealistic expectations, the same self-aggrandizing arrogance. I cannot say that I´ve always been proud of the way I´ve reacted to people while away on vacation. Mind you, there are some days, as today, when I seem to get treated to everyone´s worse possible behaviour, including almost getting run over by an eighteen wheeler in Santa Elena. I will not bother going into detail. I am not proud of the way I handled some situatioons today and I really don´t want to clog your poor brains with my dumb complaining. Not today, anyway.
I did get lot´s of art done. I am on my twentieth drawing here and I am genrerally pleased with the quality of my artwork during my month in Monteverde. This is a record, by the way, after doing sixteen drawings in Bogotá last year. I also enjoyed meeting new and interesting people. I have spoken a lot of Spanish, but being surrounded by so much English here I really would have liked to have done more. A lot of the local service workers trying to talk to me in English because I´m güero (white) hasn´t been helpful either, but I really can´t blame them, nor expect them to know. I am not sure really if my Spanish has improved this time, but we´ll see.
I intentionally picked Monteverde this year for one simple reason. I was needing a rest and in a place that was already somewhat familiar to me. Bogotá was fascitating and worth all the trouble but it was also hugely exhausting, especially from my life being in danger at times, as well as having to cope with an often hostile bed and breakfast owner where I was staying. Mexico can also be high-maintenance, especially with the unknowns surrounding health and safety.
The natural splendour here in Monteverde is even more splendid than I had remembered. Every day, it is like waking up to something new, even if it´s the same tropical luxuriance that I saw the day before, and the day before and the day before. And despite that it´s become so damn expensive, despite how infuriating some of the people, tourists and locals can be sometimes, despite the fact that you can´t hike anywhere decent for free, yes I do want to keep returning as I am able. I have seen a lot of new birds as well as older and familiar species. And the morpho butterflies! I´ve been seeing lots of them the last few days, including this morning. With their huge size, iridescent blue splendour and slow wobbly flight, they are a sight to behold. To me they look as though they are laughing while flying. And maybe they are, as I understand that they are really notorious lushes. They feed on fallen rotting fruit which has a high alcohol content, and yes, they are as drunk as lords. I wonder if they can get fined for impaired flying?
I have also enjoyed a lot of much needed solitude and quiet time. I have been able to reckon more concretely with some of my personal issues and I feel that I am able to make some clear and responsible decisions that will of course affect my future.
I would say that the only real downside has been the high cost of everything here, and the need to subsist on a near starvation level budget at times. Still, I do have more than enough money. It´s just that I´ve decided that there is a certain amount that I want to bring home with me to help smooth the transition a little, given that my hours of work might be a little bit scant at first. So, of course I would recommend Monteverde as a place to visit. Just bring lots of money with you.
I do feel like a bit of an anomaly here as a solo traveller, given that I have seen only one other lone visitor here, besides myself. And one fellow the other day appeared downright baffled and puzzled when I told him I was here alone. I also understand that a month, alone, is a long time to spend in a foreign country, but for me it has been heaven, or close enough, on some days anyway. I seem to remember a time when more people were travelling solo. How did this fall out of fashion? If you have any insight to offer on this, Gentle Reader, then please leave a comment.
I have also met some really lovely, decent and interesting people while here, including the cab driver today who offered me a ride for free when he saw me trudging up the steep hill (I turned him down graciously telling him that I was also doing it for the exercise.) And of course, the Vargas family, who own the Mariposa where I am staying, are awesome!
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