I used to enjoy meeting and chatting with fellow Canadians while travelling. It always seemed nice to have someone nearby to remind me of home. Some recent travel experiences have made me a little more reserved about this. In Mexico City, it was a registered nurse from Toronto who, after snapping that she was an atheist when I mentioned casually and inconsequentially that I´m a Christian, morosely insisted that the then Stephen Harper government had irreparably ruined our country and we would never heal from the damage. I agreed with her about Harper, but somehow couldn´t convince her that perhaps there was hope, then, remembering that atheists generally are unable to do hope, I just let it go. My next memorable encounter abroad with a fellow Canadian occured two years ago in Bogota. This fellow was a military man, conservative in both the small and the big c sense, and hated nonwhite immigrants. I made myself scarce very quickly when he showed his true colours.
I have instructed the people at the bed and breakfast where I am staying here that should any other Canadians arrive, to please instruct them that I speak only Spanish, at least while in Monteverde. In the soda today there was a family group of Canadians, I suspect from my part of the country. After hearing their conversation I was determined not to make myself known, and besides, I was speaking to the staff only in Spanish (very good Spanish, if I must say so, myself)
Every time I see or encounter other white North Americans (and Europeans) here in Monteverde, it´s like looking at a very unflattering mirror. It´s not that we´re all so bad. We´re not, really. We just come across as such absolute idiots, sometimes, and worse, because everyone I see here is travelling either with their families, as couples, or with friends. Their hanging together and speaking nothing but English to each other just seems to increase their isolation from their host country. I have come across but one other solo traveller since arriving here and he seemed so grumpy and unfriendly that I just gave up saying hi to him in the breakfast room.
A lot of people seem reluctant or scared to travel alone and in their pairs or groups they so reinforce each other and their North American or European characteristics that they seem completely impregnable by the surrounding culture. Perhaps that is why people really don´t like to travel alone. Fear, not of being robbed or killed or anything, but fear of losing their precious Gringo or European identity, if but a little bit, for the joy of adapting to a new culture.
I generally prefer solitary travel because I like the way this opens me up to the new culture. There is always something to gain and to learn this way. It does carry its risks, but who ever said that life is going to be risk-free?
In the meantime, I continue on my daily walks, greeting strangers, making conversation in Spanish with anyone who wants to stop to chat a bit, and simply enjoying this strange but beautiful music of another culture. Speaking Spanish is an invaluable asset, of course, and I really think that if you´re going to spend even a week or two here, it is worthwhile to familiarize yourself with the language.
In order to travel well, not as a tourist, but perhaps as an apt student of life, one has to virtually ignore the tourist industry, and basically unlearn everything we´ve been told about foreign travel and simply make ourselves vulnerable enough to receive what the people whose country we are visiting have to offer.
It´s time to take consumerism out of travel and to learn new ways of becoming friends and allies with the countries we are visiting. This doesn´t mean we all have to join CUSO or CIDA. I´m thinking more of the idea of travel with an open mind and an open heart. To be willing to be changed or transformed by the experience and to return home with something new and valuable that we can contribute to our own country, keeping in mind that with this different way of travelling we are really helping to transform the world into one country.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Costa Rica 13
I have been noticiing trucks today, but only because of some of their passengers. The first one was an open pickup truck with a couple of young guys standing up in the back, apparently unaware or not caring that the bumpy ride on the dirt road could send them both to their eternal reward. On the way back from Santa Elena there were two other young men riding the back of a pickup sidesaddle, and I had to look twice. Then, while seated on a bench to admire the view of the Nicoya Peninsula I thought I heard someone hollering to me from a passing vehicle, but it turned out to be a couple of goats bleating from the back of another pickup. A very human sounding bleat, at that.
I am enjoying becoming better acquainted with some of the local people. There seems to be a very friendly vibe here and I like to participate in it. I often have very interesting chats with one of the sons of the family that owns the bed and bed and breakfast, today also with his mother, then later I encountered the son of one of the ladies who works at the soda where I have dinner. Even if an extended stay in a place can seem a bit long and boring at times, there is the benefit of getting to know the place a bit better and some of the people who live here. It can also be a very ferile ground for spiritual and self exploration.
I have mentioned that this is for me, principally, a spiritual retreat. I can explain a bit further here. As I am having more time alone and to be still and away from a lot of the familiar distractions of ordinary life, there are certain memories from my childhood and other parts of my past that have been surfacing, giving me time to get a better perspective of how these early experiences have formed me and influenced the direction of my life, and also how to take concrete steps towards further healing. It is a rather intense and laborious and sometimes painful process, but I am ready for this and this signals that it is time for me to grow some more.
I saw again a group of three urracas azules, or blue magpie jays. They are always in a group of three, for some reason. I might draw one while I´m here in Monteverde. Here´s an image again to refresh your memory, if the computer will allow it through its security filtre, if not, just google blue magpie jays google images and you will see them for themselves.
Nope, couldn´t do it. And now a big fat Canadian SORRY!
I am enjoying becoming better acquainted with some of the local people. There seems to be a very friendly vibe here and I like to participate in it. I often have very interesting chats with one of the sons of the family that owns the bed and bed and breakfast, today also with his mother, then later I encountered the son of one of the ladies who works at the soda where I have dinner. Even if an extended stay in a place can seem a bit long and boring at times, there is the benefit of getting to know the place a bit better and some of the people who live here. It can also be a very ferile ground for spiritual and self exploration.
I have mentioned that this is for me, principally, a spiritual retreat. I can explain a bit further here. As I am having more time alone and to be still and away from a lot of the familiar distractions of ordinary life, there are certain memories from my childhood and other parts of my past that have been surfacing, giving me time to get a better perspective of how these early experiences have formed me and influenced the direction of my life, and also how to take concrete steps towards further healing. It is a rather intense and laborious and sometimes painful process, but I am ready for this and this signals that it is time for me to grow some more.
I saw again a group of three urracas azules, or blue magpie jays. They are always in a group of three, for some reason. I might draw one while I´m here in Monteverde. Here´s an image again to refresh your memory, if the computer will allow it through its security filtre, if not, just google blue magpie jays google images and you will see them for themselves.
Nope, couldn´t do it. And now a big fat Canadian SORRY!
Monday, 13 March 2017
Costa Rica 12
If this trip doesnt kill me first it can only mke me stronger. I just did another, longer and more extensive hike in la reserva Curi Cancha. What steep, winding and never ending trails set in an absolue Eden of lush tropical beauty and natural grandeur! I was completely alone this time, two and a half hours of near absolute solitude but for the forest and the wildlife surrounding me. Of course there was the usual group of morons crowding around a tree with a quetzal perched in it with all their fancy and cumbersome viewing equipment, likely traumatizing the poor bird. I do believe that most of us when we travel leave half our brain at home, and the other half seems to just stay inside the suitcase. The tour guide tried to gesture to me to come join them to look at the quetzal but I wasnt biting this time. Those birds, like the others, deserve to be treáted with respect, so I ignored them and walked on to the hummingbird garden. It seemed nearly perfect and I had just begun working in my sketchbook when the same herd of dopes descended on me to get their close ups of the hummingbirds. I was disgusted, partly for their lack of good manners the way they intruded on me, and partly for their lack of respect for the hummingbirds. I promptly packed up my stuff and left. I did see a trogon fly by, a relative of the quetzal and I think its going to be the next bird for me to draw. Here´s an image
It may not come up on the page, but I did my best. I´ll try another image.
Nope. Tried aagain, and still no image. this computer is hyper secure and blocks almost everything. You´re just going to have to guess what it looks like, or Google black throated trogon, google images, and see for yourself.
The young man at the reception gave me the students´discount. His mother works at the soda where I have dinner and they all seem to like me so far, and vice versa.
After wearing myself out on the steep, serpentine trails, I stopped to rest for a half hour on a bench with an incredible view of the valley and the forest covered mountains. I saw very little in the way of birds, but I´m not really worried about it. They don´t exist for our pleasure and of course they are going to be completely indifferent to our existence. I only wish that the die hard birders would figure that out.
If a resplendent quetzal in the meantime wants me to see it, I´m sure it will show itself to me in good time.
It may not come up on the page, but I did my best. I´ll try another image.
Nope. Tried aagain, and still no image. this computer is hyper secure and blocks almost everything. You´re just going to have to guess what it looks like, or Google black throated trogon, google images, and see for yourself.
The young man at the reception gave me the students´discount. His mother works at the soda where I have dinner and they all seem to like me so far, and vice versa.
After wearing myself out on the steep, serpentine trails, I stopped to rest for a half hour on a bench with an incredible view of the valley and the forest covered mountains. I saw very little in the way of birds, but I´m not really worried about it. They don´t exist for our pleasure and of course they are going to be completely indifferent to our existence. I only wish that the die hard birders would figure that out.
If a resplendent quetzal in the meantime wants me to see it, I´m sure it will show itself to me in good time.
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Costa Rica 11
Its been a very tranquil summery kind of day. The temperature must have been in the low twenties, very similar to Vancouver in July. I walked around a lot as usual, taking a rather long dead end road full of towering trees and cow pastures. I heard a toucan croaking like a frog with a soar throat from the trees but couldnt quite see him. The rock star birds are often if not always the hardest to notice. Then I wandered to a bakery cafe for chocolate cake and coffee and to finish one drawing and start a new one, then I wandered along a couple of other dead end roads full of trees and dazzling sunlight. Lots of hills to climb and this can be daunting to the poorly conditioned and even challenging to the already physically fit.
I stopped for an early dinner at the little soda in the gringo compound. This little restaurant with tasty cheap eats is like an island of authenticity among the pretentious neo hippy gringo stores in the area. One of the ladies, a woman of perhaps fifty, and I often chat in Spanish and she expressed kind of a good natured contempt for a lot of the visitors here who really dont seem to give a damn about the people who live here. She and her associate seem really interesting, bright, strong and resourceful women whose families have probably lived in Costa Rica for generations.
A lot of people here never travel as it is very expensive, and it is so clear how we who can make these trips seem to treat it as an entitlement rather than a very special privilege. Life for the locals is becoming very expensive with foreigners, principally from North America , buying property and pushing up land prices and the cost of everything else. This seems to be part of a global phenomonen. I only wish that something could be done to curb the greed, especially of property owners intent on selling. I dont see why our governments couldnt exact a maximum price on land and real estate sales to keep everything within an affordable range. Of course, the most beautiful and livable places, such as Vancouver and Costa Rca, are also going to be the most coveted and before you know it they will become ghettos for the rich, unless concrete and direct action is taken.
I trudged back to the bed and breakfast and they really treated me well, as always. The laptop that I was loaned, for free, wasnt functioning, so father and son teamworked together for a good half hour or so to set me up with a functioning computer. These people are so incredibly kind and I hope to never take them for granted.
I stopped for an early dinner at the little soda in the gringo compound. This little restaurant with tasty cheap eats is like an island of authenticity among the pretentious neo hippy gringo stores in the area. One of the ladies, a woman of perhaps fifty, and I often chat in Spanish and she expressed kind of a good natured contempt for a lot of the visitors here who really dont seem to give a damn about the people who live here. She and her associate seem really interesting, bright, strong and resourceful women whose families have probably lived in Costa Rica for generations.
A lot of people here never travel as it is very expensive, and it is so clear how we who can make these trips seem to treat it as an entitlement rather than a very special privilege. Life for the locals is becoming very expensive with foreigners, principally from North America , buying property and pushing up land prices and the cost of everything else. This seems to be part of a global phenomonen. I only wish that something could be done to curb the greed, especially of property owners intent on selling. I dont see why our governments couldnt exact a maximum price on land and real estate sales to keep everything within an affordable range. Of course, the most beautiful and livable places, such as Vancouver and Costa Rca, are also going to be the most coveted and before you know it they will become ghettos for the rich, unless concrete and direct action is taken.
I trudged back to the bed and breakfast and they really treated me well, as always. The laptop that I was loaned, for free, wasnt functioning, so father and son teamworked together for a good half hour or so to set me up with a functioning computer. These people are so incredibly kind and I hope to never take them for granted.
Saturday, 11 March 2017
Costa Rica 10
When I am visiting another country I always work at trying to get a sense of how people live, of who they are. Here, in Monteverde, one gets a sense of different social classes, even if Costa Rica doesnt have a class system. Today, while walking up the road to the cloud forest reserve entrance I saw a crew of men doing roadwork. The first one refused to respond to my Spanish. I have noticed at times while visiting Latin American countries that people with low education are less likely to either believe that a white person can even speak Spanish or to give us the time of day no matter how well we speak it. They seem to take foreigners who are fluent in their language as a personal insult. Fortunately, their kind seem pretty rare and most people seem willing and even eager to engage with a visitor in Spanish. There were others working on the road, or taking a cigarette break. One of them was urinating on the side of the road, fortunately with his back facing the traffic. I wonder if theyve ever heard of portapotties here. Some of them had dark complexions, like Nicaraguans, and they could be some of the five hundred thousand Nicaraguans living and working in Costa Rica. I wonder what kind of life they come home to at the end of the day. Their living conditions, what they eat, what kind of support they have from friends or family, what they have to live and suffer through every day, what makes them smile and laugh. I wonder about the state of their mental health, given the stresses they have to live with. There is of course racism in Costa Rica, as there is all over the world. I have mentioned previously that some Costa Ricans still pride themselves for being the whitest people in Central America, even though it has been found that on average Costa Ricans have forty to sixty percent indigenous blood flowing in their veins,
Following a visit to the hummingbird gallery and the cafe near the cloud forest reserve I was walking back when the owner of the bed and breakfast where Im staying stopped to give me a ride. He told me a bit about the history of Monteverde, of how in the seventies there were few motor vehicles and almost everyone got around on horseback. He told me about some of the people who have immigrated here from all over Europe, only to become successful and well to do entrepreneurs, even pointing out the impressive modern mansion hugging the mountainside where live the owners of a local and very successful Italian restaurant.
Monteverde would clearly be different things to different people. For the average tourist it is a place of natural beauty where they can get their nature fix for a couple of days before moving down to one of the beaches or elsewhere. They are not likely to take much interest in the local people. But the people are the land, just as the land is the people. And I think that peple from privileged situations should think about these matters good and hard before going on vacation somewhere, perhaps to get the idea that the people living in the country they are visiting matter a little bit more than their bucket list.
It was a cab driver here who told me recently that he thanks the tourists who come here for opening his eyes to how beautiful his part of the world is. I told him that I have had a similar experience in Vancouver, where I have lived all my life, just as the cab driver has spent his entire life in Monteverde. I didnt even know that there was anything special or beautiful about Vancouver until I kept hearing from visitors the same thing over and over again, that I live in a beautiful part of the world.
I have already mentioned that foreign ownership, especially by North Americans has been pushing up land and other prices in this country, making life increasingly difficult for the people who call Costa Rica their home. Everytime anyone wants to complain about foreign millionaires turning Vancouver into a giant Chinese laundry, or of Chinese only signs without English translation should give a thought or three of what white Americans and Canadians are doing here in Costa Rica. Basically the same thing, not even trying to learn Spanish in some cases, and you wouldnt believe the number of English only signs I see here every day in this very special part of a small Spanish speaking country. We really have no right to complain when we consider that we are just as bad and often worse when it comes to the economic colonization of other countries.
We all leave a footprint on this earth, and we are all responsible for what kind of footprint, how large, and how its going to impact future generations.
Following a visit to the hummingbird gallery and the cafe near the cloud forest reserve I was walking back when the owner of the bed and breakfast where Im staying stopped to give me a ride. He told me a bit about the history of Monteverde, of how in the seventies there were few motor vehicles and almost everyone got around on horseback. He told me about some of the people who have immigrated here from all over Europe, only to become successful and well to do entrepreneurs, even pointing out the impressive modern mansion hugging the mountainside where live the owners of a local and very successful Italian restaurant.
Monteverde would clearly be different things to different people. For the average tourist it is a place of natural beauty where they can get their nature fix for a couple of days before moving down to one of the beaches or elsewhere. They are not likely to take much interest in the local people. But the people are the land, just as the land is the people. And I think that peple from privileged situations should think about these matters good and hard before going on vacation somewhere, perhaps to get the idea that the people living in the country they are visiting matter a little bit more than their bucket list.
It was a cab driver here who told me recently that he thanks the tourists who come here for opening his eyes to how beautiful his part of the world is. I told him that I have had a similar experience in Vancouver, where I have lived all my life, just as the cab driver has spent his entire life in Monteverde. I didnt even know that there was anything special or beautiful about Vancouver until I kept hearing from visitors the same thing over and over again, that I live in a beautiful part of the world.
I have already mentioned that foreign ownership, especially by North Americans has been pushing up land and other prices in this country, making life increasingly difficult for the people who call Costa Rica their home. Everytime anyone wants to complain about foreign millionaires turning Vancouver into a giant Chinese laundry, or of Chinese only signs without English translation should give a thought or three of what white Americans and Canadians are doing here in Costa Rica. Basically the same thing, not even trying to learn Spanish in some cases, and you wouldnt believe the number of English only signs I see here every day in this very special part of a small Spanish speaking country. We really have no right to complain when we consider that we are just as bad and often worse when it comes to the economic colonization of other countries.
We all leave a footprint on this earth, and we are all responsible for what kind of footprint, how large, and how its going to impact future generations.
Friday, 10 March 2017
Costa Rica 9
Today I shelled out and visited one of the major cloud forest reserves, Curi Cancha. This is the same place I used to hike in for free when I was last in Monteverde in November 2010. It was private land then, and I kept going back until I was summarily kicked out for trespassing. Now its a reserve and you have to fork out the equivalent of 20 bucks Canadian for the privilege. It is even more impressive than I remember it, perhaps because the trails have been extended. I plan to go again next week, to spend perhaps a good four or five hours.
I only ran into other people twice during my two hour hike. One was a group of around a dozen Americans gawking at a quetzal in a tree.
There was with them a young Muslim woman blocking the path with her telescopic camera tripod. And she looked a bit offended when I politely asked her if I could get by. She seemed rather incongruous with her hijab and heavy eye make up, but each to her own, eh. She rather refreshingly reminded me of Canada as here in Costa Rica there isnt the kind of diversity we take for granted and, mostly, enjoy in the True North Strong And Free. Still, I do get kind of bugged when someone publicly displays their religion while still behaving like inconsiderate idiots. But really, I dont care if youre wearing hijab, a Sikh turban or a ten pound crucifix round your neck. When you make a public display of your relgious faith there is also an expectation that you are going to do your utmost to reflect the highest values of your religion. This goes for all of us, no matter what we believe or profess. I am reminded of one of my favourite Bizarro cartoons. St. Peter is interviewing a fellow at heavens gate, looking at the book, and says to the poor soul, It says here that you believe. It also says that you were being a jerk about it.
And yes, I am expecting to be judged by my own words. Heaven help me. Literally!
It seems Im the only person there that couldnt quite see the quetzal, though I did catch a glimpse of the female as she flew in. Still, I felt sorry for the poor birds, who must get traumatized by all these dumb humans hanging around staring at them with thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and I decided that it wasnt worth seeing the bird while participating in the spectacle. If I see one while Im here, that would be nice, but Ive noticed a lot of equally lovely birds in Monterverde already, plus I already saw quetzals during my first visit here in 1994. Maybe once is enough.
I really enjoyed the hummingbird garden. There are three feeders in a clearing with a picnic table and twice I sat there to enjoy their beauty, while trying to be respectful of the poor little birds. I dont think they noticed me much. With all the sugar water they were drinking they must have been like regulars in a local crack house.
Later, I had an early dinner at the usual soda. The ladies who run the place and work there are really nice and I am enjoying talking to them and the Spanish practice is a great plus. They also seem to enjoy my art.
Im still enjoying the bed and breakfast where Im staying. I am feeling truly welcome and truly spoilt and the family who runs the place are so enjoyable to chat with, all in Spanish, of course,
The weather seems to have improved. It does rain at night and in the early morning but there is a lot more sunshine lately. Because my doctor has ordered me to start covering my head in the sun I have taken to wearing a bandana on my head, since I dont like hats. The way the sunlight hits the leaves here is something beyond dazzling.
I only ran into other people twice during my two hour hike. One was a group of around a dozen Americans gawking at a quetzal in a tree.
There was with them a young Muslim woman blocking the path with her telescopic camera tripod. And she looked a bit offended when I politely asked her if I could get by. She seemed rather incongruous with her hijab and heavy eye make up, but each to her own, eh. She rather refreshingly reminded me of Canada as here in Costa Rica there isnt the kind of diversity we take for granted and, mostly, enjoy in the True North Strong And Free. Still, I do get kind of bugged when someone publicly displays their religion while still behaving like inconsiderate idiots. But really, I dont care if youre wearing hijab, a Sikh turban or a ten pound crucifix round your neck. When you make a public display of your relgious faith there is also an expectation that you are going to do your utmost to reflect the highest values of your religion. This goes for all of us, no matter what we believe or profess. I am reminded of one of my favourite Bizarro cartoons. St. Peter is interviewing a fellow at heavens gate, looking at the book, and says to the poor soul, It says here that you believe. It also says that you were being a jerk about it.
And yes, I am expecting to be judged by my own words. Heaven help me. Literally!
It seems Im the only person there that couldnt quite see the quetzal, though I did catch a glimpse of the female as she flew in. Still, I felt sorry for the poor birds, who must get traumatized by all these dumb humans hanging around staring at them with thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and I decided that it wasnt worth seeing the bird while participating in the spectacle. If I see one while Im here, that would be nice, but Ive noticed a lot of equally lovely birds in Monterverde already, plus I already saw quetzals during my first visit here in 1994. Maybe once is enough.
I really enjoyed the hummingbird garden. There are three feeders in a clearing with a picnic table and twice I sat there to enjoy their beauty, while trying to be respectful of the poor little birds. I dont think they noticed me much. With all the sugar water they were drinking they must have been like regulars in a local crack house.
Later, I had an early dinner at the usual soda. The ladies who run the place and work there are really nice and I am enjoying talking to them and the Spanish practice is a great plus. They also seem to enjoy my art.
Im still enjoying the bed and breakfast where Im staying. I am feeling truly welcome and truly spoilt and the family who runs the place are so enjoyable to chat with, all in Spanish, of course,
The weather seems to have improved. It does rain at night and in the early morning but there is a lot more sunshine lately. Because my doctor has ordered me to start covering my head in the sun I have taken to wearing a bandana on my head, since I dont like hats. The way the sunlight hits the leaves here is something beyond dazzling.
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Costa Rica 8
Green is the theme for todays post, Gentle Reader. Yesterday when I was looking out from the balcony of Cafe Cabure onto the tropical forest below I felt nearly blinded by the intensity of the colour green. This was not a soft, northern temperate woodland green, no. It was tropical and strident and screeching and overpowering and in such a range of tones and shades as I couldnt imagine to name here. I am surprised that here they do not have at least two hundred distinct words for the colour green as the northern Inuit are said to have for snow.
Monteverde is Spanish for Green Mountain. Go figure. This is the land of eternal spring. It is always May here.
Here is an excellent article about the colour green that I just pulled from the internet
Monteverde is Spanish for Green Mountain. Go figure. This is the land of eternal spring. It is always May here.
Here is an excellent article about the colour green that I just pulled from the internet
All About the Color GREEN
by
Green is the color of the Heart Chakra, also known as Anahata. This chakra is located at the center of the chest area and is linked to the heart, lungs, circulatory system, cardiac plexus, and the complete chest area. The Heart Chakra bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. Opening the Heart Chakra allows a person to love more, empathize, and feel compassion.
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