Top 5 reasons why the last 48 hours was the perfect Hojancha experience:

Hangin' with Oscar's son, Kahlil

1. Friends and neighbors gathering at my house for a BBQ celebration. The food was done incredibly late and the arepas were a disaster, but I love having the people in my life gather together. Nothing makes me happier. I sat on the grass under the stars and listened to my awesome neighbor, Raul, tell fishing stories. The best part is, I almost understood every conversation!

2. Driving alone to the beach for a Saturday afternoon of sunshine, reading, and swimming. Anyone who has known me for a long time knows that driving is a bit intimidating to me. In fact, I only started to drive a manual when I moved to Costa Rica last summer. I can now jump in the car and drive on often steep, pot-holey dirt roads to a number of my favorite destinations. It gave me an incredible feeling of independence, solitude, and freedom.


3. The most epic run I have been on in Costa Rica. My friend Charlie took me on a 45 minute trail run up a crazy steep path above Hojancha. From the top, we could see the gulf, and then the whole town. He always points out his favorite flowering trees and tells me stories about the area, which I love. I can't wait to take my friend Audrey on this run!!

Charlie at the mirador over Hojancha

4. My Ecuadorian housemate made empanadas for dinner. Everyone here cooks so well! Plus, I was starving after that run.

5. A night of guitar and violin music with amazing singing by Alex Piedra. We went to a benefit concert for the school in Matambu (an indigenous territory) and I was blown away. The rural setting and modest attendance had me expecting a casual night of listening to local musicians. I ended up experiencing some of the best live guitar I have ever heard.

Imagine Rodrigo and Gabriela playing an intimate concert for you and your friends. That's pretty close to what was happening. 

Is this how hard I was supposed to be working this whole time?

WHOA, folks. Apparently it took me a year and a half to reach the physically exhausting, all-consuming, busy busy BUSY part of my education. The past weeks have gone by in a blur. They have been full of visiting farms, talking to beekeepers, attending presentations, spending boatloads of money on equipment, and not having time to/forgetting to do 60% of the things I need to do every day. I haven't partied in WEEKS. I only went on two runs last week. My clothes are all dirty.

Im not complaining. I love it!

Using a bow and arrow to send rope into the canopy and set traps. It's hard not to pose a little bit when you are holding a weapon like that. 

Riding in the back of a truck with my beekeeping sensay (sp?) Cundo. Also, there is at least a month between this pic and the above pic. And almost no variety in my outfits. 

I'm on fulltime smoke duty when helping Alfredo and Cundo with the bees. These two men are helping me so much with my project, and I couldn't be more grateful!

Visiting a maximum-security melon farm. Gee, I wonder what they are hiding...

Selecting sites from the beautiful orange, coffee, forest, and pasture farms the owners so generously take me to see.

I have to be incredibly thankful, because every door I open seems to hold a new opportunity. I have met people who have handed me valuable data, telling me that they care about my project and want to see me do big things. I feel a ton of pressure to do something important with my work- which is both scary and already very rewarding. I feel so happy and blessed to be doing something that might make a difference to these good people. They are teaching me so much just by showing me how they live a happy life here in Hojancha.

I think this generosity and happiness is part of what makes Guanacaste a Blue Zone, an area with very high scores on the happiness index and some of the longest lifespans in the world (more on that in another post). The healthy traditional diet of heritage corn, fruits, vegetables, and beans probably doesn't hurt either. I'm taking notes.

 But I can't resist mentioning that one the things making ME happy is this guy:

Oh, doing a little light reading there, buddy?

He's going to be here in three weeks, how lucky am I? Plus, a bonus of getting free field help.

Hojancha Rednecks

Everything is Pura Vida in Hojancha right now. I am living in a great little furnished house right in town; my housemates are students who only speak Spanish with me, and this morning I learned how to make a traditional Costa Rican breakfast (Gallo Pinto).

Before leaving my little yellow house on the hill, we did some grilling out and drinking in the front yard and I stopped to lovingly observe the place I have called home while here in Hojancha. This includes:

A motley assortment of pups that are regularly provided with food scraps and love

Multi-colored Christmas lights that alternate between flashing patterns (reminder: it is February)

A tendency to adopt any lost and frightened animal

Virtually no furniture and many shirtless men



 A borrowed grill in our front yard that we use quite frequently

 

 It was then I realized that we are the rednecks of our little neighborhood. I'm definitely excited to start a new page of my CR life (and meet Oscar's family, who move here from PR in a few days!!!), but I'm also going to miss the hilarity of living with these guys. The good news is: the cleanliness of our washed dishes and pristine common areas in the new house more than makes up for it ;)