Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Travelog from the Past: Part I

Mary Laure asked to hear about Costa Rica and I thought why not? Rummaging in a drawer resulted in the small red book I used as a journal. What follows is a trip (funded by the Burrito Revolution: see below) with some 18 8th graders, I was one of 5 adult chaperons. 

How could I leave these two?  my beloved Bandit on left 
and the little Agouti girl is Biscuit, an adopted stray.
5/30/04
Santa Cruz, California
Slept for maybe an hour last night between trying to make the "house" semi-presentable and getting rabbit care in order, the time just slipped away. It was a relief when out 4:45 a.m. pick arrived; what was undone would  simply remain so. It seems almost mandatory to start a journey already in a strange fatigued state that one might wake-up in a foreign land. 

I have a terrible fear of flying. I have to convince myself this is a good day to die and so if I do it is alright. On the plane one of the stewardesses complains to the teacher, Mr. S., about the rudeness of the students. It is true and they are being kids; sometimes sweet and thoughtful, philosophical even, and a bit rude.

The pilot announces the different countries as we fly over them; Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador. Places hitherto only in the news and adopted into the hearts of the left. 

San Jose, Costa Rica-
Humidity is the first sign of the tropics. It envelops our skins and fills bodies from the inside. Our raggle taggle group manages to get through customs. Bananas and fruit relinquished and forms filled out in pen. It has to be pen or it will be rejected. Our guides, Zack and Mel find us, it can't have been hard and we are shuffled onto our tour bus. Suddenly we are turistas. Looking out the window as we drive through the night to the hotel we could still be in the states, San Diego, LA, Phoenix, San Antonio, except for the occasional guard toting a large sawed off shotgun on a strap. The boys are very excited by this armament.

Our hotel is La Rosa American and is a sweet little place with a pool in a garden setting owned and operated by Canadians. As we walk to dinner the kids are noisy and boisterous. The girls are nearly naked, showing underwear and bras as much as allowed by the new decency standards. They are whistled at repeatedly by groups of men on the other side of the road. The restaurant is a large open air affair whose name translates to "Corn Delicacies" and here starts our consumption of tropical fruit juices; Cas, Guananna, Guava....The desert is memorable, a coconut flan. (Indeed it is one of first things I think of when I recall this trip, now 5 years later). There is a food fight (a skirmish really). The kids are reprimanded by Zack. "There are so many people without enough to eat, that this really upsets me." The topic of the Ugly American is broached and reoccurs throughout the evening. 

Back at the hotel both Annette (another chaperon/mom and my roommate)  and I feel homesick for our animals and relations. However I sleep like a rock. 

9 comments:

Paula said...

Excellent. And (sits on the edge of her chair)???

Deb Cushman said...

Can't wait to hear more...never traveled with that many 8th graders, but did fly back from Atlanta with a plane full of them on the way home from their Washington DC trip. Never saw so many excursions up and down the aisles before!

Unknown said...

I finally got to see Bandit, what a lovely bun..though I am not sure if I had seen her in any of your older posts before. I have a fear of flying too and Nooooo...I don't want to go this way..but the urge to travel does supersedes the fear of flying..luckily. What an interesting journal and I look forward to the rest. I can understand how it is traveling with children, even traveling with my 3 stooges makes me pressurised at times..and a whole bunch of them sure will give me high blood pressure :P

RG said...

Well .. other than sort of the trip from hell, it sounds great! Carry on ..

Biscuit ... yup .. quite like The Princess!

Crafty Green Poet said...

lovely bunnies! I look forward to reading more about your trip!

Anonymous said...

Interesting journal of your trip! Almost feels like I'm right there with the boisterous, near-naked kids lol.

Oh, Bandit! This is the first time I'm seeing her picture. I've always imagined her as a spotted bun.. must be the influence of the Spots on my mind. She's such a beautiful girl. Biscuit is adorable, too!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Thanks for reading everyone! LOL if I had known I'd be blogging when I wrote the journal I'd have been more detailed, don't think I even knew what a blog was.
FB-Yes, Bandit was a not a Spot, though this pic doesn't show her to her very best advantage, she was a gorgeous bun.

Mary-Laure said...

Thank you so much for this!
The trip sounds so extraordinary.

Hmmm, wondering what your "rabbit care" arrangements were...

d. moll, l.ac. said...

ML you are welcome, thanks for motivating me, I'm having fun. Hmm rabbit arrangements were complex since the land lady would be checking in and she recently had become concerned about having two rabbits in a small studio, even though she encouraged me to take in Biscuit. There was much black plastic on the floor and lots of towels, more than two litter boxes........