Costa Rica was home for me from January through November last year, and I still can’t quite put my finger on just why it was that after I left, I couldn’t leave. Costa Rica was in my head and on my brain, even when I started to see concealed impatience at my refrain “One time, in Costa Rica…” I couldn’t stop.
Maybe it was the tropical pace, which is gentle and relaxed. Or perhaps it was that thrill of being able to separate myself out from the tourists: I didn’t vanish after a day or a week or a month, and when locals looked at me I wasn’t just another face to them. If I ran into tourists and they asked me what my next destination was, my answer was “Nowhere. I live here.” It felt great to say that. I loved the language, also. A second language feels magical; finding the words to put together a brand new sentence in another language is a puzzle, a challenge that’s logical and constantly confusing, and which opens doors.
Whatever the reason, Costa Rica stuck in my head, even as I started to put my academic goals together back home. And then, just when I was starting to get over it all and put my head back on my shoulders, the manager of a nature reserve where I volunteered for a short time last year invited me to come back this summer to manage in his 2-month absence.
So here I am. I flew into Costa Rica two days ago, and after a grueling few days of train-bus-plane-taxi-bus-bus-bus-car travel, I am high in the mountains at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve, where i will be living and working for the next few months. I will update with photos, stories, and the research projects going on at the reserve during that time.
For now, I leave you with a photo of my view from this little cozy porch of the volunteer/researcher house where I am sitting:
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