Pura Vida:

2007-07-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

We are officially back in the states and this is our last blog posting for now... We may resume with Europe 2008!

Our trip was a great adventure and we are so glad that we went. I am very glad to be back in the states. When we arrived at customs, the officer who checked our passports said "Welcome home" and I wanted to hug him. I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Here is a list of the cultural things that we missed, and are now enjoying in bulk.

fresh air (I can't seem to get enough. The diesel fumes in San Jose were often overwhelming.)
cake doughnuts
driving our car
relaxing in public without being concerned about theft
knowing how to access our money

We have also taken a break from rice and beans, but now that it's been over a week I'm starting to think that I should go but a pressure cooker and a rice maker and go to town. Mike can't stop talking about the monkeys and I miss my Costa Rican fam. Mike is also trying to find a way to purchase a home next to a panaderia. (Okay, not really)

Thanks for coming along on our journey with us. God bless!

Finding the Rainforest Treasure at Manuel Antonio

2007-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Join Mike and Becca on a journey for treasure in the rainforests of Costa Rica...

Remember...

Sometimes treasure isn't buried in the ground...

Time to climb the path...

Watch out for citters along the way. This Black Iguana enjoys watching the hikers pass.

Whew, are we there yet? Wow - wait... Did you hear that??

Hmm... I don't see anything... (Well, except amazing rainforest)

WOW -AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH... Oh, wait a minute. Oops, it's just a vine. I thought it was the snake that even the forest guides are afraid of...

It looks like even the crabs are having a tough time finding it...

Hmmm... Where's that treasure... Overlooking the waters of Manuel Antonio in West-Central Costa Rica, Becca doesn't think she sees it yet...

I guess we'd better keep looking for that treasure...

What in the world? Bird... Plane... That guy from Smallville?

AHA!! We've found it!!! A capuchin monkey...

And his friends...

How cool!!

Here is a video clip of capuchin monkeys swinging in the rainforest at Costa Rica's Manuel Antonio National Park. They really were as close as it seems! Enjoy!

San Jose - stay #3

2007-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Although we´re now sitting in Playa Manuel Antonio, we have lots to fill everyone in from the past week and a half...

…Transportation
The road trip back to San Jose from Montezuma…yikes! How a 4-5 hour journey can turn into more than 9 hours...

Step 1: Wait for ½ hour then miss the bus because of getting too many different answers from people on the street. Spend an hour and a half at the internet café waiting for the next bus.

Step 2: Take the bus from Montezuma to Paquera.

Step 3: Take the ferry from Paquera on the Nicoya Penninsula to Puntarenas. A journey that took 1 hour on the way out took over 2 hours on the way back.

Step 4: Take a taxi from the ferry to the bus station at Puntarenas, get there just in time to miss the 6:00 bus. Wait an hour for the 7:00 bus.

Step 5: Take the 7:00 bus back to San Jose.

Step 6: Take a taxi home and drop into bed at 11:00 pm.
Public transportation…it’s always an adventure!

…Rafting the Pacuare River in Costa Rica

Rafting with the Make-a-Wish girls from Chicago, and Rios Tropicales river-guide Alejandro on the Pacuare River. Pura vida! The river is class III and IV and is the 5th most rafted river in the world. It was an incredible ride, my best rafting experience ever, hands down. Mike, who has rafted several US rivers, including the Gauley in flood season, noted that the whitewater class ratings in CR seem different than US – here, a IV was very much like a V in the US… whew. We don´t have our photo package yet, but you can visit http://www.riostropicales.com/english.htm to check out their gallery. We rafted beside the waterfall shown in pic #3 and saw as much whitewater as you seen in many of the picture at the end of their real. Unfortunately, we didn´t see as much wildlife, but we did see people from the native mountain tribe playing along the river. It reminded Mike of missionary Marilyn Lazlo´s descriptions of the people of Papua New Guinea.

…Weekend experiences

A day at the Feria (fruit and vegetable market), which seriously took up at least 6 acres, possibly more around 10 by the time you walk around the perimeter. We wandered through seemingly endless stalls of brightly colored produce with Mayela as our guide. Along the way we tasted at least five completely new fruits. Mike went crazy on the pineapple, and the trunk was packed with an amazing assortment of freshness on the way home.

Church with our Costa Rican family at Oasis, the largest church in Central America.
Spending Father’s Day in Costa Rica with our Tico family. We had a very tasty family meal complete with a professionally decorated cake, courtesy of Mayela. Sorry we weren’t there to celebrate with you, Dads!

…The Abraham Project

Serving with the Abraham Project for a week. What an amazing experience to help with a small piece of their vision. (more on this experience in another blog article) routine: ...up at 5:30AM, help with the building projects, home around 6 or 7, eat and sleep... no time for internet, thus the long wait for updates... sorry.

Our dinner of RostiPollo with Pops for desert. When day-dreaming now, Mike thinks about what he will get on his next trip to Pops. He recommends the Passión Queque (passion cake) flavor dipped in chocolate and peanuts...

We spent our 4th anniversary at the Abraham Project shoveling sand, rocks, and cement to make concrete; pulling nails out of boards; and transporting heavy wheelbarrows full of concrete. Don’t worry, we’re celebrating for real at the beach this weekend. Also as an added perk, Mayela made us a Tres Leches cake. Yummmm.

…More familiar faces

Dinner with Crhis, Pey, and Teresa. We tried Olla de Carne (a sort of Costa Rican beef stew) for the first time while talking half in English and half in Spanish. Happy birthday, Teresa!!

…Getting $$$

The day of serious drama at the bank. Serious ARGGGHHH, that day. It’s just not this tricky to access our money in the states.

The Abraham Project: When no one else believed it could happen

2007-06-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Photos: Mike tearing apart pallates; Becca surveying foundation trenches; our friends at the cement-mixing station (was that bag REALLY 125 pounds??).

Becca and I budgeted and saved money throughout the year so we could live her dream of taking me to Costa Rica. We also budgeted funds to create or connect with a mission trip while in the country. As much as we wanted to experience the country, we also really wanted to experience and support its people. Although we hadn't connected with an organization prior to arriving, we continued looking for a connection. Enter Teresa.

Teresa is actually an American who completed a mission trip in CR a year ago... and stayed after being offered a position at the International Christian School of Costa Rica (http://www.icscr.net/). We met her at a friend's church in San Jose, CR and explained to her that we were looking to serve in some capacity before leaving. She told us about The Abraham Project (http://www.abrahamproject.org/), an association providing children's daycare and adult education for a community immersed in poverty. She said the project would be tough work...

Becca and I arrived the next week to join a youth group who arrived for the week on a mission trip. We were told the next phase of the project was to build a large multi-purpose/office complex that would serve the community. The association will host doctors and other professional professionals in the new offices to offer community members FREE services. Amazing! The project has already completed a large community center/cafeteria that currently serves as the community's church, a 2-story daycare & adult education facility (teachers are volunteers from the community!), and a large, enclosed storage area for the MANY donations God has sent them. They told a fascinating story of how a local lumber company decided to donate pallate wood, windows, and concrete for the buildings.

The project started when a pastor from Costa Rica wanted to support the children in this area suffering from poverty and malnutrition. This area in particular is where the city of San Jose dumps its trash. Not many people believed anything could become of this little town. However, the pastor continued praying through his vision and found the way. Enjoy the pictures, and feel free to read more at http://www.abrahamproject.org/.

Pastor Jorge, founder ---------- The Construction Crew

Montezuma - an iguana haven

2007-06-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Becca and I spent Sunday through Thursday relaxing at the up and coming little beach town of Montezuma, on the southeast nub of the Nicoya Pennisula on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The beach town was a bit hippy and had several loud restaurants, but the beach experience was still enjoyable.

We stayed in the very natural-feeling Amor del Mar hotel and enjoyed very nice views of the crashing waves from the community balcony. Across from our hotel into the rainforest were three waterfalls that I describe a bit more in the next article. We awoke many mornings to the sounds of howler monkeys...

We ate pizza one day on the balcony of a local pizza shop (interestingly, there are many pizzerias in CR) and saw several LARGE iguanas. They seemed oblivious to us as they climbed trees and walked on the ground below our table The photo really doesn´t do justice - the creature was at least two feet long! Jenson Driskell - this one´s for you! :)

We were a five minute walk from the hub of little Montezuma, and the distance was just enough to keep away the unwanted noise while letting the wanted sound of ambient water filter in: one side of our room had waterfalls resounding outside and the other side had the ocean. I love water, so that was pretty cool! (And to think that the location was just another simple fact of life in Costa Rica...wow...)

Becca and I were surprised that not too many people were taking to the beach, mostly because of the comparatively strong tides. Many people had surf boards and were heading to beaches south of us, which was fine w/ us since it was quieter. We´re not really surfers, but we´re thinking about trying body-boarding at Manuel Antonio... I should have had Preston teach me some things...

Familiar German Faces in CR

2007-06-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

While in Montezuma I was able to reconnect with Robert and Kay, a couple of guys from Germany who have been backpacking around CR, Nicaragua and Panama for the summer. We met during the bus trip to La Fortuna in week #1 of vacation and have bumped into each other a few more times since then. Robert is now back in Germany, and Kay is continuing with another couple months of hiking in South America. Jealous - yes, yes I am, Kay.

We swapped tips on good vacation spots and the latest adventures. Of the three waterfalls we discovered in the rainforest just across from our hotel in Montezuma, I had found two. They found the other one, and in fact jumped from the top of it (their video of it make the falls seem like 300 meters)! Needless to say, I would have done it, too, but as daring as I am, I didn´t have time... And to think that places like that are just naturally part of the ¨backyard¨ here. In the States, we spend bucco bucks to landscape stuff like that, charging exorbitant prices for tickets to the themed attraction. Here, the only fee was the energy I spent in walking to the sites and in overcoming my fear of scaling the paths (safer than not... I may be a risk-taker, but I still analyze heavily). I love this about God´s creation!

It was great to have some ¨guy time¨even while here away from most anyone I know. Becca has had some fun girl time with our host-mom and host-sister, so it was good to meet these guys again.

San Jose - stay #2...

2007-06-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

The taxi driver who lives to strike fear in the hearts of all gringos. When he wasn’t making hair pin tuns and weaving in and out of tight traffic, he opted for one hand on the cell phone and the other on the gear shift.

Watching futbol (¨soccer¨) with Carlos the dad... ¡Gooooooooool!
Revisiting my favorite retreat from culture shock during my study abroad, Subway in downtown San Jose. People-watching from the second floor is always diverting.

The museums of Gold and Costa Rican Art in San Jose.

Our first trip to Spoon, the Costa Rica equivalent of Cheesecake Factory, for an enormous slice of choco-fresas cake. (Of course, we had our share of the cake before remembering to take a picture of it...)

Lunch with the staff at LASP (Latin American Studies Program). Time does pass, there were already pictures of 11 more groups hanging on the wall.
Church with the Juanta family. It was great to see some familiar faces and to meet more of the family.
Job offers galore. I never thought it would be so easy to find jobs I wasn’t looking for in a foreign country.
Pirates of the Caribbean III after exploring Mall San Pedro.
Mike’s excursion for soccer and Hacki Sac with Carlos and Roberto.
Getting caught up with my CR family on 6 years of life. I’m so glad we’ve been able to stay with them!

A Day at Volcan Poas (cont)

2007-06-09T17:00:00.001-07:00

Be sure to view the volcano video clip in the blog entry prior to this one...

Here is a picture diary of the day trip to the volcano:

Watch steaming Volcan Poas

2007-06-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Watch a video clip showing one of the most famous active volcanoes in Central America. North of San Jose via a two hour public bus ride, Volcan Poas is open to visitors daily. While you won´t see the bright orange lava expected of many terrifying volcanoes, you will see the greenish-blue, boiling sulfuric culdron of this crater. Becca and I took this day trip with our host-brother and his girlfriend. Enjoy!

Lesson in Travel

2007-06-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

Internet Cafe (n): a room containing several networked computers for users to access e-mail and such. It does not necessarily look like a Starbucks w/ PCs and iMacs. IC's don't usually serve lattes.

Becca and I just returned from a day at Volcan Poas, north of San Jose. I'll talk about that trip later, though, because I've just returned from sprinting after a thief. He got our shoulder bag.

No, it wasn't on either of our shoulders. In fact, I pulled the major "no, no" and had placed it on the ground between us in the IC, tired of holding onto it (lest a thief snag it). Thinking we were shielded enough in the bag to prevent such, I placed it down.

Yes, I feel really stupid now.

Fortunately, we had been using the umbrella and Nalgiene (water bottle that I believe will only break when driven over by a semi), and I had just connected the digital camera and flash drive to the computer. He ran off with a dead camera battery and soem sandwiches left over from our trip. The bag was cheap.

Arrgg... I had been so good about holding onto it, too. Becca has been even better about that stuff.

Lesson learned: if the items you're traveling with aren't connected to your body, go get duct tape or another carabiner.... Or be ready to say goodbye to them.

A Day at Volcan Poas

2007-06-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

When in San Jose, Becca and I are staying with a family that hosted her during her Spring 2001 semester studying abroad through LASP (Latin American Studies Program, a Costa Rica based educational non-profit). The family has two parents, a brother in America, a brother at home (Roberto), and a daughter at home (Alicia).

Becca and I were invited by our host brother to go with him and his girlfriend to Volcan Poas, a famous and very large volcano in north central CR. Yes, it's still active, but things are mostly just smelly (sulfur). It was fun to see the large crater and watch the mist & clouds come in and out of the bubbling cauldron. You had to be quick about taking pictures lest your photo op be overcome by a sudden cloud.

It proved to be a great day for the trip! I'll let the pictures tell more of the story... I'll post them a bit later today. I'm working on a Mac that has changed the layout of my Internet page, so I can't access the "insert photo" button right now...

Experience a Zip Line in Santa Elena, Costa Rica!

2007-06-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

Swinging from the Trees in Monteverde

2007-06-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

It's getting to the point when we're forgetting what day of the week it is. I don't mind that.

There are a few options for transporting to Monteverde from La Fortuna, namely the bus, which this time would take 9 hours (yes, you read that right...arghh, the towns are SO close on the map), or jeep-boat-jeep, which would take 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Hmmm, choices, choices...

After our "Tourismu" taxi took us and four other people to Lake Arenal, we joined a larger group on a lake boat *think barge w/ canopy* for the 30 minute or so ride across. Being the wet season, rain is a daily occurrence, though it usually is warm and doesn't last long. I'm starting to check my watch by it, actually. It rained a bit during the rides, but the periodic views of clouds caressing the mountains and green terrain was reminiscent of Ireland, which just has a wet season. :) Beautiful.

The taxi ride after the lake let Becca and me get to know the Canadien, German, and American co-travelers a bit more. We actually saw a few of them some more during our stay in Monteverde. It's fun to be so far away from home yet still feel like you know people here. Friends are good whether here or [insert name of wherever you are right now].

We initially planned to jump right into the adventure that this area has to offer (rainforest hikes in day and night, rafting, rainforest canopy tours + zip line rides... you know, the usual). However, after consuming many cubic liters of exhaust from the taxi in front of us en route to our stop, we took the first day off to recover from the nausea. Sleep we needed and sleep we did.
The second day breathed adventure back into our lungs, and off we were to the canopy. We took 15 zip lines throughout the Salvetura canopies in Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. Many of the lines were over 1,000 feet long and 300 feet above the ground (or 25+ feet above many of the trees). I love flying!

We even did a Tarzan Swing!

That was the best part of the trip, and yes, the initial, very vertical drop was the scariest part of the Swing. I'm still pondering if Bec's ride would have been a Jane Swing...

I had a guide take me on one of the lines so I could video tape the ride - I'm not sure if Blogger lets me vcast yet, but I'll work on that and get back to you. Until then, enjoy the pics...

Costa Rica Experiences (V. 1)

2007-06-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Thoughts and experiences during the McBride's first of four weeks in Costa Rica...

**This is a recap of what's happened so far...some repeat info.**

(Be sure to start viewing the blog from the bottom)

Mike's surprising sudden boldness with the Spanish language, because "it's practical." Becca being mistaken for a Spainard. That was a first.
Our first explorations of San Jose included churros, panaderias, and empanadas. Mmm... carby. It unfortunately also included the stop for "Chinese" food. Guacala!

San Jose - La Fortuna & Tilajari...

The 4 hour turned 5 hour bus ride to La Fortuna with the Germans and 100 of our closest Costa Rican friends.
Horseback riding through beautiful pastures with lush rainforest mountains close-by.
Talking with the sweet cook at Hotel Dorothy who gave us the best of everything and shared the ticos secret place with us. Working on travel arrangements with the sketchy hotel owner...

Looking at Arenal Volcano spew steam from our window at Hotel Dorothy.
Our guided rainforest hike included excitement such as Becca being assaulted by leaf-cutter ants (see their trail below...they're hiding under the bits of leaves they're carrying), Mike eating termites, listening to the Howler monkeys in surround sound during the thunder storm, and spotting our very own poison dart frog. We also walked through a strangling plum tree. Thankfully the bullet ants stayed at bay.

Becca's new found hobby...using the camera's close-up mode on rainforest fauna.

Perfect hot chocolate and hide 'n' seek with the lizards while waiting out the torrential downpour at Tilajari.
Church in La Fortuna.
After creeking in our search for the local swimming hold, we finally found the real deal; a beautiful stretch of whitewater cutting through the rainforest with a calm area deep enough for rope jumping.
Lounging near the waterfall. Swimming near the waterfall. Mike jumping off into the waterfall.
The tastiest fish casado ever in the paradise with the puppy visitor.
Meeting fellow travelers from New Zealand, Germany, Israel, England, Canada, and the States.

Next stop... Monteverde.

Freefallin´ in Fortuna

2007-06-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Hola de La Fortuna, CR!

Yesterday we went horseback riding on the side of Volcan Arenal and hiked down to a HUGE waterfall. Of course we swam in it! I was nearly right under the fall - at least 300 feet high. Fun stuff.

Later that day, we went to Tilajari w- a group of friends for a hike and guided trip in the rainforest. We saw the famous poison-dart frogs and, from a distance, HOWLER MONKEYS!! :) :) The plants there were as big as trailers!

Today we went to a Spanish church, then this afternoon we found a really cool place the locals go to - a ¨waterhole¨, they called it: a couple of 20-25 feet tall falls and a similarly high jump-off rock, which I did a few times by swinging out on a long swing-rope before letting go to my 25 ft freefall. :) fun + water = happy mike...
More later... Tranquilo in CR.

A bit more of La Fortuna & Monteverde

2007-06-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

La Fortuna & Monteverde...

Painting the church gates in La Fortuna with our new friend Heron. Receiving breakfast and two luinches from sweet church ladies while getting oil paint seemingly everywhere.

The new found diversion, chase the iguana.
(photo coming soon...)

Jeep – Boat – Jeep. (Taxi) A.k.a. 1. Meet people for a nice ride. 2. Cross a beautiful lake in a boat. 3. Bump along the uphill roads while choking on clouds of diesel fumes...spend the next day in recovery.

Sea bass in avocado sauce at the beautiful Morphos restaurant in Monteverde.

The canopy tour with Selvatura. (be sure to enjoy your very own tour by watching the clip in a previous blog entry)

Snoozin' in San Jose! - Stay #1

2007-05-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, we made it safely to Costa Rica! Becca's dream of getting me here has come true! It's hard to believe we finished teaching Tuesday and jumped on our plane Wednesday. Whew... It was nice to wake up late AND realize I'm in CR! Pura vida, as the ticas say.

Although the flight into San Jose showed us cloudy skies and foggy terrain, it cleared enough for us to see how green the city is, and we saw mountains from the airport. It was nice to see what the city is like from our 30+ minute shuttle to our first stay: http://www.thecostaricavacation.com/ (owners of famous http://www.costaricabackpackers.com/). So far San Jose reminds me of a smaller Houston (lots of crazy traffic, crazier drivers, and not as many street cleaners...). Still, we drove past several cool places we've read about in the "Rough Guide to Costa Rica" - like the Theatre Nacional, where we plan to see an opera or the National Symphony later this month.

We'll probably go to the Centre Square today, where I'm sure Becca will encourage me to attempt conversing w/ the locals. She says my Spanish is really improving (thank you Michel Thomas' Spanish Learning prg). It's fun, actually... I'll log many miles in the tennis shoes I crammed into my hiking backpack today and tomorrow before we travel to La Fortuna and Monteverde, so I'll sign off for now. (Oh, and let's cheer for all luggage getting here with us!)

More fun to come!
Love,

Mike & Becca