Summer 2010 - Costa Rica

PART TWO

El Primero Viernes - We applied the first coat of paint to a couple of rooms and it instantly began to brighten and freshen La Finca. Some of our work -- the scraping, scrubbing and sanding -- is monotonous and difficult to sustain, but the finish is in the preparation and so we persist as best we can.

We only worked the morning today, then headed to the indigenous community of Quitirri where we were hosted by Juan Sanchez, a healer who is a practitioner of the religious magic called Guetar. With Claire as our translator, Senor Sanchez shared a bit of his people's history and it was quickly apparent that theirs is the sadly familiar story of so many indigenous peoples around the world. Europeans abolished their native language and imposed Spanish in its place, and outlawed their religion and spirituality (they worshipped 5 gods, each an embodiment of a force of nature) and legislated Christianity and baptism into the church. The loss of language weakened indigenous culture, and the loss of religion diminished the clarity about indigenous values and especially their connection to the natural world. Juan Sanchez's story could just as easily have been delivered by a Cowichan elder at home on Vancouver Island.

Toward the end of our visit we were invited to take part in a small ceremony. We gathered in a circle and each received a kind of benediction that was carried out through a number of steps and rituals. I liked it (I think I can say the same for the others) and I especially enjoyed the calm and focused energy of our group.

Peter D. Yates - Shawnigan Lake School EDGE Leadership

PART THREE - Blogs

Bars, Locks, Gates: they are everywhere.  Although my host family seems outwardly relaxed, they continually caution us not to walk alone and to be vigilant about our valuables.  All of the homestay houses are thoroughly secured and conscientiously monitored lockdown areas.  The same goes for La Finca, which strikes me as extreme because the house is set back from the road with a very exposed approach and there is so little of value in the place that I wonder who might target it, but apparently it has been broken into three times in recent months.  In Canada it is rare to see a home with bars on windows or doors, and even more uncommon for a home or property to be securely fenced, but thus far in Costa Rica it appears to be the norm. - PDY

Beans & Rice - In my first six days in this country I have eaten beans and rice at least ten times.  I love beans and rice and I guess the Costa Ricans do, too.  They are a staple here, like soup is in Canada.  Costa Rican meals work like this: some kind of meat, some type of vegetables, fresh squeezed juice, and beans and rice.  I had been half expecting exotic, unheard-of foods, but I was pleasantly surprised at how similar Canadian and Costa Rican foods are, even though they tend to be cooked very differently and they always include beans and rice somewhere in your meal.   - Nemee

While sitting on the bus on a three hour drive back from the beach, nodding off and holding my oddly shaped Gatorade bottle, it hit me:  it is during the drives that we bond.  Sometimes the girls talk about the hot boys they saw and the boys tell them to be quiet.  Sometimes we jam to tunes that no one except Sarah and Claire likes.  Right now we are arguing about which is better, Lays Stax or Pringles.  I think the drives are a time for us to just chill, get to know each other, and just talk.  Altogether the trip is great.  I am glad the group is who it is.  - Sean

The Language Barrier - Since setting foot in Costa Rica things have generally gone smoothly for me, especially with Claire being the group's Spanish translator.  The one thing I have been struggling with is our homestay.  The grade 11s really lucked out being put in homestays where at least a couple of people speak more or less fluent English, but Sydney and I are boarding with a 50-something woman and her 95 year old mother, both of whom only speak Spanish.  And I love it. It's obvious that I would probably enjoy not having a language barrier as opposed to the heaps of shrugging and "Pardon?" I've been doing lately, but I think Sydney and I have truly embraced the hand gesture-driven conversation in lieu of linguistic discussion.  Meal times are especially funny due to the plain conversation and the awkward pauses when Sydney mentally flips through her limited vocabulary.  "Muchas gracias for your hospitality, Mama!"   - Chelsea

Relief - Each day of the EDGE Costa Rica trip has brought me more and more relief.  All of the things that I was worried about leading up to this project are being quickly swept away by the cultural openness and relaxed and willing attitude of our group.   In assuming one of the primary leadership roles on this project I feel the effects from my EDGE Thailand trip have come full circle.  That experience in 2006 realized so many career pathways for me.  My focus in university and my trip to Costa Rica this past winter were inspired by my enjoyment and intense interest in work along the lines of what Shawnigan continues to co-create in Thailand.  In suggesting this EDGE Costa Rica project, I wanted to pass along some of the experiences and options that were made available to me as a Shawnigan student.  The first six days here have felt like a blast from the past as memories of circle check-ins and long bumpy bus rides come rushing back, and at the same time I have glimpsed future potential for both myself and the group.  - Sarah

La Carpio -  We were given a tour of the urban slum called La Carpio, and got to see what thousands of tourists would never get to see.  Today sixty percent of the population of La Carpio is Costa Rican and forty percent is Nicaraguan, but when La Carpio began as a refugee camp thirty years ago it was one hundred percent Nicaraguan.  Since then there have been many babies born in La Carpio and they have Costa Rican citizenship.  One thing that really stunned me about La Carpio was seeing that there can be so many levels and types of poverty (everyone is really poor but there is a hierarchy so that the poorest of the poor live down by the river where the runoff goes right through their houses, while those who are somewhat better off live on top of the hill).   It was also so amazing to see little five years olds going to school by themselves and so independent.  I am glad that we were given the chance to see La Carpio and the living conditions there, and I am happy that we can fix up La Finca so that some of the families will have a chance to get away from the place and enjoy a kind of retreat.  - Logan

On Religion - I'm not a religious person.  Often times I find religion doesn't make sense to me; I don't understand certain rituals or routines or why people commit themselves to them.  There seems to be something there that I could never see or connect to.  On the second day of our trip we visited an indigenous healer up in the mountains. As we drove up through the clouds, a beautiful panoramic view of the verdant mountains unfolded before us.  As we exited the van, a cloud of humidity enveloped us and the wild symphony of the jungle came alive.  We met the healer, a stout, dark-skinned man wielding a bamboo walking stick with two feathers attached.  With him was a young boy carrying a blue umbrella.  As we descended into the jungle along a slippery mud path, I found myself truly realizing just where I was.  This was the Costa Rica I had been waiting for.  At the bottom of the path we entered a large open hut with a palm leaf roof and a smoky, crackling fire.  As we sat beneath the roof on benches, the aroma of the campfire permeated the air and we listened solemnly while the healer began to weave for us an ancient story about life for his ancestors.  The story was laden with cultural history and the weight of a thousand years.  After the healer had concluded with his ancestors' views of 2010 and the death of the Sun, he led us deeper into the jungle, teaching us the names of various plants and showing us the sites of ancient rituals.  As we walked, he explained his culture's religious views and beliefs and the reasons for everything.  He told us that seven years after they buried their dead, they recovered the bones and honoured them.  Bones had great value to his ancestors, as they represent all that we are after death.  When people in the tribe die, their departure is not met with immense sadness and grief, but rather with happiness and celebration, for it means that they are about to enter the realm of the afterlife.  To some, the religious beliefs of these indigenous people seem very strange and perhaps even wrong but, for me, they instilled a sort of curiosity and wonder, and I want to learn much more about them.  - Sydney

Conquering Fears - As a tourist in Costa Rica there are many adventure activities that you can participate in.  During my first trip with Sarah, from January to March, I conveniently avoided those types of activities.  I do not consider myself a thrill seeker, so the thought of hurling myself off of a platform and flying through the trees does not appeal.  Our 5th day here featured a canopy tour which involved 10 ziplines, 2 rappels, and 1 tarzan swing.  Once you start the tour there is no turning back, so I took the plunge and committed to conquering my fears.  There were certainly some moments when I wished I could have climbed into a tree and hidden, but in the end I made it through!  - Claire

Pretty Amazing - Costa Rica is pretty amazing.  We have visited a beautiful beach and walked through a national park, and also zipped through the treetops on a canopy tour.  But what has been standing out for me is the people.  Stepping  through customs and into the yelling, laughing, whistling business of Costa Rica was overwhelming, maybe even a little frightening.  But soon enough I felt at home.  I'm writing this on day 7 (my birthday).  The language may not always fit, and sometimes I realize just how different it is.  But still, I feel at home.  I enjoy sitting outside in a hammock in the evenings, and eating beans and rice every meal.  I'm glad to experience Costa Rica like a Costa Rican, the happiest people on earth.  - Cody

Commonalities - Costa Rica has become a second home to me.  It rains every day, exactly the same as on Vancouver Island.  Although there is an obvious change in region, Costa Rica has many things in common with home. First there is my homestay family.  My mama is amazing.  She takes care of me as if I were her own.  There is also the food, rice and beans.  Maybe not so common, but it's nothing foreign to me.  I would have to say the biggest difference is the cold showers.  They are extremely cold and freeze every part of my body.  Seriously, it makes taking a shower seem terrifying.  After a hard day's work all I want is a nice hot shower, but instead I'm gifted with an icy cold rush of pain.  But on the plus side, my hair is enjoying the change and my body is starting to adapt to shorter showers. All is well and the project seems to be a success.  - Lizzie

Baggage - I have come to Costa Rica with an open and curious mind, keen to learn about the people, the culture, the place.  But I know that I also come with some baggage in the form of assumptions and preconceived notions, so each day I make a specific effort to store these things with the rest of my luggage in order that I might go out into the world with fresh eyes and an unbiased perspective.

One of the things I'm noticing is the disconnect between wealth and poverty in this country.  Obviously both exist, but virtually every one of the more affluent Ticos I have met would prefer me to ignore the poverty and to simply appreciate Costa Rica for its beauty, health and natural splendor.  "Don't go to La Carpio," they say.  "It's too dangerous.  Don't spend so much of your time with the poor people; you will get a false impression of Costa Rica."  I understand very well the feelings and concerns of these naysayers -- I know they genuinely believe they are looking out for my best interests -- because up until a few years ago I would have given similar warnings and advice to affluent foreigners who told me they were coming to Canada to work in such places as Vancouver's Downtown Eastside or on one of our more impoverished Indian reserves.

But I want to see the underbelly every bit as much as the glossy coat.  Costa Ricans need not worry that I will think any less of them or their marvelous country: what I'm learning to appreciate and articulate is my growing awareness of the suffering and injustices that exist around the globe, and it seems I need to spend time in other countries in order to open my mind and deepen my experience so that I can begin to comprehend poverty in my own beloved Canada as well as the rest of the world.

I have attempted to pack only the necessities for this trip, and I am constantly monitoring my few possessions in this new environment.  Maybe that is why I suddenly noticed that I'm carrying extra baggage.  Although I didn't intend to pack it for the trip, I'm so used to lugging it around that I scarcely know it's there.  There are definitely some things I want to offload, and I hope to be travelling lighter on the journey home.  - PDY

So Far - There is the food: the fruit that is so fresh and comes straight from the back yard; the beans and rice with some meat that is the classic everyday meal (I haven't eaten beans since I was seven, and I've eaten more beans in the past week than in my whole life); and the cookies, Maria and Chilky.  There is the very exotic tropical jungle that surrounds us 24/7. There are the spiders I seem to see in every corner, and the infestations of ants everywhere. There is the amazing family I am staying with, so welcoming, caring and nice that I feel right at home. There is the insane driving along tight roads with no signaling or street lights or cops. There is the music that is uplifting and fun. There is La Carpio, a developing refugee camp that is attempting to overcome poverty and trying to become an official part of the country.  There are the kids at school in La Carpio who are so smart and so happy and sweet, making me more inspired.  Having people from La Carpio working with us at La Finca to help finish the place feels like an achievement because they put in their part and show that they are capable of helping their own selves.  I love Costa Rica.  It has so far been the greatest place I have ever visited.  - Anna

PART FOUR

Half way Point - We are approximately half  way through our three- week trip. The project is proceeding well, with most of the painting done inside and out. The vegetable garden is dug and mounded into rows, and the flower beds around the house have been prepared for planting. We had a number of women and children from La Carpio working with us the past two days, and this feels particularly important to us because they will be some of the main beneficiaries when the place is completed. - PDY

PART FIVE - Blogs
On the way to La Finca - Every morning on the way to La Finca we drive by the most beautiful rift valley. Sometimes I forget that I'm in Costa Rica because my homestay is like a second family and because I'm on this amazing trip with people that I'm already friends with, but every time we drive by the beautiful valley I turn and see that everybody else is gazing outside in astonishment as well. The valley is the one thing that blows me away every single day, and makes me realize how lucky I am to be a part of this project with all these amazing people. - Nemee

Soundtracks - Much of Costa Rica is jungle, and much of the jungle is inhabited by creatures of every description. Many of those creatures make noises and sounds. There are many things in Costa Rica that have distinct individual sounds and noises that merge and overlap to create a constant background buzz around us. To me, it seems as though everything we hear every day becomes a unique soundtrack. Our soundtrack of Costa Rica contains many, many things: the ever-present rumble and trumpeting of traffic when we're at our homestays, the machine-gun Spanish pouring out of the locals' mouths every day, the drone of cicadas creating vibrations in the humid air. Sometimes we hear the crashing roar of the ocean, sometimes we hear the quiet hush of waves lapping the shore. At night we may hear the croaks and gulps of toads and frogs, the clicking and buzzing of insects, the steady deep breathing of those around us, or the soft flapping of a moth's wings, like the fluttering pages of a book. Occasionally we hear the deep rumbling boom of thunder; very often we hear the incessant tapping of raindrops, sometimes softly, other times furious and pounding. Many times I hear the shrieks of the girls upon discovering heinously large insects, many times I hear the spongy wetness of paint being applied to La Finca, and many times I hear the delicate whisperings of our abuela in the mornings, praying and confiding in a hushed tone. Most nights I hear the sounds of our mama cooking our cena, then calling me Chelsea and quickly correcting herself with a laugh. Often we hear the cat calls and hollers of men who will whistle at anything even slightly resembling a female. Every day I hear the laughter and chattering of the members of our group. Every day I hear new sounds and noises, and every day I try to store each into memory so I can replay my personal soundtrack of our trip to Costa Rica whenever I want. - Sydney

I Am Alice - My Wonderland is Costa Rica. All of the surroundings are so green and exotic. It feels so surreal. Everything is so fresh, from the just-squeezed orange juice to the crisp, cleansing rain. It rains like clockwork here, which in a strange way is reassuring. Knowing the rain is coming means there is always something that I am aware of. I never know the time and am always forgetting the date, but the rain falls anyway. The rain washes away this day to make room for the next one, to allow my mind to move on and live in the moment and know that when the rain falls I can reflect and be free. While it rains I can take a moment and just breathe. The rain helps me to live in the moment. - Lizzie
 

Animals - How many dogs do you normally see on a long walk? Now take that number and multiply it by 20 and that is about the number of dogs you see on a half hour walk here. They range from pets to guard dogs to street dogs. Maybe when you go out you are used to seeing people walking their dogs, but every night at about 5 o'clock here we see a man walk his three goats past our window. Sometimes when we go for an evening walk we see a cow just hanging out on the side of the road. But you should also know that with all the animals here sometimes there is an unfortunate end. Crossing these roads is like playing a game of real life frogger. Sometimes animals are unfortunate and get run over. And in Costa Rica it is apparently an acceptable thing to leave the bottom half of a cat at the side of the road for a week. Another thing about animals here is that there is no need for an alarm clock, because at about 5:30am the roosters start cock-a-doodle-doing. It is kind of weird to see so many dogs, to see goats being walked, and to have to catch a gecko off your bed. It's all part of how amazing Costa Rica is. - Sean

A Second Look - The opportunity to be in Costa Rica a second time in less than six months has given me space to reflect with more awareness on the many things I enjoy in this country. I love the intense green density of the jungle, and the constant noise from birds, frogs, cicadas, monkeys and bugs blending into the rainforest breeze. I love the shockingly bright colors floating by on butterfly wings. The warmth of the air is as enjoyable as the strength of the pounding afternoon rains. I love the entire corner-store aisle devoted to cookies and I love the delicious flavors that can be found in something as simple as rice and beans. I love feeling part of a family even so far from home. And I love the sweetness of the ketchup, the freshness of the vegetables, and the availability of fresh fruit juice at every meal. But the most recent thing that I have been able to find enjoyment in is watching all the kids discover their own list of Costa Rican favorites. - Sarah
 

Buses - Travelling by bus in Costa Rica is a guaranteed adventure. In the past 3 days we spent a total of about 10 hours on a bus, from Santa Ana to Guayabo to Veragua to Puerto Viejo -- and back. Having taken numerous bus rides in Costa Rica, some things never fail to amaze me: 1) the bus driver often doesn't know where he's going and will almost certainly get lost 2) the bus will break down and take a good part of the day to fix 3) despite buses being equipped with air conditioning, it almost never works except when it is cold and pouring with rain outside 4) often the only way to fix a bus is to have people get out and push it. As frustrating as these things can sometimes be, after spending so much time in Costa Rica I have learnt to embrace a sense of adventure because I have come to trust that eventually I will get to where I want to go! - Claire
 

A New Acquaintance - Of all the diverse and interesting plants and creatures we were introduced to in Veragua, it is the Golden Orb Weaver spider that I found most fascinating. First off there is the phenomenal strength of its web. Our biologist guide gathered two sweeping handfuls of threads -- perhaps a quarter of a single web -- and bundled and folded them into an inch-long glob that he challenged me to pull apart. I swear it was not humanly possible! He went on to explain that these strands are the original source of Kevlar, and that the substance is now produced in commercial quantities by confining 10,000 spiders in a room for several months, then collecting the significant quantities of web that they spin during that period (how many people are lining up for that job?). But the web is not only strong, it is also architecturally and aesthetically beautiful. This was especially apparent at night when the beam from my headlamp illuminated an entire structure in glistening silver, so that the 3-D "orb" could be seen in its entirety (whereas in the daylight it was only possible to discern portions of the web from any one vantage point). The complex design looks like an elapsed-time model of a solar system, the strands of web being the myriad paths of the planets and stars in rotation about a huge sun, which in this case was a very large spider. That female Golden Orb Weaver is one scary-looking arachnid, but now that we've been properly introduced I'm looking forward to seeing her again. And once again I'm reminded that when I take the time to pay attention, and when I replace my ignorance and fear with understanding and an appreciation of individual talent and beauty, I invariably find meaning and value and a fresh perspective. – PDY

New Things - I was expecting to see different types of fruit, animals and vegetation in Costa Rica. And I was right. My first new fruit was Cas, which tastes like a mixture of lemon and guava. My first new animal was a three-toed sloth; in Costa Rica they call it a perezoso which means lazy bear (which I find extremely funny). A sloth sleeps about 20 hours a day and that allows moss to grow on it to help it blend into the environment and hide from predators. The most interesting Costa Rican plant I've seen is prehistoric and believed to be the oldest surviving herb on Earth. It is called mimosa, and the coolest thing about it is that when its leaves are touched, as a defense mechanism, they fold together like a butterfly's wings leaving the thorny stems sticking out for protection. Experiencing new things has changed my perspective and made Costa Rica even better. - Logan
 

Playa Negra - The beach at Puerto Viejo was beautiful. The day we arrived it was raining, but Lizzie, Nemee, Chelsea and I still went swimming. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. First of all there was not one person on the beach other than us, so it was cool to see the wide empty stretch of black sand curving off into the distance. The ocean was lukewarm with drafts of cool water. When I gazed straight out I couldn't see land on either side, so it was as if I was stuck in the middle of the ocean in a small storm. And when I rested my head on the surface I could see rain drops splashing into the ocean; it was odd tasting both fresh and salt water. After about 10 minutes I could feel my bug bites (so I thought) stinging, then Nemee commented that she felt the same thing but Lizzie and Chelsea didn't, so we ran out and the places I checked weren’t bug bites. We don't know what exactly we felt, but the next day it didn't happen. - Anna
 

Missing Home - As I thought about what to write today I was overwhelmed by one feeling -- the longing for home that I have begun to feel as this trip moves forward. This in theory should be strange: I worked to come here, I anticipated and looked forward to coming here, and I'm excited to be here. But I miss home. Home at this point even seems to include my homestay because the thought of staying there is comforting. Why do I want to go home? It's not that being somewhere foreign amidst jungles, or swimming in the warm ocean, or watching the crazy city life is making me feel off or uncomfortable. I think it's the longing for some familiarity. Alas, this strange conundrum of a feeling has me and others on the trip confused. On the bright side, Costa Rica still offers amazing culture, different weather and, for the people on this trip, the ability to invoke a change in ourselves and the world around us. - Cody
 

Time - I remember when we were in Manuel Antonio on day 5, and the group was talking about how we felt that time in Costa Rica was passing very slowly. But as soon as we hit the 1 week mark, time started picking up speed. A few days later we headed to the Caribbean coast for another "vacation": it was simply a fiesta of bugs and beach. Time flies when you're having fun, so those 4 days sped by. Week 2 disappeared into a mess of continuous culture shock, bug bites and sloths on the move. Now, somehow, there's less than a week left, and it is going to be bittersweet because, as much as I want to go home and live comfortably again, not being with this charismatic group 24/7 is going to take some getting used to. EDGE Costa Rica has truly been one of the most awe-inspiring experiences of my life. It's pretty cool being the pioneering group, and our big effort on our little house has the same satisfaction as saving the world. - Chelsea

Views From Costa Rica - What do you think of? Tropical? Now what? Jungles? And? Trees, humidity, butterflies, monkeys, bugs, jaguars, macaws. Now imagine tropical flowers in those jungles. Bright, vibrant, colourful. Large petals, vivid hues of fuchsia, red, yellow, purple, orange. The vegetation in eye-catching greens, almost comical looking compared to the subdued, modest shades of dark or pale greens you see in Canada. Now imagine the animals. Howling, growling, humming, thrumming, chirping, burping, snoring, roaring. These rainforests host an incredible cornucopia of creatures you could only dream of or, in my case, read about in National Geographic. Now, with a rainforest comes rain. Lots of it. Up in the temperate coastal rainforest of British Columbia we get a lot of rain. Or so I thought until I got here, in the midst of the wet season. Monsoon-like downpours are common here for us. Every day the sky fills with huge, fluffy clouds, threatening to unleash full watery fury at any second. These great misty clouds hover over the rainforest, veiling the sky. It seems odd, and so completely opposite to the first half of my summer in Canada when I was constantly looking up to a deep acidic blue without a trace of white or grey anywhere. That is my true indication of summer in B.C.; while the landscape around me remains relatively modest and subdued, the sky …my God, the sky is glorious. That is summer in Canada, such a beautiful contrast to the normally bleak, bleached-bone colour of opaque clouds that dominate the rest of the seasons. But here, so far away from home, the colour of summer sky is white. What the sky lacks in colour, though, is more than compensated for in the outrageously vivid hues of life on the ground. I think that is what has enamoured me the most about Costa Rica. I'm so used to living primarily in a world of generally modest, quieter colours, that suddenly being immersed in this new world of curiosities has pulled at the strings of my imagination and my heart. I love the excitement and wonder I feel in this new land. - Sydney

Part Six: Final Reflections

Home - Stepping off the airplane and walking into the Calgary airport I immediately felt at home. I had first landed on Canadian soil and cleared immigration and customs in Vancouver several hours earlier, but Vancouver just isn't home for me. I felt like I returned to Canada when I returned to Calgary. I noticed how in seeing the familiar murals, in seeing that everybody around looked physically different, and in seeing the directions in English I felt that I belonged again. I knew right when I got off the plane that I wasn't going to get any stares or anything of the sort because I looked different, because in Canada everybody looks different. I noticed a feeling of belonging that I hadn't quite felt in Costa Rica, I guess because Canada is home. I think the entire experience of Costa Rica contributed to this feeling, like not being able to understand how much I needed to pay for a pack of Chiky's, or not knowing whether a sign said to go right or left. Being at the Calgary airport and knowing where to go, and knowing how to ask questions if I needed to, really reminded me that I was home and I was aware of feeling a lot more comfortable than I had felt the entire time I was in Costa Rica. - Nemee

People -  Looking back on the trip, I realize that the last couple of day I had just wanted to get home. If I had just thought, "Hey, wait a minute, I’m in Costa Rica," it would have been totally different. One of the main things I notice when I compare Canada and Costa Rica is the difference in the people. In Costa Rica it is just the norm to hiss at girls and make kissing sounds when they walk by, or to drive into oncoming traffic to get around someone who is driving too slowly, or to randomly yell something out the car window at a pedestrian. I think about Paulie (my host mom) who every morning would make us breakfast and sit with us while we ate, and make us lunches and do our laundry. Then I think about Canada and how if a guy here were to do something like hiss at a girl he would be considered a pig, or how a big thing about guys in Canada is that they are polite gentlemanly compared to most other countries. If you're in a traffic jam in Canada you might get mad at someone, but you don’t ever pull out into oncoming traffic. Thinking about the trip, an amazing time was had by all. I know that if I ever go back to Costa Rica, I have another family there who is willing to take me in for awhile. - Sean

Second Time Around - Although this trip to Costa Rica with Shawnigan EDGE Leadership was very different to my previous stint there only three month before, both were interconnected and I learned more about myself and my first trip through my return with Shawnigan. My initial trip was exploratory, and an opportunity to experience the practical side of my university program in a completely different country. In returning with the Shawnigan Lake School team in a more professional role, and supported by the familiarity of the EDGE program, I gained a deeper understanding of my previous trip and I was more aware on a personal level within the physical Costa Rican setting. I learned that because of my desire to continue traveling and searching for humanitarian work, it is important for me to understand my own responses to new experiences in order to manage the surrounding unfamiliarity. During my first trip I did not register the effects that new food, a new culture and language, and a new family had on my levels of energy and engagement. On our 3 week EDGE trip I realized that I was much more comfortable than on my previous stay in Costa Rica, and once I realized that I was able to accept and more fully appreciate the day to day experiences -- as opposed to always feeling at only 75% because dealing with the newness of everything sapped so much of my energy. Returning with this group of students made all of this possible, and once again I had a truly successful and unique trip with the Shawnigan EDGE program. - Sarah

Family - To me, family is the most important thing on this planet. This limited, exclusive group consists of people with shared blood that influence my every move. Until Costa Rica, I considered family to only include people that I am related to. Friends remain friends, even my closest buddies who may as well be considered kin. For a major portion of the trip, we lived with home-stay families in the Santa Ana neighbourhood. Our team of 11 was split up into four groups and distributed into four very different families, and Sydney and I were placed into the smallest household, both architecturally and family-wise. Our casita (little home) mainly housed two women. Our mama was maybe 50 or 60 and our abuela (grandma) was a whopping 96 years old! The night of our arrival we had our first dining table experience. It was also the first of many kind-of-awkward-but-not Spanish 101 conversations. I had absolutely no previous experience with the language, and Sydney had about two years of Beginner Spanish. Just with that statement, anyone could figure out how plain our topics of conversation would be. But as time went on, Sydney got more comfortable with starting simple discussions about our day or what dinner was and I developed an ability to figure out where the conversation was going. The dining table was the main gathering area, and the people who frequented this pseudo-family-room were our next door neighbour, our mom’s daughter and 5-year-old granddaughter, and random old women of whom I still don’t know their relation to the family. I think we only saw two males enter the house on our 3-week-long stay. I think this kitchen-based family atmosphere really defined how our relationship with our stand-in mother grew. It was an 8x10 foot room, well-lit with linoleum flooring and a painted white wood table. The table maybe took up one third of the entire space. In a way, these close quarters represented our relationship with our two-person family. We became cozy very quickly. Their hospitality surpassed anything I could have ever asked for. Overall, this incredible 3 week experience was so life-changing that I know that I will one day return to Costa Rica to work with El Fundacion Humanitaria again. Hopefully, that will also include reconnecting with my unofficial mom and grandma. They were definitely those “behind the scenes” people who made everything function at 100%. For that, I cannot thank them enough. - Chelsea

A New Perspective - Living in Costa Rica for three weeks changed my perspective on culture. I would sometimes think, "Why would someone ever do 'this'? That's so rude," or "How could someone ever do 'that'? I would never have the confidence." Some of the things I saw literally shocked me: how is it possible that even the strangest grossest men can get away with whistling, hissing, pointing, staring -- and more -- at the girls in our group? In Canada it would be unacceptable. On our trip to Guayabo and Puerto Viejo we had a bus driver, or at least we thought he was a bus driver, who by the end of the whole experience I was quite certain was a random off the street. He often didn't know where he was going and kept stopping to asking strangers for directions, basically creating a nightmare driving experience. Later in the trip we went to a soccer game and I watched spectators throwing coins at players, fences being climbed, and a 50 person maul breaking out. It shocked me, but later I learned that these things aren't considered outrageous in Costa Rica, and thinking about this gave me some perspective on culture. Just because it's not acceptable at home, or just because it's not usual at home, doesn't mean it's wrong. Some things were shocking, but it was also exciting seeing the differences. - Cody

 A Sense of Accomplishment - Having been home from Costa Rica for a week now, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment, not only for myself but also for the group as a whole. Going into this trip I was a bit nervous. I hoped the group would work out well and, most of all, that the project that Sarah and I helped to plan would be successful. Those nerves subsided as I got to know the students and began to see the results of all the hard work we were doing. Now that I am home and looking back on the project, I am fully able to understand the importance of the work we did. As a group we bonded and shared in many different experiences that I think and hope made everyone see the world a little differently. We worked on the farm with Costa Rican people to create a change, to help to make a proper living space for Nella and Jonathan and to provide the families of La Carpio with a retreat. This experience showed us how lucky we are to have the lives that we lead and to live in the country that we do. We all learned to appreciate our daily hot showers, the lack of spiders and ants in our homes and beds, and the ease of travel that we enjoy! - Claire

A Nice Change - Costa Rica was definitely a different experience for me. During the 3 weeks we were there, I learned that the less you have the more you take in. By that I mean that without my cell phone and a constant connection to Facebook, I was able to experience so much more. I took note of the creepy men and their Costa Rican stare-downs and the little children who gazed in wide-eyed amazement at the gringos passing by. I looked out the car window and took in the world around me without being distracted. Life was so much simpler when listening to music was the only electronic escape the team had. Since my return to Canada it has been non-stop with electronics. Phones, tv's and computers galore! Being in Costa Rica allowed me to see how consumer-driven our lives in Canada are. Although I do enjoy gadgets, it was a nice change. - Lizzie