Nicaragua

I was originally supposed to return to the States on the first of December. However, halfway through the program, I realized that that Central America is an awesome place and that my classmates were awesome people, so I changed my return flight to the fifteenth, giving me two more weeks in an awesome place with some awesome people.

On December the first, our group of seven hit a bit of a speed bump. We went to the bus station to buy tickets to Nicaragua, but there were only two seats left, so our group had to split up. Jake and Ahasanur decided to go first, giving the rest of us an extra day in Costa Rica with our CIEE friends. The next day, after lots of wandering and asking for directions, we finally made it to the bus station for our eight hour long bus ride to Rivas in Nicaragua. We were all scattered throughout the bus, so talking to each other was difficult. Fortunately, I managed to get the lady sitting next to me to switch seats with Caitlin so that we could have a slightly less boring ride together. The catch? I had to fill out the lady's customs papers for her (I have no idea why she couldn't do it herself). So, thank you, Maria Esther Meña Hernandez, DOB: March 11th, 1961, Born in Managua, Nicaragua, mother of two, I appreciate you switching seats with my friend.

Since we arrived at Rivas late at night, we had to stay there for the night at Lidia Hostel. It was there where I met a crazy old man who would not stop shouting about the hilarity known as Herman Caine's presidential campaign. It was funny, guy, but please, simmer down a bit. The next morning, after escaping this man, we scrambled through the city, managing to hop on a bus that brought us to San Juan del Sur, our first destination. Waiting for us there were our two long lost companions, who had managed to snag us a room in the fantastic place known as Joxi Hotel. After arriving, we hopped on a truck that took us to the beautiful Playa Maderas.

Vacation in Nicaragua? It doesn't get much better than this. Photo credit: Alexandra Kurth

If I had gone to Playa Maderas before going to the other beaches that I had the chance to go to while in Costa Rica and Panama, it would have been the best I had ever been to by a long shot. Don't get me wrong through, it was beautiful, and I can happily place it among place it among Playa Llorena and Playa Naranjo as my most favorite beaches (Maricela told me that the Spring 2012 CIEE group doesn't get to go to those two beaches? How awful is that?).

San Juan del Sur, home of the second largest statue of Jesus Christ in the world. It also has really good burritos.

Playa Maderas. The place where I was made into Poseidon's bitch. Photo credit: Jake O'Connor

We stayed here for three days at the Tres Hermanos hostel. The water wasn't always running, not all of the doors locked, and the architect was clearly blind, but there is no other place that I would have rather been at. This is because this beach was a great place to surf and boy did I (try to) surf. When I finally managed to catch a wave and stand up (which is no small feat, considering my mind was screaming "Abort, abort, abort!", I was not ready for what it would feel like. When you catch a wave, you are immediately accelerated downwards, making the whole 'keeping balance' thing an extremely difficult task. Even though I was thrown like a rag doll 9 out of every 10 times, it was that tenth time that made me keep going. Despite the numerous bruises and near whiplash (whiplashes?), surfing is something I want to do again in the future.

After San Juan, our next stop was Isla de Ometepe. Before I start to explain what Ometepe is, here's a photo so that you can have the proper context.

Those aren't mountains. Those are volcanoes. And they're active.

Isla de Ometepe isn't just some normal salt water island. This is an island in the middle of the 9th largest lake in the Americas. These waters also used to have the highest densities of bull sharks in the world until the surrounding residents decided that that was a problem that should not exist. Of course, on the island are the volcanoes Concepcíon and Madera. Concepcíon is the active one, and it was smoking as recently as 2009. Once we got there, we took a taxi across the island to the hostel Finca Zopilote. Unfortunately for us, when we arrived, we found out that there were no vacancies. Fortunately for us, we found a different hostel named La Brisa further up the volcano. This place was fantastic. Nacho (yes that is his actual name), the owner, cooked meals for us from food that he grew right there on his farm. Our lodging, for the seven of us, consisted of four hammocks and a mattress under a thatched roof. It only cost $3 a night, so who can complain? 

Hammocks aren't nearly as comfortable as you would think they would be. Still, that's one item checked off the bucket list.

The next day, we headed down to the beach. The water was warm and clear, and since the sharks had been mostly wiped out, it was amazingly relaxing. Also, this happened.

Just hanging out by the lake.

Hi.

Oh, there's more of you.

Those cows are really mooooving. I'm sorry, I'll show myself out. 

The day after our bovine encounter, we biked over to the other side of Volcán Madera. It was a 16 kilometer bike ride on awful roads that led to blistered hands and a pain between the legs like no other, but it was, as usual, entirely worth it.

We biked down this road. Now just imagine this with lots of pain. You take the good with the bad, right? Photo credit: Jake O'Connor

Once we got there, we had a short 5 kilometer hike up the mountain to reach yet another stunning waterfall.

Seriously, how do places like this exist?

After frolicking in the waters, we biked back to our hostel, and it was there we had to say goodbye to a member of our team, Alex, since it was time for her to go back to the States. That sucked, especially since it meant that we all had to leave this paradise soon as well.

The next day, we left Ometepe to return to San Juan del Sur for a few more days of surfing before Julia and I had to leave. By the time we got there though, all we wanted was a few days of lounging around. I guess there's a limit as to how many things you can do before you need to rest.

Isn't he so adorable? This hammock broke when he was using it to sleep the next night. Ha ha. 

On the eleventh, it was time to start heading back home. Julia and I returned to Rivas and stayed there the night, then got back on the bus the next morning for San Jose for eight hours. One of the things that shocked me the most in Costa Rica was the cost. After paying $2-$3 per meal in Nicaragua, paying $6-$7 all of a sudden was quite disconcerting. Imagine my shock when I returned to the states and had to buy a meal in the airport. Jeez.

Tell me you've seen a bigger key ring than this before.

My last few days in Costa Rica were great, but tiring. Having to say goodbye to people is difficult, especially when you're not sure if it's a permanent goodbye. Saying bye to Julia was rough. After she left, I went back to the Costa Rican Backpackers hostel, where I got to see some of our other CIEE faces one last time. On my last night in Costa Rica, I had my last Costa Rican casado with Logan, Caitlin, Sarah, Laura, and of course, Maricela and Moncho.

Also, apparently Santa and Elmo work together in Costa Rica? 

On the fifteenth, my last day, I headed over to the airport, after saying goodbye to friends one last time. Here's a picture of my last Costa Rican sunset, as seen from my plane.

I'll miss you.

My experiences in Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua were utterly amazing, I will never forget them. I am so thankful for everyone that made them possible. You're the best.

My classes at Vassar start tomorrow, so I guess it's fitting that my blog is finally finished. Time to start a new chapter.

The End of Costa Rica... :(

During our first week back, our busy schedule began once again. We had tests and field practicals up the wazoo, so we had to concentrate on that for an entire week. As always though, tests and essays pass, and we celebrated this by going back to our favorite bar, Mata de Caña. And as always, the day after was used for recovery. This was no ordinary Sunday however. At 8 in the morning, we were all whisked off to our homestay families where we would be staying for just under a month while working on our independent research projects. When I got out, my Tica mama que se llama, Mayela, immediately grabbed my hand and dragged me into the house while I was still struggling with my baggage. Apparently everyone else found this hilarious.

My Tica family, consisting of mom Mayela, pop Victor, and highschool drama queen, Diana, were great. Since both pop and HDQ were usually out due to work and school, most of my time there was spent con mi Tica mama. She spoke very quickly, but was very willing to repeat herself a second, third, and fourth time. I think she got mad at me whenever I asked a fifth time though, so at that point, I just had to nod my head and say ‘Yes’ with the hope that that was the right answer. Regardless, my Spanish improved tremendously while on homestay. Speaking to people who don’t even have a hint of English comprehension does that.

I stupidly didn't take a photo of my host family. I lived in that house in the back on the second floor though.

While we were on our homestays, we only had structured, organized classes every Friday. The rest of time was meant to be used on our independent research projects. I knew that I wanted to study the Atta and Acromyrmex leaf cutter genera, so I formulated a project around them. To return to their nests after picking up their flora, leaf cutters use pheromone trails. I initially wanted to collect their pheromones and change the directions of their trails to see if that would affect their orientation. However, they avoided the pheromone collecting paper like a baseball player tries to avoid random substance abuse tests, so this experiment did not work. After, I tried to compare the two leaf cutting species in the area (Atta cephalotes and Acromyrmex coronatus) and their foraging rates after natural disturbances on their pathways, but apparently Acromyrmex are very, very hard to find. So, finally, I settled on conducting my study on Atta cephalotes and their foraging rate recovery after disturbances of different sizes.

Their foraging rates dropped by up to 90% after faced with a disturbance. In other words, it really fucks them up.

My study brought me to ten different colonies where I counted over 20,000 ants. Also, during my data collection, this bastard stole my lunch.

The Coati (Nasua narica) is now my least favorite animal, followed closely by Biting Midges (Culicoides). The most hilarious animal, is, of course, the Three-Toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus).

He apparently unzipped my backpack, ripped open the plastic bag holding my lunch,  and slammed open the Tupperware container. As I was blasting music at the time (because what else is there to do when counting thousands of ants), I did not hear his initial devious actions. I only began aware of this robbery once he started slamming the container down on the concrete porch where I had foolishly abandoned my backpack. When I became aware of his treachery, I chased after him. He jumped off the porch and dropped the Tupperware, causing my food to explode over the forest floor. Still though, my beef with the foul creature was not done, he still had my container so I threw rocks at him so that I could retrieve it. But of course, I missed him and broke my container, so, Coati-1 Me-0.

During my time in Costa Rica, I only got to play soccer three times. “But Aki,” you may be asking, “Isn’t Costa Rica a Central American country, and therefore is a country that loves soccer? What gives?” The answer to that is most definitely yes, but apparently there is no such thing as a public field in Monteverde, so it didn’t happen as much as I would have liked it to. There was an indoor field nearby though that was great, and it only cost around $4 for two hours of play, so I got some soccer in.

This is what you call an all star lineup.

Of course, just because we were on our homestays does not mean that extracurricular activities cease. Halloween is not celebrated in Costa Rica, but as usual, Mata de Caña came to save the day. They hosted a Halloween party with cheap drinks and had our teachers band play again. There were some frightening costumes (Jonny’s Joker), some hilarious costumes (Logan’s woman),and some group costumes (butterflies and pirates!). However, above all of these stood Ahasanur’s costume, which consisted solely of three pizza boxes around his waist.

The horns really top it off.

Also Logan went in what I believe to be a Mexican folk dancer's dress.

This guy shoots deer by the hundreds when he's back home.

After our month-long homestay, we were brought back to our home at the biological research station for the last week and a half of our program. After the usual test and research paper bombardment, we were treated to a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. Alan procured six turkeys for this delicious meal that we shared with the other Costa Rican CIEE program, the sustainability group. Their program only had 9 people in it, as compared to our 22, but I do wish that we gotten to meet them much earlier, they were a great bunch.

Thanksgiving with friends is the best, no matter where you are. Photo courtesy: Alyssa Hansen

On the next day, we had our last assignment of the semester. We had a symposium on our independent research results. In high school, I was the absolute worst at public speaking. I would sweat, my hands would shake, my voice would fade in and out and I'd forget the words that I had perfectly articulated only minutes before. I've improved much since then, I don't even bat an eye when I hear I have to stand up in front and talk. But something about this symposium was different, and my body revolted, causing my hands to shake. Still, regardless of that revolt, my presentation went just fine. In fact, I'm planning on presenting my results again at the spring symposium at Vassar.

Laser pointers do not project lasers in a line.

This last weekend was packed. On Thursday we had our Thanksgiving dinner, on Saturday we had our symposium, and on Sunday we our Spanish picnic. Of course, we all had one last presentation; we decided to put on a Spanish telenovela. It was absurd but amazing, and it was a good way to finish off the academic portion of our program. In addition, most of us got to see our  host families one last time.

I still don't know if they were laughing at us or with us. I'm going to assume the former for my well being.

After our classes were finished, we had one last hike. It was brief, but it let us have one more look at the cloud forest that we had come to love so much.

I'm going to miss this place. A lot.

That night, our teachers showed us a slideshow of all of the photos that they had taken during the semester. It was nothing short of spectacular. The photos elicited so many happy memories; this program and this semester have been unforgettable.

Also, hug circles are a thing.

On our last day, we were brought to a place unlike all of the previous places we had went to. Los Lagos, Hotel and Resort (I understand how a place can be a hotel or a resort, but how can it be both?). Its hot springs were relaxing and the slides were exhilarating, especially since there weren't silly things like safety regulations or speed limits.

Apparently you can go 40% faster by utilizing the Wedgie Technique. I was going plenty fast without it, thank you very much. 

Afterwards, we returned to San Jose for the last night of our program. We got dinner at an Italian restaurant, where we had previously gone on our second night of the program. It was a rica last dinner.

This semester was an absolutely exhilarating experience. It is really quite hard to put into words why this program was so amazing. I loved all of our destinations, I loved our activities, I loved our teachers, I loved my classmates, heck, I even loved our lectures. This program was such a breath of fresh air; I love Vassar but this program was just so different. I will never forget it and I am so thankful for this opportunity that I was given. I'd like to thank Alan Masters, Moncho Calderon, Branko Hilje, Johel Chaves, Maricela Porter and Kathy for making this program possible for us. And of course, I'd like to thank my wonderful classmates for making this such an unforgettable experience. 

I don't know what I was expecting when I applied for this program, but it was the best choice I ever made.

I love you guys.

The Caribbean Coast

So, I'm sitting in the airport now, waiting to be thrown into the stratosphere. Of course, that's not until four hours from now, so for now, I can try and update (or, and I don't want to be too ambitious, perhaps finish my blog?).

Anways, our second trip started off by reminding us how weak our bodies are. We took a five hour long hike from our stable, non-strenous home in Monteverde to a small biological station names Peñas Blancas. While on the hike, we went to a lookout where we were supposed to be able to see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, but no luck, it was foggier than ever. So, after many river crossings, puddles, a swimming hole, a stuck boot and a backpack transporter, we finally made it here.

This place looks like heaven after a day long hike.

This place is actually heaven.

Anyways, on this day, I was the slowest of the guys in our group (clearly my hiking skills are in need of practice). As there were two rooms with 10 or so bunks each, this meant that I was thrown into a room where I was the only guy. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the rooming situation greatly. Great times were had there.

Of course, as our program is called CIEE Tropical Ecology and Conservation, we had to start sciencing. On one of our first days there, we had our Fungi Diversity Day. After viewing a bootlegged powerpoint on the Ascomycotes, Basidiomycotes and more, we were thrown off into the forest for a scavenger hunt. My partner was the splendid Ms. Julia G. Pitkin, and we made quite the excellent team. Whether this teamwork was shown while scavenging the forest floor, trying to identify different genera, or by me laughing at her for at least five minutes after she fell and was subsequently immersed by a river, our teamwork was never in question.

She's trying to look triumphant here, but in reality, the only one who was triumphant was the river.

On one of our last nights at Peñas, we got to take an amazing night hike. We got to see some snakes, some toads,  and some frogs, one of which is known by Hyalinobatrachium valerioi, AKA a glass frog. Basically, this means that the skin on most of its body is translucent, allowing us, the sciencers, to see its internal organs. I definitely cannot say that I had heard of, much less seen, an animal like that before. The next day, we got to see yet another breathtaking waterfall. The hike there was treacherous, but the scenery on the way was beautiful. As usual, the CIEE planners did not fail to disappoint, as we reached this perfect place.

Unfortunately for us, Peñas Blancas is located in a valley. And while our hike to get there was mostly downhill, our hike out was mostly uphill. This hike seriously tested my will. Numerous times I thought about stopping, but I could not just stop, especially since my hiking partner, Logan Brock, was such a powerhouse. Near the end of our hike, a few us of realized that two people from our group had seemingly gone missing. After an initial lack of success finding them, our TA, Moncho, made a mad dash back up the hill in an attempt to scour the pathway for them. No less than ten minutes later, they were found. Apparently one member of our group, who shall not be named, thought it was time for a number two break. The other missing person, her accomplice, had been standing watch for her, hence their disappearance from the trail.

With our hike a success, we arrived at a wonderful place known as Poco Sol. It was here where the greatest statistics class of all time took place. After lunch, we were told that after dinner, we would be having a statistics class after dinner. This just sounded awful. When dinner ended, our class started with the basic correlation and regression concepts. Out of nowhere, Alan announced that we're going to be conducting a regression test with rum. They had eight different types of rum of varying prices. Our job was to see if rum price was linked to rum taste. After the test was over, the remaining rum was, as usual, thrown at us to finish off. Here are the results of that test.

I was not very good as this.

Después de Poco Sol, fuimos a un lugar que se llama La Selva. This place was probably my least favorite locale of all the places that we had the opportunity to go to. It was another biological reserve, but it was no where near as fun as the other places we had gone to. There were paved trails, we weren't allowed to touch any of the wild life, and there were stern guides who made sure we followed all of the rules. After coming from parks where we could do anything we wanted, this place was not the most fun. There was one enjoyable part though, and that was when we got to play soccer against another abroad program. The fact that we beat them was a merciless act, because as we found out later, they had the most boring abroad program in the history of programs. They had to spend a month in San Jose, they had curfews, weren't allowed to go to bars, and had to spend yet another month at La Selva. Well, too bad for them, because I was on the greatest program in the world.

After this wonderful place, our teachers brought us to a place called Tirimbina, where we got to go on a much needed hike. Near the end, there was what seemed like a half kilometer long suspension bridge that brought us 100 feet above the forest floor. Needless to say, many people in our group did not appreciate it when scoundrels from our group began to bounce and sway on the bridge (Obviously I was not one of these awful people. You believe that, right?).

On our last night there, we had a talent show. This spectacle had so many things happen in it that it would take much too long to describe all of it, so, needless to say, my friends in this program have many amazing talents and are capable and willing to do many more things than I would have thought. It was a night to remember. 

Our next destination was a place called Tortuguero. If you want to sea turtles, this is the place to be. Unfortunately for us, the egg laying season was almost over when we arrived, so I didn’t get to see any of them. Some of my classmates managed to see some hatchings though, so their 4AM beach walks were worth it (I guess?).

As our tourist visas only lasted for 90 days, we had to leave the country and reenter to renew them. Our destination country of choice was Panama. When we got to the border, we filed into the office and filled out customs forms. However, this process took almost no time, as our program coordinator is very, very efficient. And by efficient, I mean that she most likely bribed the customs agent with a pound of cheese in order to hurry along the process.

Panama was amazing. We stayed there for almost a week, in a place called Bocas del Drago. This portion of the trip for us was a marine wildlife utopia. We had a bird watching day where we got to see the Pterodactyl birds (Magnificent Frigatebirds), the I can’t walk birds (Red Beaked Tropic birds), the Sarlaac birds (Brown Pelicans), and the birds with the hilarious names (Brown Booby). For the underwater wildlife, we got to go snorkeling. A lot. We saw sharks, rays, turtles, squids, barracudas, jellyfish, corals, and a fish that I apparently called on my iPhone note simply as “bigass weird fish”. This is actually a fairly apt description, so, I guess, go me!

Crush!

On our last night, we got treated to a birthday party like not other. It was our Alan’s 53^rd birthday, and of course we had to celebrate somehow. Yes, there was a birthday cake, and yes, ‘Happy Birthday’ was sung.  But do you know what else there was? A calypso band. It was a great night that our teachers managed to get all on camera.

Ho-ly shit Alan

:)

Panama essentially marked the end of our second trip. We stopped back our favorite hangout place, Hotel Balmoral, for one night. I think it was the first time I had had a shower with warm water and high pressure in months. It was magnificent. Also, we were eating dinner in town when some guy came in, played a song for us, and then demanded like $8. C’mon man, that’s not cool. Our bus ride back was occupied by a card game called Wizard. I had never heard of it before but after playing it throughout the whole semester, I am going to snag it off Amazon as soon as I can.

Next blog post, homestays and the end of the program. Que triste.

Monteverde!

In my haste to finish that last blog post, I forgot some of the most important parts of that last day of the first field trip. After that potentially peligroso location, we were brought to yet another beach. One problem: the bus couldn’t make it there on the roads. So, we got loaded onto a cattle truck that was possibly used for smuggling immigrants (what kind of cattle truck has black tarp with church benches on the inside?) to take us the last 15 kilometers to the beach. 

When we got there, our professors managed to outdo themselves yet again. They yanked a huge cooler from an unknown location, threw beers at us, and told us to go watch the sunset while drifting in the water. It was an amazing experience, one that I will never forget. See the picture so that I can instill jealousy in you.

After we left the beach, we headed straight for a nearby restaurant. I loved that meal, and not just because of the ceviches. Después de la cena, regresamos al campo para singing and guitar playing around 50 lanterns. Needless to say, it was an amazing way to end our field trip.

Anyways, the paradise that was the first two weeks had to end sometime. The next day, we hopped on our bus and headed to the town that my program is named for, Montverde. The climate that we’ve experienced in Monteverde was a welcome break from the humid, hot lowlands. It actually gets kind of cold here; I think it got to 55 degrees Fahrenheit once. It was pretty awful, I don’t know what I would do if I had to experience snow this early in the year. 

         
 Since Monteverde is classified as a cloud forest, we’ve run into interesting problems such as having to stop class because a cloud floated through the window. Also, we’re constantly distracted by animals like these.

Glass wing!

I  am going to be so bored by New England wildlife.

Giant moth, nothing to see here.

Look at that badass.

There were animals in MV, but my camera sucks.

Regardless, once we arrived at the biological research station, (or as the Ticos call it, La Estacíon) we all got thrown into our rooms and given a day of rest. It was also here where a reoccurring trend began. Due to the logistics of trying to house six boys, we are constantly given the best accommodations. This started here, where we were placed into the “Bro-Mansion”, which is basically two rooms thrown 20 meters from the station on the top of the hill. While each guys’ room had six beds for three to share, all of the girls had to deal with a 1:1 girl to bed ratio. How unfortunate for them.

           

The first week of Monteverde was difficult. While the first field trip was free of work with deadlines, we had been accumulating a huge amount of knowledge from our daily lectures and constant species reports. When we returned to Monteverde, all of this science hit us in full force. We had lab practicals, midterms, essays, and the other staples of scientific academia. Nevertheless, just like all other difficult times, they eventually do pass, and we made sure to celebrate. Our bar of choice in Monteverde (actually Santa Elena, but whatever) is one called Mata de Caña. In addition to being within walking distance of the station and having 1000 Colone drinks, it’s also the favorite venue for a band called Chanchos de Monte. Our professor, Alan Masters, is, of course, the lead member of this band. Sure, he’s a difficult and strict teacher, but once class is over, he really opens up and lets loose.

Mata de Caña has been great to us, fostering many memorable events.  They hosted us on Halloween, gave us cheap drinks, is the location of a certain photo taken by Jake of a pair of people, tolerated the drunkenness of several people, and dozens of other unforgettable occurrences. Needless to say, I will not be thrilled by the legal drinking age of 21 when I head back stateside.

          
While life in Monteverde may not have been as exciting as our first field trip, it was certainly not boring or monotonous. In addition to our continuing biology classes, we also started out four-hour long Spanish class marathons. While four hours may seem arduous, they certainly were not. After taking placement tests, we were all divided up into our appropriate classes. My class of four people has been great and our teacher was enthusiastic and knows what she’s doing. Monteverde was certainly not only classes and going to bars though. We went on numerous hikes, went to the local butterfly jardín, witnessed the Independence day parade, and went horseback riding (a first time for me!) See the following photos for greatness.

Meet Walker. 

OK, well with this blog post I am slightly more caught up. In fact, I’ve gotten to right before our second field trip started, so I’m only one month behind now! Pura vida y paz, mops.