Hola familia y amigos!

    When it rains, it pours. Today´s light rainforest drizzle brought about a downpour of problems in our plans today. When we woke up at 5:45, we expected to hike back to Katsi, the school where we taught yesterday. However, in order to get to the school, we must cross a river, which is impossible when it rains since it causes it to rise. After our cocineros Jocelyn, Jason, and Dr. O´Neal prepared a typical Costa Rican breakfast of pinto gallo (featuring beans, rice, peppers and spices), it was back to the drawing board. We made an executive group decision to head to the local school´s nursery to clear out their garden patch. Battling with various insects (we´re talking baseball-sized spiders), weeding plants up to our knees and sweating under the Costa Rican sun was a growing experience for all. Yet after the sweat and toil, and some Disney tunes sung by Lindsey, the plot was clear, complete with twelve orange tree seedlings. We were even fortunate enough to have a yucca farming lesson from Orlando, which made us appreciate the yucca in our dinner tonight.
     We returned back to our base for a mini-siesta, and then a few of us went back on the road to seek more service and learning. Our next adventures took us to the local co-op, and they needed assitance cleaning out their plantain-packing facilitiy before their meeting. Some brave souls--Gordon, Erin, Kellen, and Hunter--shoveled rotting plaintain piles, complete with more of our beloved six-eight-and-hundred-legged friends, while Yuliya and Ashton swept and hosed down the facility until it squeaked. Meanwhile, Jason and  Kelsey had an impromptu futbol match with some local Tico children.
     Back at the ranch, Emily gave Kimmie friendship bracelet lessons while Erin trimmed Kari´s bangs. A little later, a local Tica craftswoman came to sell us handmade gourds and jewelery. Tonight we were pleasantly surprised with a little Bri Bri culture including song and dance. Angela spoke with the presenters afterwards and became their unofficial English to Bri Bri correspondent.


We were going to conclude with a metaphorical water or rain allusion but we are all very tired and excited to sleep until 6:30 in our tree house tommorrow.


Buenas Noches!
Kelsey y Yuliya



P.S. Jocelyn would like to give a shoutout to her older brother who graduated college today. Congratulations we are all proud of you!

Day 3/4

Wednesday we got up at 5:45 to the sound of roosters and dogs fighting to eat breakfast and prepare for the day.  We were picked up by a cattle truck to ride over to a nearby school in Suiri where we taught English in the morning and started painting one of the buildings in the afternoon.  The school was very casual by American standards, with four small buildings and seemingly very impromptu recess sessions.  Much of the day was spent playing soccer...

Thursday began in much the same way, and we resumed painting upon arrival at the school.  English lessons in the afternoon were very successful, although recess took over fairly quickly.  We also planted six trees at the school which will soon be producing fruit for the kids. We have learned a lot about the plants and animals in the area and have eaten so many tropical fruits right off the tree--guava, bananas, coconut, mango, plantains, lemons, oranges, and some things we do not even know how to spell.

We love our treehouse cabin where we are living and sleeping.  There are 15 mosquito net beds and three mosquito net hammocks swinging in the breeze 15 feet above the jungle floor.  The hangout hut is really cool, and the five hammocks there are always in use.  We are getting used to cold water showers.  Each of us has tried something new, seen something new, tasted something new, and made a new friend in the past few days.  Happy times in Costa Rica!

Comments on this blog are welcome--we miss you!

Los Primeros Dias.

Well, we´re HERE!!!!!

DAY 1
Yesterday was a very looooong day. We woke up around 4 a.m. to get ready to head to the airport. We boarded around 7:55 to head to Miami. We arrived in Miami around 10. The airport was interesting, to say the least. Majority of the conversations we overheard were in spanish and all of the announcements were said in both english and spanish. We weren´t there for long before it was time to board our next plane. The flight to Costa was a smooth one and we arrived in Costa Rica just before lunch time. We were greeted by our Outward Bound leaders Britten, Orlando, and Jesus (but its pronounced hey-zeus lol). We prepared all our camping gear and ate a delicous Costa Rican dish as we waited for Gordon to finally arrive. Unfortunately most of us were not awake once he got to base camp because it was lights out at 8pm. We were able to sleep peacefully knowing that Jason was there to get all the bugs out of our beds.

Before we went to bed, we received our ¨jobs¨ for the next today. Yuliya was the ¨cacique,¨ meaning that she is the only one with a watch. We are truly on ¨Tico Time¨ now, just going with the flow.

DAY 2
Today has been a long day as well. We woke up around 5:00am to head to the Amubri village in the Talamanca region. Some people like Lindsey, slept almost the entire ride while others like Emily made bracelets to occupy the time. We stopped to eat breakfast burritos at a truck stop on the way and took a bathroom break, and we´re still gettting used to the fact that we can´t flush the toilet paper. If today´s ride was an ice cream flavor it would be Rocky Road, and this especially held true as we entered more rural areas. After about a five hour drive, the road ended at the shore of a river and we wondered how we would cross. But first, we had to eat lunch which was prepared by our ¨cocineros¨ Ashton, Kelsey, and Gordon. We loaded our gear and ourselves into wooden canoes and rode to the other side to find a cattle truck waiting to take us to our final destination: Amubri.

We are staying in a beautiful area, surrounded by greenery and hibiscus flowers. Raised huts house our mattresses which are made with matching sheets and comfy pillows, complete with mosquito nets over them. This was a very welcome surprise! Gordon, Kellen, and Hunter, however, decided to string up their hammocks on the beams of the hut...I guess we´ll see how that turns out tonight, especially since Hunter just fell out of one (don´t worry...he´s not hurt). We also have a hang-out hut, complete with hammocks and this lovely computer on which we are typing. This has definitely been a popular spot today. The bathrooms sit behind the hut, where the showers are cold yet refreshing due to the hot weather. We also have a kitchen, and we´re eager to taste our first meal in Amubri.

Since arriving in Amubri we have made many new friends. Most of our new friends are adorable little children, but Kelsey befriended a little lizard that she has lovingly named Thompson. Kari, Angela, Kellen, and Kimmie visited the local school and met some local kids.
It´s been raining off and on, but I guess that´s what you get when you´re living in the rainforest.

We would like to wish Dr. Oneal (El Señor) a very special Feliz Cumpleaños!

Las Hanashitas,
Jocelyn & Erin :)


Quotes from the Day(s):

Jason: ¨Dear Diary: Kari only shaves one armpit...¨

Jocelyn: "Ummm...do you think I´d be able to paint my nails on the drive tomorrow?¨

Hunter: ¨What are the chances that I wake up as a beautful butterfly?¨

Kelsey: ¨It´s kind of sketchy writing with this pencil.¨
Yuliya: ¨I like your pun.¨


P.S. sorry we won´t be able to upload any of the lovely pictures Dr. Oneal (La Señora) has been taking all trip, but the computer is limited.

Meet the Crew

Ahoy, mateys! Avast ye 'nd come aboard our ship to meet arrrrrr hardy crew!


CAPTAINS
Dr. Fran Oneal
Dr. John Oneal


FIRST MATES
Kari S.
Emily S.


SCRUBS
(I don't really know what the general crew would derogatorily be called, but I feel this is fitting.)
Gordon B.
Yuliya B.
Ashton D.
Kelsey F.
Hunter G.
Lindsey H.
Jason L.
Erin M.
Jocelyn M.
Angela R.
Kellen S.
Kimberly T.


(Well. This entire trip has nothing to do with ships nor oceans nor sailing nor pirates nor anything at all remotely prompting a pirate-themed post. So retrospectively, I'm not sure why we have one anyway. But, like, who doesn't love pirates and related themes? Oh man. I hope we can have themed posts. Hey crew, can we have some themed posts? I'm not sure how many themes we could think of and how applicable they'd be, but that's my goal for now. (I tried to make a ninja themed post, too, but I can't find it anywhere...sneaky thing...))


when we get there). Then I can introduce them in a really serious voice and state: "TAnyway, the plan is to have all of these lovely shipmates write a little bio about themselves in this post (though, being the big bad internet and all, I'm not sure how much personal information we actually put on here? Well, we'll sail those seas HESE ... are their stories.....boom-boom." (Law & Order theme? Anyone? Eh?)


Okay. I'm done. Someone oughta host a mutiny of this blog and make me walk the plank or else we'll just end up with strange and rambling and questionable-veracious (but always ferocious) oddly-themed posts that may or may not relate to Costa Rica and our adventures there.


Keep acin', AAACRs.


{AR}

Welcome!

Welcome to the The University of Alabama's Alabama Action Abroad: Costa Rica 2012's blog! (That's a really long title, and c'mon man, 21st century? America? Too many words. So we can just abbreviate that to AAA Costa Rica, or some derivative of further laziness. Too bad UAAAACR isn't a cool and easily pronounceable acronym...)


To begin our tale, sing in me, Muse, and through us tell the story
of those students skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderers, harried for years on end,
after they plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Talamanca.


Lol, jk, this is a blog, not The Odyssey. Mmm. I got this.

In this ship log, we shall painstakingly document our valiant treks into the vibrant jungles of the exotic land of Costa Rica as we search for treasures to confiscate, and barbarians to convert, and land to conquer, all in the name of Her Majesty, the Queen!

Er, no no no. Still wrong century and country and everything, really. Let's try again: 

This here nifty website ain't nothin' fancy but I reckon it'll serve well enough for us t' keep y'all updated as we run 'round in the jungle as wil' as horses in a tornader.

Hmm getting closer with this vernacular thing. One more go?

omg lk u guys shud totes read r blog---kidding. Follow us on our journey, as we spend a little over a week in Costa Rica. (Perfect.) There we will fly to San Jose; spend a night at an Outward Bound post; hike out; get cozy together in the jungle; use mosquito nets instead of internets; spend a few days with the Bribri people (an indigenous tribe of Costa Rica) for us to teach them English and a few things about our world and for them to teach us Spanish and even more things about their world; help out with their school; eat some good food; eat some ... food; get devoured by insects; put those new vaccines to work; increase our chances of skin cancer; get our butts kicked in fútbol like Auburn at the Iron Bowl; cool down/swim/bathe in rivers; scare the kids with our token bushy-bearded ginger (ginger jokes are only out of love, Hunter); see some swell sights; explore San Jose; and, finally, fly back to the States.

Hopefully along the way we'll become closer friends, make some new friends, build our Spanish language, build their English language, share our culture, learn a new culture, acquire a wider and more open view of the world, become better global citizens, and come back both alive and full of life. Hopefully we can Advance others, and ourselves. Hopefully we can Ask questions, and find answers. Hopefully we can Acquire friends, wisdom, and fond memories. Hopefully we can Challenge ourselves--try new things, push yourself to your limits, be open to new ideas. Hopefully we can finally find out what R-E-S-P-E-C-T means to Aretha. Er, more along the lines of the others: hopefully we can Respect as well--ourselves, our fellow travelers, our hosts, our environment, other ideas and cultures and foods and thoughts, whatever.

If we can do those things, then we will be AAACRs. Ace-ers. Acers. Woah. Weird how that just worked out into a term I thiiiink we can use. (Okay it's a stretch but work with me here; I didn't have much.) Best part? What those letters stand for will keep changing as we think of more goals, do more things. Maybe one day C will stand for Conserve; the next day, Community; another day, Chuckle; and yet different day Chickendance (or really everyday, am I right? And yeah yeah it's two words, whatever). But not only will the letters change, more importantly, so will the people who stand for them. Us. And if we play our cards right, while changing those letters, while changing ourselves, we can also ever-so-cliché-ly change the world.

Woah. That just got a bit hefty so I'm gonna take it back a few notches and end with:

can't wait, and roll tide, y'all!

Wait-wait-wait, can we have some sort of sign off? I mean, "roll tide" is sort of a de facto closer, but something more specific to us? Since it's 4am, I'm gonna go with the uncreative mandate:


Keep acin', AAACRs.


"Ace" is almost always a positive thing. Aces are usually desired in a deck of cards. To ace the ball in volleyball or tennis is a powerful way of scoring. To ace a test is to make a good grade. In the scientific world, a word that ends in -ase usually denotes an enzyme....which is a catalyst....which speeds up a reaction, which is generally a positive things and sort of like our goal (that one was a stretch, but have you noticed I'm all about stretching things? It's why I'm so tall (Btw, I'm only kind of tall, but there was me making another stretch).). The comma can either mean 1) that we are separating the subject of the command, as in the command to "keep acin'" is directed at us, OR 2) it can signify that we signing off as a signature, thus denoting the command is not for us but from us, directed at the reader. And the phrase AAACR itself, as I have so presumptuously designated, can be a really cool sounding nickname for ourselves (it sounds like RACER, too, which sounds fast and cool and is what I almost went with but that seemed unnecessary), or anyone who wants to be as cool as us and does all kinds of positive action verbs that start with those letters, or can just refer to Alabama Action Abroad Costa Rica. Look how multi-functionaly this three-lettered phrase is. So until y'all come up with something better, that's how I'm signing off.


Keep acin', AAACRs.

{AR}


[^^ this denotes the initials of the poster(s). I think this is unnecessary but perhaps interesting. our parents/guardians/friends/stalkers can scroll to the bottom and proudly brag about our posts or sadly pretend they don't exist. and in the future, we can fondly reflect upon this blog and know who wrote what. unless you're kellen s. and kari s. and feel the need to make everything difficult. maybe we could just sign our first names. ah but details, details! and again, it's really not important, but just a though. y'all can let me know how you feel about it. and I may be a yankee, but apparently I really do love my "y'all"s. the end for real.]