Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 1900...I live with a family here in Costa Rica - the family Hernandez. Emilia, the matriarch, and her three adult children, Aksana, Lindsey and Eric. Emilia has been so nice to all of us - there are three other student teachers working here in Costa Rica beside myself - Adrian, the music teacher, and his wife Roxanne from Bozman, MT; and Alex, the new arrival. Alex is a Spanish teacher from Bellingham, WA. I'm old enough to be most everyone's Dad, but they don't treat me that way. We all live in the same house. Pretty crazy...
This morning, Emilia invited us to join her, Aksana and her friend Siioni for a trip in the countryside. Her friend has a friend who has a friend who owns a coffee plantation in the Terrazu valley and this was our kind-of ultimate destination. (If you ever get a coffee at Starbucks or Whole Foods that is a Costa Rican coffee, chances are this is where it was grown.) We packed up and headed out for the drive at 8 am. A quick snack on the road at a cool roadside café, and then we met up with two more new
friends - Alejandra and Luis. Alejandra is a Costa Rican student teacher learning to teach English; Luis is her little brother. So now, the eight of us were out on the road for adventure.
We got to Santa Maria - in the beautiful mountains on the way to Panama - about two hours later. We met Walter, an awesome farmer who lives in the area, and he welcomed us into his rustic paradise with a great homemade breakfast and conversation. After a fantastic meal, he invited us to take a walk in the jungle area around his farm - it is full of all kinds of mushrooms, and we went on a photo hunt. After a month in the city, it was so refreshing to breath clean cool air, and walk in the silence of the tropical forest. It was such an impromptu genuine and fun experience, to be invited into a person's house and made to feel welcome like that.
After an hour or so of walking through primal forest, we got to a cabin that he built with a beautiful little pond in the woods. We all sat and enjoyed the tranquility like we were the best of friends. He shared fresh papaya and bananas with us. Then, we went back to his farmhouse, bade the farm farewell, and took off to find the coffee plantation.
But in the meantime, it began to rain heavily, so we decided to forego the tour and instead just enjoy a cup of coffee at the cafeteria in front. This isn't what you think in the States; in Spanish, "-eria" means a place that you get whatever the prefix says. And in this case, it was coffee. And the best coffee you have ever tasted! This was absolutely fresh from the plantation, just roasted and served coffee. The most amazing flavor. I bought 2 pounds (and more) of the plantation coffee - all for 10 dollars. We sat around the table, talking about whatever came up. It was so relaxing.
After about an hour, we loaded up again, and took an off-the-beaten-track tour of the area to head back to Tres Rios. We went through Santa Maria, San Carlos, San Ramon, San Isidro - the area is called the Zone of the Saints for a reason! We got to Alejandra's house and we were invited in by her mother - who cooked up fresh cakes, and served more coffee and more conversation. Alejandra gave us a tour of her home, and again, we had the best time. When we left, the Rojas family sincerely told me that should I ever want to come and spend the day again, "mi casa es su casa". And they really meant it. They stood at the front door to wave goodbye to us...
And so we headed back home. And it made me think about how little we communicate in the States. Twice today, I was invited in to strangers homes, and made to feel like family. There was no distance at all; and that is, in large part, missing back home. It's not just here; when I was in Croatia, it was the same thing. Strangers open their doors for you and will give you their last bit of food - because you are a friend. In the US, I don't know what happened to that sense of friendliness - but I know for a fact that most Americans, myself included, don't normally welcome strangers into our homes and invite them to be part of the family. Hell, we don't usually do that for our own family. I hope that when I return to California, I will try and remember how it feels to be welcomed in to someone's life freely. And I will try and bring that sense of communion to those I welcome into our home.
That sounds like a great day Steve! And with the nickname Fitzwater has bestowed on you, you had to have been in heaven! And I had just told Jeanette last night that I had wondered what you were doing out of the country for so long. Thanks for sharing your journey.
ReplyDelete