Quiet morning

I am up, have gotten rid of my bed head and am listening to the waves on the beach. Molly and Lib have not yet emerged for breakfast, so I have a few minutes to write. I was re-reading my post from last night. I am struck by how difficult it is to express my feelings about what we have witnessed and felt over the past week. Coming to Senegal I already had a deep understanding of the nature of Tostan's programs and approach and I already understood the profound transformation that individuals, villages and village regions were experiencing and I already felt like I had found a "home" with Tostan...an alignment of values, philosophy, and strategy and a sense of friendship and even family with the staff I had met. I could not have anticipated that there was deeper to go and greater connection to be had.

And...we're off again. I have to sign off. We are going to the Tostan Training Center in Thies and to meet with the staff from the Senegal national office. Then onto a nearby village.

It is now 11:00pm and I am so very tired. I am hoping to sleep deeply. I think all that we had done and learned is catching up with me. This is the last night I will (try to) sleep in Senegal. Tomorrow is our last day and we head to the airport at 10:00pm. It looks like I will be filling in the gaps about this journey once I am home. There is so much to share.

Enjerama.

ME

One week later...

We have been in Senegal for a week?! How is that possible? The time has flown by. We are now at Molly's house in the Somone on the Atlantic Ocean. We went swimming last night at sunset after an 8  1/2 hour car ride from the eastern Senegal town of Tambacounda. The water was delicious. I have not  been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean since 1998.

OK, where to begin to describe what we have seen and done and who we have met over the past several days...I'll start by saying that sadly, I cannot include any pictures. I'm having technical difficulties downloading the photos from my phone to my computer. I'm bummed...you would be in awe of the beauty of the people we have met - their physical beauty and the beauty of their hearts and souls that they share so readily. Once I get help from my resident technical advisor (Matt), I will post photos after I get home.

Our journey (commentary and profound thoughts to follow)
Tuesday
We left Dakar at 6:00pm by small plane to Molly (founder and director of Tostan) and Mory Camara (co-director of Tostan programs). We flew to the Casamance region of southern Senegal into the town of Ziguinchour. It was immediately clear that we were in rural Africa having left behind the developed city of Dakar. It was not village life and also definitely not urban life - goats wandering through the streets, small stall-like "boutiques" (the same as the "tiendas" of Latin America) lining the streets, trash and dust everywhere, donkey-drawn carts and bicycles with 2-3 people on them. It was a pleasure to land here and get beyond Dakar.

Already our journey was enriched by traveling with Mory. He is smart, funny, warm, and incredibly committed to the work of Tostan. He is 37, has 4 children and speaks 5 languages. We stayed at a lovely, small hotel where we ran into numerous people that Molly knows - members of a Senegalese medical delegation in the region working on an AIDS program and a man who is so committed to the work of Tostan that even though he has retired as a teacher, travels the region training teachers about Tostan's early child development program module and promoting non-violent discipline for students (violence as part of teaching is prevalent here) and engagement with parents in support of their children's education. His passion and commitment were almost palpable.

Wednesday
We met Pierre Coly, the 5th member of our travel group, who would be our driver for the next few days. Pierre is quieter and a bit more reserved with us than Mory, but got used to our chattiness and jokes and joined right in after a bit. He entertained us on our long drives with the most eclectic mix of African music. Pierre is a member of the Joola ethnic group of the Casamance region, he is 33, has a 15 year old son, and speaks 6 languages.

We met with the staff in the Ziginchour regional office for about an hour. Every time we meet with Tostan staff, I have to really focus to follow the French. I wonder what they think of me at times - I stare at them while they talk thinking somehow that that will help make the French more clear. I can catch enough to get the gist of the conversation. If I let my mind wander even for a second, I get completely lost. Lib's French is such an asset. Between her, Molly and Mory (who speaks English well enough to help me out) I am doing just fine. Everyone comments on how good Lib's French is and how amazed they are that she speaks with no (English) accent.

Before leaving for the village of Niaguis, we stopped back at the hotel to get dressed for our village visit. Lib and I borrowed beautiful Senegalese outfits from Molly. I wore a deep pink with white embroidery long tunic over a matching panga (wrap around skirt). Lib wore a flowing purple tunic over a purple panga. Mory was also dressed in traditional clothes - the most beautiful indigo blue tunic high at the neck and long to the knee with matching pants. The tunic was embroidered in silver thread and small buttons. We looked beautiful. We then piled into two cars (the regional staff and us) and drove about 1/2 hour to the village of Niaguis.

Niaguis has gone through two of the Tostan programs:
First the CEP (Community Empowerment Program) - a 3-year program focused on human rights, democracy, problem solving, health & hygiene, literacy, environment, and economic development. The program facilitator lives in the village and they meet 10-12 hours a week for 3 years. While going through the program, the community forms a CMC (community management committee) that implements and oversees projects taken on by the community and is also responsible for sharing what the community is learning with neighboring communities (what Tostan calls "organized diffusion"). In almost every village, the participants are predominantly women and teenage girls though men do participate in the classes and often hold some seats on the CMC. But, it is clear that the women are taking on the transformation and leadership of their community through this program.

Then the Peace & Security program which is about 18 months long and focuses on mediation and conflict resolution.

Third, the RPP (Reinforcement of Parental Practices) about a year long program that teaches participants all about brain development, the importance of development 0-3 years and how and why to interact with their children when they are young (something not traditionally done in the villages based on long-held superstitious beliefs that you bring your child bad luck and evil spirits by focusing too much on them and drawing attention to them).

How to describe the greeting we received...drumming and a larger group of women, dressed in colors almost too beautiful to process, dancing and clapping. They enveloped us as we got out of the car and danced us into the center of the village where we continued to dance some more. Lib and I were in our element - in a circle of joyous women, taking turns dancing in the center of the circle, celebrating together. I didn't want it to end....a feeling I experienced on each day to come. We shook hands, touched cheeks and exchanged Joola greetings. We were then seated in the "seats of honor" with Molly and Mory while the villagers proceeded to share with us all that has changed and developed in their village since they started the Tostan programs:

- Abandonment of FGC (female genital cutting), child marriage and women's empowerment and new leadership.

- Generally improved health, income generation, a clean environment and end of violence against children and women. 

- They discussed how there is much better organization in the community.  The village now has systematic birth registration in place and has all children registered in school. They have a garden and "factory" for making fresh juices and jams.  

- They presented several drawings that had been sketched by a young artist from the community on how the village was before the program and where they are going in the future and their action plan to achieve their goals.

- The women sang songs on democracy and human rights.

- The did a play on how the P&S (Peace & Security) module had helped to reduce conflict in the community and in the area in general and showed, through the skit, the steps for successful mediation.  They discussed how the Peace Committee had been called to do mediation, not only in their village, but in surrounding communities.  

- They also discussed how they loved the RPP module and were now interacting with their babies and infants, explaining that the information on brain development had led them to end violence against children in the school and in their families.  They said they were hoping to have more education classes in their community and also in surrounding communities. 

We were then invited to eat at the home of the Coordinator of the CMC - we had salad from their garden and also fruit drinks they made from local fruits - ditax, guava and mango juice.

While in the village, Lib and I were given Senegalese (Joola) names after two of the kick-ass women leaders in the village. Lib is now known at Hadi Sambu and I am Adama Sane. What an honor!

Thursday
We left at 9:30 from Ziguinchor and drove to Guinea Bissau.  Normally the trip should only take about 90 minutes but due to frequent border stops and checks in Guinea Bissau, we did not arrive until 12:30.  What was amazing is that when the men and women doing border control saw our papers and realized that we were from Tostan, their faces lit up and they began talking to us about how important Tostan is in Guinea Bissau.  It was really incredible for us as of course this was totally unexpected and spontaneous.  The first man said that he knew what Tostan was doing because he regularly listens to the Tostan weekly radio program. He said he thought it was great that women are being taught about  their rights and life is now changing for the women.  When another man at that same border control realized that we were from Tostan, he came running up and told us how great the program is. Molly asked how he knew about Tostan and he said that he is from the town of Gabu where his family lives and he said that EVERYONE had abandoned FGC and that the women's lives had changed so much since the program. "Elder women who had never been to formal school are now able to read and write and they now are managing their own projects!!" he exclaimed....he seemed so thrilled by this.  We then started asking all the agents we met when we were stopped (3 more) if they had heard of Tostan and they all said - "Yes of course!  We listen to the radio programs on human rights.  But the only problem we have is that you need to be doing this program in our region and not just in Gabou and Bafata. When can you come to our communities?  Every community in Guinea Bissau needs this program to achieve development." What incredible validation and verification of the efficacy and impact of Tostan.

We briefly met the staff in the GB national office, shared a delicious Senegalese lunch of dried fish and rice (eaten Senegalese style) and then Lib, Molly and I changed into our Senegalese dresses before driving to the village of Ginane. This was the beginning of our adventure into the true African bush. Seriously...it was what you picture (perhaps from movies) of what a small, poor, in-the-middle-of-nowhere African village looks like. We started the drive thinking it was about an hour away. It took us 4 hours on incredibly rough roads that got smaller and smaller as we got closer to the village until we were on a dirt track barely wide enough for the car winding through tall African grass land. You also have to consider the number of animals that run across the "road" and also walk out and stand in the road - cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, donkeys. Pierre is truly one of the most skills drivers I have ever seen.

Ginane was smaller than Niaguis, very poor, very remote and has not yet finished the CEP - they are in the third year. Our welcome was joyous and powerful. There are very few visitors here and many of the villagers had probably never seen white people before. More than one small child screamed and cried when they saw us! Once again, their beauty is breathtaking. Much simpler clothes here but no shortage of color and pattern and pride in who they are and what they are doing. We danced and heard presentations and watched a play. And you have to remember all of this is being conveyed through the local language of Creole or Pular and translated into French and English for us. It is truly incredible. We were reluctant to leave but it was getting dark and we had to re-trace the rough route we had come on.

We arrived at the Triton Hotel - what might one expect from a small hotel in a rural area of the very poor country of GB? The rooms were like prison cells, there were goats wandering in and out of the dining area and Lib's room smelled so thickly of a latrine that we slept together in my double bed. It made for a lot of laughs among our travel tribe.

Oh, there is so much left to write and thoughts to share but I have to go to sleep. It is Sunday night at 12:30am (so I guess it's actually Monday) and we have a full day tomorrow. We are off to the Tostan Training Center in Thies and then onto a nearby village. We are heading out about 9:00am so I must try to sleep. I am having trouble sleeping on this trip and have therefore slept very little relative to how much I sleep at home. And yet, I feel a powerful energy and alertness that I often find lacking at home. I realized this today while having a bit of downtime. I am often so tired at home and suffer on some days from a profound lack of energy. And yet over the past week with little sleep, hot temperatures, and highly demanding days I find myself with energy, present and in the moment. Have I been consumed by some degree of complacency at home? What is missing in my days to give me energy and inspiration and to stimulate me? Something very important for me to explore more deeply.  I hate how tired I feel daily at home. It scares me and it makes me mad. I am surprised by my stamina  here. I want to preserve it. I want to absorb it and take it home with me and use it and share it with others.

I will write more tomorrow. Yup, just as we prepare to leave Senegal I will finally get a full description of what we have been doing out to you all!

Beaux Reves! Sleep tight!

ME

Tostan - Day 1

After 28 hours of travel, we met Molly outside the Dakar airport at 10:30pm (Senegal time) amidst throngs of Senegalese meeting friends and family coming in our flight from France. It was immediately Africa - the warmth in the night air, men in quiet voices saying "Madame" and waving keys at us asking if we wanted a taxi, bright colors of the women dressed in boubous (traditional Senegalese dress), the rocky and sandy parking lot...

Lib and I were pretty dazed. Beyond tired after having only slept for a couple of hours over our journey. Instead of napping and lounging at the Paris airport, we hopped the local RER train into Paris and spent 3 hours walking around. We came up out of the subway right at the Notre Dame cathedral! What a glorious view!

Ignore the puffy, squinty, jet lag eyes! Lib was a great tour guide. My first time to Paris!

To go from Seattle, to Paris to Africa in 28 hours...3 completely different cultures and settings. It's incredible really. Molly drove us to the King Farad hotel. It is on the Atlantic Ocean at the western most point of Africa. We so so tired and yet needed to decompress before sleeping. We didn't go to bed until about 1:00am. We reluctantly woke up at 9:45am to shower and get dressed before the hotel stopped serving breakfast at 10:30.

We met Molly at 11:45 and went right to the Tostan International office. We met all 30+ staff members in one large group and then spent the next 7 hours meeting with the various departments separately. The entire staff eats lunch together every day. We ate on large mats on the floor after we ll removed our shoes. We were served a delicious meal that reminded me of Moroccan couscous. Large platter of white rice with mixed veggies and a grilled chicken in the middle. We ate directly from the platter with spoons though Senegalese eat normally with their hands (Lucas would fit in well here!) I got to share my lunch with Fatou, the 3 year old daughter of a Tostan staff member. She is a hoot. She loved walking around in both Libby's and my shoes.

The diversity of the staff is remarkable - members from England, Italy, Senegal, France, Zimbabwe, Togo, US. We really got to hear in depth about the work of the various departments - grants, evaluation, programming, and time with the directors. It is a lot for the staff to meet with all of the visitors who come. It was so generous of them to give us their time and answer our questions. You can really see that the organization focuses on working collectively like the villagers who go through the Tostan Community Empowerment Program do - with a respectful, integrated, communicative approach.

I wish I had some pictures to share of the street scenes from today. I was outside so very little...just got to see the area from the car. Dakar is much more developed and cosmopolitan than any city I saw in Congo. The roads are in excellent condition, there is even an elevated auto-route with on and off ramps! But right along side all of the cars are still the horse-drawn wooden carts used for hauling brush, construction materials, etc. There is rock and rubble and garbage everywhere. Young men hanging out with little to do. Road side stands selling fruit and veggies. In all of these ways it is so very similar to Congo. It is Africa.

Tomorrow (Wed) we have a more relaxed morning - time to sleep in and then go to a local market with Molly. Then we head back to the airport to catch a plane to souther Senegal. We will be visiting a regional office and village in Zingunchor. Then on to Guinea-Bissau the next day. We will visit 3 villages over the next few days. We will head to Molly's house at the beach on Sunday.

I don't know what the internet access will be like until. Will post again once we have access. Inshallah.

lots of love!

On Our Way

We are at Seatac airport waiting to board our flight to Paris. The news playing in the background is of the snow storm extravaganza on the east coast that delayed our trip. Just heard from our brother, Marc, in the D.C. area that they have power and are doing well. The photo of his front yard is pretty amazing...there is easily over a foot of snow!

Lib is going to play tour guide for me for a few hours in Paris during our long layover. It will be my first time to France! We packed a coat and a warm hat in our carry-ons (two things we will NOT need in 80 degree Senegal) for our short Paris jaunt.

We are happy to be on our way and are looking forward to the first sights and smells upon landing in Dakar Sunday night at 9:00pm Senegal time (8 hours ahead of PST).

More soon!

Back to Africa

Libby and I are off to Senegal to spend 2 weeks with the remarkable and inspiring Molly Melching, founder and director of Tostan (tostan.org). Tostan is an organization that offers a 3-year informal education program to rural villages in Senegal and 7 other West African countries that is deeply routed in human rights and founded on the tenets of respect, love and dignity. The organization celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. I believe this organization and program are THE model for what sustainable social change looks like. It is dramatically impacting quality of life and individual empowerment throughout West Africa currently with the vision to scale this impact globally.

Libby and I have been involved with Tostan for nearly two years, deepening our relationship with Molly and our understanding of and commitment to the program. It is an honor to get to go to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau to see this work up close and to witness the transformational change that is happening in the villages.

I highly recommend the book "However Long the Night" by Aimee Malloy. It is the story of Molly Melching and the birth of Tostan. It is a page turner. Seriously. You will want to keep reading and reading. You will become a believer, too.

Our bags are packed (though I still can't figure out why Libby's duffle bag has so much more extra room in it than mine, and I have a fraction of the clothes she's bringing), alarm set to wake up at 5:00am to head to the airport tomorrow morning, and family dinners cooking when we get the email that our flight from Seattle to Washington DC tomorrow is cancelled due to the forecasted mega snow storm due to hit the East Coast tomorrow evening. Big drag. I know it pales in comparison to what the folks living on the East Coast are going to be dealing with over the weekend.

Not much to do but enjoy dinner with the family and explore our options. We were lucky to find open seats on a Delta flight mid-day on Saturday. We will miss out on 2 full days of our original Senegal itinerary and spend a 7+ hour lay-over in Paris, but we still get to go to Senegal.

So, a bonus day at home tomorrow without last minute trip preparations. Extra time to get our heads and hearts more deeply into the purpose of the trip - to listen, to witness, to question, to participate, to learn, to enjoy. Thank you for reading. Can't wait to share our experience with you.

Stay tuned...

Half Way

Just when we thought our adventure had come to an end we have found ourselves stuck in Dallas, Texas for two days. Dallas was hit with snow and freezing rain over the past few days and many flights were cancelled...including ours home to Seattle. We were able to land in Dallas from San Jose, Costa Rica on Saturday but could not find 3 empty seats on any flights going to Seattle until Monday morning! Time to click back into adventure mode.

So, we donned what warm clothes we had and ventured out into the weather to hail a taxi to a nearby hotel. Lucas was chilly but happy to see some snow as we waited for a ride.

Into the taxi for the 20 minute ride to the hotel. Lucas promptly fell asleep and stayed asleep for the next 3 hours. He never moved even through carrying him from the taxi, checking in, riding the elevator to the room and plopping him on the bed. He was catching up after a couple of long travel days.

Having never been to Dallas, I had no idea what to expect. One thing for sure, it is NOT a remote island paradise in the Caribbean! The view from our hotel window is a bit different. What do you think?

View from Dallas hotel:

View from Casa Cayuco on Isla Bastimentos:

To say that we were disappointed to not get home yesterday would be a true understatement. We had said our good-byes to Central America and had turned our energy towards our re-entry into Seattle. It was a big shock to have to switch gears and adjust to an unexpected change of plans. Dallas, to be truthful, is not all that inspiring, it was especially dreary with the low, grey clouds, freezing rain and 25 degree temperature, we hadn't eaten since our 6:30am breakfast in Costa Rica, and we had no idea where to station ourselves for the next 48 hours.

We found our way to the Lumen Hotel across the street from the SMU campus (no, we did not opt to visit the George W. Bush library.) We spent the first evening eating room service, watching videos and exploring every nook and cranny of the hotel. Lucas and I discovered that the elevator opens on the 4th floor onto an outdoor sitting terrace that I'm sure is lovely when it is not covered in a sheet of slick ice!

Matt came down with a cold the morning we left Panama...not sure where he picked it up on that remote island. So, he has pretty much taken to his bed here at the hotel and hasn't moved except for a quick jaunt to the hotel restaurant for a bowl of oatmeal this morning. Lucas and I have embraced our circumstances and have resurrected our sense of adventure. We hopped in a taxi with a lovely man named, Robert, who is a born n' bred Dallasite and proud to be so. He took us into downtown Dallas for some...wait for it...ice skating! Yup, the polar opposite of where we have been for the past 6 weeks - an indoor ice skating rink in the middle of a 4 story shopping mall.

This is where we got to know Dallas a bit more. I was struck by the incredible diversity here - it was a rainbow of different colored kids and their parents on the ice. It was so wonderful to experience...something I am constantly aware is pretty much non-existent in Seattle. Latinos, Asians, African Americans, Indians, Africans, and Caucasians all shuffling around in a counter-clockwise circle on the ice. There were also countless girls and young women walking around with thick make up on and big, colorful, stiff bows on the tops of their heads. What was with the bows? I finally asked a young woman and learned that this weekend was the national cheerleading competition held every year in Dallas. 26,000 people in town for this event.

Lucas and I skated for an hour and a half with him getting more confident and faster with every lap.

It was super fun and is nothing that I could ever have imagined that we would be doing 2 days after visiting a remote, indigenous village in Panama!

We ate lunch in a Tex-Mex restaurant where we got to happily engage our waiter in Spanish. I am not ready to give that up. Then off to Hagaan Daaz for an ice cream cone before heading back to check on Matt at the hotel. He rested and watched a movie and feels a bit better.

So, we have confirmed seats on a flight tomorrow and the weather here is warming up. All looks good for our arrival in Seattle tomorrow. This little travel detour has reminded me that we don't need to go to Central America or to go away for 6 weeks to live an adventurous life. It's just about embracing what each day brings with an open and curious and adventurous spirit. The couple of days here in Dallas has been a cultural experience not too far from home. I am grateful for the experience and the reminder to continue to look for and make adventure in each day.

Home tomorrow! I am ready for some dark, leafy greens, a snuggle with Che, and catching up on all of your adventures over the past 6 weeks.

xoxo

Where There Are No Roads

Warning: This post will be long and all over the place. This is the last post of our trip, and I've got a bunch of stuff to talk about!

First, the Ngabe (pronounced Naw-Bay...I mispronounced it when I first wrote about this indigenous tribe from northern Panama.) There are many Ngobe communities across northern Panama and throughout the islands of Bocas del Toro. Where we stayed on Isla Bastimentos was very near the community of Salt Creek, fairly large at almost 900 residents. The Ngobe have traditionally been a Nomadic tribe and it has only been fairly recently that they have settled down. The Salt Creek community is about 70 years old. Hidden in the jungle, set back from the beach about 600 meters, you would never know the community was there if you didn't know where to look. There is a narrow river that opens to the sea that winds through mangroves that leads to the community. The water passage was opened by the founders of the community, hacking a path through the thick mangroves. We followed a couple up the inlet as they silently paddled their cayuco, the wooden, hand-carved, traditional Ngobe boat.

You come to a dock and a long cement (yes, cement) walkway that leads into the community. I can only imagine what it took to actually build the walkway that is incredibly long (perhaps 1/4 mile) - getting the supplies to this remote location and then actually building it over very swampy terrain.

I'm not exactly sure what I expected to find when I arrived in Salt Creek. I went with Lucas and some other guests from the lodge we were staying at. Dave and Suzanne, the owners of the lodge, are very involved here and also very liked, welcomed and respected here. Dave knows everyone by name, has an easy rapport  and is immediately swarmed by the local kids. It is an example of how gringos, tourism and native culture can come together positively and respectfully and quite beautifully. 

Salt Creek is beautiful - there is a fresh water creek, it is open and green, in the center is a soccer field adjacent to the school and small playground. It was washing day when we visited, so there was lots of color added to the landscape from laundry hanging out to dry.

There is no electricity or running water here...something that struck me in the juxtaposition with the many resorts in the islands with their blenders for fruity rum drinks and internet capability for their guests. There is very little byway of work in the village - fishing to sell at market in Bocas Town and perhaps hauling (building supplies or whatever) in ones cayuco. So, herein lies the challenge - tourism brings jobs but also brings with it exploitation, being undervalued and disrespected, unsatisfying work, and the impossible-to-bridge gap of have and have not. 

I spent all week really watching the Ngobe people I encountered - curious about their culture and life style and relationship to gringos. The relationship was so very different from our experience in Costa Rica. We found Costa Ricans very open and interested in connecting. This was not my experience with the Ngobe. I had all sorts of assumptions and questions - are they bitter and can't stand gringos? are they an unhappy/serious people? is the have/have not gap just too big? When we switched to Casa Cayuco (Dave and Suzanne's place) and I had daily encounters with the same people, I attempted to communicate every day respectful of boundaries. A lot of connection was made through Lucas. People are curious about him, find him funny and appealing, and cute as a total gringo kid. I had a lot of time with Jose, the main guide at Casa Cayuco. He has a very large family, many of whom also work at Casa Cayuco, and it was lovely to swap stories with him about our lives. 

What I learned from Dave is that in general the Ngobe are more timid. They also are wary of "letting down" gringos, worried about expectations and conceded that they can't communicate well due to language barriers. Plus, many are not used to foreigners taking interest in connecting with them like I am inclined to do. Dave explained who all of the staff are actually very chatty and silly when they are away from work...something we saw when we went to the village. 

Lucas, who didn't initially didn't want to visit Salt Creek, ended up at the playground with kids of 3 of the women who work at Casa Cayuco. It is a beautiful thing to behold - put kids together, let them play and it doesn't matter that there isn't a common spoken language between them. They all just laughed and had fun. 

When it was time to go, Lucas said, "No, I'm having so much fun. I want to live in Salt Creek!" I wish I had more time there. Relationships were just starting to spark. It is what travel is all about for me - meeting people, learning from each other, witnessing different ways of life. Where we were was so remote - everything about day-to-day life there was so different from what day-to-day life looks like for me. I would have liked to have gone deeper into it all. My heart felt so full our last night there when after dinner, Lizbeth and Maricena, who help prepare food at the lodge, wanted to say good-bye to Lucas and give him a bracelet their kids had made. Though there weren't many words exchanged over the week, connection was happening between us as moms, between them and Lucas and it turns out between their kids and Lucas as they were going home each day and talking about Lucas. It was extra special to go to the village today and see their house and have them call out "Lu-CAS" as we came up the walkway. I will think of them a lot...

Panama turned out to be a great addition to our trip despite the rocky start. The beauty, the water, the beach, the remoteness, the Ngobe, and Casa Cayuco. The best part about staying there is the bond that starts to form between the guests. We eat together and go on excursions together and hang out together. Over our 5 days there we met 2 women from Austria, 2 from the states, 2 couples from NYC and a family of 6 traveling with grandparents from New Hampshire. I miss them all and our delicious family-style meals swapping stories about our lives. 

One morning, Matt, Lucas, and I headed out on kayaks with Gerard, dad to 10-year old twin girls who Lucas LOVED. We went in search of a lion fish - an invasive, no-native fish that is causing problems. Gerard wanted to catch one. It is a beautiful fish with stripes and feathery-like bands that are actually stingers that pack a punch. So, off we went with snorkeling gear and hawaiian slings that are a sort of spear for fishing. Here is Matt getting ready to go on the hunt.

No Lion Fish were speared or even spotted, much to Gerard's disappointment. He was on a quest. The rest of the day found Lucas and me playing around on the stand up paddle board...endless fun. I've always wanted to try it but the water is just too cold around Seattle.

Oh, I know there is so much more to write about, and I find myself getting very sleepy. We are back at the Hotel Buena Vista outside of San Jose. It is strange to be in the very same room we were in our very first night in Costa Rica exactly 6 weeks ago today. We even had the same customs officer today coming back from Panama that we had the day we arrived in Costa Rica. It has been a long, somewhat crabby and unremarkable day to end what has been a truly remarkable and life-changing adventure. I started to feel a bit bummed about that and caught myself immediately. What has been so  lovely about this adventure was just letting things unfold naturally and being in the moment. This was never about trying to make it some perfect "trip" every minute we were here. So, Matt has a cold and Lucas did some acting out and I got impatient and the hotel went to the wrong place at the airport and couldn't find us so we waited for an hour and a half and then had to catch a cab and we couldn't go to our fantasy restaurant for patacones and strawberry milkshakes. We woke up to the sound of jungle birds and swam in the Caribbean Sea and toured an indigenous village and flew over dense jungle where there are no roads and a kind man at the airport negotiated a fair taxi price for us and we joked around with the waiters at the hotel restaurant and Lucas and Matt are now passed out snoring. No big fanfare to mark the end of our six weeks. Just a lot of gratitude. 

We will be up early in the morning to catch our flight home. It is time. I say that with sadness as I will miss it here and miss living the adventure, and I also know it is true. We miss our people and our place. We will carry Costa Rica back home with us in our hearts.

Getting into the Caribe Vibe

We have finally landed in a spot that feels like the right fit. Just 10 minutes down the beach from where we started and at the same time....miles away. 4 small bungalows, beautifully prepared, thoughtfully delicious food served family style at one long table, young owners from Michigan expecting their first baby in August, and time with the locals. Being here is helping to bridge our sadness over our trip ending and turning our energy towards home. We are grateful.

Here are some pictures of our "jungalow" nestled in the trees a little way back from the beach. We take turns sleeping in the big bed with the ceiling face brilliantly put INSIDE the mosquito netting!

I think my favorite spot is the "living room" on the dock overlooking the water equipped with hammocks for the new resident stuffies to relax in!

Yesterday was a superb day. We headed off shortly after breakfast for a tour at the Green Acres chocolate farm about a 30-40 minute boat ride to the mainland referred to as "Terra Scura" (meaning dark land) because of the dark, volcanic soil. The chocolate farm is nestled into about 30 acres right up against dense jungle that is habitat for jaguars, pumas, ocelot and a whole bunch of other animals. The farm was started by another ex-past couple nearly 20 years ago. Robert and his wife, Julie, bought it a few years ago when the founding couple was in their mid-80s. The first owner's wife was an avid gardener, so there is a tasteful mix of jungle, cultivated gardens and the cacao trees. Robert took us on an hour or so tour around the property and jungle sharing info about all of the indigenous plants and animals. We started the tour with opening a cacao fruit. 

The cacao seeds that eventually are what make delicious chocolate are first purple in color and covered in a white, mucilaginous coating that is actually quite sweet and fruity. We each picked off a slimy seed and sucked the coating off. The cacao seeds are quite bitter at this fresh stage. 

One of the most fascinating plants we encountered on the tour was the "Walking Palm Tree". It grows new roots really quickly - it grows like at the speed of asparagus - in the front of the tree while the roots at the back serve as pushers. It literally walks in search of access to more sunlight. Amazing! The indigenous women use the roots with the tough spikes on them to shred coconut when making coconut oil.

Matt and I were enthralled by it all, while it got a bit long for Lucas. Until, the termite nest. Robert scratched the surface of the nest to expose some of the termites and then invited the group to have a snack. Everyone sampled one of the tiny, protein-packed bugs while Lucas stayed at the tree, bellied up to the termite bar, for 10 or more minutes having a full on feast! He loved it!

I love that kid's adventure spirit! The tour ended with some homemade chocolate-peanut butter cookies baked with chocolate from the farm. Not sure what Lucas liked better - the cookies or the termites.

We stayed on the Green Acres dock for a picnic lunch with our guide Ernesto where we proceeded to have an hour conversation about religious, birth control, family, kids, etc. It was as rich and informative as our time with Robert on the chocolate tour. I am so grateful to have enough Spanish to be able to connect with folks we meet in this way. It was a delightful lunch.

Then, off to do some snorkeling. This was a first for Lucas. He took to it with gusto and guts! On with the gear and into the water. As Matt was encouraging him to put his face in the water, Lucas would say, "Poco a poco, Daddy. I am ajusting." (no "d"). He is hooked now loving every minute of it - the bravery it took, feeling super proud, holding sea stars and sea cucumbers, arrow crabs and urchins. We saw coral like I've never seen in my life. Colors so rich - teal and ruby orange and smokey purple some of which was wrapped up in equally as colorful brittle stars. This was all around a small mangrove island in the middle of a bay. It was magical.

Tomorrow holds a tour of an organic farm in the jungle for me (yay!) and more snorkeling for Lucas and Matt (yay!).  We are hoping for another snorkel adventure on Thursday that may include fishing for plate fish with a Hawaiin Sling - it's a type of spear for speak fishing. Lucas, of course, is intrigued.

Four days from now we will be landing at SeaTac airport. Quite astonishing to be saying that. How lucky to feel sad to end this life-changing journey and to feel happy to be returning to a place and community and family and group of friends that/who we love dearly and can't wait to see. I am feeling so incredibly blessed.

xoxo

Way Out in Panama

With heavy hearts we boarded the NatureAir flight to Panama on Friday and said good-bye to Costa Rica. Nos encanta Costa Rica! Pura Vida, mai! We headed off to this new land fairly unprepared...knowing very little about where we were going. Our lack of preparedness started in the San Jose airport. We thought we had left ourselves plenty of time to drop off our trusty rental car, Caballo Blanco, and get to the airport without sweating it. Think again. First, we arrived at the rental car place at the same time as another American couple. The car agency doesn't have a shuttle van, so they had to take the other couple to the airport and then come back to get us. First time set back.

Then, we got to the airport and waited in the slow-moving NatureAir check-in line with a little more than an hour until our flight. When it's our turn, the agent informs us that we have to pay our "exit tax" (yes, you have to pay $29/person to leave Costa Rica) before we can check-in. Second time set back.

Back to the check-in line with receipt saying "taxes paid". Unfortunately, the agent who helped us must be a not-so-distant relative of the Costa Rican sloth - VERY slow moving. Third time set back. With our paperwork in hand, we head to the security line with 30 minutes to go before the flight.

Only to be turned away because we hadn't filled out our customs paperwork, of so we misunderstood. Off to the corner on the floor to frantically claim that we were carrying no fresh fruits and $200 US dollars. Back to the security line, to be shut down again b/c we are missing a certain paper (we did NOT have to fill out the customs paperwork). Back to the ticket agent asking for a paper I'm not sure we need until Matt runs to find me b/c he figured out that we needed to show our "taxes paid receipt". Fourth and fifth time set backs. It's now15 mins. before our flight.

Shoes off, computers out, stuffies in the grey box and through security we go. Only to be stopped yet again because it turns out the Swiss Army knife I couldn't find ANYWHERE when I was packing earlier that morning was hiding deep in a pocket of my backpack. Ugh! Bye-bye knife. I was SO mad. Run, run, run to Gate 11 with 5 minutes to go just to sit and wait for 15 mins...time enough to have a snack. :)

We were relieved and well-schooled in the ways of the San Jose airport when the colorful twin-prop took off with us on it!

There were thick clouds around San Jose so we weren't able to see much of Eastern Costa Rica until we were just north of the border. Such different terrain - nearly roadless, thick, thick trees, banana plantations (mostly Dole and Chiquita from what we've heard), very few houses and towns. Then we circled over the islands of Bocas del Toro seeing the Caribbean Sea for the first time. Such a different color from the Pacific.

We landed in Bocas Town on Isla Colon, the only actual town in Bocas de Toro and a place to get into and out of as fast as possible. How to describe it? Gross, to put it simply. Trash literally everywhere, stagnant water and whatever else in drainage ditches along the roads, an odd and uncomfortable mix of tourists and locals. Honestly, I have no idea what would bring someone here for vacation. It's one of those places on earth (and I know there are many) where the indigenous culture and people come face to face with the culture of tourism, and it is really just an awful mix. The native people here, the Ngabe (I wrote about them a bit in my updates from Santa Maria) live very remotely and very simply with very few options for education and economic opportunity. So, on one hand, the growth of tourism provides jobs and training opportunities. There are some hotels and resorts that are taking a very proactive and respectful approach to this and most that are not where there is just exploitation and disrespect and very little value placed on the indigenous way of life.

After scampering around town to scrounge up some groceries, we met up with the boat that took us out to Isla Bastimentos, one of the most remote islands in Bocas. It was about a 30 min. boat ride to get us to our first Caribbean pad where we had rented a house - Casa Verde.

Admittedly, we've been a bit unsettled here. This is clearly a remote, tourist, resort-like destination for folks looking to get away, lay on the beach, drink fruity drinks and just hang out. Not so much what we have been doing or been looking to do on this adventure. It is a beautiful beach paradise, it's quiet, the water is gorgeous, so you ask, "What is their problem???!!" I think it's just do different from where we've been and not really how we wanted to end this journey. We miss people and speaking Spanish, and Tico culture.

Lucas, however, is thrilled, because there is a 6-month old Howler monkey living here named Rafiki. We were told that she was orphaned when a tree was cut down killing her mother (later we learned, sadly, that she is just another baby monkey intentionally orphaned by poachers who kill the mothers and then sell the babies to clueless foreigners excited about "rescuing" an orphaned monkey and having it as a pet." Lucas seeks her out all day and in turn, she seeks him out, too! She is truly amazing to watch and hold and play with. She literally wraps herself around you with her 2 hands, 2 feet and incredible tail. The only hard part for Lucas is that she is a nibbler, just doing her baby monkey thing, but she likes to nibble quite hard on any exposed body part. So, her has a love/fear fascination with her. He wants to play with her but needs a protector as well.

There are great dogs here, too, who at times are jealous of and very interested in Rafiki. Rafiki was taking a nap on Matt's shoulders while Matt was being trailed by the dog pack looking for love and also to get to the monkey!

We have had some fun in the sand and swimming a bunch. Lucas had us dig a big hole and then bury him after hearing a story about how we did this with Gus 7 or 8 years ago in Baja. The dogs found his little head sticking up quite mysterious and interesting. Some passersby on the beach didn't realize the hat was connected to a kid buried in the sand!

One more monkey story...one afternoon, Rafiki wondered into the house and immediately found Lucas's backpack full of his friends. A battle ensured between kid and monkey over the beloved Sloth stuffy named Rica.

Lucas eventually won and there was a little love lost, I believe!

We are moving up the beach to Casa Cayuco for the remainder of our stay here. We are looking forward to getting there as it is where we had wanted to stay for our full week but there were booked for the first half. I think it will be a better fit for us.

We are winding down. Lucas has said a couple of times that he is ready to get home to play with Bee and Big Bear and Scout (trusted stuffy friends) and misses Seattle. It is time.

See you very soon!

Into the Belly of the Beast

...the Beast being San Jose! We have spent the past 5 weeks basking in the Pura Vida of Costa Rica - small towns, beaches, the dense, green jungle, farms, mountains - calm and quiet and friendly and beautiful. Easy to forget that city life exists here and easy to believe that what we saw and experienced was the full Costa Rica picture. Oops!

We left the Unicorn Lodge on a sunny morning yet very cold in the house. Lucas waited under the warm covers until the much-anticipated pancakes were ready to eat. Yum! Then, went right back into a cozy cocoon to keep warm.

We were on the road by 8:20 in hopes of reaching the Poas Volcano as early as possible to avoid the usual afternoon clouds that roll in. We had heard that a section of the main highway was closed due to a landslide, so we needed to leave more time. It is hard to accurately describe the terrain and roads here in Costa Rica. The roads just charge up the hills and mountains - steep and windy beyond belief - with one lane in each direction and no shoulders and in most cases (except for in or near the city) no dividing lines.

With the road closed before we reached Cartago, outside of San Jose, we were detoured onto another road that wound its way through small towns and coffee farms on steep slopes to the south of San Jose. Trucks, cars and motorcycles sharing this road. It's amazing to watch and frustrating to be behind a big truck with a huge load slowly chug up the steep, steep hills spewing black smoke out the back. It's incredibly arduous and slow. The towns and area in these hills above the Central Valley are beautiful, but it was hard to take it in because I had to focus so intently on driving - hairpin curves, motorcycles passing on all sides, and cars daring to pass slow moving trucks on blind curves. Our journey yesterday was a total of maybe 100km. It took us 3 1/2 hours! Matt and I now have created a new driving measurement called the "Costa Rica mile!" It takes about 20 minutes to go 1 Costa Rica mile!

We were already tired and car sick (even though I was driving) when we descended into the ugly chaos of San Jose. Luckily we had a GPS to guide us through the maze of unmarked streets and fast, erratic traffic. We have named our GPS Lucia. We would have been lost many times without her. It is true what people say, do not drive in Costa Rica without a Lucia!

It's like San Jose is a different country. Outside of the city, there are "no throwing trash" signs everywhere and there is pride in having a clean town; there are beautiful gardens and plantings; there are open-air sodas and birds. San Jose is giant garbage dump. Every house and business is behind a tall, locked fence often with barbed wire at the top. Everyone we met who used to live in San Jose or still did and was working elsewhere had nothing but negative things to say about it or said how relieved they were to be away. There is little of the Pura Vida Costa Rica here. I know cities all over the world are like this. I guess I find it extra curious here in Costa Rica given the government's push towards "green" and "environment" and ecotourism, and investment in improving the quality of life of Costa Ricans in the process. Very little, if any, of that seems to have been introduced in San Jose. Why?

Despite the arduous drive, this day seems to have been blessed for us. We pushed through the chaos and came out into the hills on the north side of San Jose heading up to the Poas Volcano National Park on a very, very clear day. We would see the volcano! The farm land as you go up is breathtaking - open and wide. Cow farms and somewhat surprising, acres and acres of strawberry farms. There were roadside stands everywhere selling big, juicy berries. We promised Lucas we would stop on the way back down to munch on some.

The volcano was awesome. A crater about 2/3 of a mile across with a milky, blue lake in it. Steam and gases rise from the lake and mix with clouds coming from the east so at times the crater goes in and out of view. There is a rocky, barren swath of land to the SW where the lava has run in the past and mixed with the acid rain that forms over the volcano nothing can grow there.

We stayed until the park closed at 3:00pm. Hungry we went in search of a soda (cafe) in a Tico town for our last bit of local Costa Rica before we leave. I wanted patacones (crushed fried plantain cakes), Matt wanted a good cup of coffee and Lucas a special drink. We randomly picked Cafe Caribe in a small town coming down from the volcano. We picked THE right spot. There seems to be no end to the whipped cream -topped yummy drinks in this country. Lucas and Matt were in heaven.

And, we had the best patacones we have had yet with frijoles, guacamole, pico de gallo and carne. I savored every bite. When we had gobbled everything up we started scheming about how we could get back to Cafe Caribe after we return from Panama for one last night here before flying home. It was so good!

Our day ended with an upgrade to a beautiful "villa" here at the hotel. Nati, a woman who works at the hotel, has a thing for Lucas and remembered us from 5 weeks ago when we stayed here our very first night in Costa Rica. She surprised us with this beautiful room with a great view over the valley below and 2 very comfortable beds. We all snuggled up last night very tired and happy and feeling blessed for such an incredible day - hard and beautiful and long and exciting and delicious and tiring and fun. It was a great way to end our time here in Costa Rica - a little of so much that Costa Rica is and has to offer. We are going to miss it here.

Next stop...Panama. (I am secretly hoping that there will patacones there, too!)