Pura Vida

Pura Vida. That’s what the Ticos, the Costa Ricans, say. It’s their everyday motto, pure life. It’s as common to hear it here as “Totally” is in the states. Andrew and I went on a run our first day here to breathe the mountain air and stretch our legs after a day of travel. Some of the mountain bikers we saw called after us “Pura Vida!” as we continued our jog and they commenced their downhill flight. Pura Vida. It’s an accurate description of our little campus tucked up in the mountains just a mile and a half away from the continental divide. The wind blows almost constantly and sweeps the misty clouds down the slopes in an avalanche of “pelo de gato – cat hair” which is what they call the afternoon drizzle here, yet whenever the sun is shining its warm. At night you can see every star, just like you can in the Rockies, except the warm breeze carries on it floral scents that make me want to collapse onto the grass and just soak up the magnificence of creation.

Our campus is particularly devoted to maintaining this paradise and doing absolutely everything we can to minimize our impact on it. All the hot water is heated by solar panels on the roof that take advantage of the abundance of sunshine. All natural waste from the dining hall is composted a hundred yards from campus and then the soil is reused in the greenhouse that grows herbs and a few vegetables. The water we use is treated in a complex septic system that releases potable water back into the stream, and soon there will be chickens on campus providing eggs for daily consumption.

This is my buddy Feijao which means bean in Portuguese

 The view from the path behind campus

 The pond behind our dorms

Our second day, my 21^st birthday, we were plunged into the capital city of San Jose. We rode the bus as a group of 10 gringos for an hour and a half into the city. Needless to say as soon as I was on my feet walking through the streets of San Jose, I felt like a giant. We stopped in the Plaza next to the el Teatro Nacional and commenced our plunge. We were split into groups and sent out to find a long list of things in the city. We had no map so our only option was to talk to locals and get directions. I must confess I expected that I would have great difficulty communicating and especially understanding native speakers rattling off directions at a normal pace, and was quite impressed with the ease in which I understood the directions given to us by all the extremely friendly people we talked to.

El Teatro Nacional

 El Museo Nacional. It used to be barracks for the military until Costa Rica officially disbanded their military in 1949. It now houses the national museum.

When we returned the cook had made a flan for my birthday, which I served to my classmates and professors after a heartwarming rendition of happy birthday sung in Spanish. That’s when we commenced our second plunge into Costa Rican Culture. My classmates and I headed to the bus stop to catch the bus into San Rafael, where I will be living beginning Saturday, and celebrate. But the bus never came so we walked 50 ft up the road to an A-frame building containing a small bar proudly displaying an Imperial sign (the official beer of Costa Rica). Inside, the only person present, the bar tender, greeted us warmly. After some initial greetings I asked her what she’d recommend for a birthday drink and she said she knew just what she wanted to give me as a birthday gift. She returned with a small shot glass of clear liquid. “What is this?” I asked. “Moonshine!” she exclaimed proudly and laughed at my surprise. We remained the only patrons of the bar for the entirety of our visit. The bar tender told us that the business usually gets started around 10 everyday of the week and that we were a little early having arrived at 7:15. Classic Gringos. Regardless, it was an experience to sit with friends in a cramped little room, lit only with black twinkle lights, and decorated with wood paneling and a few taxidermied animals and ordering my first drink in Spanish. 

Pura Vida!