COSTA RICA BLOG #3

BLOG #3 Jennifer Today started very, very early. We departed our hotel at 5AM bound for Nicaragua! We stopped in Liberia for breakfast and coffee before we headed to the boarder. We were informed that there is an extensive inspection process at the border. We say a long line of trucks waiting and we were told they can wait for up to three days to cross! Luckily, it didn’t take quite so long for us. We spent 1.5 hours or so waiting for our passports to be inspected and the van to be searched for drugs. It was pouring rain most of this time but clear skies by the time we made our first real stop! Our guide, Gustavo, spent most of our 15 hour day regaling us with a wonderful account of the history, politics, economics and geology of Costa Rica and many parts of Latin America. I should note that while I like to think I inherited many wonderful qualities from my Grandfather – including a quick wit, keen intelligence, rugged good looks and the ability to hold my liquor – memory for names, dates and places was not one of them! I’m sure that Grandpa Bill will be able to share many details of what we learned today, but I’ll just share a few highlights. Costa Rica is a pretty remarkable country. They don’t have a military. The vast majority of the country has access to water, electricity, phone and internet services. They have compulsory education through the 9th grade. Their infant mortality rate is below 4 per 1000 births! According to our guide, the country is 20% upper class, 60% middle class, 10% lower class and 10% poor, although I’m not sure how those categories are defined. This is all compared to Nicaragua which is closer to 70% poor and 30% wealthy. Our first stop in Nicaragua was at beautiful Lake Nicaragua. The lake is humongous! It is large enough that it has high and low tides and at one time was home to a type of shark. We passed this lake throughout the day and each time I thought it must be the ocean because of how massive and distinct it looked from each location. We stopped in a town and did a little shopping before heading to see the Volcano Masaya. Entering the park we passed a sign informing us in Spanish that if the Volcano were to erupt, they were not responsible for any damage we suffered. We were also given helmets before exiting the car, but luckily this activity seemed much less dangerous than our helmeted activities from Wednesday. Brad really enjoyed exploring the edge of the volcano and we all attempted to take great pictures each time the steam cleared. Next we headed down for lunch in the beautiful and historic town for Granada. I was greeted upon arrival by a bird dropping his blessings on me from the sky. Lunch conversation oscillated between Brad’s passions (earthquakes) and Jen’s passions (railing against capitalism). At the end of lunch, each gentleman at the table was given a card with information on how to rate the restaurant on Trip Advisor and “like” them on facebook. Being the feminist of the group, I think my face showed my obvious displeasure with being deemed unworthy to review the establishment. Luckily Grandpa Bill slipped me the card he had received so I can voice my indignation! We continued with a driving tour of Grenada making stops at a church, a railroad station, the town’s first hospital, and finally a park where we could do some more browsing. While in the park, most of us were approached by young children asking for money and some in the group were very touched by this reminder of the privileged life we lead. I’m unsure the degree to which we may have encountered the same if we had toured a town in Costa Rica. Our guide gave us such a favorable impression of CR and made it seem that Nicaragua is much worse off in nearly every measure. I got the impression that while many in CR live modestly, it is not nearly to the same degree of poverty that we are used to seeing in Latin America. I’m curious to know what this country is like away from the resorts. After the park we started our 4 hour journey back to the hotel. Gustavo continued to share the history of Costa Rica since the 14th century! Unfortunately, the day caught up to us and several people fell asleep in the van. We stopped again for customs where once again it was raining. I’ve been led to the assumption that it simply always rains at the Costa Rica-Nicaragua border. We had a few snacks in the van and perked up immensely enjoying great conversation and catching up until we reached the hotel. It was a long day but a wonderful opportunity to learn about two distinct and fascinating countries. Everything we saw was beautiful and everyone had a great time! I should also mention that we learned that today is Mother’s Day in Costa Rica! So, Happy Mother’s Day to each of our moms and to Dottie! We wish you could be here with us! Jen