Crabs and the girl who wears no clothes - 4/26/09

This morning our cabin came under attack from many many crabs. Once a year they make a mass migration from the jungles and mountains all the way down to the ocean to lay their eggs. They came in droves by the hundreds. Most are quite large and very blue. Under my bed there happens to be a hole in the wall, connected to the bodega, which happens to be just large enough for the crabs to crawl through. At around 6 am, 3 crabs made their way through the hole and as they walked across the tile thier loud shuffling noises woke me up out of a dead, benedryl-induced sleep. At first I was only nervous, but then they climbed up my pack which was vulnerably laid open. I thought they might climb onto my bed while i was stuck in my mosquito net and I freaked out and went running out of the cabin screaming in my underwear. Eventually Roel and Vanessa came to the rescue and slapshot them out of the cabin with brooms. Finally i settled back into bed and right after the paranoia subsided and I was about to fall asleep I heard shuffle shuffle. More crabs! We repeated the process and blocked up the hole under my bed. Oh the drama. Also, new people arrived today. One girl in particular seems to be a bit out of place. She came attired in giant plastic playboy earings, a mini shirt that did not cover the bottom of her bra, and a skirt that did not cover her bum. I´m not exactly sure what she was thinking when she packed her bag, but the guides certainly enjoy it.

The guides need some guidance - 4/22/09

The rains have started and apparantly I have no reason to believe they will be ending soon. It adds an interesting dynamic to the walks, especially when the waves start crashing above my waist while walking with 100 turtle eggs. All you can do is laugh because it really is ridiculous. The other night a few of us girls went to the guide Culebra´s house for lunch. It was really good, especially considering the alternative was barf smelling/tasting soup at the camp. However, most of us are quite sure his alternative intentions were to spend more time with Kira, one of the volunteers, to whom he has confessed his undying love. Call me a skeptic, but I´m not sure it´s true love. I´m pretty sure Kira feels the same way. I had a similar problem with one of the guides named Hernan whose favorite activities include smoking marijuana and hitting on the female volunteers. This isn´t an observation; he will tell you himself. I had to tell him, during our second conversation, one day after we had met, that we were only going to be friends. He then mumbled something about me not knowing spanish, told me not to tell anyone about the conversation, and promptly left. I´m pretty sure he then told the entire island that I was a lesbian which is why I would not accept his advances; which, quite frankly, is fine by me.

Best day ever - 4/16/09

A few days ago we had an amazing beach day. Right in front of the camp there was an normous snadbar that went out really far. We stayed out there all day. Vanessa came running out into the water towards us but before the snad bar there was a large dip in the floor. Just as Morgan and I yelled to her ¨watch out for the...¨Vanessa fell face forward in a complete state of shock and utter confusion. I´ve never laughed so hard. We´ve been working on building a new part of the hatchery because the nests are coming in so fast we are running out of room. This consists of digging a pit of about 3-4 feet deep and then refilling the pit with sand that is closer to the water because that sand has been cleaned by the sea water. It´s about zero amounts of fun carrying sandbags back and forth in the blazing sun, especially when your back in sun burnt. HOWEVER, we finished that today which is amazing because I seriously don´t think I could carry another sandbag if I tried. My sandfly bites have reached an all time awful point. I look like a I have the bubonic plague and new volunteers look at our legs in terror wondering, ¨will that happen to me?¨ Yes, yes it will. I´m so itchy I´ve been waking up my cabin mates with late night scratching fits. But I´m not the only one; pretty much everyone´s legs look vile and nothing heals because of the humidity, so I don´t feel like a complete weirdo.

If I ate a turtle egg - 4/9/09

Yesterday we were talking about eating eggs and someone made a joke about eating turtle eggs (big no-no) and how well that would go over with la Tortuga Feliz. This led to a comment that we would turn into turtles which soon brought us to a conversation about impressions of turtles when they are laying their eggs. When turtles are preparing their nests they have to furiously flap their flippers to find the perfect spot. During this process they are making these groaning/huffing sounds followed by enormous sighs. I know I should probably be amazed by the whole egg laying process but I generally find myself bursting our laughing because these noises just shouldn't be coming out of gentle turtles. Anyways, the turtle impressions left me doubled over laughing. This week is Semana Santa and during this week the families and friends of the people who live on the island (mostly poachers) come out in full force. During the walks the poachers and their entire families are everywhere, making it nearly impossible to collect nests and kind of ruins the calm atmosphere of the walks. It's also really uncomfortable watching a turtle be accosted by 10 people at a time. The problem is, there is a law of nonconfrontation between volunteers and poachers to avoid violence or problems so when we see a poached turtle we look the other way and vice versa. Even though poaching is illegal (punishable up to 2 years in jail) nothing ever happens. It's both good and bad.

Funny and fun - 4/8/09

Last night my friends Brett, Vanessa, and I sat around sharing stories and I don't think I could have laughed more; it felt good like I finally found a group of people that will understand me like my friends at home. The volunteer coordinator, Daniela (very German) fueled the laughter by swearing up a storm about falling on the kitchen step-up which has boards that are too far apart. Later a full out dance party commenced in the kitchen with an abundance of candy, techno at a medium volume (crappy speakers), flashing head lamps, and of course stellar dance moves. You get creative when there's not much else to do.

She has arrived - 4/5/09

So the turtle project is on a nearly deserted island, on the caribbean coast of Costa Rica. To get there I first drove through a banana plantation and then got on a boat to cruise through a river surrounded by intense plants. Just on the boat ride in we saw howler monkeys and caiman; very cool! The project itself is pretty cool and has an interesting dynamic. The problem of egg poaching has existed for years; the eggs have been collected by the Ticos (Costa Ricans) for years and are apparently not only really delicious but also an aphrodisiac. They can be sold on the black market for about a dollar an egg which doesn't seem like a lot but in each nest there is anywhere from 60 to 100+ eggs so they can make some money off of it. The way the project works is volunteers go out with guides who are ex-poachers but trained to collect the eggs properly and spot turtles. Some of them have been poaching for their entire lives but the consistent work is a real incentive, and some feel the moral responsibility, but mostly it's just the money. So between 8 pm and 12 am a shift goes out every hour for four hours walking up and down the beach looking for turtles. When a turtle is spotted you go over and watch it until it lays eggs and then you collect the eggs which are brought back to a hatchery, or vivero, where they are reburied and then guarded day and night to ensure no poachers or dogs or crabs or ants get to the babies before they hatch. On my first walk on the beach we found a turtle; it was enormous (160 cm shell). It was shocking; I had no idea turtles could actually get so big and I actually was at a loss for words when I got up close. My guide, CJ who was sixteen and had been poaching since he was 9 before he was working at the project, was so great and explained everything really well. He also told me that "los juevos son muy ricos" with a big smirk. The walks are a little weird because you can't use a flashlight and it is pitch black out with the exception of the stars and the moon; the light confuses the turtles and makes them think they are seeing the waves on the land and they won't come out of the sea. At the end my legs and knees were killing me; not so used to walking on sand for four hours. Because the shifts are sometimes super late at night, or rather early in the morning, the sleeping schedule is nuts and requires many naps in the hammocks. The food is petty terrible consisting of gallo pinto or bread in the morning, barf soup for lunch, and either rice or pasta for dinner - lack of protein and an overabundance of carbs, awesome. The people are all really great and I'm actually leaving the same day as two girls, Vanessa and Morgan, and we may travel together afterward which will be nice. Thus far, I couldn't be happier with my decision to come here!

I'm Alive

Hello all. just updating before I take off to the turtle island and lose all communication for a month. i made it to costa rica via an insanely turbulent plane ride. zero fun. and a child kicking the back of my seat for about three hours. but finally made it to the warm and wonderful weather. I took a crazy cab ride to the hostel and I've just been hanging out, enjoying the sun, and hammocks.
Mom and Dad stop worrying I am both happy and excited and well fed.
I will write again and put up some pictures after I get to another hostel.
Hope everyone's well! Love you!