Leaving Puntarenas - ¡Hola, San Ramon! (7/1/10)

Whew!...(even more to catch up on...!). So, continuing chronologically, the day I left the 'all-inclusive' hotel in Puntarenas, the first of July 2010, we had some time in the morning, after saying goodbye to the sweet, happy newlyweds and everyone else we had met.








We took some pictures of lizards, said goodbye to the bouquet I caught, finished up some things around the hotel...and finally had the chance to go and see the monkeys up the road (I'd been wanting to do that ever since I heard about it the first day!).









Now, I know that it may not be the smartest conservation strategy, and I accept that I may have participated in a kind of tourism that is not ideal... but still, speaking for myself personally, it was pretty cool to be driven to this private land, where you pay a few colones to the people who live there, and the taxi driver calls out 'Monkey Man!' - and (relatively) wild monkeys come out of the trees and take banana bits out of your hands, in their monkey-like way. (And off your head, and your shoulder...we found out :-).

I'm going to try to upload a video or two, but in the meantime, here are some photos to give you an idea. Terribly cute. 'Mono cara blanca' (white-faced monkey) is the Spanish name for them. In short, it felt a lot more fun and even authentic an experience for the last day there than sitting by the pool would have been. Our taxi driver/ guide for the

experience, Alberto, seemed genuinely impressed by our antics (and enthusiasm) with the monkeys, although I'm sure he's done it many, many times.

After that, we got our stuff together and met up with the driver, I (being the sap that I am, and knowing it was goodbye to my friend and the time there getting to know everyone better - that I was striking out on my own and the rest was a bit less certain!) got a little teary, and then we were off: me to San Ramón to continue my adventures, and Ann to the airport to fly home.

As fun as that had all been... I was craving a more authentic experience in Costa Rica. I knew that what we had experienced at the hotel was a bit sheltered, a bit more touristy than everyday life for most people in the country. I was looking forward to practicing more Spanish, and really feeling more immersed in the culture.

As San Ramón was on the way to the airport, I got dropped off first. I said goodbye, got my stuff settled a little bit in my hotel room, and was able to call my contact there and let him know that I had arrived, as per our arrangements. The Katy-on-her-own-in-Costa-Rica adventure was about to begin...!

I had been in email contact with (Dr.) Miguel Karian, who runs an experiential, interdisciplinary study abroad program focused on teaching 'sustainable global leadership' (Earth Education International), and who has been active in the developing interest group promoting sustainable practices in the profession of international education. It sounded, from what I had learned, like the kind of program that I wanted to learn more about, and help to promote - and I was very interested in talking to him about his perspective on what's happening in sustainability within the field of study abroad (yes, here you can say to yourself - 'Katy, you are such a nerd!' ...and I cannot argue :-).

I met up with him for dinner that night, and it was fun to put a face and real person with the emails. As it happens, there was a good project that I was able to help him with, we are fellow leapers of faith toward what we are passionate about - and he was an excellent guide and resource. My time in San Ramón was well spent! More on that next...