The third leg of our tropical journey began at the Cloud Forest in Monteverde. Just from stepping out of the bus, I could tell that we were not in Kansas anymore (a.k.a. the lowland rainforest). The cool breeze swept me away, and I was actually chilly for the first time on this trip. We had been told that the climate was much cooler up in the mountains, and I don’t know why I doubted either of our professors, but they were correct. I gladly welcomed the refreshing, misty breezes of the clouds, and soon became accustomed to them. But by the time we left for the airport and stopped at a rest stop on the way, I quickly remembered the humidity that we had been missing out on the past week and caught myself reminiscing about La Selva.
Wicked Cool Video of Tarantula at Monteverde
Over the past three weeks, I’ve realized I have come a long way with my comfort around sweat, snakes, spiders, and all sorts of creepy crawlies climbing all over me. I am a very particular person (for better or worse), and textures are usually a big issue for me. A big reason I wanted to come on this trip was to force myself out of my comfort zone, in more ways than one. The first and obvious one is the heat and humidity of the lowland rainforest at the beginning of the trip. I had mentally prepared to be uncomfortable, and I thanked myself for doing that ahead of time. I eventually grew used to it, but it didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t all that bad as I had made it out to be. Acclimating to the environment turned out to be more of a mental battle for me. Reminding myself that the lack of AC and other amenities I am used to at home was really for the better of the environment really helped me get over this obstacle.
The second hurdle I jumped was the critters I had feared since childhood. So, throughout the trip, I took our hikes in the forest as an opportunity for exposure therapy to the creepy crawlies I mentioned above. The first week, I surprised myself when I took one for the team and got the cockroach out of my cabin at La Selva. And by the end of the trip, I was casually brushing the cockroaches off my leg. (My parents did not believe me when I told them this.) During the second week, I caught myself admiring the big shiny fangs on the tarantula that was crawling outside of the gift shop one afternoon. I also learned to admire the deadly gorgeous snakes I was previously so afraid of. Boy, have I been missing out on these magnificent creatures. Going forward, I will never underestimate their beauty and wonder again.
Another “sensory” challenge I experienced was the language barrier between my host family and me. I took Spanish for about 5 years before I came to IU, so you’d think “oh, she must be pretty good”. Wrong. I had a bad teacher and an overall bad experience learning the language when I was younger. In addition to that, I am more of a visual learner, and I find listening to and speaking a language the hardest part. With that said, I tried my best to brush up on a few phrases and vocab words before coming to Costa Rica and prayed for the best. For our homestays, I got grouped with Ally, Fatima, and Kamryn. Ally, by far, had the most Spanish knowledge and, for better or worse, became our translator. (Big shoutout to Ally. I appreciate you, girl.) To say I was nervous for this part of the trip would be an understatement.
I first want to say how incredibly grateful and appreciative I am to my host family. They greeted us all with open arms and were extremely patient with our needs and our butchered Spanish. They were extremely generous, and I often found myself wishing that I could do more to help out around their home. Reflecting on the trip thus far, everyone I met in Costa Rica was incredibly warm, and I can’t think of a single negative or unkind experience I had. My host family was the perfect example of this hospitality and thoughtfulness. The first night we got there, I tried explaining to our host mom that I (unfortunately) have a gluten sensitivity. Google Translate wasn’t seeming to help me much, and I ended up feeling like I caused more confusion than if I had said nothing at all. However, the next night for dinner, we had spaghetti, and it turned out our host mom had gone out to buy gluten-free pasta just for me. I was overwhelmed and wished I knew how to say more than “muchas gracias” at that moment. It was these small acts of kindness that made all the difference in my experience. I also learned that it isn’t only the words we say, but our effort and how we say it. From trying to explain a card game in Spanish to explaining a funny phrase in English to our host family, it was the laughter and smiles that really brought us together.
I was also very touched by my host family’s way of living. As a class, we had been learning about our ecological footprint and the large-scale changes we need to make as a society to contain the Earth within its planetary boundaries, but we hadn’t gotten to observe much of someone’s personal life and their sustainable practices in action. Living with our family for a few short days really opened my eyes that sustainable living doesn’t need to be big and flashy, or “sexy” as the owner of the last hotel put it. Nobody needs all of these new gadgets or something complicated to reduce your impact on the environment. It’s actually quite the opposite. The greenwashing I was used to at home warped my perception of what is most effective. We each really do only need one of each, and reuse and repair what we have until we need to repurpose it. I will be taking this into consideration the next time I want to conveniently toss my food scraps in the trash, or think I really need to have the water running the whole time I brush my teeth, or really need a new method to brew coffee.
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