november 13

Almost pay day again! This mornign we got up at 6am and read for an hour before starting the day. We had a great egg breakfast with a little leftover rice and beans, and our favorite staple: Grant’s fresh baked bread. In the morning we worked together to plant the 6 vines that were scattered throughout the greenhouses, then we did 1.5 tours each (we split the one in the middle). My group was a couple from England, and Grant’s was a strange lady who spoke no English or Spanish from Switzerland. We shared a german couple. At 11am Grant went back to Glenn’s to work on the router and I took some vines down then went to lunch at 11:30 by myself, and then up to the reception at 12:30 to relieve Erika. Grant worked with Glenn a bit more after lunch, but they still haven’t figured out the router so no internet for us still. Apparently Glenn is frustrated with the problem (I don’t blame him) and he keeps cursing. He’s not mad at Grant, but Grant says he has to keep convincing him to do steps even though Grant is confidant in what he’s saying. And, Glenn wont let Grant touch his computer, so Grant has to keep dictating the next keystroke and mouse click. It’s obvious (particularly based on the two nail files kept on Glenn’s desk) that Glenn is meticulous about his things. Grant went back to the gardens for a few minutes, and then the day was over before we knew it. At home I fixed a hole in our drawstring work back, Grant did laundry, and we had dinner. He’s going to play soccer with the guy at 7pm also, and I’m going to read.

november 12

Grant got up at 6am to do yoga while I read. Tomorrow we’re planning to go on a walk, but for today I didn’t feel like it. We had oatmeal for breakfast which is my favorite thing here (it’s cheaper than cereal too). I spent the morning working on the plants behind #6 again, which I really took my time doing because I didn’t know what to do after that, and Grant didn’t have a radio and was no where near me so I couldn’t ask anyone. I got them all organized before lunch but I had to really work to make it take that long. The hummingbirds kept coming through the area also, which made the work really relaxing. We had cucumber sandwiches for lunch and as soon as I got back I did a tour. Apparently they got backed up half way through my lunch, and Bismarc was managing three at the same time. When I was finished, I went back to organizing my plants, but I couldn’t finish the job because I couldn’t find the fertilizer in the Bodega, so I made myself busy raking. Glenn came by with Goldie and told me to take the sornia that Ana and Delvin use the day before and plant it in bags with compost because we have a shortage, since two of the larva use it as a food source and they only eat the fresh leaves. That’s my new daily morning job, I guess. I just can’t get away from Sornia. I finished out the day with a tour for a couple from Delaware, which were nice but smelled strongly of cigarettes. At home I finished washing (by hand) the sheets that we had left sitting in a bucket for far too long, and I made a killer dinner with Grant’s help (rice and beans on fried tortillas with pico de gallo, california mexican style). We accompanied dinner with a glass of coke that we bought yesterday. We don’t normally drink soda but we wanted to 2L bottle for milk. We walked up to Cabinitas to see if there was any live music since it’s Saturday night, but we didn’t have any luck so we opted to read and save the milk shake for another day.

november 11

Last night all the junk food Grant ate caught up with him and he threw up a whole bunch. Luckily it all made it into the bucket I brought him. He felt better afterwards though. Breakfast was potatoes that we’re beginning to get a bit strange with eggs. We missed ketchup – we must have forgotten to put it in the cart at the store yesterday. I spent the morning watering garden 5 really well, theni worked on pruning the plants behind #6. I also did 2 tours in the morning but none in the afternoon. I actually enjoyed pringing the plants in the afternoon. The area was shadded and the most perfect breeze came through the passage between the greenhouses. While I worked at the Conservatory, Grant was trying to help Glenn get the new wireless router set up at his house. Half way through the process it got all messed up, so now we have no internet. Again. They’ll have to work on it tomorrow, so no internet tonight. On the way home, Grant wrote our initials in the wet cement in the front of the house. We’re eternalized here forever.

november 10

When I woke up last night to use the bathroom, there was a bat in the shower! I left the light on and went to grab Grant, but he must have found his way outside because he was gone when Grant went intot he bathroom.
Since Glenn has to go to San Carlos today we’re taking a half day of work so that he can drop us off in La Fortuna for the afternoon, then pick us up on his way back home. In the morning I cleaned these little plastic parts (turns out they were part of sprinklers) for about 2 hours. I didn’t think they were dirty but it was easy so I just kept scrubbing them until my hands were raw from the water and bleach. When I was finished Leche told me to water gardens 7 and 5. I got through #7 without getting soaked by the leaky hose but I only did a corner of #5 before Kendra called me to do a tour with three Frenchmen. They were an interesting group, very quick because they didn’t take any pictures (that’s rare). I had to rush off at the end though because I had to relieve Kendra in the reception so she could take a lunch before I left for the day. Grant spent the morning changing the tire on Glenn’s car then washing and vacuuming it. It was a little strange work for a volunteer, but easy enough and Glenn let him go to lunch early. I forgot to give him thekey though, so he couldn’t get into our room. He busied himself getting lunch together and making doughnut holes out of the dough that didn’t rise until I got back from the Conservatory. I had about 20 minutes to pack my backpack and change and grab a bite to eat, then Glenn picked us up in front of our house. We both agreed that having a half day is a rip off for us. We work 7hours a day sinc we get 1 hour for lunch. With a half day of work we get off at 12:30, our normal lunch hour, but that means we’re only getting out of 2.5 hours of work instead of 3.5 hours. Plus, without a car it’s not like we can really do anythgin with that half day of. We’d much rather combine two weeks of half days into one whole day, although it’s working out for this one time.
On the way to La Fortuna Glenn told us to check out Grenada in Nicaragua which I think would be great. He also said it would be okay to take those 15 days off in January. If all three volunteers end up coming here that he’s expecting that will mean there are 8 people living in this house. There’s already barely enough clothes line and food storage space (shelves and refridgerator included). It’ll get interesting. When Glenn dropped us off we went to the little houseware store so Grant could get a pan that will double as a top for out skillet, and a ceramic bowl. Then we went to an art store so that Grant could use the bathroom before we sat in the park and ate lunch. We picked more peppers in the park too while we were there, and we got adopted momentarily by an adorable but smelly dog who refused the bit of our lunch that we offered him. He seemed content to sit literally in the bush by the bench we were sitting on then follow us until we got to the edge of the park. We visited both bakeries of course, and got 3 pastries each plus one loaf of sweetbread each. I ate my cookie and cinnamon roll but I saved my piece of pineapple pie, while Grant ate all of his stuff. We checked out a few tourist shops but we didn’t get anything. Out last stop was the grocery store where we bought a TON of food. We’re going to try and make it all last for at least 3-4 weeks, since it’s a hassle to have to use our days off to go to La Fortuna to get food when we don’t get that many days off anyways. We hauled our huge bags to the Burger King down the road at the edge of town and got a large coke (which Grant drank most of very quickly) and what they claimed to be a large fries but was neither cheap nor large (it was about the size of a small in the US). Glenn picked us up and took us home, and we put away our stuff and went to bed.

november 9

Today we had the day off (!). we woke up a little after 7am and Grant went to buy bananas while I made toast and eggs. Albert’s bananas were a little on the ripe side (too much, really) so Grant got a deal on them. We froze half for future banana breads. The other half were made into a delicious smoothie (sans blender – grant just pounded them in a cup for a while). Then we packed a lunch and headed out to the Arenal Observatory Lodge, which was fabulous. We tried hitch hiking but didn’t get picked up until just before the gates. Still, the ride saved us from a steep hike up to the reception area. We crammed ourselves into the backseat of a car already pretty full of three Swiss guys and an Israel girl who were camping in the area. We tried to horseback ride, but the horses weren’t working today because the guides were busy spraying the weeds on the side of the main road. So instead we took the Old Lava Trail, which says closed on the map but the guy at the reception desk said was open. After leaving the deck in front of the hotel restaurant (which has SPECTACULAR views of both the lake and volcano) the trail quickly became terribly steep and pretty unkept. There weren’t any branches in the way or anything, but the stairs that were worked into the steep trail were basically washing away. At the river the trail seemed to end, which confused us since the map indicated that the trail continued on the other side of the water. We took off our shoes and wandered across, and Grant scouted the other side for a bit. We took a barely used access trail for a few meters, then came across an obviously used trail. We headed up, where it quickly steepened and more stairs jutted out of the steep path. It wasn’t a far distance, but the sheer altitude gain was pretty incredible. It was very much worth the hike. The end of the trail was marked by a lack of paths and a small tent like structure made out of black tarp and tree branches. There were benches inside (more tree branches) and you had a perfectly unobstructed view of the volcano, as close as you can safely (and legally) get, as well as the 1968 lava flow, where vegetation is slowly growing back. It was tranquil, awe-inspiring, to be at the literal base of this explosive mountain. We sat and enjoyed the view for about 45 minutes, until a couple from Argentina came through. We left them to enjoy the volcano in peace. Back at the lodge we had lunch on the deck, looking out at the lake and volcano. The clouds moved so gracefully across the landscape. We’ve really lucked out so far with out days off: they have all been pretty great weather. We walked around the hotel a little before we left, and were quite impressed by the pool and the view from the observation deck. The little museum was cute also, with it’s seismograph and newspaper articles. On our way down the driveway to the main gate we saw an interesting animal, similar to a raccoon but not exactly the same. I don’t know what it’s called though, I couldn’t find it in the wild life guides. At the main gate a guy from Spain picked us up, since he was heading to El Castillo next to go to the Conservatory. He spoke all in Spanish, and I’m pleased to report that I understood just about all that he was saying. The Spanish accent (from Spain) is interesting. They have a sort of lisp that I don’t particuclarly care for. The costa rican accent is a little different from what I’m used to as well: it has more of a “Jah” sound instend of the “Yah” sound wherever there is a double L. Personally, I still prefer the sound of Mexican Spanish overall. When we got back to the house we had a little time before the group meeting at the Conservatory so we did some laundry before heading up. As it turned out, we didn’t have to go to the meeting since it was our day off (another one for the growing list of instances where Kendra has assumed some responsibility when she’s not totally sure it’s the thing our superiors want, something that neither of us mind now that we recognize it). Since we were already there though, we stayed for the meeting which was conducted wholy in Glenn’s bad Spanish. He is fluent, but his accent is so America, so Texan, that it’s a bit hard to understand. Kendra says she’s pretty sure he makes up worde too. After the meeting everyone scrambled to mark the days off of work that they want, and we arranged the days for our Nicaragua trip to renew our visas. We walked slowly down the hill with Glenn and Ana, and we brought up taking 15 days off when my family comes. Basically, it wont be a problem, and if it is we’ll just do as Grant suggested and not come back here after my family leaves. Since they’re getting another volunteer in January and another in mid-February, it shouldn’t be a problem though. I’m pretty sure my plane leaves February 22, so we’re thinking of finishing here February 15th or a few days before, then traveling to the Carribean side before we leave for home. We also found out while walking home with Glenn that aside from running the Conservatory he also does stock market stuff, investments in currencies and things like that. He said that’s how he makes money, since all he does is spend money when he’s in Costa Rica, mostly on the Conservatory I’m guessing.
After the meeting I made dinner and we both made the squash pie (in the form of a pumpkin pie) that turned out pretty incredible.

november 8

This morning Grant baked the bread he started last night (the Traditional White Bread from the volunteer notebook). Since it’s a big loaf, it should have probably stayed in the oven for a bit longer but it still turned out really good, slightly doughy. While he did that I made the pie crust for the pumpkin pie that we’re going to bake tonight. In the morning at work Grant and I finished with as many of the vines as possible. We planted the last 4 that we had dug a trench for yesterday, then dug a trench for the next 50 vines we have to plant in the next few days. Grant dug one side while I dug the other side. It was really hard! I would never want to do manual labor for the rest of my life. It’s really exhausting. We kept digging up tarantulas too, which made the job that much harder for me. I wanted to take a picture of them, but I don’t have my camera on me. I think I need to start carrying it with me at work, since there’s usually something interesting going on, it’s just an awkward thing to put in my pocket with my radio, and I really don’t want to loose it. I brought it today though because I wanted to take another picture of the mating red eyed tree frogs, but they weren’t mating today. The masked tree frogs were though! It was pretty cool to see. I spent an hour in the reception as well, while Erika took her lunch. I feel a little weird about the work set up here. Ana works in the lab, which makes sense since she owns the place, at least in a sense, because of her marriage to Glenn. Erika was hired to work in the reception and she’s here part time because she has two daughters. Kendra is in the reception 90% of her time at work. Now that Ana’s back, she isn’t in the lab as much (it’s just Ana and Delvin) so in the morning Kendra has been helping Delvin with caterpillar stuff in the gardens or little projects. I guess it’s because she’s been here longer than us, and she has also committed a lot more time to the Conservatory, but her work is a lot less physically demanding and much more geared towards becoming a butterfly expert, to a certain extent. This makes sense, she teaching her everything is an investment in time and resources. But, I’d much rather do some of that work. I feel like a gardener almost all the time, which I don’t particularly enjoy although it isn’t terrible. The guys seem not to know what to do with me some of the time, I don’t think they’re used to having a girl in the gardens working and so giving me orders is strange for them, not to mention my level of understanding is still low. That may change though – Ana mentioned wanted to do English classes with me (she and Erika have studied together in the past) but Erika can’t do it tonight. Ana is going to ask Bismarc if he wants to study tonight. I’m tired today since it’s our 6th day straight of working, but I don’t feel like I can say no. Especially since it will help me a lot too, to get help with my pronounciation and vocabulary. I need to sit down and get back into doing a chapter in my book a day. That’s my new goal, since I have lately only been doing it when I know I have the afternoon to sit in the recetipn. So, ever other day I’ll do a lesson. (Grant mentioned last ngiht that he’s interested in going back and reading about my perspective on our trip, but I’ve been so analytical when I recount our days so far. I’m going to try and put my thoughts in here also).
In the afternoon I planted 1 Heliconia with Grant before I got called away for a tour. As soon as the group made it into the first garden, the Howler monkeys that we’ve been hearing off and on passed right over the gardens! They spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the trees central to the conservatory. Luckily I had my camera on me and the group I was with when the monkeys arrived came back to the paths with me to watch them. I got some great videos and pictures while they were hanging out in the trees. I don’t know if it’s in appropriate to use my camera while I’m with a group, but I don’t really care – these things are amazing to me too. We had to stop looking when the couple’s son got bored of the monkeys and wanted to go into the gardens. As soon as I finished the tour I got called for another one. This couple was a little strange. The man spoke decent English but his wife did not. He was terribly awkward: sandals with dress socks kind of thing. He videotaped everything while his wife took a million pictures of everything she could find. She was wearing a black T shirt with no bra – and the t shirt was see-through, and she was not a small woman. It was a bit intense. Those tours took me until the end of the day. After work grant and I headed up to Glenn’s house and worked with Ana on English and Spanish. It was good practice, though a little scattered. It was nice to spend time with her also, she’s really sweet. Her artwork is beautiful as well, paintings and pcitures with artfully arranged wings from butterflies found dead but intact in the gardens.

november 7

This morning we finished off the last of the oatmeal. When we got to work we went to look at the frogs like usual. We have to find them every morning, since most are nocturnal and so they change sleeping spots every morning. The tank with the male and female red eyed tree frogs had a surprise – the two adults are mating! The male is clinging to the females back (called amplexus) and they were fast asleep. I brought my camera after lunch to take a few pictures of them. I spent most of the morning watering greenhouses 8 and 5, and by the time I was done I was soaked. I literally watered every square inch in order to increase the humidity inside, and the hoses both had leaks in them that kept soaking my lower half. Thank goodness for quick dry pants from North Face. It felt silly to water the greenhouses since it was pouring rain most of the time right outside. I gave 2 tours in the morning also, and after lunch I helped Grant plant vines around the greenhouses. Some of them are passion flower, which is my new favorite thing. They have the most delicate structure but the most wonderful part if the sweet smell they have. I wish i could capture it, it’s so beautiful. I cant wait to have more of the vines around. After work we did some laundry and we researched pumpkin pie recipes. We’re going to use the other half of the squash we bought last week to make a pie, probably tomorrow.

november 6

This morning Grant and I helped Jose plant trees along the river walk, but I got called to give a tour almost immediately. (I planted 2 though – only 90 more to go until I reach my goal of planting 100 trees). The gorup I gave the tour to was awesome. They were from Maine and they were very interested in everything I had to say. I rejoined Grant and Jose as they started to plant vines near the Gazebo, but I got called away AGAIN for another tour with some grandparents and their baby grandchildren. It wasn’t much of a tour – the kids were WAY too young to enjoy anything, thus the grandparents didn’t enjoy much either. Afterwards I took over the reception for Kendra’s lunch, where I messed up my conversion between colones and dollars when I gave a French couple their change. We were short 7000 colones, or $14, at the end of the day  after lunch grant did 2 tours at the same time while I helped Jose plant more vines. It was really difficult because the location was on a hillside. It’s hard enough to plant plants since you have to bend over a lot, but add a steep hillside with loose dirt and a huge bucket of compost balanced between your knees as you lean over the hole in the ground and it’s a workout. After work I skyped my parents (!!!!!!!) and had dinner and crashed, exhausted.

november 5

This morning everyone worked to prepare the Conservatory for the huge group of 30 people who were coming at midday. Grant and I raked literally all of the paths, and by the time we were finished my neck and back were aching from moving the rake back and forth and then caring bags of compost to the piles. Grant was going to help with the large tour, but it turned out they all spoke French only, so we left them to Glenn and the translator. After work grant and I went to Cabinitas because Danielle from the art place told us they have live music at 7pm on Saturdays. This week there isn’t anyone playing though, so we just had a milk shake each at the bar (grant’s banana one was better than my pineapple one, I think). Milk shakes are a much better deal than anything with alcohol. Afterwards, we went home and read.

november 4

This morning Grant got up early and baked the 2 loaves of bread he made the night before. He used more flour than the recipe called for, so the loaves ended up huge. They made 4 small loaves instead of just two. It was great having fresh warm bread for breakfast. In the morning at work we continued with the vines that we started yesterday. We each did a tour in the morning before lunch also. After lunch we finished the last of the vines in garden 5, and I gave 2 tours. One was to a group of 5 high school girls from Germany who were here in Costa Rica to learn spanish. The other group was to a very boring family from north virginia (the woman was afraid of the butterflies and the daughter was so annoyed by the mosquitos that she wanted to be held the entire time). Grant gave a really long tour to two women from Puerto Rico, all in spanish. The ladies were more than happy to let him try and do the tour in spanish, and they helped them along the way with words he didn’t know. After work we baked the last 2 loaves, bought veggies from the veggie man in the truck (we also made a graph with prices of the produce so that we can track them from week to week. Of the things we bought both this week and last week, the prices were cheaper. But grant said the things we didn’t buy had gone up in price. It’s actually cheaper to buy potatoes and onions in La Fortuna than it is to buy them from the truck. It’s just less convenient). Next time I want us to buy things from the truck after everyone else does, to see what the prices are and because we take forever looking at everything and talking about prices and amounts with the guys. While Grant talked with the veggie man Glenn drove up and dropped off things he bought for the others from La Fortuna. He also had a new dog in the back of his car! He’s a younger male golden retriever, and he’s beautiful. Apparently there is an animal shelter in La Fortuna, which I better not go to…

november 3

This morning we had oatmeal with raisins, papaya and guava and apple, and a piece of banana bread. It was more than we needed, but so delicious. First paycheck today! We made $42.50 each. We feel rich. I spent most of my morning filling bags with dirt for planting cuttings. Not super fun, but its easy and relaxing and I could sit and think about grad school choices. While I was in there I talked with Leche a little also, in Spanish. He understood what I was saying, which was a miracle. It’s a nice confidance boost when I can get an idea across to someone. It helps that Leche is really good about talking slowly, and he enunciates his words well, unlike most people. I’ve noticed that in myself since being here, and I’ve slowed down my speech significantly. I couldn’t describe what my dad does to Leche though – that’s hard enough to explain in english, but with my limited vocab it’s harder in spanish. I also gave a tour for a couple from North Carolina. They were very nice, and they left a tip in the jar when they left. Apparently if a person offers you a tip directly you can take it, but oh well. I tookover for Kendra when she went to lunch, and immediately a couple from Germany came in. I showed them around the insect museum, gave them a run down of the history of the area, and took them down to the lab where Ana was working (Glenn’s wife, she’s from Costa Rica). At first I was nervous since she knows everything about all the butterflies, but it turns out she speaks next to no English, and she was very good about pointing out the names of each larva cage, opening up interesting cages for the tourists to see, etc. after I sent the couple down to the gardins I talked with her for a few minutes. I only understood about 40% of what she said, and I couldn’t really reply, but it was still nice. I explained to her that I was trying to learn Spanish, and she told me a lot about butterflies that I only marginally grasped. She mentioned something about her and Erika learning spanish. I’m not sure if it meant that I should teach them or not.
Lunch was leftover soup. In the afternoon I filled more bags with dirt until about 3pm, then I helped Grant plant vines in garden 5. after work Grant gardened at home while I went to use the internet at Glenn’s. I hate going up there to use it because it makes me feel intrusive. Plus, it gets dark on the patio by the bungalow, where I sit next to the outlet. I don’t know a lot about Glenn, or about funding for the Conservatory. A local started the project, but ran out of funding so he convinced Glenn and two other Americans to invest in the project. A few years into it, Glenn found out the local guy was pilfering money for his own project, which later became the serpentarium. Glenn fired the guy and took over managing the Conservatory as well as funding it somehow. He’s a libra, he speaks very american spanish (meaning is accent is terrible. While it’s easy enough for me to understand, the guys say its difficult for them). But, I don’t know much else about him. I’ll add more details when I find them out.
When I got back from using the internet Grant was making bread, but it didn’t rise a whole lot in 30 minutes, like the recipe said it would so he’s leaving it overnight. I helped make dinner, and then we started a curry stew in the crock pot before reading to bed.

November 2

For our 2nd day off we woke up late, made a big eggs/potatoes/onion breakfast, and hade it with the last of the loaves of bread we bought yesterday. Obviously, we have a bread addiction. Grant has always had one, but I’m not sure where my bread addiction came from. Then we went on a walk up to Millon, which is the neighborhood above the Conservatory. It’s officially part of El Castillo in terms of directions, but it does have a different name. Our first stop was Essence Arenal to check out the hostel for my parents. We met Kelly first, who showed us the rooms and pool (very nice, and the pool has a magnificent view of the lake and volcano. You also have the option of staying in “safari tents” which have wood floors and mattresses. More rustic, less expensive). He let us hike the trail that leads through their property, which was pretty wild. It’s single track, and it snakes through the forest and along the river. We made it to the ridge at the top of their property where we met Nico, who is the other owner. He was working with some guys to make a sauna where their shaman will do ceremonies. He was accompanied by his 6 month old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy who was so beautiful, so regal looking, and very well behaved for a puppy. We took the service trail back to the main hostel and went into the kitchen for a glass of water. They have a live in cook who prepared an amazing breakfast for one of the guests while we were there. They start dinner every night at 7pm, it costs $10, and the guests participate. We’re going to join one of these days. We ended up talking to the guest, Justin, for about an hour. He was an interesting character. He went to school in Florida, but he dropped out and moved to Costa Rica, where he sold drinks along a beach where there wasn’t a bar. He got into some kind of gambling and made some money. He invested it in gold, and he is going to open a gift shop somewhere close by with his mom when she retires. He was full of stories, and had the sort of slow speech of someone who has done a lot of drugs in his life, but he was smart underneath that. The whole time we were in the kitchen, loud dance club music was playing which was a little against the vibe from the area. Justin offered to drive us further up the hill, or go with us to the hot springs, but he had to eat his breakfast first and we wanted to go, so we parted ways.
We contined up the hill, and it was ultimately good we didn’t go in the car because the road went from passable in a car (dirt road though, of course) to passable in an ATV, to singletrack. We climbed very high into the hills. The trees, secondary forest probably, got so dense and the clouds hung between the trees. We rounded a corner and startled a family of monkeys the same as the ones we saw in Matapalo. We walked a little further and the trees cleared so we could see the ridge behind the one that we live at the base of. It was so beautiful, so pristine. I tried to capture it on camera but it’s next to impossible. Since grant’s camera isn’t waterproof we turned around when it started to drizzle. On the way down I saw my first 2 toucans! They are much different from macaws, they sit very high in the trees and they are very nervous birds. They fly as awkwardly as the macaws do. I tried to take a few pictures, but they’re very far away. On the way down we stopped and thanked Nico, and we also stopped at the community art center on the way home to say hi to Danielle, who works there every day. We always pass by on our way home from work, but we haven’t stopped yet. She’s 22, and gaining residency because her son (1 and a half years) was born here.
When we got home I made banana bread, which was a success. Grant made rice with chetoye, onion and achiote coloring and hot peppers, and it was a nice change from plain rice. I also went to the pulparia (small store) to buy eggs, which scared me but Alberto apparently understood me well enough to give me 15 eggs for the correct price (1400 colones, or $2.80).

november 1

We woke up at 5am, made oatmeal and an egg each, then started for La Fortuna with our smaller backpacks carrying only water bottles and a change of clothes in case we get stuck in the rain. We walked about 3km, and several cars passed us by (all going to work along the dirt road, no where near La Fortuna) until a guy driving a truck full of bulls that were destined to be slaughtered stopped and picked us up. Grant claims he checked me out pretty intensely, but I didn’t notice. We jumped in the cab and he took us all the way La Fortuna and dropped us off in front of a bakery. We immediately bought a loaf of cream cheese bread and ate the whole thing. Then, we went to the other bakery in town which specialized in more pastry type things, and we got a cinnamon bun for me, two slices of pie (one with pineapple filling, the other with strawberry) and a fluffy pastry thing with sweet milk and powdered sugar on it. We split the slices of pie, and I felt extremely over sugared afterwards. Then we went to the Banco National, and I changed some money and we both used the ATM. The banks in Costa Rica are pretty intense. I’m sure there’s all kinds of security at our banks back home, but the Ticos are much more blatant about theirs. The metal detectors are big, and you can’t bring keys or cell phones into the bank. They have a security guard on either side of the little room that acts as the metal detector. They ask if you have keys, then they let you into the detector. The glass doors close on both sides, they scan you, then the other guard lets you out on the other side. You have to repeat the process when you want to leave. The lines are always ridiculous also, but I guess they are at home too, sometimes. Next we wandered around town, looking in souvenir shops. There is a really pretty tapestry that is hanging behind the counter at the Serpenteria, but I couldn’t find that one, so I didn’t get any. There’s still time to look before the tourist season hits and prices inevitably skyrocket. We also spent 30 minutes at an internet café, just to check email really quickly. It will be so nice to get regular internet again when Glenn gets back. It’s annoying to have to walk up the hill and sit outside his house when we need to use it, but at least its there all the time, more or less. Finally, we went to the grocery store and spent a good hour getting all the things on our list. We had to be semi-careful about what we bought because we only had out two backpacks, and there was always the possibility that we wouldn’t get a ride home, and it’s 27km between La Fortuna and El Castillo. We walked with our full backpacks out of town, until the sidewalks ended. We stood with out thumbs out for a while, which didn’t work. A few minutes after we started walking a guy stopped and we got in. he was going to Hotel Linda Vista, which is maybe 1km from the turn off to el castillo, so we got a ride almost the entire way back home. Grant talked to him most of the way back. He has a daughter, sells soap products for a new company, and speaks some English which he practiced with us. When he let us out he gave Grant a bottle of biodrgradeable soap to try. When we got home we cleaned some clothes, the bathroom, and swept the floors. Relaxing evening ahead.

october 31

Last day before break! We got up early and went for a 1 hour walk before breakfast. We went in the opposite direction to La Fortuna. When we got to Majestic Lodge our 2 dog friends met up with us. We walked with them as far as Pizza Johns, then we went down to the lake via a side road. The water was not as cold as we expected, considering the amount of rain it must get. When we walked back home, the two dogs didn’t stop at Majestic, they followed us the whole way home! We scolded them and went inside to make breakast (oatmeal and an egg each) but they were still there when we went back outside to put on our boots for work. We had to be mean just to get them to stay at Cabinitas El Castillo and not follow us all the way up the hill to the Conservatory. It broke our hearts. We spent the morning working on the concrete ramps leading down to the gardens. Grant scrubbed them after I swept all the leaves away. I finished first and started raking the paths. At some point Grant apparently lost his temper for a moment, either before or after the scrubber pole broke. He says he doesn’t want to work for 8 days straight anymore, and I agree. What we do feels like glorified gardening. We’ll be happy to go home in february, that’s for sure. Depending on whether our vacation time, internet and food situation stays the same, improves or deteriorates, we may get fed up with it here. Part of me knows the hard parts are nothing, especially since we can go home in February and never have to do things like shovel again if we don’t want to. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we’re volunteers, and we’re doing this for a reason as part of a rainforest regeneration project. I led one and a half tours in the morning also. The first was to a Swiss couple who tried to tip me at the end of the tour, but I told them the tip jar was up at the reception. Erika told me later that that couple tipped $20. I’m not sure what the policy is here on tipping, but that would have been nice. The 2^nd couple was from England and they were so low energy. The walk alone from the reception to the first garden exhausted them, and they immediately sat down on the bench. I passed that tour off to Bismarc when it was time for lunch, and I was not unhappy about that. We didn’t see the two dogs on the way down to lunch, but on the way back up they were right where we’d left them in the morning, happy as ever to see us. About 45 minutes after I had relieved Erica at the reception, a man who worked for Majestic came looking for the dogs. He said they hadn’t come home. I told them they followed us home, but we had stopped them at Cabinitas, so he went off to find them. They weren’t there on our way home, so I guess they left. We made a killer soup for dinner, and read while it cooker. Early night, since were going to La Fortuna in the morning.

october 30

Grant could barely drag himself out of bed this morning. Our first alarm went off at 6am, but since Kendra and Leche have today and tomorrow off, they slept in and so the kitchen was quieter than usual. I woke up more of less, but Grant went immediately back to sleep. This morning we had oatmeal again, but this time we added some brown sugar to the pot and let it melt in while it cooked, so we only needed a little white sugar at the end. We had it with half an apple and half a banana each. We started work cleaning the larger red eye leaf frog terrarium, then the strawberry dart frog tank. In both, the glass gets really humid and filmy, and mold grows on the screened sides. Mold grows everywhere here, really. In the strawberry tank I also had the honor of cleaning mold off of the plant leaves as well. Then we went into the greenhouses and started weeding and raking. Out primary job while Leche is off is to organize greenhouses 5 and 6. but, I got called to do a tour for an older couple from Arizona, which took slightly longer than usual because we chatted a bit. Grant met us in the frog habitat when it was time for lunch. I definitely prefer the tours to other work – it’s the most relaxing, and it beats shoveling any time. Lunch was leftover veggies from last night with rice and beans. When I got back to the reception to relieve Erika she gave me a few of the red spiny fruits that everyone here seems to eat all the time. You crack open the outer shell, which is softer than it looks (when you touch the spines they turn out more like hairs. The inside looks like a grape but it tastes much richer, and it has a giant seed you can’t bit into. Erika gave me 4, so I split them with Grant. We went home and spent the evening reading, and had dinner. We’re both at good parts in our books, plus we’re tired of working and always having to figure out how we’re going to make our next meal.

october 29

This morning we made it out of bed before 7am! Victory for us – normally the alarm goes off and we go back to sleep until the rest of the house moves into the kitchen and starts making ungodly amounts of noise. We finished with the pineapple rice: remove rinds, add vanilla and sugar, eat like a rice pudding – really good on the cake we made!

We went for a short walk before breakfast, but the drizzle turned into a downpour quickly so we turned back for home. Breakfast was a garlic and red pepper omelet. The rain continued basically all morning, pretty heavily. It was also thundering a bunch. Erika is off, so I spent the morning in the reception while Kendra and Delvin worked in the lab. About 20 minutes after opening the door, we got 3 people from Hong Kong ready for a tour. Strange, since people never come before 11am every other day that I’ve been here. The first group was quickly followed by a couple from Germany, then one from Colorado. It was shocking how fast everyone came in, then there was no one for the rest of the morning, until a Tico (Costa Rican) couple came in right before I left. As the receptionist, I take people’s money, then explain the insect museum, chrysallus display, and Conservatory history. I also have to take them through the lab, which is unnerving because I’m not very familiar with the lab materials, so I feel ridiculous trying to give a tour while Kendra’s listening. After the last group went down to the gardens she gave me more of an idea about what to do with a lab tour, but I still don’t feel like I know enough. Plus, I don’t do it enough to really practice with all the information. After lunch of rice and beans with half a papaya each and the pineapple rice pudding, Grant went back to cleaning the pond in the second butterfly garden, and I occupied myself with tidying up plants, mostly because I didn’t feel like doing anything else. When we got home we found sprouts in the cucumber section of the garden! There is hope that the rain didn’t ruin the seeds we planted! Now that we have veggies, we’re making cheyote and carrots for dinner. I have to go help because Grant can’t sit still longer than 3 pages in his book and now he’s buzzing around me like crazy. I’m going to have to sit him down with the raw sugar block if I want to read tonight.

october 28

Breakfast was great: oatmeal (which is really expensive, at least at the supermarket here) with the other half of the pineapple I didn’t eat last night, plus sugar. In the morning we started to clean the signs around the gardens but it started to rain so we spent an house cleaning up the plants in the butterfly habitats. This is literally cleaning up plants, like when a dead leaf falls onto one or something. Plus, we have to gather up dead butterflies and parts of wings. There aren’t too many of these, but they accumulate if no one gathers them, and customers generally don’t want to see that. Or at least, they don’t want to see very many of them. When the rain stopped we went back to cleaning signs, but I got called to give tours almost immediately. The first was to 2 men from USA, the second to a family with two infant twins. I’m not sure why people would want to come to Costa Rica on vacation (they were also from the US) with infants, since there’s a lot of very active things to do here that aren’t suitable for a baby. It seems like a vacation in Hawaii at a resort where you can lounge on the beach makes more sense, but I’m glad they came nonetheless. The kids were really cute. After a cucumber sandwich we finished the last of the signs, then bagged more dirt. Our goal for this afternoon is to get more veggies from the veggie truck. We’ve been eating primarily rice and beans, and we’re craving more vegetables and fruit. He was later than last week; he didn’t arrive until 5:30pm, when we had just about given up hope. Grant spent a good 30 minutes buying all kinds of produce from him. We spent about $20 on veggies and fruit, but we wont need to buy much produce for the rest of the week. Kendra and Leche, and Delvin came out also to buy food after us, and Grant hung around to watch how they did it while I made another chocolate cake. Grant ended up making friends with the veggie guys, and came inside with a free half of a watermelon. Melon here is really expensive, so it was a nice treat. We shared with the other three in our house. We also made pineapple rice with the rinds from yesterday’s pineapple:

Rinds from one pineapple

Some rice

Water to got with the amount of rice you’re cooking

Throw in a crock pot and cook overnight on low.

october 27

There are 82 bug bites on my arms and legs alone, and counting. It’s impossible not to get bitten while sleeping, since it’s too warm to sleep with sweatshirts and sweat pants on and I inevitably loose the battle for the covers. I’ve become mosquito cuisine. We have to get a mosquito net for the bed when we got to La Fortuna next. We ate a big breakfast and lunch, but I didn’t want anything for dinner until Grant went to the store and bought a ripe pineapple and 15 eggs. I ate half the pineapple for dinner. Grant opened a can of tuna we bought a few days ago and was having it with rice; normally tuna makes me gag but tonight I ate it. It honestly wasn’t so bad. It’s going to be a major source of protein for us in the future, since it’s relatively cheap and veggies just aren’t enough. Work was just tours today, and I can’t remember what else.

october 26

We finished the last of our cereal this morning, and our milk. We spent the first half of the day planting trees in the host plant garden near the gazebo. This is kind of cool, since it’s one of my life goals to plant 100 trees. I only have 92 left to plant before I die. When we were done planting trees on the hillside we weeded between the vines up there. The sky was so blue, with huge white clouds floating across. The sun was intense for a few minutes, then it would disappear and cool, over and over. On a day like today, this would easily be my favorite place to work. I took over the reception at 11:30 so Kendra could go to lunch, then we took our lunch. After lunch we went back to weeding the vines. It started pouring though, like a tropical rain, and we waited it out in the gazebo. It didn’t really let up though, so we headed back to the greenhouse and filled bags with dirt for the rest of the day. That’s easy work, although bending over the bags can kill your back. Right before we finished for the day Grant got called for a Portuguese tour, and I did an English one. After work we headed to the store to get some more produce. It’s weird not having a steady supply here since veggies make up 80% of our diets. We would have gotten some from the veggie man, but he didn’t show up today. We’re sure the lady at the store ripped up off when we bought our food. None of the produce is marked when we get there, so we have to ask her the prices of everything. She told us two plantains were 200 colones, but Grant saw her enter in 500 colones, which is a dollar. From now on we’re going to bring a paper and pencil with us when we shop so that we can add things up ourselves. Next time we’rein La fortuna we’re going to get a calculator also. Grant made a pasta with the cheyote we got while I typed up journal entries so it will be easier to post them all when we finally get regular internet access back next week. We finished the cake off, and Grant attempted to start a loaf of bread by capturing the wild yeast in the area. We’ll see tomorrow if his attempt works.

october 25

We spent the morning planting MORE sornia, but in a different spot this time. The location is slightly easier than the last spot because this one isn’t on such a steep hill, and it isn’t quite so muddy. That took all morning, and when we got home we had a cucumber/onion/cream cheese sandwich with rice and beans on the side. For dessert Grant had chunks of raw brown sugar and I had cheetos. We aren’t good at depriving ourselves of our vices. In the afternoon we gave a few tours, and when we got home Grant, Kendra and I planted the seeds in the garden, and I finished up some laundry. Dinner was leftovers, so we spent most of the time making cookies. The batter didn’t quite get thick enough for cookies, so we ended up making a cake with cookie ingredients. It turned out so good, and the flour/margarine we used to grease the pan turned into a really good crust. Here’s our recipe:

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

1-2 cups raw brown sugar, melted in the microwave with a little water so it doesn’t burn

1 cup white sugar

2 pinches baking soda

Splash of pumpkin pie spice

1 stick margarine

¾ coffee mug of milk

1 cup chocolate milk powder, since we don’t have chocolate chips

~4cups flour, or until you feel like the batter is thick enough

2 pinches of salt

Bake for about an hour, or until you think it’s done. The temperature is hard to say, since our oven sucks; it doesn’t regulate heat well because the door doesn’t close all the way. Best thing to do is babysit the cake while it cooks, that way it doesn’t overcook, then make note of the time so you don’t have to watch it so closely next time. We gave a slice each to Kendra and Leche, and a big one to Bismarc and the woman he lives with (we aren’t sure who she is).

october 24

This morning it was a little hard to get out of bed, but when we did I followed Grant in 20 minutes of yoga. My hamstrings are so tight its sad. I place at least half the blame on the bed – the mattress is pretty sad. We had cereal with apple, tea with brown sugar and the last two sweet rolls we bought the other night. The beans that we started in the crock pot last night were ready. Turns out overnight on low in the crock pot is the only way to make beans. You don’t have to worry about it – they cook while you sleep. My throat, which was bothering me yesterday and this morning, also started to clear up as well. Work this morning was great. Grant and I started out the day looking for the frogs, and we ended up getting a treat because Snapper the snapping turtle was out of the mud for once. The box turlte, who is normally sitting in the water, was in the mud instead. Then we slowly raked the whole river walk, which was nice because we didn’t have to bring bags to carry the leaves to the compost. We could just sweep them onto the sides of the path. At one point towards the end, Grant spotted a plant that was absolutely covered with these red spiders. They have tiny round bodies that are bright red, and really long and skinny legs. They are kind of the costa rican version of a daddy longlegs spider. When we finished raking we got started on the vine trellis, but we got called to do English tours almost immediately. The first couple was from Belgium. But their enlglish was really good. I made it to the 3^rd atrium with everyone when Kendra called me for another tour with a German couple. They moved slowly, and once again I made it to the 3^rd gardin before I had to let Grant take over so that I could let kendra take her lunch. As soon as I got to the reception 2 little kids in ragged clothes showed up without parents. Of course, they didn’t speak any english and my spanish wasn’t good enough to figure out what they were doing. We traded words in spanish and english while going through the museum. I was stalling until grant finished with the german couple and could accompany the kids through the gardens. Eventually I figured out that they lived in the houses that back up against the side of the conservatory. They didn’t pay, but I figured it was okay since they were neighbors and they had probably been there a thousand times. Grant met them at the lab and walked with them down to the gardens. Turns out, they weren’t suppose to be there without their mom – oops. At least I didn’t let them down without grant. We had leftover rice and beans for lunch, then headed back up the hill. I got called for a tour almost immediately. I worked with a family of 5 from Maryland for about an hour. Their oldest son, aged 12, was FULL of questions, and we moved slowly because each kid had to see each thing. Just as I was about to leave them I got called to do another tour with two different couples. We went through the gardens a lot faster this time, but it was still a lot of fun. I love answering as many questions as I can as long as the people are interested. Adults are less entertained than kids, but some are fascinated by the conservatory. I finished with the tours at about 3:30, so I spent half an hour putting dirt in bags with grant. When we were walking home, Erika rode by on the back of a motorcycle and yelled something about soccer. Kendra, Leche and I went down to the indoor field. We watched on the side for a bit before the goalie waved me onto the court. It was girls versus boys (boys were 13-16yrs, girls were 16 and over) and no onew wore shin guards. Some of the boys didn’t even have shoes on! I didn’t wear gloves, and my tennis shoes were still wet from our walk in the rain the day before. Kendra rotated onto the field also, but she fell on her tailbone. It was really bad because she has the same back problem that Grant has. She was done playing after that. I stayed in a while longer before a girl rotated me out. We lefter after that. Also, Jonathan was there! He said hi, but he didn’t want to play because he said he wasn’t really a sports person. After soccer grant and I went up to Cabinitas to use their internet quickly. This time we ordered papaya and pineapple smoothis, which were way more reasonably priced. We made plantains, rice and beans for dinner. Tomorrow we’re making cookies.

october 23

Today is our first day off. We woke up after 8am, then made a 2 egg, splash of milk and 2/3 grren pepper and lots of garlic frittata (How to: put everything in the bottom of the pot, let cook on lower temperature until ¾ of it cooked. Untick with spatula and flip using a plate to cook the other side). We got into walking clothes and walked in the direction of Rancho Margot, away from La Fortuna. When we passed by Majestic Lodge the 2 dogs who ran with me the other morning joined us on our walk. We continued to where the road splits into two, with the right side dead ending in the river. We sat by the water with the dogs for an hour. The water isn’t cold the way it would be in California, but it was still cool. The middle of the river was running pretty fast also. The dogs kept going in the water, but not too far. One looks like a cocker spaniel, the other is part beagle, part jack russel, probably. We got to watch 2 guys on ATVs cross the river while we were sitting there. It was pretty funny, since the river was a little deep and neither seemed to totally know what they were doing. They made it across but not without getting soaked. We took the other side of the road to Rancho Margot to check it out. We told the dogs to wait, so they disappeared when we went into the ranch. The whole place was really nice. They let us into the common area and bar, but there was a sign that prevented us from going further because we aren’t paying guests. They offer tours of the farm, kayaking trips, horseback riding, and they have places to stay. We met one of the guys who seemed to be in charge, and he told us that as volunteers at the conservatory we were welcome to have some food with the rest of the staff, but we weren’t sure if he meant for free so we decided to stick with our original pizza plan. As we walked away from the ranch, the two dogs popped out of the bushes on the side of the road and walked back with us! It scared me when they dropped out of the bushes but it was nice to see them again. We stopped in for lunch at Pizza Johns, and we ended up staying from 1:30-5pm. It had started to rain on our walk back, so John gave us a tablecloth to dry off with and we headed upstairs to select a table. We were the only ones there when we arrived. He lives in a Tico shack next to his restaurant, which is set a bit back from the main road, across from Jose’s house who works at the Conservatory. The restaurant is 2 floors: the bottom is a kitchen, pizza oven and shadded patio. Upstairs is all seating, and there are no walls. Every surface possible is covered with writing, which John said had started only two years ago. There is so much writing that it’s already creeping up onto the ceiling. After selecting out table, listening to John tell us about his life in the USA, and his journey into Costa Rica living, we ordered our pizza then followed him downstairs to keep him company while he cooked. He was nice enough to let us use his internet briefly while he was cooking. He had all sorts of stories about the people who live in the area, how he came to move here, how to get around, everything. He has 3 dogs (taco, rico and lucky) who adopted him when he came here, and two cats. While we were talking a Swiss family showed up and took a table upstairs also. They were kind of odd; everyone was dressed all in white, including their 5 year old daughter and 8 yr old son. Even after eating, everyone was remarkably clean. When the pizza was finished (8 slices per pie: grant got the meat special and I got the vegetarian) we talked with John and the swiss family while eating. John gave us complimentary ice cream that he had made himself (a scoop each of chocolate, vanilla and banana) and it was the best ice cream I have ever had, hands down. He also undercharged us by what would be 50 cents. He was incredibly kind. The swiss family left after ice cream, but we were joined by a guy named Jonathan who is 19, from the neighborhood above the conservatory, and he is fluent in english. He wants to be a fashion designer, but the school is prohibitively expensive. We all went downstairs and sat around the warm pizza oven and talked until it was a little after 5pm, getting dark, and still pouring down rain. Since our clothes were still damp from the walk to Pizza Johns, Grant and I opted to walk home. We ended up running the whole way though, although we stopped and bought a plantain at the smaller store on the way. Leche passed us running as we started toward home, so we ran to catch up. Grant ended up scaring him since it was dark and Leche didn’t hear us behind him. We got home soaked and so full we didn’t need dinner. We just had maple tea with a little bit of that raw brown sugar.

october 22

Breakfast: 1 egg, ½ kiwi, 1 ½ pieces of toast with cream cheese and honey each. The morning was spent cleanind the red eyed tree frog terrarium glass, then planting more sornia (I really hate that job. I’d rather turn over an entire pile or dirt myself. It’s hard to plant because the spot we’re in is on a steep hill, and it’s super muddy so you can’t get a good grip with your feet. You’re bent over, and trying to balance yourself in the mud while planting. Ugh. Grant and I also spent about 40 minutes giving a tour to 2 Israeli students who were about our age. It was fun giving the tour. It was my first, and Grant’s second tour. It’s not meant to be exhaustive, we’re just suppose to fill in the gaps, throw out some trivia, and answer questons. At the end we point them in the direction of one of two trails they can take. We took the early lunch because Erika is off at 12:30 and I needed to take over for her in the reception. Lunch was leftover boiled carros in pasta noodles with mushroom soup sauce and coyote leaves. It was super good. Grant spent the afternoon back in the fields while I worked in the reception.

After work we made dinner (potatoe and tomato based soup) but we’re running out of produce. We need to make it until the veggie man comes on Wednesday. We also went to the super market in town to get more veggies (cheyote, cucumber, bag of oats and chocolate power for our cookies, since no one has chocolate chips).

october 21

I worked most of the day in the fields with Grant. Breakfast was half a kiwi each with the last of the cereal (we made the box last 6 bowls, or 3 bowls each). We also have a new favorite: toast with cream cheese, honey and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Perfect when you don’t have anything else that’s sweet. We spent all morning raking the paths around the Conservatory. It’s not hard to rake, but it is hard to carry all the bags of leaves to the compost pile, which is inevitably uphill from where you are. You have to be careful not to rake all the rocks off the path also. From 11:30-12:30 I sat in the reception for Erika while she took her lunch. Then grant and I headed home to find a crew of people paving the street in front of our house. They’re working their way down toward the main road. I can’t imagine just now getting concrete in front of my house. After lunch we finished raking, then we shoveled dirt. As soon as we got started on the giant dirt pile, we got calls to lead a tour for English speaking tourists, and Grant went to do it. It took him so long to finished that I ended up turning over the entire pile of dirt by myself. I also finished tearing all the old vines down by the time we closed. I walked down the hill with Erika, and on our way we ran into the veggie truck. She helped me buy 4 tomatoes, 4 onions and a bag of apples. I should have gotten way more since the grocery stores here are lacking in produce, but Grant wasn’t with me and it’s hard because it’s a struggle to understand people in the best of circumstances, but the veggie guys have really strong accents and they talk really fast. When we got home, Grant and I worked on laundry since it rained all afternoon. You can’t fall behind on laundry because you’ll run out of clean clothes and it’s hell trying to catch back up. The clothes have been drying slower too since it’s been pretty rainy lately. Before dinner we went to the local supermarket and bought things for cookies: flour, white sugar, 2 blocks of raw brown sugar, margarine, vanilla and baking soda. We also bought achiote paste, some pastry things and cheetos (I’ve been craving them like crazy, which is strange since I never eat them at home). We calculated it when we got home, and the guy actually undercharged us. Not hard to do since everyone adds stuff up on little calculators. Some things were a bit more pricey than in La Fortuna, but others were actually less expensive. We made cabbage and onions plus boiled carrots and greenbeans for dinner, with fried yucca from lunch.

october 20

I woke up at 5:45am and ran for an hour toward La Fortuna. That road was a lot hillier than the other direction. We had eggs with beans and rice for breakfast, then off to work. We started the day planting Sornia (host plant to Capachino and Malachite butterflies) in the ground where Grant had macheted the grass the day before. It was extremely muddy, and I should have been wearing my boots. When we were finished we finished the weeding and fertilizing from the day before. Next, I made a net for vines to grow up while grant cleared old vines from a trellis someone had made several years ago. At 11:30am I took over in the reception and let Kendra go to lunch. I sewed bags until it was time for my lunch. Grant and I had cucumber sandwhiches with raw onion on cream cheese and whole wheat bread. SO GOOD. In the afternoon he worked in the atriums with Delvin to learn about the butterflies while I finished the net and went to work clearing more of the vines where Grant had worked earlier. After work Grant dug the 3^rd row for the garden while I finished catching us up with laundry. Having to wash everything by hand in small buckets has made it almost impossible to keep up with it. I have done so much lanudry that I have blisters on the fingers that twist the water out of the clothes. It rained really hard as we went to bed.

October 19th

We slept in a bit this morning. Breakfast was boiled bananas with cereal, and we ate on a rock down by the river. On the way back up to the house we picked up some trash in the backyard, and I started to get some more laundry soaking. Then I spent the morning in the reception because Erika has the day off.

Jobs: turn on radio

Turn sign around

Uncover computer and fold cloth (when I did this I found a mouse under the computer. Now he’s under the soda refridgerator)

Open register and count out 50,000 colones or $100

Sweep and mop (if dirty)

Open windows

Wipe display cases

Change lining of chrysallis case

Check in at the lab, help with anything that needs to be done there

Sew more bags

Welcome customers

Here is the Butterfly Conservatory Story:

Our project is a Rainforest Regeneration Project devoted to restoring the varied species natural to the ecosystem that naturally surrounds the Arenal Volcano. Until just 50 years ago, this area was primary rainforest, as you can see on the hills up above. That reserve is the northern side of the Monteverde Cloud Fores Reserve and the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. The big tree on the hill in front of the reception is a giant Kapok (cieba pentandra) tree; it is over 300 years old, but they can live to be more than 500 years old and grow to over 200 feet. It was left as a symbol to the rainforest, but when the rainforest was cut, the rich topsoil quickly eroded away, leaving on the acidic soil based on volcanic sand and gravel behind. So, that giant Kapok died.

A government land grant program allowed this massive forest to be cut for timber export and to create small cattle ranches. However, volcanic soil and mountain terrain isn’t suitable for cattle, and these ranchers are unproductive. The Butterfly Conservatory was conceived in 2002 by purchasing one of these cattle ranches (5 hectares, or 13 acres) to establish a Nature Demonstration Center for educating the public about methods of regenerating previously cut rainforest.

If you step over to the window you can see the progress of this regeneration. The tour offers a practical educational experience about nature with diversified exhibits of how butterflies, frogs, insects and plants are reproduced in this natural environment. The 4 atruim habitats below provide representation of the plants, trees, butterflies and frogs that live within the 4 ecological areas around Lake Arenal; in each atrium you will find the plants and butterflies that live in that particular habitat.

We also have a laboratory, reproduction greenhouses, host plant gardens, exotic frog habitat and orchid atrium. The reception center houses the insect museum. All of the insects found in the museum can be found in this area, and most have been collected while working in the gardens.

After lunch I helped Grant organize the plants between the nurseries. It was methodical work, with fertilizing, turning the dirt and weeding each pot. It appealed to the OCD side of me. We also organized the rows and swetp the tarps between the pots. After work we brought home a shovel and a rake and got started on a compost pile for the house. While we were cleaning up that part of the yard Grant uncovered a giant toad! It scared him quite a bit. When the compost pile was finished I started back on laundry duty while Kendra and Grant got to work on making 3 rows for the garden. We maed a ton of food for dinner, so we would have leftovers for a few days. Then we crashed.