My time in Italy ended roughly one week ago, but damn does it feel like so much more time has gone by since then. In these past eight/nine days, my route took me through Vienna, then I hit the non-Western cities of Budapest and Prague, and am currently stationed in Berlin (just arrived). Kind of a whirlwind tour, but luckily I (so far) have lived to tell the tale.
[Oh, and if you happen to remember back to my possible list of cities to visit and their order... yeah, it's safe to say that has COMPLETELY changed. Like, everything after Italy. So get ready for some surprises :)]
Out of Italy #1~ Vienna, Austria
First on the trajectory was Vienna- a city that managed to secure a place on my list of favorite spots by the time I had to say goodbye (three days after getting in).
If I had to describe the vibe present in Vienna in one word, it would have to be "artsy." Everything had a creative bend: murals on the walls lining the river banks, art-nouveau architecture, random decorations on buildings... not to mention the hundreds of art museums all over the city. <- all the prettiness within Vienna made it so much fun to walk around and just marvel at the various types of public artwork.
I was mostly on my own in Vienna, but the city was so full of things to do and see, it didn't matter. To be honest, I generally prefer exploring cities on my own. I have gone out wandering with others, which is certainly fun, but I like to walk... like, a lot, and so when I'm going solo I can move around as much/little as I want. Also, I've devised the perfect method to get the most out of sightseeing in a city: grab a map from the hostel and figure out where that is located, then pick a direction that heads toward the main tourist attractions and put my map away until the evening when I realize I should start heading back to cook some dinner. Using that way of exploring, I invariably end up seeing more of the city than I otherwise would have, as I rely on my sub-par sense of direction (and which streets look coolest) to determine where I end up walking. Trying to make it back to the hostel with the map always turns into an adventure, as well....
So yeah, at this point I think Vienna would be one of the few cities I've visited which I could see myself returning to to live for a more extended period of time. Highly recommended.
Out of Italy #2~ Budapest, Hungary
Umm, it had never even crossed my mind to venture into Budapest, even briefly, until people I'd met in Europe (from Athens on) began mentioning the city as a cool place to go check out. But as I began rethinking my route- due to finanicial as well as interest reasons- I started to formulate a plan to hit a few more eastern cities (namely Split, Croatia; Budapest, Hungary, and Prague, Czech Republic) before stepping into Berlin....
Which happened to worked out perfectly when I met Alec (my travel buddy basically beginning in Budapest) in Rome, and it turned out he was planning on doing a similar thing at basically the same time (only he wanted to hit Vienna instead of Croatia). So we decided to keep in touch on our separate trips through Italy, and then just see if it would work out to meet up and travel together through Vienna [though we only arrived there together- he was staying with family friends, so we didn't see each other much in Austria], Budapest, Prague, and Berlin. And it did. By the time we split (at end of our visit to Berlin), we'll have traveled together for about a week.
Anyway, back to Budapest. My first real venture into "Eastern Europe." So cool.
Budapest the city, if taken solely at face-value, has little to offer tourists. You can see the monuments in a day, there are few museums, and it takes maybe 45 minutes to walk from one side to the other. But if you delve a bit deeper, there's a lot of cool things to DO. In my one and a half days in Budapest I: saw a $5 opera, went to a cheap Hungarian buffet, got caught in a torrential downpour, and visited "the 3rd best pub in the world" (according to Lonely Planet) in a cool ruins bar- building blasted in WWII and kept in its damaged condition. I had a lot of fun, and the vibe in the city (and among the travelers who pass through) is extremely relaxed and into having a good time. The atmosphere felt a lot more sunny than the majority of other European cities I've been to; it reminded me of Central America a bit, actually. Extremely comfortable and easy to immediately feel at home. Had I not already planned to go to Prague, I most likely would have stayed in Budapest longer. It was nice and cheap, too :)
[Also, Budapest reminded me that, though in Europe there are tons of possible routes to take/places to visit, the traveling community is weirdly small. I ran into not one but two different people I'd hung out with in my earlier travels (one in Israel, one in Athens) in the same day while walking through Budapest. Forces of the universe at work, I tell ya....]
Out of Italy #3: Prague, Czech Republic
Second (and final?) stop in the east was Prague- a city I'd heard a lot about, beginning in Costa Rica. It had the reputation of not only being extremely gorgeous, but also possessing a pretty active nightlife. Best of both worlds, right?
I really did enjoy Prague, no doubt. But maybe if I hadn't already seen Vienna, I would've been more amazed by its Victorian beauty. And maybe if I wasn't coming from Budapest, I'd have been overwhelmed by the nightlife experience....
That being said, I still had a great time in Prague. The walking tour I took was my favorite of the five or so I've been on so far. Seeing the astronomical clock "performance" was pretty cool. I came across free-ranging peacocks one morning, which definitely made my day. The city was full of scenic views and elegant architecture. And trying authentic absinthe had been on my To Do list... ;)
Plus, met some cool people and had a good Prague-after-dark experience. A fun, beautiful, and cheap city.
Loving All the Moving, But...
To those of you who don't know much about backpacking, it may sound like one big vacation. And while it is most likely on average more enjoyable than a routine of studying/working day after day, let me tell you: straight traveling is exhausting. Most cities are a three or four day stop, and in that short amount of time you try and fit in EVERY single "touristy" thing to do. Plus activities you hear recommended by other travelers. Plus going out at night. And if you're me, you walk everywhere. Because you're cheap. And wandering around is fun, anyway. But put it all together and it's a lot.
No, I am in no way complaining. Honestly, the backpacker life is pretty stress-free :) However, I am quite looking forward to spending at least a week in southern France. I'm planning on beach-bumming it for a while, coupled with some daytrips to the Cannes film fest. Sounds like a good life, no?
Two more big cities and then the beach. Hope y'all are enjoying finals....
xoxo, Cleome
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
[Nearly] Three Weeks In
I'm currently sitting in the reception area of a hostel in downtown Rome, minutes from the main Termini station. Since all I really have on the agenda today is to make it to Florence by mid-afternoon (as opposed to my last couple weeks of what feels like non-stop activities crammed into each and every day), I figured this was a good time to write a quick update on my solo traveling adventures. Here goes!
Week 1: Jerusalem, Mitzpe Ramon (Israel)
I left my volunteer position at the Fauzi at the beginning of April- literally April 1. I, accompanied by my volunteer bestie Jake who had a few days off, headed to Jerusalem to base ourselves there for a couple of days. While there I finally got around to doing all the major touristy stuff, haha: hiked the snake path up to the ruins of Masada, swam (floated?) in the Dead Sea, and hiked through the natural oasis of Ein Gedi. I had fun, but mainly enjoyed being able to check them off my Israel to do list... they'd sort of been hanging over my head. <- And that may sound really flippant, but I think I've slightly overloaded on gorgeous treks and ancient Roman/Ottoman/Byzantine ruins. There happen to be a ton all over Israel. So while they were still nice to visit, I wasn't as wowed as a first-timer would've been, I'm sure.
Jake left me to return to Nazareth on Wednesday, and so Thursday morning I set out to my first real location where I didn't know anyone: Mitzpe Ramon, a town situated in the middle of the Negev desert. The draw of Mitzpe is that it happens to be right next to this huge crater-like thing (but it's not a crater!) called a makhtesh. Only seven makhtesh exist in the world; five in Israel and two in Jordan. I'm not exactly sure on the actual differences between a makhtesh and crater... but makhtesh aren't formed by meteors or eruptions or anything- it's all about the natural shifts of the earth that happen in a particular sequence. Anyway, I LOVED it there- stayed for three nights. I did a few different desert hikes that were just amazing, got some sun, and did I mention that the Green Backpackers hostel was incredible? Great vibe, intimate, run by accredited tour guides, and attracted the coolest people (other guests and volunteers). We had a communal dinner, movie night, poker game (which I won!), and lots of interesting conversations. I felt extremely comfortable there and was sad to leave. But I didn't stay as I had other places I really wanted to visit, too.
Week 2: Petra (Jordan), Eilat, Mishmar Haemek, Nazareth (Israel)
I managed to pick up a travel buddy in Mitzpe Ramon- this cool Argentinian named Jose who happened to be a hostel volunteer at Green Backpackers, but used his free days to travel south with me to the beaches of Eilat. We missed our bus... but it turned out for the best as we hitch hiked and arrived at the resort town earlier and for free. We spent two days just picking out beaches to hit up, playing guitar, speaking Spanish (attempting to, on my part...), snorkeling (so good there! An amazing variety of vibrant fish), and chilling on the hostel patio at night. I had a great time, and parting was bittersweet. I hope we meet up again someday.
After Eilat I joined an old person tour to the ancient Nabitian city of Petra, located about two hours over the border in Jordan. I spent two days wandering around one of the eight wonders of the ancient world, and it was an incredible, impressive sight to behold. The city was just so picturesque- and extensive! Right when you thought you'd reached the outskirts, another little path was leading you up a million stairs to some other monastery.... I spent two days there and still didn't get to see everything. A definite highlight from Petra was also getting to stay in a real hotel (part of the tour package). A non-bunk bed. My own bathroom. A full-length mirror. I was in heaven. Took full advantage of my privacy and just stripped and flung myself on the bed. It felt soooo good. <- by far the nicest place I have stayed and will stay while traveling alone.
Once I was let back into Israel (there was a bit of border iffiness, but they finally let me through), I took a series of busses over the course of eight hours to get to my friend Jess's kibbutz in the north- about one hour from Nazareth. I'd been there once before for a day, so arriving again felt a bit like coming home... or at least to a relievingly familiar place with familiar people. It was so much fun hanging out on the kibbutz for a night with Jess and her friends again. They're always a fun group to see :)
On Friday I bid farewell to the kibbutzers and headed off with Jess to Nazareth (she wanted to come back for a few hours to say hi). We arrived at the Fauzi, and that definitely felt like coming home: we knew the town, the people, and it all felt so normal. Though I have to say, returning to a place you already left always feels a bit weird. Like you're coming into another dimension's version of that area, sci-fi- everything's the same, but different, too.... Regardless, it was really nice having a place to stay, eat, and do laundry for free before leaving Israel- the next day I'd be setting off for only unfamiliar locales where I have 0 connections. Which was simultaneously freaky and exhilarating.
Goodbyes while traveling are always hard, and even more-so when it's with people you've gotten to know really well. Saying goodbye to Jess was difficult- she was my best friend in Nazareth for almost a month, and we really bonded. Our goodbye was more of a see-you-later. I sincerely hope we meet again. Plus, I'll have gotten her some cool present by that point as a thanks for her incredibly touching gift of a hamza necklace (which I haven't taken off since I got it). Love and miss you Jess! I also had to say bye to Jake, but we can meet up in the States, so. And the last person I said goodbye to was Hagai, an amazing night receptionist, even if he hates people ;) He saw me to the train station, and from there I was on my way to fly to Europe!
Week 3: Athens (Greece), Rome (Italy)
And then I got to continental Europe! My first day in Athens was more of a catch-up-on-sleep day, as I'd been ridiculously interrogated by israeli security throughout the early morning hours for whatever reason. When I finally felt like getting out, I was immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness. Here's an excerpt from an email I sent my parents that first day:
"So much of a good time traveling is about meeting others. No way in hell am I going to spend 6 weeks walking around and doing everything alone. Maybe I'm not ready to be an independent backpacker. Maybe we all overestimated my abilities to get out there, be social, be alone, and SURVIVE. Or at least enjoy it.
Clearly I'm still not feeling very positive. I had a good thing going in Israel. I had friends, a community, knowledge of the transportation system and what to do in each location I visited. Out here I have nil. And a major dip in self-confidence.
Part of me wants to end this now and just come home.
I'm too afraid to hack it solo in this big world."
...So I was being a bit dramatic. But looking past the woe-is-me stuff, I actually was feeling like I'd made a huge mistake. And then literally as I was sitting in the hostel, about to write another depressed email, my knight in shining armor [hi MJ!] sits down next to me and strikes up a conversation. And from there my time in Athens was bomb :)
I found myself a part of an awesome crew of two other 18-year-old girl solo travelers (!), and this Canadian dude. We had dinners together, roamed Athens at night, went off to a lake, and just had each other's backs. It was great, and though we were only together two days, it was extremely sad parting from them. But I think we met because forces in the universe wanted to give all of us young, independent girls a confidence boost: you are badass, check out these other chicks who are just as amazing as you are! Oh, and Athens itself? A really cool city. All monuments are located in one spot, the city feels extremely safe, and walking around was fun. A great intro to Europe.
And last but not least, Rome! This incredible city I've heard so much about. And boy does it live up to expectations. I literally spent two full days (at least eight hours) wandering the streets of Rome. Part of that may have to do with my lack of map-reading skills as opposed to how far everything is, but hey, it's a great way to see more of a city than you were originally planning, yeah? There are not only important historic sites every street you turn down, but some of the neighborhoods are adorable, there is so much greenery, and the street fashions make people-watching super cool.
The only bummer with Rome is the people. Not the Italians or anything- my personal people. The people I'm bonding with and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Rome with. The people who don't exist. [Don't get me wrong- I've met people, and even went out to get authentic Italian pasta with someone, but I have no CREW. Which is what I want and what I'm missing.]
So I'm off to Florence today. You could spend months in Rome and still not know it all, but after two days I've hit all the major sites, and think I know what the city's about. I'll come back, maybe. But for now I'm moving on.
Let's go, baby.
xoxo, Cleome
Week 1: Jerusalem, Mitzpe Ramon (Israel)
I left my volunteer position at the Fauzi at the beginning of April- literally April 1. I, accompanied by my volunteer bestie Jake who had a few days off, headed to Jerusalem to base ourselves there for a couple of days. While there I finally got around to doing all the major touristy stuff, haha: hiked the snake path up to the ruins of Masada, swam (floated?) in the Dead Sea, and hiked through the natural oasis of Ein Gedi. I had fun, but mainly enjoyed being able to check them off my Israel to do list... they'd sort of been hanging over my head. <- And that may sound really flippant, but I think I've slightly overloaded on gorgeous treks and ancient Roman/Ottoman/Byzantine ruins. There happen to be a ton all over Israel. So while they were still nice to visit, I wasn't as wowed as a first-timer would've been, I'm sure.
Jake left me to return to Nazareth on Wednesday, and so Thursday morning I set out to my first real location where I didn't know anyone: Mitzpe Ramon, a town situated in the middle of the Negev desert. The draw of Mitzpe is that it happens to be right next to this huge crater-like thing (but it's not a crater!) called a makhtesh. Only seven makhtesh exist in the world; five in Israel and two in Jordan. I'm not exactly sure on the actual differences between a makhtesh and crater... but makhtesh aren't formed by meteors or eruptions or anything- it's all about the natural shifts of the earth that happen in a particular sequence. Anyway, I LOVED it there- stayed for three nights. I did a few different desert hikes that were just amazing, got some sun, and did I mention that the Green Backpackers hostel was incredible? Great vibe, intimate, run by accredited tour guides, and attracted the coolest people (other guests and volunteers). We had a communal dinner, movie night, poker game (which I won!), and lots of interesting conversations. I felt extremely comfortable there and was sad to leave. But I didn't stay as I had other places I really wanted to visit, too.
Week 2: Petra (Jordan), Eilat, Mishmar Haemek, Nazareth (Israel)
I managed to pick up a travel buddy in Mitzpe Ramon- this cool Argentinian named Jose who happened to be a hostel volunteer at Green Backpackers, but used his free days to travel south with me to the beaches of Eilat. We missed our bus... but it turned out for the best as we hitch hiked and arrived at the resort town earlier and for free. We spent two days just picking out beaches to hit up, playing guitar, speaking Spanish (attempting to, on my part...), snorkeling (so good there! An amazing variety of vibrant fish), and chilling on the hostel patio at night. I had a great time, and parting was bittersweet. I hope we meet up again someday.
After Eilat I joined an old person tour to the ancient Nabitian city of Petra, located about two hours over the border in Jordan. I spent two days wandering around one of the eight wonders of the ancient world, and it was an incredible, impressive sight to behold. The city was just so picturesque- and extensive! Right when you thought you'd reached the outskirts, another little path was leading you up a million stairs to some other monastery.... I spent two days there and still didn't get to see everything. A definite highlight from Petra was also getting to stay in a real hotel (part of the tour package). A non-bunk bed. My own bathroom. A full-length mirror. I was in heaven. Took full advantage of my privacy and just stripped and flung myself on the bed. It felt soooo good. <- by far the nicest place I have stayed and will stay while traveling alone.
Once I was let back into Israel (there was a bit of border iffiness, but they finally let me through), I took a series of busses over the course of eight hours to get to my friend Jess's kibbutz in the north- about one hour from Nazareth. I'd been there once before for a day, so arriving again felt a bit like coming home... or at least to a relievingly familiar place with familiar people. It was so much fun hanging out on the kibbutz for a night with Jess and her friends again. They're always a fun group to see :)
On Friday I bid farewell to the kibbutzers and headed off with Jess to Nazareth (she wanted to come back for a few hours to say hi). We arrived at the Fauzi, and that definitely felt like coming home: we knew the town, the people, and it all felt so normal. Though I have to say, returning to a place you already left always feels a bit weird. Like you're coming into another dimension's version of that area, sci-fi- everything's the same, but different, too.... Regardless, it was really nice having a place to stay, eat, and do laundry for free before leaving Israel- the next day I'd be setting off for only unfamiliar locales where I have 0 connections. Which was simultaneously freaky and exhilarating.
Goodbyes while traveling are always hard, and even more-so when it's with people you've gotten to know really well. Saying goodbye to Jess was difficult- she was my best friend in Nazareth for almost a month, and we really bonded. Our goodbye was more of a see-you-later. I sincerely hope we meet again. Plus, I'll have gotten her some cool present by that point as a thanks for her incredibly touching gift of a hamza necklace (which I haven't taken off since I got it). Love and miss you Jess! I also had to say bye to Jake, but we can meet up in the States, so. And the last person I said goodbye to was Hagai, an amazing night receptionist, even if he hates people ;) He saw me to the train station, and from there I was on my way to fly to Europe!
Week 3: Athens (Greece), Rome (Italy)
And then I got to continental Europe! My first day in Athens was more of a catch-up-on-sleep day, as I'd been ridiculously interrogated by israeli security throughout the early morning hours for whatever reason. When I finally felt like getting out, I was immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness. Here's an excerpt from an email I sent my parents that first day:
"So much of a good time traveling is about meeting others. No way in hell am I going to spend 6 weeks walking around and doing everything alone. Maybe I'm not ready to be an independent backpacker. Maybe we all overestimated my abilities to get out there, be social, be alone, and SURVIVE. Or at least enjoy it.
Clearly I'm still not feeling very positive. I had a good thing going in Israel. I had friends, a community, knowledge of the transportation system and what to do in each location I visited. Out here I have nil. And a major dip in self-confidence.
Part of me wants to end this now and just come home.
I'm too afraid to hack it solo in this big world."
...So I was being a bit dramatic. But looking past the woe-is-me stuff, I actually was feeling like I'd made a huge mistake. And then literally as I was sitting in the hostel, about to write another depressed email, my knight in shining armor [hi MJ!] sits down next to me and strikes up a conversation. And from there my time in Athens was bomb :)
I found myself a part of an awesome crew of two other 18-year-old girl solo travelers (!), and this Canadian dude. We had dinners together, roamed Athens at night, went off to a lake, and just had each other's backs. It was great, and though we were only together two days, it was extremely sad parting from them. But I think we met because forces in the universe wanted to give all of us young, independent girls a confidence boost: you are badass, check out these other chicks who are just as amazing as you are! Oh, and Athens itself? A really cool city. All monuments are located in one spot, the city feels extremely safe, and walking around was fun. A great intro to Europe.
And last but not least, Rome! This incredible city I've heard so much about. And boy does it live up to expectations. I literally spent two full days (at least eight hours) wandering the streets of Rome. Part of that may have to do with my lack of map-reading skills as opposed to how far everything is, but hey, it's a great way to see more of a city than you were originally planning, yeah? There are not only important historic sites every street you turn down, but some of the neighborhoods are adorable, there is so much greenery, and the street fashions make people-watching super cool.
The only bummer with Rome is the people. Not the Italians or anything- my personal people. The people I'm bonding with and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Rome with. The people who don't exist. [Don't get me wrong- I've met people, and even went out to get authentic Italian pasta with someone, but I have no CREW. Which is what I want and what I'm missing.]
So I'm off to Florence today. You could spend months in Rome and still not know it all, but after two days I've hit all the major sites, and think I know what the city's about. I'll come back, maybe. But for now I'm moving on.
Let's go, baby.
xoxo, Cleome
Friday, March 29, 2013
Preliminary Itinerary
I've heard that for a lot of people, the planning of a trip is almost as (or even more) enjoyable than actually taking the trip. While, maybe that'd be the case for me if I actually had a lot of time to plan... but backpacking is a bit different than vacationing, for one, and two, I think the most "planning" I can do at this point is just try and create a basic route to follow.
Below is what I've come up with so far.
Will it change? Duh. Not only is it super bare-bones at this point (I'll probably end up cutting through some small towns I've never know existed before), but I'm sure it also includes way too many spots for me to feasibly hit [though you should've seen my first first draft...]. And I've no idea whether I'll like a place so much I want to stay for a week, or hate a place and be on the first train out after not even a day. Plus, I'm still crossing my fingers that I meet cool people to hang with- who'll no doubt influence my route as well.
But are these the places my brain believes I can (and want to) make it to in ~9 weeks? Yup.
(By the way, dates are totally approximate once I leave Israel.)
Israel
April 1-14
>Negev (Desert) Region
-Masada
-Ein Gedi
-Dead Sea
-Mitzpe Ramon
>Eilat
>Petra (technically in Jordan- I've got to see if I've got the time/funds to visit a wonder of the ancient world for a few days)
>back north to say goodbye if I have time?
Europe: April 14-June 6
Greece
April 14-17?
>Athens
-day trip to Mycenae?
Italy
April 17-May 4?
>Rome
-be there on April 21st for its b-day celebration?
>Naples (yes Mom, I'm still planning on going. I'll try to find a guy to travel with...)
-Pompeii
-grotto azzurra
>Florence
-trips to Pisa for the tower and Cinque Terre for the view
>Bologna
>Venice
Germany
May 4-16?
>Munich
>Prague? It's the most interesting thing between the two German cities, so I may have to pop over to the Czech Republic for a bit.
>Berlin
>Cologne
>Frankfurt or Black Forest or Geneva (Switzerland) or Aosta Valley (Italy) <-- clearly having some issues making up my mind... I know I just need to go south from Cologne
France
May 16-June 3?
>Cannes
-Film Festival May 15-26 <-- wierdly enough, this event has become what I'm orienting my whole trip around... not sure why, but ever since I realized I could get there timing-wise, it's become non-negotiable. It also help that Cannes is located on the beaches in the south of France. AND that I can see some of the premieres for free.
[Slight topic deviation: I've developed a small goal of meeting an actor/producer/director/etc. who I can then entice into inviting me to a VIP-only movie premiere. I'll make sure to update the blog should any progress with that occur....]
>Nice, Marseilles, other beach towns in southern France
[>Biarritz or Bordeaux or Normandy if I find myself with some spare time?]
>Tours
>Paris (and Versailles)
Netherlands
June 3-6
•Amsterdam
So my Europe route is sort of zig-zagging its way up through Italy, looping around Germany (possibly detouring into the Czech Republic), and then cutting down across the south of France, up to Paris, and finally ending in Amsterdam. Definitely a bit bizzare and not at all what I'd have thought I'd be doing even a few months ago. But I always wanted to go through Italy... and I met a lot of Germans, so Germany had to be included.... then I learned about the Cannes Film Fest and had already bought my ticket out of Amsterdam, so there you have it.
And while I'm trying to sound all professional and rational about this thing, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Yay!
xoxo, Cleome
Below is what I've come up with so far.
Will it change? Duh. Not only is it super bare-bones at this point (I'll probably end up cutting through some small towns I've never know existed before), but I'm sure it also includes way too many spots for me to feasibly hit [though you should've seen my first first draft...]. And I've no idea whether I'll like a place so much I want to stay for a week, or hate a place and be on the first train out after not even a day. Plus, I'm still crossing my fingers that I meet cool people to hang with- who'll no doubt influence my route as well.
But are these the places my brain believes I can (and want to) make it to in ~9 weeks? Yup.
(By the way, dates are totally approximate once I leave Israel.)
Israel
April 1-14
>Negev (Desert) Region
-Masada
-Ein Gedi
-Dead Sea
-Mitzpe Ramon
>Eilat
>Petra (technically in Jordan- I've got to see if I've got the time/funds to visit a wonder of the ancient world for a few days)
>back north to say goodbye if I have time?
Europe: April 14-June 6
Greece
April 14-17?
>Athens
-day trip to Mycenae?
Italy
April 17-May 4?
>Rome
-be there on April 21st for its b-day celebration?
>Naples (yes Mom, I'm still planning on going. I'll try to find a guy to travel with...)
-Pompeii
-grotto azzurra
>Florence
-trips to Pisa for the tower and Cinque Terre for the view
>Bologna
>Venice
Germany
May 4-16?
>Munich
>Prague? It's the most interesting thing between the two German cities, so I may have to pop over to the Czech Republic for a bit.
>Berlin
>Cologne
>Frankfurt or Black Forest or Geneva (Switzerland) or Aosta Valley (Italy) <-- clearly having some issues making up my mind... I know I just need to go south from Cologne
France
May 16-June 3?
>Cannes
-Film Festival May 15-26 <-- wierdly enough, this event has become what I'm orienting my whole trip around... not sure why, but ever since I realized I could get there timing-wise, it's become non-negotiable. It also help that Cannes is located on the beaches in the south of France. AND that I can see some of the premieres for free.
[Slight topic deviation: I've developed a small goal of meeting an actor/producer/director/etc. who I can then entice into inviting me to a VIP-only movie premiere. I'll make sure to update the blog should any progress with that occur....]
>Nice, Marseilles, other beach towns in southern France
[>Biarritz or Bordeaux or Normandy if I find myself with some spare time?]
>Tours
>Paris (and Versailles)
Netherlands
June 3-6
•Amsterdam
So my Europe route is sort of zig-zagging its way up through Italy, looping around Germany (possibly detouring into the Czech Republic), and then cutting down across the south of France, up to Paris, and finally ending in Amsterdam. Definitely a bit bizzare and not at all what I'd have thought I'd be doing even a few months ago. But I always wanted to go through Italy... and I met a lot of Germans, so Germany had to be included.... then I learned about the Cannes Film Fest and had already bought my ticket out of Amsterdam, so there you have it.
And while I'm trying to sound all professional and rational about this thing, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Yay!
xoxo, Cleome
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Coming Up Next
My plans for the rest of my "walkabout" have changed a lot since a few weeks ago, not to mention last fall before I'd even embarked on the first part of it.
[I just went back and reread my predicted plans for the year... wow have those been tweaked a lot.]
I got back from Costa Rica at the beginning of January and set a goal for myself to be off on the next part of my adventure by the beginning of February. I gave myself a month to relax, be at home, have parents, see friends and figure out what the heck I was going to do next. And where I was going to go. And for how long. <- I had a lot to figure out.
Wait, Cleome, I thought you were going to Europe for four months to backpack around? Yeah, let me finish. As I was saying, I'd been thinking hard about my next steps, and for a multitude of reasons ended up coming to the conclusion that I actually didn't want to aimlessly backpack around Europe for that long of a time. Because, like:
1) It's still cold in much of Europe at this time of year.
2) The tourist Schengen Visa is only good for three months out of any six month period (and I don't want to try and jilt the authorities, thereby risking never being allowed into the EU for the rest of my life). And the visa includes most of the countries I actually want to travel through.
3) Thanks to actually having traveling experience now (yay!), I know that straight traveling for one month, let alone four, is exhausting. AND
4) Europe is ridiculously expensive. More than I was originally imagining. I'm a soon-to-be poor college student- I can't be going into debt before starting school.
So I was pretty jittery for a while, as I had no real idea of where to even start now that my semi-solid plans for February-May were out. You'd be surprised how hard it is to decide on a course of action when you can do essentially whatever you want. It'd be great to use the time I have to work on maintaining my French or Spanish, or participate in something that might serve to guide me/provide me with experience for a future career path [not that I have any idea what that would be], but.... Honestly, when you really have no limitations, there are about a jillion amazing things you could do. And you don't want to squander this awesome opportunity by choosing something stupid, or uninteresting, or pointless, or or or
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Sorry, but as you may be able to tell, I was a bit fragile concerning my future plans for a while. However I managed to calm down and reason rationally with myself, and figured out a few things concerning what I did want to happen on the next part of my year off:
WHAT I'LL ACTUALLY BE DOING. (Just got confirmation!)
[I just went back and reread my predicted plans for the year... wow have those been tweaked a lot.]
I got back from Costa Rica at the beginning of January and set a goal for myself to be off on the next part of my adventure by the beginning of February. I gave myself a month to relax, be at home, have parents, see friends and figure out what the heck I was going to do next. And where I was going to go. And for how long. <- I had a lot to figure out.
Wait, Cleome, I thought you were going to Europe for four months to backpack around? Yeah, let me finish. As I was saying, I'd been thinking hard about my next steps, and for a multitude of reasons ended up coming to the conclusion that I actually didn't want to aimlessly backpack around Europe for that long of a time. Because, like:
1) It's still cold in much of Europe at this time of year.
2) The tourist Schengen Visa is only good for three months out of any six month period (and I don't want to try and jilt the authorities, thereby risking never being allowed into the EU for the rest of my life). And the visa includes most of the countries I actually want to travel through.
3) Thanks to actually having traveling experience now (yay!), I know that straight traveling for one month, let alone four, is exhausting. AND
4) Europe is ridiculously expensive. More than I was originally imagining. I'm a soon-to-be poor college student- I can't be going into debt before starting school.
So I was pretty jittery for a while, as I had no real idea of where to even start now that my semi-solid plans for February-May were out. You'd be surprised how hard it is to decide on a course of action when you can do essentially whatever you want. It'd be great to use the time I have to work on maintaining my French or Spanish, or participate in something that might serve to guide me/provide me with experience for a future career path [not that I have any idea what that would be], but.... Honestly, when you really have no limitations, there are about a jillion amazing things you could do. And you don't want to squander this awesome opportunity by choosing something stupid, or uninteresting, or pointless, or or or
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry, but as you may be able to tell, I was a bit fragile concerning my future plans for a while. However I managed to calm down and reason rationally with myself, and figured out a few things concerning what I did want to happen on the next part of my year off:
- I realized I wanted to do another volunteering project for at least part of the rest of year. I just like feeling useful and helping others. But while an organization in Ghana serving to educate the local population about HIV/AIDS and trying to prevent the spread of the disease sounds incredible [trust me, I looked it up], I don't feel like I necessarily have to be volunteering in a super intense situation trying to save lives to feel successful. I really loved the type of volunteering I did at the orphanage- helping out but also being able to have my own life in the community. (Also, I'm currently done working with children. I'll be doing that this summer as well and I just need a break.)
- I am really interested in going to a country where the primary language is not English. Or another language is spoken prominently, at least.
- Ideally, I'd go somewhere that is still close to Europe, so I could maybe travel there after volunteering.
- And I didn't want it ("it" being the flight, program, living costs, etc.) to be extraordinarily expensive.
Somehow [don't ask me how], this all lead me to determining a location: Israel! Now I just had to find a program that was affordable, open to 18-year olds, and sounded interesting....
Idea 1: Eilat Hotel Volunteer
Summary: A 5-month program where I'd live/work in a hotel in a southern resort city with a bunch of other volunteers from all over. Hebrew lessons would be included, as well as a public transportation pass.
I quickly ditched this idea as a 5-month long commitment was just too limiting for me.
Idea/Attempt 2: Kibbutz Volunteer
Haha, yes, "attempt" is the key word here. This plan was almost a go, until about two weeks into the process of applying....
A kibbutz is a uniquely Israeli socialist-type community (all members work for the community itself). Historically agriculturally-based, many kibbutzim have branched out into tourism and industrial work. But the majority accept volunteers for 2-6 months at a time simply because there are more jobs than members available to do them. Living there while working is free (room and board all payed for), but you make no money and the work is often quite demanding, with long hours and can often be tedious [for example, stuffing pillows in a hot, windowless factory for eight hours a day? No thanks]. But there are always lots of volunteers who come from all over. Plus the members of the kibbutz are more often than not pretty interesting. It's supposed to be hard work, a bit isolated, but a lot of fun, too.
Anyway, after sending in all my forms in record time (and my full placement payment), they informed me that I was apparently ineligible for the program. Because of my age: 18.5 instead of 19. Get this- all kibbutzim welcome volunteers aged 18-35, except for Americans and Canadians. WE have to be 19 in order to join.
Anyway, after some frustrating back and forth with the Israeli office leader (who is very firm in her "no exceptions" rule), it became apparent that being a kibbutz volunteer just wasn't going to work out right now. Which maybe was for the best, as it required me to step back, leading me to-
WHAT I'LL ACTUALLY BE DOING. (Just got confirmation!)
Idea 3: Ecotourism Development in Nazareth
Third time's the charm, huh?
I'm going to be volunteering at the Fauzi Azar Inn for two months, beginning February 2nd.
Third time's the charm, huh?
I'm going to be volunteering at the Fauzi Azar Inn for two months, beginning February 2nd.
The Fauzi Azar Inn is a beautiful 200 year old Arab mansion that was converted into an inn in 2005. The Fauzi Azar Inn promotes ecotourism in Nazareth and works with the community to contribute to its development in various areas. The inn uses local resources to create new work places, to raise the self- image of the local community, and to encourage economic growth while preserving the universal values of natural and cultural preservation. The aim is to introduce in Nazareth, which is the largest Arab city in Israel, a new model of tourism and thus "bridge the gap" between Arabs and Jews. At the same time the Inn is creating a model for increased tourism along the Israel National Trail (Shvil Israel) and the recently completed Jesus Trail in order to promote both trails and the corresponding economic potential.
Volunteering duties include hosting guests and reception work, working in the kitchen, maintaining hiking trails, and guiding tours of the old city of Nazareth. I'll be sharing a nearby apartment with the other volunteers (three others, I think?), and have all the time when I'm not working to explore the city of Nazareth, not to mention the rest of Israel.
Nazareth appears to be a very interesting part of Israel. It is located in Northern Israel, near the Sea of Galilee, and is supposed to be very beautiful. The city contains the largest population of Arabs (both Christian and Muslim) in the country, yet there is still a Jewish presence in the north of the city, which should make for a complex melting pot of cultures, opinions, and ideas.
Yeah, I'm going to work in a renovated mansion, bridge the gap between cultures, and meet a bunch of cool travelers. No biggie.
After
After volunteering through the end of March, I'll take some time to explore the parts of Israel I haven't gotten to yet (maybe hit up Egypt for a bit?) and then fly over to Western Europe [finally the European aspect of my trip comes into play]. I'm free until the beginning of June, at which time I need to come back in order to work over the summer as a camp counselor, so I could potentially be in Europe for six weeks or so. Clearly the last few months of my free time need to be molded into shape a bit more, but there's plenty of time for that.
I'm just incredibly relieved to finally have a semblance of a plan for the rest of the year.
SO. EXCITED. And I should probably start getting all my crap together.
xoxo, Cleome
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sea Turtle Conservation- Through My Eyes
Alright, here´s all that drama I promised. I hope you´re sitting down....
The Beginning
So when I arrived at the project {after a pretty cool tropical boat ride, in which we saw many birds, and some capuchin monkeys}, there were only three other volunteers (two of which arrived at the same time as me). However a group of four "research assistants"- essentially long-term volunteers who had slightly greater responsibilities/freedom than the normal volunteers {and paid slightly less to be there}- were living there as well. Also present were about four Costa Rican staff members, who came and went as they pleased, but somehow managed the project (? <-- the research assistants were sort of bitter about how much organization the management lacked).
I have to admit that that first week was tough for me. One of the volunteers left three days after I arrived, so only two others remained; the research assistants had been there together for over a month, so they had a sort of clique that I sometimes felt awkward trying to break into, and I was still getting used to the idea of being away from home for so long. There were definitely moments where I wished I´d never signed up, but luckily those were relatively brief. {It helped that the beach was beautiful, untouristed, and clean; the stars were plentiful and bright every night, and chilling in the hammocks was incredibly relaxing.}
The People Make All the Difference
Just at the point where I was getting extremely sick of the work, though, the second wave of volunteers showed up, and I made six great new friends. Honestly, it is partly the people you´re with that make the experience. I bonded with the two other volunteers that stayed my first week (a very cool Australian couple who were completing a South American journey before heading to Canada for winter work), but as they were almost 10 years older, and traveling together, I didn´t really have a person to hang out/bond with. But from the beginning of my second week, volunteers just kept appearing. They were all youngish {though I was definitely still the youngest}, very friendly, and had great stories. Plus there were finally enough people to actually do activities with. I was also being included more in the research assistant "group" becuase I already knew the ropes {it was a weird feeling to be considered "experienced" after just one week, but compared to the newbies I suppose I was}.
I made friends with people from all over the world: Australia, Germany, England, Sweden, France, Spain, the U.S., and, of course, Costa Rica. And most of them were more than happy to invite me to come drop in for a weekend when they learned I´d be traveling through Europe this next Spring {yes Nina, Ronja, Vicki, and Violetta, I am coming to Germany ;)}. What was pretty surprising to me was that 1) there weren´t more people from the USA {the girl who was there for my first three days was the only other American while I was there} and 2) English was the most commonly spoken language.
¿Habla Usted Español?
I went into the project expecting to have to speak Spanish from Day 1. I certainly was thrust into speaking it as soon as I stepped off the plane in San Jose- trying to find a taxi, get to the hostel, buy dinner, set up a ride to the WIDECAST office, buy a bus ticket, etc. And WOW did I forget how exhausting trying to speak another language is. When I met the Australian couple at the WIDECAST office Monday morning, it was so relieving to be able to communicate myself articulately without having to consciously think over what I was trying to say. I actually felt lighter, I was so happy to be able to speak in my native tongue. But when I arrived at the beach, all the research assistants spoke English, and as the days went on, I realized Spanish was certainly not the most common language heard at the project. The locals and permanent Costa Rican staff talked to each other in Spanish, but were relatively separate from all the English-speakers {at least for my first week there}. I had maybe two conversations in Spanish a day, and it certainly wasn´t necessary to do so. But even so, I believe that small exposure to Spanish did help in the transition to speaking another language. It was a great way to balance {re}learning/trying to speak another language, while being able to regress to English during downtime. And funnily enough, while I felt my Spanish was still very rough and basic, most of the Costa Ricans told me I spoke very well- which I suppose may be true in comparison to the majority of the volunteers that they normally get, who don´t speak a lick of the language.
*Funny story: when being picked up by the taxi driver to be taken to catch the boat out to the beach, the person from the project who was supposed to meet with us was late. It fell to me to communicate with the taxi driver {in Spanish}, and express to him that I and the other volunteers were going to look for something to eat before we left for the dock. When the project manager did arrive, they asked the taxi driver how he was able to communicate with us, if none of us really spoke Spanish. The driver replied that no, communication had been fine because luckily I was an "española," a girl from Spain. Flattering, but so unbelievable.
Now for what I generally did all day.
A Day in the Life {of a Turtle-Saving Volunteer}
8:30am- wake up and grab a plate from the kitchen to go eat at the Rancho (shelter with picnic tables/main gathering spot); chat with everyone
9:30- clean plate and check the daily schedule for when I´m on hatchery duty during the day, as well as which chore (cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, or Rancho, or raking) I´ve got; read in the hammock
10:30- go for a swim with others (after applying sunscreen of course, Mom); read on the beach
12:00-2:00pm- hatchery duty {lunch was brought out by another volunteer}
2:30- run on the beach
3:30- {cold} shower; hammock time for writing in journal/reading; check night schedule; change the rehab center turtle´s water
5:00- gather in Rancho with other volunteers to talk/play cards/kill time until dinner
6:00- dinner; talking time
7:30- get ready for bed, set alarm for {patrol} duty
8:00- sleep
11:15- wake up bleary-eyed; get ready for patrol
11:30- fill up water; meet patrol group in Rancho; head out
12-4:30am- night patrol
5:00- fall into bed; sleep
Day restarts
*Obviously that´s a really generalized schedule. Some days I wouldn´t have late-night work, and other days I´d be on hatchery from 6pm-12am- it just depended. Also, I did get one day off (since I stayed more than a week). Oh, and some days the volunteers would go on adventures, whether it was a walk to the river at one end of the beach, or a canoe ride with some of the local {questionable} men. We managed to amuse ourselves. And we even got to cook a few times! I personally helped in making pasta bake, hummus, and an amazing lime cake. I guess it was overall a pretty good time. In a pretty gorgeous location. With pretty cool people. Sigh.
The Good...
So I bet you´re wondering if I actually got to see any turtles, or hatchlings, or tracks at least. The answer is: YES, to all of those. Which maybe seems like a no-brainer considering I went to a beach specifically to see all of those things, but at the time I was there, seeing an actual large turtle- not to mention one that actually stayed on the beach to lay eggs- was pretty rare. There were only something like four turtles who came up and laid in my entire 2 1/2 weeks there.
But yeah, I was on hatchery duty twice when a nest hatched (both were green turtle babies- the prettiest hatchlings that appear on Pacuare Beach)- my first and last hatchery shifts ever, actually. The first time they hatched, I was really not expecting/wanting it to happen. I had been pinching myself to stay awake (I had the 10pm-2am shift), and I decided to check the nests one last time before calling it a night. As I entered the hatchery with my red light on, I just got this feeling like "oh shit, something happened." And sure enough, the first nest I shined my light on illuminated a cage literally overflowing with baby turtles. I was so freaked out and unsure of what to do, that I left the hatchery unguarded {a no-no} and ran to find someone, anyone, who would be able to help. Luckily, since I only had 10 minutes left in my shift, the next person on duty was getting ready to head out, so I grabbed them and we hurried back to deal with the nest. Unfortunately, the turtles had decided to dig up out of the nest on the side of the protective cage, meaning some surfaced outside the cage and were roaming free throughout the hatchery when we arrived. After rounding up the free turtles {a somewhat freaky experience, as you had to make sure you weren´t about to step on them while searching the pitch-black hatchery. Plus I was unsure of how much pressure I could apply to the turtles without killing/maiming them...}, we grabbed the rest of the turtles out of the enclosed cage and placed them all in a bucket. Then we did the measuring and weighing, as well as counting how many there were {something like 93 of them, yeah, TONS}. Finally, we walked a few feet from the entrance of the hatchery, made sure there wasn´t too much debris around, and took the turtles out of the bucket one by one. Because it was dark out, the turtles quickly disappeared from view, and they actually made it to the sea much faster than I would have ever expected. Within 10 minutes, they were all gone.
The second time was essentially the same as the first, except I actually knew what to do.
Now for the really dramatic retelling of the night patrol I saw my first (and last) grown, laying turtle: ´Twas a dark and stormy night... okay, not that dramatic, but in all honesty the weather was awful. One of the only times there was a sustained, heavy rain. And thanks to the storm clouds, it was pitch black on the beach {oh, it´s probably important to point out that when you´re on patrol you don´t actually turn your light on unless you think you´ve seen turtle tracks}. So I was on patrol with this guy named William, and we were about an hour in, having a stilted conversation {not only was he German, but he was also relatively quiet/antisocial}, when he flicked his light on and gestured for me to be quiet. He then went up to the edge of where the sand ended and the forest began, and rushed back to me, saying that we´d found a turtle! We´d come across it when it was in the process of digging it´s nest, so we had to wait until it was done digging to do anything {meaning we got to stand around in the rain getting cold, yay}, but finally it was time for action. I really did feel like some sort of weird ninja, thanks to my all-black outfit and combat-like boots. William held the egg bag under the tail, while I recorded where we´d found the turtle, etc. Once it was done laying (about 15 minutes), we measured its shell (essentially a meter by a meter), and William tagged its flippers. Though we wanted to rush back to the hatchery right then, we had to wait for the turtle to make its way safely back to the sea. It took for what felt like forever, but then I remembered she´d just given birth and I was cursing her for not moving very fast... then I felt bad. But from the time we saw the turtle initially to when it returned to the sea was roughly an hour and 30 minutes. We then raced back to the hatchery where a nest was dug, and the eggs were put inside. Then we went back to the cabins an hour earlier than we were supposed to, to shower and sleep- shhh, don´t tell.
And the Not-So-Good...
From the way I´ve described it above, it might sound like exciting things happened all the time, and every time you worked was fun and amazing. Not true. While overall I greatly enjoyed volunteering with the turtle, I did have four main complaints I can pinpoint about my personal experience with this project: the bugs, the schedule, lack of sleep, and the food. {Future volunteers, take note.}
-Bugs: WOW was I attacked by bugs. Not only mosquitoes (which I knew were going to be bad), but the sand flies as well, seemed intensely attracted to me. I feel like I was one of the worst off, in terms of the severity and sheer amount of my bug bites. They itched so bad- especially at night. And everyone had to comment on how bit up I was....
-Schedule: The way the project was set up (and its isolated location) meant that during the day you were pretty much left to your own devices- which was really nice once the next wave of volunteers showed up, because it left lots of time to talk and hang out. But then at night you were either on 4 or 6 hours of hatchery, or 4 (really 5) hours of night patrol. And that schedule just got really old about 1 1/2 weeks in. You couldn´t really get away and do anything, so it just felt like the same thing day in and day out (which it was). In that sense I was more than ready for a change in scenery.
-Lack of sleep: okay, so it´s not like I was extremely sleep deprived or anything. And you could certainly make up for a shitty night´s sleep by dozing in a hammock during the day. But I guess I got sick of more the lack of uninterrupted sleep. Because, while I´d end up getting between 7 and 9 hours each night, I´d have to go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 9:30pm to go to the hatchery for 4 hours, and then get back in bed around 2:30am, for example. It was just a really screwy schedule. Haha, and now I´m so used to it that I´m exhausted by 8pm, but then wake up at 6am feeling completely rested, since I was able to just sleep through the whole night. I really need to fix that....
-Food: so unfortunately Costa Rica is not know for its food. Coffee, yes {and that reputation is definitely deserved- I didn´t drink coffee until I got here, and now it´s a daily necessity}. And it wasn´t that the food at the project tasted bad or anything; the cook was decent. I (and everyone else who´d been there for more than three days) was simply sick of the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, the insane amount of carbs, and the lack of variety. Honestly, we ate the same thing for breakfast every day- gallo pinto (rice and beans), a pancake or two, and a small side of scrambled eggs. Lunch was the only time rice didn´t show up on the plate (usually then it was either pasta or fried dough with corn in it <-- blech), and dinner was generally rice, some sort of meat, and maybe a canned vegetable. While the flavors were fine, they were also really bland, so I became best friends with the hot sauce there {it actually ran out the day I left, so perfect timing, right?}. Oh, and we only saw food at those three meals, so if you got hungry in between, sucked for you. Or you could beg a local to cut you down a coconut for a snack ;) But man am I loving my new found access to fruits and veggies.
The End (!)
Haha, so if you´ve actually made it through that extremely long post, congratulations! You now know the details of my (almost) three weeks as a turtle savior in a {not-so-concise} nutshell.
But I had to get it all out before I can start talking about my life now.
Gotta stay chronological.
xoxo, Cleome
The Beginning
So when I arrived at the project {after a pretty cool tropical boat ride, in which we saw many birds, and some capuchin monkeys}, there were only three other volunteers (two of which arrived at the same time as me). However a group of four "research assistants"- essentially long-term volunteers who had slightly greater responsibilities/freedom than the normal volunteers {and paid slightly less to be there}- were living there as well. Also present were about four Costa Rican staff members, who came and went as they pleased, but somehow managed the project (? <-- the research assistants were sort of bitter about how much organization the management lacked).
I have to admit that that first week was tough for me. One of the volunteers left three days after I arrived, so only two others remained; the research assistants had been there together for over a month, so they had a sort of clique that I sometimes felt awkward trying to break into, and I was still getting used to the idea of being away from home for so long. There were definitely moments where I wished I´d never signed up, but luckily those were relatively brief. {It helped that the beach was beautiful, untouristed, and clean; the stars were plentiful and bright every night, and chilling in the hammocks was incredibly relaxing.}
The People Make All the Difference
Just at the point where I was getting extremely sick of the work, though, the second wave of volunteers showed up, and I made six great new friends. Honestly, it is partly the people you´re with that make the experience. I bonded with the two other volunteers that stayed my first week (a very cool Australian couple who were completing a South American journey before heading to Canada for winter work), but as they were almost 10 years older, and traveling together, I didn´t really have a person to hang out/bond with. But from the beginning of my second week, volunteers just kept appearing. They were all youngish {though I was definitely still the youngest}, very friendly, and had great stories. Plus there were finally enough people to actually do activities with. I was also being included more in the research assistant "group" becuase I already knew the ropes {it was a weird feeling to be considered "experienced" after just one week, but compared to the newbies I suppose I was}.
I made friends with people from all over the world: Australia, Germany, England, Sweden, France, Spain, the U.S., and, of course, Costa Rica. And most of them were more than happy to invite me to come drop in for a weekend when they learned I´d be traveling through Europe this next Spring {yes Nina, Ronja, Vicki, and Violetta, I am coming to Germany ;)}. What was pretty surprising to me was that 1) there weren´t more people from the USA {the girl who was there for my first three days was the only other American while I was there} and 2) English was the most commonly spoken language.
¿Habla Usted Español?
I went into the project expecting to have to speak Spanish from Day 1. I certainly was thrust into speaking it as soon as I stepped off the plane in San Jose- trying to find a taxi, get to the hostel, buy dinner, set up a ride to the WIDECAST office, buy a bus ticket, etc. And WOW did I forget how exhausting trying to speak another language is. When I met the Australian couple at the WIDECAST office Monday morning, it was so relieving to be able to communicate myself articulately without having to consciously think over what I was trying to say. I actually felt lighter, I was so happy to be able to speak in my native tongue. But when I arrived at the beach, all the research assistants spoke English, and as the days went on, I realized Spanish was certainly not the most common language heard at the project. The locals and permanent Costa Rican staff talked to each other in Spanish, but were relatively separate from all the English-speakers {at least for my first week there}. I had maybe two conversations in Spanish a day, and it certainly wasn´t necessary to do so. But even so, I believe that small exposure to Spanish did help in the transition to speaking another language. It was a great way to balance {re}learning/trying to speak another language, while being able to regress to English during downtime. And funnily enough, while I felt my Spanish was still very rough and basic, most of the Costa Ricans told me I spoke very well- which I suppose may be true in comparison to the majority of the volunteers that they normally get, who don´t speak a lick of the language.
*Funny story: when being picked up by the taxi driver to be taken to catch the boat out to the beach, the person from the project who was supposed to meet with us was late. It fell to me to communicate with the taxi driver {in Spanish}, and express to him that I and the other volunteers were going to look for something to eat before we left for the dock. When the project manager did arrive, they asked the taxi driver how he was able to communicate with us, if none of us really spoke Spanish. The driver replied that no, communication had been fine because luckily I was an "española," a girl from Spain. Flattering, but so unbelievable.
Now for what I generally did all day.
A Day in the Life {of a Turtle-Saving Volunteer}
8:30am- wake up and grab a plate from the kitchen to go eat at the Rancho (shelter with picnic tables/main gathering spot); chat with everyone
9:30- clean plate and check the daily schedule for when I´m on hatchery duty during the day, as well as which chore (cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, or Rancho, or raking) I´ve got; read in the hammock
10:30- go for a swim with others (after applying sunscreen of course, Mom); read on the beach
12:00-2:00pm- hatchery duty {lunch was brought out by another volunteer}
2:30- run on the beach
3:30- {cold} shower; hammock time for writing in journal/reading; check night schedule; change the rehab center turtle´s water
5:00- gather in Rancho with other volunteers to talk/play cards/kill time until dinner
6:00- dinner; talking time
7:30- get ready for bed, set alarm for {patrol} duty
8:00- sleep
11:15- wake up bleary-eyed; get ready for patrol
11:30- fill up water; meet patrol group in Rancho; head out
12-4:30am- night patrol
5:00- fall into bed; sleep
Day restarts
*Obviously that´s a really generalized schedule. Some days I wouldn´t have late-night work, and other days I´d be on hatchery from 6pm-12am- it just depended. Also, I did get one day off (since I stayed more than a week). Oh, and some days the volunteers would go on adventures, whether it was a walk to the river at one end of the beach, or a canoe ride with some of the local {questionable} men. We managed to amuse ourselves. And we even got to cook a few times! I personally helped in making pasta bake, hummus, and an amazing lime cake. I guess it was overall a pretty good time. In a pretty gorgeous location. With pretty cool people. Sigh.
The Good...
So I bet you´re wondering if I actually got to see any turtles, or hatchlings, or tracks at least. The answer is: YES, to all of those. Which maybe seems like a no-brainer considering I went to a beach specifically to see all of those things, but at the time I was there, seeing an actual large turtle- not to mention one that actually stayed on the beach to lay eggs- was pretty rare. There were only something like four turtles who came up and laid in my entire 2 1/2 weeks there.
But yeah, I was on hatchery duty twice when a nest hatched (both were green turtle babies- the prettiest hatchlings that appear on Pacuare Beach)- my first and last hatchery shifts ever, actually. The first time they hatched, I was really not expecting/wanting it to happen. I had been pinching myself to stay awake (I had the 10pm-2am shift), and I decided to check the nests one last time before calling it a night. As I entered the hatchery with my red light on, I just got this feeling like "oh shit, something happened." And sure enough, the first nest I shined my light on illuminated a cage literally overflowing with baby turtles. I was so freaked out and unsure of what to do, that I left the hatchery unguarded {a no-no} and ran to find someone, anyone, who would be able to help. Luckily, since I only had 10 minutes left in my shift, the next person on duty was getting ready to head out, so I grabbed them and we hurried back to deal with the nest. Unfortunately, the turtles had decided to dig up out of the nest on the side of the protective cage, meaning some surfaced outside the cage and were roaming free throughout the hatchery when we arrived. After rounding up the free turtles {a somewhat freaky experience, as you had to make sure you weren´t about to step on them while searching the pitch-black hatchery. Plus I was unsure of how much pressure I could apply to the turtles without killing/maiming them...}, we grabbed the rest of the turtles out of the enclosed cage and placed them all in a bucket. Then we did the measuring and weighing, as well as counting how many there were {something like 93 of them, yeah, TONS}. Finally, we walked a few feet from the entrance of the hatchery, made sure there wasn´t too much debris around, and took the turtles out of the bucket one by one. Because it was dark out, the turtles quickly disappeared from view, and they actually made it to the sea much faster than I would have ever expected. Within 10 minutes, they were all gone.
The second time was essentially the same as the first, except I actually knew what to do.
Now for the really dramatic retelling of the night patrol I saw my first (and last) grown, laying turtle: ´Twas a dark and stormy night... okay, not that dramatic, but in all honesty the weather was awful. One of the only times there was a sustained, heavy rain. And thanks to the storm clouds, it was pitch black on the beach {oh, it´s probably important to point out that when you´re on patrol you don´t actually turn your light on unless you think you´ve seen turtle tracks}. So I was on patrol with this guy named William, and we were about an hour in, having a stilted conversation {not only was he German, but he was also relatively quiet/antisocial}, when he flicked his light on and gestured for me to be quiet. He then went up to the edge of where the sand ended and the forest began, and rushed back to me, saying that we´d found a turtle! We´d come across it when it was in the process of digging it´s nest, so we had to wait until it was done digging to do anything {meaning we got to stand around in the rain getting cold, yay}, but finally it was time for action. I really did feel like some sort of weird ninja, thanks to my all-black outfit and combat-like boots. William held the egg bag under the tail, while I recorded where we´d found the turtle, etc. Once it was done laying (about 15 minutes), we measured its shell (essentially a meter by a meter), and William tagged its flippers. Though we wanted to rush back to the hatchery right then, we had to wait for the turtle to make its way safely back to the sea. It took for what felt like forever, but then I remembered she´d just given birth and I was cursing her for not moving very fast... then I felt bad. But from the time we saw the turtle initially to when it returned to the sea was roughly an hour and 30 minutes. We then raced back to the hatchery where a nest was dug, and the eggs were put inside. Then we went back to the cabins an hour earlier than we were supposed to, to shower and sleep- shhh, don´t tell.
And the Not-So-Good...
From the way I´ve described it above, it might sound like exciting things happened all the time, and every time you worked was fun and amazing. Not true. While overall I greatly enjoyed volunteering with the turtle, I did have four main complaints I can pinpoint about my personal experience with this project: the bugs, the schedule, lack of sleep, and the food. {Future volunteers, take note.}
-Bugs: WOW was I attacked by bugs. Not only mosquitoes (which I knew were going to be bad), but the sand flies as well, seemed intensely attracted to me. I feel like I was one of the worst off, in terms of the severity and sheer amount of my bug bites. They itched so bad- especially at night. And everyone had to comment on how bit up I was....
-Schedule: The way the project was set up (and its isolated location) meant that during the day you were pretty much left to your own devices- which was really nice once the next wave of volunteers showed up, because it left lots of time to talk and hang out. But then at night you were either on 4 or 6 hours of hatchery, or 4 (really 5) hours of night patrol. And that schedule just got really old about 1 1/2 weeks in. You couldn´t really get away and do anything, so it just felt like the same thing day in and day out (which it was). In that sense I was more than ready for a change in scenery.
-Lack of sleep: okay, so it´s not like I was extremely sleep deprived or anything. And you could certainly make up for a shitty night´s sleep by dozing in a hammock during the day. But I guess I got sick of more the lack of uninterrupted sleep. Because, while I´d end up getting between 7 and 9 hours each night, I´d have to go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 9:30pm to go to the hatchery for 4 hours, and then get back in bed around 2:30am, for example. It was just a really screwy schedule. Haha, and now I´m so used to it that I´m exhausted by 8pm, but then wake up at 6am feeling completely rested, since I was able to just sleep through the whole night. I really need to fix that....
-Food: so unfortunately Costa Rica is not know for its food. Coffee, yes {and that reputation is definitely deserved- I didn´t drink coffee until I got here, and now it´s a daily necessity}. And it wasn´t that the food at the project tasted bad or anything; the cook was decent. I (and everyone else who´d been there for more than three days) was simply sick of the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, the insane amount of carbs, and the lack of variety. Honestly, we ate the same thing for breakfast every day- gallo pinto (rice and beans), a pancake or two, and a small side of scrambled eggs. Lunch was the only time rice didn´t show up on the plate (usually then it was either pasta or fried dough with corn in it <-- blech), and dinner was generally rice, some sort of meat, and maybe a canned vegetable. While the flavors were fine, they were also really bland, so I became best friends with the hot sauce there {it actually ran out the day I left, so perfect timing, right?}. Oh, and we only saw food at those three meals, so if you got hungry in between, sucked for you. Or you could beg a local to cut you down a coconut for a snack ;) But man am I loving my new found access to fruits and veggies.
The End (!)
Haha, so if you´ve actually made it through that extremely long post, congratulations! You now know the details of my (almost) three weeks as a turtle savior in a {not-so-concise} nutshell.
But I had to get it all out before I can start talking about my life now.
Gotta stay chronological.
xoxo, Cleome
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Grand Plan
So now that we've introduced ourselves, I may as well tell you why I even have this blog in the first place.
As was probably apparent from the first post, I will be taking a gap year beginning this coming September. For those unfamiliar with what a gap year is, let me (errr, Wikipedia) quick define it for you:
As was probably apparent from the first post, I will be taking a gap year beginning this coming September. For those unfamiliar with what a gap year is, let me (errr, Wikipedia) quick define it for you:
A gap year is an expression associated with taking time out to travel between life stages. It is also known as a sabbatical, time off, time out and a year out, referring to a period of time (not necessarily 12 months) in which people disengage from curricular education and/or work and undertake activities such as travelling, volunteering or working abroad. Traditional gap years are among individuals who have ceased secondary education and intend to commence tertiary education.
(Source)
Yep, that's pretty much exactly what I'll be doing.
Without further ado, let me present the skeleton version of my gap year plans. (Skeleton version because I honestly have no idea what will happen when I'm actually embroiled in these activities. What is below is the best prediction I can come up with- essentially just places and a rough timeline.)
September 2012
Leave around the 15th for my first destination- Costa Rica! Begin volunteering.
October 2012
Costa Rica, volunteering.
Costa Rica, volunteering.
November 2012
Costa Rica, volunteering.
Costa Rica, volunteering.
December 2012
Volunteering until the middle of the month, and then a beach vacay with the family (who's coming down to visit!).
Volunteering until the middle of the month, and then a beach vacay with the family (who's coming down to visit!).
January 2013
Back home to see people/relax/prepare for Europe. And set up a job for the summer. Unfortunately I'll be returning from six months of glorious summer in the dead of winter... blech.
Back home to see people/relax/prepare for Europe. And set up a job for the summer. Unfortunately I'll be returning from six months of glorious summer in the dead of winter... blech.
February 2013
Off to Europe! I'll be intermixing backpacking/sightseeing with working on organic farms (WOOF). Right now I'm thinking I'll be traveling primarily through France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.
Off to Europe! I'll be intermixing backpacking/sightseeing with working on organic farms (WOOF). Right now I'm thinking I'll be traveling primarily through France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.
March 2013
Europe....
Europe....
April 2013
Europe....
Europe....
May 2013
Europe....
Europe....
June 2013
HOME. Probably work a summer job until I leave for college (more on this later).
And that's the gist.
xoxo, Cleome
HOME. Probably work a summer job until I leave for college (more on this later).
And that's the gist.
xoxo, Cleome
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