Pura Vida, Parte I

Pura Vida can mean many things:

• a greeting ("Puravida!" -- "Puravida!")
• how are you?
• to describe someone or something good (he/she/it is very puravida)
• to say, OK/I understand/Gotcha/Cool.
• And in general, just to describe the chilled-out,laid-back style of life here.

So I arrived here on Jan 19th with a backpack and a lot of bug spray. And what was I doing, you ask, on our country's most historic day of my lifetime? Taking my oral Spanish placement examination and receiving the orientation to the Organization for Tropical Studies Global Health Semester. We turned on the TV at 12pm our time (1pm east coast time) and Obama was already "almorzando" -- having lunch.

So far, Costa Rica has not been exactly what I expected. Of course, we are having a far different experience here than your average visitor or tourist. For starters, our first location is in the Palo Verde National Park, which is right in the armpit between the mainland and the Nicoya Peninsula. We are at a biological station sleeping under mosquito nets with cold (ish) showers, but 24-hour wi-fi and an out-the-door view of a protected tropical wetland. It is surprisingly dry in this particular ecosystem at this time of the year - the rainy season begins around April or May, however the 4m received in the actual rainforest is evenly spread throughout the year. The staff plays a soccer game every evening at 5, so I'm gonna have to brush up those 6th grade Girl's League dribbling skills to get my chance at Carlo, our dreamy, 65 year old bus driver. So far, the wildlife I've seen has consisted of many wetland birds (herons, egrets, swallows, ducks) and iguanas the size of my cat (hi Martin!). Oh, and the baby frog that dripped out of the faucet during my shower this evening. We'll move to the two other biological stations owned by the organization, and they will be more similar to what I'd expected. I like seeing this part, too, just to know more about what's here.

These guys do not look happy. "Whutchu lookin at?" he says.

My roommate here is an adorable bona fide sweetie from South Carolina. So I may just bring back a Southern accent, among all the things I pick up down here. Adios for now!