Days One and Two: Arriving and Los Chorros. There is nothing like returning to a country that you have so many fond memories of but haven't been to in many years. I felt it as soon as our plane started to descend towards the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica; nostalgia, deep affection, excitement...it hit me suddenly like an emotional tsunami. As we staggered through customs and to the rental car company, our bodies feeling heavy with sleep deprivation, my thoughts kept looping over and over: "I am actually here. I am back. I am here. I am back. I'm finally in Costa again. I AM HERE!"
We got our rental car and drove about an hour north to the town of Grecia. We had chosen this as our first stop because the weather is more manageable than the coast, the town is a nice size (around 17,000), it is surrounded by farmland and has one of the best farmer's markets in the country, it's in a central location that is a good home base for weekend exploration, and everyone we asked said great things about it. We arrived at our Airbnb in Grecia exhausted but exhilarated. We didn't do much that first day besides get groceries and settle into the house.
Our worldschooling adventure started our second day when we went to Los Chorros waterfalls. We hiked on paths washed away by rain, past towering banana plants, through a symphony of insect sounds, climbed over and under trees knocked down by mudslides, and finally reached a spectacular waterfall. We talked about how powerful water can be and the importance of each person taking care of the land (while picking up discarded trash). We talked about hydrology, insect homes, and forest layers. This was in addition to all the subtle lessons learned just from being in a different country, where everyone we encountered spoke Spanish only, where going grocery shopping included stopping at multiple little shops... all of this is so rich with learning!
Later that day Josie, our five year old, practiced writing and spelling by documenting the day in her travel journal. This is an amazing education my kids are getting; I'm so grateful we are able to do this and that my partner is willing to go along with my wild ideas!
¡Una vida vivida con miedo es una vida vivida a medias!
Days Three and Four: Exploring the town of Grecia and our neighborhood, San Isidro.
We went on two urban hikes, one through rain, and I had my first real Costa Rican gallo pinto in over ten years! My tummy was happy, my spirit is happy. Our neighborhood is surrounded by farms. Everyday multiple tractors go up and down our road, carrying harvested coffee cherries and farm workers in their trailers. There are banana trees growing everywhere but in people's yards and on the side of the road, the farms are all coffee and sugar cane in this area (I believe all the big banana farms are closer to Limón on the east coast, that's where they were historically).
There is an interesting mix of expats and farm workers here. And when I say "interesting" I mean kind of uncomfortable. We've been involved in the online expat community in Costa Rica for eight months or so and it has been pretty disturbing to me. Many of the expats are Trump supporters and are completely unwilling to look at issues like ethical traveling or racial dynamics. For example, when a woman in the States asked about moving to Limón, an area where the majority of black Costa Ricans live today because of segregation laws that forced black folks to live there until 1949 (yes, 1949), the responses were almost entirely negative with one person even describing it as "ghetto." I made a general comment about how I liked living there years ago and to take feedback about Limón with a grain of salt as colorism is often at play. (I distinctly remember Ticos warning me not to live there because it 'wasn't safe due to all the black people.') I didn't call anyone out, I didn't use the word "racism," I was very careful to keep it in a non-accusatory tone. I was immediately jumped on with comments like, "don't bring your liberal divisiveness to this country," "It disgusts me how everyone makes everything about race now," and a whole lot of personal attacks insulting my intelligence. Gross.
My impression is that many expats are here just to live like kings on the cheap, to use this country for its great weather and beautiful scenery. If you asked them I'm guessing they would say they love the culture here, but I tend to think what they would mean is, 'I love how the culture serves me.' They are here to consume, not to contribute. Some of them don't even try to learn Spanish! I feel like my white skin makes me part of the group of invading colonizers and that does not feel good. Separating myself from those people is a priority and something I'll have to keep working on.
Worldschooling was primarily focused on learning about the birds of CR and writing out what we learned. Did you know there are over 50 kinds of hummingbirds and 6 kinds of toucans here?? We also talked about coffee and sugarcane farming as we walked past farms and saw farm workers ending their long work day. All the tractors on the road were a dream come true for Ace. Tomorrow feels like a turning point, it's time to settle into living our regular lives here. What is that going to look like?
Days 5-6: La Feria and Finding Our New Normal Our new normal in Grecia is pretty similar to life in California --trips to the farmer's market, dance parties, playing outside in the yard, studying/working-- just totally different!
La Feria de Grecia is one of the best farmer's markets we have ever been to! Which is saying a lot since we come from the central valley of California, an agricultural Mecca. We got quite the haul! 🤤🤤🤤 (When your tummy starts getting weird and it's a Friday, you put your farmer's market yogurt drink in a wine glass, lol)
Day Seven: Botanical Garden in Sarchi What an utterly amazing day. We spent hours at the botanical garden and I could have spent hours more, it was a plant lovers dream.
The botanical garden took up most of our day but we did see a bit of the town too. Sarchi is known for it's beautifully painted ox carts. If you've been to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama...you might be expecting Costa Rica to be similarly artful. It's not. Sarchi is an exception though, the lampposts, streets signs and even government offices are painted in the style of the ox carts. I really enjoyed it. The town also has a nice playground (better than Grecia) and a public pool. It would be a good option for a worldschooling family!
On the bus ride home we had a rich learning experience. Josie and I were sitting next to the one empty seat on an extremely full bus (people barely had room to stand) and we soon realized that no one wanted to sit next to us. We were the only white people on the bus, that's the only thing I can attribute it too. It brought up a good conversation with Josie about how POC in the States experience this kind of thing all the time except we have the privilege of feeling totally safe in that situation, and that in our family we know we can't tell what someone is like by looking at them. (Age appropriate 5 year old stuff; I fully recognize how different our brief experience was to what POC have to deal with, for many, many reasons and would not call what we experienced racism in any way, it wasn't, who knows why they wouldn't sit next to us? It was just a good launching point for discussion. We also had a long talk about colonization the other day and talked about how it would be understandable if people didn't trust us because of our skin color and ancestry.)
This lesson around 'difference does not mean bad' is something we've talked about a million times before but I think being the ones who were seen as 'different' (in whatever way) made it much more impactful for her. Our feelings were hurt--it was very noticeable no one was sitting next to us--and that was actually a good thing. Traveling when I was young made a huge impact on my worldview and ability to empathize with others, I want that for my kids too. We are so grateful to be able to travel and have these learning experiences.
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