Photons

A flurry of emotions as we wrap up our sojourn in this blessed town known as Monteverde. Though it’s depressing to think about what lies ahead, I feel like this place and these people will forever occupy my heart with every bit of cloying, wet warmth and vibrancy that this forest has offered to us. The gratitude, serenity, and kinship I have cultivated in myself as a vessel of planet Earth can never, ever be erased.

I spent today soaking up everything I could - traipsing through the forest barefoot with a dear friend, shaking aster particles into the twilight, caressing light traps, sleeping with bats at a pitch black waterfall lagoon, slithering through hollowed (and hallowed) figs, and - for the final time - eating plantains and gallo pinto on the Estacion porch.

-386

Ziplining through the clouds of Monteverde - an absolutely unforgettable experience. I can still remember the enveloping mist, the constant whir of the line, the green-black expanse beneath me. Felt really, really alive.

-385

Today was…nuts. I had been waiting on the side of the road by Sendero Quechua for Pati to come pick me up when a kind-faced man drove up to me:

Farmer: “Hola chino, quiere ver algo impresionante?”

Me: “Pues, claro!”

It only dawned on me about 5 minutes into the car ride, as we descended down a steep slope valley I never even knew existed, that I just agreed to hop in a car with a stranger to go see something. And I had forgotten what “impresionante” meant. Uh. Did I mention he was kind-faced?

Anyways. After a bit of small talk I realized we were going to see something truly spectacular. His cerda was about ready to burst and he needed an extra pair of hands, literally! When we arrived she had already started farrowing - just in time too!

The farmer delivered three adorable little piglets, and by this time, I was kicking myself for having forgot to charge my camera the night before.

But, maybe that’s a good thing considering where my hands were about to go. About an hour later, the farmer told me there was one piglet left, and asked if I wanted to try. Seeing as how I would never, ever have the chance to do this again, I of course obliged! I had no idea it would mean that I would actually have to go…inside….but, with encouragement from the farmer, it all worked out.

After 10 minutes of mindless, sweaty groping, I flipped out as soon as I felt its little head around my thumb and forefingers. With a bit of effort (and a whole lot of lubricant) the little guy slipped out pretty easily. Mama cerda was cool and collected throughout the entire process, quite the trooper!

Overall I was super happy with - and still slightly vexed by - this incredibly random opportunity in husbandry (husbandtunity). Sadly, no photos, except this one from the side of the road prior to my battery dying and this whole thing happening. Maybe some things weren’t meant to be photographed, hahah.

Only in Costa Rica could getting into a car with a strange man lead to a pig birthing! Pura vida, como siempre.

-384

Today while busily working on our research projects, I overheard Benny and Kelsey talking about their mutual love for surfing. Granted, I have no idea what “shredding the gnar” or a “head dip” or a lot of other things were, but it really pleased me to hear people sharing something they were clearly mutually passionate about.

So passionate, that you could tell they were itching to get as far away from this forest as possible and plunge headfirst straight into the Pacific. I’m not sure if I have anything in my life that I pine for so primally in a way that shakes my bones. Something tells me that I really, really should; guess it’s time to look harder!

-383

Sunrise run (graced by Cecropia silhouettes) in the Penas Blancas Valley.

-382

Been poring through these herbarium slides in the Estacion library for the past few hours studying for my plant oral exam, and though its tedious I can’t help but appreciate how lovely these sheets look.

Equal parts organic, sterile, and academic, there’s a stark beauty in seeing these sheets of cellulose pressed into scientific immortality. The antiquated text just perfects it, kind of like translating the Maytenus recondita’s story from the sensual, primal language of the jungle into rigid human typeface.

-381

My Costa Rica experience, thus far pretty golden, just achieved the level of sublime - today, while hiking with Fede, I finally saw my first Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno)!

Even more fortuitously, Fede’s friend Miguel - and my host dad’s brother at that - was nearby with a handy telescope so we could get an even closer look (and snapshot). After that mesmerizing experience, I swung by a Collared Redstart (Myioborus torquatus) nest I had been eying for awhile to find that the little ones had finally hatched!

I got back to the Estacion soaked to the core. After peeling off my mildewed clothes, I told my mom over webcam how overjoyed I was to witness the two events. She told me I was crazy. Maybe true, but I sincerely hope that I can take this vigor and awe for the beauty of life’s most intricate details back home with me in (gulp) three weeks from now.

Though we somehow always get consumed by “the grind”, maybe there’s a way to churn this thing called life out slowly, with purpose and appreciation in every moment.

-380