Part 1 - The Cast of Characters
The first couple days of my trip were spent travelling, and going on an “adventure day” with the rest of the volunteers. In addition to the thrill and fear of going ziplining, horseback riding and river tubing all in one day, this proved to be a great time to get to know the people I would be working with for the rest of the week. Let me introduce to you:
The Habitat crew - Wadel, Jeimy and Nolan met us at the airport in hunter green shirts holding signs saying “Habitat para la Humanidad.” We felt like VIPs right off the bat! Their enthusiasm, humor and support made the whole trip go as smoothly as possible. They were our translators, morale boosters, site instructors, tour guides, and overall just amazing people.
The event staff - These were the Sony people who organized our trip and made it all happen. Gisele, Erica J., Sue, and Gene were our fearless leaders and kept track of our schedule and our safety, so we never had to worry about anything but enjoying the trip and getting work done. Wayne was our one-man documentary crew and followed us around all week collecting interviews, shooting photos and videos.
The volunteers:
Cody - resident astronomer, QA tester, and my hero (for removing 2 nasty little ticks I picked up somewhere in the tall grass)
Amelise - marketing guru and Lizano addict
Travis - HR rep with a heart of gold and a pack of Imperials
Gabriel - marine biology correspondent, photo hobbyist and philosopher. By day a sysadmin.
Filomena - my best buddy from Portugal (from the Azores, even, where part of my family is from!). She and I clicked immediately and we were pretty much inseparable the whole trip.
Thai - environment artist and overall super-friendly guy, the first one to introduce himself to me at the airport
Sheldon - movie buff and comedian (also, finance)
Me - If you’re reading this then hopefully you know who I am. Sheldon nicknamed me “Lemon” after Tina Fey’s character on 30 Rock. I think that sums me up pretty well.
And finally there’s Mauricio, our driver extraordinaire, who could probably navigate the countryside with his eyes closed. Without him we would have been lost in the middle of nowhere. He’s a real sweetheart, and greeted me with “mi amiga!” and a big grin whenever we met.
I ended up skipping the river tubing portion of the tour since I didn’t have the proper attire. Also, someone needs to invent Tempur-Pedic horse saddles. Other than that, Adventure Day was a success!
My first night at the Hotel Bolaños Bay was a little adventure of its own. I was awakened by a loud chirping noise by my head, and promptly freaked out over the prospect of some mammal/bird/reptile/chupacabra sharing my room with me. I left one of the lights on to try to get a look at it, but it never appeared. Later on that night a tropical storm rolled in and my ceiling sprung a leak right over the bed. I shoved the mattress over into the corner where my “roommate” was hiding and hoped for the best. I managed to get a recording around 4am, for your listening pleasure:
Costa Rica roommate by psyham