i apologize for the lack of details for my last few days in Gandoca. i realized that my stay here was coming to an end. i wanted to do all the things i always thought i would have more time to do later. i also did not want to be antisocial with my journal when i could be spending time with the german couple, the boys or Sandra. every morning, i usually find myself the first one up (sandra thinks i never sleep). i use that solitary time to go to the beach, sit on the veranda chair/steps or chill in the kitchen to just soak in Gandoca. i have learned so much about their lifestyles and customs. i will really miss the experience when i am at home. in no particular order, here are the brief notes of what has happened since my last post.
italian couple they had training the next day, shift that night and then they moved out. Delaney and Judith saw them in Panama on their last day there.
punta mona anibal and i decided to go to Punta Mona so i could find some pretty shells to bring home. after lunch, we brought lunch to hatchery b for judith and delaney. perla followed us out the backyard so we took her with us. she chased crabs along the beach the whole time. i found sand dollars, oyster shells, a conch shell, crab shells, sea urchins and lots of big shells. anibal broke two of my urchins because he squeezed them. i hope the fragile ones survive the trip home to canada. it was a long walk because i stopped a lot for shells. we saw bats fly out from the trees and over our heads when we crossed the second creek. at punta mona, he showed me howler monkeys and we saw the volunteers from the organic farm collecting papayas. Ani took a nap once we got to the coral reef beach. Perla played with a black dog from the farm. when they were exhausted, i took the burrs and sticks out of her fur while she leaned against me. before we left, Anibal went with Perla to take a dip in the ocean. on our way home, he jogged until he carried wood to bring back. we said hi to delaney and judith at hatchery B. I showered when i got home and it was time for dinner. here's a picture of Pearla.
since i have a picture of Pearla up, this is a picture of the chicken dog (Tigre)
Cocos land bar 2 i go every night unless i have a hatchery shift. i like the music, the tv and the hammock. sometimes, there are a lot of people. sometimes just a few. there´s dancing every night and the boys always work there. i either leave with them when they close the bar or one of them takes me home when i´m so tired that i fall asleep on the hammock. there´s always a breeze and most nights you can see the stars. even when the music is loud, you can hear the frogs and insects in the background. the bar kitty loves me. he jumps onto my lap whenever i'm sitting down, especially if i have pringles. we like to sleep on the hammock together. sometimes he curls beside me, but sometimes he likes to sleep above my head with his claws in the netting.
new housemates, new roommates: musical beds a family from Costa Rica moved into the cabina. Anibal took the single bed in my room. then Judith and Delaney went to Bocas on the same day four new people (Megan, Ashley, and two Israeli girls) came to Sandra's. the boys converted the single bed into a bunk bed in my room. Anibal slept on Delaney's bed for the night. One morning, I had censo at 4:30 am, so Anibal used my bed after i left for playita. it's been like musical beds for the last week. (below is a picture of my room. my bed is cleaned out because i took this picture on my last morning. the Israeli girls are still sleeping haha i'm such a creeper.)
Pj Party in my room. one night, we all took a nap before the bar but when we woke up, we felt sleepy still and chilled in my room until we weren't groggy anymore. we listened to music on Anibal's bed while Delaney occupied my princess tent. in the end, we all went to the bar in our pjs.
Leslie Sandra's granddaughter came to visit because school's were on break for a week. she was very attached to me. we went to the beach a few times to pick shells, walk to the creek, splash in the waves and bury each other. a previous volunteer gave her a jump rope as a present so we played with that, and a yellow smiley face stress ball. her daddy's new girlfriend got her disney princess cards and i taught her how to play memory. she cheated a lot. she's an early riser, so we spent the mornings together, helping sandra and snacking before people woke up for breakfast. janek always stacked up two chairs for her so she could sit properly at the table.
Corona de una Princessa Sandra did my nails for me again. this time, she used red as a base colour and then drew princess tiaras on each nail with white. it had silver sparkles for gemstones.
Dennis is back from the Pacific Coast. he came by when Josh was in Gandoca. I bought a heart necklace for myself and an early birthday present for someone else. He hurt his neck when he moved away from the smoke that was created when he was working with plastic.
Josh it was pouring rain all day. we thought Josh might not come, but he showed up at 5pm. He was so wet, but he didn't want a towel or a change of clothing. he was soaked. dennis was here so he got to buy a necklace. we had dinner and chilled in the kitchen until the rain died down. we went to the bar that night and even though it was late, he walked home that night. he later told me that the water was up to 4 feet high because of all the rain.
4 girls from Bocas Megan was a volunteer that lived at Sandra's 3 years ago. she has been traveling around Central America with her friend Ashley and Gandoca is their last stop. They are both from Saskatoon. In Bocas, they met two Israeli girls that were interested in volunteering, so the four of them came together. the first day they moved in, it rained a lot so we played uno in the kitchen with tea and jam on crackers. Sandra just ripped the case for uno when she wanted to take the cards out. it was really funny.
Arrepas are so yummy! Megan loves them and wanted to learn how to make them after failing miserably with recipes found on google. i was up early, as usual, so i helped mix the flour in an old rice cooker pot. we had to mix it with water until the dough was smooth. then we rolled it out and dropped it in oil to fry.
last hatchery duty Ginnie (another GVN girl) and i had three babies, latecomers from a nest that already had 93 babies. they were so active. i was able to take pictures with no flash by using a red filter on the flashlight. i was working on B. in hatchery A, they had 4 volunteers expecting 10 nests but no babies came. i was really lucky to see hatchlings .
