Before my trip I did a lot of research on what type of shoes were best for the kind of adventure I was going on and the activities I planned to do. Some activities I wanted shoes for included hiking, going on the water, the beach, relaxing and looking nice if I went out at night. I found a lot of different options online, ordered/tried on hundreds of shoes and finally here is what I ended up buying/packing: **Note: I purchased most of my shoes on Amazon or at REI with a prime account you get free 2 day shipping, and they now have free returns for most items. This way I could order the size or shoe I thought I wanted and if I needed something different or didn't want it, returns/refunds were quick and easy. Just a thought if you are an Amazon lover like me!** 1. Teva's Olowahu flip flops (Around $15 on Amazon)- I brought these for comfort, they have been my go to sandals for the last 4 years and I LOVE them, they are comfortable and stylish...the only downfall is the foam is slippery when wet...so far I've worn them just for relaxing around the lodge and easy walks around town...I am happy I packed them. 2. Teva's Original Universal flip flops (Around $25 on Amazon)- LOVE these, they have been great! I can adjust them for comfort or tighter if were doing more hiking...I wouldn't suggest them for any intense hiking but if you are just exploring around town and do some trails you should be okay. They have also been perfect for the beach, but the tan line isn't the prettiest ;) Overall they are super useful and versatile. They work well when wet but aren't great for walking on big rocks in the river...but what shoes are? 3. Ahnu Maia Sandals (I got them for $30 on Amazon, prices change often)- I've been here almost two weeks and I haven't even taken these out of my bag...I love how comfortable and cute they are but I'm not sure if they are necessary? I haven't had the opportunity to go out or dress up yet though...so we will see! But they do come in lots of cute colors and even if I don't end up using them much on my trip, I know I will wear them a lot back home. 4. Ahnu Sugarpine Air Mesh Hiking Shoes (non-waterproof version) (I got them at REI on clearance $40.00)- When I bought these I struggled a lot between getting the waterproof or normal version. A lot of reviews I read said the normal version was sufficient, and so far it has been. I submerged my feet in the river with these on and my feet did get soaking but not uncomfortable. When my feet are not submerged they do stay pretty dry. They dry quickly outside too, which is a huge plus! But if you think you will be using them somewhere that is extremely wet all the time, I'd probably opt for the waterproof version. I tried A LOT of hiking shoes and brands before settling on these shoes, the reason I picked them is they were the most comfortable for my feet. So far I would say I am happy I brought these shoes. *Update: after the trip I ended up returning these shoes, I thought they were a great idea, good traction and dry quickly but my feet got achy quickly in them...I don't think that would happen for anyone but I think the arch support was too high for my foot. 5. Toms (Bought these a long time ago)- I brought these because they are cute, comfortable and lightweight to pack...I didn't end up wearing them at all, easy to pack but didn't need them! Would not take on another trip. ** Toms also donates one pair of shoes for every pair purchased...pretty awesome!** I considered bringing my keen sandals, but after I wore them in St. John and found that I got a lot of rocks in them when hiking, I decided not to bring them this time. (Note: I took them on the second part of my trip and they were awesome!) However, I think these shoes could work GREAT for lots of people traveling to Costa Rica or Panama and I would keep them on the list of shoes to consider. If I had more space, I would have brought mine a long and I am sure I would have worn them a few times by now. Shoes I'm considering for the rest of the trip: water shoes or neoprene booties for exploring rivers. I might also bring my nike free runs on the next trip for a light weight daily shoe when I'm not exploring nature...not sure yet though. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
0 Comments
Two weeks ago Steve and I had a weekend off to go to Manuel Antonio. I wrote a post about our first day but never got around to telling you what we did with the rest of the weekend! I strayed from my blog for two weeks because I was trying to enjoy and take-in our time off...not be consumed by the internet, blogging, facebook, etc. After that weekend things got busy around the lodge and time got away from me. But here I am now! Ready to fill you in on the rest of our weekend off....
It was amazing. It felt so good to be out on our own, exploring the town and not having any expectations from others. On Friday we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. Part of the fun was the journey getting there. We took the bus into Manuel Antonio and then walked a small rode/path that led to the park. The rode was beautiful...palm trees, cute stands with necklaces & other trinkets, ice cream stores, coconut water stands, etc. The park costs $16 a person. We decided not to do a guided tour based on local advice, we were told that there are so many tours everywhere you can just watch and see what the guides point at. Very true. We were able to walk to park at our own pace by caught a glimpse of sloths, monkeys & snakes when guides pointed them out. You honestly couldn't miss them because all the people would point, gather and pull out their cameras. The park itself is beautiful and we were so excited to finally see monkeys! They were so adorable, we saw monkeys up close and got some great pictures and video! (Which hopefully I can post on here soon). At one point we watch baby monkeys jump around 8 feet from one tree to another...it was an amazing experience. We also saw a poisonous snake on a tree and of course Steve got closer than I was comfortable with, but we all know I have no control over that! We got some cool pictures of that as well. After exploring the jungle a bit we headed to the National Park beach. The sand at this beach was much nice and the waves were calmer. They were the perfect waves for relaxing and bobbing up and down. The water was warm and it was an amazing time laying out, building sand castles, bobbing in the water and reading by the beach. We even had some raccoons try to sneak by our bags. We weren't impressed by this but a lot of the other tourists were...it was hilarious they were pulling out their nice cameras trying desperately to get good pictures of RACCOONS! We also saw some bearded dragons and got amazing pictures of them. I can't wait to post some of these pictures for you guys to see once we get better Internet. After the beach we headed out of the park and stopped at a local ice cream shop. The guy who owned it was running it with his two young daughters, they moved here a few years ago from California. We have run into a lot of families who moved here after vacationing. It sounds pretty cool, but I am still not sold on the idea of moving to Costa Rica. Too humid and hot all of the time, and not sure how I feel about the culture. Everything here is about earning tips. (I will get into that in another post) After our ice cream we watched the sunset on the public beach and then took the bus back into Quepos. Once in Quepos we at at a local restaurant called Ticos Bar y Restaurate, it was priced well, good food and 2 for 1 margaritas and sangria...perfect for us. We chose to eat there because it looked like a nice atmosphere, beautiful bricks inside. I'm not going to lie, I ordered chicken fingers. Steve had Ceviche and he loved it...only wished he had a bigger bowl! After dinner we headed back to Villas Jacquelina and called it a night. On Saturday we did a Manuel Antonio Sunset Catamaran tour with Planet Dolphin. It was beautiful! We couldn't have asked for a nicer day. We got on the tour at the Quepos Marina and headed out to sea. There were about 30 other tourists with us. The second we got on the boat we were handed a drink. The tour included 8 drinks and dinner...but the drinks were extremely weak. We saw sting rays, dolphins, etc all swimming near our boat. The boat drove around the different views of Manuel Antonio National Park and then stopped by some reef for snorkeling. The snorkeling was pointless...there was NOTHING to see at the reef. I mean nothing. Then they opened up slides on top of the boat and people began going down the slides and jumping off the top. I got some funny videos of Steve on the slide. It was clear everyone on the boat was having a good time...there was a lot of laughing. Then dinner was served while we headed out to the sunset. We had fish skewers, noodles and fresh fruit. It was all fresh and yummy. The sunset ended up being a let down, hardly any color and lots of clouds but we didn't care...we see plenty of pretty sunsets at home on the lake in the summer...we were just happy to have the views of the beaches and mountains. Sunday concluded our trip to Manuel Antonio. We did a little bit of shopping, ate at SUBWAY :) Yes there is a subway, and yes it tastes the same. Then we headed back to the Lodge for another week of work....hi ho hi ho, off to work we go.... Review of Villas Jacquelina in Quepos, Costa Rica
Location: The location was OK…it outside the city of Quepos, which we thought would help with noise (not the case). Whenever we wanted to go in to Quepos or Manuel Antonio we had to pay $3.00 for a taxi plus $1.50 for a half hour bus ride. It is not near any groceries or food without walking 15-20 minutes. We could have walked to town but it was too hot during the day and not sure about safety at night…so we always took a taxi. Accommodations: It was simple, a bed and a night stand. No a/c but an overhead fan that works pretty well. The bed was not comfortable and the pillows were flat. The air flow was good and the sheets were clean. Each day our room was cleaned and it looked nice. The windows don’t shut securely so anyone could break in at any moment. We weren’t super worried about break ins because we were outside of the city, but the owner did tell us he was robbed once. The showers were OK, the first night we had freezing cold showers because no one told us about a switch we had to flip, so the second night we got hot showers because we flipped the switch, and then the third night (even though we had the switch on) no hot water would come out. The bathroom was shared. It was clean, however, there was no toilet paper on the third day. As for noise, the mornings were loud…screaming babies, loud children, people talking, birds squeaking…there really isn’t much sleeping after 6am. Price: Over priced at $40 a night. Hard to cancel. We tried to cancel 1 of the 3 nights (with 2 days notice, per their rules) once we saw the location, but the owner gave us a hard time. Overall not worth what we paid. Recommendations: Don’t stay here. It's not located near any stores or food. You have to pay to get a taxi to the bus stations. On our way in to Manuel Antonio we saw accommodations for Manuel Antonio Backpackers…we wish we had stayed there, good location, in a nice area, across from a supermarket and according to their website private rooms, hot showers, etc for $35 a night. Also right next to the bus stop. Its here!! Finally we have some time to ourselves and get to see more of Costa Rica! Today we caught a ride with Diane and Scott (the lodge owners) into Quepos to our hostel, Villas Jaquelina. The owner wasn’t there when we arrived, but his wife showed us to our room, gave us a key and let us put our stuff in there without paying and said we could pay later…pretty cool. Everyone is so laid back here. We were also given two pipa’s which are small round coconuts with YUMMY water in them. I normally don’t like coconut water but it was very tastey & sweet! We packed up a bag for the day and called a taxi to take us to Quepos. We brought our hammock, misquito spray, suntan lotion, money, snorkel gear and towels in our bags. We only needed to bring money & sunscreen everything else was useless and a pain to carry. In Quepos we ate at Dos Locos, which we picked because it was outdoors and had a nice patio to sit on…once we sat down we noticed ALL the people eating there were travelers. This made us feel a little more comfortable since it was our first time in Quepos. We ordered nachos with beans, queso, guacamole and chicken that were awesome. It was a great meal, really filling--but one thing we started to notice, the prices in Costa Rica aren’t what we expected. We expected everything to be cheap, but in reality the meals here cost about the same as at home..5-10$ a person for a cheap meal. Which is kind of disappointing as we were hoping to eat out often and try the local restaurants...but we plan to keep exploring and trying to find cheap yummy places to eat. After lunch we went to the Quepos bus stop and hopped on a bus to Manuel Antonio. The bus is super cheap and was easy to figure out, but HOT. Be prepared to sweat and I mean drip sweat the entire ride. We just stayed on until we saw the beach which took about 20 minutes. The drive through Manuel Antonio is beautiful, lots of cool places to eat and houses to look at, compared to Quepos which looked pretty run down. Compared to Quepos, Manual Antonio had travelers everywhere you looked. I felt safe with my purse, but still paid attention to my surroundings. We decided to hang out on the public beach. When we walked on the beach we were bombarded by at least 10 people trying to get us to buy their beach chairs and umbrellas to use. At first we were thrown off and then after looking at the beach it seemed almost everyone rented chairs and an umbrella. The sun in hotter here in Costa Rica than anywhere else I have been yet, and I burn really easily. So we got an umbrella and chairs for $6. I think it was worth it...but if you ask Steve he will disagree. We set our stuff down and were quickly approached by every kind of sales person you can think of: jewelery, sunglasses, food, water, ice cream, etc...but we didn't want anything and they didn't always seem happy about that. Oh well. Then we went in the water (always keeping an eye on our stuff and chairs) We weren't sure how safe the beach was for leaving things out but we had our wallets, phones and my kindle at our chairs so we were cautious. But nothing happened, no one even approached our chairs. The water was so WARM and if I think it is warm it is warm. I usually take showers so hot my skin turns red, so I was happy to have warm swimming water. The waves were a tad rough and I fell over at least once and ended up with a lot of sand in my bathing suit. But still...I was on a beach in Costa Rica, I was pretty darn happy. After Steve and I floated in the waves for a bit I got out and read my kindle while he body surfed the waves. Then we went for a walk down the beach (which wasn't super long) to the end where their were huge rocks. From a distance it didn't look that pretty but when we got down there it was impressive! It was so beautiful (I will add pictures once I get better Internet!!) After the beach we made our way across the street to look at some of the local vendors. It hard to just look because every vendor is yelling at you in Spanish to buy their stuff. So I tried to look around, continuously interrupted by other vendors. There were wraps/dress/banners that you could basically do whatever with, jewelery, other small things and LOTS of teeshirts. I ended up getting a sarong, which Steve managed to get down to "10 dollars African price" after telling the guys how cheap he got them in Africa. After that we walked around the rest of the stores which all basically look exactly the same, with the same items. Then we had dinner on the roof top of a nice restaurant in Manuel Antonio over looking the sunset. I got chicken fingers and Steve got guacamole and chips. It was beautiful. The sunsets in Manuel Antonio are beautiful. We headed back to our hotel after dinner, using the public bus system. The buses were a tad difficult to figure out at first but once you get the system down its really easy...just pay the bus driver a small fee and you can go anywhere the bus stops! However, there is no A/C and it is crowded and hot. We got back to our Hotel Jaquelina (Review will be posted) and took advantage of the good Wifi for the night.
Upon further conversations about food we have discovered that in reality most of the volunteers in the past paid $10.00 a day for food, which included meat. I guess Steve had a conversation with the owners prior to us coming here and somehow waived that fee. So technically if they agreed to waive the free, yes they should probably provide us with meat. But at the same time I understand now that this isn't something they have done before with volunteers so it is new and awkward for them too. I think in the end the lesson is that communcation is really important. For one, Steve talked with the owners about all of the details of the lodge so all of my expectations were from Steve's word and I don't know what was actually discussed between them. Details may have been mixed up or exceptions were made but not fully understood. I also had a conversation with one of the owners today about my expecations when they are gone...which include working with all of the guests and helping them feel comfortable. While I may be doing some odd jobs here and there as well including cleaning it is important for me to understand the expecations of what the lodge should look like and also to put in some hard work with the local workers so that they can see that I have a good work ethic so that they can respect me more when the owners are gone.
I think that having these conversations today leads me back to my blog earlier today about things I want to improve. And a huge one I forgot is communication. Communication, being clear with what I want and what my expectations are, and being willing to ask questions when I am unsure. Sure this can make things awkward sometimes, but I think it is better to have your facts straight rather than be upset about something you don't have the full picture of. I think that communicating more clearly with others will not only help my relationships in work but also with family, friends and my husband. Throughout this journey Steve and I have ran into a quite a few "situations" or arguments because he becomes frustrated that I can't (or don't) communicate what I want clearly. For example, sometimes when I am hungry, I'll ask if he is hungry...and when he says no, 10 minutes later I'll see a store say, subway and I really want it, so I'll ask if he wants subway...even though he just said he wasn't hungry. Instead of clearly communicating I am hungry and want subway for some reason I "beat around the bush" and ask in weird ways that end up causing frustrations and communication problems. How do I fix this? Not sure. At least I am aware of it...and will focus on trying not to do it or at least acknowledging when I do and apologizing (which can be hard sometimes once he is frustrated). But truly I think if I focus my number one self improvement goal on good, clear communication it will impact all different aspects of my life. So here we are now, at this beautiful lodge with lovely owners who are kind and generous in other ways such as advice, friendship, conversation, helping teach us how to cook, providing us with cooked meals a lot of nights and allowing us to be a part of their family for a few weeks. In the end I am grateful for the opportunity they have given me, and while their have been compromises and communication errors along the way we are slowly beginning to understand each other better. All it takes is clear communication and no assumptions and everyone will be happy :) Today I took some time to reflect on my experiences here. Working on one one with people in a peaceful quiet environment full of hummingbirds, rivers, tropical trees and waterfalls has given me some perspective on things I want to change about myself. Yes, they are things that I always want to change about myself but watching others here interact with each other gives me insight into characteristics I know I display myself that I am not proud of. Watching others act in a way that makes me feel negative and then realizing I act that way myself a lot of the time is hard. It's hard because no one likes to admit their faults or realize how poor they look to others at times. Some of the things I want to change based on my reflections include keeping my negative thoughts to myself (and hopefully one day they will go away!), not criticizing others, acknowledging others work and not complaining as much. I know I am a complainer...I always have been. But I realize more than ever that this is something I really need to change. Hopefully if I change my words, eventually my thoughts will change and my entire perspective will change. Working with others here has not only made me think of the negative things I want to change about myself but also positive aspects I see in others that I hope one day others will see in me. Some of these things include being more easy going and fun, going more with the flow and having a good attitude all the time....even when others may have a negative attitude towards me. All of these thoughts got me thinking about how I want to be remembered one day when others think of me, and I plan to continue to reflect on that thought and the things I want to improve in myself.
For those of you who don't know me. I'm the worlds pickiest eater. My meals of choice back home consist of chicken fingers & fries, hamburger (plain),grilled chicken bagels, some fruit, restricted veggies, etc. I'm very picky about what I like, and not just taste but also looks & texture...meaning if it's chicken with bones in I probably won't want it. I like my food to be clean, no evidence of it being an animal and plain. I order my subs at subway with no sauce or veggies and everyone there thinks I'm crazy. Thats been my life for the last 26 years. I went on a yoga retreat (2x now) with my dad and started to open up to other food there as we were trying to be very healthy and I decided it was time for me to open up to veggies. During those trips I did add a few food to my "Okay" list. Coming to Costa Rica I was terrified. For one, I don't like fish, or rice or beans! So what am I going to eat??? Just in case it was as terrible as I feared I packed protein powder, granola bars, etc. :)
Well...the places we went out to so far had lots of options. I could get chicken almost anywhere. All the restaurants have traditional Tico choices but also American choices. But to be fair I've only been to Manuel Antonio and Quepos both of which are tourist towns, so it makes sense to have other options besides traditional Tico food. The lodge is where I spend most of my time and meals, and I have had to try A LOT of food I've never had before. Luckily we have two people here who make it all taste good! Usually breakfast is eggs and fruit or occasionally I'll have a granola bar I brought from home. But honestly almost every meal I have had has been good. It could be that I don't have choice, or that I am working long days. When your hungry everything tastes better. But truly most things taste really good and some I can tolerate...there hasn't been much that I wouldn't eat again. I've tried plantains in numerous forms...but the fried ones are the best, they taste like warm fruity sugar with a crunchy boarder. Guacamole here is better than home, I can't stop...it is SO good...I didn't used to like it. I have had foods with tomatoes mixed in and tolerated them (I hate tomatoes). I've also had a lot of potatoes, which I still don't love but can tolerate. Rice here is great! I mix it in with everything when its available. And believe it or not...I tried BEANS. I wasn't planning on it until on of the cooks made rice and beans with eggs for breakfast and already had my plate made. It was a HUGE plate. No one should ever eat that many rice and beans. So I had to try it. It really didn't taste like much and I ate half a plate! Would I ever choose to make it? No probably not but I'm happy I tried it. The dinners here are really good and I've also tried a few of the plates only guests get including chicken in some AMAZING sauce, and chicken breaded with coconut and LOVED them both...better than most restaurants. It has also helped being able to buy chicken from the grocery store to supplement veggie meals here as I don't eat enough veggies in on sitting to be full. But overall, food hasn't been too bad! We will see what happens in a week when one of our cooks is gone and I am on my own for most meals! Wish me luck. Trip plans:
In case anyone is curious what this trip is all about here is a synopsis: Where: Costa Rica, Panama, Ireland, Zambia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand When: March 19-May 28 & June 20-November ? When will we be home next: Three weeks in June Why?: Steve was at a point in his job where he was ready for something new, I just graduated from my masters program…we are starting to think about settling down and starting a family but have always wanted to travel the world…so why not now! Why so long?: Steve would love to live somewhere out of the US for a few years, and I would like to travel to each of these places for a 2 week vacation…so we compromised on a 7 month “adventure”. How do you afford it?: We have been saving money for the last two years, book the cheapest flights, stay in hostels, find places to WWOOF which means working on organic farms (or bed and breakfasts) in return for food and lodging, and we are pet sitting (staying at someone’s house for free internationally but agreeing to love their pet as our own) Any questions I didn’t answer? Feel free to ask in the comments and I will add them in to my post! Day 7 (Wednesday)
We woke up at 7am and got ready for our work day. That morning the owners told me that Marta was not working so I needed to be in charge of a lot of the cleaning for the day. This meant sweeping, mopping, cleaning bathrooms, changing sheets, doing laundry, etc again. I was anxious about this because I felt like once again…I’m the maid….when I thought I was going to be working with people. However, even though none of those tasks are fun I had the independence to work on my own, at my own pace and clean in my own way! That felt good, and it made the experience much more tolerable. I didn’t feel like I was in the way or doing everything wrong. I was happy to be able to help out with cleaning in my own way and everything looked great then I was done! It took more time doing it alone but it was worth the freedom. Earlier that morning the two guests from the night before checked out. They were fun to have around, very hippy like attitudes and free spirits. They left one of the workers an entire cooler full of pot! I didn’t understand what was going on at first, but they were being weird and so was the worker…the worker told the lodge owner that he was given the cooler and would be taking it home….while the lodge owner was claiming well you work for us so technically the cooler is ours…..little did the lodge owner know what was in the cooler!! So long story short the guests kept insisting to the lodge owner that the cooler was only for the worker and in the end he got to keep it and the lodge owners never found out what was in the cooler. Pot is illegal here in Costa Rica and the lodge owners do not allow its use on the property but Steve and I did not feel it is our place as volunteers to let the owners know what was going on…this guy has worked here for a while and will continue working here and we didn’t want to add any tension or make any awkward situations when we are just volunteers for 7 weeks. Day 5 or Wednesday was our last day of work before our four day weekend!! That night we packed what we needed in a small backpack. The next morning we were going to catch a ride in to town with the lodge owners. Day 6 (Tuesday)
On Tuesday I was assigned with Marta again to clean a room and get it ready for the guests coming that night…I took a different strategy this day and tried to do tasks I knew needed to be done that Marta wasn’t working on yet so that we could work “separately” towards the same goal. This helped a little, but there were still times where she didn’t like how I was doing things but I get it…she is used to her routine she has developed here and I’m intruding. Anyway, we worked separate and together to get the room ready and clean up the rest of the lodge. It wasn’t as stressful as the first day but still not what I had imagined I would be doing. That day for lunch we were sitting around waiting as food was being cooked and usually our meals were made for us…however when Steve asked what was for lunch the lodge owner said we were on our own…that the food they were making for lunch had meat in it. OK. Whatever. We made our own lunch, but later that night when they left the other owner offered us their leftovers from lunch for dinner. It is really hard to grasp what is okay to eat here and what isn’t. One day we asked what we can have from the kitchen, we told them we wanted to know what is off limits, etc and they say nothing is off limits! Use whatever you need and eat what you want…but now I guess meat is off limits? But then we are given their meat leftovers? Hmmm…still haven’t figured this one out yet. Anyway, Tuesday we had our first over night guests…we were told the night before that when guests came around to “disappear”, while it seemed like they may have been joking…it also seemed somewhat expected that we do that. We didn’t see much of the guests and they were always in opposite places from us, their dinner was kept very private from the rest of us. Which is completely normal! I get it respect the guests privacy and give them space. Something interesting happened while we were working that day though….the two guests came down the path we were working on and said a quick hello. They seemed nervous and told us they hoped they didn’t get us in trouble by talking to us and that they were so excited to hear our story and requested to have dinner with us, but the owners wouldn’t allow it. They also told us they felt like they were being watched over and shouldn’t chat with us too much because they didn’t want to add tension. It was weird for guests to say these things…but interesting that they picked up that vibe. They also mentioned that they went to the waterfall earlier that day and that there were a lot of locals there. They told us they heard that the lodge owners do not allow locals on the waterfall and how they felt that was wrong of them…that “doing things like that could get someone killed”. While we felt the same way and had since the day the lodge owners told us that the waterfall is “private”, I hadn't really thought about the danger with the locals. Its true they could get upset and retaliate some how? Maybe? I don't know. I still don't know much about the culture around here, but I do know when they are turned away they drive by the lodge slowly and stare us down and it is intimidating. The locals have been using this waterfall forever, but now the lodge owners are trying to make it so they don’t have access anymore. Technically the road the locals use to get to the waterfall is owned by friends of the lodge owners…and those friends want it to be private and so do the lodge owners. So, because the road is private, the locals are not allowed to access the waterfall even though the waterfall is NOT private…so the lodge owners have said that the locals can use the waterfall if they walk up the river but not if they use the trail…and believe me most people would not be able to walk up this river. I understand why they want the waterfall private, especially when guests are here but in the end I have to say if it were me, I would allow the locals to have their fun...I just believe too much in Karma and kicking them out seems like bad karma. Steve and I feel a bit weird about it and don’t plan to kick any locals out ourselves…we don’t like being put in that position. It is something to community enjoys doing and I don’t think it is a good idea for a bunch of Americans to show up and tell them they can’t enjoy one of their favorite pastimes. I'm at odds with things right at this point. The lodge is beautiful, but food is confusing. I thought I would be working with guests, but now I'm cleaning and were supposed to disappear. Trying to piece everything together and figure out where our place is here and what were supposed to be doing and what is okay. Maybe were too accommodating? Truly we are doing them a huge favor as well…they get to go home to their family for a month and know their lodge is being looked after… But I think there will be more freedom once we are looking over the lodge, at the point it will be expected that we interact with and take care of guests and we can buy our own food easily because we will be able to use the car to go to the grocery store. As of right now we haven't been able to go for a ride into town with them because their car was broke or not enough space, but we have been able to request them to pick us up stuff. I think going to the store ourselves and seeing the options and using our own money instead of paying them back will make the food situation a little easier and less awkward. |
Details
Travel Blog.Archives
March 2017
Categories |