Want to live in a Tree House?

Have you ever daydreamed about living up in a mountain, in a warm sunny place, where there is not a sole in sight and you hear nothing but the sound of the friendly monkeys, birds and waves crashing in from the ocean? Want to get out of the city, where you are bombarded by traffic, paper pushing and complaints of everyday life? Get out and come here. It is literally a tree house, set in the jungle of Quepos.

After grabbing a ride from the San Jose Airport to Quepos, we were taken on a short tour of Costa Rica. We stopped at the Rio Grande and Crocodile Alley (man, they are big out here), we saw toucans, waterfalls, dams, and even took a look at Chuck Norris' Costa Rican mansion (no, seriously we did!), all while drinking a few Pilsens, of course. 

Do you see what I see?

The driver took us into the town of Quepos, where we drove into the mountains and reached the owner of the tree house, Thomas. From there he took us on a steep road. Then, we walked down a dark, but lighted path to the tree house. Although, it was dark, you could still tell how unbelievable it was. A fully-equipped kitchen, seating area, large bed, a tree in the shower (too cool) and a deck supplied with a table, chairs and of course the hammock. Wow.  In the morning, it was even more fantastic than I could have imagined.

When you awake in the tree house, you look out onto the jungle. It is surreal, calm and quiet. Typically a monkey or bird will wake you, letting you know it is time to get up and enjoy all that is Costa Rica. We were able to make fresh Costa Rican coffee each day and catch up on reading. But, more importantly, catch up on silence and just listening to nature. No phone, no TV, we barely even played music... Just to hear nothing but the sound of the jungle was enough for us. It was so serene, meditative and let you clear out all the clutter that our thinking creates. Sort the good from the bad, the needed from the unnecessary and breathe a little deeper.

Out from the short trail and to the right of the tree house was a bungalow and a pool. Here, it was just out of a dream. You could swim, tan, hammock, read, repeat. We even took out the yoga mats every morning for a little yoga routine.

For dinner and a little night life, you could go into the town of Quepos, which was about a 20 minute walk (the walk home, in the dark, is even more adventurous). Here, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes to check out. There were even a few little night clubs, that we were never able to check out (we danced in the tree house). The sunsets are breathtaking and the views are what makes you understand what all the fuss is about, why so many rainforest lovers exist and why the surfers just can't get enough.  I sure couldn't. Overall, this is truly an amazing place to rejuvenate, simplify and reenergize your mind and soul. Hope you get a chance to get out here as well (but I hear he is booked until April, so get on it!). Pura Vida!... Next Stop... Jaco, Playa Hermosa and Manuel Antonio

Dropping Off Supplies for the Children - End of Futebol Project

Yesterday was a sad day, we had to say goodbye to all of our friends at project.  Mike and I wanted to do all we could to help improve the project in anyway we possibly could.  With funds that Mike and I have saved up, we were able to bring the children brand new futebols, several pairs of soccer socks, a new ping pong set, adidas headbands, stickers, stamps and much more.  Since yesterday was our last day, we made it our supplies drop off day.  As Carlao (the head coach) told the morning and afternoon group that we were leaving, their heads dropped and they stomped their feet.  Some pretended to cry.   Each one came over to us and said, "Obrigado," (thank you), while giving us a handshake and a tight hug. I was not expecting it.  One said to me, "I love you." As the futebol games were on their way, one of the boys yelled, "Mikey, Mikey!" And, as Mike watched, he took his penalty kick the same way Mike takes his... and then ran over to Mike to tell him a secret, in Portuguese he said, "that was for you."

They had not even seen what we had brought them yet, and they were already so sad to see us go.  As I came back from filling my water bottle in the afternoon, I turned and saw all the children surrounding Mike, hugging him.  It was such a sad/happy moment, that brought tears to my eyes.  The children in this Favela, live in houses that are comparable to huts. Their streets smell of feces.  We heard gun shots a few different times at project (very close) and saw police helicopters swoop down close with machine guns hanging out of the doors.  This area is not safe and these children live in conditions that I never knew existed.  Maybe I knew, but you don't actually know, until you see it.  Some children wore the same clothes everyday.  I'm sure some did not eat, you could tell when I brought cookies, some were so hungry.  At times, it is heartbreaking and you wish/want to do everything you can to give them a better life.  To be there for them. But, with these children, it was not about what we could buy them or bring, it was about the quality time we could spend with them.  Making them laugh, playing silly games, laughing when we fell or missed the ball, singing Brazilian songs, dancing, and just letting them know they had someone that was excited to see them.

Lovin the Stickers

Boys giving Mike the Neymar

Morning Crew

Afternoon Group

I walk away incredibly blessed and grateful to have met these children.  The happiness they have brought me is, 10 x's what I could give them.  I wish I could stay forever and help every single day.  I feel a contribution to the world, to Brasil, to the favela, to a child.  Brandi Snyder said, "To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Remember that.

In the words of Richard Bach, "Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't."
Still alive, let this just be the beginning of our mission...

Sunset from the house yesterday

ILHA Grande

With all the adventure going on out here, I have not had much time to sit on my laptop. But, after an 104 degree day today and playing soccer for four hours, I decided I could take a night to rest and catch up on telling you about Ilha Grande.

Ilha Grande is an island on the southeast side of Brazil. Several volunteers will take trips out to this island. In fact, when we first arrived, a group was just getting back. When they told us about Ilha Grande, I remember thinking, wow, I wish I could go there. Well, we did... and I never wanted to leave. If you have ever imagined paradise, euphoria, complete relaxation, a state of zen, well then you know what Ilha Grande feels like. Although, I could write a complete series of novels on the experiences of Ilha Grande, I will try to make the stories short and let the pictures do the talking.

After a trip to the Botafogo futebol game on Thursday night, (they ended up tying) we awoke at 3:50am on Friday morning to meet 3 of our fellow volunteers at the kitchen table, where we would leave to find a taxi. After finding our taxi, we were off to Central, where we would get on a bus and travel to a small town in southwest Brazil. The bus ride was about 2 hours and beautiful! We went through the mountains and along the Atlantic ocean. Even though there was fog, rain and it was 5am, you could feel the excitement in the air. We arrived at the small town, where we picked up cafezinhos (coffee) and some acai with granola. After talking with some locals, we found a boat that left a little earlier than our previously planned boat. Perfect. We could not wait...

Once we arrived onto Ilha Grande, we had to find hostels. After getting turned down multiple times because, “they did not have rooms for five people,” we decided to separate and see what we could find. Separating worked and we each met back by the palm tree to discuss where we found our home for the next couple of days. After a couple beers and a traditional Ilha Grande meal filled with fresh seafood (by fresh, I mean they just caught it a couple of hours ago!), caipirinhas, cheese platter and an end of the meal celebration with, tequila! Tequila only meant one thing... we were dancing! And we did... A LOT.

Saturday we headed out on a boat with a Brazilian wildman by the name of Marcio. I say he is a wildman because there were stories of him catching two live octopus on his boat the day before... skinning them and then bringing them back to grill up for that nights dinner. Not only that, but he drove the boat like we were setting out to sea to catch great white shark or something. Marcio had wild hair, a wild tan and a carefree, no worries, island attitude. He was the Bear Grylls of Ilha Grande.

On the boat, you saw nothing but blue skies, palm trees and mountains. We snorkeled for about an hour and headed back to shore for lunch/dinner. And, followed it up with another night on the island of singing and dancing.

Sunday was one of the best days in my entire life. As we awoke from our hostel and sluggishly made our way to the breakfast table, we talked about what we would do for the day. Not really coming to any conclusion, we hoped our cafezinhos would kick in quick and we would come up with something. We put on our bathing suits and grabbed our sarongs and decided we would take a walk. The walk turned into a search for secret beaches (where we found many). We would stop at each beach, sometimes lay out for a minute, sometimes swim, and some just to look at who was there or what kind of view we could get. The search for secret beaches turned into the finding of an old prison (which I can tell you right now is absolutely haunted, um yikes, back to secret beaches)... oh perfect-a sign to a secret waterfall! Let's GO! So, in our bathing suits we went on the search for the waterfall. After, seeing bamboo forests and natural springs, we really started to get deep into the mountain... and the day got hotter and we had no water... and we started to wonder... where is this waterfall?

 We heard two girls coming our way and Mike whispered, “Should I ask them?” Thinking, YES PLEASE for the love of God, I said, “Um, sure!” They told us it was only 30 minutes up the trail and described the rest of the hike. So we went and we saw the most beautiful sights I have ever laid eyes on.

I'll go ahead and mention that Mike and I had quite the walk back. We ran into some guy who thought he HAD to tell us he saw 2 very large snakes ahead... “How far ahead?” we asked. “Not that far ahead, but not that close. Farther down,” he said, doing the estimates of how big they are with his arms. The fact that his arms were spread all the way apart was not comforting. As we walked the rest of the way, we told funny stories and tried to hop over the dark shadowy spots. Lucky for us, no snakes. And, soon we were back on land headed for a much needed (once again) fresh as can be seafood and a caipirinha, of course.

Ilha Grande, all in all, was an experience I cannot even describe. As I looked out onto the ocean and the mountains, I thought to myself that I never would have thought I would ever be somewhere or see something like this in my life. It was so surreal and I was so grateful to have been there and to have seen what I saw. It reminded me that you can go and do whatever it is in the world that you want to, but you must be patient. Everything you want will not come over night, not in a summer, not in a year and sometimes not even in 5, 10, 15 years. To reach a goal you have to work everyday for it. You create your own life... you are the decision maker, the one driving the boat. And, if you want something, you can have it... but, be patient. It is coming. Maybe you're still waiting for it, maybe you're still on the journey.. and maybe that's ok, because do any of us really want the journey to end? I sure don't.