Bike trip day -1

After sleeping in to hopefully recharge my batteries for the actual bike trip, we took a walk around Upala, I enjoyed a Diet Coke and a pair of empanadas (tied with Pilsen and chorizo as my favorite combination here in Costa Rica), Julia made some bomb quesadillas for lunch, and we headed out to a neighborhood on the edge of town for the charla that would kick off the bike trip. A charla is a one time presentation, discussion, or lesson about an important topic, and they are a fairly common method used in Costa Rica to disseminate information, especially by government institutions traveling to small communities, and by Peace Corps Volunteers. The charla went well, like most things in Costa Rica, we had to wait half an hour for everyone to show up, but a good discussion ensued. 

(me with Julia^2, kicking off the trip)

After this we got our things together and headed to Marissa’s host family’s house on the other side of town. Marissa and a different Julia met up with us there. (The two women named Julia in my group were placed about thirty minutes from each other, so are generally referred to as Julia^2. The idea had been for everyone that was participating in the trip to travel up to Upala this day, and arrive in the afternoon and then make the quick ride up to San José de Upala, another volunteer’s site, where we’d be spending the night. Well, as we dropped our bags off at Marissa’s, and some phone calls were made, it became clear that I was the only out of town volunteer that had taken this plan seriously. Some volunteers, as well as the staff that were going to accompany us on the trip and carry our gear and food in the trucks, were on their way. But, the sun was also on its way down. So, Julia^2 and I made the nice little ride to San José de Upala. It was a delightfully pleasant ride, we took an easy pace and finished the 16 K just as the sun set. We met up with Eric S., the volunteer in that community, he got us set up at the cabins where we were staying the night, and soon enough the rest of the crew rolled in. For me, the most exciting thing was seeing that in the trucks was a quite extensive supply of Gatorade and snacks-graciously provided by our Country Director, Steve. After a delightful dinner and the last Pilsen for a few days, we all headed to bed early, as we were to start bright and early the next day.