ORIGINAL JOURNAL
Puerto Viejo - May 11, 2009
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Well this is the first chance I’ve had to journal since last week. So here goes....

Last weekend was great. On Friday after school a group of students and I went to this beach called Puerto Viejo. It was interesting, not only because it was a beautiful beach, but because since its location on the Caribbean side of the country, there is a lot of Rasta culture intertwined with the people there. We drove about 4 hours southeast and then reached this small little town and then unpacked at the hotel.

That night for dinner I had rice and beans along with chicken and a mango smoothie, which is pretty much what I ate everyday that I was there. Luckily for me I’m already accustomed to all the food there and I cannot get enough of it. After dinner we went back to the hotel and then that night everyone went to a bar in the town. This bar was way cool, in fact, every place I’ve been to so far has had live music. At this particular bar the group played legitimate covers of Bob Marley and then a mixture of their own Rastafarian jams, and then a few salsa songs. You can believe I’ve become a good salsa dancer since I’ve been here, because everywhere you go, there is salsa dancing.

The next day, Saturday, a group of us went to the beach down the road at a little pueblo called Manzanilla. This beach wasn’t so nice right as we got there, but one guy who was more native to the area told us to travel further down the beach, which we did. It was about a 10-minute walk south along the coast, (the coast was so nice). There are stray dogs everywhere too, so I gave one of the cuter/cleaner dogs water and it followed me all the way down the beach till we got to the really pretty section that was more secluded, (it didn’t matter cause there was NO other tourists). Anyway, I hung out with Feliz (the dog) and swam for a few hours and acquired one of the worst burns since I can remember. After that we went out to lunch and then dinner. After dinner I followed along with everyone else with the usual bar hopping, I don’t understand how people afford it though. I might buy a beer or two but usually the other people just keep them coming. I’m going to try and be friends with these kids I think.

We left Sunday and it took us about 5.5 hours to get home because there was a landslide on the usual rout. It was ok though because the scenery here is spectacular. The mountains are huge and mind blowing and there are so many plants and wildlife everywhere.

Dinner is always good here, and I have begun to watch/play/follow soccer much closer now. Just because that’s what everyone here does. Today I am going to the town center to play some soccer as well. As a matter of fact I am late, but that’s ok, because everyone here is at least 20 minutes late for everything. Its called Tico Time, even my teacher is late for class everyday by at least 15 minutes. No one knows the time, and there are no clocks anywhere. Even the university is clock-less.

Now that’s what I call a vacation."

Critique
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So looking back on my very first trip in Costa Rica, I can see many things that I did wrong on this trip. For example, when I went to Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, I used private transportation through the University, which was ok, but I think that using the public transport through Coca-Cola might have been a more "eco friendly" route, even if it wasn't much. Also housing was low because I stayed in a hotel that was necessarily acknowledging the ecology of the area, and I'm positive they didn't have a ITC Certification either. As far as cultural experience; I think I learned, or at least observed the cultural differences there in Puerto Viejo. However, I can't say I learned as much so much as I just observed and enjoyed. I think that I could have been more perceptive of the details. Like during the passing through all of the banana plantations I would have like to have known that Costa Rica is a country that uses the most pesticides in the world, especially in bananas, and that these pesticides flow freely into waterways unmonitored (Bonillo and Meza 1994; Estado de La Nacion 2001). 

However, I think that the experience I had culturally, and the strong indigenous influence and involvement in this town, give me reason to say it was more of a Hard-Core Tourist experience. I managed to be respectful of the environment and noticed the environment around me, however, there were many things I could have improved on.

EVALUATION:
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Transport: (private transport) 4
Food: (local soda) 8
Housing: (hotel) 4
Destination: Puerto Viejo 7
Cultural Experience: 8
Education: 5
Environmental Impact: 8
Division of Labor: 7
Human Rights: 8
Indigenous Involvement: 9

Total Points: 68/100

Ecotourist Impact:
Hard-Core Tourist rating D+