Donald, the farmer, and I had exchanged many emails on Saturday to prepare for my arrival. He had also given me the name oanother volunteer that was flying in on Sunday- Megan. Megan and I tried to coordinate coming in together but she was arriving early on Sunday and would go straight to the farm. In the emails Donald gave me information on which bus to take, what stop to tell the driver I wanted and when to give him that information. I bought my bus ticket for 3,250 million colones, or about $3.50 usd. I had gotten there early enough to get a window seat for the 3.5 hour ride and when it was time to get on the bus I settled in with my book for the ride.
When we first took off I could see the beautiful countryside. It was GREEN. Very, very green with lots of trees and plants, and rolling hills. The view, however, didn't last long as we climbed into the mountains and fog set in. At least I had my book to read. And I had the window to close- over and over again. My seat was by one of the windows that actually opens and closes; however, my window didn't want to stay closed. So every 5-10 minutes I'd have to squeeze and push, with a lot of muscle, to close the window. I would have left it open but it was actually cold out. I even had to put on my sweatshirt.
The bus ride wasn't bad and the 3 hours to San Isidro flew by. When we got to the spot I was prepared to tell the driver where I needed to get off- at the Super Weber about 15k down the road. The bus driver didn't speak English but a guy on the ground was more than willing to assist. He tried to explain to me that the bus was at the end of the route. I kept showing him the directions from the website that I needed to keep going. When he handed the piece of paper back to me I realized that the name of the bus company on the directions was different than the bus I was on. Apparently when Donald and I were going back and forth about when to arrive he had given me the wrong bus for the trip I actually took. The guy outside of the bus insisting I was at the end of the line said he could still help me and take me to where I needed to be for $20. It was raining out and I was frustrated at having gotten on the wrong bus so I agreed to the ride and was hoping Franklin was right about the Ticos being the friendliest people on Earth.
My driver did drop me off at the Super Weber despite trying to convince me to let him take me to 'my friend's place.' I got out at the mini market, parked my bags at the corner of the building, and tried calling Donald to let him know I had arrived. Because I had gotten the ride instead of being on the bus I was about 15 minutes ahead of schedule so I tried not to panic that I was at the wrong place. I pulled my book out and began reading, trying to ignore everyone staring at me. After about 15 minutes a man approached me holding out his cell phone. When I looked up he just said "It's for you." It was Donald letting me know he was running 20 minutes late but on his way. Relief rushed through me- I was definitely in the right place!
Sure enough 20 minutes later Donald pulled up apologizing for being late and for his poor English. I assured him his English was better than my Spanish and then we were off. The farm, finca, is at the top of the hill from the Super Weber. The house is at 720 meters (2362 feet). We rode up the steep hill to the top. Megan and Xinia were just comng out of the chicken coop when we arrived. We did all the necessary intros and proceeded into the house. There I was blown away by the view! It is absolutely gorgeous. I could definitely call this place home for the next month. Within minutes though the sky opened up and the rain started. We retreated inside and were immediately put to work de-shelling cocoa beans and then started the prep for dinner. We chopped cohombro (squash), separated flor de Itabo (flowers), and set the table. At 7, Donald, Xinia, Megan and I sat down for the delicious meal that also included rice and beans and some very hot picante. We also tried a homemade wine made from Jamician (I think) roses that tasted like a port. If this first meal was any indication of the next month it was definitely going to be good! Muy bueno!!
