Follow the flow

Each morning I wake in my tent drenched in sweat and slowly roasting from the inside, solely yearning for a sip of water. Once I get my first sip of water and register it, I unzip my door to my tent and peer outward into the Costa Rican jungle. The jungle that is so unknown to me, yet my only and best friend on my journey thus far.
I don’t know anyone here. I have only packed one bag and hopped on a plane to solve a mystery, to explore and be primitive, and to gain as much wisdom as my twenty-year-old brain can absorb. The plants are so nourished, plump, and vibrant. The colors of the plants range from a deep green to a luminescent pearly white. I gaze at them lovingly as I sit still on my soaked mattress with my legs crossed in complete internal balance and just meditate on how thankful I am.
The bag to my left has all the necessities of hygiene and entertainment; the jungle in front of me provides free sustenance to keep me healthy. When I take my first step out of my tent, the sun heats my neck in a loving way and I greet it silently with equal admiration. As I walk toward the hostel, where people are, I grab an orange from the tree to my left and search for a pole to capture a coconut with. I find it laying under the avocado tree, which I’ll have for lunch, and pluck a fresh “pipa” as it’s locally known, the green coconut in the palm trees. At the heart of an unripe, green-shelled coconut hides water from a veritable fountain of youth. It is not the same as heavier coconut milk. The clear liquid in the Pipa is loaded with potassium, magnesium, calcium, and electrolytes. In America, we pay three to five dollars for a bottle, while here in Puerto Viejo they grow as plentiful as grass. To open the pipa you must grab a machete and chop the end vertically than horizontal making a square around the tip until it falls off. Inside lies the most hydrating and restoring liquid, more hydrating than water. When I think of Puerto Viejo, Its not so much the tangible town that comes to mind, rather the energy and the dual forces constantly in labor. Yes, It’s a tourist Caribbean town, but what lies underneath is a place of magic. It is a humans portal to the spirit world; a place of endless creative flow and opportunities, unmasking all who enter and transforming them either in color or in darkness by the time they depart. It is a town on the verge of heaven and hell, of sinners and saints.