I've Been Working On A Master's Degree!

Starting this academic year, with the Canadian/American Thanksgiving celebration, students from different continents have organized a night of celebration to share their culture with the group. It's been amazing so far. Asian Night was a couple months ago and we learned so many different things about the different parts of Asia. There's been ongoing talk of African Night since October, but still no celebration. Last week, we had European Night and it blew me away! They required that all the attending students dress up as if for cocktails. It was the first chance I've had to look good down here. Well, I always look good, I just don't plan it like I did this night.They opened the European culture presentation with a play that they'd written based upon stereotypes of Europeans according to the other students. They gathered this information on large pieces of paper taped to a wall, on which other students were allowed to write their stereotypes over a couple weeks. My contribution was, "Europeans love to propagate stereoptypes." The play was offensive, extremely well done, and hilarious! They had us all laughing our heads off!

After the play we enjoyed some musical performances, european food, and then we danced - euro club style. I danced the Macarena to every single song. What a night!

In sadder news, the Department of International Peace Studies (DIPS) finished their program this week. This means that between 20 and 30 of our Asian kids are leaving us. We had a party on campus to say goodbye to them and I was filled with emotion. In fact, in the days prior to their final day, I had a nightmare of having to say goodbye to all my new friends and knowing I would not see most of them ever again. I cursed myself for not having enrolled in a two year program so I could spend extra time with everyone. And then I woke up, glad that I would finish school soon, but still sad that I will miss my dear friends. A couple of them, I've come to really respect and enjoy, and their departure really disturbs me. A giant regret I have, is that I didn't get close to many others. The University for Peace is pretty small. Only 160 students can say they'll be UPeace alumni this year, but even so, I can't hang out with and get to know all 160 students, though I regret not having tried a bit harder.

Becca finally managed to get her act together to lead me and some other university friends to climb the tallest mountain in Costa Rica: Chirripo, 3820 meters (in feet = tall!). It took us three buses, a nasty taxi ride, and 10 hours just to get to the base of the mountain. At the ranger station, where we were to register to climb, we learned that they close the mountain one weekend a year for a running race, and this happened to be that particular weekend... Wonderful. We arrived on a Thursday, wanting to climb on Friday, summit on Saturday, and return to town on Sunday. The race was only Saturday, but they would not allow us to pass. They said the soonest we could ascend was on Sunday. So we decided to wait. Half of our group went to the beach, and half stayed in the mountain town to enjoy the hot springs. I stayed in the mountains, of course. It was an amazing time, indeed, the first time I´ve actually enjoyed Costa Rica. I´ve enjoyed my friends, and on occasion the university, but I have not yet enjoyed the country. It was a pretty good feeling and I hope it will stick around for a while.The ascent up the mountain was mind blowing for an environmental nut like myself. We started out in the typical "jungle" habitat that I'm used to at lower elevations and climbed into a cloud forest. The flora and fauna were all completely different in a matter of kilometers.The cloud forest finally yielded to elevation as we entered the sub-alpine habitat. Amazing! This was perhaps my favorite ecosystem, as the species that survive, do so in extreme conditions and are so unique as compared to everything else I've seen in the rest of the country. A forest fire had raged through this part of the mountain 10 or so years before, but due to the slow ecological activity at this altitude, it looked as if it had occurred only one or two years prior. Finally, 9 hours and 14.5 km into our hike, we arrived to the lodge, at 11,132 feet. This is 1,132 feet more than all my doctors say I'm allowed to go on account of my bum lung. We checked into the lodge and popped the corks on our bottles of rum - we spent the rest of the day in celebration.

It was cold at the lodge, damn cold, but the warmth of the camaraderie that existed between hikers and climbers kept us comfortable and happy (I guess the rum may have played a bit of that role, too). We tried to go to bed early cause it had been a long day, but pulling myself away from the heavenly display of a starry night sky was too much to ask. I gandered for a while and froze my little ass off. Went to bed only to wake up at 3am in order to be on the trail at 3:30. Accomplished, albeit painfully.We got lost once on the trail - or rather, off the trail - as it was dark and I had left my navigational star map at home... An excruciating 2 hours went by before we summited, in which I stopped frequently and had some kind of persistent lightheadedness. Becca waited with me and kept asking me if I was going to die because of my lung or if I should go back. Then she went on to tell me she wasn't going to carry my body down the mountain. So of course I pushed on.Standing at the top of the mountain, 12,533 feet above the transvestite prostitute infested beach towns of Costa Rica, we watched the sun rise - slowly and majestically above the occasional smaller mountain tops, poking through the clouds. It was an amazing, amazing thing. Shaking and shivering, we watched in awe as the valleys all around us lit up. We had packed along a stove and some coffee, but no one's hands had the dexterity to function as the wind took most of our heat away from us.After some nice relaxing time near the summit, we spent the rest of the day descending, again, marveling at the extreme changes in ecosystems determined by elevation.Climbing the highest mountain in Costa Rica (and I think second highest in Central America) was a much needed break from classes. We began another class, the best class in the world, Ecological Bases for Sustainable Land Use - at long last, a science class! And then we took another break to the northwestern region of Costa Rica for some more hiking in one of Costa Rica's little explored national parks.Rincon de la Vieja (The Old Lady's Corner) scored another point for Costa Rica. I guess it only took me 6 months to figure out that the country is nice in the mountains, but shit at the beaches.Our weekend excursion in the north yielded the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen; a super sore knee from lots of hiking; bugs that left us itchy, bleeding, and drained; encounters with 3 species of monkeys, including one that threw its feces at us; and some extremely relaxing geothermal heated hot springs that put a soothing close on our weekend.

Getting a master's degree is great!