May 2008 Archives

Monteverde, Costa Rica

A cluster of mushrooms on a “sendero” (trail) which cuts through a tropical cloud forest adjacent to Arenal Volcano in the Central Highlands of Guanacaste in Costa Rica.

At times we allow ourselves to become so caught up, that we lose our heads in the clouds while looking for that perfect je ne sais quoi, oftentimes missing out on the beauty and opportunity that the universe has placed at our very feet.

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

It was in many ways what I imagined it would be and in many, completely unexpected. The country is much less developed than I expected, except for that of major cities and towns, all of which are extremely small in scale by my Western comparisons. Much of the country is green and untouched; the rest is composed of rolling hills, mountains and farmland.

Roads in Costa Rica are in awful conditions. Consider yourself lucky, should you be driving on anything paved, everything else is rocky, muddy dirt roads which require a 4x4, ATV, dirt-bike, or horseback. The roads are scary in that a great many run alongside high mountain sides with very little to keep ones vehicle from flying over in the event of an accident.

Bridges are also of concern as they tend to allow for only one vehicle crossing at a time. One should practice caution when crossing them and ensure that there are no other vehicles speeding across it or about to on the opposite end. They usually cross rivers and brooks which cause the supporting earth around their bases to suffer the effects of erosion. One can not help but wonder when was the last time that an engineer or land surveyor made it out to the site. You can always tell when a tourist is crossing them as they speed across at glacier speeds and not the gazillion miles per hours that Ticos average.

Costa Rica does not have the best of roads signs in the world, so make sure that you either have a GPS or one hell of a roadmap and sense of direction. With a little trouble and the help of locals, the latter worked fine for us, just make sure that you have a full tank of gas and fill up whenever possible as gas stations are sparse and those you find are charging roughly about $4.00+ per gallon/ ¢2,000+ colones. (¢514 colones to the dollar) Expect traffic delays, mud during the wet season, yielding the right-of-way to horses, cattle, and other livestock not to mention the numerous tropical wild animals you are sure to encounter on the road.

Furthermore, if you are ever planning a visit, be aware of the sky-high rental car insurances and required deposits which the rental car agencies fail to make tourist aware of until they have arrived. Expect to pay an extra $200 to any vehicle you may have reserved, to be given a manual operated vehicle even if you requested an automatic (that’s where some of the extra comes in), then you have wheel and windshield insurance, and a hefty $900-1,500 (refundable…If you are lucky) deposit.

Next stop: Nicoya, Central Highland’s, Arenal Volcano Region.

Today, my baby and I are off to Costa Rica and I am super excited!

It’s nice to not have to worry about NYC or the states till the end of the month. My only stresses will be getting good shoots of all the wild animals during our several rainforest expeditions, not falling into any type-3 rapids and drowning, not getting bitten by anything poisonous and avoiding dengue and malaria at all cost. lol

If you know anything about me you’ll know that I love all that adventurous crap. I especially look forward to horseback riding to the active volcanoes at night, scaling a few rocks, zipline forest canopy tours 100's of feet above the groud and relaxing on pristine beaches to name a few.

C'est l'histoire du déclin et de la chute de la taille ma nous suis occupée à prêtent attention parce que notre regard s'est posé sur la lettres que la génération écrivais…

Que penses-tu qu'il va arriver con la “Z”?

Je suis prêt à tout, à part de la société nudiste. Je Je Je

This month as many of you know, New York City will host its annual AIDS Walk.

I reached out to a huge pool of email contacts regarding my fundraising endeavors and not all of the responses that I received were on a positive or apologetic I-can’t-give-this-year note.

This was one of the worst and angriest of replies I received:

F**king deplorable, is it not? One must truly dig deep within to find the quiet tolerant and compassionate self willing to forgive the trespasses of one as ignorant, angry, or self hating as the person capable of concocting, adopting and spreading such stigmatic views.

I have dedicated thirteen years to research, empowering/educating, advocating and providing services to those affected regardless of gender, identity, creed, background or orientation. I would provide this idiot with the same level of care if he walked into my office tomorrow. Unfortunately for him salvation is not my department; fortunately by the same token I also do not wield the power to cast lightning.

Zap!

I went to the outlet malls upstate and drooled over all sorts of unnecessary goods probably manufactured in Third World sweatshops. All I really needed was a pair of boots but…they had to be Timberlands and after that was said-and-done, I ended up leaving with a little more.

My family came here with nothing and for the most part we are maybe one or two paychecks away from the same which is a scary notion once so immersed in the American dream; or over-consumption nightmare depending on one’s personal stand.

Yet, it is that very question of over-consumption that usually beckons and remains unanswered, because in the context of my assimilated dream, my culture has become one of freedom, freedom to shop for as much as I want so long as I have the money or credit line to do so.

The previous is the attitude of a greater percentage of Americans, those with myopic views too wrapped up in ethno-egocentricities. As it is, America consumes 25% of global resources, meaning that our steadfast way of life accounts for a quarter of worldwide consumption and we only account a small portion of the earth's population.

Materialism to en extent equates to a certain level of security but quality of life is not to be confused with lifestyle. When do we as immigrants forget our humble beginnings and adopt material hording, senseless consumerism, and material status quos as a steadfast way of life? Does the mall-rat syndrome affect us immediately or is the whitewash process a slow one?

In all honesty, I have never shied away from an unneeded pair or uniquely faded jeans or an extra pair of spiffy shoes. However, over the last few years I have slowly but surly begun the process of cutting back, negotiating between needs and wants, and considering the environmental impact of my oftentimes disassociated desire for every cornerstone of American material life.

When was it that the bamboozling of name-brands start to confound me? How early on was it that my every step in the Diaspora become synonymous with Nike, Guayaberas gave way to Hilfiger, and Clorox begin to lighten my pigmented cultural center?

How has Clorox® affected you?