Home Stay in Sarapiqui

When I initially designed this trip, the homestays were to be a central part of the trip. Students would become junior anthropologists by living with local families in a countryside village. This homestay was a bit of an afterthought. Ultimately it was really fun.

After our bout with ¨jungle tourism¨ in Tortuguero we landed in Sarapiqui, a traditional agricultural town in the middle of Costa Rica. It was pouring as we arrived at the town´s community center which had arranged our visit with Doña Minerva and her family. After a quick orientation about the town, which included discussion of a high teen pregnancy rate , we piled into a taxi and were taken to our ¨home for the night.¨ Doña Minerva hugged us warmly and showed us to our rooms. I had a little single bed with a Mickey Mouse blanket and Linda and Dennis, spent the night on bunk beds. (Most of the homestay guests are in their teens.) Next we were offered a tasty stew made from beef, carrots and potatoes. We then watched American TV (the family has a satellite receiver mounted on their zinc-covered tin roof.)

In the morning Vladmir, Doña Minerva´s youngest son, walked us down to the Sarapiqui River where he often works as a Rafting Guide. He gravitated to Dennis´cool Nikon and started composing pictures. He decorated Linda in leaves and made her into a jungle woman. He was so much fun! Next we studied traditional cooking with his mother. She taught us how to make tostones, flatted fried plantain chips. Then we made a rich creamed chicken dish and finally a sweet plantain dessert using sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, condensed milk and cheese. I imagine it was one of the higher-calorie indulgences we´ve had since we´ve been here.

Considering the communal cold shower, the noisy roosters and the rickety bunk bed, Dennis and Linda were especially glad that our homestay was just one night. That afternoon a friendly driver came by, loaded up our many bags, and drove us down to Puerto Viejo, a town on the Southern End of the Caribbean Coast.