The Sad Saga of My Host Dog's Deteriorating Health

So I have some sad news. My host dog's health has deteriorated immensely. Sebastian recently celebrated his 17th birthday, which I'm pretty sure in dog years means he's at least 120. We're talking Okinawa status in terms of longevity here. I mean Costa Rica is known for its high quality of life and its high number of centenarians and I don't see why that wouldn't carry over to man's best friend.

Age has taken its toll on Sebastian though. He has skin cancer, which from what I understand has spread to his bones. He also has a heart condition that prevents any kind of operation to stop the spread of his cancer. Despite his maladies, I came to know Sebastian as a very tranquil and agreeable dog in the past few months. But ever since he received a haircut last Monday, things have just been getting worse and worse for this canine. It should be noted that Sebastian hates receiving haircuts. Much like 16 year old me, he prefers the shaggy look. He hates the buzzing of the razor so much that my host mom pays more to have his hair trimmed with scissors (Hey, he's a sophisticated guy. I can relate). He also has to be muzzled because he tries to bite the groomer. As you can imagine he's very sensitive to the touch due to his infirmities.

Well, after they shaved the poor guy down to nothing, he was one unhappy dog. In defiance, he came home and promptly defecated on the courtyard patio instead of in the grass. But the next day or so, he started shaking uncontrollably and he couldn't get up. My host siblings and mom took him to the vet, which was an ordeal because he tried to bite them when they picked him up, and when they came back he was walking around seemingly fine. My host mom said they gave him an injection and that was that.

Sadly, within a few days Sebastian's health deteriorated again. He lost movement in both of his hind legs and he couldn't walk. My host siblings and mom again took him to the vet. They again gave him some injections, but they did not take. This time they reported that both of his hind legs were fractured (a result of the cancer, I presume), and so he is permanently without use of his back legs. So my host brother, today, built a dog wheelchair so that he can still walk around on his own. It kind of works, but Sebas pants like crazy and it's going to take him a while to orient himself with it. He runs into a lot of things and gets stuck constantly. So yeah, it's extremely sad to watch and I fear he is in immense pain and I just had to share this story with everyone because in the states, he would have probably been put down by now. But who am I to judge. I'll keep you posted on the little guy. Gotta go now. Tomorrow is my first of three midterms this week, so there is work to be done.

2 month mark (final installment)

So I know the ideal way to blog is to do short posts more frequently and not incredibly long posts every few months, so I promise I'll try to do away with the feast or famine style blogging from now on. But for now, here's the 3rd part of my 3 part blog. The International Arts Festival is in San José from the 15th until the 25th I think. So on Friday, my friends and I went to San José and looked around and shopped at the craft tents, got dinner at a really great pizza and pasta place nearby and then saw Calle 13 perform at night. For those not in the know (which was me before I got to Costa Rica), Calle 13 is a big deal in Latin America. They are a band from Puerto Rico with very satirical and politically charged music. Their music is kind of a mix of reggaeton and a bunch of other styles. Anyway, I really didn't hear or see much of them because there were so many people there. We were really far away and when we tried to push our way through the crowd to get closer, it was just suffocating. I was not having it, and neither were two of my friends, so the three of us left and went to a nearby restaurant to get drinks and have dessert. The rest of the group met up with us later. I know Cleveland just set the record for largest St. Patrick's Day parade with 500,000 people but I can assure you that there were more people at this festival. I don't think any Tico has even considered trying to do a count (that's just not Tico), but I'm pretty sure the entire Central Valley was there. When we tried to take a bus to go home, we had to wait for bus after bus after bus after bus before we could get on one. There were a ton of buses, but they kept on filling up. There was an insanely long line for the buses and you had to fight to get on one. It was definitely an experience. I didn't end up getting home until 1 am, which was super rough because I had to wake up at 5 am to go on a class field trip.

We met at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning and departed for the Irazú volcano. This particular volcano is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica with an elevation of 11,260 feet. And let me tell you, it was freezing at the top! It was about 40 degrees at the top (ok, so not technically freezing), but the temperature often drops below freezing at night. I had definitely forgotten what 40 degrees felt like, and I have no clothes here for that kind of weather. Also it was misting and we were in basically one giant cloud, so it was quite an experience. My Tico classmates were too funny. They are definitely not accustomed to the cold like my friend Audrey, who's from Colorado, and I are. Definitely glad I saw it. The views of the craters and the bluish-green lakes that have filled in the craters are beautiful. But also definitely glad that we were only there for about 20 or 30 minutes. There really wasn't a lot to see. It was very desolate up there. Nothing really grows when it's that cold all the time. After that we went to Paraíso de Cartago, a pretty standard Costa Rican city. Audrey and I got an empanada at a street market and we poked our head in the church, but it was under construction (poor timing!). I was bummed because we saw that church instead of the one in Cartago, which we drove past and looks really beautiful. Cartago is known as the colonial and religious capital of Costa Rica and every August pilgrims from all over the country flock to Cartago on the feast day of the Virgin of the Angels. Oh well. Maybe another time. Then we went to the Orosi Valley, which is a beautiful mountainous part of Costa Rica with beautifully scenic look out points and the remains of a church that dates back to 1570. We saw said church a few weekends back on another trip. It was all very beautiful. Then we had lunch and it was a nice chance for Audrey and me to chat with our fellow students.

Last night, I went to dinner in San José with Audrey, her sister and her sister's boyfriend (both of whom were visiting from the US). We ate at Kalú, which is an amazing restaurant offering a wide variety of food. One of my complaints about Costa Rican food (though delicious) is that there is very little variety. So when we had bruschetta and smoked salmon on bread for apps, a salmon taco, a tuna taco and a shrimp taco with a salad for mains, and a (get this!) paulaner hefe weisbier to drink, I think I almost died. These foods are not common in Costa Rica, so it was nice to have them. And as for the beer, the beer here leaves a lot to be desired. A real tragedy if you ask me. All of their domestic beers taste the same (which is true of macrobrews in the US), but they have no microbrews or imported European beers like we do in the states. I know. First world problems. Anyway, we had a great time at the restaurant. Audrey's sister and her boyfriend were both incredibly nice and really fun to talk to. Today, I went to the international arts festival again. This time with my host family. We ate lots of good food and I got a churro for dessert. yum! The festival was SUPER crowded especially the tents full of arts and crafts. After that we left. It was nice to spend time with my host family and practice my Spanish. I really hope my Spanish is improving. I think it is, but I always feel like I should be improving faster. So yeah, that's basically everything that's new right now.

2 month mark (continued)

The weekend after the Osa Peninsula, we went to Arenal. It's about about a 3 hour bus ride. The length of bus rides here varies depending on traffic. As we have discovered, traffic on Sundays (especially along the coast can be brutal). That makes our trips home extra long. The one back from Osa was especially long. The "highways" can be one-lane roads and sometimes you can sit on those roads in a slow crawl for what seems to be an eternity. And there always seems to be a baby crying for two straight hours (trip back from Manuel Antonio) or someone puking on the bus (as was the case with our trip back fom Arenal). I should note that the screaming baby was directly behind me and the little girl blowing chunks was directly in front of me. I guess I have all of the luck. But this is just a minor nuisance in comparison to the greatness that is seeing all that Costa Rica has to offer. For a country the size of West Virginia, the variety of things one can do is incredible. 

Anyway, we paid $6/a night for a hostel in Arenal. We were a bit apprehensive that the place would be a dump, but it was actually a very nice, clean hostel. Not only that but the staff was incredibly accommodating. Juan Carlos, or el Capitán as many call him, picked us up at the bus stop and walked us to the hostel. He even pointed out a toucan along the way. When we got settled in, he offered us all free cocktails. He also offered to take us to a public hot springs for $5/person. Since the taxi would have probably cost more than that and he would watch our stuff while we were in the hot springs, we happily took his offer. He even gave us a cooler for our beer and bought us guaro (liquor made from cane sugar) and coke. Ticos are just too nice. The hot springs was beautiful. Since the volcano's last major eruption in 1968, the water flowing in the rivers has been hot. Consequently, the area is full of high end resorts with beautiful hot spring pools, cascading waterfalls and picturesque views of the volcano. For shoestring travelers such as myself, the free public ones do just fine. The river is surrounded by forest and has little cascading waterfalls. My friends and I had a lot of fun soaking in the hot water surrounded by the jungle staring up at the night sky. It was a great experience. 

The next day, we hired el Capitán to be our tour guide in Arenal. He offered to take us by van into the park and be our guide on a hike through the park for $15. Since it costs $10 anyway to get into the park, for $5 more a person we could have a guide. And we were so glad we did because he took us up the path that the lava flowed all the way until you weren't allowed to go any higher for safety reasons. We climbed so high up and it was pretty arduous, but it was so worth it. The views from up there were absolutely stunning. It was so picturesque. You could see the surrounding forest, the mountains, and Lake Arenal. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of Switzerland. About the lava: Since the Arenal Volcano erupted in 1968, wiping out much of the surrounding area, lava flowed pretty regularly from the volcano until 2010 when it stopped. Because of this, Arenal is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The pictures of the red lava flowing from the volcano at night are so pretty. But alas, the lava has stopped for now at least. I'm praying to the volcano gods that the lava starts flowing again before I go back in a few weeks with my family, but I'm not getting my hopes up. After our descent from the volcano, we went to a local "swimming hole" near the hostel. It was a river with a rope swing that you could use to swing out into deep water. It was right by two little waterfalls about 10 feet high. It was really pretty. And it was reheally fun to swing out on the rope and drop into the water. It was probably about a 10 foot drop into the water. I also dove from some rocks that separated the two waterfalls. It was so fun!! All for free. Doesn't get much better than that. So that was our trip to Arenal. It was one of my favorite trips I think. Though it's hard to say. Everything we've done has been pretty amazing. 

2 month mark!

Today is the 2 month mark! My apologies for not blogging more often. I just got really busy and I kept putting it off. But I have so much to tell. I don't even know where to begin. Here's what I've done since I last blogged. Went to a pool near my house that is sourced from a natural spring. It had a waterfall you could sit under and some high dives from which you could jump, dive, or bellyflop (yes I did that) into the water. Minus the painful bellyflop, it was really fun. I went to an electronic festival in San Jose. That was fun. The next weekend I went white water rafting in Turrialba (about hour and a half or two hours away. One of the shorter bus rides). It was AMAZING! The white water rafting was SO fun. The Pacuare and Reventazón Rivers are two of the best rivers in the world for white water rafting for the rafting itself and for the scenic views of the surrounding jungle. It was incredible. We rafted the Pacuare. I got to sit on the front tip of the raft while we went down a rapid (we called it riding the bull). It was so fun! We swam in the river along the way. We got to jump off a pretty high cliff (I'd guess 15-20 feet up) into the river and swim underneath a couple waterfalls. We stopped halfway to eat lunch on a little sandy bank along the way. The lunch was delicious!

The next day we met up with some more people from the group and a professor who showed us Costa Rica's oldest and most intact archaeological site. It was over 2,000 years old and some of the infrastructure was still there and the aqueducts still worked! We went to two really old churches too. One was completely intact and we arrived minutes before a matrimony was set to take place, so that was awkward. We quickly poked around while the wedding guests stared at us and then we promptly left. The other church was only partially intact, so we didn't have to worry about reenacting "Wedding Crashers."

The next weekend we went to the Osa Peninsula. It's in the southwest part of the country and it's super isolated, which means that it's not easy to get to. After a five hour drive we arrived at the Peninsula. Then we got on a boat on a river and went out into the ocean. We searched in vain for some whales and then we pressed on to the remote beachfront research station that would be our home for the next few days. The boat got as close as it could and then we unloaded all our bags and provisions of food for the weekend by handing them off to each other down a line. The scene was breathtaking. There we were on a beach surrounded by jungle. The nearest road was a 3 hour hike away. It was unbelievable. We spent the weekend swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach, and doing A LOT of hiking. There are trails that go on and on within the massive forest preserve. We saw a lot of animals including a lot of big spiders (not everyone was thrilled about that). Look out for a picture of my face next to a substantially large spider on Facebook. We also went to a bat cave just as the sun was setting, which meant just in time for all of the bats to whiz out of the cave and fly right in front of our faces. It was pretty cool/pretty freaky. We caught some bats in nets and looked at them up close. We also took a hike along the rocky coast part of the preserve at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful. On Sunday (our last day) we went whale and dolphin watching and this time we were extremely successful. We watched to whales surface for air several times and then we saw multiple large groups of dolphins playfully leap into the air. It was so cool! Then we went to Isla del Caño off the coast and snorkeled at the coral reef. We saw so many fish very up close. My friend, Audrey, was mere feet away from a shark. I'm so jealous.

The whole weekend was very interesting. The research station had no electricity, so when the sun went down, it got VERY dark. It's easy to forget how dark a place can be at night with no lights for miles and miles. It was refreshing. As I said, there was wildlife everywhere and that included our abode. One giant toad made himself cozy right next to the toilet one night and an even bigger toad (it was hard to believe a toad could get bigger than the one next to the toilet) posted up in the shower. Thankfully, my room was in the main house so it was a little more bug-free (though I saw a cockroach crawl across the ceiling on my first day) and I still got my fair share of bug bites at night. But my friends who stayed in the cabins detached from the house had a visit from not one but two scorpions right before they went to bed. Fun stuff. The trade-off to sharing your bed with creepy crawlies was that falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the crashing of the ocean's waves was incredible. One of my favorite parts (though there were many) was napping in a hammock on a hill that overlooked the surrounding jungle, the beach and the ocean. Hence the inspiration for my current profile picture. Well, I could say so much about that weekend but I'll wrap it up here.