Costa Rica & Nicaragua

Costa Rica & Nicaragua 2015/2016

The Land of the Rich Coast and the Ecologically Diversity!

I am fortunate enough to have had several opportunities to visit Costa Rica and Nicaragua during my undergraduate career as a student. The first time was with a group called CMERA for a Marine Ecology travel course, and the second time was with my university for a Tropical Biology and Conservation travel course. Now, I'm all for a relaxing vacation but, to me, it was more beneficial to go to these two countries through education means. There is so much here, so many environmentally important aspects and so much knowledge to be gained, that I really got more out of it with that "learning" component attached. Both places were unique in their own ways so it's only fair to write about them in two separate sections, keeping in mind that I spent more time in Costa Rica than I did in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua

Costa Rica and Nicaragua were the first developing countries that I went to as a traveler and they taught me a lot about the human "world". I think, as a person from a first world country, it is important to go to these developing countries because it shows a different way of life for people. This kind of knowledge is extremely important to have because you get to see humanity from a different perspective. What is normal for one nation, may be completely unnatural for another. To grow as a person, it is imperative that you get to see the many different faces and lifestyles of people from all kinds of countries and places. Not only to develop a sense of awareness, but to also appreciate the kinds of things and opportunities that you have from your home country.

Windmill Farm

Lake Nicaragua

Nicaragua was such a fascinating country to visit in terms of ecological diversity and human lifestyles. Nicaragua has everything from active volcanoes and freshwater lakes to tropical beaches and coastline. It is the largest country in Central America, but on the flips side it is one of the poorest. Despite being the poorest, a lot of energy in Nicaragua comes from the windmills posted around parts of the country (as shown above) and they are actively growing in the "renewable energy" category. They also have one of the largest freshwater lakes in Central America, which is coincidentally home to many bull sharks when mating season comes around.

This land is beautiful and I am happy to say that I got to spend the 2016 New Years here on the beach with a fruity drink in my hand. I will say, however, that I wish I had more time to really travel around the country. There is a lot to see and a lot to learn from this ecologically diverse landmass and hopefully one day I can go back and see more of what it has to offer.

Costa Rica

In Spanish, "Costa Rica" means "Rich Coast", and that is exactly how I would describe this place. With both trips combined, I spent approximately 4 weeks in C.R and between those two trips, I have been to pretty much every major area (and a handful of secluded areas) around. Between the breathtaking beaches, the delicious food, and the downright awesome wildlife, this place has just about everything packed into one small country. Costa Rica has a ton of different habitats from marine tide pools all the way to "temperate-like" cloud forests.

 If you're the type of person that loves biological and ecological diversity then you should start planning a trip to Costa Rica. During my trips I came across quite a few "National Geographic" type animals that blew my mind. From sloths, monkeys, and sharks, to bats, tarantulas and snakes, there was a bit of everything roaming around.

 Another fantastic (and delicious) fan favorite from Costa Rica was the domestic cuisine and exotic fruit we had for our meals. For instance, I've been a vegetarian for about 6 years now and I was blown away by the copious amounts of fresh fruit that was readily available all the time. Fruit aside, the cultural dishes for lunch and dinner were to die for. These two trips really made me realize just how great cooked plantains are, and if I could, I'd make a special trip back just for those!

While I am on the topic of food and cuisine, I just want to mention how astounding the coffee is here. Coffee beans are one of C.R.'s top producers and I have to say that they may be the best in the whole world at making and roasting coffee. As a former barista, I have to say that I was outdone by their amazing coffee but I am honored to have been able to taste this liquid gold!

During the combined four weeks in C.R. I had plenty of time to do lots of fun things. For instance, I got to try zip lining for the first time and immediately realized I absolutely hated it. Heights have never bothered me but something about dangling hundreds of feet in the air really didn't sit well with me. But zip lining isn't all I got to do, I tried surfing for the first time, white water rafting, hiking, and even soaking in the volcanic hot springs. All of those things really gave me a new perspective on the meaning of "fun".

 However, there was one particular activity that I fell head-over-heels in love with, and that was the SCUBA diving. I was already a certified diver when I left but while I was there I was able to take the "AWARE Shark Conservation" certification class. To me, that certification will always be one of the more special ones just for the fact that the course was so much fun and because I got it while I was there it holds that sentimental value. It was also the first time that I ever dove with sharks and being able to see them up close in their natural habitat was such an amazing experience.

  One of my favorite cities to go in C.R. was Monteverde, solely because of it's location to the cloud forest AND the fact that you could literally go to restaurant in a real tree! The place was called Restaurante Tree House and they had the best drinks to boot. What could be better than drinking an adult beverage in an actual tree house? Not much, I can tell you that.

 Switching gears slightly, I want to touch a little bit on the humanity side of my time in C.R. As said previously, this was the first time that I visited a developing nation. I still remember stepping off the plane and seeing the city and thinking "this is nothing like what I saw in Japan" and looking back on it today, I realize that there was so much I have learned since than. Costa Rica may be one of the "richest" countries in Central America, but it is still a developing nation in the long run. I admire the hard work of the citizens in doing all they can to take care of their land all while building their country. If there is one lesson to be learned it is that every civilization on earth has their own way of doing things and their own way of life. It is a very beautiful thing to behold and incredibly amazing to see just how different us humans can do things.

~RMW

Canada

Canada (Past 5 Years)

London, Canada

Across the Boarder and Back Again!

Most Americans would say that Canada is just a Commonwealth version of the United States but I would argue otherwise. It is a lucky coincidence to live near a border because you have unlimited (in some cases) chances to go find a new adventure in a foreign land. In my case, Canada is no exception.  

Sarnia, Canada

In some ways Canada is a lot like the US but in many more ways it is very different. The culture, road signs, cars, brand names, shops, and even secondary language (French) all give off a very different aura than to that of the US. For instance, when I went to London back in 2015, it was interesting to see such a big yet quiet city. During my trip to London, we (my Mom, Papa, and I) went to a Canadian maritime museum that was dedicated to the Canadian war history, something that you wouldn't normally find in the US.

A few years later, I took a trip to Toronto with some work friends to check out one of the biggest cities in Canada. In my opinion, Toronto has a life of its own. We spent most of our visit on Yonge St. and that place especially had quite a unique vibe to it. Toronto had a lot to offer and we were lucky enough to roam the streets and see a bit of what it had on our day trip. We tried the Blonde espresso from Starbucks (before it hit the US), had wonderful vegetarian sushi, and tried boba tea for the first time. That trip really allowed us to experience the eccentric "personality" of the city.

Toronto, Canada

Between then and now, I have taken small day trips to Canada to visit their all-you-can-eat-sushi buffet in Sarnia. I have to say, one of my favorite things about Canada is their dedication to making fantastic-and affordable-sushi rolls. It is so good that every time I am home again for a visit, I make a special trip to my favorite sushi place just to eat at their buffet.

One last story, and one of my favorites, is the trip I took with my best friend, Jessica, just before I left to go back to Australia. She really enjoys traveling and wanted to go to Canada to add another country to her list of places she's been. We went for dinner and then a night drive around the town. We didn't exactly go to any places that were spectacular, but we had so much fun together just roaming the streets. Our adventure consisted of going to dinner (the sushi buffet of course), checking out the mall, driving around, and even stopping in at the Duty Free shop right before the boarder. Traveling is fun but traveling with good company makes it 100x better. The laughs we shared, pictures we took, and memories we made are things that I hold so dear to my heart. One of my favorite things about that trip is how excited she got when she bought a Canadian tourist t-shirt because, to her, it represented her "adventure" to a new foreign land.

Toronto, Canada

In all of my trips to Canada, I never went farther than Toronto. That being the case, I hope I have more opportunities to go further inland and see some of the remarkable places Canada holds. There is so much land and so many beautiful places just waiting to be explored!

~RMW

Blue Water Boarder between the US and Canada

Japan

Japan 2012

Who Let the 16 Year Old's Loose?

My first experience going overseas was way back in my high school years. I was 16, junior year, and I had befriended the group of exchange students that attended my American school. Hearing their stories made me want to partake in my very own travel abroad adventure, and so that summer I decided try my luck at being an exchange student. It was a pretty impressive situation being that I found out about the summer exchange program, got all my paperwork together, wrote my scholarship essays, and submitted my application all in the span of 5 days. At that point in my life I had made up my mind that this was something I wanted to do and nothing was going to stop me.

Lo and behold, a month later I got the exciting phone call saying that I had won the Okinawa Peace Scholarship and that I was leaving for Japan in approximately one month's time. On the other hand, my poor mother (American) just about had a heart attack when I told her I was going to be living in Japan for the summer.

Upon arriving in Japan, all of us American students stayed in Tokyo for several days to complete our induction orientation. After that, we parted ways to meet our new families all throughout the country. My placement was in Okinawa, one of the main islands in Southern Japanese waters. I remember stepping off the plane and thinking how completely thrilled I was to actually be in Japan AND how close I was to meeting my host family.

When we got to the end of customs and were finally released, the first thing we encountered was the giant crowd of host families holding up signs with their host child's name on it. I was so nervous that I could hardly read the signs. It took me a good 15 minutes to find my family but once I did the realization kicked in that these wonderful people were my new family. I can wholeheartedly say that my host family was the BEST host family! My family consisted of a mother (お母さん), father (お父さん), sister (her name was ゆな), and brother (though I only met him once because he was in college). I loved (and still do) my host family so much. The funny thing is, my host mom was so much like my real mom that I immediately felt comfortable with her. I was also able to bond with grandma (おばあちゃん) and grandpa (おじいちゃん). My maternal grandma actually spoke fluent English because she worked on the military base that is stationed on the island. It was nice for me because we got to have some pretty great conversations and she helped me a lot to understand certain things. Even to this day, I still send them postcards from places I travel to and send them messages to let them know they're in my heart.

During my time in Japan, I learned so much about the culture, language, food, and life of the Okinawan people. My new "daily life" included going to school with my sister, Yuna, hanging out with friends (友達) after school, shopping with my mother, and having fun chats with my father at dinner. On the weekends, I spent a good amount of time with friends, going to the beach, and exploring the island with my mom. I had a couple of friends, Natsumi and Fumiyasu, that I became quite close with during my stay. There were also my school friends, Karin and Nanami, that I often had really fun chats with about popular American culture. To this day, I still think about all of the wonderful times we shared together. I don't think any of them actually know just how much those memories mean to me and how thankful I am to have met and befriended them. My family and friends will always and forever hold a very special place in my heart.

This entry is shorter and less detailed than what I would have liked to write mostly because it's been so long, 7 years ago to be exact. I will say however, that the feelings of appreciation, love, friendship, and happiness are still very much present. I still think about my family and friends, and hope to one day return to see everyone again. I want to catch up and make more memories while I still can and before my friends move away or become too busy.

One of the main things that living in Japan had taught me was that, even though you can be from separate sides of the earth, people are people, and if you put effort into actually wanting to learn about their culture, they will open their arms to you and invite you in with loving smiles. This was the start of my curiosity to explore the world and learn about other cultures and it was also the trip that taught me the most about how to be a culturally "conscious" and respectful traveler.

Traveling is a wonderful thing, but doing a foreign exchange program allows you to truly integrate into the life of another culture and create human connections unlike any other. I highly recommend to anyone who has the chance to go on an exchange program to take that opportunity and live life in a new land because what you gain from it will forever be priceless. 

~RMW