where are we?

Hi Folks,

Sorry we´ve been out of the loop. Just a quickie to catch you up. Jamey and I went to Panamá for the week of Semana Santa (before Easter) and enjoyed the deserted streets, closed restaurants and shops. What we didnt know before we left is that the City shuts down for the religious holiday. No beer, no shopping, no nothin´. But they did keep the movie theaters open for the heathens. That was us. We went to the movies. Not that cultural but we did end up getting to get out a bit and see some of the surrounding parks and the old city ruins. More on that later. I also have pictures trapped on one of my memory cards. For some reason my memory card is holding them hostage. I am negotiating their release.

Currently Jamey and I have made it to our volunteering post on the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. We are in the middle of nowhere with no phone, no internet, and no transportation. We love it. We rarely get to town to check our e mail and do our business so blogs are usually out of the question. Luckily today we are in town for an earth day celebration. We are celebrating in air conditioning and using the nice computer café. We figure everday is Earth Day for us.
Our volunteer position is with a fairly new non profit called Friends of the Osa or for you spanish lovers, Amigos De Osa. You can google that online and find a really good website. They are just getting things started here on the Osa. The facilities are top notch. We get a nice bed with real mattresses and pretty mosquito nets. They just built the residential cabinas and a lab and are currently raising funds to build a dining hall for when they begin to house more volunteers and researchers. Trond Larsen is the science director. He is the contact here for the entire organization and he seems to be stretched a little thin these days. Our first meeting with Trond was about a week after he had gotten into a pretty bad ATV accident on his way to the station. He is currently going back and forth between San Jose and here to get root canals to fix the teeth he broke in the accident. It was gnarly. So he´s been a bit distracted and overwhelmed.

Jamey and I hope to bring some peace to his life by helping establish a permaculture garden and some pura vida atop of the Osa. We are currently working on making raised beds to plant veggies and devising new ways to keep the millions of ants away from the plants. Jamey and I also spend part of the days either going to the completely beautiful deserted beach that is a 10 minute walk or we chase Howler Monkeys in the trees around the property. Either way we can always find something interesting to do. We´ve come to one of the most biologically diverse places on earth (according to Nat Geo) and we are darn appreciative too.

We will write more when we get the time. Love to all of you.