I procrastinated a bit like usual but finally came through and came up with two stories that came to my mind as really inspirational and truly memorable.
The first story I wrote happened when I took my first trip by bus to San Jose from Puntarenas, Costa Rica. I ended up in what everyone was telling me is the most dangerous barrio in San Jose! But due to a chance meeting with a stranger I found countless memories and ended up in what one could pretty much call a fantasy world.
The second story and the one I submitted because I have photos to go with it, I don't know what happened to all of the photos from that particular trip, is about my first Christmas in the Philippines back in 2009. I decided to give back in a big way and it is still my favorite and most memorable travel memory to date.
An
Unexpected Detour
By Joshua Sterrett
It
was a humid, March evening as I sat waiting at the empty bus station in
Puntarenas, Costa Rica. I was about ready to take my first trip alone outside
of the city to San Jose armed with my suitcases full of clothing and everything
else I thought I needed. The thing is, I was as nervous as a hatchling about
ready to take its’ first step out of the nest because I was literally afraid of
taking public transportation. You see, back home I had my own car, everybody
did, and I never know the exact route a bus is going to take me.
As
I sat there in anxious excitement a quaint, bespectacled woman and her daughter
sat close by. I decided to strike up a conversation with the friendly looking
lady and was surprised to find that she spoke English. Her name was Martha. Since
I had arrived in January I was used to only hearing and speaking Spanish so it
was a bit of a relief to be able to speak in English. So we sat there for the
next thirty or forty minutes discussing about my experiences in Costa Rica thus
far and my life back home. She was headed to a friend’s house for a party. I
explained that I was traveling by bus for the first time and heading for
San Jose, with the plan of staying at a hostel.
Every
now and then I would ask the bus driver if I was at the correct place in San
Jose. I suppose I must have been like the Simpsons’ kids when they’d
continually ask “are we there yet” because once we were in San Jose he said “si”
and I got off the bus. It was the same stop as Martha and her daughter.
However, the place I got off at looked like it was in the middle of nowhere.
Martha asked where I was going and I told her the address. She gave me a
worried look as she told me I got off on the wrong stop and was far away from
my destination. She informed me that I was in Barrio Cuba and it was not a safe
place so she called her friend and asked if it was okay that I stay over.
Little did I know this was going to be one of the craziest adventures yet in
Costa Rica. She let me know that the house was an all-female house but luckily
her friend gave permission to let me come along.
As
I walked the desolate streets, looking into the shadows and trying to carry my
luggage in my arms rather than rolling it so I didn’t attract any unwanted
attention from the inhabitants or anybody lurking in the shadows. What felt
like an eternity but was just about a 3 minute walk I arrived at the end of a
street with a dead end. Martha knocked on the door and my eyes went wide, mouth
hanging slightly ajar as several young women in their pajamas looked out at me
from within, smiles on all of their faces. Standing in the street dumbstruck I
was led inside and got ready for bed. The house was cozy, two rooms with beds
on the floor were where the girls were sleeping together, a kitchen was further
down and then there was an open ground room beyond where they bathed by cold
water. I would be sleeping on the couch in the living room. It would be my home
for the next week and one of many experiences of ‘tico hospitality’ and my
first ‘couchsurfing’ experience.
Mornings
come early in this neighborhood as the women all got up and began preparing for
a party. Martha explained that I was now a special guest to a double baby
shower. Let me tell you, baby showers are a big thing in Costa Rica! As more
and more women were arriving I was put to work as they explained that I must
earn that couch I slept on. So I went shopping with Martha for ingredients at
the bustling local marketplace where you could find a variety of odd trinkets,
old things, and of course fresh fruits and vegetables for sale. I carried the
vegetable laden bags for her and then we headed back to the house. In the house
balloons were beginning to go up everywhere, reggaeton was playing on the stereo
and feminine laughter and chatter was in the air. It was really a magical
moment.
Next
I was given the job of helping to create the appetizer. I would take the crust
off of the bread and then cut it in half. I would fold the resulting triangles
into each other to create a kind of pocket. Someone else would put some
vegetable paste inside and then toast the bread. We made plates upon plates of
this dish which turned out to be delicious.
By
this time, word had gotten around the block that there was a special visitor,
aka ‘a gringo’, visiting and all of the neighborhood children would come by and
stand outside the door and windows peaking in. Eyleen, the daughter, is a bit
of a party animal and on her cue she turned up the stereo putting on some
reggaeton hits and all of the ladies began shaking their hips to the Latin
beats. I had a video camera and had been capturing all of the moments from
helping with the food preparation to the dancing but Eyleen suddenly called out
for me and told me to get up and dance for them. I refused at first but she
didn’t give me much choice, jokingly saying I was still earning my stay as she
took my camera and I began dancing with the other guests and their children.
The
rest of the week was spent walking the neighborhood with the family and going around
San Jose. I will never forget the friendships or the warm hospitality of my Costa
Rican hosts in Barrio Cuba.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A
Christmas To Remember
By Joshua Sterrett
Leaving
the chilly winter air of early December 2009 in South Korea to embark on my
first trip to the sunny Philippines had me nearly jumping for joy and eager to
take off the layers protecting me from Korea’s cold winter. I was headed to
Davao City in Mindanao Philippines to visit my long time e-pen pal and friend.
I just finished up my first contract working as a teacher in South Korea and
was eager to see some more of the world with my newly earned savings.
 |
| crazies on a plane |
I
had been planning this trip for months and it was finally happening. I would be
experiencing my first ‘sunny’ Christmas with my friend and her family and
planned to couchsurf all across the Philippine Islands over the next two
months. As I walked off the plane after having a hilarious time making faces
and jokes with a fellow flier, I came to know how much Filipinos LOVE
Christmas. In Davao, everything is decorated in lights or garland, red, blue,
and green. You can’t escape. And why would you want to? People were just so
happy!
I
was welcomed into my friend Joy’s home with open arms, as if I was part of the
family. I’d watch Wowowee (a game show) every day and joke about whether the
contestants were being over dramatic or not as they told their life stories
just before they began to bump and grind like crazy as soon as the music came
on and even got caught up in the Big Brother craze that had so many pinoys
glued to their televisions. I learned to take a bath with a barrel of cold
water that has a hose feeding fresh water into it and a scoop. I even began
learning some of the language.
However
there was one thing I really wanted to do that I wasn’t doing. All around me I
saw poverty and it was commonplace to have children chasing me everywhere I
went or a homeless mother with both breasts exposed feeding her child with dry
nipples. I didn’t want to be just another traveler and even before I left Korea
I had a plan to do something special for Christmas. For so many years I’ve
always been the one to receive gifts and expect things but now that I had the
financial means I really wanted to organize something and give to someone that
I never expect receiving anything back from except a smile.
My
original plan was to do a food tent in Davao on Christmas Eve, contacting the
local parishes and seeing if I could get some sponsors for food and a place to
accept the many people that may come. I soon came to realize it’s not such an
easy task that can be done within a month’s time.
I
had almost all but given up on the idea of doing something great for the needy
of Davao when my friend Joy told me about a family friend who generally gives
charity to her hometown in the mountainous region of Matanao, Northeast of
Davao. This was a business woman who provides some care packages each Christmas
to the most needy families. Once introduced we came up with a plan where I
would take care of ordering the catering to provide hot meals for all the
children in the village and she would match whatever money I put down for care packages
and also obtain the trucks needed to carry all of the food and containers. Joy
and I thought it’d be really great if we could also wrap some toys and put them
in a bag like Santa Clause so we went to the dollar store and began picking out
all sorts of toys that kids would enjoy playing with. We bought ourselves some
Santa hats and wrapping paper to complete the package. Everything was going as
planned.
A
Pinoy Christmas is a bit different than one in the USA. Street and neighborhood
children go up and down caroling in order to receive money and treats during
the weeks leading up to Christmas. Barangays or districts set up Christmas
pageants where all the families get involved performing dances and singing
songs. And on Christmas Eve there is no sleeping. As soon as the clock strikes
midnight dancing erupts, drinks are poured, and wrapping paper hits the air.
It’s a festive event like no other.
But
it was nothing compared to what was waiting for us in Matanao. When we arrived
at the school grounds we found 250 children and mothers waiting for to put on a
show for us, the honorary guests to their barangay and Christmas show.
Usually
these children are lucky to get some rice and perhaps a bit of cold meat for
their Christmas meal. It was so great watching their smiling eyes as they
eagerly ate up the food and began to watch the show. The show was the highlight
of my trip. They prepared it especially for this event and it included
storytelling, traditional dances where one young girl purchased beads just for
the occasion, English quizzes (for the gifts), and finally I came up on stage
to join a group of girls dancing to the popular Korean song “Nobody Nobody” by
the Wonder Girls. The crowd of children went wild.
After
giving away all of the gifts to the winners of the quizzes and the performers
it was time to rest and laugh. There were filled tummy’s and smiles everywhere.
I was invited to the principals home for some food and drinks and as we were
given a lift to the house several kilometers down the road all of the children
came running after the truck waving and laughing. From that point on I was
surrounded by children until I left. It’s a place I can now call a second home,
a place that I’ve come to love due to the people’s warm hearts and gracious
attitudes in the face of hardship and the beautiful landscape that they
themselves call home.
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