Why do I keep traveling to the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica?
There is a certain something when: at the end of a long, sunny day, you pull your quad up the familiar, rocky “road” to your rental home, hoping to goodness you have enough gas to get you there and to the only gas station in a town 30 minutes away. The quad idles as you hop off and unlock the rusty gate to the drive way. Pulling in feels the same as it did the day you arrived; like home. Being sure to park it where you know it will be shaded from tomorrow mornings sun, you pop it into neutral and make your way over to the edge of the pool. By this time you know that you have to sit perfectly so that only your shorts touch the cement, pull off your flip flops, their color now unrecognizable from the dusty roads, and let your feet dangle into the very warm and only somewhat refreshing water. You watch as a river of murky water makes its way around the pool by the push of the jets, your shoulders burn in the late afternoon sun and even though you have been there for 2 weeks, you still can’t quite believe you are there.
As you sit, gently splashing back and forth and leaning back to get the sun on your face; you can’t help but appreciate what is happening all around you. Off in the distance you here the vibrational howl of monkeys, magenta dragonflies bounce from exotically colored flowers, and you can smell the freshly laid molasses baking on the dirt road to keep the area from getting too dusty in the seasonal drought. You can identify more shades or green in one glance that you have seen in your entire life, birds fly by that are yellow and red and blue and green and animals cross your path that you can’t identify except to think “it is a fox like, bear thing”.
Each fingernail is caked with dirt and molasses, your hair thick and filthy, and you can feel the muddy sweat beading down the side of your face. Although you shower daily, each time feels in vain, getting dry impossible from the heat and getting dirty happens so instantly.
You are grimy, your stomach is growling, you have a skinned knew, sun burnt nose, you can barely get a comb through your hair, your clothes stained, your inbox full and you have never felt more pure, more alive, more in sync with yourself, and nature, and your life.
This, you come to understand, is what it feels like to LIVE. This is pure and honest. There is no one to impress, there is no one to judge. You haven’t worn makeup in two weeks and you look like you live in the jungle and you have never felt more beautiful in your life.
That’s why.
By: Jessica Proulx
