Earthlings

I have never had a pet.
I have never been a vegetarian though.
I have never had real leather clothes.
I have never liked the circus and the zoo.
I will never support experiments and research on animals.


This documentary made me reflect on how I perceive animals - as a mere renewable, unquestionable source of food, clothes and companion -and not as fellow earthlings. Something somewhere went terribly wrong with us. Our intelligence, dominance, achievements. Our ambitions, values, dreams, reality. They all doomed us to be “the most detestable of all species”, “the only kind that will inflict pain for sport”. I don’t know if this movie will have the same effect on you but please, please watch it!!! I am also not sure if I could possibly become totally vegetarian as I always supported the view that we are carnivorous and meat is a healthy and indispensable part of our diet. But how healthy could be flesh stuffed with fear, horror, pain and more pain while is being slaughtered alive? Are there really laws and regulations on how meat is produced? Are there really complied to and who takes care of that?

May be I am just traumatized by the movie. May be it’s a manipulative campaign by some kind of sneaky corporate mission. May be, may be…. I don’t know. But I will try to do some research on the topic and be less ignorant. I hope it’s possible.

“As long as there are slaughter houses, there will be battlefields” Leo Tolstoy

Into the dark

Last night while completely immersed into the new season of Scrubs (:-D)I could not help but recognize the voice of Benjamin Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie at the end of episode two. A song I have not heard before and one I just really liked. A bit sad but death is part of us and consciously or not we are all scared of the thought that we are here – pulsing and alive, lovers and fighters- and one day, may be next day we will be gone. Into the dark.
But fear is not the heart of love. Love is the heart of everything. Cheesy or not- it's up to you friends of mine. Love you!





If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs


In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back


You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
'cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms

Outside

Meet the Rainforest

And yes finally Kamie has started work. I almost felt bad practicing so much of what I actually have to study. But these glorious times will be slowly substituted by critical evaluations, seminars, sustainability and all that the tourism industry should be and is not. With a shirt and a skirt, smart as hell, I entered for the first time the white building of one of those organizations that are actually doing something to preserve the biodiversity of the planet, prevent pollution and deforestation, teach businesses how to reduce their waste and be more sustainable and less harmful to the local culture and the environment. Teach consumers how to be responsible and become part of this global movement. And I am part of that as well. Such peaceful atmosphere at the workplace – flowers everywhere (it’s the Rainforest Alliance anyways), maps and pictures of wild animals, beaches and indigenous communities on the walls. Friendly, international colleagues. I was also able to meet big bad boss Ronald Sanabria who is cited in half of our text books on sustainability. Well Ronald is everything but big and bad. Smiling brightly as the morning sun he is extremely easy-going and pleasant to talk to. My Castillano accent amuses everyone, we drink mate with Silvia (my supervisor) in her office while she is showing me on the map all the places the RA is working with. Litters of mate, talk and talk until it’s already time for a meeting and Kamie goes home with a USB full of information on every country in Central America, environmental data, tourism and sustainability, sustainability and tourism. I don’t know what came first anymore.

Найлонови торбиииички!!!!

Like my good friend Andrea used to say : Mi bolsa de exprerincia esta creciendo!

Havingagoodtime

A long story

Havingagoodtime is the answer to the question “Why hasn’t Kamie started the internship yet?” Blame it on the rum, the hotness, the color of the skin around me. Blame it on the Rainforest Alliance that has been too busy lately thus leaving me no other choice but havingagoodtime. A week ago I got an e-mail from them informing me that my supervisors will be out of office and out of town for a week due to seminars (which already sounds promising as I will be part of these seminars quite soon) So little Kamie had another week off in Costa Rica. One too many.
Ida and I decided to get away for a few days just to change the climate as San Jose was too god damn cold with its 25 degrees. In search for sunnier spots down the coast we took the deadly 7 hour bus to Santa Teresa, on the not-so-far-located-on-the-map Nicoya peninsula. The Pacific coast. My first one.

Seven hours sounds like pretty long and boring trip, right? Well, it was until we got to the mountains and the bus started swinging. Leeeeeffft. Riiiighhhhttt. Sorry, guys you are not allowed to sleep anymore! Not in Costa Rica – quickly stick your noses on the window pane and look. Look and absorb. Cause you’ve never seen anything like it. Mountain tops dressed in greenness. All-embracing steam. Backpackers-free zone. Then suddenly we stopped in front at a harbor. A quite cute little village harbor. The initial feeling of confusion grew into panic when the majority of the bus finally figured out that we have to get out. The panic quickly became anarchy as tourists wanted to know when and how are we going to continue. Bags, hands, red sun-burned cheeks, blue Scandinavian eyes looking for answers. Only the Ticos stood in silence mockingly watching this episode, while a few of them told me that we, the bus and the luggage will be transported to the other side of the peninsula by ferry. Its always easier when you know Spanish. And what a ferry, my friends! ....A huge boat on three levels transporting everything- animals, agricultural machines, local families, lonely-planet-ers and us - out 60 seat bus. The view was definitely worth it.

Arriving in Santa Teresa at 21:00 was anything but exciting. Especially as we found ourselves in the middle of a loooooong unpaved dusty road (it was not too hard to figure out that it is the only one in the village). Tired as dogs we had to face the fact that the high season had left no beds available for the two intruders. The last and only salvation from sleeping on the beach was Tranquillo Backpackers Hostel. On the way we stopped at an Israeli restaurant, had some humus and Maccabee beers. Not surprisingly, the only language was Hebrew (somebody somewhere told me that in Central America there are tree tourism season –High season, Low season and Israeli season (:D). Good times, my dears, Tico times.

So, after filling up ourselves with some quality middle east food and drinks we finally got to Tranquillo and guess what – no beds left! Thank God the good Argentinean guy at the reception agreed to locate us in one of the reserved rooms. Got my bed sheets, touched the pillow and fell into sweet tropical dreams. Well, not as tranquil in the end as the real tropical biodiversity of this lovely eco-lodge was shamelessly stinging, biting and blood-sucking me all night long. A real orgy. The sun came and with it a day and night of constant havingagoodtime.

There was a beach wide and sandy, trapped between the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the dry rainforest. I stood there speechless, miniscule and imprisoned by my civilized nature, wondering why have we lost connection to our real home? Why are we destroying it? How could we kill beauty so magnetic? Life seemed so much simpler in a second. Just looking, I was so overwhelmed that I did not even want to take pictures. The surfers were filming their not so great at the moment achievements. The crabs were extremely shy hiding in the rocks all day – did not want to me meet the only Bulgarian in Santa Teresa. Big mistake!!! We overdosed with vitamin D and called it a day.

Beach house party in a small Costa Rican village. How about that? A great deal of the small- and big-scale house parties that I have visited during the last 2 years should be ashamed and head for the corner to ponder over their bad behavior. It started slowly with a few Cuba Libres (“ I just can’t get enough” ) a big bon fire on the beach and a few scattered Ticos. In an hour I had the feeling that the whole current population of the village – both locals and tourists – appeared from all sides. The DJ assumed The Position and the night begun. As for me, I let my delinquent habits to lead my way. As usual they knew what they were doing.

Pura Vida

Slumdog Millionaire

What can I say about this movie? Danny Boyle. Amazing story. India’s children. India’s hearths and minds. Just watch it.

Taste

That is why my trash bin smells like rakia. :)))

She'd go let it out

Is it any wonder why princes & kings
Are clowns that caper in their sawdust rings
And ordinary people that are like you and me
We're the keepers of their destiny

A bit of of my favourite old school tunes :).

Faces

One too many sights in paradise

He: sunlight

Skin so soft. Skin so smooth. Its color is of milk with cocoa. Its smell is of warm summer rain and sunlight. A skin created to be touched, smelled and kissed. Nakedness so apt to embrace the sand and sun. Mellowness so lovely in the water. And those huge eyes – greener than anything I’ve seen before- as green as the grass in June and much more that that. There is a word for women that expresses extreme physical attractiveness in terms of facial and bodily symmetry, loveliness, magnetism, charm. Beautiful. But if a boy has that skin, those eyes, these features, that mixture of colors all over his almost inhuman creature – what is he then? I remember having a discussion with a friend about this word. We could not find it. And yet its impersonation stands in front of my eyes – vibrant and alive. When I look at this face, I see hundreds of races and civilizations. Black, white, yellow, red. They were brought together to create this boy whose skin color is so .. impossible to define, whose eyes are so incredibly magnetic, whose hair is dark, curly and reflecting all the rays of light that cannot help but touch it. And when he smiles as if the whole beauty, richness and genetic wisdom of the universe smiles at you . You cannot resist and you have to smile back.
Created in the melting pot of races. TM.