We hiked a short way into the forest and came to our first waterfall. Now, Mom, please know that these folks 1) are very well trained, 2) do this twice a day with inexperienced groups, and 3) know that dead tourists are bad for their business. That said, there is still a little moment of swooshing in my stomach as I step out onto the rocks next to the edge, clipped in, and leaned backward over the falls letting gravity take you away and the physics of pulley systems keep you alive. The trick seems to be keeping your legs straight, though not locked, and releasing the rope slowly. I would like to think that I got the hang of it quickly. I would also like to thing that the skin on my left hand will grow back.
We found out quickly that it was quite impossible to stay dry on this trip. Once one could commit to that it was a freeing experience to embrace the feeling of the fresh water tumbling down upon your body. The last two waterfalls involved a short leap from the edge before swinging back and making contact with the rock face at a 90 degree angle. The added exhilaration was appreciated more by some that others, although the screams of terror were entertaining for those of us in the former category. The zip lines caused some anxiety within the ranks too. Our poor Linda was so nervous that she shook and so I just held her as our position in line advanced toward the platform. I was singing one of our chorus classics, Freedom, to sooth her which apparently worked so well that she adopted the technique as she burst into verse when she finally took off down the zip line. On zip line #2: the Hallelujah Chorus. In the end, fun was had by all and all survived.
At the end of the tour we stepped out of the forest, arriving at the main lodge for the tour outfit. We stripped off our "dry" shirt, grabbed fresh clothes from the bus, and made for the showers - a disappointing experience since we were not informed to bring our own towels. We gathered on the second floor of the building which looked out over Turrialba and the surrounding hills for an amazing lunch of salad, rice, fruit, and the most tender, savory chicken. We were shown a slideshow of photos taken of our group on the tour and collectively decided that a CD of action shots was a worthy tourist purchase. Those pictures will need to arrive on the blog later, I'm sad to say.
After a bus back to hotel I was able to snag a real shower and opened my computer to catch up on some communication. Other groups filtered in from their day's activities and gathered for chatter. With our door open, the room Mama Heidi and I shared quickly became the party room as wanderers dropped in to share their adventures and took on the atmosphere of a freshman doom room. I got to know a number of chorusters better and it was sweet to have some casual time to catch up. I felt as if it was another step in making new friends and also made me miss my loved ones back home.
I lost track of time and needed to spring in getting dressed to make it in time for mass at Iglesia San Buenaventura De Turrialba, the local Catholic church. We were singing there later in the evening but I wanted to participate in services before. It was a simple service complete with communion and felt familiar and foreign all at once. Last summer I attended weekly Catholic services at a Maryknoll outpost in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the two months I worked there and found new appreciation for the faith and its followers. There is a great deal of overlap between the tenants of world religions and the work for social justice despite the ways it is often used to the contrary. As a Unitarian Universalist, my higher-self holds space to find value in all faith traditions. Taking the opportunity to connect with the practices of others feels like an opportunity to grow in my humility and respect for diversity.
The choir convened in the park across from the church to warm up and organize ourselves. White ribbons were distributed and affixed over our left breast to honor a young person from the community who was recently murdered and to whom this evening's concert was dedicated. After taking our seats in the pews, the concert was opened by two local choir groups opened for us, one of which had opened for us at CATIE two nights before. This was the first time they had the chance to sing in church and their beautiful voices were resounding in the cavernous concrete building.
When it was our time to sing we lined up in the back of the building and marched down the aisles to the song, Ariko. The audience now filled two thirds of the seats and filtered out the side doors and were roaring with applause on our approach. We sang a full concert with a brief interruption from a dramatic exchange between two members of our audience that ended with a man being escorted out of the church - it did not break our stride and we finished our set with great response. The two other choirs joined us for our final two songs, Freedom (the song Linda sang on the zip line) and This Little Light of Mine. It was a magical concert and the first time that I began to really understand what I was involved in.
Headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner where I got to catch up with our guide Anni a bit more and hear about her family and work. She had a gig recently as the personal companion for an Australian woman touring Latin America for 6 months! As she spoke of the moment realizing that no amount of money could make the distance between she and her family seem worth it, I could not help but think of the 12+ months that still lie ahead of me...
Back to the room to pack. Bus leaves at 6:45 tomorrow morning... sheesh.
(Insert Imaginary Images of Canyoning)
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