Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Alpha 1 Update from DEL (09F, 10-Week Expedition)

Saturday, 25 July 2009

Alpha 1 Update from DEL (09F, 10-Week Expedition)

Just back home from the Alpha 1 (Guanacaste Trek) food drop, where we spent some quality time with the group on Friday evening. They were staying the night at a Ranger Station and just thinking about dinner when we arrived bearing post, Mobile Shop and messages from the blog. They were in great form largely due to having eaten Pot Noodles for lunch. Henry is still surgically attached to his guitar and all are having fun creating their skit for Changeover at Field Base which is looming in 3 days time. In a fit of unparalleled generosity, I told them all that I would post a brief message to their nearest and dearest so here goes…

Tina – Hi Sis. Hope you’re alright. Make sure you send pics of new niece. Larry- love you and miss you. Write to me! Can you phone Antoinette and say Happy Birthday from me and sorry I didn’t phone her. Hi Cuz – Hope you lot OK. Write to me, man! Hi Mr D, it’s Tina, hope you’re OK!

Vicky – I’m fine! I miss all of you and I will come back home soon. X

Shane – Hello everyone! Hope you’re all doing well at home and wherever you may be. Having the time of my life here. Will contact you as soon as I can. Keep an eye on the blog! Happy Birthday to Orlagh, Sarah, Jemma & Tom. Love you all loads, Shane.

Fee – Thanks for the birthday card. Love you lots. Having a great time in Costa Rica! X

Harry C – Love and miss you. Good luck on your travels, Heather. Keep the letters coming. Having an amazing time!

Michael – Thanks for all the messages and letters, keep them coming! Miss you all and love you lots, even you big sis! Love you too, Soph. See you soon…..

Henry - Barnes clan, miss you! Clem, miss you loads and love you lots.

M&D, J + The Lizard Man – All good. Safe and very happy. Lots of love, SRStMcLF/ MP x

10 comments:

Anonymous26 July 2009 at 03:32
Vickee -
Did you get your luggage back at the airport after you had lost it?
How well do you adapt to the place?
Are the people divided into teams?
How is yours?
Take care yourself.
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Anonymous26 July 2009 at 11:11
Vicky,

You know, Dad always repeatedly to ask about your condition espectially the lost of your luggage.
But I think you got it (as seen your back in photo). Right!
Enjoy your trip!!!

With best wishes!
Anna LO ^v^
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Anonymous26 July 2009 at 13:06
Michael,
Glad to see uou're OK if a bit muddy, but then you never were much for washing!!

hills covered in mist now where have we had that before?!

Look forward to hearing about your next challenge.

Just got back from Sutton (in the rain, weather is wet here) and the rest will pester Harry to keep up to date with your antics

Have fun Dad.
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Anonymous26 July 2009 at 13:12
Hi Michael
Missing you too!! Hope the letters have no started to arrive, missed you at the dance comp today, whats with the fur on your face lol Love you Sophie xx
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Anonymous27 July 2009 at 03:25
Michael Raymond
Glad your enjoying urself we're getting nice and wet at sutton. take care, love you all the crowd at sutton xxxx
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Anonymous27 July 2009 at 11:24
Hi Alexander
I hope the drain digging has been successful I am sure the people in the village will now appreciate running water in some of the houses It must be very satifying work I suppose you have lots of new muscles! how is your Spansih bet your accent is better than mine!!
Antonia and clan were here for my birthdy very busy and every morning woken uo at 6 am miss you lots love \me
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SueCoburn27 July 2009 at 14:47
Harry C can't believe you've nearly finished your first stage - it looks as though you've had a lot of fun and done rather a lot of trekking! Keep up the smiles and laughter and enjoy your next adventure. Lots of love Mum
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Clementine29 July 2009 at 05:15
Hey Henry!
Thanks for the Message, its nice to see you, and your Trek crew, and sounds like you are having fun serenading everyone. surgically attached to your guitar Eh?! sounds familiar! I have made a promise to myself that i will have learned 'Fire and Rain' by the time you get home. Watch this space.
Please could you send me a message giving me the Postal address for your main base? i would like to send you a letter!
I Love you as always, and I hope you are not missing 'Viva Pinata' too much! Clem
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx HUGS
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Anonymous29 July 2009 at 09:42
Vicky,

You look sound. Enjoy your moment and have fun there!

Cheers,
Lydia
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Anonymous30 July 2009 at 15:01
Henry
Thank goodness we persuaded you to take up the guitar and not the tuba.
Glad you are working hard and missing us all. We are trying to take it easy in Portugal (quite easy) but are missing you too.
Dad
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Hi,

Thank you for visiting our blog. Comments are monitored daily and we will ensure messages are promptly delivered to your loved ones. Please ensure you state the name of the person to whom your message is addressed. This is so we don't miss any out. Muchas gracias!

Pura Vida!

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How to send your loved ones a message

It's easy. Scroll down to the bottom of the most recent entry and click the comments link. A box will then appear where you can write your comment - please don't forget to tell us who the message is for including the full name and project group of the recipient. You can select name/URL from the dropdown menu to tell us who it's from (you can leave the URL blank if you wish). Finally, click on 'Post Comment' and you're done.

As you can imagine there are 180 volunteers so hundreds of messages for loved ones, no comments go live immediately and have to be moderated for appropriateness, so please do bare with us.

All comments that are pertinent to the post will be publshed and all personal messages will be delivered (even if they don't appear published). Messages mean a lot to all the volunteers; thank you for your continued support.

Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”