Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: The venturers are here!

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

The venturers are here!

All the venturers have now arrived and are settling into life in Costa Rica. Julian welcomed the venturers, introduced the project managers and explained what Raleigh life would be like. Then we had a record breaking electric disco wave to wake the venturers up!

Enjoying a breakfast of Gallo pinto

Harry being served by Rachel and Carl

Jonathan and Harry tucking in

Julian welcoming the team

Shane, Oliver, Will and William enjoying breakfast

Jonathan, Joshua and Henry

Harry, Micheal and Ross

The electric disco body wave!

The venturers were split into their Hotel groups and the PMs took them down to their tents to make their beds, set up their mosquito nets and get to know each other. The it was off to the local university pool for a round robin of swim assessments, admin and foreign exchange. After a hot and sticky morning the venturers enjoyed cooling off in the pool! Back at field base the venturers began radio training with Wendell before heading out into the fields to do their first SITREP.

Oli, Hin Hong, Jalmar doing ice breakers with the group

The venturers settling into their tents

Rob, Adrian, Ben, Karla, Ross, Harry, Bernardo, Holman, Tony doing ice breakers with PMs David and Chloe

The human knot!

More ice breaking!

In the evening it was time to find out about the community, environmental and adventure projects and get to know the project managers. Then it was early to bed for the jet lagged venturers.

This morning the venturers will find out which projects they will be doing in Phase 1 and will set off to jungle camp. More on that later................

20 comments:

Janet8 July 2009 at 14:04
Looks like the pace has really hotted up now - good luck to you all and make sure you get some sleep. Nice to see there's so much food about - congrats with the competition Rachel!! Always good with food!
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Anonymous8 July 2009 at 14:04
Hi Sandrine, j'espere que tout va bien pour toi et que ton sejour débute bien. A dublin tout est parfait et je vais avoir plein de ressources à te filer pour tes cours de ESL. Je t'embrasse fanny
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Unknown8 July 2009 at 15:19
just found this entry what fun!
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Rod and Mary8 July 2009 at 16:52
Glad to hear that everyone arrived safely and already learning to cope without mobile phone, computer and take-away!
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Diana8 July 2009 at 18:20
Alex...you have achieved a life long goal!...being part of a human knot!!
Keep on keepin' on!
Diana
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petite soeur9 July 2009 at 01:14
Hey Sand!! Are you sure you're there..i can't see any picture of you yet ahah! That's looks great overthere! i'm sure it's a very nice and funny experience! Take care. We think all of you. Can't wait to read you soon!
Lov Lov
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Anonymous9 July 2009 at 04:17
Wills, hi gorgeous so pleased to see you have arrived safely and already getting good use out of the spork!
number43
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Rich9 July 2009 at 06:10
Best of luck to the Newport boys Ben and Josh - send us a postcard

Rich
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Luci Millward9 July 2009 at 08:33
Hi Oli Millward....looks AWESOME! loving the photos.....have fun! we miss you! Love SIS number one xx
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SueCoburn9 July 2009 at 11:13
Harry glad to see you've settled in and your hair is starting to grow! love Mum
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ronaxon9 July 2009 at 15:08
Hi Harry

Enjoyed looking at the photos. We are sure that you going to have a great time and make some new friends.

Love Nan & Grandad
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ronaxon9 July 2009 at 15:12
Hi Harry

We are sure that you are going to have a great time and make new friends. Enjoyed looking at the photos. Will keep checking the website to see how you and the others are getting on.

Love Nan & Grandad
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Judy and Neil9 July 2009 at 15:32
Dear Ollie

This is our third attemp to send you a message! Hope you are enjoying everything so far and had a good trip out there. It is great being able to see photographs of you and read about where your are going next. Hope you have a great time. Everyone is missing you loads already. Send a message when you have a minute.

Lots of love Mum and Dad xxx
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Unknown10 July 2009 at 00:35
Dear Jasper, Vicky, Dawn, Sample, Steven and Michael,

Nice to see all of your smiling face in the fieldbase. Your exciting journey will start soon! Enjoy and experience every moment there :) Looking forward to share your stories after your 1st phase ^^

Cheers, Lydia
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Karen + boys10 July 2009 at 09:00
Hi Harry, great website. We will be following your "fun". Enjoy!
Karen and boys
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mum and dad10 July 2009 at 11:34
Hi Michael!

Hope everything is going well and your having lots of fun. it's nice to be able to see what you ware getting up to with all the photos.ive just had sausage egg and chips for tea tonight what have you had haha!!!
Missing you loads love Heather, Jessica, mum and dad xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Anonymous12 July 2009 at 02:49
Hi Deven

Hope you are having an amazing time! We saw some photos, its good to see you are all having so much fun.

Missing you lots.......
Love
Mum
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Priti12 July 2009 at 02:56
Hi Deven

Hope you are having fun, wishing you and your team all the luck for you current project.We are missinh you very much.....

Love from all us!!
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Jax12 July 2009 at 03:25
Will Arnot - Hi Wills - looks and sounds an awesome trip. Great blogsite but need more pics of you! Love from sunny SA - Jax
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ronaxon19 July 2009 at 15:14
Hi Harry

You still look well and relaxed in the latest photos. Trust that you still enjoying the expedition. Hope the food is Okay. Looks like a very nice group of young people that you are working with. Will keep in touch.

Love

Nan & Grandad
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Add comment

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!

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.

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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?”