Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Romantico Raleigh

Sunday, 14 February 2010

Romantico Raleigh

There is love in the air across Raleigh 10B today as we celebrate Valentine's day Costa Rican and Nicaraguan style. Read on for messages of love from some of our Alpha groups and see how they are sharing the love today...

Alpha 1, Corcovado trek, were up bright and early to make the most of this special day. Today they are trekking alongside the beautiful Rio Cano Bravo.

Last night our Guanacaste trekkers, Alpha 2, were invited to a local wedding and had a great time, particularly enjoying a welcome break from trekking rations! The way to a trekker's heart is most definitely through their stomach.

Our Coast to Coast adventurers, Alpha 3 received some early Valentine's love from Fieldbase yesterday when Sarah (Logcita) and Christine visited them with a food drop - here is an exclusive photo of their trek - more to come soon.

Alpha 4 are loving their path laying today and have been singing in the rain in La Cangreja after a tropical downpour. They will be sharing the love with their rangers later today as they enjoy a game of volleyball.

In Alpha 5 path building continues, but their nightime canine visitors were replaced last night by wolves, a witch and cupid! They finally completed their longdrop, not as inviting as everyone hoped. Love is in the air in Camaronal today and things will be hotting up during the day!

Alpha 6 have a very special Valentine's day planned at the beach with sun, sand and a few special surprises over on San Lucas Island.

Up in Nicaragua Alpha 7 and Alpha 8 are both heading out for trips today to see local projects completed by a previous Raleigh expeditions.

Everyone in Alpha 9 down in Conte Burika sends their love to people at home, ahh.

Our Macho trekkers, Alpha 10, got up early to head to La Esperanza for a romantic rendezvous with the Bravo 3 roadtrip crew (Ross, Katie, Sarah (Blogger) and top Tico romanico Keiner).

With love from us all on Raleigh 10B.

11 comments:

Anonymous14 February 2010 at 15:31
For Caroline Bixner Alpha 2

Hé muisje, was weer fijn jouw stem te horen. Altijd heel onverwachts en altijd weer een verassing! Ik ben reuze benieuwd naar het bruiloft verhaal.Hebben jullie lekkere dingen gesmikkeld? Veel foto's maken, hoor! Jullie zijn alweer meer dan een week onderweg. Net iets over de helft? Nog even volhouden. We zijn trots op je. Helemaal geen gemopper en heel positief. Goed van je muis!
Hier alles goed. De eerste gouden plak heeft Sven Kramer al te pakken! Verder hier nog steeds erg wit in het Gooise (en glad!). De mannen vertrekken over een paar dagen naar Oostenrijk. Wordt stilletjes hier in huis, maar daar ga ik ook van genieten.
Veel liefs van ons drietjes, XXmama
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Charles Vyvyan14 February 2010 at 16:34
To Izzy Vyvyan Alpha 3
Great to see a photo the scenery looks awesome. Very jealous and very proud of you. Hope the mozzies and the heat aren't too bad and your knees are holding up. Granny on good form over Sunday lunch, only a few un PC remarks! Missed your peacekeeping and reminder to me re valentines day - oops! George just back from his 2nd game for Wharfedale, this time for Under 19s ! Seemed to enjoy it.
Keep going and hope you are helping keeping spirits up, can't wait to hear all the stories when you get back.
Love Dad x
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Davyejones@aol.com14 February 2010 at 16:58
To Sir James Wilderspin Alpha 3

Hail there Sir James, just seen the hot off the press photo of your gang!..all looking quite fierce and ready to attack...lol taken day 4 I guess the treck is honing your defence mechanisms in case of taliban attacks or similar.
You and the rest of the tribe look fit and well, and from that we gather that all is going to plan.Expect a message from Caff soon, she promised to write.G Jean and I send lots of love and wish you a safe and exciting journey to the Pacific coast
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Anonymous15 February 2010 at 02:30
To Samuel Becht, Alpha Five

Lieve Sam, we sturen je big hugs uit Amsterdam. Wij hebben gisteren geschaatst (!). Davy en ik gaan begin maart paar dagen naar Istanbul en Béla wordt maar slanker en is over puberdip heen lijkt het wel. Wat willen we graag al je verhalen horen ! Leuke foto's en verhalen op het log. Liefs, mam
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Nigel Havens15 February 2010 at 03:22
Veronie Havens Alpha 3. Hi Veronie, great to see another group picture and all with big smiles. A small point, if that is the team short drop in the foreground of the picture I suggest you make it longer next time!!! The Wheelers from Loughborough stayed the weekend so recovering from increased alcohol intake. Went to Borough market in London a foodies paradise, shame you are just on beans! hardly going to help climate change in your case either!! keep the smiles going and the news coming. Proud of you all. Love and missing you, really! Pa and Ma
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Will15 February 2010 at 08:46
Rachel Stanley Alpha 3.

Hello Rachel,

I didnt forget, I wrote for you yesterday, but I think it didnt reach becasue I dint comment on the most recent post, or maybe it did. I waited until yesterday to open your card and it was worth it thank you so much.
You appear to be a little more gangster everytime I see you, I hope you are having an amazing time. I see that there is Geordie with you "Toon Toon" {I can hear your response, it makes me laugh now}.
Started the meaty bit of dissertation on Saturday, best part of 8'000 words, sickening amount of work to distract myself from you not being around, not really working tbh.
I Love and Miss u very much and I may be repeating myself if you have already received a message, but we will have a day when u get back.
Keep safe and take care.

Wilbur
xxxxxxxx
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Alex Maxwell-Scott15 February 2010 at 09:41
Caroline Finnegan - Alpha 10
Hi Caz, hope trek is going great, and knees, back, etc is in good shape, good thing you got those clown feet to spread the wait of your pack!
Getting very jealous reading about the various adventures, and wish I could be trekking with you as opposed to doing my diss which, incidentally is about as enjoyable as discovering you forgot your parachute half way down.
Sent letter in the post about week and a half ago so should be with you at changeover, some average to good goss enclosed, more to follow shortly. Barry said to tell you he misses you.
Happy valentines- bet your looking gorgeous for all the men!
Missing you loads,xxx
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Anonymous15 February 2010 at 09:55
To Caroline Bixner, alpha 2

Guapa, ik hoop dat je het heel leuk hebt! Ben je je barca kilo'tjes al kwijt? Haha. Heb je al op een aantal foto's gespot, ziet er leuk uit! Hier ligt nog steeds sneeuw dus geniet maar goed van het lekkere weer daar. Zet 'm op!! Besos, Joyce
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Anonymous15 February 2010 at 15:34
To Sophia C-G, Alpha 5
Hi honey, hope you're having a fabulous time, it looks very hot there! What wolves? I thought it was turtles you guys were watching. The photos look great. Vicky and I had a good time in France- lots of lovely meals and doing the rounds of the vineyards. All is well here at home, I'm back at work, and Charlie's on half term. It's so great to read all these blogs you are so lucky, what amazing adventures, we miss you loads, lots of love, Mum xxxx
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Anonymous16 February 2010 at 10:04
alpha 7- daniela Flores Carpio. Hola ma!! dice doña Luz que Dios la acompañe y que te quiere mucho. Papa y mama te mandan saludos, besos y abrazos. te extraño mucho y TQM, ya sabe a posar para verla. ojala te lleguen todos los mensajes que te he enviado. Tu mama
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Anonymous16 February 2010 at 16:03
For Sophia Alpha 5

Hi darling!
Looks like you're having a great time! What's this about wolves?! Mum can't post on her computer and sends loads of love and from all of us! Keep at it! Dadxxx Mumxxx Charlie xxx Granny xxx
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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?”