Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Snail mail

Friday, 26 March 2010

Snail mail

Greeting blogfollowers. A spot of admin today: while the splendid postal systems of Costa Rica have served us well over the last two months we have now reached the cut-off point for packets, parcels and postcards to reach us before the expedition ends in April. Please save your stamps and don't send any more items via snail mail as they simply won't get here before the teams head on to pastures new.
Don't worry though - the technological marvels of the t'interweb mean that you can send any messages to your nearest and dearest via this blog! Just pop your thoughts in the comments box below and we'll wizz them out to the projects sites next time the Bravo teams pay a visit. The whole expedition will be returning to Fieldbase on Friday 9th April - any blog messages that we have not been able to deliver during Phase Three will be handed over that weekend.
That's all for now.
Toot toot!
Blogger

5 comments:

Anonymous26 March 2010 at 06:52
Why no news anywhere (other than the Spanish msg.) of Xray Six?
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amelia vyvyan27 March 2010 at 13:11
Hi Izzy Vyvyan (Golfito)
Hope you are having a fabby doo time in your new jungle home - I tried to post something yesterday but it went funny so I dont think it worked - so apologies if I'm repeating myself!! It was great to speak to you the other day - and to text - I cant believe you'll be home in 2 weeks - we cant wait to hear all your stories.
Han and Laura home today it felt v weird you not being there too. But Han is going to come back up for your birthday - thats your present she says!!!
Abi and Tom are back from Oz and finding it hard coming back to normality - hope you dont find it too boring too!!
George has gone away now for a week in Scotland and then a week at CCF camp - Dad's off to Cornwall next week too, so I'm going to be home alone for a week before I join him - it'll be very quiet - I wont know what to do with myself!
We're all loving the photos and cant wait to find out who's who when you get back, its been quite funny trying to guess which names match which faces! Bet we've got them all wrong.
Its quite springy here now - daffs out and lambs around - Judith looks she's about to explode, but as usual will probably just have one massive single. Think the lambs will prob arrive when we're away - granny will be delighted!
We're picking the puppy up on the 9th just before you get back but we have to pick a name now so that they can start her getting used to it. Favourite at the moment is Betsy (sorry, Chica's been banned by Dad!)
Hope you are having a fab time and if you get really good at making paths you can do one down to the river for me in the garden!!! (ha ha)
Lots and lots of love
Mum xxxxxxx
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Nigel Havens30 March 2010 at 01:47
Veronie Havens Zulu 7.
Hi Veronie,
Hope that you are not terrifying the natives in Los Tololos. Am I right in thinking that they are teaching you English there, hope they have more success than Felsted!
Anyway looking forward to you coming home - felt you would need to acclimatise so tent is up in the garden and Jimmy is digging a long drop - a bit short at the moment but be ready for when you get home.The only wild life are the foxes and next doors children so should not be too challenging.You can refry Heinz baked beans as a special treat much better than Campbells! Mike may leave you a couple of Waitrose sausages too.
I have extended your travel insurance for a further 17 days after the end of Raleigh - need to know ASAP if you intend to stay longer.
Business OK in the shop, Jess, Emily and crew all miss you and send regards, internet still growing very nicely, keeping me busy and mostly out of trouble.
My morning routine is 7.30am log on to Raleigh blogs to catch up on all the news, read most posts so feel I am getting to know everyone! Looking forward to hearing more about all the friends you have made and experiences you have shared.
Keep safe, keep well,take it all in, with all our love Dadx, Mumx and Michaelx
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Alex and Woof31 March 2010 at 01:42
Caroline Finnegan Zulu 5
Hi Caz,
Hope your getting on well with the turtles and the sun is out, cause its defo not hear - rain in south, snow in north - great!! Skiing was cool, sun was out and have aquired some rather fetching panda eyes, although skin tone still resembles that of a freshly plucked chicken - NICE!!
Not much to report this end although woof, baz and myself are all looking forward to you coming home!(woof especially), tim hores fundraising is going particularly well for the marathon as current donations equate to the grand sum of £3 from hayley burton,haha, although i may have to chip in eventhough i just lent him money so he can feed himself - disaster!!
Have loads of fun at wash-up and enjoy your last 12 days, 15 hours, and 23 mins not that im counting or anything :s
Bye, have the coupons ready, remember, they're legally binding so I can't do anything about it!!
xxxxx
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Adri Solórzano2 April 2010 at 22:07
Roxary- Conte burica
hola Roooox!!!! como estas? yo super ocupada con la u, pero ni he tenido tiempo de hacer nada pq mi hermano vino de Rusia, entonces me fui casi toda la semana santa pa la playa otra vez/=
espero que le este yendo super bien... disfrute mucho porfa... cuideme a aquel!! jaja un abrazo!!!
nos vemos pronto si Dios quiere! Adri(=
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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!

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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?”