Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Hitting the ground running...

Saturday, 19 June 2010

Hitting the ground running...

Hola and welcome to the Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua blog for Expedition 10F&G - your virtual Fieldbase for the next three months.

Here at the actual Fieldbase, the advance team is now on site and settling into their roles. Located on the outskirts of Turrialba, a beautiful farming town in the mountains of central Costa Rica, our home for the next three months is set amongst lush cow pastures and verdant hills including the impressive Turrialba Volcano.

According to the local promotional website this area is known as 'Little Switzerland' due to its rich, fertile soil and majestic mountain scenery. I'm pleased to report that the scenery and vegetation certainly live up to this claim though the Turrialba cheese leaves a little to be desired.

Currently on base are:

Ross McKenzie: Country Program Manager
Sarah Walker: Deputy Program Manager
Jonathan Keevins: Logistics Manager
Vanessa Targett: Logistics Coordinator

Keiner 'Special K' Alvarado: Host Country Venturers Coordinator
Alejandro Serrano Alvarado: Host Country Venturers Helper
Abigail France: Finance Manager
Michala Rudman: Administrator
Lisa Cranfield: Project Manager/Medic
Emilia Uzar: Project Manager/Medic
Euan Platt: Project Manager/Team Coach
James Rose: Photographer
Ben Shearman: Communications Officer (that's me)

Everyone is busy with Excel spreadsheets, medical kits, stocktaking and driver training, but we've still had time to get to know each other a bit, have some good food and keep track of Costa Rica's mixed fortunes in the ICC World Cricket League Americas Region Division Four Twenty20 tournament (more on that later).

Here on the 10F&G blog we'll be keeping you up to date with all the coming and goings at Fieldbase, posting lots of photos and videos and gathering on the ground reports from the Venturers once our projects get up and running. We'll also have detailed info about all of our projects in Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.

And we'd love to hear from you - to send us message just click on the comments link below and a box will appear where you can write your message. If you want it passed on to someone in particular please don't forget to tell us who the message is for. 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.

Over and out.

7 comments:

Jane Lidbetter19 June 2010 at 23:51
TO Lisa Cranfield in group 10F.
I just saw a photo of you on your blog which was great to see.
I am busy packing to leave the day after tomorrow and will write to you from Torquay.
Lots of love Mum xx
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Anonymous21 June 2010 at 06:14
why can't the 8th juy come already?!?!?!?! i really cant wait to get out there!!!
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Anonymous21 June 2010 at 09:32
Msg for Rambito

Over and out? Get on with the Radio Training already!
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Mark Riley24 June 2010 at 03:39
Best of luck to everyone on Expedition 10F&G, have the time of your lives, and especially to Lizzie Phillips who will be keeping you all entertained and in order!

Cheers

Mark
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KAREN RUSSELL25 June 2010 at 15:10
TO ABIGAIL FRANCE 10F&G

HAVE SEEN YOUR PHOTOS AND READ MAIL--SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE AN AMAZING TIME OUT THERE!JENS HAD A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY ON 23RD WEIGHING IN AT 8.5LB NAME ALFIE.-- VERY WARM HERE 80'S TOMORROW- BEST OF LUCK KEEPING THOSE FINANCES IN ORDER,WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO ENGLAND GAME SUNDAY- LOVE KAZZA XXX
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ANA28 June 2010 at 00:24
HOLA NURIA, ANIMO EN TU SEGUNDA SEMANA EN COSTA RICA, UN BESO
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Anonymous20 September 2010 at 02:48
To Lisa Cranfield in group 10F

Glad you are having a good time Leese! Miss your smiley face!

Cheers
Lara from Health for Industry
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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.

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?”