Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Alpha 5 Update by Friso

Monday, 31 October 2011

Alpha 5 Update by Friso

Pura Vida friends and family of Alpha 5...

Time for an update! While on Sunday some of us were taking part in Alpha 5 Olympics a few of us went to visit our community to see if the families were ready for us to move in. When they returned they had good news! Finally, we were moving to the community in San Nicolas. We’d had a nice time in the Albergue but it was time for us to go for what we came for! Off we went to San Nicolas. Surprise surprise, A5 got stuck again. There is always an adventure waiting for us! We had to push and pull our bus out of the mud, and although the trip was not smooth we eventually reached our destination and moved in with our families. The families were delighted to have us and so far we have done an amazing job for them by digging trenches and laying water pipes. Little did we know that community phase would be practice for our trek with a 1 hour walk to and from our project site everyday. As our work requires a lot of energy we’ve being doing other activities in the afternoons. For example we’ve been teaching the locals English (whilst they’ve been teaching us Spanish), doing a Q&A with our local partners and refreshing in the waterfall. After these activities the group always meets up at the top of the ‘rock’ to enjoy the stunning sunsets and to radio in to Fieldbase.

This is Alpha 5... listening, out....

8 comments:

Jay Sodha31 October 2011 at 11:15
MONISHA SODHA ( ALPHA 5 )
Hi MoniYou must be happy to join your host family I am following the blog.There were some pics but none of you or your group. Today is Holloween and Julian came across with his sream mask I pretented not to know him and asked him what he wanted he said obis schuss order saurer I gave him chocolate. He was happy. Heberst Messe started Basel is buzzing. we are lucky with the weather it is still 15 to 16 degrees. It is going to be 28 in Trivendrum. Roger was in town he went to FCB and his old Tennis club where he was training.Ami is finally coming Ayurveda few days after I arrive. We missed you alot at Diwali dinner. Take care. Love you lots Mum xxxxxxxx
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Trevor Littlewood31 October 2011 at 17:29
To Jonathan Littlewood, 11L, alpha 5
Hey Jonathan, glad that you finally got started on the water project despite struggling with the stuck-in-the-mud bus. Hope you are having a great time - the sunsets look awesome. I'm away in Norfolk at present on a lab retreat so I'm working just as hard as you (well, almost!).

Love you lots and we are all missing you. Dad. xx
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Georgina Corrales31 October 2011 at 18:24
Para Ana Gabriela Herrera Alpha 5
Hola mi nena, hoy escojimos la pintura de la casa que ya la estan pintando, se ve muy bonita. tambiénescojimos las alfombras y las persianas. Keiner me dijo que el miércoles llegan a Turrialba apenas tengas señal me llamas. Espero que te haya ido muy bien con la familia, te amamos muchisimo! Besos, mami.
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Anonymous31 October 2011 at 21:23
Pura Vida Jesus jimenez!
te hablo desde guatemala!!
ya vi fotos del raleigh! MAEeee solo dire que tiene compania muy hermosa!!
cuidese de parte de NETO
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Anonymous1 November 2011 at 04:14
Monisha Sodha (11L Alpha 5)

Hi Moon,
Hoff alles lauft guet? Mir händ immer no keini neue föteli vo euch becho, aber so wiä's vom bricht tönt sindr jetzt voll am projäkt drbi. isch sicher sehr schweri arbeit, vor allem wenn ihr no 1 stund je wäg müänd hi und här laufe. ich hoff dinni familie isch nätt und das du villi föteli machsch vo all däm wo du erläbsch.
do vo basel gits eigentlich nit viel neus, d'herbstmäss het agfange aber es isch eigentlich immerno chli s'gliiche.
öppis wo dich no wird überrasche, ha gester d'nochricht bim schaffe übercho, das ich uff poznan muess und zwar scho inere wuche! es isch jetzt rächt en stress zum alles vorbereite und so, gang am sunntig, ha am mäntig mis meeting dörte und flieg am mäntig z'obe grat widdr hei! ha natürlich dr anita gschriebe und sie chunnt mich am flughafe cho abhole, bringt mich ins hotel und denne gömr zämme neume go z'nachtässe :-) sie isch würklich en liäbi! verzell dr denne wiä's gsi isch wenn ich s'näggste mol schrib.
bis denne!
love,
didi
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Anonymous1 November 2011 at 10:29
Millie Pierce, alpha 5
I just saw the chickens in the photos on the blog... you must be ebing very brave!! Its cold here now, I've had to put the radiator on! Are you doing anything for Halloween?! I got locked out yesterday :( I'll send another letter soon! xxxx
p.s. there is a game of frisbe going on outside :) Miss you xxxx
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Siwan Edwards3 November 2011 at 12:32
Delun Jones 11L Alpha 5

Hi Del! Sut wyt ti? Haven't been scared off by the frogs and moths yet?! :P
You haven't really missed much here. Me and Alice have been to the cinema once to see 'The Help'. Wasn't the same without you though! Carys is home next week so hopefully we'll meet up.
I've started my Open University course, and realised that I actually missed studying!! (I guess I really am crazy!) And I've finally started my volunteering in the hospital which is fun. The patients are lovely and the staff are a right laugh. :)
And silly season has started in school. We started rehearsing for the christmas show this week so all i seem to have done in work is play christmas songs on the piano. I'm going to be sick of them by the time we actually get to the show!!
Me and catherine are going shopping on saturday for our disco costumes, really looking forward to the course now. :D
Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay and I bet the trek will be 10 times harder than anything we did for Dug Caeredin! Pari's got nothing on you! :P

Miss you!!

Cariad mawr,

Siwan xxx
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Anonymous7 November 2011 at 03:51
Monisha Sodha 11 L ALPHA 5

Hi Mona
I am sure you are enjoying this unique experience though I understand it might take most of us out of our comfort zone. When you return you can perhaps teach me a few survival skills! Both uncle Patrick and I are doing OK, nothing specific to moan about, except that we tried to make a bigger alcove in the kitchen wall to accommodate a bigger fridge and the project hasn't worked out quite how we expected! Weather is not great, very cloudy with bouts of rain but not cold yet. Bye for now & take care. Love from Umifai
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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?”