Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Bienvenidos Venturers!

Saturday, 30 June 2012

Bienvenidos Venturers!

They're here!!!!

At 7.30am this morning a bus full of backpacks, suitcases and 10 weeks' worth of belongings pulled up outside Fieldbase, and as we were busy unpacking, 6 huge buses full of their owners, A.K.A. our intrepid (ad)Venturers arrived! The drums came out again to wake them from any slumber they had managed to get on their transit from San Jose and we gave them a fitting welcoming ceremony - we're so excited to finally have them all here!

And (I know the parents and guardians out there will want to know this!), they are all very well and have been VERY well fed on gallo pinto, plantain and have now been assigned into their hotels and resorts (some ironically named tents) where they will be staying while they're here at Fieldbase.

A day of training and admin to come now, and we'll give you an update on this and some photos on as soon as I get my photographers back from taking all their I.D. pictures!

Please feel free to leave comments for all, and please state who the message is for - they will be passed on as soon as we get a free moment - a very busy day to come!

Pura Vida y Deaca!

Raleigh Expedition 12G and 12H are go!

8 comments:

James Holland30 June 2012 at 12:05
Message For Suzzanah Kidd - Hey Robin! Great to hear you have arrived! Now begins 10 weeks of everything you have been looking forward to since my presentation. Hope you have an amazing first few weeks and I will be blogging loads! PURA VIDA y DeAcachimba! From James H :) (P.S Say Hi to Ross and Pedro for me) xxx
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Anonymous30 June 2012 at 12:32
Personal message for Claudia Craig 12H

Hey sweet girl! Hope you are managing to keep the excitement under control and finding something to eat. Fantastic news about your scholarship - for the duration of your course - AMAZING. We'll not tell your friends so you can do that yourself. (how will I manage?)
We are all fine. Dad is polishing his kit for his big performance and we're looking forward to it.
We love you very much and are VERY proud of you. There must be some good spanish words to describe that but I don't know them. We'll be searching every photo for you.
Loads of hugs and kisses,
Mum
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Granny1 July 2012 at 02:04
For Joseph Druce
Hope the journey out went well. Have a wonderful time and make every minute count! I am looking at all the photos/blogs to see if I can see you. I'm sure the weather there is better than here - it is showery every day - but hey, Murray won last night against Bagdattis! Love, Granny
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Anonymous1 July 2012 at 03:34
Message for Emmeline Brown 12H
Great to hear you've arrived safely. Looking forward to seeing some photos of you on the blog. We're now in Takayama,- visiting markets and sampling sushi and sake.
Love, Anne & Phil xxx
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Mum1 July 2012 at 06:44
This message is for Cas Wright
Great to hear you have arrived safely. I am sure you will have an amazing time. It looks great. Look at me using a blog!!

Lots of Love
Mum XXXXXX
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Anonymous1 July 2012 at 07:25
Hi Lou Gibney,
I hope the venturers are behaving under your reign, just to let you know, ciaran got his message loud and clear!
The empanadas look top, bit different to the roast I have cooking this evening!
Laters,
Sarah G
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Seonaid Parnell1 July 2012 at 09:11
For Greg Parnell
Hi Greg - hope you are already enjoying this wonderful experience.Fantastic to have this blog to look at what you are all doing. Wishing everyone a great time.
Loads of Love Mum,Dad, Robs and Holly
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Anonymous1 July 2012 at 15:14
Para: Luis Andres Mora Muñoz 12G alpha 3
De:Paola Montero

Hola amor,espero se encuentre bien y estés disfrutando mucho.. Le deseo lo mejor disfruta y póngale bastante aprovecha la oportunidad y este tranquilo que por acá todo va muy bien Gracias a Dios te extraño mucho :( así que aprovecha esa experiencia nueva y que deje muy buenos frutos (: aquí te estaré esperando con ansias bendiciones a todos por aya.
PURA VIDA
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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?”