Inspired by my friend and colleague, Laurel, I am slowing returning to an old practice: Looking for signs. Thanks Laurel! I was going to leave Costa Rica this week, and was going to change my flight at any moment, when something changed my mind. I was cutting vegetables for dinner in the common area of this hostel in Quepos, (where we have been too long, waiting for medical supplies to be shipped here for me), when a quiet voice with an English accent said, "So how is your trip going?" I looked up-- there were only two of us--and responded, "Well, it's the end of my trip, actually. I'm headed home." I was engaged in conversation by a "professional vagabond", a young man who had been traveling Costa Rica for nine years, helping out on farms and generating creative solutions for their businesses.
He said that Quepos was one of his two least favorite spots in Costa Rica, the other being Jaco. I felt such great relief-- I wasn't crazy-- it wasn't just me! I then asked him what his most favorite spots were. He described a chocolate farm only a bit inland, at a higher elevation. I am a bit of a chocolate conniseur (yes, I know this is misspelled, but spellcheck doesn't work on this computer), and I relished hearing a description of chocolate manufacturing on the farm.
The conversation was rounded up by his offer to barter some chocolate in his possession for a bit of massage. A spot on his back bothers him chronically, and he hadn't been able to hit it since someone stole his backnobber. I was delighted-- of course I would! I was handed a bag of cocoa powder, a bag of very spicey ginger, and some cocoa butter. It's still not as strong as what I'm used to, but it's fortifying and delicious. Chocolate is a superfood, loaded with antioxidants and iron,and other minerals, if not overprocessed and loaded with sugar. This meeting was an omen for me.
I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, finally. I really enjoyed it. The messages of the book are thus: As long as there exists the possibility that we will one day be happy, life is worth living. And, "Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss." I'm not quite in agreement with this latter idea, although I heartily support the idea of contrast in order to clarify one's desires in life. But I can most certainly transpose the former idea on to my travel experience. And I'm going to stay here a bit longer.
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