England's rainy season?

Now I am back home, on the not-so-sunny shores of the UK, I've been comparing a lot of my life here to my life in Costa Rica. I've finally stopped trying to shake the scorpions out every time I put my shoes on, but I do occaisonally freeze when I see a snake-like shoelace somewhere in the urban undergrowth...

There are some home comforts that I never thought I'd miss, but I am now fully enjoying. These are mainly household applicances: a washing machine and a fridge being the big ones! However, my joy in gaining a freezer, cold drinks and ice-cream on demand, soon evaporated, due to England's over-extended winter. Other perks to home life include eating the food I'd missed, such as having a christmas dinner, and the fact I can get in to town and back in one day! I've promised myself not to take this for granted, therefore I've started walking the 40 minute journey in to town. Considering a trip to town was a 2 hour collectivo ride in Costa Rica, and I walked 3 1/2 hours back from visiting Carate, thinking little of it, I've decided that the journey from my house into town is not really worth catching the bus.

There are, however, plenty of things I do miss about Costa Rica. Firstly, the weather! I always thought it was easier to warm up in cold weather than to cool down in hot weather, but I don't think I've truly felt warm since being back! I also miss living an organic life in the jungle, with nature and part of nature - showers under the trees with birds flying past and monkeys swinging by, long walks through the forest and strolls along the beaches and tico sours at Las Palmas.

However, I've taken a lot away from the experience as well. The enthusiasm for nature and drive to learn of everyone on camp has inspired me to take more notice of what the UK has to offer. After all, it seems silly that I can probably identify more Costa Rican species of bird than British ones, so I'm now taking note of everything I see. I am taking far more notice of every plant, animal and fungus I come across, so that I can appreciate the beauty and diversity of my own country. We may not have anything as flamboyant as a scarlet macaw, but a goldfinch or blue tit comes surprisingly close.

One of the most humbling experiences of my trip, was the generosity of the local people. Costa Rica is wealthier than many of the surrounding countries, but the people still do not have all that we take for granted here. However, the amount of times someone brought special food to cook for us at camp, or lent us what we needed, or gave up their time to help us out, was extraordinary. The people seem to adopt the attitude that whatever they have, they have to share. On top of this, the everyone was extremely friendly. Everyone we met on the lonely road outside of camp would say hi, we met many people on the collectivo and we even made friends in the bars, shops and restaurants around town.