Between monkeys and children in Costa Rica

Arriving in Costa Rica, I took a taxi and drove to the nearby Ciudad Colon, which is like a suburb of San José. Aria picked me up at a pharmacy and I immediately felt a connection between us. When we arrived at her house, which is located on a small hill, I was amazed. This place is by far one of the most beautiful and enchanting places I have ever seen. It is a kind of farm with a huge farmhouse, and in the middle of the courtyard, there is a giant mango tree. Everything here reminds me of the fairy books I used to read. It has something magical. Canvases are everywhere, craft materials are scattered on the floor, there is a large sandbox, and swings hang everywhere. Aria and her husband and their 3 children run a kind of 'school' here, but you can't really call it that. The 10 children who come here every day have the freedom to decide what they want to explore. They are all between 3 and 10 years old and have the opportunity to freely develop their creativity in nature. They decide when and what they want to learn, when they are ready to practice reading or math. Everything can be done, nothing has to be done. It's about discovering, trying, and just doing. It can perhaps be most closely compared to a Waldorf school, but even that doesn't quite capture it. Here, they call it 'unschooling,' and I think this concept is fantastic.

Aria showed me around the farm, we cooked lunch together, made ice cream with the kids, and read Spanish books in the library. It was amazing. In the afternoon, we baked cookies and then collected beetles. I saw a frog as big as a cat and talked about traveling with Aria and her husband. In the evening, we ate and sang together. It may sound cheesy, but I never want to leave here. The atmosphere has completely enchanted me. I think if you have the chance to grow up here as a child, surrounded by these open-minded people in nature, between cats, birds, dogs, frogs, and beetles, you have the best chances of becoming a good person and developing your abilities without restrictions.

The next day, the lesbian girl (she is also staying here and her name is Ri- and yes, the stereotype is confirmed 😄) and I went on a trip to a mountain directly behind the farm with Oliver, the little 6-year-old son of the family. It was not easy to convince the little one to climb the mountain with us. He stopped every 5 minutes and needed a snack and a break 😊 but in the end, we reached the summit and had a great view of the surrounding countryside and the mountains. After we returned, we played with the children and rested.

The following day, Ri and I decided to visit Braulio Carillo National Park near San José. There, we walked through the rainforest and searched for sloths, which are supposed to be abundant there. All we heard was the screeching of monkeys in the treetops, who unfortunately hid so well that we didn't see any. But the trail was still beautiful. Around noon, it started pouring rain as it does every day here. This made the whole experience even more exciting because the sounds of the rainforest, the pounding rain, and the rushing river right next to us were extremely impressive. After about an hour, I was so wet that I walked through the green landscape like a drop of water. Wet and dirty, we ended this trip and drove back home.

On Sunday, Ri and I had a very special experience. We followed a trail through the forest for a few kilometers and saw a monkey swinging through the treetops. We watched the monkey for a while and were amazed at the different sounds it made. Then we went back to the farm and Aria asked me to come up with a project for the children. I decided to do something artistic and painted the Mona Lisa on a large sheet of paper. I cut it into 9 pieces, and each child will get one puzzle piece and then paint their piece on a large sheet. In the end, we will put all the pieces together and have the Mona Lisa as an oversized poster, which we will frame. Aria loved the idea, and we will try it with the kids tomorrow. After that, something very special happened. We were allowed to participate in a kind of religious ceremony. The whole family sat together with Grandma in the house, everything was decorated with flowers and adorned with candles. The family recited religious verses and read from a book. Then we had sandwiches and the best dessert I have ever eaten. It consisted of baked mango in an oatmeal crumble, glazed with honey and topped with vanilla ice cream over the warm cake. Oh my god, it was so good, and I will definitely bake it for my loved ones at home 😍