Bambu Market Day

The morning after a heavy rainfall is the most beautiful scene one can experience in Bambu. Sunshine reflects brilliantly off of the moist grass and foliage in the rain forest, almost glimmering in my eyes. The feeling is so calming that even my persistent alarm clock halts his crowing for awhile. I have to squint when I step out of the back door as the sunlight pours down the hill behind the house, drying the muddy shirts...

Entrenched in Bambu

No need for alarms in Bambu. At 5 o’ clock sharp I am awoken by the crow of a very persistent rooster, keen on making sure I can’t fall back asleep before the sun comes up. Luckily, everyone else in the family is already up and getting breakfast together, so within 15 minutes of my rude awakening I am enjoying a substantial breakfast of fried Juka, a type of root, eggs and of course, rice and beans. After...

Bambu, Continued

The engine groans to a halt, signaling for people to begin filing down the aisle and out onto the gravel road. As the bus surges forward again to make its 5:30 stop in Suretka, you can look down a hill on the opposite side of the road and see the elementary school of Bambu. It is a wide, single-story building with green cement walls and a tin roof. Extending out from the main structure is an awning of sorts to cover the...

Bambu, Costa Rica Travels

Daniel Wagner, a high school senior, chronicles his summer travels to Costa Rica… If you’re on your way to the Native reserves of Talamanca, Costa Rica, you will undoubtedly find yourself on a school bus, climbing the steep slopes of the mountainside on a gravel road so narrow, you can grab the leaves off of a tree as they brush across the window. On more than one occasion you may even be required to ford a river....