Category: Costa Rica 06/07

Byl jsem pozvan, abych se zucastnil vecere, kterou organizovali mistni aiesecari pro sve rodice, aby se navzajem seznamili, aby vedeli, co delaji ve volnem case jejich deti a taky aby predstavili nas – vysledek jejich prace. Ze zacatku jsem z toho nebyl nadseny, protoze jsem netusil, jestli se ode mne bude ocekavat nejaka rec, ale kdyz mi pak objasnili, ze nic vic, nez kratke predstaveni neni potreba, uklidnil jsem se. Zlatymi hreby vecera pak byly proslovy Kanadana Martina, ktery dokazal ve spanelstine vychvalit svuj pobyt v Kostarice naprosto neuveritelnym a emotivnim zpusobem, a Mexicanky Kariny, ktera naopak pritomnym rodicum precetla dopis sve matky, ve kterem popisovala vecne dilema materskeho ochranneho pudu a podpore detem v jejich cestovani, zazitcich.. (Karina ma za sebou nejakych 6 let aktivniho clenstvi, kdy mimojine vedla narodni pobocku v Mexiku) Na tvari nekolika maminek se pry objevily slzy..
Tri hodiny, ktere jsme stravili v (mimochodem velmi luxusne vyhlizejicim) prostredi tenisoveho klubu, ubehly docela rychle, za coz jsem byl docela rad, protoze jsem jim moc nerozumel, ale na dalsi pokracovani nebyl cas. Rano se muselo brzo vstavat…

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I was invited to join local aiesecers for their evening with their parents on Friday. They wanted to their parents to get to know each other, about their free-time activity and also to present us – as a result of their work. I was not very pleased when I found out that I was supposed to do some speech, but then I calmed down since my presentation was only to be short introduction about myself. The highlights of the evening were two – Martin, the Canadian guy, was talking about his 8-months experience in Costa Rica, his passion for the traineeship, country and local football club, and Karina (the Mexican trainee) with a letter from her mom addressed to other parents – her mom was mostly talking about her feelings and dilemmas between “protecting” their children and supporting them in their travels, experiences.. Both of them were talking with a lot of emotion and some mothers were said to have even tears on their faces..

We spent three hours in that (quite luxuriously looking) Tennis Club, fortunately for me (as I haven’t understood a lot) they passed quite quickly and then we needed to leave. An early wake-up was planned the next day..

Popravde, cekal sem nejaky kulturni sok, ale ten stale neprichazi. Zatim si skutecne pripadam jako v Evrope, akorat ze teda misto cestovani vlakem jsem letel letadlem. Ono je to dost podobne – nastoupit, vystoupit, prejit halu, najit svuj vchod, nastoupit znova..

Po prijezdu jsem absolvoval cestu autem v patecni dopravni zacpe, taky nic noveho. Prselo, porad nic noveho. Ale kdyz me konecne dovezli k baraku Ricarda, ktery me tady ma na starosti, urcitou zmenu jsem zaznamenal – uzounke ulicky, barak vedle baraku a obrovske mnozstvi aut, ktere se snazi vyhnout diram na ceste. Uz se nedivim, proc v kazdem pruvodci psali, ze offroad se hodi.. No a samozrejme klasicke hledani samotneho domu – tady totiz nemaji nazvy ulic, takze vsechno udavaji v relativnich metrech a svetovych stranach od nejakeho vyznamneho mista, napr. banky nebo kostela. A to da nekdy praci 🙂

Jeste k mistni zastavbe – pripadalo mi, ze jedeme stale jednim a tim stejnym mestem, ale na moji otazku mi bylo odpovezeno, ze jsme uz projeli 4 (protoze nejsou nijak odlisene) a ze jeste musime dalsi dve projet. Tak jsem daval pozor na znacky. Ale zadnou jsem po ceste nevidel.. Asi je to jedno velke bludiste..

Dneska se presouvam do skoly, kde budu travit dalsi 4 mesice, tak jsem na to zvedavy. Nastesti nejsem prvni praktikant na tom miste, tak doufam, ze mi muj predchudce pomuze. Asi se to bude hodit, na tuhle rychlost spanelstiny jsem pripraveny nebyl..

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Well, I was expecting some kind of a culture shock but it’s still not here. I feel like in Europe so far, except for the fact that I used a plane as a transport vehicle instead of a train. It’s kind of a similar way how to travel – you get on, get off, go through the big hall, find your entrance, get on again…

After my arrival I was taken by car through the Friday traffic jam – nothing new or unusual. It was raining – no change as well. But when I was dropped at my buddy Ricardo’s house, I noticed a certain change – narrow streets, so many houses next to each other and so many cars cruising in the streets trying to avoid those holes in the roads. Now I understood what the guidebooks were saying about the necessity of offroad cars. And in the end – looking for the right place. In Costa Rica people don’t use street names, they locate houses or offices only by giving direction and distance from the nearest well-known place (as a bank or a church). And sometimes this takes time and effort 🙂

One more thing about the buildings to be mentioned – I thought we were still driving through the same city, but as a response to my question I was told we went through 4 towns already and there 2 more to come. So I was trying to search for signs, but there were none.. It’s probably one big maze..

Today I’m moving to the school in which I’m about to spend the next 4 months, so I’m getting curious. Luckily I’m not the first trainee in that place so I hope my predecessor helps me a lot. It will be appreciated a lot, I wasn’t ready for such quick Spanish..

odpoledne mistniho casu, letiste Caracas: jestli v Parizi bylo horko, tak tohle je sauna. Je tady okolo 32 stupnu C, sucho, prach a nejaky podivny smrad, asi vyfuky mistnich nakladaku :-/ Mistni urednici se me snazili navigovat do trech ruznych front a kdyz jsem se zeptal na informacich, poslali me zpatky do prvni. Behem cekani si me (a hlavne muj pas) prisel prohlidnout jeste i mistni policista. Mozna jsem se moc ptal.. A kdyz jsem se konecne dostal na radu, mistni urednik se me zeptal, jestli “Ceska” je krestni jmeno nebo prijmeni, a po mem vysvetleni neprilis dobrou spanelstinou jsem byl poslan na opacny konec letistni haly, aby mi mohli znovu zkontrolovat batuzek :-/ Priste asi budu tak pasivni jako vsichni kolem..

Po dalsi pulhodine cekani a pozorovani hlasitych Latinos, kterak se mezi sebou o cemsi dohaduji, se objevila cedulka “San Jose” a ja byl zachranen. Zanedlouho prijel autobus a zavezl nas k letadlu. Dalsi zkusenost s A320 prede mnou a hezka holka vedle me 🙂

Caracas, stale na letisti: behem nekolika okamziku jsem zjistil, ze ona divcina je mozna hezka, ale nejspise si moc behem naseho trihodinoveho letu nepokecame, ona umela jen spanelsky a francouzsky – a ani v jednom nejsem moc dobry (zatim). Mel jsem se ji zeptat, jestli nahodou neleti tak nekdy za pul roku zpatky 🙂

17:50 mistniho casu (1:50 sobota rano CEST), San Jose, letiste: dest, zima (okolo 20 stupnu), vitr – citim se zase jako doma 🙂 A navic prekvapeni – muj batoh dorazil se mnou, jaky to nadherny den! Na letisti me cekali dva mistni ajsekari a dve dalsi divciny na ceste v dopravni zacpe (nastesti cesta do domu meho buddyho Ricarda uz to bylo bez problemu).. Dum, ve kterem zije, je docela hezky, ale nemame moc casu na prohlizeni..
21:45 mistniho casu (03:45 sobota rano CEST), Heredia: jsem predstaven mistni pobocce AIESEC, soucasnym praktikantum a dalsim na uvitaci party, seznamen s asi 30 lidmi, ze kterych si pamatuju tak 5 jmen a do ruky jsem dostal pivo “Bavaria” (podezrivam nemeckou praktikantku Nikolu). Prvni dojem – tady se mi bude libit! Vsichni me vrele vitali, trasli mi rukou a snazili se vyslovit moje jmeno 🙂 Premyslim jenom o jedne veci – kdy uz se konecne dostanu do postele.. Ale kdyz to pivo je docela chutne a Smirnoff Ice taky..

2:30 mistniho casu (10:30 sobota CEST): spaaaaaat! Po vice nez 50 hodinach vzhuru si myslim, ze si to zaslouzim..

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afternoon local time, Caracas airport: if Paris was hot, this was sauna. Around 32C, dry, dusty and full of fuel smell :-/ The officers navigated me into three different queues and when I tried to ask at the info desk, they sent me to the first one again. During the time I was waiting a policeman came just to check my passport, maybe because I had questions earlier.. When I was at the counter, the man asked me if “Ceska” is my first name or surname and after I explained it, I was sent to the opposite side of the airport hall to have my bag checked again :-/ Next time, I will be just as passive as everyone else..

After next half an hour of waiting and watching those loud Latinos argue with each other, a sign with “San Jose” appeared and I was saved. A shuttle bus came in a moment and brought us to our plane. Another A320 experience in front of me and a nice girl next to me 🙂

Caracas, still at the airport: in several moments I realized, that the girl might be nice, but we won’t talk a lot during the three-hour flight, she knew only French and Spanish – and I’m not good in any of them yet. I should have asked if she is flying back in 6 months 🙂

1750 local time (0150 CEST), San Jose, airport: rain, cold (around 20C), windy – I feel like at home 🙂 And as a surprise – my bag came with me, what a beautiful day! There were two guys waiting for me at the airport and two girls (that had to bring me to my buddy Ricardo’s house) in a traffic jam.. The house he lives in is nice, but there is no time to exploring yet.

2145 local time (0345 CEST), Heredia: I’m being presented to local trainees, aiesecers and friends as the new trainee on a welcome party, introducted to around 30 people out of which I remember some 5 and given a can of “Bavaria” beer (I’m suspecting the newcoming German trainee Nikola). First impression – I’m going to like it here! With everyone so warmly greeting me, shaking hands and trying to pronounce my name 🙂 There’s only one thing I’m still thinking of – when I get to bed.. But since the beer tastes really good and Smirnoff Ice as well..

0230 local time (1030 CEST): sleeeeeeeep! After more than 50 hours awake I think I deserve it…

Takze, tady je kratke shrnuti z moji cesty. Vse se udalo v patek 1. zari.

5:25 stredoevropskeho letniho casu (dale jen CEST), letiste Praha – Ruzyne: Stojim ve fronte a nervozne ocekavam vazeni sveho batohu (tolik sem se bal, abych nebyl pres limit, ze jsem v noci pro jistotu cely batoh zprehazel a neco jsem jeste nechal v byte kamarada), prichazi finalni rozhodnuti: 13,6 kg. Vyprskl jsem smichy, limit byl 20 kg. Duro me asi zastreli, nemam s sebou zadny narodni napoj.. A mam hlad :-/

7:20 CEST, letiste Ruzyne: startujeme. Airbus A320 ma opravdu docela dobre zrychleni, jsem prijemne prekvapen a ohromen tlakem na me vlastni telo, ktery me behem prvnich metru nad zemi zamackava do sedacky. Nanestesti jsme startovali na ranveji 24 (smer Kladno), takze Prahu jsem uz znova nevidel.. Svacinka na palube docela bodla (ale v tu chvili bych asi snedl uplne vsechno 🙂 Dva francouzsti typci vedle me o necem diskutujou a pouzivaji pritom velmi afektovanou gestikulaci, snad ten let nebude trvat dlouho..
9:10 CEST, Pariz, letiste Charles de Gaulle: pristali jsme. Sila brzd Airbusu je jeste lepsi nez zrychleni, behem par sekund jsme temer zastavili.. Dalsich 10 jsme stravili pomalym presunem k nasemu terminalu, letiste je totiz tak velke, ze tady maji na presun mezi terminaly sve vlastni autobusy.. Je tu horko a vetrno, ted uz mam nejen hlad ale i zizen :-/ No ale ted je na rade Jumbo!
10:55 CEST, Pariz, letiste CDG: konecne sedim v letadle. Fronty na cokoliv jsou neskutecne, i kdyz jsem trefil svuj autobus napoprve. Jeste nekolik fotek z okynka (ano, mam okynko – a nahore 🙂 a ted asi budu premyslet o tom, odkud je ten kluk vedle me. Cte si francouzske noviny, s posadkou mluvi spanelsky a na obrazovce ma anglicke titulky..

11:20 CEST, nekde nad Parizi: start Jumba (Boeing 747) me trochu zklamal. Se zrychlenim A320 to nemelo nic spolecneho a stoupalo do vzduchu velmi lenive. A ten zvuk motoru.. Jako rozbita motorka 🙂 Let samotny byl vcelku prijemny, dostal jsem teply a studeny obed a i vino bylo fajn, vsechny 🙂 ale v kabine byla docela zima.. Jedine chvilky na zahrati byly obed a prvni pohled na ostruvky v Karibiku s temer zelenym morem a s plazemi.. Uz se nemuzu dockat az na nejakou taky pojedu!

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So, here comes the report from my trip. It all happened during Friday, September 1st.

0525 CEST, Prague Airport: I’m standing in a queue at the check-in and nervously expecting the weight of my bag (I was so afraid of having heavy luggage that I packed it once again and left some things at my friend’s flat), final decision comes: 13.6 kg. Laughing out loud, my limit was 20kg. Duro is going to kill me, I don’t have any drink with me.. And I’m so hungry :-/

0720 CEST, Prague Airport: starting. A320 has a really good acceleration, I’m positively surprised and amazed by the pressure I feel during the first meters above the land. Unfortunately we started on runway 24 in direction Kladno, so there was no possibility to see Prague anymore.. The snack on board is delicious (well, I’d eat anything at that time :), the two French guys next to me are discussing something in a very affectionate way, hopefully the flight is not too long..

0910 CEST, Paris, Charles de Gaulle airport: landing. Braking power of the Airbus is even better than the acceleration, we almost stopped in a few seconds.. Next 10 minutes we spent rolling to our terminal, the airport is so big that you have to use shuttle buses to move between terminals.. It’s quite hot and windy in Paris, I’m not only hungry but also thirsty now :-/ So, here comes the Jumbo!

1055 CEST, Paris, CDG airport: sitting in the plane, finally. The queues are horrible. I’m looking out of my window (yes, I got a window seat!) and thinking what country does the guy next to me comes from. He’s reading French sports newspaper, speaking spanish with the staff and having english subtitles on his videoscreen..

1120 CEST, somewhere above Paris: the take-off of the Jumbo (Boeing747) disappointed me a little bit. It had nothing in common with the acceleration of A320 and was gaining height so slowly. And the sound of engines.. Like a crashed motorcycle 🙂 The flight itself was very comfortable, I was given a hot and a cold lunch, and also the wines were tasty 🙂 but it was so cold in the cabin.. The only warm moments were the lunch and the first sight of Caribbean islands with the sea almost green and the beaches so nice as well.. Can’t wait to go to the beach myself!

V posledni dobe se zacaly mnozit dotazy, kam to vlastne jedu, jak to tam vypada, jestli to neni nebezpecne a proc musim jet zrovna tam? 🙂

Abych ucinil alespon nekterym zadosti, dam vam tady nekolik odkazu, ze kterych jsem sve vedomosti cerpal i ja. Mozna me pak trochu pochopite 🙂 (predem upozornuju, ze nektere z nich jsou v anglictine)

• Cesky clanek na wikipedia.org a jeji mnohem hutnejsi anglicka verze
• Samozrejme nemuze chybet Lonely Planet
• Nejake demograficke informace
• No a samozrejme taky nekolik cestopisu

Co se tyka lidi, s kterymi jsem zatim mel moznost mluvit, vsichni vypadaji velmi pratelsti, otevreni a zijicimi podle kostaricke zivotni filosofie “Pura vida!” (tedy neco jako “Proste zivot”). Na vikendy se jezdi na plaze, casto se chodi tancovat i proto, ze obdobi destu neznamena dest tri mesice v kuse. Taky jsem byl upozornen na pro Evropana velkou nedochvilnost a nepeclivost, ale kdo me zna, chape, proc se tam tak tesim 🙂
Tolik na zacatek, zbytek samozrejme budu dopisovat, az tam budu fyzicky pritomen…

Tak jsem dneska koupil letenku. Pro nekoho bezna praxe, pro nekoho zajimave zpestreni zivota, pro nekoho (jako jsem ja) svatek. Moje prvni… 🙂

Abych informovanosti ucinil zadosti, musim taky napsat, kdy a kam letim. Tedy – patek prvniho zari, Aeropuerto Juan Santamaria, San Jose, Kostarika. Letim na staz, kterou jsem ziskal pres neziskovou organizaci AIESEC (http://www.aiesec.org) a mel bych pusobit jako IT support na stredni skole.

Nyni na me cekaji ponekud mene prijemne pripravy – sehnat ockovani, pojisteni, mapu, mezinarodni ridicak, platebni karty, vymyslet, jak nacpat co nejvic veci do zavazadla, ktere nesmi vazit vic nez 20 kg, a spoustu jinych…