adventures in costa rica: trust in traveling

i have definately learned a lot about myself being here and one thing that keeps crossing my mind is how easily people are to trust one another while traveling. it's weird because when i think of home and all the people in my life, i can probably count on my hands the number of people that i actually can trust---with information, secrets, my life. but being here, you kind of have to be quick to do so, usually because of the living and working situations and the short time you actually spend together. staying in hostels is the biggest thing that comes to my mind with the issue of trust----most weekends we stay in hostels with other 20-somethings that are here traveling through central america and everyone just automatically trusts each other and you can safely leave your clothes, towels, toiletries, etc in the room and not have anything to worry about. most hostels have lockers where you can lock up your valuables and usually your entire backpacks. this past weekend i went to tamarindo with jenny (the other volunteer that works at the school with me) and the hostel we stayed at was quite interesting....we were bummed right off the bat to see that all they had to offer for "lockers" were ones the size of post office boxes that you could literally just fit your money and passport in so right then, i was nervous as to the safety of my things...and then we walked into our room the first night to our 2 roommates----2 55+ year old men. interesting pairing for two girls in their 20s, right?? we got to tamarindo around 9pm and even just to go out to get some food, we were thinking---can we leave our stuff with these guys in the room? that first night definately gave me a different vibe from any other situation of sharing living spaces, actually feeling like i had to sleep with my backpack and belongings up on my top bunk with me. needless to say, we were glad when we got switched for our 2nd night to a different room. our new room was also 2 guys but they were also closer to our age and gave off more of the "typical" hostel feel---being able to leave things in the room without having to worry that someone is going to go through your bags or take your belongings.

i also learned about trust in a different way this weekend----i never realized it until i was faced with a situation first hand but drinking in a foreign country (or anywhere for that matter but i guess especially here) is definately scary and requires a lot of trust.....something that i lost for costa rica this weekend. saturday night we set out with intentions of a great night ahead----dinner at this hip little japanese/thai restaurant, 80s night where ladies drink free from 9-11pm at one bar, and a surf competition after party with an open bar 10pm-12am at another bar. dinner was delicious----probably the best pad thai i ever had. 80s night was fun---jenny and i were drinking guaro (the costa rican sugarcane liquor) with pineapple juice....the drinks were good but not too strong, since obviously they were free. we then moved on to the surf party that was up on a 2nd floor bar. it was completely packed, crazy techno music, strobe lights, the whole deal....after a drink, i started to feel light headed, in need of fresh air and a seat. once i got outside on the balcony and sat down on a bar stool, the next 20 minutes is a complete messy blur. according to jenny, i was in and out of consciousness, only sometimes able to answer her "beth can you hear me?" i can only imagine her end of the situation with me being nonresponsive :( when i finally "came to" i had fallen off the stool and was in a heap on the floor of the bar, my body soaked in sweat and my dress soaked in spilled drinks. i have to say that this was definately one of the scariest experiences in my life---it took me some time to grasp my surroundings and what happened but then once i realized the crowd of onlookers surrounding me, i felt nothing but panic and complete embarrassment. the weird part was after sitting in a quiet space and having a bottle of water, i felt completely fine and walked back to our hostel like nothing happened. i still dont even know what happeened---was it alcohol posioning? roofies slipped in my drink? a weird allergic reaction? any doctors in the fan club that have any ideas or experience with this kind of situation? it was seriously the weirdest and scariest thing ever and i am still so shooken up by it....so needless to say, i feel like i can't trust the bartenders here so for the rest of the time here, i'm strictly sticking to imperials.

aside from the traveling and social scenes, volunteering takes on a different kind of trust fairly quickly. especially at the school, i feel like they are quick to trust you, your abilities and your knowledge and very easily give you responsiblities within the classroom. for me, this is perfect and i am glad that it is like this---i of course have a lot of experience in classrooms and working with kids so i am completely comfortable but what if i didn't have expereience? how would they know? and would they still so easily trust me and have such expectations of me? it definately is interesting and has gotten me thinking a lot about the whole concept of trust and how different i feel about it after being here.