Stories from the Road – Nosara, Costa Rica

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Kai stands tall on the porch of our Costa Rican rental in his best blue shorts, new flip-flops, and red-thread necklace frayed and bleached by the Central American sun. The thread had been blessed by a rinpoche (abbot) six months before in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal, and we had each worn ours ever since. Kai is about to present his third-grade “shelter project.” He did a bit of online research but completed most of the project based on firsthand experience, having spent a week in a Sherpa house in Khumjung, Nepal, with family friends. His experience was his source.

 

Before him is a gathering of friends: some old friends have come from Colorado for a spring break meetup, some new ones from his language and surf day camp. And us, his now ever-present family.

 

On a piece of plywood, Kai has reconstructed a traditional Sherpa home from pebbles, glue, modeling clay, scrap wood salvaged from a nearby construction project, and paint. Before we left the US, I had asked his teacher for the project handout and carried it with me during our travel. We found a stationery store for supplies, and Kai handwrote a report on a two-sided piece of binder paper and is now presenting to the informal audience of twenty or so. He speaks with authority and fields questions about the outhouse, the guard dogs, and the reason for the green roof.

 

His spring-break friend, Leo, had just presented his own project back home on the teepee, and after Kai’s presentation, shares other shelter reports from their class with Kai. The boys compare notes, speak about the pros and cons of different materials, look at the homes around them, and both agree that the Costa Rican straw palapas (dwellings with thatched roofs) and porches are best.

 

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