Vacations are a great way to spend quality time with family, to take a break from reality, and to even get a new perspective on life. Although it’s exciting to to visit places that are devoted to the glamours and luxuries of life like Hawaii or New York, I find it much more beneficial to travel to places that have more humble and homely cultures.
A year and a half ago, my family and I took a trip to La Fortuna, Costa Rica over spring break. This was my second time visiting Costa Rica and I absolutely fell in love with the tropical climate, the easygoing lifestyle, and the natural beauty of the country. During this second trip, we stayed in a hotel in the Chachagua Rainforest called the Chachagua Rainforest Hotel. And I can say without a doubt that this hotel was the most unique place I have ever stayed. In order to get to the hotel, we had to drive for fifteen minutes on an unpaved, dirt road deep into the rainforest. When we finally arrived, we saw a pool straight ahead, lodges to our left, and a barn and stables to our right. In fact, this hotel was a farm as well. Guests staying there woke up in the depths of the rainforest surrounded by tropical animals as well as domestic farm animals. One morning during our stay, my family and I woke up and walked down to the barn and each of us milked one of the cows and another morning we watched a mother pig give birth to eight piglets. We were given a tour of the surrounding area of the hotel on horseback by day and a tour of the pitch-black abyss of the forest to spot the more elusive animals with our flashlights by night. This hotel seemed as if it was its own little world because it was so reserved and hidden within the rainforest. The remoteness was all-encompassing and while we stayed there, I almost completely forgot about the world outside of our forest haven and became absolutely entranced by the serene paradise I was in.
My family and I didn’t spend all of our time relaxing at our hotel, however. We experienced many things, such as a natural springs that the locals frequented which were located underneath a road overpass that has a rope swing to propel yourself into the water with, hiking to a waterfall and swimming in the lagoon it cascaded into, and even petting a wild, sleeping sloth. These experiences were all the more beneficial to me because I speak Spanish and understand the language well, and being able to communicate with the locals in their language was intensely gratifying. The shock and appreciation they expressed to me because a blonde, caucasian girl from the states was able to interact with them was invigorating, and the feeling it brought me was addicting.
All of these excursions were incredible, but my favorite experience from this vacation by far was the most unexpected of them all. About halfway into our trip, my family and I visited an orphanage in the city of La Fortuna. The orphanage was kept secret because the women who ran it did not want the parents of the children to find them in fear that they would try to reclaim their children and bring them into an unhealthy, neglectful environment. We found out about the orphanage because my dad contacted a woman who was from the United States who had moved to Costa Rica and helped out at the orphanage and she set up a date and time that we could come and visit.
The outside of the orphanage was vibrant, each wall painted different colors of oranges, pinks, blues, and greens. The inside contained three rooms: a sitting room, a kitchen, and a game room, and each were about the size of a public restroom. Upon arrival, the three women in charge of running the orphanage greeted us in Spanish and led us into the backyard which was full of children playing on a rickety jungle gym and running around on withering grass. My family and I had brought a suitcase full of toys with us to give to the children and as soon as they spotted us, they all came running over, screaming Spanish words of delight. In desperate need of love and attention, the children latched onto our legs, our feet, our arms, and even our hair. “Quiero jugar contigo!” they shrieked- I want to play with you! Some of the girls quickly led me into the game room and asked me to color pictures with them and played with my hair. I asked them questions in Spanish, wanting to know their names, their ages, their favorite foods, what they liked to do. They were so excited to have someone to give them their undivided attention; they were overjoyed to have someone new to talk to and play with.
I tried to give my attention to each and every one of those children within that short hour that we were there, but there was one boy in particular who I took a special interest in and who latched onto me solely instead of trying to get a sense of each of the new visitors. His name was Santiago and he was four years old and to this day, my heart yearns for him. When I first knelt down and began to speak to him, he was holding a small rubber snake that had been one of the contents of the suitcase filled with trinkets. I saw that he had some kind of wound on his arm that had swelled up to the size of my fist and I asked him if it hurt. But that little boy didn’t care about his wound, his circumstances, or even that one of the other boys was trying to steal the rubber snake out of his hand; all he wanted was for me to hold him and never put him down. For the duration of my stay at the orphanage, I held Santiago. I cradled him on my hip and felt my heart melt when I made him smile and I held him on my back and pretended I was a “caballo” and was overcome with such tenderness for him when I heard him laugh.
Seeing the joy on that little boy’s face as I played with him in that run-down, old yard brought a depth to my life that I had never previously known. Being able to care for him for that short hour was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. And watching the smile fade from his face from behind the bars of the orphanage as my family and I drove away was the first time that my heart ever broke for another person. At sixteen, I had never experienced such an extraordinary and profound love for a child, and I wanted more than anything to adopt him as my own right then and there and take him away from that place. He deserved so much more and I so desperately wanted to give that sweet little boy the world.
That four-year-old Costa Rican boy changed my life. I think about Santiago all the time and each time I do, I cannot help but cry lavishly. I find myself constantly wondering where he is now, if he is being treated well, if he is happy and loved. My heart aches to know that he is ok. But to my dismay, Santiago is probably lost to me forever. I can only hope that he has been adopted by a family who loves and cares for him and gives him everything he needs. I will wish forever that I could have given him that.
It's great to be able to embark on a relaxing getaway and escape the everyday struggles of life. But a vacation makes all the difference when you can go somewhere that humbles your heart. Getting away is that much more incredible when you can experience a place and meet a person that changes you for the better and transforms you forever.
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