Life at Rancho Mastatal

Today was my first “going into town” experience. After spending 10 days at the ranch, I am venturing for the first time beyond its immediate borders. Although I am back in the small town of Puriscal, reachable only after a bumpy two-hour bus ride, I feel I have truly reached a great metropolis. There are two grocery stores (!!!), multiple restaurants and stores with things for sale!!! A far cry from the world I have ventured from – Rancho Mastatal.

The Ranch is located in a rural part of Costa Rica, about 50 kilometres from Puriscal. Adjacent to a large national nature preserve, most of land remains largely virgin rain forest. The surrounding area is a lush blanket of trees, bushes, immense vines, flowers and pasture land, which gently blanket the mountainous terrain. The region, being the convergence of high and low, east and west, boasts one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Or is it Coast Rica? Aren´t they the same? There is a large peak jutting out from behind the ranch, La Cangra, which has been taunting me to climb it ever since I first spotted it among the clouds. We are the center of the town of Mastatal. Mastatal proper has a bar, an elementary and middle school, a soccer field (of course) and a police shack…er I mean station. Everyone knows the village dogs by name, news travels faster than if cell phones were a possibility and “entertainment” is limited to a rusty old foosball table. I can´t complain though, it is after all the pura vida – the pure life.

Rancho Mastatal is a large grouping of properties, meant to be an ideal of sustainable living. Taking in educational groups, interns, volunteers and individual tourists, it is a vibrant community of people from around the world (but mainly gringos). There are families, retired folks and everyone in between. In the ten days so far, we have already fluctuated from 44 people down to 10…people come and people go. There are 6 other interns, the youngest being 24 and the oldest being of an age where inquiring about their age would be inappropriate. Everyone but two of us live in “The Hankee,” a bamboo constructed tree-house, just short of rope swings and bucket pulley systems. A previous intern constructed the entire structure during their time at the ranch, leaving behind a beautiful sleeping dormitory as well as some large shoes to fill. I live in the main house, in my own private room (yahoo!), where one of the ranch cats has already set up shop between my tank tops and pull overs. My windows are wooden shutters, which open up onto the porch where we take our meals. This means I am up at 5:30 am with the kitchen crew (hard to sleep through the sounds of a coffee bean grinder) and stay up late with the social crowd. (Late here is 9:30 pm). Sleep deprivation is not a problem though, as there are numerous hammocks throughout the complex where I can nap to my heart´s content.

A bit about pooping. (You might want to skip this paragraph if you are reading this during your lunch break…but come on people, everyone knows that some of the most hilarious times travelling revolve around going number two!). Anyway, all but one of the toilets on the ranch are “composting toilets.” What this means, literally, is that we crap into a giant composting pit. Much more lovely than sounding, I am turning into quite the composting toilet fan. They are all designed as a three sided-perch, with the fourth wall being left open to look out upon the jungle as you sit down to do your doodies…er I mean “duties.” In each structure there are two pits, one that is actively composting and one that you are currently using. After each completion of business, one must cover their “presents from the gods” with sawdust. This keeps the toilet odor- and bug-free! Seriously smelling nicer and looking cleaner than most truck-side toilet stops, pooping in the woods couldn´t be better! The composting side turns into dirt in less than 4 months (the climate here is incredible for decomposition) and becomes beautiful fertile dirt! Then the two sides are switched by moving the toilet lid from one hole-in-the-ground to the other and the former active bin starts composting. To top it all off, the head of the ranch is very serious about making sure there is a fresh weekly supply of reading material at each toilet to keep customers happy 

Okay, back to the proper world that doesn´t talk about going to the bathroom…

My time at the ranch consists of three huge meals a day, a snack, and numerous work tasks. Once a week I water the herb-flower-vegetable gardens and newly planted trees, which takes over an hour considering the size of everything. Twice to three-times a week I am in the kitchen cooking for everyone. Cooking for 40 is quite the experience, where recipes are sometimes 8-tupled…is that a word? My favourite rule of the kitchen is whoever walks by the leftovers first has to finish them. Imagine my delight at sticking my fork (and practically my head) into an army sized vat of pasta! Mmmm….Outside of the house we are working on completing the Couples Cabin, which is a timber-framed structure nestled into the forest. We are framing the walls and preparing to wattle and daub them within the next few days. This involves creating a weave out of bamboo, to which we adhere the cob mixture to form earthen walls. More fresh cow manure! I have also taken a first-aid class (so we as the interns can be prepared to care for the numerous machete wounds, seeing as we are hours from any semblance of medical care). Oh and I have done a TON of dishes. Dear god, the dishes just keep coming.

Tomorrow is my first Spanish lesson with a local guy named Marco. I am fairly excited about this, although my hopes of vastly improving my Spanish have been dashed. Most of my time is spent in the ranch proper where English predominates. When I leave the gates, it really feels like a huge outing.

Did I mention I played an amazing game of ultimate Frisbee? Holy moly!

Alright, this is getting ridiculously long and alas there are no pictures to accompany. FYI – I will not be back in town for several weeks, meaning no computer for the same amount of time. You can write me though at the ranch and send packages (hint hint Mom and Dad). Just don´t send anything larger than a shoebox, as I will have to travel far and wide and pay a great fee to pick it up in the capital. My address is as follows:

Jennie Perlmutter
Rancho Mastatal
Apdo 185-6000
Puriscal, San José
COSTA RICA

I miss you all dearly and I am excited to share my photos soon. I hope everyone is happy and healthy and staying on track with their new year´s resolutions!

Much love to you all.
Con amor,
Jennie