By: Scott Pralinsky
A day in the life of a Volunteer
February 15, 2007Hola! I am doing wonderfully. It has been such an amazing experience. I spent two weeks up in the Watsi indigenous reservation in the Talamanca region. My host family is amazing and the land is beyond perfect and beautiful. Rivers, streams, creaks, WATERFALLS and swimming holes…SOO of course I am loving it, being around my serenity source. My family is sooo sweet and SOOO poor. They live in a wood box basically. I bathed in the river and went to the bathroom in the woods!! (There is a toilet accross the street and up a little hill but without water it can not be used) AND I WANT TO GO BACK if you can believe that!
Read MoreUjarras Ruins
February 6, 2007These ruins are right in my backyard, but of course it took me a year-and-a-half to get there to see them. However, it was worth the wait! The remains of this old church sit in the Orosi Valley (Cartago Province) facing the Tapanti Mountains.
Read MoreKachabri
January 26, 2007Wow. I thought that Uatsi was pretty cool, but Kachabri (“Kachabri Arriba” to be exact) was unbelievable. It’s also located on the Talamanca indigenous reservation in Costa Rica, but much further into the jungle mountain range.
Read MoreUatsi
January 20, 2007As most of you know, I work for a volunteer adventure company, Tropical Adventures, here in Costa Rica. At the moment I’m on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica working with some of our volunteers and organizations. We have two volunteers currently working on the indigenous reservation with a community called Uatsi.
Read MoreSelf-Publishing for Fun
January 14, 2007It used to be tough to get published. Then along came print-on-demand services. Self-appointed authors started coming out of the woodwork. I happen to think that’s a great thing. Anyone can write anything — and get it published. That opens up the possibilities of what you can read about.
Read MoreChristmas Pictures
January 9, 2007I just thought I’d share with you some Christmas pictures from this year. Here you see a picture of me with my sister, Paula, her husband, Bert, and my new niece, Rhea. A great time was had by all. You may click here to be re-directed to the photo page.
Read MoreIn Memory: Paco & Oprah
January 8, 2007I thought I’d share with you a gift I had made for Isaac for Christmas. For those of you faithful readers, you’ll remember our house was broken into (read story here) and two of our dogs were killed, Paco & Oprah.
Read MoreWelcome to 2007
January 3, 2007I always thought my parents were exaggerating when they said that time goes by faster the older you get. But now that I’m nearing 40 I can tell you that it is certainly true.
And I have to admit, it’s a bit frightening!
What time do I have left? What do I want to accomplish before I check out? It can be a lot to think about!
It’s also mind boggling to think about the changes we’ve seen over the last 100 years. It leads me, of course, to wonder what the next few decades have in store for us.
Here is a copy of an email I received today. I haven’t double-checked the facts, but it seems pretty accurate to me — as well as fascinating. I hope you enjoy it. And know that I wish you and yours a healthy, prosperous and FUN new year!
Rhea – 2 and 1/2 Weeks Old
December 21, 2006Finally made it to San Francisco on Tuesday. The folks flew in yesterday and my best friend, Trent, drove in today….
Read MoreGrahame
December 10, 2006Another beautiful soul transitioned last night. Grahame Smith was an amazing person, so full of joy and love. Grahame and his partner, (I believe of more than 40 years) Richard, were the first people I met when I moved to Palm Springs many years ago. They took me under their care. Sometimes taking on the role of big brothers, other times the role of parents.
I’ve only had a handful of people I would call mentors in my life, but Grahame and Richard ranked pretty high on that short list. Grahame was very practical and had an infectious smile to go along with his witty sense of humor.