Sweet Home, Monteverde

April 4, 2024|Rick Juliusson

I think the first hug was from Rita. On that dry-season-dusty-green, oh-so-familiar corner at the base of the hill the boys and I climbed every day to school, outside La Colina Lodge where Greg and Amber used to host Hamburger Night, right by the favorite fencepost where the green-and-blue mot-mot would greet us every morning, Rita left the group of students she was bringing back from their Friday mini-course walk to give us both a big “Welcome Back!” hug. Quickly followed by Carlos on his bike, Rise with her student group, Tim Curtis huffing his load of farmer’s market food home to the Guindon farm.

I had wondered how it would feel to return after so long. After having left abruptly without a goodbye (thanks to US Immigration law that refused to grant me “Emergency Parole” to come back and finish my 3-years in a proper way). After having such a busy and visible role (co-director of the Monteverde Friends School) that defined my Reason and Contribution, now joining the ranks of the Gleefully Sojourning and the Blessedly Retired I used to watch with wonder and some envy as they enjoyed hikes and book clubs and coffee shop loiterings I could only imagine.

So how long does it take to be folded back into the Monteverde community after 6 years away?

Three minutes to get multiple hugs and “So great you’re back” greetings.
One hour to catch the bus in to the Farmer’s Market and see more friends, school parents, the Vargas butcher I played soccer against, the deliciously familiar mounds of mango and passionfruit and fresh-baked tortillas.
One evening party to celebrate Tracy and Murtha’s birthdays, dancing with people I’d forgotten I’d remember mixed together with the fresh new families gleefully taking their place in the constant yet ever-changing river that is the Monteverde community.
One night to fall asleep to the roaring rush of wind and then be awoken at 3am to the piercing calls of a troupe of spider monkeys.
One next morning barefoot on the scraggly grass of the school field to play ultimate frisbee with my former students (now scraggly-bearded and running their own businesses)
One Sunday morning Quaker meeting

I’ve lived in a lot of places all over the world, and I truly believe that Monteverde is a model of how to create and sustain community. Over these past two months of cloudforest bliss I’ve been trying to figure out just what it is that makes this community so strong, so genuinely welcoming, so warm in the heart when away and so easy to slide back into. Here’s some of the magical ingredients:

Founded in Community

73 years ago, a small group of young Quakers moved to this remote mountaintop, pitched their tents and started clearing land. They HAD TO work together to survive. They HAD TO host potlucks and music nights and holiday celebrations to have social life. Community is coded deep in the DNA, so reaching out is the natural response.

Not-president Trump shouts that newcomers are a threat and a drain on the system. Monteverde greets each new person not with a suspicious “What do you want from us?”, but rather with a curious “What do you bring to us?” 73 years ago, each founder and visitor brought different gifts to contribute and had to develop other skills to build the community; today, the welcome to not only participate but to freely contribute brings new energy, ideas and quirkiness to this ever-evolving kaleidoscope.

Shared Intention

The founders came here to establish an alternative life in alignment with their values, and slowly built their relationships and the community rhythms around that shared intention. Newcomers these days tend to similarly come with the hopes of a life revolving around community, reverence for nature, simplicity, and Joyful living. At least the ones who stay share some version of these, which makes building relationships and community natural.

In other parts of Costa Rica, North Americans are moving in because of low prices, good weather, an easy way to retire in comfort. In these two months I have started to meet such people here in Monteverde - in the supermarket line praising the cheap groceries and complaining about the local traffic. I asked a friend if she worries about this trend, and she responded - with typical Monteverde positivity and humility - that she herself was one of those people when she came 24 years ago, but Monteverde subsequently taught her these lessons about values. These newcomers will find their way into Monteverde community magic, or they’ll either move on or stay behind their big gates.

Scheduled Events

Salad club

Without a job, soccer team and children, I was worried I’d be bored. But a steady diet of regular community gatherings ensured there was at least one thing each day to look forward to, and around which other activities could be aligned: Yoga (Monday & Thursday), “Coffee Klatch” social gathering with snacks on Ellen’s porch (Tues - see top photo), Quaker meeting (Wed. with the school, Sunday) preceded by a song/hymn circle, Scrabble (Wed, Fri), Ultimate frisbee (Sat). If I played bridge or volleyball, painted, recited Shakespeare, or were a female book-reader or salad-connoisseur, or belonged to one of the myriad committees, I might not have time to nap every day!

Less frequent but regular events further spice the soup. Monthly “coffee house” evenings start with a dinner fundraiser by a school class followed by an open-mic “talent” show that truly puts the V in Variety (and the Q in Questionable Quality). This tradition dates back to very early days when one family each month would host a music night in their house. The Quaker meeting has a monthly potluck, business meeting, “Quakerspeak” video discussion group, afternoon song circle, square dancing, and contra dancing. Guarumo amphitheater hosted two free concerts/shows. Hotel Belmar had one of their afternoon picnic concerts at the pond. We are just missing the Monteverde Community Fund’s annual fundraising dinner and the Cloudforest School’s killer 5km mountain running race, and the MFS students are busy requesting sponsors for the annual Caminata walkathon.

Then there’s the rich personal life we so easily create here. Hiking is literally right outside our AirBnB door - a steep 15-minute monkey-laden hike through cloud-forest trails just to reach the main road - as well as regular hikes in the various reserves. Workouts on the porch overlooking the valley and the ocean (Nicoya peninsula). A daily nap, of course. Sarah’s work and my online grad school plus writing. A meal or coffee shop visit with different friends each week - friends have time and make time for friends here.

Common Spaces

Christopher Alexander (author of the best planning book ever, “Pattern Language” and my Urban Planning major son will both affirm that a key to building community is having common spaces where people can find each other. The big grassy area in front of Monteverde Whole Foods (locally owned by 2 friends), as well as the coffee shop and CASEM arts coop and restaurant right there, are all places where you can never not find your people. On the very day I was wondering how to contact my dear friend PiliPili, there she magically appeared on the lawn playing with a baby and mutual friends.

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The Quaker meeting house and school hosts many of the community events listed above, and those regular events also serve as a rotating common space. So do the farmer’s market, the one narrow road where most of us walk to get anywhere (and the rest hum along in their electric golf carts offering rides and smiles), the Monteverde Institute, and the forest reserves that serve as giant magnets to our collectively hungry souls. If you’re feeling dry and thirsting for company in Monteverde, just dip a toe into the stream and see how quickly you’re drenched with friends.

I’m not saying Monteverde would work for everyone - we are a rather queer folk here, to use old Quaker speak. And I’m not saying it’s just magically bestowed - it takes showing up regularly, being open, sharing, learning. But to the open-of-heart, Monteverde is a community of wide-open arms, a great mountainous hug we envision regularly returning to for long rejuvenating sojourns for as long as the wind and the clouds and the beloved community call us.