Done Done Done...school that is!

COSTA RICA MASSAGE SCHOOL
CLASS OF 2008
GRADUATION DECEMBER 13TH

December 13th was our official graduation. At a beautiful 5 star resort in Punta Islita. Over looking the ocean. We had two houses both unique and beautiful. We were treated to a 5 star dining experience including a pet baby spotted skunk that joined us. The directors hosted a cocktail party that turned into 9 naked girls in a pool under the full moon. The graduation ceremony was very intimate, only one class member had a partner come to it. The rest of us just soaked up each others presence till the 3:00am shuttle. To which 2 of the students ran out of the house nekked saying goodbye. I am surprised the driver didnt take us over the edge.

They had a slide show of photos through out the quarters, good memories! Another student and I made dreamcatchers to give to everybody. There were a few speeches and then the valedictorian speech. Again more tears and laughs. It was really great to hear the transformations people had and the unique personalities that blended so well together. After that we headed to the restaurant for our final meal.




The last quarter flew by until the final week. Where I just wanted to be home, had enough of studying and didn't want to go through the good bye process. It has been a true adventure.
We all became a bit closer and opened up even more. My last weekend there was filled with intense conversation and insane laughter, just the way it should be.

Took a road trip north east to Arenal Volcano. I drove a standard in Costa Rica....and rocked it. We didn't get to see any fireworks of lava but did get to hike an old lava flow.





I can not say enough how beautiful Costa Rica is, and I've only seen a few parts. For the most part the people are pretty accommodating and friendly. The food wasn't spectacular but still great, i may have been under the impression it was going to be "mexican" food and you could drink from the tap so that's a bonus!

Academically the classes were winding everything we had been learning into one, had a class of just practice tests and then a reward of the pool side BBQ. By the thirds test i was so aggravated I didnt want to think or read anymore! Lots of dinners our to celebrate the finals, and we tried our best to party and dance but we are more eaters. yummy dinners and then chill on the beach!

Though excited to get back to Canada and the real world I was also nervous and anxious. Feared that all the progress i had made would not stick once back, that resisting the negative and temptation would not happen. But i fully trust and view the obstacles in a different manner now and trust i have the tools to make it all happen!

There you have it, 4 intense months of personal transformation!

I am now back in Vancouver for the holidays, will go to Bella Coola to visit my mom for a bit as well. And then get ready to make beautiful spectacular appointments with me for massage or your friend or your loved ones or even just liked ones. Mama dulce has some money to make!!

I do have a website that still needs some work but its a good contact page and will be updated very shortly! www.lotuseffectmassage.com

Pura Vida,, Escuela Terminado

Where to begin, how about where I left off. Third quarter was not as taxing but very interesting. We learned Thai Massage and built the musculoskeletal system out of clay. Yes I played with clay at my school, along we resorts, kayaking, sugar scrubs by the pool, Water gun fight and BBQ pool party. The directors are big on a work and reward system and I have to say I am a fan of it as well!





There was a bit of drama through the 3rd quarter, though it worked out for the best in the end there wasn't the most positive vibe on campus. Half the class was basically off campus, but the last quarter we all became very tight again and got to another level in our training, massage and friendships.

I've learned and explored a lot down here. Tested many boundaries and over came a few fears and assumptions. One fear was of the ocean and its death trap waves. Samara has one of the best beaches for learning to surf, no reef and manageable waves. A couple of the girls that worked for the school I became quite close with and as a bonus they are both surf instructors. They made me a pro in 2 lessons and now I am sponsored by Roxy and surf diva. I had a blast, a few scary moments that really werent that scary and swallowed a whole lot of water.




The first road trip that wasn't through the school was taken up north to Playa Negra and final destination Tamarindo to attend a Buddhist meeting. The meeting was great andthe drive was beuatiful. 5 of us stayed in these little cabinas at the SwimSuit lady's property. She makes great swimsuits and dresses. Melissa basically is in business with her making 30 suits at atime and it turns into a little sweat shop weakend...you can imagine i just went to the beach. But i did get a dress made for graduation which you can see in the next blog.

A couple in the buddhist district had us meet them at their dive shop and took us to the meeting. It was primarily Italian members, the meeting was translated generously among the members into english italian and spanish. so great. The lady their was receiivng her gohonzon which is a beautiful symbol of committment, a great moment so lots of emotion! A universal family is a great thing to be a part of and draw wisdom and inspiration from.



I think that was it for 3rd quarter, socialized a lot more, made some close friends and got all A's. A great quarter!

True Colours and Birthday Cake

Dios mio the time goes by!


No straight A's this time, well all A's except for one B as i took a day off and apparently showing up to class is a big deal. Who knew.

I wish i had updated this sooner as it seems so long ago. We had some really cool instructors/classes last quarter. One in particular on craniosacral therapy. Which i thought was just a really intense head massage, i was wrong. Still not entirely sure about it but all i know is i experienced it fully in receiving. Laying on the table, seeing that the practitioner was only holding my body not moving it - i could feel my whole body roll away from the table. This is a very primitive description of my experience but it was incredible. As she held my sacrum i could feel it tilt forward and though i wasnt crying tears starting flowing, it wasn't painful but just a pure release and no more pain in that area. With this therapy one is invited to speak about what they are feeling or if they knew what the release was about if you dont know they say its your bodies choice to go through it again you dont have to.


We are getting so overloaded with information I do feel frustrated at times as it's just the surface. I want to know more! Not that we could handle anymore information in this time frame but I am excited for further training.

Now what kind of adventures have I been on. I did celebrate my birthday here, which was a lot of fun. The day was chill as we had school, I received 3 hours of massage between class and the monthly instructor massage, we watched the vice presidential debate and then went out dancing. I received my Bday package from April that day as well so i had a new party dress to play in also new clothes from mama. A day of being spoiled. Since i had such a release from massage there were no shots for the birthday just lots of dancing and foosball.




For our midway celebration and passport renewal the school took us to Nicaragua.


The resort was incredible, each house a different layout with a beautiful view. It is also called the stairmaster resort as 350 stairs take you to the top where the infinity pools are. You really had to be hungry or bored to venture off the mountain. The town itself was okay, I believe we have been spoiled in Costa Rica with a bit more social development and a better economic standing. Though neighboring borders Costa Rica is the richest of the central american countries and Nicaragua is the poorest. The trip there was beautiful, can't have a road trip now without volcanoes, just not the same.

The last day there I had a lovely combination of possibly sunstroke and eating something nasty. I was up all night loving on the porcelein and praying that it would be over before i borded the bus for a 7 hour ride. Dehydration kicked in and the kidneys kicked back. It took another couple days to fully recover, gatorade and me were best friends neat the end.

Little lax on the updating arent I. Vasically the last quarter was a little stressful, so I turned to Cubra Libres and dancing.

I committed myself to learning how to surf in November. A little scared now that its coming up, but something about those waves is calling me. As long as I come out alive I will keep you posted on that adventure.

We are our first week into the 3rd quarter and its a pretty easy one. Nice to have a bit of a break.

Feel like I am missing something here....oh well.

Miss you all and will be ready to come home in December!

love love

9 A's and a whole lot of humble pie

A crazy couple of weeks. We had our anatomy and physiology teacher quit on us. Im still a little shocked and unsure of all that went down. But seems some things were taken a little too personal and she may not have been the right fit for a school with a different teaching style. Sad though, cuz i really liked her...she was the female indian jones. So we all had to come together to get through the last part and teach each other along with a past student here.

As a regrouping exercise we were taken on a surprise kayaking trip. AMAZING i had never kayaked in the ocean before. Fun paddling through waves with your paddling partner who gets motion sickness. But Jade and I powered through and decided we should apply for the amazing race. We land on our island and are greated by 1000 or so hermit crabs, iguana's that eat out of your hand and pelicans. On the paddle back we saw a ginormous sea turtle.




This journey is turning out to be even more incredible than initially thought. I knew i was going to be tested academically but definitely came in headstrong on the self awareness aspect. I guess its not so much getting to know myself more but admitting and sharing.

On Friday we had a 5am sunrise ceremony for our personal inventory class. I dedicated my future to breaking down the lovely invisible and visible wall around me. I cried and let go in front of the class and Jill and Russ (our wonderful facilitators) Return home to a birthday breakfast for Stella, a written exam at 830 that I got a B on. Then our massage final, where we have 15 minutes to massage Jill. I wasn't nervous til about a minute to the massage. After I was done, she said she didn't want the massage to end and its not often she says this but that the cream has risen to the top, i had a gift. I then cried again (rule number 1 not to do in the massage room) All reassurance of the right path, the right decision and the right time. I came out of the room all red and puffy, perhaps a scare tactic to my other classmates waiting to give their massages ;)

Then our 4.5 day weekend began. A fun and dirty evening of dinner and revealing. Too much dairy ended that party for me early though.

Head south to Carillo another lil town, with a great beach. Where i caught a crocodile with Jade and Jenni. Jade attached scrap meat to a rope and hung it over the bridge into this river that runs into the ocean.
.

And lil croc about 5 feet came on by for a tasty snack. I got a chance to play with him, pulling on the rope as he does his death spiral. Apparently when the big fuckers come by it takes 3 guys to hold the rope. A couple huge crab came by for some pickings too.



Next day we went to Buana Vista another beautiful beach (is this getting redundant?) North of here to fish for crab. We crossed a lil river that may or may not house crocs..okay it does but there were non insight anyways;)




No luck with the crab but it was a beautiful walk and a new beach to chill on. Ran into some howler monkeys and a snake on the way back.

Evenings have consisted of some movies, hitting the lil pub that has pool, ping pong and foos ball.

And today our last day off I received a package of love from April.

Tomorrow starts a new quarter, we get more into the muscles and bones, learn craniosacral therapy and start our clinic orientation.

I think that is it for now.

Loving!

1/8th of the way done

2 weeks down and its going to go by fast, unfortunately it feels. The work load is intense but manageable, at least for this chica 10 years out of school. The teachers are pretty amazing and unique with stories of their lives to match.

We have mandatory massages that we receive from them as well. Horrible isn't it...we HAVE to receive a massage from an outstanding therapist. Its like prison down here.

The beach here is beautiful, waves are just right for swimming and the more adventurous of our crew who are learning to surf.

I have yet to explore beyond Samara. My adventure spirit has not woken up yet. I guess i feel this whole things is enough of an adventure so far.

I am experiencing the coolest thunderstorm of my life right now, thunder shakes your insides and the lightening is making the house glow.

The grounds, campus are beautiful. We get distracted in class by roosters, iguana's , butterflies and double decker bee thingies that bite. The usual! This is our class room

My housemates are fabulous, as is the rest of the class. Im very happy for just the 10 people. And don't think ive grown to love a group of random strangers so quickly and easily before. Quite the learning experience and test for my lovely "wall"

I am adjusting to how close we all are though. Its tough to make friends outside of campus when you don't speak a word of their language. I do wish I had more time before coming here to get a grasp on it. But I can smile and nod like nobodies business!!

I dont miss Vancouver yet but i so miss you all. When you get to a point in your life and you are in paradise doing what you love and still miss your chosen family and family thats a pretty cool thing to experience.

LOVE LOVE

What the....

Who goes to Central America and is constipated??? Shorty Does!

A big thank you

There are so many of you to thank for either your direct physical help or just your support and encouragement in getting me to Costa Rica. I have come to realize that accepting help not only is necessary, but brings for a more enjoyable experience. Letting people in and feeling safe is a wonderful thing.

Much Love

888

The first day of my new adventure was 8/08/2008, infinite possibilities! I thought i would be typing this claiming what an adjustment, its overwhelming and shocking, but nope! It all just feels right, and at home. After a week of classes and a hot spell I may say different for now its pure vacation mode.

I live in Casa Mariposa with Katie and Susan. The place is so beautiful and everything is up to date and clean and welcoming. Jill and Russ are the operators and what warmth and good vibes they have.

We have been getting to know each other, though we mostly come from different backgrounds the intention is all the same, a new adventure and a tool for many more.

Small class of 10 people, 8 girls 2 guys and we are in agreement we are happy for the male energy.

The campus grounds are so beautiful, I have a mango tree off the patio and the most beautiful beach a block away. Already hitting the waves or more so the waves hitting me. Salt water and contacts equals good times.

I've always said i have yet to be somewhere as beautiful as Bella Coola or majority of BC but this pretty on par!! in that lush, sandy beach tropical way of course.

Pura Vida!

March 4, 2008









Dear Angela,

Congratulations! You have been accepted to the Costa Rica School of Massage Therapy for
the Fall 2008 term.

We are here to help you in any way that we can, please don.t hesitate to contact CRSMT as
you need assistance.

¡Pura Vida!
Jill K. Bennett CMT, NCTMB
Academic Director

CC:
CRSMT Board of Directors
CRSMT Director of Operations