Van Boughner

When we arrived at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, I sort of felt like I was stumbling through immigration. It was 5 in the morning, California time, and I hadn’t slept at all on the plane. For some reason, the idea of going through immigration made me feel nervous.

The man at the immigration counter was friendly enough though, and he tried to hold a conversation with me in English. I don’t remember much of the Spanish I’ve learned, I need to work on that. He commented that his uncle had worked at the Rio Chirripo Retreat. Wow, small world.

We took a taxi to the hotel. That went pretty smoothly. They have a bunch of taxis waiting for folks like us at the airport. It makes the process pretty easy for stumblers and bumblers like me.

Once at the hotel we were told by the staff that Dr. Graham was out “running around the hotel”. We figured he’d be back from his errands soon and we sat in the lobby to wait for a while with some other folks that had arrived. When he returned we found that he actually had literally been running around the hotel, for exercise. I had to remind myself that it was 7 in the morning, a pretty logical time to be working out.

He came into the lobby shirtless, tanned, and unmistakable. He’s a smaller man than I imagined him to be, and very fit. I suppose when you are reading books and seeing pictures of people on the internet you don’t get much idea of their relative size. I have to admit that I had probably built up a larger-than-life image of him, since I have enjoyed his writing so much (he wrote The 80/10/10 Diet).

They had a breakfast buffet in the dining room at the hotel that included fruit. I have to admit that some of the other stuff looked good to me at the time, but my doubts disappeared when I tasted the yummy pineapple, papaya, and watermelon. I’ve never had papaya that good before.

Phillip and I were really tired, however, so after breakfast, rather than try to go to the farmers market in San Jose, or some other touristy thing, we decided to take a nap. We met our temporary roommates, Cam and AJ, who were on their way home after interning (Cam), and fasting (AJ), at the retreat during the last 6 weeks. They were headed back home that day or the next morning. I was impressed by the vibrancy of them both. Lots of energy and enthusiasm.

We had lunch on our own in the hotel restaurant after our nap, and made some good choices, ordering up salads and fruit plates. After lunch I lay in the sun for a while by the pool. I overheard Dr. Graham talking with his daughter, Faychescha. He told her stories about Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and Piglet, that had a decidedly healthy life and food slant to them. I thought it was cute, and I was entertained to hear him actually use the phrase “fresh, raw, ripe, whole, organic plant-foods” (not necessarily in that order, but using all six key elements) during his conversation with her. She’s going to be a giant raw food expert some day! Faychesca is about 3 years old, talks well, has a lot of energy, and is curious about everything.

Dinner was great, with everyone coming or going to the retreat there. Some new people had arrived, and the hotel staff served up watermelon juice, fruit platters, and two huge salads that we all shared. It occurred to me that this was the first time Phillip and I had ever had dinner with a bunch of folks all eating raw fruits and vegetables, where the meal included this much fruit. I didn’t even feel like a freak for eating nearly a whole pineapple by myself before munching down three big platefuls of salad.