las1206

09:30 am: Rafiki y mas...
Last week my friend Sarah came into town. We have had such a good time since she has been here. Gloriana had a birthday party at our apartments the night Sarah got into town and some friends of mine came for the weekend as well. We had a great time and it was a good way for Sarah to meet all of my friends here. We spent the weekend at the beach, hanging out, and piling a bunch of people on top of each other. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughing.


Sarah and Alex walking to the beach. Alex is covered in sun screen dots all over his body. He would have been a lot cooler if he left them on until he tanned, but he rubbed it in.



Sarah y Playa Jacó. The first night she got into town we went to the beach for the sunset.



Feliz Cumpleaños Gloriana!

I took off from work on Monday so I could spend the day at the beach with Sarah and my friends, but unfortunately, I had to return to work on Tuesday, so on Tuesday Sarah went to my home away from home, Manuel Antonio, and stayed at the Vista Serena with my dear friends Sonja and Conrad. I arrived there Thursday night (another story in itself) and had a great time Thursday night and Friday with everyone there.


Sonja and I hanging out at the Vista. Sonja owns the hostel with her son Conrad. I love both of them like they are family.


Conrad and Sarah. They both went diving during the week, but since the swell was so rough all over the Pacific Coast, two of the days they couldn't stay down underwater because they were getting tossed around. Sarah finally managed to get some quality time scuba diving on Monday, so it was well worth the wait.



View from Vista Serena

Friday night while we were in Manuel Antonio, I took Sarah to meet my family. We had a delicious meal and sat around telling stories and somehow breaking through the language barrier. I brought presents for everyone, since the kids had just had birthdays and I wasn't there to celebrate. We had a great time. I love every time I can go back and visit.

Yorleny y yo. My favorite Costa Rican Mom.



Here is Juan. He is so excited because I brought him a Los Sueños bag filled with Sportfishing goodies, hats, t-shirts, and tons of other stuff. He loved it.


Andres just turned 13. I brought him a Saprissa soccer ball and a Saprissa bracelet. If you don't remember, Saprissa is the best fútbol team in Costa Rica, although some people I work with might say otherwise. Andres loves Saprissa, and I do as well. He is going to be the coolest kid on the block with this new ball.



Carolina just turned 12. I got her a silver necklace for her birthday with an amethyst stone. It was very pretty.

Saturday morning we woke up very early and got a rental car and drove 20 km to a place called Rafiki Safari. Thanks Dad for the trip, it was amazing. Rafiki Safari is environmentally pro-active, and they have a huge project in the works of reintroducing Tapirs into the forest. Check it out: www.rafikisafari.com. All of the water at Rafiki is heated by two daily fires of wood and paper trash. We stayed in a tent that was on a platform with a really nice bathroom and a great view.


This was on the way there.


Stopped for a fruit truck. Not sure what fruit. Anything and everything will stopped you on the roads in Costa Rica.


Including Cows. Pura Vida.



This is the patio of our own private tent. Right when we got to Rafiki, they had a delicious breakfast ready for us, then we were off to Rio Savegre for white water rafting!


Rafa is showing Sarah y Sarita (both Sarah's, we needed a nickname!) what fruit he used to make fresh juice. Every meal at Rafiki was absolutely wonderful. We were treated like queens.


Here we are rafting down the Savegre. It was a blast. Of course, we immediately hit a huge rock and I flipped backwards out of the raft. But, I did get to sign the Swim Team Book, which my Dad signed a few months earlier.

Here are some awesome pictures of the rafting trip down the Savegre. We had a great time on the river and our guides Mechas and Randall were awesome. Even though it had not rained in quite a while, there were still Class 3 and 4 rapids.



Randall kayaking. He was so good.





Sarah jumping from the waterfall...


Another Sarah jumping from the waterfall...



Me jumping from the waterfall. It was pretty scary at first, but it was so fun and the water below was so deep, we just kept jumping.


Sarah and I dressed up in Rafiki mud.

Me taking a picture of myself in the car/truck on the way back to Rafiki Lodge in the rain. What a great way to start the weekend.

We were pretty much the only people at Rafiki and we were priviledged to be able to spend time with the owners of the lodge, Ralene and Constant. Constant was such a riot, cracking jokes non-stop. He would have you thinking he was actually telling a serious story, then of course he would be completely full of it. We had the best dinner ever with them, it was so nice. We spent the evening getting to know them. Here is a picture of Constant and I.

There is so much wildlife at Rafiki, and there are binoculars and a telescope so you can get a good view of the hundreds of different kinds of birds that live in the rainforest in the area. The noises at night and in the morning were unbelievably relaxing, and there were so many of them.

This is a bird that made a nest in the lake between two logs. I took this picture through the telescope.


So many toucans.


And not to mention the sunset...it was amazing! What a relaxing vacation, I did not want to go back to work on Monday.

We woke up early on Sunday, had another delicious breakfast, and then set out on a hike through the mountains to a little town called Rio Blanco. Rafa was our guide and we immediately started the hike straight up for what seemed like forever. It was pretty grueling, but the scenery was amazing. Never before had I been in a rainforest that was so dense. Usually in Monteverde, Arenal, and bigger tourist places, the trails are pretty well known and maintained. Here, without much traffic, the trails were overgrown in some places, and pretty close to the edge of the mountain in others. We had a wonderful time.


Dense.


A view from the top.


Another incredible view from the top.


The treetops went on forever. I have never seen trees as wide as the trees in this jungle. They would weave in and out and the roots were like walls, more than half the size of us. They were hundreds of years old and homes to many different animals.


These mounds are huge ant farms for leaf cutter ants. Leaf cutter ants dominated in this jungle, literally covering the ground in some areas. These ants are fierce and if you have never seen them, they form a pretty thick line wherever they are going, whether from the tops of trees or across a trail. Be careful, they aren't very friendly. These ant farms were immense and could be found all over this rainforest.


Giant giant trees...


More giant trees.


Happy, sweaty ladies!!


In the mountains between Rafiki Safari and Rio Blanco.


Another breathtaking view.

After our long hike, we unfortunately had to go back to Jacó. It was hard to leave, knowing that the tranquility of Rafiki was only an hour away. But, we did have to go, so Sarah dropped us off at the car in Manuel Antonio and stayed there for a few more nights. Sarah, the Sarah that lives here, and I drove back to Jacó, and on the way, stopped in Playa Hermosa, a beautiful beach (that is what hermosa means and it is!) that is about 10 minutes south of Jacó. We watched an amazing sunset that was a terrific way to end the memorable weekend.







The ocean may wash away my footprints, but the memories of this trip will last long after they are gone.

01:45 pm: Los Sueños
Here is a little insert about where I work. You can check out more about Los Sueños at www.lsrm.com. This job has been keeping me very busy and I am learning more and more everyday. It is a corporate job and that is different for me, but it is good and I really enjoy it. It is keeping me here, and I am making new friends and learning Spanish, so that is good. Here are some awesome pictures of the resort.

12:43 pm: Semana Santa en Samara
Easter is a really big holiday here. The main religion in Costa Rica is Roman Catholic and there are a lot of really religious people. The good news for me is that we got Thursday and Friday off work. Some friends and I decided we would go to Playa Samara, which is on Nicoya Peninsula. After a very bumpy car ride, Sarah, Shauna (Sarah's friend in town from California) and I met up with some other friends. Amy and Cindy came from Liberia, and Peter and Alex came from San Jose. We stayed in a dorm style room that was hotter than hell, especially with 7 people in it. It was so much fun though. Looking back on the trip, I remember a lot of laughing until I cried, a lot of games and songs, and a lot of sun. We all bonded and had a blast with each other. Here are some G rated highlights...



Our hostel was this close to the beach. It was a gorgeous beach, and one night there was a really big thunderstorm that lit up the sky. It was spiritual and powerful.




Playa Samara. It was incredibly crowded during the day because everyone pretty much in the country had off for Semana Santa. There were a lot of Ticos swimming in the water throughout the entire day.


Peter and Alex discussing possible dogpiles or shark attacks. Beware of these two...



Coolest dog on Playa Samara. Some guy wanted to charge me 200 colones for taking this picture. That's about 40 cents. I said no.



Ladies!!



This is what people do in Costa Rica. They sit. Or stand. It doesn't matter, but most of the time there is a lot of standing or sitting around. It's fun, really, it is.



These are called Churros. I took this picture really for my friend Cassady. She loves them. They are almost like funnel cake dipped in sugar and filled with caramel. Sugar overdose. Very popular here.


The drive to Samara and back was so beautiful. It was dotted with flowering trees of so many colors. The landscape was a mix of mountains and flat farm land, which you don't see as often in the Central Pacific. It was green and alive, and to think, it's the dry season.



These are my favorite flowers. These trees dot the entire landscape going to Guanacaste.



Crocs!! When you cross the bridge over the Tarcoles River, there are always crocodiles hanging around. It is a popular area because people through food to them. They are gigantic!! Over Semana Santa this bridge seemed like its own tourist stop, with sarongs, wood, and pottery lining the road.


This croc sat with his mouth open the entire time we were there. Hungry maybe.


View over the bridge, right before getting to Jaco.


View on the other side of the bridge.



You should be reminded of Jack Nicholson at the end of One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest in this picture. Alex nails it.

12:38 pm: Mi vida en Playa Jacó
Well, I finally feel like I am getting acquainted with Jacó. I have a real schedule and a real job and some good friends. I have been working at Los Sueños for about 6 weeks and it is incredible the amount of information I have already learned. Everyday I learn more and I am working hard to do a good job. I really like it, which I could never have imagined from me....Little Miss Corporation. It is keeping me here though, and that is the main point. I love my apartment and where I live. I can ride my bike to town in just a few minutes. I joined a gym here and I have been trying to go in the mornings before work when it isn't so excruciatingly hot, and there are less people there. I have become very good friends with my neighbors and we spend a lot of time together after work talking in English and Spanish. I am learning a lot from them. Their names are Gloriana and Jovani and they are good good people. I love them so much. We cook dinner a lot together. Usually I have been trying to go to bed around 9:30 or 10pm, which seems early, but I also wake up early. I am exhausted by the end of every day. Here are some pics of my vecinos (neighbors).


Me, Jovani, Gloriana, and Sarah. This is outside of their house, which is right next to my apartment. I am always welcome in their house and Gloriana always lets me borrow kitchen items I don't have, which is most things...


Two of my favorite people....Gloriana and Sarah.


A usual night at Apartamento Villa Luna. The guy on the right is Eduardo. He lives in apartment 3 (I live in 4) and he hangs out with us sometimes as well. He is a singer in a band and on the weekends lives in Alajuela (outside of San Jose) with his wife and three kids, but he comes to Jacó during the week for work. Our conversations are a big mix of Spanglish and I learn a lot from them all.


This isn't the best picture, but this is Gloriana and Jovani's house. To the left, out of the picture, is where I live.

I spent last weekend with Gloriana and Jovania. Their good friend (and mine as well) Aron (also Gloriana's nephew) comes into town often and we all went out to this big huge party then spent Sunday night watching the sunset in Jacó. The beach we went to is about a 5 minute drive from my house.


Me at the party at the mansion. I spoke to Dan Marino for a little while without knowing who he was at the time. Darius Rucker from Hottie and the Blowfish was there as well. He sang with a band. We danced all night long. It was a lot of fun.


Gloriana and her sister.


Jacó sunset.



Aron y yo.



My favorite couple...

01:19 pm: Vacaciones de mi padres
I know this was in the end of January when my Mom and Larry came, (Dad, send me some pictures so I can post those too!!) but we had a blast just the same...minus me getting really sick right before they left.
They stayed at the Marriot Los Sueños after a few days in Tamarindo on the Nicoya Peninsula. We ate good food and relaxed by the pool. It was great. When are you guys coming back??






This is one shot of Los Sueños Marina. You can check out a better picture at www.lsrm.com





Crazy things underwater cameras do.


Larry, here is the evidence. I was not the dunker.



Happy Anniversary. This was taken before we went to La Lanterna for a delicious anniversary dinner.


I am my mother's daughter.

01:04 pm: Mi Apartamento
Check out my cute apartment. It is really awesome. I love it and I love my neighbors. I don't have a picture of the front, but there is a front yard with a table and a bunch of plants all around the yard with pretty flowers and herbs.







Thanks Mom for the sheets, although I just recently got some nice light blue sheets and actually real pillows (Tico pillows feel like potato sacks). I like that there is the big hole connecting my kitchen/living room with my bedroom. There is always a lot of light coming in.


My pretty new bathroom sink!!

04:28 pm: Granada, Nicaragua
I love the fact that I am not a citizen of Costa Rica, because that means every three months I have to leave the country for at least 72 hours. This means I have a forced vacation. My time was coming up again, and although I wanted to go to Panama since I have not been, we decided it would be better to go back to Nicaragua. Last September we went to San Juan del Sur and it was a relaxing fun time. This time we decided that we would go to Granada, a city on the Lake. It was the best trip I have had since I have moved out of America. Very adventure filled and we learned a lot about the old city.
Just to start off, here is a map of where we were. We went to Granada, Las Isletas, y Laguna de Apoyo. Hope this map helps place us a little bit.


Granada is one of the oldest cities in the western hemisphere, and was founded by Fernando Hernandez de Cordoba in 1524. Granada was and is an important city because it is situated on Lake Nicaragua. It is an important city for commerce and trade. The architecture in Granada has huge European influences and are uncomparable to any other central American city.


This is me in front of the Cathedral. There are about 5 churches in Granada, and they are all very ornate. This church is in the center of town in a very charming park, and you can see this church from any view of Granada pretty much.





Here are two more churches in town.

The park was very cute, and I noticed that Granada was so clean. Nicaragua is much cleaner than Costa Rica, and much much cheaper, so that´s always good.
This is a picture of a cute little cafe in the park at night. Tons of people just come and drink cafe and hang out. There are also a lot of tourists in Granada.




Sarah and I went on a horse carrage ride, and out guide Walter was super cool. The tour was in Spanish, which was good practice for me. He took us all over Granada and told us all about the history. He also took us up to the top of a fort where we could see all of the city. It was really interesting.


Lake Nicaragua is one of the biggest lakes in the world. (I believe it is the 10th biggest.) Also, it is the only lake to have fresh water sharks, bull sharks. We didn´t see any. But it was amazing, it was so huge that you forget you aren´t on the ocean. The same day as the tour with Walter, we met a girl names Comer that was going on a tour of Las Isletas. There is a volcano called Mombacho that is right near Granada and within the last 10,000 years, the volcano was so active that it´s overflow into Lake Nicaragua became over 365 small islands. They are so cool, and people have built houses on the islands and travel by boat or canoe all over Lake Nicaragua.



This is an old fort that overlooks Granada as well as the lake. When pirates would come from the San Juan River (this river connects the Caribbean with Lake Nicaragua) the people would go to these forts and prepare for attack. They mainly used cannons to fight off pirates. There is a story from the Rio San Juan of a 19 year old girl whose father was either really sick or dead, and she fought off the pirates all by herself by running around lighting a bunch of cannons.


I am standing on top of the fort, and in the background you can see Granada in the distance.


There are tons and tons if little islands all over, and they are all for sale. Most people that have islands are rich and they build insanely nice houses on them as second, third, or fourth homes. This little island, house included, can be yours for only 40,000 US dollars. Pretty cheap!
Here is a cute little house on another island.




I love love love this picture. I don´t know why. This is taken in an area of Las Isletas that is like a boat junkyard I guess. There were about 10 boats just sitting and rusting here. Very cool.



Okay, some stupid stupid man decided that along with his island, he wanted to buy an island and put monkeys on it. There are five monkeys here that are not indigenous to the area and they have nowhere to go!! It is horrible. They depend on tours for food, and get plenty of it. They were full when we got there and we couldn´t tempt them with our bananas. It is really bad to bring animals from places where they came from unnaturally. These monkeys will probably not live very long because they have no room to move around and hunt for food themselves. The island they are on is the size of a small campground.


We stopped at one of the islands that a family owns and they have a restaurant on the island. There are small boys playing baseball into the water. It was hilarious watching them try to swim to first (which was a floating oil can). We had some plantains and fresh coconut. It was dilicious.


This is a view from the island at sunset. Absolutely gorgeous.


Mombacho Volcano. Although inactive, you can hike up the mountain and around it´s crater.
Our tour ended right after the sun was setting and it was a perfect time to see wildlife. There were hundreds of different species of birds all over the lake. Although it is a little unclear, these are birds, not flowers in the tree!




What a way to end an amazing trip. This is a huge cieba tree right on the lake. Very cool.

The next day we decided that we would go to Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua’s cleanest, bluest, and deepest swimming hole trapped inside the crater of the Apoyo Volcano. The deepest measured point (200 meters) is the lowest point in all of Central America. The volcano still has some underwater thermal vents and experiences the occasional seismic tremor, but for the most part, it’s considered dormant and its walls are thickly vegetated with green forest and an awesome network of trails, most of which exists as a protected nature reserve.

For eight dollars we got transportation to and from the crater, as well as use of the kayaks and other ¨floatable toys.¨ There was a floating dock in the laguna and we spent a lot of time out there. The water was refreshing, which was a nice change from the warmth of the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica.
Here is the cute little restaurant/hanging out area where we spent the entire day.

I took out a kayak and went to the middle of the laguna. Although the water looked very dark (it is really deep) it was relatively clear. It was awesome to lay in the middle of a crater of a volcano.



The next picture is of me with some friends I made in Granada. Comer is from Birmingham Alabama and can´t get away from Central America. Mateos is from Germany and is traveling Central America solo. Both very cool people.




We only went on a day trip to Laguna de Apoyo, but most of the others that went with us stayed overnight, which I wish we could have done, but we had a bus ticket at 7am the next morning. I think this is where I lost my book I was reading, which was a bummer because it was getting really good!
Overall, Granada was a really good experience. I learned a lot about the history of the city and the people were very friendly. If anyone reading this is going through Nicaragua, Granada is a must see place. I will definitely be back there. I also want to ride the Rio San Juan into Costa Rica at some point...maybe in May for my next visa run.

07:35 pm: Que calor!
It's hot.
Things haven't changed much. Well, it is 2007. That is a change. New Year's here was fun. We were out on the streets in Jaco with tons of people, tons of fireworks. I had a bunch of sparklers in my pocket and I gave some to this little boy. He was adorable.
Things on Surrender are about to take off. We have been preparing to start chartering and I am ready to be really really busy.
My Dad and Cathy are coming on Friday and I am really excited. I can't wait for them to be here and see what I am doing. Also, they are bringing me my camera!! So now I can start putting pictures back up on this thing.
I hope everyone had a happy happy holiday season and new year and I also hope 2007 brings everyone a lot of love and joy....and money so you can come visit me!

Okay, seriously, it is too hot for me to think, let alone type. Gotta go find water....

Pura Vida

10:10 pm: Yo regreso!!!
Lo siento for my absence. I have been away for so long and I promise to try to keep up with this lovejoural more now. So much has been going on in the last 2 monthes.
Well, the day after I wrote my last entry, I went to Jaco beach (where I am right now) to visit my friend Sarah for her birthday. I woke up to find my air mattress floating on about 9 inches of water. The entire house had flooded from the rain. It was nuts. Needless to say it put a damper on Sarah´s birthday. My camera also broke, but is in the process of being fixed so that is good.
Hmm, the last few months have been focused a lot on my job. School ended on the 7th (for me) and it went well. The kids are so good and I really feel like I taught them a lot. Being a teacher is exhausting though, and I definitely have absolute respect for anyone that is a teacher. My birthday was the 6th and my students threw me a surprise party at school. It was really sweet. They even made me a hat that said ¨birthday teacher.¨ It was fun.
After that 5 fun girls came into town and I had an 11 day vacation. We had a blast. I took them to Manuel Antonio and we went hiking in the park and we saw some monkeys. We also spent a few days at Arenal Volcano and it was amazing. Even though the weather was cloudy and overcast the whole time, we really enjoyed it. We went on a hike around the volcano and you could hear it erupting. If the sky was clear, I am sure we could have seen lava and rocks. That night we went to Tabacon hot springs, and it was worth every penny. It is amazing that the water was that hot from being heated underground. That night was really fun. We went on a water slide in every direction imaginable. Then a few ladies left and we spent another 4 days in Manuel Antonio. I was really tan, even before starting my new job.
So that brings me to now....
I have moved to Jaco and I am staying with my friend Sarah (in the house that flooded) while looking for a place to live. I was going to live with these two guys but I think I am going to look for better options. I am not sure how safe I feel in their house alone. It is in a busy area. Besides, they are slobs and I am not a maid. That could get annoying. For now, Sarah and I are having fun being roomies.
I have started working on a 55 foot trimaran sailboat. It is absolutely beautiful. It is about 40 years old and one man built it all by himself. It took him twenty years. My boss, Mel, is the coolest boss ever. He gives me complete freedom over what I want to do and how I want to do my job. So here is my job...I am the hostess on the boat and we are chartering the boat on two main trips. One from 8 to 2 that is a day trip. We go out to Punta Leona, pretty beach, and snorkel, hike to waterfalls, and kayak. During the trip I serve them coffee and drinks and a catered continental breakfast. After snorkeling I serve a catered french bistro style lunch, including more drinksof course. Then we come back. The people are all a lot of fun. I am making guacamole everyday, and limonada, which is like limeade....super rico. The boat has 5 beds in it and is all wood. It is beautiful. I am also going to learn how to sail and how to gut and filet fish. Yum! I am super pumped for my job and I cannot wait to meet a bunch of really cool and interesting people. You can check out the boat´s website at www.surrendercr.com. Tomorrow we are going out to take some rich people in Los Suenos, the marina we are located in. These people are millionaires and I get to shmooze with them. My goal is to meet people that want to take me all over the world. We´ll see how that goes. Sarah is coming on the boat tomorrow and I am really excited.
Well, in 8 days it will be my 6 month anniversary of moving down here. On one hand it feels like the time has flown by and on the other I feel like I have been here forever. I am looking forward to the new year because I know it is going to be the best year of my life. Everything is a new adventure and I feel really lucky to be able to experience the amazing things I am doing here. Living outside of America has made me stop worrying about the stupid things people stress over and really appreciate people, patience, and the environment. Among other things...
I do miss my friends and family and recommend everyone coming down to visit me. It is unlike anything else.
Now that I am living on the beach (4 minute walk) I will try to surf again. I have failed miserably in the past. I have started wearing SPF 50 because I am starting to look like a Tica. I am also really going to focus on learning Spanish. That is my New Year´s Resolution. Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope everyone I know is having a wonderful holiday season, and trying their best to stay warm!! Pura Vida

10:13 pm: playa playa playa
Well, it has been some time since I last wrote. Since Nicaragua, I have spent every weekend at the beach. I was in the Nicaragua, then in Manuel Antonio, then on the caribbean in a town called Puerto Viejo for four days, and in about an hour I am leaving to go to Jaco for the weekend, another beach. I am becoming more and more okay with living in San Jose because I can go to the beach whenever I want to.

The sad news for you is that I am going to have less and less pictures up on my site. The thing is, I just don't care it around all that much. The less you carry, the less people can steal. I haven't been in that position yet, but it is pretty common here, especially if you look like a tourist. I try not to carry much on me if I am going out of the house, especially alone.
Other than that, things are going well. Puerto Viejo was so beautiful. The caribbean water is much clearer than the pacific side. We slept at this hostel for $4 a night and I literally was eaten alive by mosquitoes. It was okay though because we spent the day on the beach. There is so much to do there, snorkeling, kayaking, etc...

I definitely want to go back. There is a huge carnival in Limon, a city very close to Puerto Viejo but we couldn't muster up the motivation to pull ourselves off the sand and actually get to Limon. We are very cheap.
Right now I am sitting at school. I just got out of a teacher conference and I am exhausted. I have to go to downtown San Jose in an hour and it is pouring pouring pouring rain.

Although, my landlord told me this rainy season hasn't been that bad. October is the worst of it and October is almost over. He (Carlos) said that by December it hardly ever rains and from January to May there is literally no rain, just hot sunny days. I can't imagine the heat getting hotter than it is, especially on the beach, but it is going to.

School is going well. My kids were all behaving badly last week and I had a talk with them and they are being a lot better. Cross your fingers. All of their grades are improving and that actually makes me feel like I am making a difference. I am still unsure whether I will be here come next semester, but most signs are pointing to yes.

My apartment is good. I am meeting more and more people in the town and it is nice to have an area that I know my way around and feel comfortable. I am getting internet in my house next Friday, even though it was a huge pain in the ass to get. Some things they do here are totally backwards and illogical. But at least I will have it in a week, so I will have access to a lot more, including skype. Amy and I are talking about getting vonage, so we can have an american number and people can just call us whenever. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or not...haha.

Okay, time to go to Jaco. I am staying in my friend's beachhouse for free!!!

I am reading Angels and Demons right now, it is okay. My Dad was right, it is a lot like Indiana Jones. Please feel free to send me any books you feel I would like to read. I have read so many books since I have been here and I have run out. Books are really expensive here, unless you find a whole in the wall trade store on the beach.

Off to la playa...ciao

04:16 pm: Nicaragua
Well....I made it to and from Nicaragua with my passport stamped, a dark tan, and a really good experience.
I will start from the beginning. Our bus was leaving at 6 in the morning and we had to be there at 5. For some reason my friends and I thought it would be a good idea to stay up all night so we would be able to sleep on the bus. Well, I wound up being the only one that actually stayed up, and come 6 o'clock, I was so tired. It worked though, I slept for the first 5 hours of the trip. Then near the border of Costa Rica we had to get off the bus and get in line and get stamped and get back on the bus then get off the bus in Nicaragua and stand around and get on the bus and go a little more then get off again and get our bags off and stand around with our bags for a long time then get back on the bus then we could finally leave. It was completely ridiculous and ineffecient and took about 3 hours. Oh well...that is how it goes in latin america.

Anyway, in Nicaragua there is a lake (Lake Nicaragua) and it is huge, I think one of the biggest in the world, and it is about the size of the central valley in Costa Rica. While driving, you can see the lake and two huge volcanoes in the middle of the lake. I want to go there one day. Finally, we get to the small town we were planning to camp in. It is called San Juan del Sur and it is adorable. Instead of camping, we hear it is dangerous and the place we were going to camp was kind of far away. Anyway, the taxi driver takes us to a cheap hostel. It was three dollars a day for a bunk bed. No AC, and the mattress was just a piece of foam on a board. It was so uncomfortable by the third night. There was one bathroom for everyone at the hostel, probably 10 people. The bathroom was literally a cement room with a toilet and a faucet, although most of the time the town was without water and electricity. Meaning....no toilets when sometimes you really needed one. Anyway, we weren't really in the hostel much because we were always at the beach. The hostel was about a 10 second walk to the ocean.

The ocean there is like paradise. It is calm and really refreshing because the sun and the heat in San Juan was unbearable. It was so hot out and only rained for 5 minutes the entire time we were there, which is weird considering how close we were to San Jose and how often it rains here. Anyway, we bummed around on the beach all day each day we were there. We would go to a cafe and have coffee then head to the beach around 10 and stay until around 4. Then we would go back to the beach and watch the sunset. It was so tranquil. The entire town is really quiet and relaxed and not much goes on. Like I said, a lot of the time they don't have water or electricity.

Everything was a lot cheaper in Nicaragua. A meal that would cost 4 dollars in Costa Rica would cost 1 or 2 in Nicaragua. The money there was kind of confusing. They use cordobas and there are 17 cordobas to the dollar. What an odd number 17, right? I spent about 60 dollars the entire trip. One night we went to this bar called the Iguana, and a man named Henry from Mississippi owns it and his family from "Texarkana" was in town and they were hilarious. My southern accent came out talking to them...well, I made myself have an accent because it was funny. Cowboy hats and all...no joke, in Nicaragua.

All of the people in the town were very helpful and very nice. There are tons of trails and surrounding beaches that people travel to for the surf. There is a wildlife refuge on Playa La Flor, which is about an hour away and we planned to go but it wound up being too expensive and too late. We didn't plan well enough ahead of time. Next trip... but we heard that on La Flor there are thousands of leatherback turtles that come to lay eggs. There are night trips that I want to go on. I will definitely have to go back.

I am sure I am leaving out a bunch of details but this is all I can write for now. San Juan was the prettiest place I have seen so far, and had the best atmosphere. Traveling out of the country has definitely reminded me of all the traveling I need to do while I am living down here. Next on the agenda....

This weekend...back to Quepos (it has been over a month since I have seen my family, and they have 2 new students....2!!!...and my room in their house is ready!!)
Next weekend....I have Friday off so Thursday we are going to go to Limon, a port city on the caribbean side of the country for a huge music festival, then travel south to puerto viejo, a cool surfer town really close to panama. I am excited for all of the traveling to come!!! Hope you all enjoy the pictures.



Amazing amazing sunsets



Nica boys playing soccer on the beach. Hard life, right?


The beach was pretty much deserted the entire time we were there. On Sunday, the day Nicas have off work, there were families out playing in the water. Aside from that, this beach was ours.


More beach...



Me, Amy, and Sarah



I love this picture.



My favorite picture.

01:16 pm: Voy a Nicaragua!!
Hello all. Well, I am leaving in about 15 hours to get on a bus to Nicaragua. We are leaving at 4 o'clock in the morning and will be there for the weekend. We are staying on the beach at an area called San Juan del Sur. I plan on checking out this wildlife refuge on Playa La Flor while I am there. I will be sure to update my journal when I get back with tons of new pictures.

03:25 pm: Mi nuevo amigo, Stefan
The family we are renting from is adorable. The most adorable is there four year old son Stefan. He loves to come over and play, especially after we have been working with kids all day. He is so cute though, and we are teaching him Spanish and English.


Stefan!!!



Amy and Stefan. Once I took one picture he was in love with it, posing for everything. He loves to dance all the time.


Me and Stefan


What a ham!


Stefan loves monkeys. He would hide them and tell us to cry, then when we were crying, he was give them to us and say, "Feliz Cumpleanos (Happy Birthday!)"

03:09 pm: Mi apartamento en Escazu
Well, I finally brought my cord with me so I can share my photos. Living in Escazu has been amazing. It is gorgeous here in the mountains and the weather is perfect. It feels like Georgia in April. Hot sometimes, rainy sometimes, breezy. It is perfect. I am becoming more and more familiar with my way around the town by walking and getting to know people.


This is our apartment! It is a really nice size and we actually have real furniture. Usually tico furniture is very small. It is quite cozy. We have a giant mirror in the living room and it is kind of dirty in this picture because we were using board markers one night to go over lesson plans....yes, I am a teacher. Amy and I were confused over how to teach a lesson on fractions. It was for her sixth grade class.


This is our kitchen. The counter space is the best. Although, everything (everything) has to go in the fridge because we have a ton of tiny little ants. If anything (even a clove of garlic) is left out for like 3 seconds, the ants will be all over it. We sweep and mop a lot. Okay, that's a lie. We try to sweep and mop a lot. Tico women (usually housewives or maids...everyone has maids here) sweep and mop constantly, 6-7 times a day. It is the tico way. I cook almost every night. We usually make a lot of vegetables and use fresh herbs with everything. There is a market on Saturdays right down the street and you can buy everything you need (veggies and fruit) for the week for so cheap. We got a head of lettuce for 100 colones, which is like 20 cents. We do not buy anywhere else. And yes, I am very very sick of beans and rice. People here eat it with pretty much every meal.


This is one view from the park right by our house. Literally, we are a minute away from this park. I love it mostl because this is where we get the bus so it takes a short amount of time to get anywhere we want to go. I also love it because it is a really nice place to read or listen to music. There are always kids playing on the swing sets, playing soccer and basketball. This is where the high schoolers hang out at night...and the crackheads.


Another view of the park...


And another.



Yes, I live in the mountains. This road leads up to my house. Another thirty minutes and you are literally in the mountains. The views here are breathtaking. Sometimes when it is stormy and the clouds are over Escazu, you walk home through clouds. They are thick and sometimes really dark. It is cold and depending on my mood, either really beautiful or really annoying. It rains a lot.



Another view up the same road, with the Costa Rican flag in the picture. Very appropriate since it is Dia de Independencia today. Last night when we got home from school, there was a really big parade in the park. There were bands and music and dancing and everyone in the town was there.


I don't know how well this picture will come out, but this is at the parade/fiesta. It is in the park and there were people in costumes dancing.


Lots of Escazu ticos hanging out during the parade. The church behind is really beautiful and old. Everyone in town goes to this church on Sundays. This area of the street is where the market is on Saturdays.

12:59 pm: Museo de los Ninos
Last Tuesday I took my kids, along with sixth grade and Miss Porter (my roommate Amy) to the Children's Museum to look at the planetarium and galaxy room. I had been studying planets and space with my kids since I started 5 weeks ago. They were really excited. We were told we could only go for an hour and a half....long story....but we were there for two hours and we saw a lot of stuff. It is a pretty outdated museum, but it was fun and very educational for them. Most of these kids had been there a few times before but we stopped and explained a lot of things we had been studying. They had a really good time and it was a change of scenery from HDS.


Museo de los Ninos


Here are the students learning about the first Costa Rican astronaut. He died in space.


Miss Saripkin, Isaac, and Miss Porter (my roommate Amy) dressed as indigenous Ticos



My cute second grader, Leah, standing in a traditional tico home.


Meir, Avraham, and Moishe standing on a platform that feels like an earthquake.

07:43 pm: Regreso a Quepos
A few weekends ago I went to Quepos to visit. It is nice being able to go there whenever I want. I stayed with my family, of course. Can you believe it, they are building onto their house two rooms and another bathroom and Yorleny told me I could have one reserved for me if I wanted it. I may stay for a week or so after school is over just to hang out on the beach and bum around with them. Learn Spanish.
We had a very good weekend on the beach relaxing. It was very hot out.



Carolina y Andres on a log at the beach. They look angry but they really aren't. My favorite people in this country.


Friends at a bar in Quepos called Manchados.

07:25 pm: mi estudiantes
So school is getting much better. I actually like it, although it is still really ridiculous and disorganized. The students are learning and making better grades from when I started. We have been studying planets in Science for the last few weeks and tomorrow I am taking them on a field trip to the Museo de los Ninos (Museum for Children) and it is like a sci-trek for San Jose. They are really excited. There is a planetarium and a ton of hands on stuff for them to learn from. Here are some pictures from a recent science fair at a school in the area. My kids are learning from the local students that are presenting their science projects. I have never seen projects like these in the states. Maybe we are just lazy.


The little girl in the front (with her hand near her face) is my second grader, Shterna. She is very smart. She is also very bossy. Next to her, to the right, is Leah. She is also in second grade. The girl behind with the Leah buns is Pnina. She is one of my fourth graders.


The boy in front is Avraham. He is another second grader. So cute. Behind him is Daniel. She is from Israel and hardly knows any English but I tutor her after school and she is improving dramatically.


This is Meir. He is one of my fourth graders. He is a travieso (mischeivious boy). He is a good kid though, very hyper.


I took this today during "gym". These are the boys of the school....four of them between 2nd and 6th grade. Isaac and Moishe are on the group and Avrahama and Meir are in the tree.


It is weird that I have been there for a month and I am a quarter of the way done. I will be going to Nicaragua or Panama in a few weeks (I have to leave every 90 days for three days) and I may go to the beach in Panama. Who knows. i am done teaching in December and then I might volunteer with an environmental organization and tutor privately for income. It depends on how much I manage to save. The months will fly by though. And in October I have a week off for the holiday of Sukkot and I am going to go on vacation somewhere then, I am sure a beach!

06:57 pm: Saprissa!!
Soccer!! So in the United States I was never really one to pay any attention to soccer (Go Braves). But here, oh lordy, you would think the world revolved around soccer. It sort of does down here. Although there are many different teams, everything is Saprissa. This is the most popular (and the best) team around. There colors are purple and white and all through town everything is purple and white. There are Saprissa stores. Their mascot is a purple dragon...but not a cheesy purple dragon, a vicious purple dragon. They mean business.
On Sunday (yesterday) Amy, Peter, and I were all planning on going to the game. Well, Peter and I agreed to meet at McDonald's at 9am and I thought in Escazu (the one thaat actually made sense) and he thought the one in San Jose so we were waiting at different stores. Around 10 we decided to leave him and made our way to Tibas, a town right outside of San Jose.
The game was so awesome. The stadium was kind of ghetto and old, the seats were wet and the area for your feet was an inch of rain water. I guess that is how it goes in Costa Rica. We were really close to the field and the fans were nuts (and alcohol is not allowed). When they would score a goal, the fans would climb on the fence, shaking it and screaming. Saprissa was losing 0-2 and then came back and won 5-2. It was an awesome game. It is so brutal, players were getting hurt left and right.
We are going again this Sunday!!


This crowd was mostly of students. They reminded me of a college football game. Everyone was wearing purple and they were jumping up and down and screaming and singing and chanting. It was awesome. I am going to have to learn the Saprissa cheers.


View of the other side of the stadium...obviously.


This guy's name is Solis. He is so good. He's everyone's favorite for all the right reasons. In this picture he had just gotten his shoulder dislocated and was in a lot of pain and the coach came over and popped it back in place and he is waving to let him back in to play. Pretty nuts.

07:00 pm: Band from Senegal
I don't even remember the name of the band, but they played while Sarah was in town at my favorite place, The Jazz Cafe. I love going to hear live music, and every night it is different. This group was so talented and we danced all night long. It was so much fun.


The main guy was from Senegal and he was the lead guy. Everyone else was from all over the world, including Costa Rica.





Yes, this is Sarah dancing on stage with some really sweaty guy.

We danced all night long.


Tico dancing!!

06:14 pm: So I have been in this place since the 2nd and although it was nice at first, the newness has worn away. It is actually shrinking day by day. I think some of that is that I have a friend staying here. His name is Peter and he was in my TEFL course and is crashing here until he can find his own place. It is very difficult to find something here that you can afford. Anyway, it has been our little home for the past three weeks and sometime this week I will be saying goodbye to San Pedro. I am glad I have had Peter here because otherwise I would be bored out of my mind. It is not the safest neighborhood so I am glad I have someone to go out with me at night. He is up for adventure so we both have spent a lot of time exploring. We cook a lot in our tiny little kitchen. Although the tile is dark and the floor is always dirty. I got a really cheap broom that does not work well and have yet to get a mop, so without shoes on, the floor literally stains your feet with nastiness.
Oh, the best...one night we were about to go out and I went to the bathroom, only to find that when I flushed, the toilet water (plus...) was coming up through the shower drain. It was more than disgusting and for a day and a half we didn't have a shower and didn't flush the toilet. It was horrible and I was ready to move. The plumbing here isn't the best in the world. Outside of San Jose, most places you don't flush anything your body doesn't produce. Isn't it lovely? Everyone complaining about bathrooms in bars in Athens can just stop now. You have no idea.
So, the amazing news is I actually found a place to live!! I am so excited, I cannot wait. It is in Escazu and I am going to be living with Amy. It is about a 3 minute walk to the bus to San Jose and I get off the bus about 7 minutes from my work. No more hour to work!! It is so pretty too. A big kitchen, a living room area, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a little patio with a washing machine. people don't have dryers here. I can do my own laundry. My kitchen area is really big too. The whole place is this light green color. It is adorable. I will take pictures as soon as I move in.
I think the best part if that the people that rented it to us are the sweetest Tico family with a little four year old boy that I can't wait to learn from. He loves to play. He was dragging me around by my finger last time I was there. I am looking forward to getting to know another Tico family. It is hard working on my Spanish when everyone I meet wants to work on their English. Here are some pics of my place...


This is my bedroom. The picture is really dark so I don't know if you can see my awesome Costa Rican sheets.


This is my psuedo-living room. It is okay. There is a little sitting area and the table is nice, but it is always covered in our crap. This is where I sit on the computer...yeah skype! Right next to the table is the fridge.


Tiny kitchen....with a door. Very random. Although I should not complain because although the stove/oven has a mind of its own, it works.


This is Peter. He is 6'4 and this is his "bed". Every morning I wake him up when I leave (around 6:30) and he crawls into my bed for a few more hours of sleep. Check out his feet. Yummy!!