So Long.....

Since I last blogged! The problem is that I have been so busy with work that I don't have time to blog and when I get home I am to tired to type....
Ok- let's see. I promised you all some news on what I am doing at work. The original line that I was hired to work for is starting an off shoot motorcycle company that will be sold in the US. I have been working on designs, samples and prototypes. Satisefying design criteria, pattern work, making flats, choosing fabrics and sewing samples. The work is very rewarding and fulfilling. I am a valued part of the team and there is so much to learn!
Other than work, I have a cleaning lady who does my heavier laundry such as jeans and sweatshirts. The weather hasn't really changed since I've been here. maybe a little less rain.... hard to believe it is December. On a weekend trip to Santa Teresa a couple weekends ago I had my purse stolen. Thank God I have been prepared for this for awhile so I only lost a credit card and an expired licsense, a yearly calendar and an mp3 player. JuanCa on the other hand had two cameras, a phone and the keys to his car stolen. That was an adventure!

I was in Florida for Thanksgiving. Grandma and GreatGrandma were supposed to rendevous in Miami but GGma had a fever and Gma didn't want to risk it. Matt and Sabrina came to the airport and got me a rental so I could spend the holiday with the Gmas. Gma had done some shopping but apparently the store was out of stuffing. Luckily Walmart was open so we could get the ingredients for stuffing. Turkey day was celebrated with the Gmas and a neighbor who didn't have any family near by. I had brought back a bottle of rum so we enjoyed that as pre-dinner drinks. I would like to say that GGma practically ate more than I did. 96 and she can still drink me under the table. Saturday evening I headed down to Miami to spend some time with Matt and the family. After visiting with Matt the fam came home. Sabrina is such a love bug! She read Curious George to me and we slept on the futon in the living room.
I left early in the morning to catch my flight home.

While I was gone Juan was in a car accident. The pictures of the car are pretty brutal...
He's letting me take a picture of him every morning so we can have a flip book of his face healing.

As it turns out I will be spending Christmas alone. Monumental as it is my first one without family.

cont....

A guy stopped to help JuanCa but said he wanted $100. Mario finally came back with some help however by that time a whole Swedish family was walking by and offered to help us push the car. With me driving and about 8 people pushing we were able to back up the car and get to some dry land. We took a break while it started raining. Huddled under the lifted trunk of the bus we ate sandwiches made from tune, beans, turkey ham and white bread. Correction: Mario and Nathan ate that. Juan went swimming and I ate beans, turkey and bread. We finally drove out to the beach where the river ran into the ocean. On the way we stopped at a place that sold fresh water showers for 300 colones. We each took a shower. We had to wait for about another hour and half. During which time we fetched some food and more beer. Juan and I ate a nearby restaurant while Nathan slept in the van and Mario entertained himself. Finally ready to cross the river JuanCa got in the drivers seat. Did I mention? We had to push again. Juan took off so as not to get stuck again only to crash into the other side of the river. As we were crossing the river on foot to catch up I lost one of my flip flops.
By the time we got to the other side the car was stuck again. We spent another 3o minutes and the help of a couple locals. Nevermind that I pointed out a better was to get onto hard sand- boys will be boys.
Mario had been trying to convince everyone to drive back to Liberia and go to a party. No one really wanted to but no one really had a better plan.
Once we got there we found out that Mario couldn't reach the guy whose party it was. After driving around for awhile Mario stated that he wanted McDonald's. If there was one thing we learned on this trip it was that you have to feed Mario...
While he was gorging on quarter pounders I suggested that we drive to Puntarenas where Nathan had friends with whom we could stay with. I offered to drive and about 5 minutes after leaving everyone was asleep. Nathan with earphones blaring death metal. We arrives in the port safe and crashed almost immediately.
The next day was spent hanging out on the beach and drinking. Dinner was at a nice Italian place that was owned by another of Nathan's friends. We headed home sunburnt, full and tired.
The end.

I promise I will catch you all up on work stuff soon.

Weekend part 2

We then loaded up the cooler with beer and ice. We had to drive on the beach and cross a small river/ creek that was flowing into the ocean to reach the beach we were looking for. Conchal. A shell beach with all the tropical vacation amenities except bathrooms. We spent most of the day enjoying the sunshine and teasing one another. There was even a game of truth an truth. That's right- no dares there. Nathan surmised they would start out so out of control that there would be nowhere to go.
As the sun began to set we thought about heading out. Unfortunately, asd we had been warned the tide was coming in. In a rush to make it over the river which we then had to ctoss much further up the line, we got stuck in the sand. The tide was coming in and we couldn't dig ourselves out. Mario went to get help. Not one person who walked by offered to help. Fearing that it was because Nathan and I were gringos we decided to grab a couple beers and walk up the beach leaving JuanCa to lure people in to help.

My life as a vacation.

I know- It has been forever....
Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh- Thursday night's bbq for Uvolunteer went well. I went to the dorm and had shish kabobs. Visited with Meaw and her husband Nat. He started the program and since it started with 3 countries one could choose from to volunteer in they have expanded to 11. And as it turns out they may be interested in my company making some tshirts for them..
Friday was a waste at work. We were all excited about the weekend trip and hardly anything got done. As a last minute addition Nathan invited Mario to come along. I wasn't excited about that as Mario can't seem to be assholey enough. He goes out of his way. JuanCa has confirmed that this is true. We were set to leave at 6- after work- but didn't make it out until 7 as we had to wait for Mario to get his weed delivered.
We arrived in Liberia at 11:30 and picked up a friend of Juan's. Rebecca.
We then went to a bar where we dared each other to do things like pick up chicks. They said it would be too easy for me to pick up a guy as I can play the gringa card. My mission was to get and keep this one guy's gay cowboy hat. Luckily he left before I could attempt it. In the meantime the guys were checking out these two girls dancing on each other. There were the two hot ones, the cute one and the one, because she wasn't hot and was large the Tico boys decided was lesbian. Nathan and I weren't so sure. The entertainment only increased when the larger one stared dancing with Nathan. He was so eager to not be next to her that he tripped over a chair to get away and then hoping she would think we were together he ran over to me. She came up to me saying she had been spanking him because it was his birthday. So funny.
We dropped Rebecca off and headed to the beach about an hour away. After driving down what must be the bumpiest road in the whole country we arrived at a somewhat secluded beach with a restaurant that was closed because it was 4 in the morning. I must add that the boys- being boys spent the whole trip making gay jokes about each other, making creepy groaning sounds and cracking jokes about Dalai- the pattern maker. Apparently he's a perv who terrifies everyone with his alcoholism and twisted sexuality. He's always been nice around me so what do I know?
We slept in the micro. About 4 hours later I woke up to take a walk on the beach with JuanCa. We then headed out for some breakfast. Actually only Mario ate. At the restaurant we spotted what may be the ugliest dog ever.
More to come about the weekend but I have to chip away at writing it because there is so much to share.

Oh November...

I am horrified to announce that I heard not one but two Christmas songs on the radio yesterday. The decorations are starting to go up on people's houses. And I thought the day after Turkey day was premature....
Speaking of- I have recently been informed that I will spending that day in Miami. Slight change in plans.Is it hurricane season?
Last night I had a dinner with one of the volunteer coordinators. She is from Thailand but she lived in Germany. She speaks German, Thai, English and Spanish. Plus- she has agreed to teach me native Thai cooking. Seriously? Does life get better than that?
A couple of her current volunteers showed up so we chatted with them for awhile. They were all so young! 19-20ish. They were freaked out by her account of the "girlie boys" in Thailand. She claims that 60% of the men there are "girlie boys" many of which have "boobies" and all. Apparently it is not uncommon for tourists to occasionally one without knowing it until later.
Anyway- she invited me to the three year anniversary bbq tonight.
In a somewhat related vein: I have decided that I have probably drunk more in the last two months than I did in the previous 6. Oi!
Also- I am seriously looking into learning belly dancing. It is high time I embraced my hips and put them to use.
or ballroom.
Halloween is not really celebrated here. I did go out though. And in a tradition I think more people should take on, I met a birthday boy who bought me a drink.

Daylight Savings Time

I have it on good authority that some of my readers are opposed to the idea of daylight savings. I have never felt too strongly about it. I should say, it never bothered me when we were falling back. The thing is that not everyone does it and now people are doing it at different times. Come to find out that Arizona doesn't. How messed up is it that suddenly you have to calculate everything differently? The conclusion to this rant is that there is now a two hour difference to the west coast. East coasters, we are now only an hour apart. Arizona- we're cool.
I am trying to get Lizzie to give an account of her visit soon. We'll see.

La Fortuna

Lizzie and Merrill came in on Saturday. I was late picking them up because of the bus. Luckily they waited. We took a bus to Alejuela and then caught one to San Ramon. A taxi ride later we were at my apt. We dropped off their stuff and then took a walk to the centro. We found a soda restaurant where they could sample some typical Tico fare. After being harassed by a couple bums, Lizzie and I went to the Super to get some snacks and drink makings for the housewarming. We got home just before the party was set to begin. While there was a whirl of excitement, we then had some down time as no one showed up for an hour. Just as Lizzie and I were getting ready to play some cards and Merrill had decided to lay down for a nap, Nathan, Dalai and JuanCa showed up. Thus began the housewarming. Lizzie wanted us to make mojitos so we were busy in the kitchen stirring, grinding and testing. Sonia and Negro showed up a little bit later. The evening progressed smoothly. Several cocktails and beers later the party slowed. Lizzie and Mer were already retired to their room. The boys wanted to go out so after a quick costume change we reunited to continue the party. As it turned out everyone was tired and decided to go home.
Sunday morning after an egg scramble breakfast we packed out things and headed out for the bus station. The ride to la Fortuna took about 2:45. We found our hostel without much ado and for the second time since I have been here, I fell in love. I am such a sucker for baby kittens. We found ourselves a soda for a snack and walked around. Pretty much everything was closed because it was Sunday. Merrill found himself a soccer game in a Mexican restaurant and Lizzie and I took a walk. We returned with a pack of cards. We then found another soda for dinner. Yes- we ate a lot.
After taking my first truly hot shower in two months- since leaving the states- we went to bed.
The next morning we awoke to breakfast at our fav soda and walked around to find the best deal on tickets to Baldi Resort. A beautiful park resort just under the volcano Arenal that boasted 20 hot spring pools. We tried them all out only to return to our favorite. The one with a swim up bar. 3 $10 cocktails each later, it was time to head out to catch our bus back home.
I hope to post some photos as Mer took tons. Unfortunately he didn'y bring his cord so you will have to wait until he gets home.
ALSO- for those of you who plan to visit: I now have a new rule. Not only must you bring a contribution to the apt, but you must write a blog entry to share your experience with my other readers. you may all look forward to Lizzie and Mer's. The headed out for Montezuma this morning so look for that come Thursday.