Last Blog.

I am writing to you from an hostel in Alajuela.
I picked Tim up at the airport on Tuesday. His plane was about a half hour late due to turbulance which he enjoyed tremendously! We caught a bus to downtown San Jose and found a taxi to take us to the Caribe Terminal. There I grabbed some arroz con pollo and a couple empenadas to hold us over til our arrival in Puerto Viejo. We had a 4.5 hour bus trip there. Tim was pretty cracked out on the all the travel. To make matters worse we had, as Tim put it, The Hills cast sitting behind us the whole trip. For those of you not familiar with the show it is a "reality" series about girls who grew up in SoCal and spend their lives debating what to wear, who to date and a sundrie list of other vapid things. A show I adore for it's retardedness. So annoying when they are talking at full volume about how smart and worldly they are. I can't begin to explain how painful that made the trip. I am sure upon arrival
that Tim will try and do it justice.
I had made a reservation in Puerto Viejo so we wouldn't be wandering around tired. We checked in and dropped our bags on the floor determined that our first dinner would be delicious. Oh, it was. We had shrimp cocktail, amazing ceviche, a coconut shrimp rice that was amazing and a pitcher full of Sangria. Yeah! All of this about 30ft from the ocean's edge- Although we couldn't see it.
Exhausted from the long trip we went to bed early.
The next morning we had breakfast. I insisted Tim have the Pinto. I had a large plate of fresh, tropical fruit. We walked around and explored the town. The weather was warm, mildly muggy and overcast. Not exactly sunning in the sand weather. Originally I had thought that Tim would like to do some surfing but looking at the surf he wasn't so sure. The water there is called Salsa Brava. Literally translating to Brave Sauce. A bit crazy and unruley.
Then it was on to find some ice cream. That took quite a bit of time, surprisingly. We had huge servings of ice cream, mine with fresh fruit and Tim's with cake and rum. We snacked through lunch on yuca chips and beer while walking along the beach. Did a bit of touristy shopping and waited to find some really great place to have dinner. I knew I wanted typical Carribean Costa Rican food as that was one of the reasons I had wanted to come to that side of the country. Rice and Beans was all everyone talked about. It was what you'd expect but with coconut milk and a lot more flavor. We ended up at a soda. Tim having already tried the three Costa Rican beers chose his favorite while I had a pineapple batido. I ordered the fried chicken with rice and beans but, because of a waiter's error, got the most flavorful, amazing chicken I have ever had. Rice and beans makes up for having annoying girls on the bus in my mind. Tim may not agree but I love food. His dish was somewhat uneventful. Rice and shrimp. But I have always been better at ordering. It rained pretty hard during dinner. My first real Costa Rican rain.
The next morning I let Tim sleep in as he had a bad night. At 9.30 I woke him up because we wanted to leave on the 11 bus. Otherwise we would have to wait til 4. We had breakfast at Bread and Chocolate. They made their own breads and chocolate. We rushed out of the restaurant to get to the ATM so we could catch the bus on time.
5 hours later we arrived in San Jose. I wanted to get the the local artisan market so I could get some souvenieres. Tim was miserable walking around San Jose with his backpack. We got a cab to our bus stop and caught a bus just in time. The 20Kilmeter trip took about an hour. We arrived in Alajuela at night. Tim was not happy. I found the hostel I was thinking we would stay at very easily and while proud of my directional skills, Tim was not happy when we found they did not have any rooms available. We walked around the corned and got some beds in a dorm style room. Started we walked around looking for a soda. The first thing we came to was a chinese restaurant and while it looked sketchy, I knew Tim would kill me if we kept walking. Note to self- follw your gut. We got what has to be the worst food, not only of the trip, but maybe ever. I ordered chicken with potatoes in curry sauce. I got a mound of french fries with chunks of freezer burn chicken that was covered in a yellowish gravy looking sauce that was completely gelatinous and tasted of weird Asian guy. We happened to have ordered three dishes we were so hungry. Thank God they were the small portions. The second dish was a chow mein that also had gelatinous goo with stale won ton crisps and weird Asian guy flavor. For those of you who don't understand that= It is a smell you often encounter in some Asia homes. I don't mean to be mean but it's true. The third was a shrimp rice that was a pretty standard fried rice other than it was overly salty. I paid the $12 and we got the f out of there. Two of the dished were pretty much untouched. I headed for the nearest market and bought more yuca chips and cookies. We sat in the park and listened to an orchestra play for awhile before calling it a night and heading off to bed.
That brings me to right now. We are headed to San Ramon where Tim will be shown my old haunts. I am thinking we may go to Las Musas. A small waterpark that has a huge waterfall as a back drop. We leave tomorrow morning so this wil most likely be my last blog in Costa Rica. It's been fun!!!

Morning!!!

I know it has been a long time and you are starving for my dull accounts of Costa Rica but I have been very busy.
Thursday night I went out with Mario and two of his friends. One Tico and the other American- Juan Carlos and Nathan. We hung out at Nathan and Juan Carlos' for a bit and then we all walked downtown where they bought some rum that we could smuggle into the club. We then took a cab to NightFever- the local discoteque. (SP?) After paying 1000 col we entered into a club that looked like the clubs in the early 90's that you see sometimes in movies. Flashing lights, etc. Being the only girl in the groupl I felt obligated to dance with all the guys. Such a lady. Except, I must admit that I was dressed like a bit of a ho. I figured if not in Costa Rica where everyone dresses like this all the time, then where???
As the evening progressed, everyone became more inebriated until it got the point where while dancing, Mario dropped me after trying to dip me. Little known fact: I am much heavier than I look. Ususally I hold my own weight but after a couple cocktails I seem to have neglected to do that. Needless to say, I ended up on the floor laughing. So funny.
Before anyone worries that I was drunk I would like to assuage your fears by stating that I had a trip to take the next morning and I was determined not to have a hangover on the long bus ride.
The next morning I got up at 7 as ususal, had my breakfast and headed out the door. I tok the bus to Puntarenas and then had to wait for what was suposed to be 3.5 hours but turned out to be 5. In the meantime I found a soda and got what has to be one of the best things I have eaten on this trip. Patacones y frijoles. (Plantain fried in a round pancake shape and beans.) So amazing and only 1000 col- less than $2.
The ride to Quepos took about 4.25 hours. I was supposed to only be a 3.5 hour ride but there was construction on one of the roads and in case you don't know this about Costa Rica, the bus times depend on how many stops they need to make along the way. I had boked a hostel bed online but I didn't fuly understand where it was. I got to Quepos, which I had been told was dangerous, at 8pm. The bu to take me to MAnuel Antonio was at 9:30. I went to a local branch of the Manni Anni bakery and got some savory pasteries. I had asked a woman about how far it was to Manuel Antonio and she had told me it was 1.5 hours. I was sooooo confused as I had thought that it was 15-20 minutes away. Getting on the bus I had no idea where I would be getting off. I knew that if worst came to worse I would just have to take a cab to the hostel. This whole scenario was so reminiscent of the adventure in Venice. I knew I just needed to trust that everything would be ok. Driving from Quepos I kept my eye out the window and as luck would have it I happened to be on the right side to see my hostel as we drove by. I got off the bus and walked down to reception. As I was chcking in the guy at the front desk got a call for a Sara. Knowing there was no way it could be me I didn't give it a second thought until he asked my last name. It was Adrian. One of the guys I had spent last weekend with in Alajuela. He and his father were in Quepos and wantd to know if I wanted to meet them for breakfast at their hotel. I was shown the 26 person dorm full of bunk beds and was introduced to my first giant grasshoppers. Huge.
The next morning I woke up and drank some coffee and ate some bread with guava jam on it before walking to Adrian's hotel 15 minutes away. We ate huge platefuls of watermelon, pineapple, and papaya while drinking passionfruit juice.
They decided they wanted to accompany me on the mangrove/ monkey tour that was offered by the hostel. We were picked up on the way and joined an aloof Belgian, a crazy shirtless Canadian and 5 other Americans. Plus the tour guide. We climbed into a tour boat- the kind with a roof that you see in the movies- and were off. On the trip I got to feed a monkey!!! Don't worry, it was tour guide approved. I had tiny little monley claws pry banana out of my fingers!
That night- Saturday- I had the most expensive meal I have had on the hole trip. $20.00.
That night I had my first spider nightmare of the trip. Sleeping on the second bunk I woke up to ¨see¨ a spider climbing up the wall. Terrified I jumped out of bed. I am sure that that could have been in some candid camera show. It was really more like a tiger spring cause I landed ready to run.
Sunday morning we headed to Manuel Antonio. I have been told that it is supposed to be the number 6 most beautiful beach in the world. No clue who that is according to but it was amazing. You hike in for a .5 hour and arrive at a gorgeous- if overly touristy- beach that has racoons and white face monkeys in abundance. Th water was amazing and warm and there wasn't any waves to crash into my ear. On the walk there we encountered a white tailed deer who wasn't afraid of people and came up to me and not only let me pet it but also trated me as a salt lick. I see deer all the time of course back home but I ask you this: Have you ever felt deer tongue??? Cause I have, twice on this visit.
We stayed at th beach for awhile before it was time to head back to Quepos for my bus back to San Ramon.
I didn't have time to change out of my wet bathing suit so I had to travel the first two hours on the bus in a wet suit. Boo. I got home around 8pm.
A new volunteer had arrived at the house. As a favor Doña Yolanda had said I could stay here for Sunday and Monday night. I had a little bed made up for me in the tv room. Molly- the new volunteer - is an 18 y/o from Vermont who came to Costa Rica for 6 months before and therefore speaks much better Spanish than I do. We had lots to talk about and we decided to go into town after work on Monday so I could show her around.
My last day went well. A group of the students wanted to know if I was going to party. Of course!!! I showed Molly around and we bought some mangos. Mango count: 4

I invited her along to my farewell party. It took awhile to get going but it was fun. I am so much more comfortabe with speaking Spanish after a couple drinks!! One of my sweetest students brought me a shot glass with some candy in it and the cutest card thanking me for helping her. I wish I could smuggle her back to the states in my bag.

I am finishing up here and then I am headed to the airport to pick up Tato. Hasta.

Just thinking...

A few things over and thought I would share...

One: To foreigners,¨Lady in Red¨ will never go out of style.

2: I know people like hearing about the food but it has gotten to a point where it's all about repeat mixing and matching. For example, lunch today was mac and cheese, beans, rice, fried plantain and salad.

3: It may not come as a surprise that Tang is a favorite here but who would have thunk Canada Dry Ginger Ale???

4: Blackberry is a highly coveted, novelty flavor here. I haven't seen any bushes which explains why it is so special but think about this for a minute. The berries are pretty green so for flavor they just add a lot of sugar. Super sweet mystery berry. That explains why I couldn't place the flavor for my first week here.

It looks like I will be going to Manuel Antonio this weekend. I have heard nothing but good things about it. A nice little beach trip. Solo.
However..... Not for long. Tato is flying out to join me on Tuesday. Just in time to miss the grand send off party that my students are throwing.

Not to jinx myself but....

I have encountered a surprisingly small number of terrifying bugs. Here's what I have learned: They come out at night and I am not allowed to be outside after dark without an escort so I have very few problems. However, when walking down the sidewalks at night you may notice cockroaches scurrying across your path. The only evidence of their existance is seeing them flattened on the walk the next morning.

I take it as a good sign that my students don't want me to leave. One of them even suggested that I ditch Tim (Sorry, Tato...) and get a nice Tico boyfriend. Apparently I will be very happy and learn Spanish much more quickly. The idea is that I can do my deign work here and continue teaching them all English. Of course when I tell them how much I can make for my design work back home they realize that working in Costa Rica doesn´t pay very well. In trying to coax me to stay they keep asking me if I like any of the Tico boys here...

Does that make you want to visit, Tato?

I had class at the U today. The teacher wasn't expecting me and as it was the first day of class there was a lot of confusion. I think I may be doing full days this week. Give them some bang for my buck.

Undecided as to what I am going to do this next week. So many places to go.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

From Costa Rica!
I am in Alajuela this weekend. I met up with some family of a family friend. Dondero's nephew and his father in fact. I took the bus to the San Jose airport and then another bus to Alajuela Friday morning. We went out for some breakfast and then headed out to a zoo. It's more like a re-hab and set fre for hurt animals and birds. We then went further into the boonies and had lunch in the middle of nowhere at a restaurant called Fiesta de Maiz- Corn Party- for those of you who don't speak Spanish. We ate corn in many dishes and forms before leaving. On the way I stopped at an avocado stand where I was outrageously overcharged for being Gringa. We took a bus back to the hostel where we are staying. - Oh, wait! I didn't mention my accomodations for the weekend. A nice little hostel in dt Alajuela. Mango Verde. I am sleeping on a top bunk above Adrian's father, Richard.
An ice cream and a brief internet session later we dropped Richard off at the hostel and walked around until we relized that almost eveywhere was closed and decided that beer and some french fries at the Chinese restaurant were our best bet. We talked for awhile and returned to the hostel where I took my first hot shower in almost 2 weeks.
This morning we went to breakfast early and got ready to be picked up for the rum tour.- My idea.
We had our own mini van on the way to San Jose - where the tour was. Actually I think it was technically in San Pedro, where I spent my first week. The is no possible way I can acurately describe this tour and do it justice. You cannot even imagine but I will do my best:
First off, I knew this was going to be a treat when I called in for information and heard that they had a re-enactment of sorts.
The mini van arrived and another woman got into the car claiming to be another tourist. Adrian politely asked her where she was from and was sneakily ignored. I knew something was up when I saw her way-to-stereotypical tourist outfit. No one wears matching khaki pants and a vest. Yeah, and that camera around her neck was from the 70's.
We were greeted with a tray of coffee liquor in small shot glasses and barely had tme to drink it before our van, which had been driving up to the entrance, was stopped by two men dressed as pirates. Yes, pirates. They were talking about the great treasure of Costa Rica, which I immediately assumed had to be rum as that was why we were there, but I skip ahead.
I will summarize by saying that it was a cast of 4 who kept changing costumes. Richard, Adrian and I were the only three guests and the story involved some singng and dancing. In this story we learned about how rum is made, what their secrets are at Ron Centenarios Rum House and we were served several shots of rum. All of wich were delicious.
It would have been horrifyingly embarassing had I not expected this. (As much as one can in this situation.)
After the tour we declined the ride all the way back to Alajuela in favor of checking out the national museum. After which we went to a restaurant that caters to older deep sea fishing gringos. I ate a club sand and what appeared to be tempura french fries.
We then took a cab to an amusement park but felt so sick from the crazy ride that we couldn't stomach riding any rollercoasters.
That's brings me to this internat cafe.
I will try and elaborate on some thoughts I have to share with you. Maybe tomorrow.

Que Tuanis? from Costa Rica.

A slangish phrase I learned from some students. ¨Whats Cool?¨ The appropriate response, BTW, is ¨Pura Vida.¨ Which is like the Hawaiian ¨Aloha.¨

So just a few things:
(If I've already mentioned them, forgive me the repeat)

Where ever you go there is a slight scent of smoke- sometimes more than slight- because people burn their trash in their backyards.

I had mac and cheese last night for dinner.

Xenia- one of my students- explained the clothing thing. The sizes are definitely an issue, especialy with larger people, because if you wear lose clothing, you must be fat. I am trying to rock my (now very loose due to a lack of drier shrink) clothing. Just cause you don't wear everything skin tight doesn't mean you are round.

Conversely I have an impulse to wear wicked tight clothing here 'cause I have a feeling it would be one of the few places I wouldn't feel self-concious about my love handles.

I have a following of neighborhood kids. That's right- the kids here like me. I hold the all important English language currency that they all covet.

Josh has started a blog. So funny cause he feels bogged down at the prospect of putting in any details. I told him that was kinda the point.

I tried to go fabric shopping for a cotton, print knit. I was thinking maybe I would make myself a dress. I should have looked up the words I would need in advance. Needless to say that wasn't a very sucessful trip. Mainly because they don't have printed cotton knits here.

This weekend I am meeting up with the Dondero's nephew and his father in Alajuela. I am thinking a rum tour is in order...

I now have the longest nails I have ever sported. I feel like a lady.

Last night we celebrated Josh's last night yesterday even though technically tonight is his last night. There was an important soccer game on so that was the soundtrack of the night. Along with the other patrons of the bar yelling excitedly after CR scored 2 goals.


Well- Perhaps more this weekend. I am not traveling to some remote beach so chances of internet are much greater.

Montezuma

Though we didn't have much time to plan Josh and I left for Montezuma at 8am on Friday. We waited at the bus stop where the bus left at 9:30. We entertained ourselves by watching the firemen- who have uniforms similar to firemen in the States, not the actual fire fighting kind-
de-weld an huge Gollo sign. (Apparently a major furniture chain.) The wind had been so bad that there were pieces of tree everywhere.
We left on time and took the now somewhat familiar trip to Puntarenas. From there we shared a taxi with a couple of Argentinian girls- one of which had one of her backpacks stolen on the ride from San Ramon- to the ferry boat. The boat was large. It held about 30 cars and a couple hundred people. The ride was about an hour and a half. Upon our arrival in Paquera we got on a bus that took us to Montezuma. On the ride we met a young couple who was from Sonoma. The girl had just got in the same day and said she had been in Mill Valley the day before. Small world!
Montezuma is beautiful! A total tourist spot I think there was more English spoken there than Spanish. People from Canada, France, Germany and the States. We looked at a couple hotels that were mentioned in Josh's Frommer's Guide and settled on a nice hotel where we chose between hot water or air conditioning. Josh wanted a/c so we went with that. We then headed out for a stoll along the beach. Perfect weather! Beautiful beach, hot sun, cool breeze.
Our second order of business was to ge some food as we hadn't really eaten lunch.
Third order of business was to book a reservation on the local waterfall canopy tour. That proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. We wanted to take the morning trip so we could head out that afternoon to stay a night in Malpais. That wasn't possible so we decided upon the 3pm trip to the zipline and that we were going to stay a second night in Montezuma.

We walked til we came upon a spot where people had made over 20 rock towers and there was a waterfall that poured into the ocean. We walked up along the stream for a bit and took some pics.
When we got back we decided to take a shower- not together- and grab a quick bite. One refreshing shower and a slice of pizza later we bought a six pack of beers and lounged in a couple of the hotels hammocks that looked over a park. We just hung - get it?- around until we could hear some noises coming from town. We walked down to the happening bar and watched a couple show off their dance moves. We had another beer and then headed back to our room for some R and R.
We woke up to get some breakfast- yogurt and fruit and a passionfruit batido for me, and gathered our beach gear. I swear to you that I put sunscreen but let me warn you: Never underestimate the power of the sun here. I have the most unusual and mind boggling sun burns you have ever seen. We played in water- in my case as much as I can without getting my ear wet- and enjoyed the exfoliating properties of sand whipping about your body when the wind picks up.
Lunch was a pesto ckicken salad sandwich. So novel to be eating pesto in Costa Rica. We changed into our canopy clothing and took in quick nap. MMmmmmmm A/C.
We met up with the other people who were going to be in our zipline group at the shuttle and arrived at the main site relatively quickly. There were 8 lines I think. After the first 5 you arrive at a big waterfall which everyone jumped into- Except me. Pobrecita!
We then took the last three. It was awesome! I got some great views looking out to the ocean and a couple amazing shots to of the falls. Thanks Josh. Did I mention I love zip lining?
Side note: So I convinced Josh he should blog about his expereince and the other day when we were at the net cafe he turns to me and says,¨So I guess I have to mention you in this story I'm writing. Which means I have to go back to the beginning and explain who you are.¨ Thanks.
We got back and liked the idea of making some dinner in the hotels kitchen. We though pasta would be cheap. He picked out the sauce and I- trying to not be in control all the time- let him. When we got back to the hotel and started cooking I realzed he had just bought a can of chopped tomatoes. I told him the problem and his response was that we could just eat them on the pasta anyway. Oh hell, no!
I went back to the store- conveniently a 2 minute walk away- and bought a stick of margerine, an onion and some garlic. (No mom, they didn't have butter and I wasn't about to buy a whole
bottle of olive oil.) It was better than plain tomatoes.
I had an ice cream for dessert. Similar to a drumstick.
We just walked on the beach for a bit until I realized there were hermit crabs everywhere and I didn't want to step on one. Bed time.
The next morning we woke up early to eat some breakfast- Gallo Pinto and a mango batido for
me- before we had to catch the bus to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. Unfortunately since we weren't going to be back before 11- checkout time- we had to bring our fully loaded backpacks. And since that was an activity we had not originally planned I wore my Crocs flip flops on our 3.5 hour hike. That's right, people. I said hike. The plan was to see animals but all we saw were some butterflies, a couple monkeys and some birds and lizards. The hike was to a beach that was beautiful. Even if I couldn't enjoy a swin when we got there.
Note: I am really feeling the loss of not being able to be submerged in water here.
Visiting a forest in Costa Rica is like visiting a city in another country. Of course it is different but the fundamnetals are the same. It was like I was walking through a forest in the Pacific Northwest or in New England. The plants and tree and even the wildlife were different but there was a overall similarity. Of course I am biased but I'll take the cascades over any other forest.
The hike smelled of fresh, damp hay. There were some minous noises that I was told were monkeys. They sounded more like a really loud, throaty stomach growl.
The trip back was long and involved being sticky from the hike while waiting for buses and ferrys and not having much cash on us and thus not eating a lot. We got home last night at 9:15.
I am in pain from my sunburns and I took a sizeable nap after class today.
Note: where is a chop on an animals? I think I had pork chops for lunch.....

Things...

Just keep getting better! That's right, I had 4 -count them 4- students today. I went home to lunch to head out a bit later for a coffee tour in a near by town. They don't use pesticides and it was amazing. SO beautiful. The past two days have been crazy windy. Apparently the roof over the display coffe cart blew off today damaging the main building. It was so beautiful though. There was a huge rainbow that seemed to touch the top of the town. I would have taken a pic but the camera isn't working and I have yet to but a disposible. The tour had a group of American teenagers here volunteering. It was very informative and I now claim to be an expert- Practically.

I had some amazing coffee and got to try several different coffee liquoures. Yum. Those of you lucky enough to live near me shall be treated to a sample.

I came home to no power. Everyone was sitting in the dark in the living room. I popped in for dinner and left again with Josh to find an internet cafe. And here we are.
We were planning to go to the Caribbean this weekend but it raining and I am told, flooded. A good opportunity to practice going with the flow, Josh and I will now be traveling to Montezuma and a couple nearby beaches.
I will do my best to keep you updated during this trip but may not be able to....
¡Hasta luego!

Windy but fresh!

Only one person showed up to my class yesterday. Technically it was meant to be the advanced class so we just spent the time talking. We finished early and decided to call it a day. That left me free at 10:45.
Lunch was served- arroz con pollo, black beans and a cabbage salad.
At 1 pm I had my class with Rosita. I continue to feel challenged by my not knowing what to teach her. This is why I didn't want to work with children! However it gives me an opportunity to rise above this feeling of frustration and do the best I can. I'm just glad they aren´t paying for this.
I spent the afternoon walking around town. Mailed out a couple postcards, got a slice of macadamia cake and stumbled across a farm store that had several trays of yellow, baby chicks. Soooo cute.
And while I know this is not so exciting for you all, I got some hairties and wore my hair back for the first time since getting it cut short.
Upon my return to the house I chatted with Jose and Yolanda a bit before dinner was served. More arroz con pollo and some homemade chips and guacamole.
I then ran over to Josh´s and we walked into downtown to find an internet cafe for him to use. Going out with him at night is exciting because it's the only time I can go out at night. He is my escort. To protect me from what could escalate from catcalls.

Today my beginning class grew from 2 to 3. Good class though. I came away feeling like I had helped. Perhaps it was because they said they thought I was much better than there other teacher and asked if I wanted to stay and teach them. They promised to pay me in dollars.
As last time they suggested helping me with my Spanish but one of the girls then proceeded to explain that helado was ice cream and helado de chocolate was chocolate ice cream. Very sweet of her. She then had me read from a book and said she was impressed with my accent. Score for me!!! I explained I had experienced native speakers yelling things at my class since the 5th grade and the accent was still ringing in my ears.

Following the theme of being pleased with myself- apparently the theme of the day- I forgot to tell you a story. On the trip to Tarcoles, Mario was showing me all the native plants and animals and he pointed out the clay breasted robin. He said,¨You may ask why this is the national bird of Costa Rica and I wil tell you. It has a beautiful song.¨To which I replied, ¨Does it sing - Pura Vida-?¨
See- sometime I am funny to people other than Aria.....

New week, new job.

As of yesterday I have started teaching classes on my own. As mentioned, the class was divided into two groups and I met with the beginning class yesterday. Only three people showed up but one of them was too advanced for the class and was therefore bored. Plus the other two students used him as a crutch by having him translate everything for them. He left after a short while which was for the best.
Towards the end of the class they insisted on helping me with my Spanish. I hope that becomes a regular practice.
I came ¨home¨ to lunch and then went over to Doña Nedia's (where Josh is living) to help a local Chinese girl with her English. She is very precocious. She speaks Chinese and Spanish and is going to a bilingual Spanish/ English school. Her mother asked me how much I wanted to be paid and I told her I would be happy to do it for free. Later two things occured to me: One, how much would it be reasonable to charge if I wanted to- (Apparently 1000. colones/hr - $1.80) and second, maybe I should have charged 1 pineapple a week. Teaching Rosita English is challenging because she speaks pretty well although it is mostly spanglish as she fills in words she doesn't know in English with Spanish words. But she doesn´t understand when we conjugate and I say ¨we¨.
Random tidbit: Everyone´s clothing is very tight. However, upon doing a bit of shopping I realize it is because they stock mostly small sizes and if you see something you like, they usually only have it in one size so you have to squeeze in the best you can. I have now purchased two pairs of white panties- the be worn under my white linen pants- and while one was a size large and the other extra large they are both impossibly small. You would think they were intended for children. Or- the alternative- I have a gargantuan posterior. Ok- that´s the problem.

I thought it would be nice to make something for the family. Maybe a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Or not. I have looked in every big market and nobody has chocolate chips. And the greater concern, which also answers another question I had about why everyone eats margarine here, I had to search every nook and cranny in the market for butter. Tons of margarine but hardly any butter. An soooo much more expensive. I swear one store didn't even have any at all.

Yesterday after my class with Rosita I hung around the house and waited for Mario to call. When he called we decided to meet up and go for a walk. We looked in yet another store for chocolate chips and coming up without them he bought an ice cream and I bought some butter cookies. We then walked through town and up to what would be considered either a stoner's hangout or submarine races. It was a large cement block on top of a hill. We climbed on top and just talked while enjoying the windy view. It took me three tries to get up onto the block. I only mention this because on the way down it was a lot further than I anticipated and I fell back a bit. Mario, being a gentleman and not appreciating how hefty I am, tried to help steady me but ending up getting an accidental elbow to the groin. I was mortified. He had to take a couple minutes to recover during which I apoligized profusely. Most embarrassing moment to date.

I am thinking that Josh and I may travel to Limon this weekend. It is the south Carribean side of the country and I have been told that it has a completely different vibe. Their rice and beans dishes have coconut milk and more intense flavors. Josh really wants to go white water rafting so we are going to try and fit that in as this is his last weekend here unless he extends his trip. Next weekend I have plans to meet up with a guy who I met when I was 12 or 13 and whose family I still kinda keep in touch with.

I wish you could all come visit cause I would buy you all a dessert. They are so inexpensive I could afford to!!!

Catch up.

A picture of downtown San Ramon for you all to enjoy.

It's been awhile and I have a lot to write. Forgive me if I repeat anything. It is really hard to view my blog and review what I have already written.

OK- So on Thursday when I was walking to class a random girl walked up next to me and asked- in Spanish- if I would tell her a couple words in English. I agreed to and these are the words she wanted: Sleep- the stuff in your eyes when you wake up in the morning or grañas, Dead and false nails or as I told her, Acrylics. She then had me write them on her palm and walked off. I would have thought she was somehow robbing me because the transaction was so strange.

Random thought: Either I am losing a lot of weight or the fact that they hang dry eveything is going to be a serious problem cause I count on my clothes shrinking with every dry cycle. I wil come back looking emaciated but it's not me, my clothes are growing!

On Wednesday we had another food presentation: Lemon Pie- you know, the American kind. All I can say is this- there is a reason the Costa Ricans are not known for baking. The crust had an odd flavor I can't put into words, the filling was good but they topped it with merengue but didn´t bake it. They called it chantilly cream but it was more like sugared, whipped egg whites. Needless to say I didn´t eat the top part.

Random thought 2: My Ipod is occassionally genious. I has a knack for knowing excatly what I would like/need to hear when I leave it on shuffle. I have little highs that come from hearing my music while walking along the street to clas and admiring all the tropical plants.

OK- my trip: As you know I left on Thursday. I had just packed eveything and was about to sit down to lunch when I thought to call Mario and see when we were going to met up. He said we needed to catch the bus to Puntarenas that left in 15 minutes. I told Doña Yoanda and she packed my lunch to go. A cab was caled and we just made the bus. Needless to say we had to stand the whole way and we were stuck next to this American guy who has traveled all over the world but now lives in Jaco. He was really odd. Talking about the energy of a place and how crappy every place in Costa Rica was but how it was the best he'd found. Our layover in Putarenas was easy. We ate lunch and Mario identified the plants and trees for me. Not only are there banana and mango trees everywhere but there are also lots of almond trees and papaya trees.

The ride to Tarcoles was about 45 minutes. The weather there was humid and hot. We got off and walked up to the hotel that Mario does freelance tours for. We then got a ride into town and he found me a hotel to stay in. Though he had originaly thought I could get a room for 20., I paid 35. for the first night. It was pretty nice. It had a pool and was ocean side. We then went to a bar about half a block away and had a couple beers. Imperial is the Costa Rican brand. He then took off for the hotel and I grabbed some crackers and a bottle of water for dinner.

I took a cold shower- I am getting used to them- adn changed into some light clothing. Mario cled around 8:45 to see if I wanted to met up with some of his friends around 10. I told him I would most likely be asleep but I would meet up with them if I were stil awake. I fell asleep watching Private Practice around 9:15.

The next morning I had gallo pinto and a fried egg for breakfast before a cab was calefd to bring me up to the hotel. There we met up and waitd for his first tour of the day. Zip lining. A woman and her 11 year old son took the tour. There were 7 lines and I did one of them upside down. I was laughing like crazy the whole way until I realized bugs were very nearly missing my mouth. We returned to the hotel hot and sticky. There was a short break during which we had some iced tea and then went on the second tour which was a canopy tour. That was about a 2 hour walk with an older couple from CT. On that hike Mario pointed out birds, insects - he refrained from encouraging a tarantula to come out of her house on my account- as well as trees and plants. I saw a wild cashew, a vanilla orchid and some other cool things like a cocoa plant and a noni tree. Upon our return the couple from CT., John and Grace bought us a beverage and we chatted for awhile until Mario had to go out on another zipline. I stayed behind and continued chatting with John and Grace. Mario took a shower and we headed down to Tarcoles to check me into another hotel that was cheaper and had air conditioning. It was cheaper alright. Nasty, dirty ick. The bathroom had a window that was more like a hole in the was with decorative bricks cemented into it and a rubber car mat as the shower rug. The whole place smeled musty and damp and the air conditioning was pathetic. Mario promised that by my return for bed there would be penguins walking around the room. He went to an nearby bar while I took another cold shower.

We went to a friend's restaurant for dinner and I was pretty hungry cause I hadn't eaten any lunch. The pizza was good. For being made in Central America. They found it very odd that I just wanted mushrooms on mine. What is a pizza without ham? Another beer and then we walked to a liquor store so he could get more beer and we could hang out on the beach. The stars were amazing and we pointed out constellations until his friends arrived with Mary J. I didn't partake but I am assured it was very good sh"!. We then just sat around and talked about music until I decided that I had surpressed complaining about being cold for so long that I was about to burst. I had to go inside and I was dreading going into a penguin room as I only had a nanky (sp?) sheet to cover myself with. I guess it's lucky that the AC didn't work. It was hot in that room! I climbed into bed and put in my earphones trying to not think about how grimy thr roomwas and what kind of bugs were lurking in the corners. The bed was hard and I didn't sleep well but it was an experience.

I woke up early the next morning and forced myself to go back to sleep. My whole body was soar but I realized it was from the ab workout I got on the zipline. It still hurts. I had a mango I brought along for breakfast and headed out. I walked to the main rode and caught a cab back to the hotel. There I found Mario and was given the keys to his room. The day was spend reading and lounging around the hotel. The property has a river running through it and some beautiful landscaping. We left around 2:30 and got back to San Ramon around 5:30.

I am sorry that I don´t have any pictures for you. The camera is not happy and therefor is not working. Too bad too cause I had some great views and a photo war was arranged with Josh this weekend.

More to come.