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.