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.