This is definitely not your average Christmas. Megan and I both missed being with our families for Christmas, but last night was a good example of how big of an adventure this trip is. About ten of our friends from camping, nearby hostels and so on met up at the beach for a pot luck dinner. An Italian couple brought shrimp and pasta, Megan and I made chicken enchiladas and dessert, and three guys from Washington cooked Red Snapper. It was delicious (and not very healthy)! In addition to these guys, there was a Canadian nurse who's thinking about moving to San Diego so that she can keep on surfing often, a girl from California applying to law school, an Austrian and two Germans. We're an odd bunch, but we had a very nice time. Megan and I had a chance to talk to our families on the phone for a little while, but I can't help like feeling a little bit like the prodigal son for being away for Christmas.
No joke, Megan is researching whether or not she can adopt Lola, "our" little dog that follows us around because we like to play with her. That sounds like more of a Christmas present than either of us bargained for, but I'm not going to play Grinch and say no... yet.
It would be silly to spend too much of Christmas Day in an internet cafe, so I'll have to sign off and say goodbye for now, but to friends and family - Merry Christmas and sorry we're not sharing it with you in the States.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Catching Crabs
NO, not like the kind Katelyn has! Well, it's been a while since we wrote, and that's because internet, running water, and electricity have all only recently been brought to the town where we're staying. No, just kidding, it's pretty developed out here and there are tons of Gringos just like us. Well, like us except they can surf and have tans already. But we're working on it.
We are camping in a town called Santa Teresa, but if you look for it on a map just look for a place called Mal País. Don't take it too literally, though, because this is no Bad Country. This place is paradise! We knew we were really in for a treat when our first full day here we were eating delicious pizza at an Italioargentinian restaurant when we saw a monkey across the street. Megan was excited, but I could have cared less. That was some good pizza!
At our campsite there are currently just one Tico family, three friendly guys from Washington state (we partied it down with them last night), and a surfer-chef from Austria... wait, and a bagillion hermit crabs and the newest member of the family: Lola! She's the funniest, best little dog I've ever seen. She's a cute little mutt, the shape of a wiener dog but black, with floppy ears and dirty wiry hair. We met her the first time playing on the beach. I quit surfing for the day just to play with her in the waves. She likes playing fetch, long walks, and pretty much every male dog that has ever existed. Somebody owns her, but they let her walk around all the time, and since we've fed her a couple times she follows us around, even into restaurants and stores and stuff. It's really funny. She slept with us in the tent when it rained a few nights ago.
Maybe there will be a Christmas posting, but more likely we'll just call the fam and email friends later. Tomorrow we stay at a nice little cabina and get to sleep in a real bed! We'll go to church, a potluck dinner with our new friends, and we'll probably get in a little surfing too.
We send everyone our love, sorry for not calling and emailing more often. I would like to write longer about all the new friends we made, the beautiful beach, and our fun adventures surfing, but this internet set up is expensive and Megan, Lola and I are exhausted from our twice-daily trips out to surf. Ok, I'm going to play rock paper scissors with Lola and Megan to see who gets to sleep in the hammock and who has to stay in the sandy tent.
PS: In case you read this but you hadn't heard yet, we accepted jobs in San Jose and start January 5th. Yay!
We are camping in a town called Santa Teresa, but if you look for it on a map just look for a place called Mal País. Don't take it too literally, though, because this is no Bad Country. This place is paradise! We knew we were really in for a treat when our first full day here we were eating delicious pizza at an Italioargentinian restaurant when we saw a monkey across the street. Megan was excited, but I could have cared less. That was some good pizza!
At our campsite there are currently just one Tico family, three friendly guys from Washington state (we partied it down with them last night), and a surfer-chef from Austria... wait, and a bagillion hermit crabs and the newest member of the family: Lola! She's the funniest, best little dog I've ever seen. She's a cute little mutt, the shape of a wiener dog but black, with floppy ears and dirty wiry hair. We met her the first time playing on the beach. I quit surfing for the day just to play with her in the waves. She likes playing fetch, long walks, and pretty much every male dog that has ever existed. Somebody owns her, but they let her walk around all the time, and since we've fed her a couple times she follows us around, even into restaurants and stores and stuff. It's really funny. She slept with us in the tent when it rained a few nights ago.
Maybe there will be a Christmas posting, but more likely we'll just call the fam and email friends later. Tomorrow we stay at a nice little cabina and get to sleep in a real bed! We'll go to church, a potluck dinner with our new friends, and we'll probably get in a little surfing too.
We send everyone our love, sorry for not calling and emailing more often. I would like to write longer about all the new friends we made, the beautiful beach, and our fun adventures surfing, but this internet set up is expensive and Megan, Lola and I are exhausted from our twice-daily trips out to surf. Ok, I'm going to play rock paper scissors with Lola and Megan to see who gets to sleep in the hammock and who has to stay in the sandy tent.
PS: In case you read this but you hadn't heard yet, we accepted jobs in San Jose and start January 5th. Yay!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Hot Springs = Hot Date
We´re back in Hostel Pangea in San Jose and are relieved to return to our home base. The bus ride back from La Fortuna was again about five hours, but it was way easier and more relaxed than on the way up. The weather was cool and foggy for part of the way but mostly beautifully clear. It´s funny that many of our friends from La Fortuna and the Finns that were staying here before are here now. Heck, even my mouse that we left plugged into this public computer downstairs in the hostel is still here. How nice!
One thing we´re learning about Costa Rica (and taking full advantage of) is that the people here are incredibly nice. I´m biased enough to think that it could largely be due to the fact that a large portion of the population is devoutly Christian. And they´re not Pharisees - they seem to be giving of help and advice no matter how irritating our broken Spanish and gringo habits must seem to them. Numerous times in La Fortuna we needed directions or a helping hand and the people here seem more than willing to help. Ahmad, an Iranian man who met his Costa Rican wife in LA, married her there and then moved to Nuevo Arenal, was especially helpful and friendly to us for nothing other than a hug from Megan, a handshake from me, and promises to oppose ¨that Son of a Bush!¨
The puentes colgantes, or ¨hanging bridges¨ of Arenal that Megan wrote about were undoubtedly one of the trip´s highlights. We saw monkeys playing in the trees, hiked off the trail to pursue birds running or flying about, and literally hiked for miles through the rainforest. The hanging bridges themselves offered amazing views, and one of the best parts was that, though somewhat expensive, it was our first big splurge of the trip (<$50) and still felt affordable enough that we didn´t feel too guilty about it. Pictures will be up soon of our special time with some coatis next to the road. Read about these funny animals here: http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/bears/racoonfamily/coati/index.shtml
Yesterday´s trip to the hot springs was also wonderful. It was incredibly rainy while we were there, and late yesterday afternoon we made it to the outskirts of town and went across the street from one of the more-touristed spots. We approached massive wooden gates with trees forming a canopy above them. We used an intercom to get let in, and as the gates swung open to a narrow road lined with tropical flora, I looked at Megan and said, ¨Are we entering Jurassic Park, or what´s the deal here?¨ The rain had soaked us to the bone, but luckily we had been walking around with bathing suits on under our clothes all day, and after a half hour soaking in the five pools - all heated with natural hot spring water - we felt as good as new.
Megan got hit with her first bout of homesickness yesterday, and only playing Crazy Eights with our new friend from France made her feel any better. Also, La Fortuna hit us a little bit with the stark reality of how expensive being a tourist is. On the one hand, living expenses there were incredibly cheap. Dorms were $8 for the two of us and we probably spent $6 total for food on our inexpensive day. We saw that tours were expensive, though, and we know our splurges on the bridges and the hot springs can´t be an everyday thing. This is good advice for anyone who plans on visiting us, too: after packing your bags, bring half as much stuff and twice as much money. We will just have to be smart, taking the cheap public buses wherever we can, staying in the biggest, cheapiest dorm rooms at hostels, and springing for those expensive outings once in a while. We already have a job offer on the table, and are waiting to hear back from our first-choice company, so I´m not worried. We just want to have money and vacation time set aside for when friends and family visit and want to see the sights with us.
All in all, it was a great trip. I look forward to either staying in San Jose for a few nights and going to the Festival of Light on Saturday, maybe an advent mass, too, or bussing it to a beach city on the Pacific and looking for that slim chance of finding a teaching job, cheap accomodations, and beginner waves in a beach town. Either way, tonight it will be fun to have a beer with our Finnish, English, and German friends, and Megan and I will wake up tomorrow ready for our next adventure, wherever or whatever that might be.
A special note from Megan-
The so called ¨Happy Cows¨in California don´t know what they´re missing. The cows here have it made. On the ride between La Fortuna and San Jose we saw about a thousand pleasantly plump cows grazing and taking in the sun on beutiful green hillsides surrounded by the most coloful tropical plants on the planet. So next time you pass some poor, pathetic Californian cow give it a sympathetic smile and a pat on the tush for me.
Additional note from Megan-
Cows kick sideways.
One thing we´re learning about Costa Rica (and taking full advantage of) is that the people here are incredibly nice. I´m biased enough to think that it could largely be due to the fact that a large portion of the population is devoutly Christian. And they´re not Pharisees - they seem to be giving of help and advice no matter how irritating our broken Spanish and gringo habits must seem to them. Numerous times in La Fortuna we needed directions or a helping hand and the people here seem more than willing to help. Ahmad, an Iranian man who met his Costa Rican wife in LA, married her there and then moved to Nuevo Arenal, was especially helpful and friendly to us for nothing other than a hug from Megan, a handshake from me, and promises to oppose ¨that Son of a Bush!¨
The puentes colgantes, or ¨hanging bridges¨ of Arenal that Megan wrote about were undoubtedly one of the trip´s highlights. We saw monkeys playing in the trees, hiked off the trail to pursue birds running or flying about, and literally hiked for miles through the rainforest. The hanging bridges themselves offered amazing views, and one of the best parts was that, though somewhat expensive, it was our first big splurge of the trip (<$50) and still felt affordable enough that we didn´t feel too guilty about it. Pictures will be up soon of our special time with some coatis next to the road. Read about these funny animals here: http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/bears/racoonfamily/coati/index.shtml
Yesterday´s trip to the hot springs was also wonderful. It was incredibly rainy while we were there, and late yesterday afternoon we made it to the outskirts of town and went across the street from one of the more-touristed spots. We approached massive wooden gates with trees forming a canopy above them. We used an intercom to get let in, and as the gates swung open to a narrow road lined with tropical flora, I looked at Megan and said, ¨Are we entering Jurassic Park, or what´s the deal here?¨ The rain had soaked us to the bone, but luckily we had been walking around with bathing suits on under our clothes all day, and after a half hour soaking in the five pools - all heated with natural hot spring water - we felt as good as new.
Megan got hit with her first bout of homesickness yesterday, and only playing Crazy Eights with our new friend from France made her feel any better. Also, La Fortuna hit us a little bit with the stark reality of how expensive being a tourist is. On the one hand, living expenses there were incredibly cheap. Dorms were $8 for the two of us and we probably spent $6 total for food on our inexpensive day. We saw that tours were expensive, though, and we know our splurges on the bridges and the hot springs can´t be an everyday thing. This is good advice for anyone who plans on visiting us, too: after packing your bags, bring half as much stuff and twice as much money. We will just have to be smart, taking the cheap public buses wherever we can, staying in the biggest, cheapiest dorm rooms at hostels, and springing for those expensive outings once in a while. We already have a job offer on the table, and are waiting to hear back from our first-choice company, so I´m not worried. We just want to have money and vacation time set aside for when friends and family visit and want to see the sights with us.
All in all, it was a great trip. I look forward to either staying in San Jose for a few nights and going to the Festival of Light on Saturday, maybe an advent mass, too, or bussing it to a beach city on the Pacific and looking for that slim chance of finding a teaching job, cheap accomodations, and beginner waves in a beach town. Either way, tonight it will be fun to have a beer with our Finnish, English, and German friends, and Megan and I will wake up tomorrow ready for our next adventure, wherever or whatever that might be.
A special note from Megan-
The so called ¨Happy Cows¨in California don´t know what they´re missing. The cows here have it made. On the ride between La Fortuna and San Jose we saw about a thousand pleasantly plump cows grazing and taking in the sun on beutiful green hillsides surrounded by the most coloful tropical plants on the planet. So next time you pass some poor, pathetic Californian cow give it a sympathetic smile and a pat on the tush for me.
Additional note from Megan-
Cows kick sideways.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Hanging Bridges-My Mom Wouldn´t Do It
So, I have ten minutes to use the computer. Here I go!
We took a really expensive bus ride to the hanging bridges at Arenal at 1:30 today. We drove through what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world. There were wild horses and big tropical trees and a cuati(the bus driver pulled over and opened the doors so we could get closer). Then, we got to the private reserve and I actually saw the most beautiful place in the world. We were in the middle of the rainforest. OMG guys. Pictures, TV, not even the HD planet earth series could do this place justice. It is so much bigger than I had imagined. When you see pictures you think they are of the prettiest parts, like advertisements, but when you are here you realize that it is all the prettiest part. Anywhere you look you could take a picture and it could easily be the focal point of a room. It is just unbelievable. Time is up. I´ll write more soon to tell you about the monkeys!
We took a really expensive bus ride to the hanging bridges at Arenal at 1:30 today. We drove through what I thought was the most beautiful place in the world. There were wild horses and big tropical trees and a cuati(the bus driver pulled over and opened the doors so we could get closer). Then, we got to the private reserve and I actually saw the most beautiful place in the world. We were in the middle of the rainforest. OMG guys. Pictures, TV, not even the HD planet earth series could do this place justice. It is so much bigger than I had imagined. When you see pictures you think they are of the prettiest parts, like advertisements, but when you are here you realize that it is all the prettiest part. Anywhere you look you could take a picture and it could easily be the focal point of a room. It is just unbelievable. Time is up. I´ll write more soon to tell you about the monkeys!
Bus Rides - Not for the Faint of Heart
Megan and I thought it was too good to be true that we could travel halfway across the country in a bus for 3.30 USD. Turns out it was too good to be true. We hopped on the 1130 bus from San Jose to La Fortuna, a tourist town within taxi distance of Volcan Arenal, Costa Ricas active volcano and a magnificent national park. At first the bus wasnt too crowded at all, and we got out of the city and onto the highway (really the only highway in the entire country) with surprising speed and ease. Then we stopped in every single little town, for every person, kid, snack seller, and stray dog, between Alajuela and our destination. In San Carlos, the capital of this northern region, we got off for a bathroom break and when we got back on, the bus was full. Now Im not talking like Greyhound full where you might be sitting next to some slightly drunk ex-con who´s telling you his life story. I mean they pack it so that there is no more room to stand inside the bus. We bottomed out at every bump and pothole.
Five hours later we were in La Fortuna. Were staying at a backpacker´s paradise, Gringo Petes, and paying next to nothing for our bunk beds. Its hot and humid, but raining like you would not believe. Turns out they werent kidding about that RAINforest thing. Well, Ive got to go before they boot us out of the internet cafe. Our next update well be able to tell you about hiking on the Hanging Bridges near the volcano (but wont have any pictures).
Five hours later we were in La Fortuna. Were staying at a backpacker´s paradise, Gringo Petes, and paying next to nothing for our bunk beds. Its hot and humid, but raining like you would not believe. Turns out they werent kidding about that RAINforest thing. Well, Ive got to go before they boot us out of the internet cafe. Our next update well be able to tell you about hiking on the Hanging Bridges near the volcano (but wont have any pictures).
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Costa Rica- What they didn´t tell us.
The nice part of town looks trashy. La Sabana Norte was certainly no PV. As a matter of fact, it was no Newark. Lets just say the people here don´t follow their dogs around with little blue plastic baggies. But people have nice houses with nice yards in the nice part of town. You can´t see the yards because everyone has a 12 foot metal fence around their houses, but the houses that just had security door material fences (the president for example) had nice yards.
Armed guards don´t carry little hand guns, they carry machine guns or shotguns. I must say, I don´t even want to go into the bank, so I´m sure most people don´t think its a good idea to attempt stealing from them.
Turtles eat bread. At our first hostel there were turtles in the back yard. They would stand on the lawn near the house and wait for us to bring them breakfast. I tried giving them grapes (which we didn´t know would cost a billion colones), pero las uvas no les gustan. But they did gusta the white bread.
You don´t have to speak English to teach it. Jeeeeel teachez de inglis and was bery in ter est ing and gabe us interbew for de boss, Don BilliAM, at Pribate Teaching (not listed in the phone book or online...hmmm?).
Taxi drivers are crazy b words who like to live life on the wild side. Left hand turn lanes...Who needs them. Stop signs...What a waste of metal that could be used to make the typical Costarrican house fortress.
Prostitution is legal. We know because our current hostel is located right next to a house of prostitution (there are dirtier words for that, but I´m a classy broad). There is also one around the corner that is aparently completely filled with ¨sexy European ladies.¨ The best part is that you can rent a room here for just long enough to watch your favorite movie, use the spa or take a nice cat nap, only $10 for three hours. What a deal!
Stray dogs are not like real dogs. They have their own agendas. They remind me of business men in San Francisco that walk around in their suits and look really uptight and don´t make eyecontact with anyone. Please do not disturb the stray dogs.
Finnish guys are CRAZY! We went out salsa dancing last night with some kids from the US, Canada, Austria and best of all, two Finnish boys. They looked pretty crunchy and (shocker) they talked about the pot quality they have experienced during their travels. They have been to Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and their favorite Columbia- where they were robbed at knife point and by the police. Their next stop is to California, wher they are going to rent a car and drive from San Francisco to San Diego. You´re probably wondering, ¨Why would those boys go on such a long journey?¨ The answer is of course that they are trying out different skate parks around the world to find the best one.
Don´t ever offer to sing at a karaoke bar with crazy Finnish guy in Costa Rica. Unlike the US where karaoke is a big joke meant for drunk college kids on a Monday night, Costarrican karaoke is taken quite seriously. Katelyn and I would not have fans if we performed in Costa Rica. Well, Patrick informed me that his good friend Marcus is a very good singer. I couldn´t help but thinking DUET! It took us a while but we finally found a song we were both familiar with. He assured me that he knew most of the words and those that he didn´t he would be able to read from the teleprompter. So up we went and when those African drums started beating the crowd really got into it. Then...lyrics began and it was just me singing,¨ I´m gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware.¨ Yes, the Finnish boy had maybe seen Lion King, but whatever long term memory loss he has experienced due to his special habits definately included the words to I Just Can´t Wait to be King.
More to come soon.
Armed guards don´t carry little hand guns, they carry machine guns or shotguns. I must say, I don´t even want to go into the bank, so I´m sure most people don´t think its a good idea to attempt stealing from them.
Turtles eat bread. At our first hostel there were turtles in the back yard. They would stand on the lawn near the house and wait for us to bring them breakfast. I tried giving them grapes (which we didn´t know would cost a billion colones), pero las uvas no les gustan. But they did gusta the white bread.
You don´t have to speak English to teach it. Jeeeeel teachez de inglis and was bery in ter est ing and gabe us interbew for de boss, Don BilliAM, at Pribate Teaching (not listed in the phone book or online...hmmm?).
Taxi drivers are crazy b words who like to live life on the wild side. Left hand turn lanes...Who needs them. Stop signs...What a waste of metal that could be used to make the typical Costarrican house fortress.
Prostitution is legal. We know because our current hostel is located right next to a house of prostitution (there are dirtier words for that, but I´m a classy broad). There is also one around the corner that is aparently completely filled with ¨sexy European ladies.¨ The best part is that you can rent a room here for just long enough to watch your favorite movie, use the spa or take a nice cat nap, only $10 for three hours. What a deal!
Stray dogs are not like real dogs. They have their own agendas. They remind me of business men in San Francisco that walk around in their suits and look really uptight and don´t make eyecontact with anyone. Please do not disturb the stray dogs.
Finnish guys are CRAZY! We went out salsa dancing last night with some kids from the US, Canada, Austria and best of all, two Finnish boys. They looked pretty crunchy and (shocker) they talked about the pot quality they have experienced during their travels. They have been to Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and their favorite Columbia- where they were robbed at knife point and by the police. Their next stop is to California, wher they are going to rent a car and drive from San Francisco to San Diego. You´re probably wondering, ¨Why would those boys go on such a long journey?¨ The answer is of course that they are trying out different skate parks around the world to find the best one.
Don´t ever offer to sing at a karaoke bar with crazy Finnish guy in Costa Rica. Unlike the US where karaoke is a big joke meant for drunk college kids on a Monday night, Costarrican karaoke is taken quite seriously. Katelyn and I would not have fans if we performed in Costa Rica. Well, Patrick informed me that his good friend Marcus is a very good singer. I couldn´t help but thinking DUET! It took us a while but we finally found a song we were both familiar with. He assured me that he knew most of the words and those that he didn´t he would be able to read from the teleprompter. So up we went and when those African drums started beating the crowd really got into it. Then...lyrics began and it was just me singing,¨ I´m gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware.¨ Yes, the Finnish boy had maybe seen Lion King, but whatever long term memory loss he has experienced due to his special habits definately included the words to I Just Can´t Wait to be King.
More to come soon.
Oh my gosh, we started a Blog
I know, how lame is this? We have a blog and are a little bit ashamed of it. But it looks like virtually everywhere in Costa Rica has wireless internet (though it often doesn´t work with Megan´s computer), so we should be able to upload photos and leave updates. It will probably turn into an online journal type of thing - we´ll see.
We´ve been here five days now and are not exaclty in love with the city. The people are nice, though, and we have been making friends in our hostels and having success in our job search. I´m off to research bus schedules and find the post office. -Nims
We´ve been here five days now and are not exaclty in love with the city. The people are nice, though, and we have been making friends in our hostels and having success in our job search. I´m off to research bus schedules and find the post office. -Nims
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
