At breakfast, Zetdi told Meleidy about the prostitute from the bar. Meleidy asked Leo if he got one too and something along the lines of being with her for an hour. Zetdi then chimed in saying that I was only with mine for 10 minutes. Thanks. I was too stunned to [...]]]> Sunday, 6 January

At breakfast, Zetdi told Meleidy about the prostitute from the bar. Meleidy asked Leo if he got one too and something along the lines of being with her for an hour. Zetdi then chimed in saying that I was only with mine for 10 minutes. Thanks. I was too stunned to come back with a comment like 10 minutes would have been a new record for me, so instead I just sat there and laughed. Today, the students were heading off to do a canopy tour. Zetdi was going to go to the park after she rested a little bit and I was thinking about going to try and find a different beach that I had heard of. I changed my mind and ended up going with Zetdi to the park. We went to the grocery store to get some snacks and items for lunch and then took the bus to the beach. Zetdi told a student last night that she would look for her so we did a quick search and did not find her so we headed into the park.

While walking to the second beach we saw a lot of people leaving and we were wondering why for it was only about 11am and there was still a lot of daylight left. When we got to the second beach, we took a quick break to snack and then looked for a place to setup shop. We went in the water and Zetdi was so happy to not be pounded by waves. I went out a little ways to were I could not stand and did some exercises in the water. Zetdi and I talked a little while and then she headed up to lay down. I went for a swim and then headed back. When I got back I sat in the sand and stared off while thinking about life again. I took this as a sign that I needed to read my Tao book some more so I pulled it out and started to read. Today’s lesson was about simplifying life – less possessions, more productive communication, etc. Well timed.

While I was reading, monkeys snuck up and took a bag of doritos from the group next to us. Luckily they grabbed it by the back and when they went into a tree, the chips spilled out. I helped pick up most of the chips and then spent the next 20 minutes or so watching the monkeys take quick trips to places where the chips fell to try and find anything that was left. Zetdi and I found this ironic for when I came back to sit down, the lady told me to be careful and watch your stuff.

The day was great for it was mostly cloudy and the sun was hidden most of the time we were on the beach. So it was not too hot and we did not feel like we were frying in the sun. Zetdi started to read her book and I was getting tired of reading mine so I decided to lay down and take a little nap. I did not feel like laying on my towel so I just laid in the sand and used my bag as a head prop. I do not remember what was going through my mind or how long I was out but I just felt so relaxed listening to the water hit the beach, the sound of the wind in the trees, and the heat of the sand below me. It was getting close to closing so we packed up and left. On the way out I felt totally recharged and felt like I was viewing the park with new amazing eyes. It was a very cool feeling.

We walked by all of the stalls on the road that were selling misc arts and crafts. Zetdi was looking for a little dress and she found one that we both thought would be good on her, but she did not want to pay the price. We got to the bus stop as a bus was loading and we could tell that it was going to be a standing room only ride, so we decided to walk up the hill a ways to a shop that had swim suits for her to look at. I knew that the place also had books so I looking forward to going there and finding some light reading. I ended up getting a very early Ludlum book called The Holcroft Covenant. The store was two stories and the upstairs was all books – claimed to have about 6000 on hand. Zetdi did not find a swimsuit but she said there was almost a winner except for the bum part did not fit right. I talked to the owner while I was waiting and she moved from california to Quepos 33 years ago. I asked her what it was like then and she said it was a nice little fishing village that had not power, running water or phone lines. She said that she has seen all of the hotels be built and was a little sad to see all of it change.

After we got home, I started to read my book while waiting for my turn for the shower. For some reason I just could not get all of the sand off of me in the shower. I guess that is why you do not lie on the sand directly. After reading some more on the balcony, I went in my room and laid on the floor in the dark. I am not sure why, it just felt like the right thing to do. I seemed to help recharge me so it was worthwhile. At dinner the students told us about their canopy trip. Their tarzan swing was a requirement for they had to swing from one side to another to continue the trip – it was not like monteverde where you just did it for fun. After dinner, Leo, Zetdi and I took some pictures of each other. Realized later that I forgot to take one of me and him. Oh well. Meleidy and Sharon were playing mario kart again and the students were watching. I didn’t want to so I went out to the hammock. I went back inside a little later and Meleidy was watching Spiderman 2 in espnaol. Zetdi and I ended up watching the rest of the movie. Afterwards I went upstairs and started to pack and then went to bed after reading for a little while.

At breakfast, Zetdi and I told the new students some helpful tips about the home and the town. They went as a group to the beach today so they took off around 9:30. Apparently, there are 14 other students from their school in indiana here as part of a study abroad [...]]]> Saturday, 5 January

At breakfast, Zetdi and I told the new students some helpful tips about the home and the town. They went as a group to the beach today so they took off around 9:30. Apparently, there are 14 other students from their school in indiana here as part of a study abroad program and they get 4 credit hours for the two weeks they will be here. I asked Meleidy more about the DHL package and told her that my mom did not send anything. The package was addressed to Meleidy, not me, and came from phoenix but requires $20 to get the package. Since she has no idea what the package is, she decided to just forget about it.

I headed to the cafe to check my email in hopes that the new orleans group had written to me. Nope. I ended up chatting with Henry for a bit and he asked if I had found a place to open a bar yet. I told him that I would not suggest doing it in Quepos – there has got to be a nicer little town to do it in. After writing some emails, uploading the updates to the site and checking the news I took off. It was nice to get in and out in less than an hour for a change. I went to super mas to get some snacks and more sun block and then went to the atm to get money for the day. I then headed home to lube up and wait for Zetdi.

We got to the bus station just as the bus was loading and it was another packed ride. Zetdi spent the morning shopping for a new swimsuit and did not have any success. Apparently, the bottoms here are more revealing then she would like. She also told me that a bikini can cost $50 and I was blown away. So much for so little material. So glad I am a guy and do not have to worry about how well it fits my chest or bum. We found Leo at the beach and got some chairs next to him. It was a partly cloudy day so the sun was coming in and out and when it was in it was hot. Zetdi and I went for a swim to cool off and she did not stay long for she did not like have to continually dive under the waves. I stayed for a while longer and body surfed some of the waves. Most of the time though I would just float out in the water and watch the waves come in. I was out far enough where I could still stand with my head above the water and this was also where most of the big waves started to break. I got pretty good at determining when to go under a wave, when I could swim through the wave and when the wave would not break so I could just float over it.

After I came back and dried off in the sun, Zetdi and I went to find lunch. We ended up at a little place that had outdoor seating with shade and we ordered sandwiches and a fruit plate. She likes a beer called rock ice with lemon so I gave it a shot. Apparently it tastes like crap without the lemon and salt in it but this one comes with the lemon and salt already in the can. It was alright – a bit too salty for me.

After lunch, we went back and sat in the chairs and watched the people on the beach. There was one lady wearing a g-string and when she would get up to go into the water, she would cover her bum with a boogey board. We were watching the boogey boarders and there were some pretty good ones – doing flips in the waves and such. At one point three people got on a banana boat next to us so we watched them try to get out. I say try because the lady in the back would fall off every time a wave hit them. It must of took them about 5-10 minutes before the boat was hooked up to them and finally towed them out of the waves. Zetdi was getting irritated at how much the lady was falling off and causing the others to fall off too. I asked her what it was like working the summers in Alaska and she said that she worked long days due to the sun being up for a long time, but it was nice because she made a lot of money. I started to think that I might look into for a summer job if I have nothing else going on. It would unfortunately be mostly college kids working up there, but I might be able to find a fun job that lets me get out and have fun in the little free time that I have. I told her about wwoofing and she said she had some friends that did that and some liked it and some did not. Some would end up babysitting the kids for most of the day and did not like that. Zetdi said that I should do wwoofing or an alaska job before working in new orleans. She said that new orleans just does not sound like fun.

I went back in the water and was frustrated at how many boogey boarders and surfers there were in the water. I tried to find an open spot so I could play in the waves again, but they kept creeping into my space. Again, I just floated in the waves and tried to guess which ones would be big and when they would break. I only surfed one wave and it was the one that took me back into shore. When I got back, Zetdi took off in hunt of a swimsuit and I stayed for a bit to dry off. On the bus ride home I was actually able to sit down. A lady sat next to me and fell asleep. When we got to the bus station I had to wake her up by slapping her on the face. No, just kidding. I touched her on the arm and she was embarrassed that she fell asleep. I went to the bakery to get a snack and then headed home. The new students were back already and asked that I show them where the cafe and such were. They took a shower and I waited by listening to music and laying on the floor in the dark. Not sure why, but it just felt like the thing to do.

We ran into Zetdi as we were leaving and she joined us. She ended getting on the wrong bus – direct bus to playa Dominica which is about and hour south of here. Luckily, it made a stop in the bus terminal in Quepos so she was able to get off. She was getting nervous that she was heading to Dominca. I walked the students around town and showed them some places to eat, internet cafes, atms, bus terminal, etc – pretty much the same tour I gave Zetdi. Zetdi stopped off in a tour company to pick up some maps and brochures for she needs to find a place to stay when her boyfriend comes on Tuesday. Apparently, he did not want to stay in a hostel so she told him that he was going to pay for wherever they were going to stay. When we got back I took a shower and then laid on the floor listening to music again.

After dinner, Meleidy and Sharon were playing Mario Kart so I sat to watch. I started to get motion sick from watching so I went outside and sat in the hammock. The others eventually went up to their rooms and I went in to say good night to Meleidy. She gave me the controller and told me to play with Sharon – I think she had had enough losing. Sharon and I ended up playing together on the same team and we did really well. It was funny to hear her say ahora (today) to tell me to throw my stuff at the other drivers. It sounded just like something any kid in america would say. I went upstairs afterwards and listened to music while I waited for 9pm to roll around which is when we decided we would all go out.

It turns out that the other students in the program were meeting us on our corner at 9pm. When Leo and I saw a group of 10 students walking to us, we looked at each other and Leo asked if we were going to have to be babysitters for the night. Sadly, yes. I ended up being the tour guide and decided to go back to the bar that Zetdi and I went to on new years. It took us twice as long to get there for we had to keep stopping for people because some wanted to go to the internet cafe and some needed to go to the atm. Leo got fed up and left during this. I didn’t blame him and at the time wished that I could go with him.

When we finally got to the bar, Zetdi led a team of girls to the bar to get drinks. I didn’t make the trip for I got stopped by a guy that wanted to talk. It turns out he is a local and works on the beach selling kayak trips, snorkeling, etc. He had a very low, raspy voice that made me wonder if he yelled or talked a lot all day. I think he wanted to talk to me for he saw me arrive with all of the students (all of which were female) and he was hoping to get some action. He was trying to convince me that we should all go to Byblos later to dance, drink, play pool, etc. He introduced me to the bar owner – Jim – and I asked him hist story about being here since he is an american (guessing). He said that he was in the recycling business and made frequent trips to Costa Rica and finally had the resources to come and stay.

I finally made it to the bar and ordered a beer. Some of the students took off to look for the others at the internet cafe. Zetdi came over and sat with me and we chatted. She told me how the students were mentioning that they had to travel in groups of 4 or else they would get in trouble with the professor/trip leader. Most of the students are sophomores in college, so Zetdi and I were taken aback a bit for that seemed more like a high school or younger comment. Granted it is very good to travel in packs at night, but the ‘get in trouble’ part was weird. The guy that talked to me earlier was now trying to hit on one of the girls and I could tell that she wanted to escape. Earlier he mentioned that he would buy me a beer so I went over to him and ask him where’s my beer and we went to the bar. I turned around and told the girls to escape while they could. Tony would be so proud.

I ended up buying him a beer – taking one for the team to keep him occupied. He introduced me to a ‘friend’ of his – a prostitute. I am pretty sure that this is the prostitute Angela met at Bamboo Jam. I say hello and then go back to talking with the guy. She starts rubbing her hand on my back and I try not to convulse. Luckily, this did not last long. I noticed that the students started to move to the back where there were seats and room to stand and chat. I told the guy I wanted to go check how they were doing and move. On the way there I notice Zetdi talking to a big white guy and asked her if she is doing ok – she says yes. I sat with the students and talk to the two that are living in my house.

Zetdi joined us and told me that the guy was in town for a fishing trip and she seemed disgusted by him. She tells me that she is getting heartburn and that it sometimes happens after she drinks a lot. I gave her a look for she had only had two beers so far. The problem she was facing was that she wanted to have another beer. Somehow her and another student decide to have tequila shots and I join them along with the only other guy student that showed up from the internet cafe. It was weird doing the shot with the green orange fruit instead of lime.

On the tv was the steelers vs the jaguars and the steelers lost. Sorry Tony. On the projection screen were miscellaneous rock concerts. It started out with the Rolling Stones and Zetdi made the comment of not understanding how anyone ever thought these guys looked good. Somehow the video switched to something like Artisa’s best of collection. The first thing we saw was Barry Mantelow – or however you spell his name. We started laughing for he was swinging at an awards show and it was so obvious that he was lip sinking. Clue number one was the he was holding the mic next to his stomach. It then switched to other 80s people before it was finally turned off and local music was put on. I asked Zetdi if she follows sports (since a game was on tv) and she says that she follows college basketball (she played in high school). She does not like pro basketball for she feels that they do not play up to the rules – traveling, double dribble, etc. She does not follow any other pro team, but does watch her college play.

At some point a guy joins us and starts talking to us, well mostly Zetdi. He is from Holland and is in Mexico studying Spanish. He is traveling south to Panama for the winter break with a friend and had just gotten into Quepos. Zetdi asked him a lot about studying abroad since she wants to do this in the fall in Spain. We were both amazed at how good his English was. I was amazed and jealous of the way she can just talk to anyone in a genuine and sincere manner.

The guy from earlier showed up and joined us. The students shortly thereafter leave to go home. I asked if they would be ok getting home and the said yes, so Zetdi and I stayed. As soon as Zetdi finished her beer, she was ready to go – tired and wanting to get away from the guy – so we went home. I change out of the smoky, smelly clothes and sit on the balcony enjoying the cool evening. I put on my ‘hmmm’ playlist – misc songs that can usually put me in the relaxed and refreshed state of mind. I sat there staring out into the darkness thinking about life – what the hell am I going to do for money, am I ever going to be in a relationship again, how I am getting better at being comfortable in groups and talking to people, how I am so glad that I am not in my old job, how I feel less stressed and more able to enjoy life. I was the last one to go to bed and was sitting out there until my ipod died. I then came in, drank some water and went to sleep after the room stopped spinning.

I have not been writing lately because I just have not felt like it. I have been doing pretty much the same thing everyday, so it has not been worth writing about. Wake-up, breakfast, go to internet cafe to look for job, bang my head against the wall, eat, look some [...]]]> Tuesday-Friday, 1-4 January

I have not been writing lately because I just have not felt like it. I have been doing pretty much the same thing everyday, so it has not been worth writing about. Wake-up, breakfast, go to internet cafe to look for job, bang my head against the wall, eat, look some more, try not to scream, eat, go to sleep.

I have been on the computer for at least four hours a day looking for a job and it has been a frustrating experience since I have no freaking idea what I want to do. I have decided that teaching is not the right avenue for me. I want to help people but teaching is not the way for me to do it, at least not teaching English.

I started looking into jobs in the alternative energy areas (solar, wind, etc) and this area looks cool, but I have no experience. Judy gave me the idea of looking into going to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding and after looking into it, I think this is what I am going to do. I have already sent an email to one group and am waiting for their response.

And before anyone asks, no I am not going to work with Brad Pitt. I looked at his site and he mainly seems to be wanting donations – not workers. I am guessing that he already has construction companies on staff.

I am planning on going to the beach this weekend, so maybe I will have some stories to write about that…

This morning I was supposed to meet Maria at the beach at 8am again, but I just did not move very quickly so I ended up catching the 8am bus and got there at 8:30. I could not find Maria anywhere so I sat in the shade for a while and [...]]]> Sunday, 30 December

This morning I was supposed to meet Maria at the beach at 8am again, but I just did not move very quickly so I ended up catching the 8am bus and got there at 8:30. I could not find Maria anywhere so I sat in the shade for a while and read my book. Still no Maria, so I went down to the water and started gathering shells. Still no Maria, so I decided to walk down the beach. I was wearing my CCS shirt (the group I went to China with) and two ladies stopped me and asked about it. They are currently in CCS in Costa Rica and taking a long weekend trip to the beach. After chatting for a bit, I kept walking and decided to walk all the way to the end for I had not been all the way to the end yet.

As I was getting close to the end, I looked into the trees and saw Maria coming off a trail and onto the beach. Apparently, she got on the wrong bus this morning and ended up at a different beach where she ended up snorkeling with a couple guys and got stung two more times by jellyfish. Apparently, they really like the taste of Russian. So needless to say she was not very happy. We were both hot so we took a quick swim and she lost her sunglasses – really not a good day for her. She wanted to parasail, but she did not have enough money so we went to get lunch. Afterwards, she did her last dip in the ocean and took the bus home for she is catching a bus to San Jose today and going home tomorrow.

During one of the swims, I realized that I forgot to take my wallet out of my pocket. For some reason I put it into a different pocket and did not check it before I went in the water. I was a little worried that my credit card and atm card would not work anymore for if it was true, I would be so screwed. When I got back to town, I tried my atm card in an atm machine and it worked. Yeah! I then went home and took a quick cold shower to get the sand off. I then cleaned out the shells that I gathered and laid them out to dry. I headed off to the internet cafe for my third attempt to call home. The cafe was open (it is sunday) and there were open spots. Yeah! I called Judy, not home. I called mom, busy line. I called Cheryl, not home. WTF! I then called my dad and talked to him for a while. I then called my mom again and talked to her. I looked into the teaching monks volunteer gig and read some stories from people that have done it. Now I am not sure if I want to do it anymore and I am very depressed for I am back to square one. Square one – that was a cool show. So I headed home and sat on my bed for a while staring at the ceiling. I eventually started to think of people, areas and such that I would like to work in and started to make a list. Tomorrow I will try looking into these.

Then, much to my surprise, I got a bug to program! I ended up working on my dad’s site and got a lot of the basic stuff done. I just now need to work on the ability to checkout movies and then create reports. I think I worked for an hour or so and it felt so weird to be doing this again after so long of doing something else. Hmmm.

I then went downstairs and met the new Cosi student – Zetdi. She is from New Mexico and will be graduating in May. She was playing mario kart with Sharon. I think Sharon already likes Zetdi more for she was ignoring me. Oh well. Zetdi was trying to talk to me while she was playing and Sharon was getting upset for Zetdi was not doing a good job with the game. After dinner, I took Zetdi on a quick tour around town and told her when was breakfast/dinner, how the hot water shower works and other stuff. She joked that she did not have any change on her for a tip for the tour guide.

Got on the 7:30am bus again and it was not too crowded today – yeah! Maria got on the same bus and we went and got her breakfast. We then went to the Manuel Antonio National Park (my 3rd time) and it was freaking full with the damn tourists. Notice how [...]]]> Saturday, 29 December

Got on the 7:30am bus again and it was not too crowded today – yeah! Maria got on the same bus and we went and got her breakfast. We then went to the Manuel Antonio National Park (my 3rd time) and it was freaking full with the damn tourists. Notice how I do not consider myself one. Anyways, there were a lot of tour guides leading groups down the trails and stopping every few feet to show them something. I was a little annoyed for I just wanted to go to the beach, but Maria was tagging onto the end of the groups so she could see the animals or whatever they were looking at. We eventually made it to the second beach, found a spot in the shade and then went in the water. Maria took of swimming again and I was about to when I noticed a crowd of people approaching our stuff. This could only mean one thing – monkeys. Damn them. So I got out to make sure our stuff was not taken and the monkeys ended up hanging out for awhile for the guy next to us was feeding them. Damn him. Eventually one of the tour guides came over and told him to stop and eventually the monkeys went away.

For most of the day, the sky was cloudy and the weather was pretty nice. Maria and I sat on the beach next to the water for a while and she told me that taking the cruise job would be a bad idea. Maybe. Around noon we packed up and did the hike to the vista lookout. It seemed much shorter this time than the first time. On the way back we went to the third beach so she could see it and then we went back to the second beach to do more swimming. When we got back there, I noticed a lot of people standing at the edge of the water looking out. It kind of reminded me of a scene from jaws. We eventually saw what they were looking at – a large tail fin that was sticking out of the water. The rest of the body never came out of the water so I have no idea what it was. A stupid guy felt compelled to throw stuff at the fish and I was hoping that he would get attacked, but it did not happen. The fish eventually disappeared and people went back in the water.

I went and sat in the shade while Maria went off to swim again. When she came back she told me that she was stung by a jellyfish on her calf. This is the second time that she has been stung – the first was a while ago and she freaked out when she got stung so she kept getting hit – arm, leg and maybe stomach. This time she just backed out of the water so she would not get hit anymore. We left and went to the pharmacy to get something for the sting. We then went to a restaurant to eat for we were starving and she wanted to drink the pain away.

It started to poor while we were eating and so people went scrambling. The sunset was the best I have seen in a long time so I went out onto the beach in the rain to take pictures. Shortly after, we took the bus home were I took a shower and hung out with the fam. I then went to the internet cafe to try and call the fam back home. It was about nine and it was empty – yeah! Katie was also online so we chatted for a bit and she told me more about the cruise job and sent me the article. The next thing I new the lights are being turned out in the cafe. I looked around and I was the only person left aside from the staff member. I asked if they were closing and he said in about 5 minutes. So I made a quick call to Judy and of course she was not there, so I left a message. I then went home to watch more of eternal sunshine and again fell asleep before it was over.

Below are pictures of the sunset:

Meliedy and Melissa went to San Jose today to check out the university so they had to catch the 6am bus. I decided to sleep in instead of making breakfast. I got some money for the sailing deposit and then headed to the bus stop and was greeted to a long [...]]]> Friday, 28 December

Meliedy and Melissa went to San Jose today to check out the university so they had to catch the 6am bus. I decided to sleep in instead of making breakfast. I got some money for the sailing deposit and then headed to the bus stop and was greeted to a long line for the Manuel Antonio bus. I ended up making it onto the bus, but had the joy of standing. The bus was the most packed I had ever seen it, and it was only 7:30am. Maria ended up getting onto the same bus and we got off at the beach. We quickly paid the deposit for the sailing trip and then went to the public beach. I got us some chairs and an umbrella for I did not want to fry ( and I didn’t – yeah! ). I mostly sat in the shade and read my book or did soduku. I did a little swimming, where I actually swam instead of just playing in the water. Maria was telling me how in Russia they actually swim in the water instead of playing in it so I figured I should give it a shot. The waves were not as good as before but I was able to catch one wave for body surfing. Maria really wanted to swim so she swam from the public beach to the first beach in the national park. She then walked to the second beach to see what it was like. She was quite tired when she made it back.

We went across the street at 1pm to wait for our shuttle for the sailing trip. Of course it did not show up until 1:30. We got there, paid and got on the boat and ended up sitting in the back under an awning (yeah shade!). We quickly set sail and went south past the public beach and park and out into the waters looking for dolphins. We started with engines but switched to the sail when we were out a ways and it was so nice and quiet with just the sound of the wind and the waves. We had no luck with finding dolphins so we headed back inland and went by the first beach in the park and the public beach. We then headed out into a different part of the open waters and were able to find what was probably just 1 or 2 small dolphins. We then headed into a cove for snorkeling. I was not sure if I was going to do it for I figured I would be cold when I got out given the time of day and the storm blowing in. Then I grew a pair of balls and jumped in. There was at least two other boat tours there, so there were a lot of people in the water. I mainly saw schools of one kind of small fish that swam close to the surface. I would just sit there and watch them swim up to me and around me. It was a very inspiring moment. That is until I saw a guy trying to catch the fish with his hands – I was tempted to pull him under the water but figured that that would not be nice for he did not seem to be a good swimmer (had a floatation device on).

I started hearing popping/sizzling sound while I was watching the fish and eventually figured out that it was raining. There was an amazing rainbow that started one end of the cove and went over the hill on the other side of the cove. It had great colors and was about the 3rd or 4th rainbow that we saw on the trip. By far the best for the rest of them were partials that you could catch in the clouds. We didn’t snorkel for long for the sun was going down and the rain was drenching our stuff on the boat. My bag was wet, but not too bad. I pulled out its poncho and threw Maria’s stuff under it to keep it dry. After we were all on board, we got dinner and I was happy for I was starving. They made us fried fish with veggies and rice and it was great. I even had beer out of a can – I guess I am a beer drinker now. We then made the trip back and headed home.

Overall, I loved the trip and wished we could have used the sails more instead of the engine. I can totally understand why people get into sailing for it is just a cool feeling. Although, I still have no idea how the sails work for propelling the boat for I just cannot figure out how you can move forward against the wind using sails. Oh well. Katie sent me an email yesterday saying that she found a job posting for teaching english to staff on a cruise ship. After this sailing trip, I am much more interested in the job.

As soon as I got home, the power went out in the neighborhood. It came back a couple minutes later but then the water was out. So much for taking a shower. I was pretty wet when I got home and welcomed the warm room for a change. Meleidy had dinner ready a little later and I was starving so I ate again. I was very tired afterwards and was in bed watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind shortly after.

Below are photos from the sailing tour:

A lot of people left this morning – about 7-10 people. Our van was supposed to arrive at 8am but did not show up until 8:30. I was getting worried that there was another communication problem and we were going to miss the ride. Unfortunately, this was a very packed van. [...]]]> Thursday, 27 December

A lot of people left this morning – about 7-10 people. Our van was supposed to arrive at 8am but did not show up until 8:30. I was getting worried that there was another communication problem and we were going to miss the ride. Unfortunately, this was a very packed van. When we got in, there were already 4 people so we made 6. Then we went to another place and picked up 3 guys. Then we went to another place and picked up a couple. 11 people plus the driver – very packed. One couple was from Prescott and seemed to be traveling a lot through Costa Rica. The lady that sat next to me was a school counselor from NY with two years of teaching english in Turkey. I talked to her a bit about it and she said that Blondie songs were very good learning devices due to her clear voice and use of words like watcha. She and her husband also traveled a lot and one of the places they liked the most was Thailand. Apparently, they were very close to not coming back. They stayed in little out of the way towns instead of the big touristy places and loved it. We dropped them and the Prescott people off in Peurtavita (or something like that) so they could catch a ferry and get to Montezuma.

Maria has a thing that you are to obtain something from everyone you meet. After we dropped of the lady from NY, Maria immediately asked me what I got from her. I was already thinking of this so I had my answers ready. I was just surprised that she asked for she was staring out the window most of the time and I was not sure she was even paying attention. Shortly after, we made another stop and dropped off two ladies to catch another ride to San Jose. Finally, the van was more spacious with only 5 left.

The ride back was going fine until we hit the line for the bridge. Our direction was not moving at all. Luckily we had a driver that did not like this and he kept taking back roads and cutting people off to keep moving up the line. Overall, I think we waited about 20 minutes. If he did not take all of these shortcuts and such, we could have been there for at least an hour. I was the first to be dropped off around 2 and told Maria I would meet up with her at the beach around 6.

I went home and Sharon gave me a nice bear hug when she heard me come in. I am staying in a different room for the one that I was in is being saved for something else, but I could not understand what it was. I pulled some stuff out of my bag (the wet stuff) and then went to the internet cafe to call home. Unfortunately, all the damn tourists were in the cafe, so I went to a different one and just did email. I also did a little bit of job searching and found a volunteer gig in Thailand that would have me teaching english to novice monks and stay in the temple with them. Maybe. I also got an email from Katie that said she found a job posting for teaching english on a cruise line to the staff. Maybe.

I then came home and changed into my swimsuit and headed up to the beach and holy crap was there a lot of people there. I walked down the beach a ways and found a nice spot to sit and watch the sunset. I zoned out while watching the waves and thought about what I should do next. At one point, a student that I taught walked by and said hello. After seeing him and feeling the energy like I used to feel while teaching at Dobson, I knew I had to go back to teaching. Now it is just a matter of figuring what and where.

When I got back to the main part of the beach, I could not find Maria, so I went to a bar where I could look out on the beach and I had a beer. While I was in the bar, the power to the whole area went out 3 times, the longest was the last one which lasted for about 5 minutes. At 6, I went down and found Maria coming out of an internet cafe. We then went back to where I was drinking and had dinner. I told her that I looked at her facebook photos and thought it was strange not to see her in a poncho or wrapped in a blanket to keep warm. Mike, one of the new observers at TEFL, ran into us and we talked for a little bit. He was trying to get Maria and I to go out but we were too tired and declined. On the way out, we scheduled a sailing trip for tomorrow. This is the same trip the Carsten and Judy took and that I was bummed that I missed. We then took the bus home and I took a shower and went to bed.

This morning our ride to go to Selventura did not show up so we went downtown to the tour company to see what happened. Apparently, there was miscommunication so they got us a taxi to the place. We got there just as people were getting geared up for the canopy tour [...]]]> Wednesday, 26 December

This morning our ride to go to Selventura did not show up so we went downtown to the tour company to see what happened. Apparently, there was miscommunication so they got us a taxi to the place. We got there just as people were getting geared up for the canopy tour (zip lines). We had to dress in orange jump suits, a helmet, gloves and a harness. We then took a van to the starting point where we were giving brief instructions on hand signals, how to brake with one and two hands and how to pull ourselves to the end if we got stuck. I think this not being my first time helped a lot for I was not nervous at all like I was before I first went in Cancun. There were a total of 11 zip lines that we went on with the longest being about 700 and something meters. It was very cool and fun but I wish that we could do more for I never real got a chance to see the trees and stuff that I was flying through or over. The longest one was very cool because the clouds had moved in and you were flying through the mist while looking over the forest below you. Sadly, I got stuck three times. Two of them were my fault for I had slowed down too much from swinging my legs around. I had to turn around and pull myself in which killed my back for I was trying to do it fast before the next person ran into me. The last time was due to something getting caught between the cable and my pulley – I have no idea what it was but it caused me to stop about 40 feet out so the guy had to come out and pull me in. Pretty damn embarrassing and not the way I wanted to end the zip lines.

After about 8 zip lines, we came to the tarzan swing. This was a platform about 30 feet up that involved the staff attaching rope to your harness and then you jumping off and swinging into the forest. Again, I was surprisingly not afraid of this one. I think I was third to go and it was a blast. It was scary being on the top of the platform while they attached the cables to you and tightened them for it felt like they were trying to pull you off before you were secure. By the time they remove the little gate to open the space to fall out, it is all you can do not to fall out due to the tension. The initial fall goes so quick that by the time you notice it you are swinging into the forest and experiencing an amazing feeling. Apparently I was supposed to keep my legs down so they could keep hitting them to slow me down and eventually stop me. I did not understand what they were yelling at me so it took a few swings before I put my legs within reach. One of the ladies purposely kept her legs up for she said that since she got herself to do the jump, she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible – or something like that. I sat at the bottom waiting for Maria so I could take pictures and there were some really good scared faces of people as they jumped/fell off the tower. All of us took the plunge, but two had to take some convincing – one of which was Maria. Apparently, she has a fear of falling (she does not do roller coaster rides) and so she was on the platform for about 5-10 minutes before she went. At one point I went back up to see how she was doing and to reassure her. I took a video of her doing it so she had proof for her friends and family.

Next was the suspended bridges. In the same park there were about 8 suspended bridges that are connected on a loop trail. We had to catch the 1pm van back so we did not have a lot of time to sit and enjoy the view on the bridges. Some of the bridges actually swung from side to side about a foot or so if there were a lot people walking out of step or if there were guys that thought it was fun to swing the bridge. During the hike, Maria told me about her fear of falling and how she went to Orlando with a friend that could not understand that she does not like to go on any roller coasters. He was not very happy.

We got back and checked with the tour company to see if we could get a bus to Manuel Antonio later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, everything was booked, so Maria was POed and we stayed another night and scheduled a ride for 8am tomorrow. Fortunately, the weather finally cleared up today so it was very nice with no rain and wind. We went to the Tree House for dinner and afterwards walked up a hill on the outskirts of town to watch the sunset. Afterwards, we came back and I packed all of my stuff. Tonight, the dorm room was packed (5 people) so I put my bag in Maria’s room so I would not bother the others in the morning. I watched a little TV and then I went to bed and read for a little while.

Below are pictures from Selventura:

When I got back to the hostel last night, I met some new people. One was a lady from Russia – it took my awhile to place her accent, but once she said where she was from it was obvious. She lives in NY and was surprised to hear that we [...]]]> Tuesday, 25 December

When I got back to the hostel last night, I met some new people. One was a lady from Russia – it took my awhile to place her accent, but once she said where she was from it was obvious. She lives in NY and was surprised to hear that we thought she had an accent. She says that everyone in NY has an accent so she just did not notice hers anymore. Adam, the new person in my room, and I talked and I told him my story of quitting, going to school, etc. He did not like my reason for quitting my job (burnout) and thought that there was something deeper there. To some degree he was right – I am trying to find my path in this world and I realized that it was not doing what I used to do. It was a good thought provoking session.

At breakfast, I asked the lady from Russia what she was doing today and she said that she wanted to do the canopy and bridge tour. I asked if I could tag along and she agreed so we took off to book the tour. Unfortunately, all of the slots were already booked for today so we had to schedule a trip for tomorrow morning at 8am. While we were signing up for the trip, we finally learned each others name and I shook her hand and said it was nice to meet her. Her name is Maria. The sales person asked if she was from Costa Rica because of her name and she gave him a hard time that Latinos are not the only people that have Catholic names. Apparently, she gets this a lot.

We decided to go to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve to do some hiking. I was totally hoping that the trails were much better than the trails that I had yesterday. When we got there it was misting lightly and was not too cold. I could tell by the buildings that this was going to be a better hike for the there were more buildings and better built ones than in Santa Elena – I was happy to see this. We started our hike (as suggested by the front desk person) and started talking about miscellaneous stuff. We realized later that we were so focused on talking that we were not paying attention to what was around us.

We eventually made it to the suspension bridge that is in the park and took a lot of pictures. Maria reminds me a lot of Cheryl in that she has a kids sense of wonderment at everything. This makes things more enjoyable for it makes me sit back, relax and enjoy. As we went on with the hike, it started to rain and became a little windy. It was not too bad until we got to a point on the trail that took us on the edge of the hill where we were slapped around with the wind blowing up the hill. I took a video of this just to show how hard the wind was blowing (watch the video). We saw several trees that were rocking back and forth with the base/roots of the tree moving in the ground. It was kind of cool to watch and amazing that more trees had not fallen over. At one point, a little further down the trail, we actually heard a loud snap that sounded like a branch or tree breaking and falling. It was a cool moment. I couldn’t help thinking that since I was in the forest, I could hear the tree fall. Overall, the trails were much better than Santa Elena and due to the trails not being as high in the clouds, we were able to see a lot more stuff.

Through all of this we got soaked. Maria did not pack properly for the wet and cold weather and her pants go soaked under her poncho. She was also wearing sneakers so her shoes and socks were also soaked. When we made it back to the visitor center we took off our jackets and and tried to get warm. I showed her pictures of the beach in attempt to help her. We ended up taking a taxi home and taking nice warm showers.

During one of our conversations, Maria told me that she was going to go to Manuel Antonio in a couple days. I was getting sick of the wet and cold and decided that it would be nice to go back to the beach. I was already considering canceling my volunteer gig and this helped solidify my decision, so I canceled it. It would be nice to get my deposit back, but I doubt that it is going to happen. We were deciding where to go for dinner when Maria saw that the movie Lakehouse was on tv, so we watched it – not too bad. We then went looking for dinner. Surprisingly, a few places were open and we ended up at a pizza place. We both ended up getting a vegetable cream soup and the fish cassados. Over dinner, she told me how she believes in signs and karma and gave me examples of them in her life. She also believes that everyone we share a moment with happens for a reason and that we are to obtain some knowledge from them during this encounter. If anything, my encounter with her made me more aware of obtaining knowledge from anyone that I meet. After dinner we went home and I showed her some pictures from my china trip for I was telling her about it during the hike.

Below are pictures from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Hike:

Below are my photos from the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve: