But as long as you're trying, I'm staying

Doing alright today. It's hot and sunny and I believe the insane winds have died down for the afternoon until it's time for the Samara Fiestas (aka rodeo) to begin around 7 or 8 tonight.

Best time of the year in Samara...for sure.

good thoughts from the bible as per a friend's post

But I tell everyone who is listening:
Love your enemies.
Be kind to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who insult you.
If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well.

If someone takes your coat, don't stop him from taking your shirt.
Give to everyone who asks you for something.

If someone takes what is yours, don't insist on getting it back.

Discovery

So apparently an old dog even knows that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Ohhh Car...and other acquired knowledge

hmmmm...it's been quite a while.

buying a car in Costa Rica, like in any other place, I'm sure, is a total crapshoot when you're in the market for a used car. The difference is, in Costa Rica there's a really high likelihood that you'll be on curvy roads with steep dropoffs when your breaks and/or steering fail...yup...It really happened.

Things I've learned recently:

Children do not trick or treat in Costa Rica, at least not near us.

My generation is the one getting into the idea of Halloween, but still only about 1/2 the population polled recently planned on dressing up.

Here, the idea is still, for the most part, to be scary for Halloween...THAT's a big difference. lol.

"Cars are holes into which to throw money"-Dad

"Lo barato es caro (That which is cheap, is expensive)"-Jairo

Having a license to drive, or a licensed driver to take one driving could be equated to having gold here.

Eating turtle eggs helps to clean the beach because there are actually too many turtles trying to lay their eggs in the same place.

Rice cookers and I are not friends.

Nothing lasts in the fridge for more than like...3 days...max.

Light bulbs cost less than a dollar.

The buy/sell rates of currency make absolutely ZERO sense to me...and cost me $100 to change colones to dollars back to colones in order to make the car payment.

Banks started charging 50 cents per ATM withdrawal as of August something.

Earthquakes are cool...as long as they are just at tremor-status.

Sometimes just a long girl-chat is all you need.

If a girl walks by any number of men, every one of them is guaranteed to at least look her way.

"Picadillo" is a food, "pesadilla" is a nightmare

I don't know that I will ever adjust to knowing the date based on the local seasons other than those experienced in WNY (It is ridiculously odd to me that it is going to hotter here the closer we get to Christmas, for example).

a good quote

“The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be." Marcel Pagnol

On Living Alone

Living alone is still not fun. Days have been rather decent but coming home at dinnertime to an empty place is rather depressing.

I've decided that I'm not going to wait for people to make plans for me, though. I took some initiative to call a friend to go out tonight. I am not really feeling a bar/dancing scene. I don't think I'm comfortable going out without Jairo knowing or being with me, but I guess it's just because it's new. Times like these I miss Starbucks, Higher Grounds and the like...anywhere, really, that has a place to hang out after work but before people hit bars/clubs.

Leavin the house at 9:30 pm doesn't really appeal to me as it has basically been my bedtime lately. But I am going to try and go at it with a positive attitude.

At least it sounds like there is a cool storm brewing...better grab an umbrella.

Grown-Up Style...

If being a grown-up means trying to manage paying tons of money for an apartment and food, doing your own laundry, and being alone a good portion of the day when you aren't at work...I don't want to be one. I don't miss college, but I do miss communal living. This does not come as a surprise to me as I am a super-social person and I've never really sought out "alone-time." But this is the beginning, so I am hoping that I get used to this or find ways to fill my time or make friends so that it isn't alone-time anymore. Only time will tell.

I have discovered that my tupperware containers do not keep out ants. This is disturbing. I guess I'm going to have to store everything in the fridge. Also...the ants are garbage-divers. Which means I currently have an entire colony on a two-way highway between my garbage can full of the crackers they broke into in the tupperware and wherever they call home.

Lusbin showed me the plans he received for an addition to a structure here in Sámara. Seeing the plans, sections, and elevations made me realize how little I may know about construction. I can understand what the drawings say and mean. But how on earth does one go about ordering everything that they need to do once they have them? I think there is a schedule somewhere probably (I only saw the page he was reviewing) but it scared me a bit, to be honest. Sometimes I wonder if I really learned anything at all.

I like designing. But for me, my excitement tends to stop at the schematic phase. Beyond that, I'd rather be on the receiving end, learning how to build it once the detailed drawings are completed. I guess that's a cop-out.

It's only 8:30 and I'm tired. I think the reality is that I'm alone and therefore don't recognize how fast or slow time is passing. It's been dark since I got home.

I need a shopping list. Starting with dish soap and toilet paper. And shampoo. You'd be amazed what a difference using Costa-Rican-bought shampoo makes for your hair in cold-water showers!

Had a celebration for "Children's Day" (which is technically September 9th) today, on Grandparents' Day. I found that amusing.

So many children around give one both joy and frustration. When you spend enough time with the same kids, you see the bad side. I think seeing the bad (no matter how small an amount) is enough to keep me from ever having children. Just saying.

Back to work tomorrow. I'm slightly nervous. Even though I was on vacation, I feel guilty for not answering emails and such. I think that's the 19 years of schooling in me that say if you have things to get done you stay up til they are done by the deadline...and with no deadline...it automatically becomes "it needed to be done yesterday"-esque. I need to just breathe. This is a stressful job, but I am still learning. It will get better as I go.

Quick update after a long drought

I'm going to post a few pics...I know, I know...finally.

But first I'm going to share some things I've learned/noticed/etc.

I learned how to separate a good corn kernel from a bad one...quickly.

I learned how to fish with a home-made net.

I learned how to fish with a hook, live bait, and a string.

I made rice krispie treats with costa rican cornflakes...so i guess that would make them costa rican corn flake treats...but rice krispie treats is easier to say, so I'll stick with that.

I adopted a kitten less than a month old, and successfully "found" it someone to adopt it long-term just more than 24 hours later.

I went to visit Monteverde.

Contrary to some sites, there is no direct bus from Liberia to Monteverde.

There are only two buses to Monteverde that pass through la IRMA...the last is at 3:30 pm.

It didn't rain at all during our trip to MV...I'm thankful because it is already the last time Jairo will ever go with me by bus, and that would have been enough to keep him from wanting to return EVER.

Never again will I mix multiple cups of coffee, with multiple shots of homemade sugarcane alcohol (guaro), with sugar cane juice, with cheese factory cheeseburgers, with a mint chocolate chip milkshake, with a walking trip at dusk into the woods to climb the strangler fig after 4 hours of horseback riding. I will also never order "mondongo en salsa" (cow stomach in sauce) again (especially not after getting sick from the previous combination just an hour before).

There is more, but I'll save it and get to the pictures.

Gripe...Gree-pay.

soooo...it's been a while.

First off let me say this: Gripe is NOT the same as the flu...it is MUCH worse. It is a mixture of cold and flu which changes depending on the person and the incident. It typically lasts 3-7 days. In my case it was accompanied by vomiting, cold and hot sweats, headache, body pain, extreme fever, and lack of brain functioning...ok the last one was just a result of all of the other things...but seriously. NOT FUN.

On a high note, however, it was not Dengue fever, which has been increasingly prevalent recently in Costa Rica, especially in the Guanacaste region and in my neighborhood in particular. This I attribute to the open-air housing that we have which allows the mosquito creatures free access to our bodies, the way in which Dengue is transferred.

Needless to say, after my experience with gripe...which started out as the sniffles and ended by knocking me out of commission for 2-3 days, I do not want dengue and I have stopped using repellant sparingly.

Back on the Rich Coast (the Pacific one...)

WOW...I forgot how hot it is here. Walking into work drenched in sweat...it's been a while since I last had that experience :)
Hooray for Air Conditioning!

Colette is here (my first friend in life, and my first visitor in Costa Rica) and I'm super excited! I think she may have been frustrated without speaking Spanish yesterday and nervous to take on my day at work without another English speaker in the house but she's uber smart and sweet and I'm sure she'll do just fine-plus she's heading to the beach and we got here early enough that I could show her around a little and introduce her to a few people like Hector and Ana.

Today's Yari's birthday and tomorrow is the last US game of the first round of world cup...we need a win!

I had a great time at home. I miss my friends and family, but I'm glad to be back to the grind...there's something to be said for a basic schedule that was difficult to be without this week-haha.

...the world's sport...

WORLD CUP

FEVER!!!

a fairly normal ocurrence

I often find myself

thinking

that I might have accidentally wandered onto the set of Animal Planet

or some other channel which shows obscure stories and creatures and lives

that we do not normally encounter...

and then I realize that it's not.

And I giggle to myself...

Home-stays and Howler Monkeys

Did I mention that when it's hot...it's REALLY hot?! haha. The sunburn doesn't help, I'm sure.

I took part in a typical income-related practice yesterday by helping the ladies of the house to put the soup they made (Arroz de Maiz) into tupperware and then walking around town selling them. I felt helpful. And honestly...this is how "home-stays" should be. Live at a home...and do what they do all day. None of this go to class when they do the majority of their customary activities etc...that's not life here...1/2 of life happens while you're at school...the other half, you get when you go out at night...IF you go where the locals go AND interact with them.

Anywho...just my two cents for the day.

Lusvin is constructing a more secure wall for me today. You know...after buying a 2 foot long red fish that Zonia cooked for lunch...delish. UNREAL.

Howler monkeys were having vocal battles when I was on my way back to work today...they will never cease to amaze, I don't think.

When the lights...go down...in the city...

The mosquitos attack!

Electrical surges and outages are nothing new here. Losing power for seconds, minutes, or hours is fairly normal. When it's lost for more than a few minutes, you can generally assume that rain is coming. Weather mostly seems to come from the south here.

My flashlight seemed to be dieing as I walked home on the unlit streets around 10 pm last night. Generally this would not be an issue, but when there are no lights or people to be seen during the blackouts here, and without a flashlight...it would meraly be feeling your way home in the darkness. The moon was MIA...perhaps hiding behind the rain clouds that were drizzling lightly by the time I headed back to the house. I wondered how people did this is the past? With torches? Or maybe everyone's schedule was just shifted: they woke up at 3am and went to bed at 6 or 7 pm.

Whatever the case, I found that my historical ponderings soon became fear as my flashlight faded in and out and I walked more quickly only to get home and find everyone asleep except for people in the front house who didn't respond to my salutation...this is an unusual ocurrence here given that the people who live there know who I am quite well. The figure of the woman in the doorway, her silhouette created by a flashlight from inside, did not strike me as someone that I knew much less someone who lives in that house. I quickened my steps and got into my room, deliriously, at that point, thinking that someone had followed me and that one or two people were slinking around in the back yard around my room. Finally I had to enter the main house to tell someone so that I could calm down. Cue "Are You Afraid of the Dark" theme song.

I still don't know who was at the doorway last night or if my fears were warranted in any way. i hope that they were not, for the sake of the family in that house whose things could have been stolen had a stranger in the home been the case. I'm sure there is a decent explanation.

As for the marks all over my arms, legs, and back? They, too, have an explanation...Mosquitoes are a developed species...they have come to find that no electricity means no air movement which means attack like crazy. And feast, they did. With a minimum of 10-15 new bites as of this morning, I can only hope that they change their tastes quickly or that I can find some form of repellant that will keep them as far away as possible...

Food and "Sismos"

Having the same thing over again doesn't get old here...it only seems to get better! I learned the trick to the texture of the rice from watching Zonia...it involves frying the rice with oil before adding water...who knew? A big favorite of mine has to be the fried cheese...OMG SO GOOD. I asked what kind it was, and was surprised, though maybe I shoulnd't have been, to find that it was made by a family down the street...amazing. I've decided that the arepas smell exactly like pancakes, but are better. You can eat them plain or add a sweet milk product on top. To. Die. For.

If the rain ever stops, I'm going to get my courage up and go surfing. I think it's harder to make a fool of yourself in front of people that you know (or will know soon) than absolute strangers who you're likely never to see again.

There was a tremor measuring between 5.3 and 5.6 on the Richter scale here yesterday. Apparently it is not considered an earthquake until it hits 6.0. I slept through it, but everyone said the houses were literally shaking...how I missed that I cannot tell you. Maybe compared to the noises and the mosquitos, being tossed around my bed was trivial in my sleep-state?!

Tamarindo

Tamarindo was a blast this weekend. After being out at Tabanuco til about 4am, Jairo and I got up and packed to go at 8am. Headed out from Samara at 10 to Nicoya in the rain. Took a cab a few blocks in Nicoya for the bus to Santa Cruz and then took another bus from there to Tamarindo. The whole trip took us about 3 or 4 hours, but only cost between 5 and 10 dollars. We stayed at a place called Tsunami which is owned by a friend of the guys in Samara, Johan. Lots of walking around the town and up and down the beach in the sun (which came out halfway between Santa Cruz and Tamarindo) was fabulous. The waves were great and Jairo was definitely mad that he didn't bring his board since Johan had already gone out surfing before Jairo got a chance to get one to borrow.

Saturday night we all watched the Fiestas (rodeos/bullriding) which I believe were in Sta Ana(?) on TV. They ended at 7ish...and we were out by 8. The alarm went off at 11pm for us to get up and go out, since apparently Saturday night is the best dance night there, but neither one of us was really awake and both fell back asleep. I didn't get up til...about 12 hours later. Gotta' love lazy weekends.

By the time we got ourselves together for the day, Johan was gone and Jairo was, once again, without a board. haha. Planning ahead was clearly not our strong point this weekend! So more eating and being lazy at the beach was in order until the afternoon when Johan got back and lent Jairo a board. He played chef and pulled together some awesome pasta and sauce with a rather unlikely bunch of staples from the pulperia and a few seasonings that they had in the hotel kitchen.

I have ridden a bike twice since I got here...this is more times than I've ridden in memorable history (I only recall once up in Canada with Caitlin). I like it...but memories of crashing when I was younger, which have probably become extremely distorted by now, still make me a little weary.

So after lunch and a bike ride, I played photographer for the afternoon, which I love which J surfed. Unfortunately the waves weren't nearly as good as the afternoon before or as that morning, and the surf didn't come back inland until late, so the pictures didn't turn out well and the surfing wasn't the ideal...but it was surfing, and I think that was enough by the end of day two in the sun!

After surfing/photography time, we went back to the hotel and hung out watching tv outside...I chose to chill in the hammock...I LOVE HAMMOCKS. haha. We ordered pizza...and I could only laugh when a Pizza Hut delivery showed up 20 minutes later...oh America...you and your corporate domination. I think the pizza is better here, actually.

Anyways, post typical Friday night dinner (on a Sunday night), we decided that since we missed Saturday night, it never existed. So we got dressed up and went out on Sunday...as if it were Saturday. We found a nice bar, where the party was apparently supposed to be, and decided to hold down the fort until more people arrived. The lighting and design were pretty cool. I love all the openness afforded by warm climates. After nearly 2 days of nice weather, the storms showed up with the other bar-goers around 11 pm. We stayed for a while, and between Jairo jumping out of his chair for every good reggae song, and me be-bopping to the pop songs, especially Empire State of Mind, we got a good share of dancing in.

Made it back to the hotel in a cab and the rain hasn't stopped yet. We took the reverse track on the bus. The Sta Cruz to Nicoya bus took over an hour when it usually takes about 40 minutes...so we grabbed breakfast, which at that point was brunch, at the Nicoya bus stop because they have about 15 "sodas" (little food places) packed under cover the same way that markets are in Europe.

Jumped on the bus for our last leg of the trip and I saw a box of little chicks...oh baby animals! They are everywhere right now...horses, cows, chickens, crabs, frogs...and they are all so cute! They haven't ceased to make me smile yet!

Back at work for another good week! Going to see properties tomorrow, I believe!

First Work Week as a Real Person, nearly complete

Walking home

barefoot in the warmth of the pouring rain

is ridiculously therapeutic.

Last day of my first week of work and things have only gotten better. I'm heading up a brand new rentals/property management branch of Century 21 Sámara which I finally really got into today. I was able to give some design suggestions to our webmaster and am waiting to hear back about that and looking forward to this weekend's trip to Tamarindo for a break before really kicking into full gear and my 6 day/week schedule at work.

If it continues on the upswing like this, I don't know how I'll control my joy in a few weeks :)

Gray skies in the afternoon

Looks like rain...and when it rains here, you better hope it pours or it only gets hotter.

I'm already peeling. Super.

Work is picking up as I'm getting more to do. We're opening up a property management branch that I'm going to head up, which is pretty fabulous. I have no idea what I'm doing yet...but it sounds like a good idea, right?!

And the thunder rolls.

A bit more...while I figure out how I'm going to load pics

It does not matter how sweaty you are, if you are female, and even more so if you are a blonde, people will wave, honk, cat-call and hiss at you in Costa Rica...and by people, of course I mean Ticos.

More than sunscreen, I need bug spray. I counted more than 30 bites between my knee and my foot on one leg yesterday...I think that public health agent, Caitlin, would have something to say about this. Luckily for me, West Nile, Malaria and the like are not common to Costa Rica as they are in many other Central and South American countries.

Visitors have to leave the country every 3 months for 72 hours...that means I get more vacation days than anyone I know. Hahaha, ok--not really...but at least it's consistent :)

Walking at midday is a sure way to get drenched...and not in a good way.

Only ticos can open cell phone accounts/lines.

Most ticos don't like frogs or toads, and some even say they prefer snakes.

The roads do not have given names, only names used to describe where they go or names used by locals. Most explanations are given by the number of buildings/streets/signs/etc or by a solid landmark. While this is not completely true in the capital and larger cities (where there is more likely to be a grid system and street names) it still holds true therein, where little roads that were original or that have sprouted amongst buildings still go by landmarks.


Ohh the things one learns within a few days of living somewhere new!

Come Visit!

The cheapest flights are always through STAtravel.com...hands down. I found some from NY as low as 252 round trip. normally they were closer to 300...dont take anything more than 400...it'd be way too much, guaranteed. You can fly into San Juan Santamaria (SJO), which is just outside of San Jose, the capitol of Costa Rica.

From there you would need to take a taxi to the Alfaro bus station to get a ticket for the bus to Samara or Nicoya. The Samara bus leaves every day at noon, and I think at 7pm. There might also be one really early around 5am? Not sure about that, if it came to that I could check for you. The direct ride to Samara in bus is about 4.5 hours. Checking your bags under the bus is the safest thing to do, otheriwise you should try to stay awake and hold your bag in your lap. or between your legs. The bus costs less than $10.

If you catch the bus that ends at Nicoya, you're already at the right station, just ask for the next bus to Samara. They leave once an hour I think, until about 5pm.

There's also Liberia Airport (LIR). On the STA site, you need to go to the "advanced" search...for some reason, it won't come up on the normal search. I haven't flown in there, but the prices are a bit higher for being less popular with major airlines, I think. It's still a 2 hour drive from Samara, but it might be worth it to save yourself 5 hours of travel that the bus ends up being.

And beyond that, there's actually a tiny tiny airport in Carrillo, the next beach over, that has flights I think from both Liberia and from San Jose. My guess is they run about 100 dollars each, and then you'd already be here....no need for long drives (although they are beautiful and may be worth it for the views alone!)

Theres always the option of renting a car, too. You need to be sure to have at least 1100 dollars available on your credit card when you make your reservation...I learned this from experience.

You're headed to Samara, a small, tourism-driven town in the region of Costa Rica known as Guanacaste, which is a large peninsula. It's right on the Pacific Ocean a little more than half-way down the peninsula if you're looking on a map...I'll attach one to the links in case you want a quick look.

A few things I've noticed...

1st day of work also happens to be the first day I've gotten to the internet since staying at a hostel in San Jose, the capitol, last week.

A few things I've noticed...

It's hot here...like, little albino girl is melting, hot. I've never looked forward to rain so much in my life!

Soccer comes before religion...the national championship game was Saturday...the evening mass was cancelled for the game.

It doesn't stay light here past 6 pm...at any point in the year.

Mosquitoes are called "sancudos"...they suck...literally and figuratively.

A plate of food, of which I can not even eat 1/2, costs $5.

I don't miss hot showers as much as I thought I would...at least not yet. My hair does, though...Dry from the salt and oily from the lack of hot water to wash it well is a strange combo.

It's considered a big deal if you wear heels out at night to the beach. People are impressed.

You need $1100 available on your credit card to rent a car.

Howler monkeys are regulars at the local soccer games on Sunday afternoons.

Contrary to popular belief, roosters do not crow in the morning...the crow in the early morning, and midmorning, and late morning, and at noon, and in the afternoon...etc etc etc.

I think Costa Ricans are probably some of the cleanest people I've ever met. Seriously. They clean daily.