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!