FOOTNOTES

There have been several occasions in which i realized that I love my friend Bianca Channell Buckley - who left today for Tamarindo, CR. But in order to fully understand- you have to know a little background information on Bianca. The person she reminds me most of is Jess -an old roommate from Jackson Hole. Bianca is a little blonde girl with wild curly blonde hair and big blue eyes- she has an awesome surfer body and can eat more than anyone i know. She talks really slowly like a surfer chick- and the first time i met her i thought she was perma-stoned but soon realized that this is just how she is. She rarely drinks- and has no problem going to the bar completely sober and dancing crazier than anyone else in the bar. She used to be a ballerina- but she dances like a wild child. She has her own bizarre style that scares away the boys. Her mentality is, if she dances like a freak- the boys will leave her alone and she can dance in peace.

She and i became friends on the beach in santa teresa- we usually went running together and had a lot of the same friends. On one of my first days paddling out past the whitewater and into the big waves i looked at her and said, "i really shouldnt be out here"... she looked back at me and said "umm yeah you should, keep surfing". Bianca is out in the water every morning and isnt happy unless she gets in at least 3 surf sessions every day. Okay back to why i love this girl.

The first time i realized that i adored bianca was at Santa Teresas only REAL bar, Day and Night,on electronic night. D and N is only open 3 nights per week- they have reggae night *which is obviously the best*, salsa night and electronic night. On electronic night all of the local crazy boys do a lot of cocaine and are generally out of control. One in particular, Macho Loco, was out of his mind on this particular night and decided that I was going to be the girl for him. He was all in my face, harassing me and just not leaving me alone. If his name doesnt give you a clue, he is kind of an insane person. Bianca saw Macho Loco harassing me and looked at him and in her amazing surfer tranquila voice said "dude... she doesnt want to sleep with you, shes never going to sleep with you, I dont want to sleep with you, why dont you just leave her alone because we dont even like you". So Macho Loco freaks out... and starts screaming "you come to MY PAIS and speak to me like this???? MY COUNTRY?" and Bianca doesnt even bat an eye and just looks at him in the eyes and goes "whatever dude, we dont care, just go away". Little miss Bianca, who probably weighs 90 pounds, got this coked out crazy local to leave me alone and wasnt even bothered by the way he freaked out. I knew this girl could handle her own, and I was impressed.

The SECOND time I realized that I found a true gem was at Playa Maderas about a week and a half ago. Okay so everyone in Costa Rica is crazy about Mayonaise and mustard is impossible to find. Well Bianca managed to find a bottle of mustard at Playa Maderas and put literally half the bottle on her hot dog. I was talking to some friends and I looked over and she had guantes de mostaza. She had mustard all over her face, from the tips of her fingers to about halfway to her elbow-It was on her legs, it was EVERYWHERE. She calmly walks up to the guys behind the counter and goes "ummm can i have a napkin". They looked at her, laughed and told her to go jump in the ocean because there was no way they would have napkins left in the restaurant after hurricane bianca. I cant wait to tell you guys about the maderas boys- Antonio, Manuel, Enrique and Orlando. Three of them are brothers and the other can be kind of a jerk- but we love them all and they watch our things for us every day- and i always try to buy them a round of beers when i can. Back to my story...

The truth is, Bianca doesnt care what anyone thinks ever, about anything- and I respect it. When i met her she couldnt speak any spanish at all, and now she can hold her own in pretty much any situation. At our friend Hannahs going away party - a few weeks ago- in costa rica- she looked at me - amongst all the crazy local boys and said "this party is stupid... everyone is speaking spanish". I was like, ummm Bianca you are in costa rica, with the locals... theres going to be a fair amount of spanish.

Its so funny because guys will meet her and are totally impressed by her dedication to surfing and shes a beautiful girl- but then she starts talking and the weirdness comes out. ITS AMAZING. I really wish you guys could have been in the car with us on the way back from the beach yesterday. EPIC. This guy went from gazing at her adoringly to cringing and saying "please stop talking! please change the subject"- she was explaining her bowel movements after eating pithayas. Hilarious.

Ahhh enough on Bianca- she was my travel buddy for the last two weeks and this morning she left for Tamarindo. I have NO desire to go to Tamagringo and so ive decided to stay in San Juan, at least for one more week. I moved to Casa Feliz, a really cool hostel with my friend Marlys and theres a good group of fun people and Im really excited to change things up for a bit.

My body is a mess though. My ribs are so badly bruised that it makes me not want to breathe ever. There was a nice swell the last few days and some of the set waves were easily above 7 feet. I had some killer wipe outs, thats for sure. So today i will get a massage, take it easy, read a book, and go sneak into the pool at Pelican Eyes- the only nice hotel in San Juan del Sur. The electricity is out in all of San Juan for the next 4 hours, but my favorite internet cafe over at hotel joxie has a generator, and the air conditioner works- so ill probably be back with more stories later today. There are way too many stories to tell.