San Juan del Sur was incredible. Casa Feliz is the best hostel ever- it was like being back at home again. I went to Playa Maderas every day, partied with good friends- and only spoke spanish for my entire stay. They are currently filming Nicaragua Survivor in San Juan and the areas around it so there were a ton of people in town. I went back to my favorite soda - Arena Blanca- and the owner took one look at me and said "Neena, Como estas?". I was shocked, but I guess I made an impression last time around. I was only in San Juan del Sur for 5 days, but I made the most of it and had a blast.
I was sad to leave after only five days, but I knew that I had limited time on my hands - so I left on Monday, May 10 for Costa Rica. I woke up at 6am- ran to the mercado to get one last good meal, hit up the bank and caught a taxi at 630am to LA FRONTERA.
La frontera is what they call the border, and it can be a pain in the ass to cross. Fortunately for me, it wasnt my first time crossing the border. I got out of the taxi and a local "guide" came up "hola mi amor!" - I knew that he wanted my money, and this time around I didnt need any help. I thanked him but said no way buddy, and headed for the border. After an hour of waiting in lines and filling out forms, I was finally in Costa Rica. I caught a bus at 9 for Liberia. In Liberia I got off the bus and was bomboarded by about 15 taxi drivers. "Taxi taxi taxi!!!!" they all screamed in my ear. I said "no" but this one taxista kept harassing me. With that I turned around and said "NO ME MOLESTA POR FAVOR!!!" with that all of the taxi drivers laughed and left me alone. 5 minutes later I was on a bus to Puntarenas. I was literally the last person they let on the 2pm ferry. "Rapida gringa!!! Rapida!!" they were all yelling, "LO SIENTO!!!" i replied and jumped on the ferry. I got onto the ferry a sweaty mess and threw my big backpack on a seat and asked an old man to watch it for me. I noticed he was drinking a pilsen and his buddy was drinking an imperial, so I bought one for each of them. "Su propina!" I said with a smile. I then went out and caught some sea breeze and enjoyed probably the best beer ive ever had in my life, accompanied with an empanada de pollo- of course. I sat in the ferry wtih the viejos for the rest of the trip and they told me about their lives. One guy was 72, the oldest of 9 brothers- named Alberto. He told me, "yo tome 4 cervezas cada dia entre las 4 y las 6, y despues- no mas." He was coming back from Puntarenas because a friend had died and they were bringing tbe body back to bury him in the Cemetery in Cabuya. Cabuya is an island that can only be reached in low tide- and it has a tiny cemetery on it. Alberto's parents and four of his 8 brothers were buried on the island. One day, he said, he would be there too. But this guy was so energetic and lively, I knew he had quite a few more years ahead of him.
Once we got to Paquera, I caught a bus to Cobano, and had to sit and wait for the 530 bus to Santa Teresa. I had been traveling for 11 hours by the time I got on the bus for home sweet home. I finally got into santa teresa around 7, and the driver dropped me off at Pizza Tomate.
Santa Teresa is inbetween Mal Pais and Fleur Blanca- its about a 5 km stretch of dirt road. Mal Pais is the first stop you hit, then santa teresa, then fleur blanca. Even further is the town of Manzanillo. Pizza tomate is where a bunch of my homies hang out during the day, and since I dont have a phone- if I ever am looking for someone, I just go to Pizza Tomate and ask- did he go to the left or the right. Pretty simple lifestyle there.
Once at the Pizza I saw Froilan and Andrea and Froi gave me a ride to the house. AHH Back in Marilin's house, once again. For the next week, we partied and surfed and ate pizza tomate and took motorcycle rides, hit up la piscina and just had a blast. There are a lot of good stories over this week, but maybe not appropriate for everyone to hear. :)
Anyway, I spent a lot of time with Tocola, Randy and Marilin. I got to see Will, my friend at Fleur Blanca- who had just flown back from a crazy week in Argentina. He came back to work and the entire Hills cast was filming the season finale in Fleur Blanca and throughout Mal Pais and Montezuma. One night at Day & Night, MTV took over the whole bar. There were bright lights, cameras everywhere, and everyone was PISSED that their bar was being sabatoged by MTV. It was chaos. So much fun. I might be on the season finale, look for my green hat. My friend Will is one of the characters in the finale, which is funny for SO MANY REASONS.
Portia came out for a week and even though the heat and sun almost killed her, we had an awesome time. We went to Isla de Tortuga for snorkeling- I bought fresh fish off of a fishing boat- probably 6 kilos of fish, snapper and something else- for 8 dollars. It was awesome Portia and I rented a quad and took it all over the place.
I spent my last week partying it up, chillin with my friends, and realizing that I want to come back again as soon as possible. Id really like to own a piece of property there, VAMOS A VER.
My second to last day I ran in a 4k and WON. Well, I got 4th overall but I was the first girl. This is after not running for 3 weeks and the night before Tocola and I drank a liter of rum before the bars. In Santa Teresa, when there are storms in the evening, the power sometimes goes out and you are stranded. So, Tocola and I were stuck in my house with portia for 3 hours and all we had was rum. So we drank like pirates. Anyway- back to the 4k- I won roundtrip tickets anywhere in costa rica. I guess I have to go back!!!
I headed back to San Jose on the 23rd- Portia and I waited at the airport for 2 hours for a plane that never arrived, so we ended up having to take the bus to San Jose. We met these awesome chicks at the airport - always meeting new peeps in costa rica.
We finally got to San Jose and ordered a pizza and hit the hay. Portia had to leave at 4am for the airport, I left at 7am. I had yet another long traveling day, but made it back to Houston. The next 24 hours were nuts, trying to see people - run errands and keep my energy up for the next day. I hit the road yesterday for Lubbock TX, but my car broke down five hours into the trip. I was stranded in a tiny town for 7 hours, trying to find a quick and cheap way to get a new transmission for my car. NOT POSSIBLE. Im now about $2400 in the hole and I have to wait until tues or wednesday to get my car back. I rented a rental car and headed to Austin around 8 last night. Got into Annalicias house around 11 and she prepared a feast. We drank wine and ate like kings, she, george and I. I slept like a baby last night, still trying to recover from Costa Rica.
Yesterday I was traveling for 12 hours, made it to Austin, and lost a car in the process. 2/3 of my posessions are in some tiny town in texas, the other third are with me in Austin. I guess Im heading back to Houston tomorrow until they tell me that my car is ready to go. Then im off to Jackson Hole to start work. Ahh how things change. I cant wait to get back to Wyoming, and Im super frustrated that Im not on my way now, but if this is the path I must take, so be it.
PS: more fun costa rica stories to come - but I wanted to give a brief overview of what happened so far. hasta la verga.
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