last days continued...

OK...I´ve got a few more minutes sooooo...We wanted to get out of Manuel Antonio and decided to head to Alajuela a day early BUT the bus to san jose didn´t leave until 5 p.m. which means we would have arrived in san jose well after dark, would have needed to look for another bus station, then disembark in alajuela and begin lookin for a hotel. We decided that wasn´t the best plan, so, we took the bus to Jaco and stayed there for a night. I had never had any desire to go to Jaco, BUT, it was a cool little town. If I hadn´t of been so tired I may have tried going dancing. Anyways, we got off of the bus and stopped at the first hotel on our side of the street. It was a little place called LA COMETA and it was cheap and clean. The room was actually a really decent size and we had hot water and a/c so it was a great place for 36$!!!!! We wandered around a bit, made some phone calls, had a milk shake and bought some groceries. Here´s something about Costa Rica that is driving me nuts and really shocks me....in every other place I´ve been in the World even in Honduras and Guatemala, there are phone and computer places on every corner. NOT IN COSTA RICA. In all the places we´ve been, Jaco is the only exception. Before I left I told my mom. It´s one of those little things that gets to me now since people always talk about costa rica being more advanced that some of the other central american countries. In some ways it is...it that regard, it´s not even close. OK, enough whining.... We woke up early in Jaco and took the 9am bus to San Jose. Once we made it to alajuela we started looking for the hotel in pouring rain. The rain thing doesn´t bother me. I knew it was going to rain everyday and I was prepared for it. I have been pleasantly surprised since it hasn´t rained nearly as much as I expected it to. That said, I need to complain again for a minute. Another of my disappointments is in the expectation that the Costa Ricans would be the friendliest and most helpful people in the World. In general they are friendly and helpful, but not more than any one else. I must say I really think the people in Honduras and Guatemala are much more so... The other thing that bugs me (and I expected this as I read about the warnings on trip advisor) is that Costa Ricans (supposedly because they don´t want to dissapoint you), when asked for directions, will always answer you, regardless of whether or not they REALLY know where something is. This is happened to us a few times and can agree with others that you should always ask multiple people where something is. THIS TO ME IS NOT FRIENDLY AND NOT HELPFUL AND IS DOWNRIGHT INCONSIDERATE BEHAVIOR. I would much prefer that someone tell me, ¨i´m sorry, but, I don´t know where it is.¨ instead of having me wander BLOCKS AND BLOCKS out of my way, because they didn´t want to ¨disappoint¨me. OK, sooo after a few misdirections, we ended up at our hotel, HOTEL LOS VOLCANES, and it´s an awesome little place. Definitely a great bargain! We wandered around to find some food and ended up at a little place that was actually good. Here´s another thing I learned on tripadvisor that I will agree with. I won´t really call this a complaint, sinc I was prepared and it´s helping me to not gain weight, BUT most of the food here has absolutely NO FLAVOR. I don´t know how they manage to do it, but, most meals are very much uneventlful for your taste buds. There have been a few exceptions, DOS LOCOS in Quepos was amazing, the little place in San Jose was good, and the food last night was good. Also, the popcorn at the movie theater was THE BEST i´ve ever had. The other things that WILL NEVER disappoint, are 1) the bakeries 2)dos pinos icecream! Everything else, not matter how much you pay, is a toss up. Soooo, around 4:30 yesterday we decided to hop a bus and head to the nearest mall. I´ve never been in one in Central or South America and decided to check it out and go see a movie. We ended up seeing the first movie available and it was some new movie with Brendan Fraser about the Center of the World. It was all in spanish and I am SO SO SO proud of myself because I actually understood the majority of it. The movie was really cute and funny and the popcorn was so yummy! We were near hypothermia in the theatre though, since we got caught in a downpour before entering and were soaking wet inside where they had really strong a-c on. We were freezing! We were also happy the movie was short, not because we were cold, but so we could shop! The mall was really really cool and had some great prices. I found the most incredible suit and top, but of course, it was one size too small!!! I ended up with 3 really cute pairs of earing and some bracelets for FOUR dollars. We tried to get over to a bookstore, but, most of the shops closed at 8pm (which saddened me greatly) sooooo we didn´t have too much time to look around. In hindsight, we should have done the shopping before the movie (we would have been drier, too!) Luckily we found the bus in the dark and made it back to the hotel around 9 pm. It was a really nice night. Well, I´m waiting for Kristen to wake up (it´s 8 am here) and we need to do final packing, breakfast and leave no later than 10 for the airport. The water here was cold, so my 5:30 am shower was quite the wake up call for me! Let me revise that, the water was hot, long enough to burn me, then went back to cold....maybe 15 seconds total of not freezing water. Not really a complaint, I survived two months of cold showers in honduras. They never really bothered me midday, when I was hot and it was hot outside. BUT, the ones i had to take early in the morning were always really really hard on me.... OK...I know I´ve complained quite a bit and talked about being disappointed BUT all in all I really really have had a great time!!! I´m really happy I´m functionally fluent in spanish because it gets you so much further and really makes everything better and you are able to learn so much more about the people and to develop bonds. It is my belief that people actually treat you a lot better when you are able to communicate effectively with them. When I get back home I will try to write about things I may have forgotten. TAKE CARE!!!!

last days

Well, the last few days have flown by soooooo quickly. It seems like we spent the majority of it on busses travelling. Friday morning we hiked Manuel Antonio rainforest and saw a sloth and a spider WOO HOOOOO (i´m saying that sarcastically, by the way). So, the animal front was disappointing, and so was the trail, BUT we did have a very good time hiking to the waterfall. Had to cross a couple mid-calf deep rivers/streams and climb down and up some very very muddy hills, so, it was definitely an adventure slipping and sliding everywhere! I ended up leaving my shoes and socks at the hotel since there was no way those would dry and I wouldnt put them in my bag. All in all I´m still happy we went because i never thought I would do a hike like that AND the monkeys still hang out on the beach! You got it, tons of little white faced monkeys just roaming around like it´s nothing out of the ordinary. Kristen and I even got peed on by one! That´s another experience i donçt need to relive.

Well, I have more to say but the spacebar is sticking again and driving me nuts. Will write again when I can.

The last days

Don´t have much time at the moment to write, but, wanted to do a quick update. Thursday night we went to Bylbos for dance lessons. I´m already a decent salsa dancer so I was really looking forward to learning a few new things. We had a great time and the guys that work there are awesome! It´s been a long time since I´ve been to a bar in a tourist area, but, I´ve gotten really good at picking out the guys that pray on lonely gringas! The guy that came after me didn´t fair to well and moved on to some younger girl who looked very happy to be dancing with him. Friday morning we woke up really late and went to the national park. Bought some incredible dresses from some stands by the entrance. One for me and one for my daughter. I know many people are going to be upset when I say this, but, in general I was very very disappointed with Quepos and Manuel Antonio. I´ve done a lot of travelling in central and south america, most in Honduras where I lived briefly and I had extremely high expectations of Costa Rica...maybe that was my problem, the expectations. I did not find people to be as friendly or as helpful as people always talk about (with expections like Melania and her husband Gilberto and other people in La Fortuna) and so many people are quick to rip you off. I don´t let the money thing become an issue when it´s only a dollar here or there (like the dress lady on the beach that refused to give me my change...or all the taxis that refuse to put on the meter) as I know it is needed more by the other person than by myself. This is just not something that has ever happened to me any where else. Manuel Antonio now, comapred to 10 years ago, is completely overdeveloped, it no longer has that charm it used to ( IN MY OPINION). We wanted to leave for Alajuela ahead of schedule but the bus for San Jose didn´t leave till 5pm. Sooooo we opted to take a bus to Jaco and stay the night there. That´s an interesting little place... Found a nice little place to stay, called LA COMETA, which ended up being next to a bar with live music. I was soooo happy to have my earplugs! We wandered around awhile and headed back to the room, we were exhausted. We are now at LOS VOLCANES in alajuela and it is such a cute little place. And a great bargain too!!"! I like this place, it´s busy and lively without being San Jose and havé only seen two other tourists! THIS IS HOW I LIKE IT :-) I could have stayed here much longer. OH well. We are going to try checking out the mall to kill a few hours and maybe take in a movie. I´ve always wanted to see a movie when I was travelling but never had time. I think it will be a cool experience.
Sorry my thoughts probably aren´t coming out very well. Mentally and physically I am exhausted. I will try to form better thoughts when Im back home.

manuel antonio...not what it used to be

What a disappointment! After the way people talked about this place, and my memories from 10 years ago I expected Manuel Antonio to be paradise...we are getting out of here tomorrow morning. Quepos is a real dump of a town and I have never seen so much barbed wire in my life, even around the elementary schools...what's that telling you? Doesn't make me feel warm and cozy....We are going to try going out tonight, we're going to hang out at El Avion in Oliver North's plane for some drinks and the sunset...if we can see it, it's soooooooooooooo rainy here! It took EIGHT hours to get here yesterday from Arenal... EIGHT HOURS! That was our big adventure yesterday. The family that ran our hotel drove us to the first stop an hour and a half out of town! They are amazing!!! Took my first night bus in central america as it gets dark at 5:30 and we arrived at 8 pm and found a taxi to our hotel...also a disappointment. Under ANY other circumstances it would be beautfiul, it is, BUT I was expecting to wake up to the sound of monkeys and lizards, like I did 10 years ago....but I fell asleep to loud music from the bar, sounds of dishes clashing in the kitchen and non stop traffic. Woke up to the traffic. Since we've been here, we've seen ONE lizard. That's it. Maybe we'll have luck tomorrow. If not, I'm going to try and find the zoo in San Jose and take some pictures of animals for Eva!

Ohhhhh...today...so far we've walked about 4-5 miles, most of it up or down inclines that surpasses any incline a treadmill could ever do! Combined with eating sporadically, but heartily, I think we are a little slimmer than when we arrived. OOOOkkkkkk, sorry I don't have any more adventorous stuff to share. Maybe something will happen. I have feeling the rest of the trip might be more relaxing that exciting...

See you soon,
ME

Last full day in La Fortuna, Arenal

ok ok ok so I may not have actually had a near death experience, but, I felt like I came pretty close a couple times yesterday! Day started out calm, the dad at the hotel drove us in to town and we perused awhile until we decided to walk the 2km back in the costa rican sun...we were so sweaty by the time we finally made it we jumped in the pool. The water was awesome! At 10:30 we were picked up so that we could go risk our lives on the biggest and baddes zip lines in costa rica. If you don´t know what a zip line is, you have a harness that goes around your waist, and then you are clipped on to a wire several hundred feet above the rainforest floor. These particular ones I believe are almost 700 feet above at some points and go from a couple hundred meters long up to a half mile. Once your hooked up you grab the handle bars and let go and zip from one platform to another around 45+ KMH or more! GOOD GOD WE ARE CRAZY! Once you make the decision to start, there is no backing out, you have to complete the entire course of 6 or so lines. On one of them....I didn´t make it all the way ot the platform....lost my momentum and couldn´t make it up the upswing.....and yes....i was left DANGLING over the rainforest. Whever I let go of the bars to pull myself I would start sliding back towards the middle of the line! I finally got my body turned completely around and used every muscle I had in my arm to start trying to pull myself up the upswing...when I got about half way to the platform the guide hooked up and started zipping towards me. I won´t repeat what I said as he came flying towards me and hit me BuuuuuuuUUUTTTTTT lets just say I was a little freaked out at seeing him come at me. While we worked to wrap his legs tightly around me I took a moment to enjoy the beautiful scenery...the giant lake underneath me and the active volcano to my right. If I was going to die I could not have chosen a prettier place! OH and we saw monkeys and the volcano rumbled, by the way :-)

OK, I survived the lines and later that night the dad drove us and 2 of his kids to the volcano for the night viewing and we saw some lava flowing out! Couldn´t capture it on camera though. He then dropped us of at the garden of eden, paradise, also known as the Baldi Hot Springs and resort. That place was incredible...14 different springs (all different temps...did you know 113 degrees is really really hot...i lasted for a minute before I couldnt take te pain anymore, decided not to try the 152 degrees after that) 3 swim up bars, waterfalls and beautiful lighting up the wazoo and beds built in to the water! I even went down a waterslide, which is where I thought I was going to die again...I didnt think 45 kmh would be very fast...but I started out sitting up and the speed forced me onto my back and I started to think I was a rocket, I hit the water with incredible force, got the biggest wedgie of my life and was sure I was going to crack my head on the wall as I hit it. Turns out that that didn´t happen... the wall was pretty far away and that section of the water was deeper so I didnt hit the bottom either. I only went one time. Some things you just DONT have to do twice....

OK, we were thinking about going to Panama after the mom here recommeded it. Still might, just don´t know if we have time. We are going to find our way to Manuel Antonio today but have to take several different busses to get there. The fmaily might drive us to the first stop an hour and a half away since they have to go there today.

All in all I´m ok, I´m sore from the rafting, and a little burnt in some places even though I am using spf 50 all day long...problem is I keep sweating it off, I think.... write back when I can!

I´m back!

Wow. I just got back from white water rafting in RIO BALSAS. I always thought that it looked like fun and really adventorous but was too scared. In the spirit of PURA VIDA I went on a whim and booked us a trip after Melania (the hotel owner) recommended it and showed me some pictures. I am soo sooo soooooo happy I went! It was a half day tour for $60 and it was incredible. I don´t want to tie up this computer for too long so I will have to write another day. Tomorrow we are going on the zip lines! I CAN¨T WAIT!!!!

Day One complete

Hello all again. After writing last we went to the bar at Hotel Balmoral, up on the second floor so we could watch the people outside. It´s open air (most things are here, which I love!) so it was a bit chilly. I´m happy I brought warmer clothes :-) The waiters were super super friendly and we got into long discussions about the money here. So, it turns out that some of the money I brought with me from my trip here 2 years ago no longer is in circulation. They thought it was great that I ahve the bills. They each have some expired currency that they keep folded up in their wallets with the date that they have carried it since written on the bill. They are little keepsakes for them. They can also be worth some money. They gave us some great tips on where to go and not to go dancing. After our drink we went back to the room to get ready. I am so happy that the room has super hot water and a hair dryer! Once we were ready we found a taxi and headed over to Centro Commercial EL PUEBLO. ANOTHER FREAKING MAZE!!! What do Costa Ricans have against signs?!?!!?! The place was nearly impossible to navigate so we wandered a little (ps...it was about 7:30 and we were dressed up for dancing! Time goes sooooo slow here) Checked out some of the menus and then settled on LUKAS restaurant for drinks and snacks to pass some time. Again, friendly waiters, this time too friendly. The guy ended telling us he would take us over to a different club, far away from these ones so that we would ahve a better time....YEAH RIGHT! We´re gringas, we´re drinking, but we´re not retarded. Anyways, the nachos we ordered were some of the best things I´ve eaten in my entire life! They were soooo soo sooooo good. Heré´s another thing about costa rica. Everyone runs on turtle time.....slllloooooooowwwwww. I´ve always clashed with Central Americans sense of time. They enjoy life and are never in a hurry. Soooooo it took us almost 45 minutes or more to get the bill. I love that it´s super relaxed, it just takes me a little time to switch from USA Ï´m always in a hurry and it better happen right now¨ mode to ¨i´m enjoying life and the people and things around me, why rush?¨ . Sooooooooo we ended up going to 3 different clubs (Tarrico, Fiesta Latina, and Bongos? I say ¨Bongos¨because that´s where I THOUGHT I was but hen we were leaving we passed by Bongos....maybe there was 2.....maybe I had too much Guaro....) I´ve switched to having an occasional shot of Guaro (the local liquor that could be similar to paint thinner but with a hint of citrus ...) and found that it´s best when paired with a really sour lime.... the lime is so bitter you can barely taste the Guaro....ahhhhhh brings back good memories of Honduras! Maybe later I´ll write about the different clubs and why we only stayed till 11 or 11:30 p.m.....We didn´t do ANY dancing, but, it was cool to watch the Tico´s and compare them to the clubs and how we dance back home.

Got to get ready and start the next adventure. PURA VIDA
Alissa

OK. It´s 7 am not and GORGEOUS outside

Part 1 of Day 1 in San Jose, Costa Rica

Well, all, I am here. Safe, sound and....wet. Let´s open with this: THe keyboards here are different, so, please forgive typos. Couldn`t really sleep last night. I´d guess I have around 2 -3 hours sleep. The trip from Detroit to Houston went really well, I highly recommend continental. Was planning on studying spanish on the plane, but, who can resist Patrick Dempsey on a 5 inch screen?! Sooooo watched ¨Made of Honor¨, which was cute. Did a little reading on the Houston to San Jose flight, but mostly watched scenery. Landed in San Jose and went into Spanish mode right away! Here´s the thing though, the better you sound, the faster they answer you! Me, being somewhat of a dummy, just says OK because I don´t want to keep saying ¨What???¨, especially not after they compliment me on my spanish! Sooooo we got taken at the currency exchange because I just didn´t understand everything she said, mostly because I wasn´t paying great attention. We lost about $20.00 because she gave us a lower exchange rate. BUUUUTTTTT....I had planned on taking a taxi, which, would have cost $20+ and made our lives MUCH easier. Kristen though, was feeling adventerous and suggested taking the public bus...soooo we went in search of one. TIP NUMBER ONE...NEVER ask a cabbie (especially a pirate/unofficial one) for directions to a bus, you´ll end up in Timbuktu. The good news ladies n gents, is that I was prepared for this type of trickery and grabbed Kristen (who´s to nice to be rude and tell him to get lost and walk away while he´s talking) and went to where I saw busses. Found a police officer and asked him the way to San Jose. He was soooooo nice, he babysat us until the bus came :) He kept telling us ¨Be very careful, san jose is verrry dangerous, you should take a taxi once you get to the bus stop¨ So got on the bus and eventually made it to downtown san jose. The bus trip cost about eighty cents, making up even for the 20 we lost at exchange since we didn´t pay the cab fare. Well, we didn´t know where the hotel was (didn´t have reservations either) so we just started wandering, ignoring the advice about a hotel....coul´dn´t be THAT far away, could it? Some may have whipped out their map, but, I refuse to look more touristy and to let people know I have NO idea where I´m at sooooo...we wandered...and the rain started....not heavy rain, but rain, wet rain (I was super smart to pack all my stuff into sealed plastic bags so that nothing would get wet inside). Occasionally we would ask for directions, and everything I had read about TICOs (what you call a Costa Rican) is true, THEY HATE TO DISAPPOINT PEOPLE SO EVEN IF THEY DON´T KNOW WHERE SOMETHING IS, THEY´LL JUST GIVE YOU RANDOM DIRECTIONS!!!! Well, out of maybe 7 people we asked, only 1 person gave us the right directions. After walking a mile or 2 we got to the hotel, looking like drowned rats, and they had no rooms available! We went across the street to Hotel Balmoral and now have a cute little closet to sleep in for the night...it´s tiny...BUT very cozy, with A-C free soap and shampoo and towels and it´s in the center of downtown. We laid down for a minute to try and take in everything that just happened, it was such a blur. What an adventure. We are off to a fabulous start!!! We were starved at this point and decided to wander till we found something local (sorry, I´m not here to eat Denny´s, KFC, Subway, McDonalds or the like...which are everywhere here) and cheap. We ended up in this little shopping center and got this incredibly huge and butter laden plate of food and a drink for $4.00. Had grilled chicken, rice with corn , fried tortilla, butter with mashed potates mixed in and butter soaked veggies...soooo yummy!!! (glad we walked so much!) Then we went off in search of a supermarket for water. Walked through a really seedy part of town (complete with the famous HOTEL DEL RAY which is the prostitute bar and hotel...in fact that whole area is one huge brothel). Now I´m here writing you guys, and the next step is to go collect our free drink from the bar, then try and fix my appearance some what, get dressed up, find a taxi and go out dancing. ....

Well, the first few hours have been fabulous. I still don´t feel excited. I feel like I have come home. I´m relaxed, I´m happy and I feel like I fit in. I promise to be safe as I live life to its fullest ;) Until the next time...
Alissa

I am so bad at this!

OK, keeping up with things is not my forte, as you may have noticed. HOWEVER, I am THREE days away from landing in Costa Rica sooooooooooooooo it is time to bring this thing back to life! I had no problems accessing computers in Honduras or Guatemala, so, I find it hard to believe that there would be issues in Costa Rica. Right now, our very loose plan is to fly in to San Jose (explore and go dancing), go to Arenal (do some volcano watching, ziplines, waterfall? hot springs?), then off to Manuel Antonio (rain forest, beaches?, dancing, explore) then spend the last night in Alajuela? (explore) since it is right next to the Airport. The ONLY thing we have booked right now is our flights, so, this will be a true adventure and will be living PURA VIDA to its fullest!!!