Costa Rica So Far

Here is the transcript of the first couple days in CR. I still have to type up the rest so check back.

3/25/09 Wed

Yo Yo. I guess I’m doing the journal again. We’ll see how long it lasts. Right now I’m at Hotel Cacts. It’s a neat hotel. I won’t try too hard to describe what it looks like. I’ve already had trouble describing it to Morgan, so I’ll take pictures instead. I’ll say that it has a neat pool (shallow) and is pretty much open to the elements everywhere except the lobby and the rooms themselves. Kinda, I don’t know. The third floor has a sun deck (the roof with chairs on it) and a place to eat in the morning.
My flight arrived last night. One guy in the program was on my flight, too. We got a taxi and went to the hotel where we met a handful of other memberof the group. It was late and we were hungry, so we walked around and grabbed some Italian food. At least it was better than eating at Pizza Hut.
The next day, about 15 of us walked all over downtown San Jose. Lots of walking. It was nice to get to know people. Most of them (hehe). The food is pretty good and the people are really nice. Los ticos les gusta cuando trato hablar español. Anoche, mi amigo Chris (con la barba!) y yo estabamos cansados del grupo enorme, así salimos a un restaurante solos.
La redz es la suck.

3/27/09 Fri

Yesterday was really cool. We went over the course during orientation and I could not be more excited. Our homework is going to be really fun. For instance, today we’re doing research on a locally cultivated fruit. I got assigned to research the star fruit or carambola (averrhoa carambola). Además tenemos hace comprar estas frutas de una tienda en SJ y dar a la grupa una presentación corta. Que divertido! También tenemos hacer aprender sobre un animal y una planta que posiblemente vamos a ver en las selva.
We had a group lunch and went to the snakeatorium (lol). We had a lecture from this large Palestinian guy about Costa Rican snakes and then he gave us a special inside look at his serpentarium. So we got to see lots of snakes up close. Afterwards we had a massive soccer game (4 games actually) at a local futbol field (indoor)! It was a really small turf field, but it was really fun.
La redz todavia es la suck.

3/28/09 Sat

I should really get around to this befote I g oto bed. It’s harder to remember things the next morning, and it’s hard to write on the bus.
Yesterday we set out to purchase the fruit we were supposed to research. Miles, Chris , and I went to the Mas Para Menos Mercado (which is apparently owned by Walmart now.. que lastima). They didn’t have any carambolas, but we bought lots of stuff anyway. Afterwards we went to the park to eat sandwiches we made.
Then we went to this large Mercado on Avenida Central which was really neat. On the way back I jumped on a thumbtack which went through my sandal and stabbed my heel.
I ALMOST FORGOT! Chris wanted to get info about a fishing license, so I accompanied him to a tackle store. It was cool because I did a good job as a translator. The guy said that in 20 years he had never been bothered by fishing authorities in Monteverde or Lago Fortuna. Chris ended up buying some lures for really cheap.
Anyway, when we got back to Cacts from the Mercado, we had a two point five hour lecture about our fruits… yay.. Followed by an interesting lecture introducing us to Costa Rica (facts, current events, history, etc) Lebanese restaurant for dinner, packed for today and went to bed. (11:30 PM…Had to wake up at 4 AM).

3/28/09 Still Sat

OK, so I remember to write in here today. Sweet. Today was…tuanis? I hope that’s how you spell the Tico slang for “cool” that Erick taught me.
After packing our bags to be sent to Monteverde (I forgot my goddamn pocket knife in my MV bag), we jumped on a bus to go to the Osa Peninsula. We stopped in the Talamanca Cordillera para desayuno and had a nature stop too. Erick de Mexico told us that the restaurant we went to, Los Cheseperos (sp?) is taken from an old Mexican show about a grasshopper superhero who can shrink. He sounded awfully like Bumblebee man from the Simpsons, esp. cos silly things always happen to his friends or landlord or whatever.
Bus again, and then linch in sierpe. Hellza good. Then we loaded all our stuff on boats and went downriver. There were floating flowers, not anchored to anything, some birds and even whitefaced capuchins! Se llaman las carablancas. The boat ride was fun, but we ended up in an amazingly amazing (lol) place!
PARAISO! We’re set up camp right near the beach (BOYEEE!) (the water is so freakin warm BTW) and we have our own little camping area to ourselves. I’m sharing a tent with Randall, we’re bigote buddies I guess. After dinner and an introduction to the caretakers, cooks, and the area, we discovered the multitude of wildlife present at night! Crabs everywhere, toads, wolf-eyed spiders, bugs errwhere and hopefully not too many fur de lances. In the water there may be sharks and stingrays! DID I MENT- wait, yes I did. Anyway, I asked Mario and Chato, our young boteros about the carablancas and they said that they’re malos. They eat everything, even iguanas. But that’s cos they’re so smart. Sang some songs with Nicole, did some research about wild ginger and went to bed. BAM!
PS. Mexico beat CR 2-0 today. Pobre ticos.

3/29/09

WHERE TO START!? How about morning? Woke up at 6am, sweaty as hell. As I write this, I can barely stand the smell of my cotton sleeping bag liner (one use!). Swam in the very warm tropical ocean with Chris and Randall before breakfast. Tried to fish, didn’t work out so well.
After breakfast (beans and rice and meat and plantains again! Who knew?) the advanced Spanish speakers (at last!) went with Sofia and Don Miguel up the mountain. Lots of plant notes and hiking, but not too much, really. Kim, Nicole, and I are thinking of writing a “mas o menos” song. Lol. After a small break and lunch (rice, beans, plantains! Again! Who knew?) we had a nature talk and walk with Fede, more Spanish! I’m getting really good at this!
What did we see? A basilisk, a murcielago, and a snake eating a frog! And I think I forgot to mention that there are bright orange and purple crabs EVERYWHERE! On the beach, by and under the tents, in the cabinas and @ the top of the goddamn mountain!
We came back and had dinner (rice, beans, FISH, plantains, WHO KNEW) and waited for our nightwalk. Nightwalk = awesome. Meowing frog. Huge! Probably meows to mimic distress cries from baby crocs. Basilisks, spiders, turtles (ALL PICKED UP AND PLAYED WITH). Wasps. Stung by one. Lame. Beach snail trying to eat a bivalve, wow. Annelids, whatever. GRAND FUCKIN FINALE: Mario, Chato y Don Miguel atraptaron un crocodrilo! Con un stick! Y mi cordón! I quickly took off my shoelace and they tied its mouth. And then they let me hold it! WTF it was SICK. Just a baby, but it was still powerful and had apparently ate the mother of the dog that roams around here. Freakin sweet. Suck it, real school. We also saw an anteater on the way back.
Tomorrow we go exploring in the mangroves, and then over the mt. to hopefully se carablancas. Then maybe fishing with Chato, Mario, y Chris.
AWESOME