Like rain on Sunday...

This last Sunday, my cousins and I were to take a trip to the mountains to see some hot springs at the Chirripo National Park (also known for the highest peak in C.R.). The day, however, turned foul and by the time we had drove all the way up the mountain, it turned cold (and I do mean cold) and began to rain. The drive was beautiful, so no worries, but it was a little sad.

However! Once we got back home, I made up for the loss by playing with my camera. These are just some fun pics.

And since I have nothing witty to say today, I shall let them speak instead.

I hate being sick.

I really do. Not only because I feel out of sorts, but because it inevitably turns into a cataclysmic sinus infection (like now), rendering me useless, whiny, and feeling like I'm wrapped in cotton. And I seem to have something growing in my lower abdomen...

Since my illness, I've been covertly raiding my cousin's library for reading material because, thanks to my parents, I have been instilled with the belief that reading is a more productive past time than watching television. I don't know why. Really. Last night, I learned from this show on the Discovery Channel that the woody leftovers from a tropical ant colony contain folic acid which can work as an insect repellent. Sweet. I learned something useful. However, today, I also read a book about the crew of a whaling vessel (The Essex) whose ship was sunk by a very pissed off sperm whale. Inside, I was tutored on the specifics of dehydration and the changes a body will undergo during it's rather gruesome demise. Not a way I want to go. Numerous times throughout the book, I found myself going and getting glasses upon glasses of water, if only in sympathy. Helped out my sinus infection, too.

But BOTH were useful ways of gaining valuable information. So I guess everyone's right. My parents and the Discovery Channel.

Today was the San Isidro Farmers Market. I like this place. There is lots of food. I tried to take some covert photographs of produce, but with the hustle and bustle and my head all fuzzy from my cold, I decided to leave it for another week and buy some mangos. It was a good choice.

More photos for people...

Photos! Finally!

These are just a few....more in the next couple of days. Most are on my computer. The top are a couple of my surfer friends trying out my slackline. They´re actually pretty good at it. The second is one of my first sunsets in Dominical. It was incredible. I have some others with a girl in the water with the HUGE sun setting right behind her. Really really cool. Finally, this was my very first sunset in Costa Rica, at my uncle´s house which overlooks the ocean.

Màs despuès, chicos...

No se que decir.

I am sleepy.

Last night was a beach bonfire. Con cervesas y mi guitarra. It was the first fire that I've had on the beach where I'm sweating because of the heat rather than freezing my little heiny off. Above me, Orion casually strolled across the sky, reminding me that it was actually winter where I come from and that this reality that I'm enjoying is in stark contrast to normal.

I'm ok with this.

The holidays flew by, pretty much without my recognition. I spent both of them with my Uncle and that side of the family and that was better, I think, that the drunken brawl that occured in Dominical. I've seen drunken brawls. I have brawled whilst drunk. I know that brawling under the influence only leads to trouble. And I NEVER get into that......ever.....ahem.....

I'm at war with the internet here. God bless Porltand, Oregon and the Coffee Cat Coffee Shop with their love of high-speed internet. I miss you, high-speed internet. Like a fiber from my heart. It's because of your absense that I am unable to do things like post picutres from my life here in Costa Rica. I...I love you.

Last night, I remembered that it was Monday. Mondays used to mean drinking good, dark beer with my buddies and watching Luke and Jeff Pugh talk like an old married couple. I miss you, kids. I really do.

However, I am glad I am here on my own. It is good for my growth as a human.

Ok. Going to try and upload some pictures...for the 8 millionth time.

Muy Estraño.

Let me begin by telling you all how strange it is to be here at Christmas time. There are Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Christmas stockings, Santas, Ornaments, Nativity scenes, and a whooole heap of fake flocked foliage on everything. One of my favorite places to eat has Christmas-themed tableclothes...and this is not the type of place you would expect to even have tableclothes...and the curtains...the curtains! They are also a lovely pine-forest green with candy canes, wreathes, and santas.
I...I just don't know how to handle this. I am a million miles away from familiar yet Christmas is still here. It's just different.

Por ejemplo: Last night I went to a community Christmas show with two other students from my school. We did not know what to expect. We were going because our latin dance instructor was a part of it and we wanted to see him do his stuff. However, we got something quite different than expected.
It was at a bar/hotel called the Roca Verde, a hot spot for locals who want to dance dirty on a Saturday night. However, it had been converted into a theater for tonight's review. We kind of thought that this was a community event, but we didn't know it was a gringo community event. I'm serious. This place was packed with white people. More than I had seen in a long time. And the little community review was really a showcase for local talent. I have no idea where these people came from, were kicked out of, or how they all managed to come together in such a festive way, but it was quite a show. There was a British guy who must have been on Broadway, a old chick in feathers who could have kicked young Glinda from Wicked little heiny, and even our bartender could have made me weep with the way he sang. My god, these people had pipes. Not to say that the performance was perfect...far from it. But there were some beautiful moments. A sanskrit song, bartender making me cry with O Holy Night, and realizing that I'm not just missing Christmas with my family this year, I'm missing Christmas entirely.

And then we got a ride home with a man who had won the Baja 500 four times.

Sometimes, this place makes me feel like I am dreaming.

So, what did they say?

I never thought I would be so bad at understanding another human being. Perhaps I just have good days and bad. Since I woke up this morning and said "Buenas Noches" as a greeting, I think today might be a little bit of a struggle. I'm not saying I have the skill of a Spanish Orator right now, but I think I can do a little better than Good Night.

Perhaps it's because I did a dance workshop last night and practically irrigated the dancefloor with my sweat, thus dehydrating my body and mind to the point of idiocy. I shall drink in abundance today. Perhaps it's because I spoke more English last night than I have in the past three days (and I haven't been silent) which worked against the delicate neuronic pathways, newly-forged in the language center of my brain. Darn you, English, for being my first language!

It's just hard. If you know me, you know that I like to talk...about anything. And this language barrier is barring me from my happy paradise in the sun. Ok, not really. I am perfectly content...I'm three miles outside my comfort zone, but yo soy mucho contento. Did you know they speak Spanish outside my comfort zone? Well, they do.

Ok. Must go study.

My Inaugural Blog.

I have never been much of a blogger. In fact, I have never blogged, which always sounded like the action of removing some slimy substance from your body via the closest orifice. Blog.

But here I am! I have a computer up and running. I have a catchy blog title. I have a camera with which to take groovy pictures of my epic life. I am ready. To blog.

So. How does one do this? And one must ask the question: WHY? Why blog at all? Why not write emails to people, buy phone cards, or simple make new friends if you're all that keen on staying connected? Yes, yes...I could do all of those things. But...

I have many friends, and I WILL write to them.
Phone cards are expensive and shall be used only in emergencies and cases of dire homesickness.
I like the friends I have. I want to keep them in my life.
And...I like hearing myself write. (typety type type typety type!) So cheerful!

So, I shall henceforth be a blogger. I shall blog with abandon. And I shall shall begin my blogster life with my trip to Costa Rica. My flight leaves tomorrow morning (EST) at 8 am. Wish me luck, kids...