Pura Vida!

Hello, Readers! We´ve been in Costa Rica for a little over a week now and we apologize for the slow-going on the blog posts. We spent a week in Playa Tamarindo, and ended up having a lot of fun despite the outrageous expenses. We stayed in a Hostel called ¨La Botella de Leche¨, meaning the bottle of milk, that had a fun cow themed paint all over, a nice pool, and a decent kitchen. The first two nights we stayed in a private room which cost an unbelievable $38 a night - remember, we are trying to keep it at or below $50 a day! But then, we had to move rooms since someone with a reservation came in, so we moved to a dorm which was only $12 a bed, or $24 for the two of us, which helped.

The beach at Tamarindo was a lot like San Juan de Sur - cold water and very windy. We had one good day on the sand but spent a few days keeping cool in the pool at the hostel. One day, we took a shuttle with other hostelers to Playa Conchal, which was beautiful, and another playa which was good for the surfers. At Conchal, we swam and snorkled, and did some more Yoga on the beach! There were a surprising number of Canadians at our hostels and had some good times trying the local firewater, Cacique, with them. There was Karaoke night at a local bar, where you got a free shot every time you sang! You know I took advantage of that!! We ate exclusively at the hostel, preparing our own food in the kitchen, which consisted mainly of Gallo Pinto, a local rice and bean dish I learned to make in Nicaragua, and Salchichon, a chicken sausage, and veggies.

On Thursday, the local bar was having another excellent promotion. It was Mohawk night. Anyone who shaved a Mohawk at the bar got 5 free beers. It didn´t take much to convince me that this was an EXCELLENT idea! We went to Sharky´s with some friends, a couple on vacation from Canada, and the other guy and I got a free haircut and some beers. Because I was the first girl to get her Mohawk done at the bar, they rewarded me with 10 free beers! Of course, we all shared, so we had 15 beers between us. All in all, I think it´s a good deal: free beers and free haircuts. I am still getting used to my new ´do, but I am loving it and getting lots of compliments from some people, and all out stares from others. We will upload pictures to facebook as soon as we get somewhere with wifi!

After our week in Tamarindo, we headed inland to San Jose. We are now staying with the parents of my mom´s neighbor just outside the capital. The Raphael´s have been so generous taking us into their home and we´re having a lovely time. It´s the first hot shower we´ve had since El Salvador and the home-cooked meals are wonderful! We also had a nice afternoon picnic with the neighbors who gave us excellent recomendations for our continued travels in Costa Rica (such as, stay in Quepos, not Manuel Antonio, since they are only 7 km apart but MA is very touristy and expensive). We went Salsa dancing with our surrogate parents on Saturday night and on Sunday explored the city a little while they went to church. This morning, we woke up to rain and heavy winds, so are taking an easy day. Tomorrow we may go explore some little cities nearby and on Wednesday hope to hit up some hot springs an hour south of here.

I´d like to end with a little poem I wrote while taking my first hot shower in 35 days (but who´s counting?):

Haiku to Hot Water

Oh, Hot Water, yes!
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!
Hot water, oh yes!