Hostel

I´ve arrived in San Jose. I´m here for the night before catching another bus to Tamarindo. Including the boat, the taxis, the bus, and the short walk accross town, it´was nearly 8 hours from Panama to my new ¨home¨ for the night. Tomorrow I have another 5+ hours getting to Tamarindo. I thought about doing it all tomorrow, but wise (I think) opted out.

I´m staying at my first ¨real¨ hostel of this trip. In Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Torro, I found other cheap sleeping arrangements.

Anyhow- random people, free internet, pancake breakfast, styling decor, books, games, laundry service, etc... All the true world traveler could want. Now, when I decide I want to sleep - I might feel otherwise (since I dont´t know if-when the ¨quiet¨ starts).

Anyhow, nice little place to call home for $9. I wish I wasn´t packing so much stuff and that I could take a few weeks to Hostel Hop and see stuff. But, alas - that´s not what this trip is about. Remember - I´m here to study Spanish.

Still... I think I need to start planning a Hostelling Adventure. It was super fun in 1999 in Scandanavia and with Ryan through other parts of Europe.

3 Hour Tour

Remember that tour gone bad (interupted by the rain)? Well, one of my fellow ship mates took it upon herself to arrange a follow-up completion of said adventure (for no additional cost).

Yup, I was walking down the street and they started calling out to me from a restaurant patio. Normally, I try to make it a habit to ignore people yelling at me in foreign countries, but I made an exception this time. Good thing too. That was later in the afternoon after I had cleaned up and enjoyed the wonders of the Bocas Internet Cafe. They told me we had another boat scheduled for anyone from the original 3 hour tour who wanted to do the other half.

Cha Ching!

So, this morning, before leaving Bocas - I was out on the water (and in the water) again. The snorkeling wasn´t as good today, if you´re into colorful coral. However, the fish were amazing. We were snorkelling in 5 feet of coral and plants and there were tons of fish in a variety of sizes and colors. Fun times.

Then, we went to Red Frog beach - appropriately named for the poisonous red frogs. Don´t worry, they hide in the trees and avoid the actual beach. The water was great. The sun was hidden (actually a good thing, I´m not a sun worshipper - so I enjoyed th




Anyhow, Bocas ended up being a stellar weekend trip to start off my oh-too-short stay in Costa Rica. I just realized that since I´m flying home on a saturday, and because this weekend is pretty well gone... I only have 2 free weekends in Costa Rica (when I can get ¨out¨ and see stuff). I´d better make it good!

And the company was great. Although Puerto Viejo didn´t really test my Spanish, the rest of the weekend did. I was able to have quite a few effective and worthwhile conversations with my fellow shiopmates (especially since we did 2 different 3 hour tours as a group - and I´m the only one who speaks English as a native language).

Dinner

Tom, Tom, and Vicki recommended a restaurant in town. Of course, now you´re wondering who Tom, Tom, and Vicki are.

Answer- They are 3 students from England on a bit of a service trek, walkabout sort of thingy. In fact, they were part of a group of 100+ 20-somethings taking 3 months to work with people in poorer parts of Costa Rica, and pirmarily Nicaragua. Sounds like a cool way to spend the year after high school. They say it´s pretty common in England to take a ¨break¨ before beginning university.

Anyhow, dinner. So I went to their recommended eatery and found that I´m having a hard time adjusting to the abundance of food being thrown around here. In Guatemala, I usually ate ¨just enough¨ and was never stuffed. Not the case in Panama - or Costa Rica. Now, granted this might have something to do with my house mom, but also the restaurants I went to in Guatemala didn´t give me that overwhelmingly bloated feeling. I´m not a fan.

So, if you like that feeling and want a good meal... Check out Buena Vista, next to the police station. Cool atmosphere, and the bartenders pretty cool (even if he doesn´t understand why I ordered my drink sin alcohol).

Bocas del Torro

If anyone asks, I'm a few miles away from home... and loving it. I wish I had more time to visit more of Panama, but alas this will have to do. Panama City sounds incredible, but I didn't really plan time enough time for more than Costa Rica and Guatemala (and I'm pushing it just to fit this in)... So I guess that means I'll be coming back (anyone surprised?).

Today, I got up (after a lengthy night's sleep to make up for two early morning wake-up calls and a walk through San Jose) and went on a dolphin, snorkel, lunch, beach, snorkel boat trip.

It turned into a dolphin, snorkel, lunch trip (cut the final visit to a beach and an additional dive) when the rain started. Ooops. Someone forgot to tell me it was rainy season. Doh! Oh well, in the end it all turned out well enough. I'll have blenty of beach time in Tamarindo and at least we got one dive in. The snorkeling was magnificent. The coral was about 5 feet down. i.e. It was right there. And the fish were great. I can't really tell you the specifics, since my dive knowledge amounts to knowing

how to clean and use the gear
describing fish and coral using the primary and secondary colors
knowing not to stand the coral (unlike the guy in our group)

Yes, I am a white, hairy beast. But I got to see really cool corral and fishes, so I'm ok with it. I guess I just need someone to punch me in the eye, so that I can be red, white and blue... and truely represent my country.

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These guys are chopping their way through the water. Slow progress. We soon followed with 250 CC of motor pushing us. Little trouble for us. It´s a 40 minute ride through canals to get to Bocas. That part is perhaps the most memorable. It´s amazing.

Taxis

In San Jose, I was offered the glorious price of $18 for a taxi from the airport to downtown. I was a bit putoff by the whole thing, but I must admit that the same rate is what I'd likely pay in Los Angeles for a taxi from the airport to my apartment. Still, that doesn't make it right. I was just frustrated that no one was more helpful in finding the cheaper solution (the $0.60 bus).

Anyhow, lest anyone acuse me of being less than helpful...

In Los Angeles, there is a cheap option for getting to/from the airport. It is also called a bus (we even spell it the same in English as in Spanish). You can get to just about anywhere in the city for a mere $0.75 (maybe $1 if you're picky).

Visit MTA.net for deatils and schedules. And next time you want a ride home from the airport, remember there is an option that doesn't cost your friend 2 hours and won't cost you $18 either.

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Let me just say, for the record, that I don't like being "helped" by these "helpers." A guy tried to "help" me get arrange my boat to Bocas and get a $20 cab at the Panamanian border. Eventually, I ditched him (not an easy feat) and got my own cab for a lot less. Thanks - no help needed (at least not the help you're offering).

I remembr Jen Volz being frustrated by he culture and how things worked in China. She had traveled a lot in Central America (whereas I had lots of experience in Asia). I have a feeling that I'm experiencing the exact opposite of what she was going through. I'm so tired of people telling me they're helping me, when they're really out to make a fast buck. I'm willing to pay reasonable rates for reasonable help. I'm not willing to pay an unreasonable rates for no help at all.

Puerto Viejo

OK... OK... I said I was going to Costa Rica, and my first thought after getting off the plane was, "get out of the country." Not really, but almost. Several people told me I had to visit Boca del Toro, Panama. And I was also told that San Jose wasn't anything "special." So, I'm going to Bocas del Toro. I do what my friends tell me (most of my friends).

En route, I stopped here... Why? It just seemed like a good idea (given that I had to stop somewhere). I decided I'd get up to watch the sunrise over the ocean. So, two days in a row, I was up at 4:30. Bad choice... Turns out all night I was afraid I was going to oversleep, so I couldn't sleep very well, and I had really weird dreams (including people breaking into my room, AND Sarah Kent asking if she could join us on the hike).

Even so, this is a beautiful stopping point (even if the sunrise was nothing special.

Goodbye Guatemala

I mentioned hitting some final spots in Antigua. I kinda wish I'd found this place a little earlier. I love parks, fountains, and museums. And they had it all. I definitely could have done some homework sitting in the courtyard. Maybe it would have been too distracting, but after a while my bed was a little less than comfortable. Anyhow, I had a "list" of places to see, and I actually managed to get to all but (I think) 2 of them. I guess that means I have to go back.

Anyhow, I then wandered off to the market to buy a gift for my house "mom." I also wish I'd wandered these paths sooner. I wasn't in the "right" mood to bargain (since I was in a hurry to run all my errands), but I could have really gotten into the whole shopping in the marcado thing. I have no idea how this woman thinks she's going to sell all these vegetables before they go bad. But, hey - she made an easy buck off me for letting me shoot several photos. I guess that makes up for the fact that there are 20 other women selling equal piles of goods in the same corner of the market.

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PS I'm bummed that I forgot to get a picture with Juanita, her dauhgter (Rita), or her 3 grand-daughters (Rita, Anna Lucia, and Rita). She did give me a buisiness card and asked that I recommend her to all my friends. So, no better way than here - on the internet for all to see. "Casa Juanita" as she called it, is a fine Bed and Breakfast in Antigua and she's super nice and the place is clean and the conversation (once you can speak Spanish) is great. And although she's "scared" to speak english, she's a practical walking dictionary and she knows lots of words. Super sweet - and for a mere $10 a day (room and board and conversation).

And finally... This is Carlos, but second and last teacher in Guatemala. He pushed me, and it was good to solidify lots of what Fredy and I had studied and work on a few new forms as well.

To Erik Isakson

Pardon this interuption in your regularly scheduled program.

It seems that my recent emails to Erik aren´t going through. Erik has been nice enough to offer me my first ¨job¨ for my first week ¨back.¨ Unfortunately, the internet hates me and my emails are being eaten by the electronic Gods.

So Erik, here´s a number to call...

1229 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-393-9881

It´s the Subaru Dealer/Service-Center in Santa Monica. Hopefully if you explain things to them, they can talk you through what will be necessary.

Oh, and turn off your smap filter. I am not spam!

Scam Jose...

I don't like the marketing techniques of taxi drivers in Central America. There, I said it.

Two weeks ago when I went to Flores to see Tikal, Eve and I were accosted by a mass of madmen (taxi drivers) wanting to drive us anywhere. The same thing happened this morning in San Jose, Costa Rica at the international airport. [If anyone from the tourism beaurau is reading this: I was so turned off I wanted to get back on my plane and go anywhere else.] Luckily, I fended them off with greater ease this time (probably because it was 10 am and not 6 am). They were all generous enough to offer me a ride to the Carribe bus terminal (to catch my bus toward panama) for the great price of $18.

Wow, what a deal?! Not.

Oh sure, if you're multiple people, with lots of bags, and you have no adventure in you, then maybe... But, let me let you in on a secret: there's a bus stop right outside the airport and for $0.60 (yes, 60 cents) you can get a bus to the city. $18 is not a good price. A lesser me might have accidentally taken one of them up on the offer, but this time - I won. I denied their advances, found the bus and got to the bus terminal. And I'm $17 richer than the average man.

Thanks.

Pot, Weed, Grass, and a Good Smoke

OK, so I've started my travels in Costa Rica (I got here this morning after a very early wake up call to catch a shuttle to Guatemala City and my 8:20 flight). My inital destination is actually Bocas del Toro, Panama (for the geographically challenged, that's actually south east of Costa Rica - and a different country alltogether). Anyhow, I'm not there yet, but I'm spending a day in Puerto Viajo. And well, it's hard not to wander through wafts (is that a word) of the worlds favorite weed (asside from tobacco) being smoked here and there.

Also, I feel like I've entered the Bob Marley capitol of the world (Erik, eat your heart out). It turns out that (until recently) this side of Costa Rica was mostly populated by people who came many years ago from various Carribean countries to work for the old fruit companies.

So, the food, the music, the language, the people... it's all different. There is some Spanish here, but there's plento of some other language(s) as well. English is now my default language, but I go in and out of Spanish as well.

So this is the internet, eh?

Oh my gosh, so THIS is why people like the internet so much! I just signed onto a computer here in Costa Rica (yes, I've relocated), and wow... Now we're talking. This is a Pentium 4 with a 17 inch montior, and an optical mouse. Let's just call it heaven.

The connection speed is only slightly faster than Antigua, but the computer's speed makes a huge difference. Anyhow, I'm only telling you this because - well - it's part of the experience and people have asked how the comptuers are here.

In Guatemala, Skype was really big and all the Internet Cafe's were set up for people to talk over the internet. Strangely, here in Costa Rica... although the computers are much better, I don't see a headset connected to any of them. Maybe international calls are cheaper who. Who knows.

Cool Places in Antigua

I left Antigua in a hurry, or rather I was hurriedly preparing when the time came that I had to leave.

I manage to hit a few final ruins and sites in my final days and I'm so glad I did. I did stumbled onto a few gems that I'd missed along the way. Oh sure San Fransisco still is my favorite ruin in the city, but I found a few other places I would have liked to wander more often during my stay.

Sorry no pictures, but if we're ever in Antigua together, I'm taking you to the public library near McDonalds.* It (to me) finally put all the other ruins of the city in perpective. Now I have an image of what the old monastaries, convents, and churches looked like in their hey-days.

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* Yes there is a McDonalds in Antigua - I'm proud to say I did NOT eat there, though I did visit it twice to look around. It may be the nicest McDonalds in the world.

For the Kids

When I left the U.S., I was carrying various goodies to donate to the children of Guatemala. The stuff was sitting in my room this whole time, and I finally took it all in to the school and passed it off for them to distribute. Back when I got here, I also thought I'd get involved in some sort of service opportunity (for instance, Safe Passage). But, I didn't.

In the beginning, I was focused on getting enough Spanish so as not to be a hinderment to whomever I tried to help. In the end, I was distracted by the sites, sounds, and people in Antigua. No regrets, but it meant to official service time.

Some people plan ahead - not me

I have my house on my back. It´s official, I hate moving. Tuesday morning I ran around Antigua doing "last minute" errands. Only last minute, because I'm that kind of person. I was buy a gift for my house-mom and shipping some stuff home to myself (Kevin, expect a package). I ended up missing lunch and then cutting my afternoon class short (on both ends).

Anyhow, mail is expensive... And I forgot to buy someone a gift. If you don't get a gift from me, it's because I didn't buy it for you yesterday. Blame Antigua and my busy schedule.

God, Religion, Church, Fellowship, Theology...

I don't think I was expecting religion to be such a hot topic down here, but it's been very good for me. The day after I did Mormonism 101 at Rikki's Bar, I recounted the whole conversation to my teacher (well, ok - part of the conversation - the Spanish is somewhat limited). At that time I was learning the past tense, so it was perfect practice - you know: since history is all past tense. For example:

Christ started a church. After he died, it was led by the apostles or prophets. Eventually, they died and the church - without Priesthood leadership - split into various and confusing options. Later, Joseph Smith didn't know which church to join. He prayed about his confusion and saw God and Christ.

Point is, it's all past tense, so it's great practice, but more than that - it spurred an interesting discussion about the purpose of the church in political and social life here in Guatemala.

Anyhow, in addition to telling people about my beliefs and my church, I've also had a chance to learn about

great books by great thologians (how do you spell that)
diverse ideas about the nature of God
early Catholic church history in Central America
feeling, receiving, and sending energy
the path a man takes to become a monk
and more

It has been good for me to step outside my (relatively speaking) sterile religious community into this environment. It pushes me to think about what I believe and why others believe what they believe about Life, the Universe and Everything.

I've been reading (as previsouly mentioned) Mere Christianity, but after a great discussion with Austin I now have an extended reading list to keep me busy for the next few years. It's amazing (but not surprising) the amount of literature that has been written about Christianity. What does surprise me is how Austin can rattle off the titles and authors of 20+ books "worth reading" (including my favorite title - though possibly not the most profound from his list: The Gospel According to The Simpsons). I guess he got his money's worth from his Masters in Theology.

I'm also reading the Life of Pi (finally) which has little if anything to do with the number pi. It is, however, an interesting look at one man's journey to find/experience God. It seems that many of the people that "up and move to Antigua for a season" have a bit of (as one friend put it) hippie in them. But, more than that - there's a curious inquisitiveness about many of the people I've met. There's also a gratifying amount of openness to new and different ideas. At home (in "the states" or in LA) religion seems to be pretty low on the collective radar of the population - and deep discussions on these matters are few and far between. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seemed. Granted, for the last year - I've been working in a small office with someone with the same religious backgrowd, so there was little exloration there. And in other jobs, there's really isn't time to stop and chat about God and theology for 2 hours.

Here, there's plenty of time for all that (though some times are better than others). Discussions with Eve, Stephen, Austin, Lucie, and many others have helped re-awaked thought on important subjects I've either taken for granted or not bothered to consider with any seriousness. It has also helped remind me that there are certain things in life that seem crystal-clear, which may not be as cut-and-dry for others. I love these discussion. 10 Years ago, while working at Walt Disney World, I found myself in similar situations and it was equally eye opening and mind expanding.

The Long Goodbye

Well, it's that time again - goodbye time. But then again, this is pretty much goodbye week. Sara, Elise and I are all leaving and others are following soon behind. We got together and did the traditional "trade emails" and talk for hours thing, while hopping from our favorite hang-out spot (Cafe Sky) onto a place with grate crepes. Yes, hard to believe - but right here in Antigua there's a frenchman with a crepe shop - and he knows what he's doing!

It's was Sara's big goodbye, but then again - she keeps coming back to Antigua, so there will probably be ANOTHER goodbye for Sara in a few weeks. Or maybe not, but you just never know.

Steven broght his guitar and it got passed around as we led each other through moving reditions of various Johnny Cash, John Denver, Cranberries, and other fine acoustic hits (you know how it is where there's a guitar). I ate way too much. By the way, it helps to have more than 2 hours between lunch and dinner - just in case you're wondering.

For those who were there and want to relive some of the "magic" here's a video.


Oh sure, I wish I had video of Austin doing Old Home Place, but alas that was not meant to be. This is what happens when you try to video Austin.


Goodbye all!

But not forever, because we're all getting together again in Boone - right?!

Procrastination

As promised, I waited until my last week to visit some of Antigua´s greatest ruins. (Sorry - no pictures today.) I hit three separate churches-convents Saturday morning. I really am astounded by the amount of effort and work that went into these various buildings (and all in the 1700s). And to top it off, how frustrating that the city was hit by two major earthquakes during the century... enough to convince them to uproot and move the captial (thank goodness).

Anyhow, I ended up wandering the walls of these old churches and convents alone (my main city walking partner has moved on) and some other friends upted for a local pool. Not that I don´t like sun, pools, friends and fun... but time is short here and I´ve things to do. I fly out Wednesday.

As it was, last night I was exhausted. I think I went to bed at 7.30... I meant to get up to meet some friends, but slept through my alarm and ended up pretty much sleeping until 7 am. Maybe I´ve got a little bit of the ¨gringo disease.¨ Who knows?