That´s my pirate sound. Because I´ve been to the Caribbean!
Okay first the rest of my weekend...
Sunday I spent the whole day with mi familia. And their familia. From the time we woke up - oh by the way, I have a story about how we woke up that Sunday morning.
The roosters start doing their thing around 430am, the dogs start their business at 530am and the children start playing and yelling around 630am so I wasn´t sound asleep by any means when a huge commotion shook the roof around 730am. There wasn´t any reaction to the noise from the rest of the house, so part of my mind decided it must be the children outside, despite the fact that the noise had come from above my head and seemingly all around. Then I started to hear some excited loud talk - I made out "gato" and finally got out of bed. A cat had fallen through the roof into Gaby´s bedroom. The reason she hadn´t screamed when it landed on her floor (on its feet, good kitty)? The same thing had happened a couple of months ago in Maga´s room. In fact, Gaby was still in bed as the rest of the family barged into her room to find the biggest feral cat I´ve ever seen, yowling and hissing at us from her bureau. Gaby went so far as to yell at all of us to shut up, get out, and let her sleep!
Mi Señora was able to pick up the cat without it scratching out her eyes before it tore its way out of her grasp and out the front door.
From then on, it was visitors all day: aunts, uncles, baby cousins, Christian´s girlfriend. At times, I ached to get away and take a solitary walk, but at the end of the day - which ended with church, where some of you will be surprised to find out I did NOT sleep nor did my evil heart spontaniously ignite (though the jimmy leg was going at hummingbird speed) - I had a fantastic time. And that one day improved my Spanish exponentially. I had a moment where I replied to Gaby with a word I haven´t heard or used since I was a child, and it came out of thin air (the thin air in my head that is.) Usually I liken my Spanish conversations to the Claw game at arcades - the player directs the claw to slowly and mechanically search for the prize they want within the massive tangle of toys. The claw drops and blindly grasps the nearest treat, delivering it to the child. My Claw is working more efficiently and there is actually an organization to the tangle of toys in my head now.
Monday saw me off to Cahuita! I made my way to the Terminal Caribe in San Jose where I had my first experience with creepy thieves. After I bought my ticket, I went to the bathroom (cleaner than you would think because you have to pay to use them) and discovered one of the outside pockets to my backpack was unzipped all the way - sonsabitches. They got nothing; I never pack anything important there anyway, but I was insulted they would try. I literally had the thing strapped to my back for the last hour and a half - they must have tried the instant before I had gone to the bathroom, I had been putting my ticket in a safe place in my daypack and my back wasn´t to a wall.
Regardless, I was on my way. And so was Megan, the med student I met at Volcan Poas! That was a treat - I was excited to have a partner for the adventure to share the cost of the room and of course take fabulous pictures of me.
The bus was hot and crowded and the trip took over 4 hrs. Raise your hand if you knew that I get claustraphobic and carsick on long bus rides. I was actually okay for the most part - I had a window seat and hanging my head out to have a cool breeze blast my face at 50 kph was key. We arrived in Cahuita and it could not have been more breathtaking!
Gorgeous weather, not a cloud in the sky (rainy season? Pshaw!), peaceful waves, and jungle like crazy. Cahuita has one main road, with 4 or so dirt roads that intersect it. Megan and I walked to outside of town to find a place in Playa Negra, a totally secluded beach about 3 km away.
We found these Cabinas run by the nicest German´s I´ve ever met. They had 2 super friendly dogs, who instantly became our best friends: Nikki and Dog-rug - not sure what her real name was but when she wasn´t jumping around being cute, she laid down like a dog rug, so Dog-rug. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach - the water was bathtub temp and calm; that is until the tide started to come in and Mother Nature knocked me across the face with a set of huge waves and a strong riptide. Okay. I get it. I´m just a lowly human.
Jesus!!! I just saw the biggest roach in the internet cafe...gag. heeebiegeeeeeebiessss...
Speaking of huge insects, they had them in Playa Negra. Walking around, Megan and I found a gigantic purple grasshopper. The thing was the diameter of my palm and the underside of its wings shown red when it flew/hopped. Imagine my bloodcurdling scream
when I stepped on his dead brother in the shower a couple of hours later. Yes I ran out naked. No I didn´t pick it up and throw it away. Megan and I were both too squeamish and covered it with the soap dish so at least we wouldn´t step on it again.
The rest of my time in Playa Negra was spent hiking the National Park, laying on the beach and drinking juice because IT WAS SO HOT. Humid, sweltering, mosquito-dense hot. I started to feel not so great in the middle of the second day, but I wrote it off as near-heat stroke.
The following morning I was still feeling sub-par but was excited to get back to Santa Barbara, because at least I could have a real shower and some relief from the heat. By the end of my 4 hr bus ride (most of which I slept through) plus the additional 2 hours it took in catching connecting busses to get home, I was a bag of toys. What I had written off as carsickness and heat stroke, I am now convinced is malaria, since that specific area has the highest malaria risk in Latin America and I got absolutely chewed up and spit out by millions of mosquitos.
I´m on a slow mend - catatonic, weak, aches, and no appetite beyond Frosted Flakes, yogurt and juice - better than I felt yesterday, but if I´m still feeling crappy tomorrow, I may have a Spanish lesson at la farmacia.
I´m going to try and pull it together enough to teach my girls another class tonight - tomorrow if I really can´t swing it. I´m excited because I put together a great mix for them and have really prepared the entire class in Spanish!
Oh and I forgot to mention I saw a sloth in Cahuita, but no monkeys. I have also in my time in Costa Rica seen the aforementioned feral cat (wild enough to qualify I think), a mouse (in the house), and huge disgusting rats in the gutters. And a sting ray. But no monkeys!
Come on monkeys!! Maybe in Monteverde next week...
Okay first the rest of my weekend...
Sunday I spent the whole day with mi familia. And their familia. From the time we woke up - oh by the way, I have a story about how we woke up that Sunday morning.
The roosters start doing their thing around 430am, the dogs start their business at 530am and the children start playing and yelling around 630am so I wasn´t sound asleep by any means when a huge commotion shook the roof around 730am. There wasn´t any reaction to the noise from the rest of the house, so part of my mind decided it must be the children outside, despite the fact that the noise had come from above my head and seemingly all around. Then I started to hear some excited loud talk - I made out "gato" and finally got out of bed. A cat had fallen through the roof into Gaby´s bedroom. The reason she hadn´t screamed when it landed on her floor (on its feet, good kitty)? The same thing had happened a couple of months ago in Maga´s room. In fact, Gaby was still in bed as the rest of the family barged into her room to find the biggest feral cat I´ve ever seen, yowling and hissing at us from her bureau. Gaby went so far as to yell at all of us to shut up, get out, and let her sleep!
Mi Señora was able to pick up the cat without it scratching out her eyes before it tore its way out of her grasp and out the front door.
From then on, it was visitors all day: aunts, uncles, baby cousins, Christian´s girlfriend. At times, I ached to get away and take a solitary walk, but at the end of the day - which ended with church, where some of you will be surprised to find out I did NOT sleep nor did my evil heart spontaniously ignite (though the jimmy leg was going at hummingbird speed) - I had a fantastic time. And that one day improved my Spanish exponentially. I had a moment where I replied to Gaby with a word I haven´t heard or used since I was a child, and it came out of thin air (the thin air in my head that is.) Usually I liken my Spanish conversations to the Claw game at arcades - the player directs the claw to slowly and mechanically search for the prize they want within the massive tangle of toys. The claw drops and blindly grasps the nearest treat, delivering it to the child. My Claw is working more efficiently and there is actually an organization to the tangle of toys in my head now.
Monday saw me off to Cahuita! I made my way to the Terminal Caribe in San Jose where I had my first experience with creepy thieves. After I bought my ticket, I went to the bathroom (cleaner than you would think because you have to pay to use them) and discovered one of the outside pockets to my backpack was unzipped all the way - sonsabitches. They got nothing; I never pack anything important there anyway, but I was insulted they would try. I literally had the thing strapped to my back for the last hour and a half - they must have tried the instant before I had gone to the bathroom, I had been putting my ticket in a safe place in my daypack and my back wasn´t to a wall.
Regardless, I was on my way. And so was Megan, the med student I met at Volcan Poas! That was a treat - I was excited to have a partner for the adventure to share the cost of the room and of course take fabulous pictures of me.
The bus was hot and crowded and the trip took over 4 hrs. Raise your hand if you knew that I get claustraphobic and carsick on long bus rides. I was actually okay for the most part - I had a window seat and hanging my head out to have a cool breeze blast my face at 50 kph was key. We arrived in Cahuita and it could not have been more breathtaking!
Gorgeous weather, not a cloud in the sky (rainy season? Pshaw!), peaceful waves, and jungle like crazy. Cahuita has one main road, with 4 or so dirt roads that intersect it. Megan and I walked to outside of town to find a place in Playa Negra, a totally secluded beach about 3 km away.
We found these Cabinas run by the nicest German´s I´ve ever met. They had 2 super friendly dogs, who instantly became our best friends: Nikki and Dog-rug - not sure what her real name was but when she wasn´t jumping around being cute, she laid down like a dog rug, so Dog-rug. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach - the water was bathtub temp and calm; that is until the tide started to come in and Mother Nature knocked me across the face with a set of huge waves and a strong riptide. Okay. I get it. I´m just a lowly human.
Jesus!!! I just saw the biggest roach in the internet cafe...gag. heeebiegeeeeeebiessss...
Speaking of huge insects, they had them in Playa Negra. Walking around, Megan and I found a gigantic purple grasshopper. The thing was the diameter of my palm and the underside of its wings shown red when it flew/hopped. Imagine my bloodcurdling scream
when I stepped on his dead brother in the shower a couple of hours later. Yes I ran out naked. No I didn´t pick it up and throw it away. Megan and I were both too squeamish and covered it with the soap dish so at least we wouldn´t step on it again.
The rest of my time in Playa Negra was spent hiking the National Park, laying on the beach and drinking juice because IT WAS SO HOT. Humid, sweltering, mosquito-dense hot. I started to feel not so great in the middle of the second day, but I wrote it off as near-heat stroke.
The following morning I was still feeling sub-par but was excited to get back to Santa Barbara, because at least I could have a real shower and some relief from the heat. By the end of my 4 hr bus ride (most of which I slept through) plus the additional 2 hours it took in catching connecting busses to get home, I was a bag of toys. What I had written off as carsickness and heat stroke, I am now convinced is malaria, since that specific area has the highest malaria risk in Latin America and I got absolutely chewed up and spit out by millions of mosquitos.
I´m on a slow mend - catatonic, weak, aches, and no appetite beyond Frosted Flakes, yogurt and juice - better than I felt yesterday, but if I´m still feeling crappy tomorrow, I may have a Spanish lesson at la farmacia.
I´m going to try and pull it together enough to teach my girls another class tonight - tomorrow if I really can´t swing it. I´m excited because I put together a great mix for them and have really prepared the entire class in Spanish!
Oh and I forgot to mention I saw a sloth in Cahuita, but no monkeys. I have also in my time in Costa Rica seen the aforementioned feral cat (wild enough to qualify I think), a mouse (in the house), and huge disgusting rats in the gutters. And a sting ray. But no monkeys!
Come on monkeys!! Maybe in Monteverde next week...
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