So, this weekend my friends Matt and Stephanie from Arizona came to visit me. They took a vacation from their vacation from thier vacation, since they were in Guatemala and made a little side trip down to see me. It was awesome! But now that they've gone I feel way more homesick that I have thus far. My host family tells me that acabangado, is the word they use to say something akin to homescikness, or missing something. In any case, I'll tell you about the weekend trip, because it was amazing! 
Matt and Stephanie's flight arrived on Friday, and I met up with them at the National Theatre in San Jose. We walked around the city, and met up with my new Peace Corps friend Mario at our hotel, Talamanca. The hotel was weirdly nice, with a huge bathtub and paintings of the coloseum anda terrace. When we walked in, it was kind of surreal. We joked about filming a talk show on the huge couches. All 4 of us went out to dinner and ate some pizza that tasted like nacho cheese (which did not detract from its deliciousness) and I discovered a love for Latin American beer. On Saturday, we got up and took the 8 am bus to Playa Conchal, in the Guanacaste Province. I had gone 2 days earlier to buy our
tickets, and had gotten totally lost. -Everyone I asked for directions told me to go somewhere completely different. One woman I asked for help told me that I should give up, find a taxi, and get the hell out of that part of town because I was going to get mugged. I obviousl didn't heed that advice, and 2 rainy hours later finally found the nearly invisible bus station.
The bus ride took 6 hours, but it was worth it! We stayed in Playa Brasilito, then walked like 5 minutes down the beach to Playa Conchal. Playa conchal has bright blue-aquamarine water, and beautiful tropical fish (I know because I saw them when I went snorkeling). The sand is clean, and gorgeous. It is called Conchal because it is a beach made up of smashed sea shells. Everyone else thought it was the craziest thing ever that the beach wasn't soft sand (they don't have
beaches like that in Costa Rica), and it was really pretty, but it also reminded me a lot of the sand in Rocky Point (minus the broken glass and hyperdermic needles). Apparently Mexico is where its at. I would show you some pictures, but my "waterproof" digital camera broke the first day at the beach (Note- Pucture to right is me using camera in water- a bad idea). Matt and Steph are taking it back to the states with them. It is new, so it will hopefully be under warranty. But for now, I am without picture capabilities, so I will need to get really good at desscribing things in writing. This picture I got off of the inernet, but really, it looks 
like that. Update- I stole pictures from Matt and Steph, so you have some idea of what it was like now.
We met up with 5 of Mario's Peace Corps friends, and they were all really nice. Between my two beach excursions, I have gotten acquainted with some seriously awesome people. We just had an all-around good time. Our hotel was nice and air conditioned, the restaurant was muy delicioso (if more expensive than I am used to paying for food here). I had the best hamburger of my trip, and maybe my life. They just don't usually do ground beef very well here. This burger must have been imported. We hung out, ate, drank, played in the ocean, and enjoyed ourselves. It didn't rain once, I didn't get sunburned or feel hungover, and have relatively few mosquito bites- I am pretty sure I found heaven. I was sad to leave on Monday morning, but still glad that we didn't miss our bus.
Matt and Steph were kind enough to come up to Santa Rosa with me for their last night and see how I live. Seeing thier reactions reminded me of how surprised I was when I first got there. It just isn't what you picture CR looking like. Seeing them off left me muy acabangado; it was nice to have people that already know the background for the stories I tell. It was also nice ot catch up in person and hear how everyone is doing.
I feel like if my first month-ish here is any indication of how the next 8.5 are going to go, then I am one lucky girl. I have seen two beautiful beaches on two different oceans, met a lot of really nice people, and even had some friends come visit me. I may be setting the bar for the rest of my stay too high. Veremos I guess.
Ciao
Matt and Stephanie's flight arrived on Friday, and I met up with them at the National Theatre in San Jose. We walked around the city, and met up with my new Peace Corps friend Mario at our hotel, Talamanca. The hotel was weirdly nice, with a huge bathtub and paintings of the coloseum anda terrace. When we walked in, it was kind of surreal. We joked about filming a talk show on the huge couches. All 4 of us went out to dinner and ate some pizza that tasted like nacho cheese (which did not detract from its deliciousness) and I discovered a love for Latin American beer. On Saturday, we got up and took the 8 am bus to Playa Conchal, in the Guanacaste Province. I had gone 2 days earlier to buy our
tickets, and had gotten totally lost. -Everyone I asked for directions told me to go somewhere completely different. One woman I asked for help told me that I should give up, find a taxi, and get the hell out of that part of town because I was going to get mugged. I obviousl didn't heed that advice, and 2 rainy hours later finally found the nearly invisible bus station.The bus ride took 6 hours, but it was worth it! We stayed in Playa Brasilito, then walked like 5 minutes down the beach to Playa Conchal. Playa conchal has bright blue-aquamarine water, and beautiful tropical fish (I know because I saw them when I went snorkeling). The sand is clean, and gorgeous. It is called Conchal because it is a beach made up of smashed sea shells. Everyone else thought it was the craziest thing ever that the beach wasn't soft sand (they don't have
beaches like that in Costa Rica), and it was really pretty, but it also reminded me a lot of the sand in Rocky Point (minus the broken glass and hyperdermic needles). Apparently Mexico is where its at. I would show you some pictures, but my "waterproof" digital camera broke the first day at the beach (Note- Pucture to right is me using camera in water- a bad idea). Matt and Steph are taking it back to the states with them. It is new, so it will hopefully be under warranty. But for now, I am without picture capabilities, so I will need to get really good at desscribing things in writing. This picture I got off of the inernet, but really, it looks 
like that. Update- I stole pictures from Matt and Steph, so you have some idea of what it was like now.We met up with 5 of Mario's Peace Corps friends, and they were all really nice. Between my two beach excursions, I have gotten acquainted with some seriously awesome people. We just had an all-around good time. Our hotel was nice and air conditioned, the restaurant was muy delicioso (if more expensive than I am used to paying for food here). I had the best hamburger of my trip, and maybe my life. They just don't usually do ground beef very well here. This burger must have been imported. We hung out, ate, drank, played in the ocean, and enjoyed ourselves. It didn't rain once, I didn't get sunburned or feel hungover, and have relatively few mosquito bites- I am pretty sure I found heaven. I was sad to leave on Monday morning, but still glad that we didn't miss our bus.
Matt and Steph were kind enough to come up to Santa Rosa with me for their last night and see how I live. Seeing thier reactions reminded me of how surprised I was when I first got there. It just isn't what you picture CR looking like. Seeing them off left me muy acabangado; it was nice to have people that already know the background for the stories I tell. It was also nice ot catch up in person and hear how everyone is doing.
I feel like if my first month-ish here is any indication of how the next 8.5 are going to go, then I am one lucky girl. I have seen two beautiful beaches on two different oceans, met a lot of really nice people, and even had some friends come visit me. I may be setting the bar for the rest of my stay too high. Veremos I guess.
Ciao
No comments:
Post a Comment