bienvenido a la jungla: welcome to the jungle

ok. i officially did it, lost my wallet or it was taken. cried a few tears last night but i'm ok and i'm very lucky to have friends here who will cover me. it's gone and sarah comes tomorrow, no time for tears!! all is good.

california in town.

kristen had friends in town from california, 2 jennifers and kim. we had a lot of fun together, hitting up ladies night, playing frisbee and finding the cutest dogs in town.

the bachelor house.

we met some dudes from the new york that had a house on the beach and we made friends. they were pretty entertaining. 20 dudes in a house. nuff said.

escape to tamarindo.

sometimes montezuma can get heavy so i escaped with kristen to tamarindo and her fab condo. life is easier here, i have hot water. being here really reminds me of little things that i had done without and that i had come from the jungle.

we road tripped it up here in kristen's hooptie, it has a spoiler. ;) we stopped for casado (the traditional costa rican meal) and the cops stopped us too.

it was my first rodeo.

it was my first rodeo and it was really cool and i actually climbed in the ring too. after each rider, they let the bull run free in the ring and you basically climb the wall of the arena when the bull comes towards you...there is something pretty amazing about that adrenaline rush. white knuckling it up a fence with a bull directly beneath your feet. and i did it. and i was one of only about 3 girls in the ring. after watching, we hit the festival again and danced and drank with friends. good night.

el gato: the cat

i'm not a big cat person (besides for george of course) but we have a little friend that pops by our place a few times a day. we named her amor, she's got the prettiest green eyes.

cafe. this is how we do it.

costa rican coffee is pretty potent stuff and i like caffefine. the way it's typically brewed is pretty cool. basically, you boil water in a tea kettle then place coffee grounds in the sock like thing and it brews the coffee into the metal pot. the grounds are so strong you can actually brew it twice using the same grounds. me gusta.

dia de playa.

kicked it off with a swim at the beach in from of our house, awesome sushi on the beach to prepare for the 45 minute walk through the beach and jungle to playa grande, which is main surfing beach here. then some surfing, amanda's board is really short for me but i managed to stand once. :) and the night ended with reggae night on the beach.

i was very lucky to have friends return this visit and meet some friends of friends easily but last night i was with friends i had made on my own these last few weeks and that made my sometimes introverted self feel good. :)

el barrio: neighborhood

this is my barrio and where i'll be living for about another week. basically, it's the side of a hill with about 10 casas nestled in. most of these people that live here are young and single, and at some point they have dated someone else on the hill or in town, which is why it is also sometimes referred to as melrose place. :)

the other night i had a really fun time running between casas. of course, part of this run includes hopping cement fences, over pipes, dodging rusted tin roofs that could prob cut your arm off and timing the sprinkler so you aren't drenched. our older neighbor waters his lawn 24/7 but we were told he's actually the "gardener" for the whole barrio.

now, i love this little hill (minus the stairs) and when i moved in it freaked the hell out of me. but now my neighbors are my friends, people i met last trip like jorge the empanada master, pablo the surf instructor and new ones like juan lewis who owns the best pizza spot in town. where to next?

my other spot.

a small waterfall about a 10 minute walk off the beach, you can sit right under the water and get a massage and it's pretty amazing. yesterday, i realized that everytime i go there i'm not quite sure how i did it the first time and find new way or see guides like a dead palm leaf to remind me. and it's not an easy walk, it's the jungle and just about anything could be under that pile of leaves but i do it because i know the reward is there. made me think of trip to get here and i was really grateful.

laundry. this is how we do it.

last time i did launcdry it was picked up and delivered back to my apartment washed and neatly folded. no mas. yesterday i did my laundry in a big soup bucket, rinsed it in the sink and hung it out on the line to dry. i guess i'm keeping it authentic and cheap but next week i may splurg on drop off. they even have that here.

good beach day.

today i visited "my spot" then my second favorite beach hang-out (post and pics to come) and on the way back i ran into from friends and made a couple new ones.

mario is from austria (on the far right) and has been studying slack walking for about the last 8 months. dylan, Z and dan are all from the states and traveling together. of course, all the guys HAD to try and i did too...fail by me.

and then they did handstands. :)

zuma nights.

most nights in montezuma will consist of wandering and sitting on the sides of the main street, which is about the length of 5 NYC blocks. there is one bar called chico's but for the most part people buy drinks at the local mercados and drink beer in the street. and even when it's closed, they sell whatever you need through a back gate. gotta love it.

sometimes there is a bonfire on the beach, sometimes people spin fire (poi), sometimes there are bongo drums and live music, sometime okie (the town drunk) is on an opera kick. it's the same but different every night.

my spot.

everyday i try to spend some time in this little spot on the beach. it's away from everyone and slightly shady and there is nothing i love more than the ocean hitting the rocks.

yesterday, kristen and amanda came and found me in my "secret" spot completely covered in sand from napping and reading and zenning out in the sand.

dinner con mis chicas.

amanda and i made dinner for some friends the other night...it was really nice. amanda on the left is from oregon and has lived here a year. kristen and i met during my last visit and is a yoga teacher. all are pretty awesome ladies.

p.s. note the scab on the amanda's leg = champagne brunches and quads do not mix.

palabras del dia.

some good phrases to know in costa (in case you hear someone talking about you). :)

guapo/a - good looking guy/girl
flaco/a - thin guy/girl
gordo/a - fat guy/girl
gringo/a - white guy/girl

it's hot here.

record highs here the last fews days so my roomie amanda got creative with her surfboard bag and a fan. it's amazing what you can and will come up with when you need to. but i think i may finally be adjusting to the heat.

cafe de los artistas.

one of my favorite restaurants in montezuma. amazing view and great good.

one million estrellas.

had two great nights under the stars. people can camp on the beach here for free and after hanging in town we've found ourselves around a huge fire with some amazing live music and really interesting people. loco ticos, travelers from germany, austria, canada, australia...it was a pretty magical night. you can see a million stars here, it's really incredible and they are almost meet the horizon. as lindsay said "if you want to remember you live on a planet, come visit".

mi casa.

well, it's more of a shack but it's doing the job. honestly i was pretty freaked out at a first but i'm living in a whole neighborhood of ticos and families so i've come to like it minus the morning full sweats...it's hot as hell in there. BUT check the view and it's because of the stairs which are beyond steep.

the stairs are cement and were cast with the back of sea shells to act as reflectors. pretty smart.

guanabana.

a local tico shared a bit with me yesterday, kinda tart, kinda mushy but definitely good.

survivor hike.

my explaination will never do this justice but we did a CRAZY hike to two waterfalls yesterday, after 4 hours of grabbing tree vines and scaling rocks i was exhausted but i felt pretty damn bad ass about it.

check out the kid jumping from the tree at the smaller waterfall.

week one.

well i'm behind a few posts on this blog because internet has been pretty spotty or non-existent where i'm staying but more on my apartment later. :) it's been an interesting transition, a lot different than the immediate ease you get on vacation...it's a bit of the WTF am i doing? can i handle it? smiles and tears BUT i'm so happy that i'm here and it is paradise.

stomach.

been drinking too much of the water...can't get my stomach back to normal, hoping today and some ocean time does the trick.

amanda.

amanda is here and a partner in crime for the next few days in tamarindo and on the trip. she's pretty amazing, fearless and part of the reason i'm back. she's been doing what i'm doing now for last few years, i.e. she works her butt off, saves money and travels.

p.s. she actually works as a ER nurse and saved a man's life on the way here. a day in the life of amanda.

nibbana.

thanks to kristen's recommendation, i found nibbana and some additional zen. for those who know montezuma, it's kinda like the cafe de los artistas of tamarindo complete with a sunset. i think i melted into the chair.

and the happy hour, oh the happy hour. from 11am-1pm and 5-7pm, 2 for 1 drinks. delivered 2 at a time. check it.

refinding my zen.

i am in paradise but yesterday i was a stress case in paradise. i managed to lose two credit cards in an ATM in about 5 minutes.

today i'm better, i learned that i need to ease my way back into relaxing, let my mind stop. so in an effort to refind my zen, i went to the beach and let the salt water cure all. then i took a little mini nap on my hammock. zen is returning.