Back to Monkeys & Geckos
So here I am, back in Quepos/Manuel Antonio. I left Houston on Saturday morning and got to San Jose at about 5:30 in the evening. I ended up flying from Houston to Fort Lauderdale in Florida and then to San Jose because it was $300 cheaper than flying direct to Costa Rica. I do not understand how this works at all, but I am all down for saving that much money by flying a little extra. Saturday night I stayed in a hostel in San Jose and then took a taxi to the bus station on Sunday to catch the noon bus to Quepos. A tip for when you are in Costa Rica: never trust random people that tell you that the bus is sold out. They are most likely lying to you so that you will take their taxi instead (which by the way costs anywhere from $100-$150 from San Jose to Quepos). A man tried to tell me this as I was walking to the bus station window and I didn’t believe him so I checked anyways. Lo and behold there were plenty of tickets left for the 12:15 bus! Stupid Tico trying to rip me off.
Anyways I got into Quepos no problem and then took a taxi to Mama Tica’s house where I waited for Rachel to arrive so that we could go to our new host family’s house. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay with Mama Tica because her house is full so Rachel and I are staying with one of her friends down the street. My new host mom’s name is Margarita. She does not have a husband that I am aware of and everyday one of her granddaughters comes over while her mom is at work. Her name is Mia and she is about 4 years old and definitely the boss of the house (she sort of reminds me of my cousin Elizabeth who is almost 6). She showed us all of her toys and dresses that she has at her abuela’s house and has no problem correcting my Spanish, which I have to admit I like because sometimes adults won’t correct you because they think they are being rude. The only bad thing about Margarita’s house is that we don’t have internet. Mama Tica said that we could come to her house though and use the internet there. She is the best host mom ever. So I am writing this blog post in a Word document that I will transfer to the blogger site tomorrow.
Today (Monday) we went to the beach to get our fill of sand and surf before the job searching begins tomorrow. I can definitely say that I have missed the heat and the beach since being come so it was great to go back to the beach today. The family of capuchin monkeys that live near the beach came by right when we got there as a sort of hello and welcome back to Costa Rica, where monkeys actually live in the trees. I actually ended up getting a little sunburned on my chest, my face, and my left arm (I guess I didn’t apply sunscreen there very well or something) and have been using my aloe vera (thanks Mom!) to make it go away as fast as possible. After the beach we went to my friend from TEFL Andy’s new apartment that’s halfway between Quepos and Manuel Antonio to hang out and have some barbecue. It is behind a big soccer field and a great little place that he is renting with his girlfriend. I would love to find a place like it. It is all open with no AC (but that is totally normal here since having AC is really expensive) and a small kitchen, living room, and 1 bedroom. The great thing about it is that they have a wrap around porch that they hang out on that overlooks a beautiful yard with coconut and banana trees and all these other tropical plants that all the apartments share (I think that there are 4 total). Andy told me that the other morning they woke up to monkeys in the trees by their house. That is what I want: to have monkeys live in my yard where I have banana and coconut trees and a hammock. Hopefully I will be able to 1) find a job and 2) find a place to live like that. There are also geckos in all the houses that make these weird little chirping noises that you don’t expect at all to hear out of a small lizard. They are great to have around though because they eat mosquitoes and other bugs that you don’t necessarily want in the house.
I have decided that I might have over-packed a little bit for this trip. When I saw how much stuff Rachel had brought and how much stuff I had brought I felt a little ridiculous. I have 14 pairs of shoes here (granted that most of them are sandals). I think this means that I might have a shoe problem. The only thing is that the first time I was down here I brought 5 pairs of shoes (and one of them was a pair of heels that I never even wore) and I was wishing the whole time that I had brought more. It looks like I overcompensated on that one. Whoops.
Anyways I got into Quepos no problem and then took a taxi to Mama Tica’s house where I waited for Rachel to arrive so that we could go to our new host family’s house. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay with Mama Tica because her house is full so Rachel and I are staying with one of her friends down the street. My new host mom’s name is Margarita. She does not have a husband that I am aware of and everyday one of her granddaughters comes over while her mom is at work. Her name is Mia and she is about 4 years old and definitely the boss of the house (she sort of reminds me of my cousin Elizabeth who is almost 6). She showed us all of her toys and dresses that she has at her abuela’s house and has no problem correcting my Spanish, which I have to admit I like because sometimes adults won’t correct you because they think they are being rude. The only bad thing about Margarita’s house is that we don’t have internet. Mama Tica said that we could come to her house though and use the internet there. She is the best host mom ever. So I am writing this blog post in a Word document that I will transfer to the blogger site tomorrow.
Today (Monday) we went to the beach to get our fill of sand and surf before the job searching begins tomorrow. I can definitely say that I have missed the heat and the beach since being come so it was great to go back to the beach today. The family of capuchin monkeys that live near the beach came by right when we got there as a sort of hello and welcome back to Costa Rica, where monkeys actually live in the trees. I actually ended up getting a little sunburned on my chest, my face, and my left arm (I guess I didn’t apply sunscreen there very well or something) and have been using my aloe vera (thanks Mom!) to make it go away as fast as possible. After the beach we went to my friend from TEFL Andy’s new apartment that’s halfway between Quepos and Manuel Antonio to hang out and have some barbecue. It is behind a big soccer field and a great little place that he is renting with his girlfriend. I would love to find a place like it. It is all open with no AC (but that is totally normal here since having AC is really expensive) and a small kitchen, living room, and 1 bedroom. The great thing about it is that they have a wrap around porch that they hang out on that overlooks a beautiful yard with coconut and banana trees and all these other tropical plants that all the apartments share (I think that there are 4 total). Andy told me that the other morning they woke up to monkeys in the trees by their house. That is what I want: to have monkeys live in my yard where I have banana and coconut trees and a hammock. Hopefully I will be able to 1) find a job and 2) find a place to live like that. There are also geckos in all the houses that make these weird little chirping noises that you don’t expect at all to hear out of a small lizard. They are great to have around though because they eat mosquitoes and other bugs that you don’t necessarily want in the house.
I have decided that I might have over-packed a little bit for this trip. When I saw how much stuff Rachel had brought and how much stuff I had brought I felt a little ridiculous. I have 14 pairs of shoes here (granted that most of them are sandals). I think this means that I might have a shoe problem. The only thing is that the first time I was down here I brought 5 pairs of shoes (and one of them was a pair of heels that I never even wore) and I was wishing the whole time that I had brought more. It looks like I overcompensated on that one. Whoops.
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