Somebody Say Scuba?

Well this Monday we celebrated Columbus Day and even though I think this day is a crock, I still welcomed the day off! A hefty crew of us decided to set sail for the Caribbean this time: destination, Puerto Viejo. We had quite the ride, a bus for 20 or so; there were only 14 of us on the way there. Naturally, I did what I do best and slept most of the 5 hour ride. Sadly, I was unable to sleep the last 45 minutes due to the fact that the so called 'road' was less than ideal to drive upon. Somehow I managed to hold down my dinner and we arrived! Just in time for me to go to bed...again.

Then next morning we embarked on our adventure. After talking to our host, Pedro, all about scuba diving, we headed to the beach. After the beach someone got the grand idea of renting bikes and biking to Puerto Viejo. (We were staying in Manzanillo which is about 14km from Puerto Viejo.) It's funny how you don't notice the hills when you're driving! Before P.V., we were determined to find the chocolate farm we'd past on the the way in. We found the sign and made the turn and then looked up...far. Needless to say, the bikes got locked to a few trees and we started huffing it...literally. Good ole Pedro had assured us we didn't need to make a reservation because "this is Costa Rica." We finally found the place up on the side of the mountain. As soon as one of us were able to catch our breath and ask about a tour we were informed we needed a reservation. Damn you Pedro. Back to the bikes...

We never biked to P.V. thanks to the fact that someone smartened up and realized it'd be quite late and quite dark on our bike back. So, we headed back to Manzanillo. The next morning we headed to breakfast. I asked the man if they had cafe frio. He looked at me for a sec and said sure. Towards the end of our meal, I finally get my coffee. Turns out he was just keeping it in back to cool off before he gave it to me! The next morning we ate there as well. I ordered a regular coffee...it was probably 5 degrees warmer than my cafe frio! Pura Vida!

After the beach once again, we headed to scuba! We had our 'baptism' with our three instructors. It was an interesting experience. Too bad visibility was crappy that day; I only saw a few little fishies. It was rather cute to see Jen and Liz in front of me, swimming hand in hand the entire time! It was impossible to laugh though. As soon as we surfaced, poor Liz lost the Doritos she had eaten beforehand. Then, the ride home brought more of it up! She puked and rallied though! What a trooper!

We're taking a weekend off before heading back to Jaco to sharpen our surfing skills! Until next time...

Surf's Up!

I shall begin with a quick recap of the soccer game against the Varsity. Now, call me naive, but I really didn't expect to be one of two girls playing in the game. Well, JoAnne and I convinced one other chica to play; she then convinced the boys to let her be the 12th player on the field since she 'just takes up space.' (Her words, not mine!) There was only one small injury...caused by yours truly, go figure. In my defense, I cannot help it if my cleat hits his calf! The next day one of my students comes up to me, "Ms. K, my brother told me you kicked him!" Go figure, had to injure someone related to my student.

This last weekend we decided to head to the beach at Jaco. Now, we didn't really know too much about this place except for the fact that it wasn't supposed to be too nice. Well, it's only about 2 hours away and we decided to give it a go. Our bus pulls into the town and now we have our first decision...when do we get off? My call was to just get off at the next stop and walk till we found a good place to stay. Either the bus driver didn't like us or just enjoyed laughing at our attempts to get off the bus, because for two stops, he wouldn't open the back door to let us out! Luckily, by the third attempt, the door opened and we left the bus while the Tico behind us just continued to laugh at our expense.

We pass this interesting looking place while on our way to get breakfast. Liz goes and investigates. She returns to inform us that Jaco Joe has a place for us! Now, Jaco Joe is from Flordia, he has a curious black eye, a beer belly, and, of course, a beer in hand. Oh, and to top it all off, he has a tattoo with Pura Vida and Jaco Joe interwoven into it. As we walk to our place "Ken" catches our eye. We end up asking "Ken" about surf lessons. He makes a call and we've got ourselves lessons! I also convinced the guy to put our pic on the wall because we were his first customers! (The place was just opening and the office furniture was being delivered while we were there.)

Little to my surprise, I am just short of a surfing pro! I was successful in 'catching a wave' all by myself! No need for Mike, my instructor, sadly (see picture explanation to the right.) Liz and I really took to the whole Surfer Girl image and went and bought ourselves rash guards! In two weeks we are returning and we're just going to rent boards and take on the waves. We may not be the best surfers on the water, but damn it, at least our outfits will be cute!!!

This weekend we have a 3 day so are headed to Puerto Viejo. We hope to scuba and continue our exploration of this fine country! Until next time...

Side note: some of you have expressed difficulty in commenting on my wonderful entries. I found it easiest to just publish as annoymous and sign your name at the end of what you wrote. Good luck, ahem, Mom. ;)