Costa Rica, No Spanish Necessary

After studying spanish for a month we decided to come south to Costa Rica for just a few days for two things - a bit of surfing for me, and we also wanted to come to Mnoteverde, where Christine lived for a few months in 1998.

So we get on the bus, leaving San Juan, and head to the border. We cross the border and catch a bus to Liberia. The trip is going smooth. no problems. we have lunch in liberia, the standard gallo pinto with some other stuff, before catching the bus t tamarindo. About 2 hours into the bus ride Christine turns to me and says, with the vomit almost visible through her eyes, "We get off at the next stop". By this time it was dark, and we were in the middle of nowhere, but vomit is vomit, and we got off.

we found ourselves at a roadside gas station at 8 pm when the revenge hit (see the photo). Christine barfed first, over the cement fence at the back of the gas station. We rested there for a few hours before catching a taxi the rest of the way to tamarindo. I started barfing when we arrived. We continued in this vein for the rest of the night, barfing (and other methods of expulsing), until the morning. Thus was our introduction to Costa Rica.

Tamarindo is an odd place. No spanish necessary, lots of comfort foods available, and ridiculously expensive. You can even find a hotel there that charges more than $100 a night! Yet the dusty streets and insistent taxi drivers let you know at every step that you are still in Central America. I was there to surf so, despite the illness, I did. We also ate comfort foods, and stayed away from gallo pinto - which we haven't eaten since (though I am feeling almost ready for it again - you can hardly eat here w/o having smoe gallo pinto). By the end of our first full day in Tamarindo I was feeling about 90%. Christine took a bit longer, but was playing soccer on the beach by day 3. I surfed a ton, hours each day, which was great. Christine did some stuff too, but i don't think she had as much fun as i did.

We are now in Monteverde, and have planned a weekend in the cloud forest. On Monday we head back to Nicarague adn start back north...

ian