Costa Rica was wonderful. I love it. I could live there, maybe....
We flew in to Orlando Saturday morning and then an "international airport" there that was basically just like an open-hanger....no real walls or air conditioning or anything. Then we got a bus to a hotel. Only 10 people stayed at our resort (it's low season for another month). We were greeted with nice, frozen drinks (half daiquiri/half pina colada). The resort was BEAUTIFUL. It's so green with beautiful trees/plants and such all around. The pool is huge and you can see the ocean from pretty much anywhere.
The ocean is nice, but the beach is not a lay-out beach...it's kind of like a cross
between dirt and sand.
We mostly read and wrote in our journals and swam and played Scrabble and wandered the area. We did do two fun/new activities:
-Canopy Tour. You get harnessed up around your legs and waist and then ride through the forest from platform to platform by being hooked up to a wire. You kind of had to jump for them to hook you up to the wire and then take you down. On one of the slide-points, you could ride upside down...you held on to the rope with your knees and just laid back!! Lots of people didn't trust that they wouldn't hit their head, so they didn't soar as well...but I was very trusting and could let go. On another they made the wire bounce up and down (belly-drops!). And then the best was that I volunteered to ride "Wonder Woman" with a guide on the biggest drop (400 meters) and they hooked the hook to my back, I leaned forward (so my body was horizontal) and he got hooked up behind me, I locked my legs around his back (intimate, yes) and held my arms open and it was just like flying!!! There are some pictures of what it's like at
http://www.canopypago.com/ (though that's not where I did it...same idea). I had a huge crush on the boy that soared me through the air...his name was Marby.
-Sea Kayaking. The resort had some kayaks and we just put on life vests and went out in the ocean. We rowed for a while and found this amazing beach that wasn't accessible from land (huge cliffs over it) that we docked at and swam a while. It was so beautiful. I need more adjectives.
The ten of us that were at the resort together did get along really well - at dinner we'd put the tables together and all eat together and talk about our days. The staff was super nice and I even learned some Spanish!
There was lots of fun animals/bugs around....huge iguanas, little geckos, tons of crabs and hermit crabs, beautiful birds, armadillos (heh), some possum/raccoon animal....plus wild dogs/cats that were just wandering about. Other people saw monkeys and crocodiles, but I didn't.
I did go into the closest town a couple of times and bought souvenirs and hung out. Once we were there during the day and got to hear a local high-school band practice....lots of drums!
Other folks traveling commented that they couldn't believe the people lived in such small, plain houses. I love the idea. We don't need huge homes. We just don't.
The roads were rough, but we went for a morning walk/run one day and were amazed at all the folks walking and cycling to work. Again the people were very friendly...one older guy even applauded my running. Doh! It was up-hill though, so I appreciated it.
It did rain every afternoon around 1 or 2, but I felt like that was nature's way of saying to take a nap. :)
I did get a decent tan too.
It was REALLY good for me to be away from the phone and internet (though both were relatively easily availble, I didn't touch either a single time) and most people for a week. It was just a good chance to relax and not worry about ANYTHING! I know sometimes I get too caught up in DOING and my own life and my friends and work and, and, and. I let go. I didn't even really have too many deep conversations, but I did write a lot (over 30 pages in my journal). I feel like I was able to think about the things I wanted to think about, but I was able to do it slowly and without some rush. I also started reading a very, well-written book that had been too deep for me to read when I was just doing the "ten minutes before bed" reading. So, I have some goals of spending less time on the computer, turning off the tv to read in the evenings and so forth to maintain some of the peace I found. I'm thinking I need to be a bit more of an introvert than I am.
I was very bummed to leave. I could've used another week before returning to my life here. Scott gave me a nice break-in today by hanging out several hours at Barnes & Noble and then going to see the new John Waters movie. It was a decent chance to outwardly reflect on my trip. I tried to talk to Mom too, but my cell-phone is being a pain.
Okay, off the computer and to un-packing and laundry. We have a new dress-code at work. Fun-fun.
7:28:01 PM 
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