Vida Asana

This morning Stacy and I got up early and made a fantastic breakfast of mushroom and cheese omelette and toast with JELLY! YAY! That was a pretty exciting breakfast for us because we put off going to the grocery store so that we could do other really important things; like go to the beach or party with Melissa and Bryan. Hey, we're on vacation!

After breakfast we grabbed a cab and headed to Playa Hermosa and the Vida Asana yoga center. Two years ago, when Jimmy and I were in Jaco we did an hour and a half of yoga there every day. Vida Asana is like an oasis set in the middle of the lush, green forrest north of the beach. It's very bohemian and the energy of the people there is welcoming and affectionate.

For our 10:00 a.m. yoga class we had an Argentinean female teacher who could do the most amazing poses with her gumby-like body. Stacy and I kept up for sure the entire time, but were probably the sweatiest chicks in the class. Sweat kept dripping into my eyes and during one pose I actually saw sweat beads on my shins. Who sweats on their shins? Well, if you were doing yoga in an open-air wooden floored hut, in the middle of Costa Rica during an extremely humid day, your shins would sweat, too!



After an hour and a half of yoga, we chatted with the people who came to class and actually got a ride back to Jaco with an American girl who lives here. We often depend on the kindness of strangers ;) We are home now, and just had some pineapple that was so sweet you'd swear it was soaked in syrup. But it was probably just ripened by the sun.



Today is Chino's birthday (he's the one standing up in the photo) and we are going to take him out for a drink and then we're headed to the Backyard for Ladies Night where the girls.drink.for.free.all.night.long. Now that's a Ladies Night!

On Friday the World Surf Games festivities begin with a parade. Who knows when that will really start because in the surf program it literally says: "the idea is that the parade will start approximately at 10". Welcome to "Tico Time", nobody here is in any kind of a hurry whatsoever. It's nice once you get used to it. On Saturday, bright and early at 6:00 a.m. the surf competition begins in Hermosa Beach. Stay tuned for the adventures and awesome surf pictures we hope to post here.

2 Weeks In...

It has been 2 weeks since we've been living in Jaco and we are finally getting used to the sights and sounds of Costa Rica. Last week Joey and I decided to check out the beach here in central Jaco...yuck! Apparently the beach here is no good for sitting and relaxing by the water. If you surf, then this is the place to be, great waves! We did go during high tide, but there is no beach and the parts that are not covered in water or trash are too rocky to even walk on. So that lasted about 10 minutes and we found ourselves a great seat overlooking the beach/ocean at El Bohio. The bar sits at one of the busiest entrances to the beach so there was lots to see. We made a new friend from the states and ran into a few we already knew. Its amazing how easy it is to run into people here no matter where you go. Guess thats what happens when the town is only about 2 miles long.

This weekend we ventured over to playa hermosa with Melissa and her neighbor Rick to a bar called the Backyard. It was pretty crowded when we arrived, but found ourselves a great table at the back of the bar overlooking the ocean. Earlier in the evening the Costa Rican surf team held a competition right in front of the bar to determine who moves on to the world surf tour next week. We met the new 17 year-old surfing champion of Costa Rica and we'll be looking for him during the competition. After several brews and good times at the Backyard we headed back to Melissa and Bryan's in Jaco. We left Rick with his overbearing Tican woman and headed to town with Melissa and Bryan for a night of fun! We really did it up this weekend, going to 5 different bars, some of them more then once. We had a blast and as usual met some really great people and ran into those we already know. The night ended with the sun coming up at 5!

Yesterday we rod our bikes to the beach in south Jaco....amazing!!!!! It's nothing like the beach in central Jaco. The beach is not crowded, the water is clean and the views are amazing! When the tide came in we ventured our way onto some rocks and found a really great spot to chill and watch the waves crashing over the rocks, it was beautiful. We ended the night hanging at Melissa and Bryan's pool with some cervezas and casado.

This week we are going to try to do some Yoga and maybe get a massage! Stayed tuned for more adventures!

Tortuga Island

The other day Joey, Stacy and Melissa ventured to Tortuga Island on our first excursion. We were picked up at our apartment at 8 a.m. after having a nice breakfast together. We drove around Jaco for a bit picking up other passengers, three of which were girls our age from L.A. We arrive at a beach and see a small boat waiting and then a line of other boats waiting farther out in the ocean. We are told that 8 people can fit in the boat so we all pile in and get taxied out to our other boat.

Once we are all in the bigger boat we are ready to go. And by bigger, I don't mean BIG by any means. The boat was probably about 18 feet long, if that, and seemed to be made out of fiberglass, crammed with 17 people. So here we go on our 45 minute adventure across the waves of the ocean in a small ass boat! The small cushions on the plastic seat offered no protection for your bum when you were flung through the air while riding over a big wave and crashing back down again. After awhile we pull up to two different large rocks in the water. The boat stops and we are given masks, snorkels and flippers and sent on our way. Joey and I have never snorkeled before so we were expecting some sort of an explination. Nada...here's your stuff, jump in and don't touch the rocks. Once we are all in and feeling comfortable, still holding hands, we are able to see about 5 or 6 different kinds of fish around us and swimming around the rocks below. It was amazing and intimidating all at the same time when you look around and realize you are surrounded by fish of all different colors. Some of the blue and yellow colored fish looked fluorescent swimming through the dark murky water. The two guys driving the boat also swam down to the bottom of the rocks and grabbed a few bright blue starfish that looked fake.

After spending some time snorkeling we then drove the rest of the way to Tortuga Island where we were dropped off for a day of fun. When we got there it was nice and sunny and HOT! We found a small shaded area under a few trees with our new girls from L.A. We spent most of the time chatting, drinking beers and listening to live Calypso music. Our lunch was cooked by the locals right there on the beach. We had AMAZING fresh fish, rice with peppers, tomatoes and carrots, potatoes and bread. Everything tasted delicious!!!! We were then offered some fresh fruit that was so juicy it was dripping down our arms. After lunch we enjoyed a few more cervezas, swimming in the ocean and nap time.
It was a great day of relaxation on the beach with live music, the sound of the waves and great friends. When it was time to go we were all rounded up and sent back to the boat. When we all squish back into this boat, the man starts passing out large plastic trash bags for all of our belongings. Apparently the wind has picked up and we MAY get wet! This time we definitely needed more then a small cushion on the seat to protect us. We are not sure if the waves were really that large in the middle of the ocean or if they seemed big to us because we were in such a small boat flying across the ocean and crashing over waves over and over again. Every landing seemed to get stronger and louder as the boat thudded its was across the ocean, splashing us with salt water with every wave we passed. We even got to stop for a minute so another passenger could get sick overboard, without vomiting on melissa! It was a rough ride home but we made it back to land in no time.

Baby Powder Scented Toilet Paper

Today's blog is a mish-mash of funny and crazy things we've discovered in Jaco. The kind of things you probably only discover when you're here long term, not just on vacation.

The first, is that toilet paper is scented here. Stacy and I were shocked that our own toilet paper in the apartment was scented with Baby Powder - ew!!! One reason for that might be that flushing toilet paper is not encouraged because of the weak plumbing/sewage systems. We will let you sit and think on that one.

Hay un crackhead! Long story short, one night while enjoying the evening with Melissa and Brian on the balcony, our neighbor from the apartment building next to us started screaming and this is the short-version of what happened (in Spanish):

Neighbor (dressed in tighty-whities): Somebody call the police!!

Us: What happened?

Neighbord: There's a crackhead

Us: What? Are you for real?

Neighbor goes back into his apartment and comes out in tighty-whities, but now he's wearing a headlamp (the kind that straps to your head with an elastic band). He walks behind the house and then all these crazy dogs start barking and we think he's getting eaten! Of course we are laughing hysterically at the whole scene.

Mysteriously Self-Locking Door. The door to our apartment locks randomly, when it wants. Maybe it's the humidity, maybe there are ghosts here...we aren't sure. It's funny because all we have to do is slide open the window next to the door and break into our own apartment and viola!

The electricity goes out on occasion here, for a few minutes or even hours. Also, we have straight-up electrical wires in our shower. Some of you may have heard my story of getting electrocuted in Guatemala so I was actually a HUGE baby when it came time to shower the first day. We are over that fear now but still might get shocked here and there.

The water that comes out of the faucet here is fizzy. We drink it anyway and pretend it's Perier. Ha!

Today we did finally go get bikes. They are just what we need to cruise around town and do more things, plus it helps to have a breeze on you in this humidity! We rode back from Maxi Bodega (their version of Wal-Mart) with a few bags hanging off of the handle bars and we did great.

Now we are about to sit down to eat a nice dinner; chicken and pasta with peppers and mushrooms in a butter garlic sauce. It's our goodbye dinner to Brian and Melissa (who are only moving down the street) but it's still sad to not have them as neighbors any more. The cool thing is that they are moving into an apartment building with a POOL!

Keep reading, cuz surely there is more interesting stuff to come.

First weekend

On Saturday we ventured to the Pescaderia to buy some Corvina. It's not a terribly long walk, but in this heat and humidity it can feel like an eternity. We had to wait a bit, sweating the entire time, because the woman in the pescaderia was busy making ceviche. It was well worth the wait because the ceviche was delicious, filled with shrimp, Marlin and calamari. After leaving the pescadaria with ceviche and corvina in hand, we stop at the local food store called Mas X Menos (mas por menos, which is owned by Walmart) to get other ingredients for our dinner. We made ourselves a wonderful feast for dinner including some of the best corn on the cob and corvina. The fruits and produce here have been great, probably the largest corn kernels we've ever seen.



That night we went out on the town with Mellissa to meet one of her friends Tasha who also had her girls with her. We first met at Tsunami Sushi where we spotted one of our other neighbors working, hoping to make friends with him soon. After leaving Tsunami Sushi, we walked with all the ladies towards the beach to a bar called Ganesha. At Ganesha we sat on swings in their upstairs bar overlooking the ocean and one of the rivers. A rain storm came through while we were sitting there bringing a cool breeze and lightening that light up the entire beach in front of us. Mario, the bartender took very good care of us, feeding us shots most of the night.

We met a few locals, Mono and Popeye (monkey and po-pay-ay because one looked like a monkey and the other had large forearms.)

Sunday we spent the day recovering from our first night out on the town
This week we are hoping to get ourselves some bikes, pillows that don't just feel like cotton balls and an alarm clock.

Que hay para hoy?

In Spanish "Que hay para hoy?" means "What's up for today?" Our only plan for today (self-imposed) was to buy fresh baked, whole wheat bread from a woman who owns The Coffee Shop, a local breakfast joint at the end of the street. Living with no time limits or obligations took a day or two to get used to, but we are now fully embracing it.
Yesterday we went to the beach in South Jaco, with no cell phones, no watches, and no worries. We sat on the beach with just a towel and a six pack taking in the sounds of the ocean and the lush landscape. Sitting on the black sand we were surrounded by dozens of sand crabs popping in and out of their holes and scampering across the sand. We learned about the random dogs living on the beach called beach dogs. Two of them decided to chill with us yesterday like we owned them. One the way home from the beach we stopped at the Pescaderia (fish store) to buy Corvina, the most delicious white fish but they were all out. Another adventure for another day!



Today we decided to ride two of the bikes they have available at the house on a first come first serve basis to go pick up our bread. Everyone and their mother here rides bikes, more like everyone and their mothers ride the SAME bike. It was quite an experience riding down the street with cars, buses, trucks and other bikers whizzing by while trying to balance and pedal on two of the worst bikes EVER! One of the bikes is stuck in between gears so when you try to start pedaling all you get is a few cracks from the gears and pedals that go nowhere fast. The other bike wobbles the entire time because the wheel is either bent or not screwed in tight enough, not a good scene. We are now looking into purchasing our own bikes because riding a bike in the heat and humidity is much easier and faster than walking.

For now we are relaxing on the patio after our first real rainstorm and watching the beautiful sunset before dinner, trying not to get devoured by mosquitoes. No amount of OFF or Benedryl anti-itch will protect you.

We're drinking the water

At 2:15 p.m. on July 13 (my 30th birthday) Stacy and I met at the Southwest Ticket counter in the Phoenix airport to begin our adventure. We boarded a flight to Los Angeles, where my sister Alia picked us up to hang out before our 1:30 a.m. flight to Costa Rica. We spent the evening hanging with Alia and Eric and ate dinner at a great Thai restaurant (which was Stacy's first time eating Thai food - she loved it!) Since it was my birthday, the group decided to order the special birthday ice cream and sticky mango rice, which was brought to our table by our sassy tamberine-shaking waitress. 

We boarded our first flight (to San Salvador) on TACA Airlines and were seated in the final row of the plane (right near the shitter) and the man next to us belched loudly as he sat down. Stacy and I looked at each other and agreed things were off to a great start. After a lousy attempt at sleeping we were served a full breakfast (yay international airlines) and on our next flight (to San Jose) we found out that TACA serves alcohol for free. It was too late to take full advantage of that so a morning bloody mary was all we could do.

Got our bags, customs officers could have cared less about what we were brining in so we walked out the doors. Then we saw David holding a card up with my name. He drove us the two hours to Jaco, stopping along to way to take in the views and walk across the crocodile-infested river. 

As we entered Jaco and drove to the house we asked David "how much farther is the house" because the craigslist ad read "5 minute walk to the beach". It's a little farther than that to say the least.

Upon arrival we are greeted by Gabriel, the six year old son of Kathia (the woman who owns the house) and then Chino (who's real name is Gerald but they call him Chino because his eyes are slanted: welcome to Latin American culture). He helped us take our bags up to our apartment where we were immediately greeted by large, color-printed signs taped to our apartment windows that say:

NO SE PERMITEN PUTAS EN ESTA PROPIEDAD = NOT PROSTITUTES IN THIS PROPERTY

NO SE PERMITEN DROGAS EN ESAT PROPIEDAD = NOT DRUGS IN THIS PROPERTY

Then we met our neighbors (from Phoenix) Melissa and Brian, who apparently are responsible for those signs being posted. 

A few weeks ago they were sitting on the balcony enjoying some beers with "friends" they met at the bar. One of the girls ended up being a PUTA but they had no idea. Kathia was not pleased.

We spent most of the afternoon (dazing in and out of sleep deprivation) talking with Melissa and getting the lay of the land. We sat on the balcony in the sweltering humidity and just kept sweating. On the street below, it seemed like everyone has a bicycle and the traffic never stopped. Noises you would expect in a big city; loud motorcycles, large tractor trailors sputtering, people honking their horns at each other for a multitude of reasons we have yet to dicipher. She gave us advice on where to grocery shop, which ATMs to use and how to recognize the PUTAS. 

At 6 p.m. we walked to Los Amigos to get some dinner (we hadn't eaten since 5:30 a.m.) and enjoyed the quieter sounds of night. Walking along the dimly lit street down to the main drag, our quiet, country road and the sounds of the crickets were interrupted by shoddy motorcycles whizzing by and people honking. But in between the bursts of sound it was just so beautiful. There is a lot of undeveloped land surrounding the area and felt like for a brief time we weren't in a city anymore.

On the walk home we stopped at Frutastica to pick up some cerveza and hung out on the balcony with our new Phoenix friends, including Chino. Chino only speaks Spanish, so I interpreted for Stacy and the group and vice versa to Chino. It was a fun cultural exchange and Stacy and Chino both expressed frustration that they couldn't understand what the other was saying. The first day being immersed in a new culture and not understanding everything being said by the locals was a little overwhelming for Stacy, but I know after 37 days she will have a much better grasp on the language and be able to understand the slang of the youth (read Pit Bull/Daddy Yankee).

Late into the night we finally went to bed (after 24 hours of not sleeping). We slept soundly through someone knocking on our door and woke up around noon. It's freaking awesome to not have cell phones, an alarm clock or anywhere to be really. We ventured out just the two of us for the first time to find some breakfast and hopefully get some groceries/supplies. Luckily, we found a sweet breakfast joint called The Coffee Shop, where they make homemade whole wheat bread (of which we will be buying loaves for use in our apartamento). After some breakfast we stocked up on supplies (water, sponge, cleaning supplies, ice cube trays) at Frutastica and came home just in time to avoid the torrential downpour of rain. It was very lucky considering we are two hot babes and were wearing white t-shirts.

That's it for now. We are off to Mas X Menos for groceries. 

 

A few more days to go

With even fewer days left before our departure to Costa Rica, things are feeling right! I (Joanna) went to the Diamondbacks game tonight with my friend Melissa (who I met while studying abroad in Spain in 2000) and we had a great time. I'm trying to think less about finding a yob (read: job) when I return from Sandy and my fantastic adventure, and more about just enjoying our fantastic adventure. Of course I'll miss my man, mom, family and friends while we're gone, but there is much enjoyable fun to be had. Go to work tomorrow to turn in my BlackBerry, laptop, corporate card, etc. and then will join US Airways brothers and sisters for a goodbye luncheon at Royal Taj at the amazing Indian food buffet at Southern & McClintock in Tempe, AZ.

And then there isn't much left to do. People keep asking "have you packed yet?" and my response is "what is there to pack - bathing suit, shorts, t-shirts, shoes, undies, sunscreen...". It's a fantastic feeling, to be on the brink of a fantastic adventure. I hope it turns out to be as fantastic as Sandy and I hope it will be. It will be. The first sign of it being utterly fantastic: when we land in San Jose there will be a man waiting to take us to Jaco. How will we know who he is? He will be standing in the airport arrivals area holding a sign with our names written on it. Who hasn't wanted that to happen to them before? FANTASTIC!

Opinions

Ever hear of the Flip??? Check it out The Flip Video Camera 

There are a few for sale on Craigslist.   Who thinks we should get one for our trip?   

Stacy and I are preparing for Costa Rica. 8 days to go and we are pretty much set. Airplane tickets purchased (sweet deal on TACA airlines), our apartment is reserved (apartment on 2nd floor of family home). Now we are spending time with family and friends who are in Phoenix, loading up the iPod, doing laundry, etc.

The whole thing really felt like it was meant to be. Two weeks ago, just before the Xavier Rudd concert at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, we were chilling at Tavern on Mill and talking about life. Stacy has been thinking of moving to San Diego, and I have been thinking what the heck to do after being laid off from American Express. I was talking about wanting to spend some time in Central America, and Stacy was itching to do something different. We were both ready for some kind of adventure.

After talking about it all night, the deciding moment came amid a long percussion rif and dancing, sweaty, friendly hippies (of which Stacy and I are two). We both of looked at eachother and said "we are going to Costa Rica".

You only live once. That's all she wrote.