Thanksgiving...Costa Rica Style

I had my first visitor when Miss Jane Munro came to visit me over "Thanksgiving Break."  She came in on Sunday, November 20th and left me again on Sunday, November 27.  In just one short week, we managed to cram in a WHOLE LOTTA FUN!  We took a crap ton of pictures, many of which you get to see here (but lots more are on facebook), and made a lot of great memories!  It was also interesting having Janie come visit me, because I think I actually went through a little bit of reverse culture shock!  When Jane came, it was like my two worlds (Cali and Costa Rica) collided and it made me hyper aware of how much I've assimilated to Costa Rican culture.  Not that Costa Rica is drastically different from life in the US, but I realized that there were all these subtle little things that were just different.  In the end, it ended up being great that I sort of went through that.  Until Jane came to visit, I'm pretty sure I was in denial about having to go home.  But having her here made me realize that there are things that I'm looking forward to doing when I get back to the States.  I started getting excited about seeing my family and friends and just jumping back into life in California.  But moving home and culture shock are all a topic for a different blog.  This post is all about our week of partying and adventures over Thanksgiving week in Costa Rica.  Let the pictures and the stories begin!


Actually, before I begin the chronology of vacation events, I need to mention that the wonderful Heather Weingold was supposed to be a part of this amazeballs trip as well.  Unfortunately Heather's appendix clearly did not want her to make the journey as it decided to burst the weekend before she was supposed to come visit me.  While Heather did her best to heal from surgery in just a week, her doctor wouldn't clear her for travel so she had to stay home.  Jane and I missed her very much, and we will definitely be planning a "make-up" trip in the future!

Jane's Arrival
I had purchased a bunch of Christmas presents for my Costa Rican family and Jane was nice enough to bring an extra bag to CR full of all my xmas gifts, some other stuff I was running out of, and pen pal letters from my mom's third grade class (because my students and my mom's students were pen pals! How cute is that?!).  Anyway, Emilio came with me to pick up Jane and I was soooo excited when I could see her in the baggage area.  And then we were waiting, waiting, waiting and she didn't come out.  Fortunately, anpther student Margarita, who works in Immigration, was there that night and she went in to check on Jane.  Turns out that the bag she had brought with all my stuff in it got stuck in Miami (probably because it looked suspicious when it went through customs!) and it would have to be delivered the following day so poor Jane got stuck filling out the paperwork.  On the plus side, it wasn't HER bag that got left behind, so that was good.  Once we got Jane and her bags, we headed into Liberia and unpacked a bit.  This included Jane giving me my "present" which was a gigantic bottle of Jagermeister!  And some delicious assorted chocolates, which let's be honest, didn't make it out of Liberia :)

After settling in, we went "out on the town" with Emilio and his friend Junior.  Emilio's friends had been so excited that another Gringa was coming to town and had wanted to have a big party, but apparently work schedules got in the way and it was just the four of us!  I was so excited to have Jane around that I drank myself into a stupor! hehehe

At the end of the night (because that's always a GOOD idea...) we decided to have Jager bombs.  Unfortunately we didn't have any Red Bull so we used this stuff called Maxi Energy.  Let me tell you, Maxi Energy does NOT equal Red Bull.  The resulting drink was disgusting cherry cough syrup...the kind that makes you never want to get sick.  On the plus side, it caused Jane and I to only take ONE shot.  And then we went in the freezing cold pool.  Because that's also always a good idea after a night of drinking...

Bienvenidos A Liberia
Since I only cancelled two of my four classes for the week (I was afraid that if I cancelled all my classes my students would forget that they were learning English...) Jane and I hung around Liberia on Monday and Tuesday.  On Monday I dragged her around town and we went into random shops, ate lots of yummy food, and checked in on my classroom (below) since I'd been having a power outage issue (the government turned off my building's electricity for a day to do some work, and then it took two weeks to get the lights turned back on.  Oh Costa Rica!).

On Tuesday morning we got up bright and early and headed out for a hike in Rincon de La Vieja.  When Jane asked me if she should bring anything...like an umbrella or a long sleeve shirt/rain coat, my response was "nah, we'll be fine" b/c I guess I was thinking that the rain had "stopped" for the month (even though it has rained every time I've been to Rincon).  HA!  As soon as we got to the park, it was definitely raining.  A whole busload of tourists had just arrived as well and every single person was wearing legitimate rain gear and looked fully prepared for the weather.  Only Jane and I, two Macha Gringas, with our short sleeves and no rain gear, looked like idiots.  FORTUNATELY the rain didn't last too long and it was nice and hot before we knew it.  Actually, I should mention that when Jane came to town, it was like my brain literally went on vacation because I wasn't thinking clearly for most of her time here.  Not only could I not get my brain to wake up, I found that I was also having trouble speaking both Spanish AND English so I was kind of a disaster!  She kept telling me that maybe I was taking this whole "Pura Vida" attitude too far.  I think she might have been right!  hahaha

But really, we had a delightful hike and made it to the waterfall in one piece!  Yay!  Of course, at the end of the hike we got ATTACKED by mosquitoes and it's possible Jane still has the bite marks on her legs.  The mosquitoes were definitely loving on Janes Gringa Blood!  Since we had to wait awhile for our ride, we convinced the bus driver to let us take shelter from he cold and bugs in his bus.  Thanks dude!

Later Tuesday night, Jane accompanied me to my English class, where she played the role of teacher paparazzi! Unfortunately my class had to be held in a local restaurant...again...due to the "no lights in the classroom" situation.  But we still had a jolly good time learning about food and count and non-count nouns.

After class, we ran by my host mom's house to drop off some stuff and so I could introduce the Janer to my host family.  They immediately loved her and started talking our ears off, and Elba showed her some of her painting handiwork.  And Jane got her first souvenir...a hand-painted tortilla holder of her own!  Then we went off to find some food (we were starving!) and go to sleep...since we had a flight at 6:10 the next morning and had to get up at 4:30!

Vamos A La Playa!
Oh 5AM, why do you come so soon!  But it's all good, because we're headed down to beautiful Manuel Antonio!!!

So it turns out our flight didn't leave at 6:10 and it actually left at 6:45.  We learned this when we got to the airport and the Nature Air booth wasn't open yet.  When we asked someone, they said the booth didn't open until 6, to which I promptly replied "but we have to get here 45 minutes before our flight takes off and since it leaves at 6:10, it can't possibly open at 6:00."  The guy we were harassing kindly went to ask and when he returned, he confirmed that the first flight didn't leave until 6:45.  Okay fine, so we had an extra half hour to not sleep.  So we waited and read.  No Big Deal.  As we were told, the Nature Air booth did indeed open at 6:00 and we immediately got in line to check in.  Cut to the girl asking me for my passport.  Me: "My passport?" Girl: "Yes."  Me: "Um, I didn't bring my passport.  This is not an international flight."  Girl: "Uh, this is an airport." Jane: rolling eyes in utter disbelief.  Me: "well, I have a copy of my passport and proof that I filed for a volunteer visa.  Will that work?"  Girl: "uhhhh..."  Cut to check-in:  Immigration guy: "Well, this is not allowed, but since you are Katthya's English teacher (yay for having students who work in Immigration!!!) I'll let you go through." Me: "Yaaaaaay!!! You're the BEST EVER!" Immigration Guy: "Yea, well, I don't know if they will let you through in San Jose." Me: "huh?" Immigration Guy: "You have to show your passport when you get to San Jose.  Since you don't have your passport, they might not let you through and they might send you back here" (technically I'm pretty sure I would have ended up in Airport limbo...never able to escape once I got in). Me: "uhhhh, okay" Girl: "Don't worry.  I'll call and tell them you're on your way.  It will be fine."  Me: "uhhh, okay."  ...see what I mean about my brain not working?!?!?!  And note that we had thirty whole minutes where we did nothing but wait.  Fully enough time to run back to my house to grab my passport had I not been an idiot and realized I needed it.  Anyway, we got on the first plane, which left Liberia and did a pit stop in Tamarindo before landing in San Jose...da da duhhhhhh....

 (But such pretty views!!!!  Thanks Jane!)

When we got off the plane in SJ, the very official sounding guy told everyone to have their passports ready. I made Jane wait at the end of the line with me.  This is a pic of me being sad because I'm an idiot:

 This is Jane being a jerk and showing off her "I'm not a complete idiot preparedness skills."  Damn her! :)

So unfortunately the police officer checking passports was a very not happy woman, but I pleaded my case and swore up and down that this is the last flight I'd ever take and that I learned my lesson.  She said she was supposed to take me to the immigration office, but she'd let it slide.  Pfewf.  Jane and I got through!!!  When we got inside the airport we promptly walked to the check-in (dammit! we had to check in AGAIN?!?!) for our next flight.  I re-explained to the guy that I didn't have my passport and yada yada yada and the girl was supposed to call ahead (which I don't think she really did b/c nobody seemed to expect me) and so the guy took my copies and my CA ID and talked to the "big guy" at the immigration office.  Only then did I realize that when I swore up and down to Police Lady that I wouldn't take any more Nature Air flights that I maybe should have specified "...after this next one....to Quepos...which is where I'm going...." because I think that slight slip got her in trouble.  (In my defense, I had a ticket for Quepos in my hand and when I said I wouldn't take any more flights, I obviously wasn't considering my connecting flight as a separate entity.)   Well anyway, I think I might have gotten Police Lady in a little bit of trouble but the "big guy" in immigration was super nice to me.  He copied all my forms and wrote a note (probably something along the lines of "idiot gringa tries to fly without passport") and sent me on my way.  Pfewf again!  Since Jane and I hadn't eaten breakfast OR coffee, we ran upstairs to the highly flouted coffee bar (Jane gave me a big hug on the stairs when we were out of sight b/c my nerves were kind of shot) and we were just about to drink our delicious coffee when they started calling for passengers to congregate in the waiting area.  Then we were just transferring our coffee to our "to go" cups when the Nature Air guy CAME UP TO GET US!  Oops!!!  Police Lady was apparently supposed to check ID's again, but she took one look at us and said "Just go."  I'm pretty sure she never wants to see me again.  I'm SORRY Police Lady!!!!!  But Janer and I got on the flight and made it to Quepos and Manuel Antonio and all was right in the world again.

Shortly after arriving at our hotel, signing up for like fifty activities, and showering, Jane and I headed down to Las Gemelas where I was hoping to see Judah, a bartender my mom and I met/fell in adorement with on our vacation to CR a year and a half ago.  Sadly, Judah wasn't there, but delicious food and my first Caipirinha (AMAZING! that became our signature CR drink) were there.  Yum!

 And do you see this view?!?!?!  Hello paradise!

Our first adventure in Manuel Antonio (MA) was a "Sunset Sailboat Cruise."  Of course, the minute we stepped onto the boat, it started raining.  But that didn't stop our fun!  Another Caipirinha, some Imperials, a half shot of guaro, some dolphin sightings, poor visibility snorkeling and a delicious fish dinner made the trip amazing!  Not to mention the awesome dancing gay guide who Jane wanted to take home with her.  Oh, and we became "friends" with our hotel neighbors, who also happened to be on the tour with us: He/She (because we're pretty sure HE was a SHE at some point...and really, he was just an oddball to the max) and his Deaf, lesbian companion.  Even though we didn't get to see a sunset due to weather, we had an awesomely great time!

We planned to go out on the town later that night, but when we went back to the hotel to shower and take a "nap" we ended up sleeping until it was too late to rally and we called it a night.  Sleep was great!  Besides, we had to get up early the next morning for Thanksgiving...Day....Ziplining!!!!!  Yea, while you all were sitting around watching the boring Thanksgiving Day Parade and eating food (okay, delicious food), we were swinging through the trees with the greatest of ease!  Too much fun!  Also, since the tour guys were an hour late picking us up because the AC in the van broke, they added on the "obstacle course" for free!  yay!

 To celebrate Turkey day, Janer and I drank more Caipirinha's! Obviously!

We also ended up meeting a nice, if chatty, couple traveling as well, and talked to them for quite some time.  They were delightful company, but eventually Jane and I decided we needed to head over to Las Gemelas to finally meet up with our friends!  It's also where we ended up having Thanksgiving dinner...a delicious chicken quesadilla shared by our two drunk-ish asses.  Delish!

 Beers!

 Shots!  (Happy Thanksgiving mom!)

The next morning, we had yet another adventure planned...horseback riding through the rainforest! Yay!  While I wasn't hungover, my traveling companion may or may not have been having a rough morning.  Fortunately the horse guides were understanding, and they promised to reward us with fresh coconut water after the tour, and mineral water...straight from the source...on the tour.  These were both promised to cure any hangover symptoms.  Bonus!

 Jane and I rocking our awesome yellow safety helmets while posing at the magical mineral waterfall.  Which yes, we did legitimately drink out of!  For sure my first time drinking directly out of a stream...since I feel like we're sort of ingrained NOT to drink un-sterilized water in the US.  But since Che, our most awesome guide promised it was safe, we went for it.  And it really did taste quite delicious and mineral-y.  Oh, and did I mention it started pouring rain while we were riding?!?!  We got soaked all the way through!!!

This is our man Che, who is originally from Argentina and who has traveled the world and is amazing and we loved him!

After our new routine of showers and naps, Jane and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner at "El Avion" which is a restaurant built around an old US airplane left over from the Iran Contra scandal.  Jane and I didn't miss an opportunity for more ridiculous pictures...obvi!

 And then we headed back to...you guessed it...the bar!  We carved out a spot and started playing dominoes which was too much fun.  There was a random guy that wanted to play with us and kept making ridiculous bets, where he was pretty much always the loser.  For example, between me and Jane, we had won most of the games, so homeboy bet his buddy that if he didn't win the next game, he'd pay the buddy $40.  And what did he get if he WON the game?  Nothing.  Why? Because he knew his buddy wouldn't give him $40.  Um, okay, fair enough.  Fortunately for homeboy, he did win the next game so he didn't have to pay anything.  Next, he bet Jane and I that if one of us won the next game, he'd pay for all our drinks the rest of the night.  It didn't matter which of us won.  And if one of us didn't win, we didn't have to buy his drinks for the rest of the night.  Why?  Because he knew we wouldn't.  Okay, fair enough.  So obviously homeboy gave Jane and I, who were previously competing against each other, an incentive to work as a "team" to beat him (okay, "team" may or may not be code for "cheat") which we did.  And he did buy our drinks.  Thanks homeboy!  (Don't worry, we didn't abuse the privilege...he just bought us each like a beer....in addition to the shots he had already bought us earlier in the night...and then a bunch of drinks when we went to the next bar, which we didn't ask for...but which we obviously drank...no big deal)

Me and my man Judah!  I adore him!  Also, since he knew I was coming, he made me the beautiful perfect purple bracelet I'm wearing around my wrist!  (Because he also makes and sells jewelry!).  Thanks Judah!  You're the bestest!

 Like I mentioned, after Las Gemelas closed, we went down to another bar in Quepos and we had this guy as our taxi driver...the guy Jane and I like to refer to as the best cab driver ever!!!  He turned our cab ride into a dance club with starts and stops and a flickering interior light to simulate a disco ball!  It was amazing! And he did it all while keeping us alive on those windy roads....and while we made like ten attempts to get his picture!  So fun!

By Saturday Jane and I had earned a day on the beach!  And it was fortunate we chose Saturday as beach day because it's the only day it DIDN'T rain, and it was a perfect, bright, hot day for the beach!  And for pina coladas on the beach. Yes please!

When we had had enough sun, sand and surf for they day, we headed down to the shops to scope out the scene and so Jane could buy presents for her family and friends.  We of course stopped by Judah's shop, which is where we also did most of our shopping!  Here's Judah in his natural habitat :)

 Later, we, shock, ended up back at Las Gemelas for one last night of partying!  (Note that now our white asses are RED!  AND we used a WHOLE bottle of sunblock...)

 More brewskies and dominoes!

 ...And Jagerbombs...(FANCY Jager bombs...with REAL Red Bull!)...among some other shots too....

The Long Road Home
Let's just say that our fun Saturday led to hangover Sunday...where we spent like five or six hours on a shuttle from Manuel Antonio to Liberia.  Fortunately we got back into town with just enough time for us to swing by my host family's house for Jane to grab her stuff, and for us to get to the airport for one last snack and beer.  FOUR DOLLAR BEER!  Yikes!  (Okay, I get that $4 is normal price for a beer in the US, but here it's like double...what a ripoff!).  Check out our digs where we drank and waited for Jane's plane!!

First class lounge accommodations all the way!  (Jane was legit flying first class, and this is the restaurant waiting area. ha!)  In defense of the Liberia International Airport though, I'd like to mention that they just built a brand new airport next door which should be opening any day now, so I'm sure that's why they've let things go a little in the "old airport" mkay...

But alas, it was time to say goodbye to the Janer.  Once I had seen her off at the (dreaded...eek...bad memories) security area, I went off to find a bus back to Liberia, only to realize I had just missed it and would have to wait an hour.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), I know people at the airport so I got to chat and hitch a ride with some of my students.  The unfortunate part is that they got to see me in all my wonderful hungover, hungry, tired awesomeness.  Heh.  They had fun telling their fellow students about how pitiful I looked at the airport at the next class.

But in all, Jane and I had so so so much fun hanging out together over the week she came to visit.  It was hard to say goodbye and I missed her bunches after she left.  Thanks for a great visit Janie!!!