Saturday night in Manuel Antonio we drank at the hostel for awhile before Sarah and I decided we wanted to go to the club. Friday night we had wanted to and it just didnt work out so Saturday, also being Sarahs last night in Costa Rica, was the night!
We jumped on a bus with our friend Rachel to go into Quepos, the nearby town with the clubs. Unfortunately we all only had about 5 US dollars on us and drinks-entrances to clubs can get kind of expensive.
We hop off at the first bar and go in, sans entrance, and buy a 4 dollar drink each which means we are screwed for the rest of the night. So realizing we couldnt get anything else here, we walked to another bar. They told us it was like 5 dollars to get in so after some serious begging and pleading they let us in. When we got in and realized there were 2 other people in the bar and that was it, we had a good laugh. So we set off in search of some kind of alcoholic beverage for 1,000 colones..or 2 dollars. Thinking we were 3 white girls, this should be easy we told the bartender our story. What did he say..you can buy water, and thats it. Thankfully after some serious schmoozing he picked up a giant lime green super soaker and shot some kamikazee like beverage down our throats which officially got the night rolling!! After that we ran into the server from our hostel, an Australian we ended up calling cabbage and a Nico turned Tico...all of whom were delighted to keep our fists full of beers.
At some point in the night we left, ate some pizza and ended up back at the club. We were having a blast dancing to the techo infused American music and probably would have been out til all hours of the night untillll....
Rachel grabs me and says Can you get the gum out of my hair? Apparently some boy grabbed her arm to dance and she said no so he straight up threw his gum into her hair. How nice.
Rachel and I go to the bathroom for literally 3 minutes and come out to find Sarah saying three guys came up to her and groped her when we left. So I turn around and make a face like is this serious!? in the direction of the boys she said touched her and do you want to know what happens? The adult male, in front of probably 10 other adult makes, walks up to me, puts his hands on my shoulders and shoves me. Seriously.
I am getting freaked because what do I do? At home, you make a big deal and any single man in that bar will kick his ass for even thinking to push a female. Here...not so much. So I grab the girls and say we need to leave. We get outside and his friend comes up to us and says oh sorry, hes really drunk. When we start to explain to him what happened and how in all of our countries (Canada, Australia and America) that is NOT ok he pretty much told us its best if we leave. Unbelievable.
The Nico turned Tico we were with says oh yeah sorry hes a street guy, theyre different...that stuff happens all the time. Im furious because I cannot believe that just happened. What made me more upset was the fact that I couldnt do anything about it because I didnt know what he would do. The police here dont do shit and its not abnormal for guys, especially these street guys, to be packing heat. Its frustrating to have to be physically groped and pushed by someone you dont know and to not be able to do a damn thing about it.
Needless to say we hopped right in a cab and went home.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Manuel Antonio
9 of us volunteers got a bus to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side of Costa Rica for the weekend. It was a really good weekend and we actually got 2 mostly sunny days out of it.
Within the first 20 minutes of being there we saw a sloth and monkeys so we were all thrilled. What didnt thrill us was the first hostel we stayed at. We got off the bus at Vista Serena which is on the outside of town which we didnt like. We checked in, got to our bunks and realized the water didnt work, there were no locks on the lockers, we were 30 minutes walking from town and a whole list of other gripes that ended with us getting our money back and walking to town in search of another hostel.
While sitting at dinner one day we heard this terrible scream and saw people start gathering around something laying in the street. Turns out it was a monkey that had jumped on the power line and got electrocuted. Some guy waited for him to stop convulsing and then put him in his car and drove away...to where, I do not know. But I did get a good laugh out of imagining this scene, the man and the supposedly dead monkey in a car, turning out like the scene from Tommy Boy in which Chris Farley and David Spade are alone in a car with a supposedly dead deer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voefhWfS80A
Within the first 20 minutes of being there we saw a sloth and monkeys so we were all thrilled. What didnt thrill us was the first hostel we stayed at. We got off the bus at Vista Serena which is on the outside of town which we didnt like. We checked in, got to our bunks and realized the water didnt work, there were no locks on the lockers, we were 30 minutes walking from town and a whole list of other gripes that ended with us getting our money back and walking to town in search of another hostel.
While sitting at dinner one day we heard this terrible scream and saw people start gathering around something laying in the street. Turns out it was a monkey that had jumped on the power line and got electrocuted. Some guy waited for him to stop convulsing and then put him in his car and drove away...to where, I do not know. But I did get a good laugh out of imagining this scene, the man and the supposedly dead monkey in a car, turning out like the scene from Tommy Boy in which Chris Farley and David Spade are alone in a car with a supposedly dead deer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voefhWfS80A
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Crashing Elviss Lime Green Scooter
I just slept in a hammock for two nights at a Hostel in Puerto Viejo and it was surprisingly fantastic. Now on to other highlights from the weekend... We drank a lot and spent some time playing in the Caribbean. However my favorite part by far was crashing a lime green scooter, property of Elvis.
One night at a bar there was a guy checking out my friend for the duration of the night...however when I told her this, she didnt believe me. That was until the next night when he straight up oogled her and then said, I was checking you out all last night. Turns out his name is Elvis.
He was pulling out all the tricks to get us to get on his lime green scooter so he could drive us home from the bar. My friend refused thinking it was far too dangerous. Now, the entire time I have been in Central America I have been saying I want to rent-drive-ride a scooter and so far, it hasnt happened. So imagine my sheer joy standing there in front of my dream! So I said She wont get on it if you drive, but if I drive she will. Easy as that!! Two seconds later he was giving me directions for how to maneuver this thing (it consisted of gas, break, see ya!) and I was flying down the road yelling THIS IS AWESOME!!! My friend was yelling with her legs wrapped around me, SLOW DOWN! I didnt. But what I did do was try to turn around and ramp the green scooter up over the side of the road and into the bushes. Then I stood yelling HELP ME! PICK IT UP! As we tried to get it out of the bushes before Elvis, who was walking behind us, could see it. It didnt work.
Luckily he wasnt mad and instead just told me that no, this lime green scooter does NOT have a reverse button...then he showed me how to turn it around....something he probably should have added to the list of instructions BEFORE I hopped on that bad boy with my friend on the back and went hauling ass up the road.
One night at a bar there was a guy checking out my friend for the duration of the night...however when I told her this, she didnt believe me. That was until the next night when he straight up oogled her and then said, I was checking you out all last night. Turns out his name is Elvis.
He was pulling out all the tricks to get us to get on his lime green scooter so he could drive us home from the bar. My friend refused thinking it was far too dangerous. Now, the entire time I have been in Central America I have been saying I want to rent-drive-ride a scooter and so far, it hasnt happened. So imagine my sheer joy standing there in front of my dream! So I said She wont get on it if you drive, but if I drive she will. Easy as that!! Two seconds later he was giving me directions for how to maneuver this thing (it consisted of gas, break, see ya!) and I was flying down the road yelling THIS IS AWESOME!!! My friend was yelling with her legs wrapped around me, SLOW DOWN! I didnt. But what I did do was try to turn around and ramp the green scooter up over the side of the road and into the bushes. Then I stood yelling HELP ME! PICK IT UP! As we tried to get it out of the bushes before Elvis, who was walking behind us, could see it. It didnt work.
Luckily he wasnt mad and instead just told me that no, this lime green scooter does NOT have a reverse button...then he showed me how to turn it around....something he probably should have added to the list of instructions BEFORE I hopped on that bad boy with my friend on the back and went hauling ass up the road.
orphanage
For the last two weeks I have been volunteering a few hours each day at an Orphanage here in San Jose. There are about 4 or 5 different Tias who are mother figures for the children that live there. Some days there are only a few children, other days there are as many as 20 kids there. Some of them go to school, others do not and I have yet to figure out why this is so.
There are a few kids here whose stories just break my heart and makes me all the more certain that I will be adopting my children in the future.
Oscar* is 12 and he has been living at this orphanage for nearly a year. He doesnt talk much about where he was prior to that. He doesnt know all his letters, cannot say his alphabet and when we started, could not spell his name. He does not go to school and his 6 year old *brother* knows more than he does. At this point, he cannot be placed in school because what grade would you start him at? How do you have a 12 year old in kindergarten? He is so eager to learn and is just soaking up everything we are teaching him.
Jedrich* is 6 months old and has been at the orphanage for 2 months. His mother, an 18 year old, took him to the hospital to have surgery and never came back for him. He had surgery on his head and had a shunt put in because he has water pools in his head which have caused him to be blind. He is usually propped up in a stroller in a room by himself and cries whenever he is awake.
These kids absolutely break my heart. I cant help but notice how bizarre some of their behavior is. They rarely fight and when they do, its short lived and solved on their own. They rarely cry and when they do the Tias are on them right away. They don't play with toys with even close to the imagination that any of my preschool kids do. I am sure these are all a result of living in an orphanage.
I am learning so much being here and seeing firsthand what its like. The Tias dont speak very much English, nor do the kids. They love to tell us "Thank you!" whenever they can...even when it may not be the right word. They love to count in english and say their colors. These kids are all so fantastic it just kills you to think what they must have been through to have ended up here.
While I was working, a friend of mine had some money she had donated at home by some coworkers for the kids at the orphanage. To be sure our money ended up there we went and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of toys and food for our orphanage and for a community center.
There are a few kids here whose stories just break my heart and makes me all the more certain that I will be adopting my children in the future.
Oscar* is 12 and he has been living at this orphanage for nearly a year. He doesnt talk much about where he was prior to that. He doesnt know all his letters, cannot say his alphabet and when we started, could not spell his name. He does not go to school and his 6 year old *brother* knows more than he does. At this point, he cannot be placed in school because what grade would you start him at? How do you have a 12 year old in kindergarten? He is so eager to learn and is just soaking up everything we are teaching him.
Jedrich* is 6 months old and has been at the orphanage for 2 months. His mother, an 18 year old, took him to the hospital to have surgery and never came back for him. He had surgery on his head and had a shunt put in because he has water pools in his head which have caused him to be blind. He is usually propped up in a stroller in a room by himself and cries whenever he is awake.
These kids absolutely break my heart. I cant help but notice how bizarre some of their behavior is. They rarely fight and when they do, its short lived and solved on their own. They rarely cry and when they do the Tias are on them right away. They don't play with toys with even close to the imagination that any of my preschool kids do. I am sure these are all a result of living in an orphanage.
I am learning so much being here and seeing firsthand what its like. The Tias dont speak very much English, nor do the kids. They love to tell us "Thank you!" whenever they can...even when it may not be the right word. They love to count in english and say their colors. These kids are all so fantastic it just kills you to think what they must have been through to have ended up here.
While I was working, a friend of mine had some money she had donated at home by some coworkers for the kids at the orphanage. To be sure our money ended up there we went and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of toys and food for our orphanage and for a community center.
Overflowing Toilets
When we first arrived at our homestay in San Pedro, the family told us the toilet handle is a little tricky and that you have to be sure that it sets right after you flush. I only half listened because at the time the directions were being given to my two roommates, not me. That night at dinner we hear that Celina, our host mom had nightmares about her house flooding because 2 years ago one of the volunteers didnt fix the handle right and the whole bottom floor flooded in the middle of the night...all because of the damn toilet handle.
So I ended up having the stomach flu for a couple days and the night before it all set in I was feeling tired and awful. I go to the bathroom, flush, and then go sit in the living room with the girls for awhile. Celina comes running out of the bathroom saying in spanish, that there is water in the bedroom. Well, only in MY bedroom which seems appropriate given mine is the only room in the house with carpet.
I spent the next 45 minutes on my hands and knees slopping beach towels into the lake that was my bedroom and wringing them out into a bucket. Then they had to borrow a machine from their friends to suck up the remaining water. Then there was some moving of furniture to lay down another carpet so I could walk into my bedroom which then smelled like a cellar and continues to three weeks later.
I think my host family is going to really like having me there!
So I ended up having the stomach flu for a couple days and the night before it all set in I was feeling tired and awful. I go to the bathroom, flush, and then go sit in the living room with the girls for awhile. Celina comes running out of the bathroom saying in spanish, that there is water in the bedroom. Well, only in MY bedroom which seems appropriate given mine is the only room in the house with carpet.
I spent the next 45 minutes on my hands and knees slopping beach towels into the lake that was my bedroom and wringing them out into a bucket. Then they had to borrow a machine from their friends to suck up the remaining water. Then there was some moving of furniture to lay down another carpet so I could walk into my bedroom which then smelled like a cellar and continues to three weeks later.
I think my host family is going to really like having me there!
Monday, November 15, 2010
The ride to San Jose
Our options for leaving La Fortuna and getting to San Jose so Whitney could fly home were either the 8 dollar public bus which takes over 4 hours and is unreliable, a 36 dollar per person shuttle, or pay a guy we knew 30 bucks per person to ride in his personal car. On a side note, 'L' the guy we paid was already going to San Jose to sell his car but he worked for a tour agency so we paid him and he wrote us up a tour reciept so it was all very legitimate.
8 am was the departure time. 815am, L's friend shows up to get us. We go pick L up at his office and end up sitting out front in the car watching him eat his breakfast for 10 minutes. Before the first hour is over..its a 3 hours drive...we have stopped for gas, pulled over to check what the smoke was coming out of the hood, pulled over so L could have a 5 minute conversation on his phone and then ended up at some bank like building where he vanished for 45 minutes taking care of personal business. We are sitting in the car calculating how much more time we needed and Whitney is becoming enraged. She had already changed her flight and paid 100us to do so, so if she missed this flight she was going to be furious. Not to mention, Leo already knew that she had a flight.
Eventually and after a lot of aggressive comments from Whitney, we are on the road again...that is until the car breaks down on the side of the highway and he ends up in a screaming match with Whitney. He flags down a random car which was headed to san jose and puts our stuff in it and off we go. So much for the shuttle ticket to San Jose.
Luckily the car was that of 2 young guys who were on their way to some music tryout in San Jose and they got us safely to the airport without a hitch. We also ended up emailing the owner of the company that L works for, who we paid, and telling him what happened. The next weekend I went back to Fortuna and got myself a refund and an apology.
A lot of drama just for a ride to san jose...
8 am was the departure time. 815am, L's friend shows up to get us. We go pick L up at his office and end up sitting out front in the car watching him eat his breakfast for 10 minutes. Before the first hour is over..its a 3 hours drive...we have stopped for gas, pulled over to check what the smoke was coming out of the hood, pulled over so L could have a 5 minute conversation on his phone and then ended up at some bank like building where he vanished for 45 minutes taking care of personal business. We are sitting in the car calculating how much more time we needed and Whitney is becoming enraged. She had already changed her flight and paid 100us to do so, so if she missed this flight she was going to be furious. Not to mention, Leo already knew that she had a flight.
Eventually and after a lot of aggressive comments from Whitney, we are on the road again...that is until the car breaks down on the side of the highway and he ends up in a screaming match with Whitney. He flags down a random car which was headed to san jose and puts our stuff in it and off we go. So much for the shuttle ticket to San Jose.
Luckily the car was that of 2 young guys who were on their way to some music tryout in San Jose and they got us safely to the airport without a hitch. We also ended up emailing the owner of the company that L works for, who we paid, and telling him what happened. The next weekend I went back to Fortuna and got myself a refund and an apology.
A lot of drama just for a ride to san jose...
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