emily and her life

A little rap for the am. So I haven't written since we have returned to the usa and that is because life here is the same everyday. Back to work, dinner, gym and bed. Yesterday was the Turkey feast and it was good, I made the gravy and it rocked. I love gravy, I would drink it out of my coffee cup at work, but I think they would all think I had gone mad so I don't.
I have been watching "The Office" from BBC and if you have never seen it, you should. Very funny and well written, about life in a hum-drum office in Slough it is so funny. I also saw Team America and I cannot stop talking about it, Puppets saving the world, and Kim Jong Il to boot. Really nice.
I have to go to my dad's today and have to get into the shower now and get all clean and pretty.
em

Hi all, we are back in Alajuela for our last few nights. We left Cocles on Thursday (i think it was thursday) and came back to the city area. I didn't go into too much description there and that is too bad, beautiful stretches of beach with only a few people and dogs playing in the surf. Unfortunatly there were a few days of cloudy sky, so my brown has faded. But I am glad I hate to be burned. If any of you come here (to P. Viejo) there is a great coffee place right across from Casa Verde, a refreshing change from other coffees here.
We stayed at this place called Costa De Papito, and right before we went Klaus saw an article on MSNBC.com about it. Sad really this whole area is being built up faster than you can imagine; Good financial opportunity though for those who want it. We rented bikes from our place and decided to bike on cruisers to Manzanillo about 11km down the road. My bike began to protest right away and we thought it was just a bearing in the pedal as it was loud and stiff. the ride was great, only 2 hills that weren't bad, sketchy bridges though. So we arrive in Manzanillo and my luck starts again, now the bike that I had been riding is suddenly a fixed gear! I am thinking "I am NOT riding a fixed gear back 11km to our place, with a broken pedal to boot" So we stop near "downtown" and Klaus and I switch bikes so he can assess the situation. After riding less than a block the freewheel breaks and the pedals are going but the bike isn't. I broke the bike! Number four! We asked a nice shopkeeper to call our place and ask them to come and get us as the taxi drivers in town wanted Klaus to go and "knock on another door" for a ride. They said they would come and get us and they did. What an afternoon. then we watched the election and I was not too happy, but at least the middle of America went out and voted right?
We are staying at a place with a communal kitchen so we went and got goods at the huge farmers market and from the Mercado Central. a kilo of steak for $2, what? I just know I will be shocked when I come home and go into Whole Foods (paycheck!) Maybe I can Bargain, I'll have to try.
How much coffee can I bring home anyway?

Because I have and I am anxiously awaiting what happens tonight back home. We got to watch a bit of world cnn yesterday and were really jazzed as we are such news hounds and haven't seen world happenings for a while.
Well back to vacation, we have been chilling at the beaches here, rented bikes yesterday and rode to punta Cocles and Punta Uva, really beautiful beaches with very few people. We got a bit too much sun yesterday and are paying for it today, but I am going to be dark when I get home, I know that. We have also been gorging on Patis. Little turnover like things filled with spiced meats. They are to die for. I would pay a lot of money for some patis and they are like 2 for $1. Have I mentioned how good the food is? I think I am going to try and bring a small cook home in my bag, wish me luck!
Gotta keep this short, have fun and I miss you all!

So here I go again, yesterday I had typed for about 15 minutes and the dial up that we had lost the connection, so I will try with fingers crossed!
We left off in La Fortuna and were there for four days, we left and journeyed by private car to Cariari where we cought a bus to the River Tortuguero. The town was dirty and hot so I was glad to get on the bus, we traveled through a few huge banana plantations and wow I will never eat another banana that is not organic. The amount of pesticides that they spray on the fruit here is frightening. So we cought a long boat up the canal for about 1.20 hours, we were a bit confused as the boat was dropping off locals as well and we had no idea where to get off. We guessed and were right! We were famished and got some almuerzas and found a place to stay for the night, dropped our stuff off and arranged for a tour of the beach and turtles that night. We then passed out for a few hours, man traveling takes it out of me!
We woke and had a Coca cola moment and then went to the beach. We lucked out and had a full moon and the beach was very bright and all was visible, making things very easy to see. We first saw a large green turtle and she decided after a few minutes that this was not the place for her and turned back to the sea. After meandering for about 30 more minutes we saw a female beginning to dig, we sat and waited. After about 30 more minutes had passed we were able to approach her and watch her laying her clutch. To see this huge animal not moving except for the contraction and drop of the eggs was very moving. She shed tears as she laid her eggs to rid her body of excess salt. We could only watch for so long to give her privacy, but she soon finished and we watched her cover the eggs and we made our way off of the beach, satisfied as having seen that. Then Klaus noticed some movement on the beach and we saw another huge turtle moving up the beach for some more laying time, we continued walking and then saw tiny turtles moving in the night for the water. These things were miniature compared to what we had seen before, we all laughed at them clambering over our feet and hands, giving them words of encouragement. I lifted up one and it kept flipping its flippers and was so amazing. We watched them until the park rangers came and acted like we had to go, so we did. After all those guys have guns.
the next few days were spent exploring Tortuguero National Park and watching some amazing wildlife} Birds, monkeys, snakes, skinks and lots and lots of spiders. We went to the Carribean Conservation Corps and learned a ton about the life and history of turtles, very neat and spent the afternoons watching soccer games. We decided that it was time to move on and got a boat to Limon, our captain was really great at pionting out wildlife and we saw so much more that day! Sloths (3 toed), howler and spider monkeys, thousands of birds (migration) and crocs and Caymans. I kept shouting "crikey" whenever I saw either. Only Klaus laughed, and I thought I was funny. We arrived in the port town of LImon after traveling on the boat for about 4 hours and I do not recommend staying in Limon to anyone, unless you have large, bulging muscles and a bodyguard named "hulk" or something. We took a bus to Cauhita a funky Carribean town where we met Jimmy Cliff, and I thought he was dead! This Jimmy Cliff was a loon, he showed us his collection of beachcombers delight and gave us some fresh coconut water to drink. I had a bit of a cold at this point and this seemed to make me feel better. That or the really spicy food that we ate, more on that later. Jimmy's collection was amazing, he even had Human Teeth, I asked if the shark had gotten the rest of the man and he laughed and laughed. He said " I don't know mon!" So we said out bye and Klaus gave him a key for the collection " a key to the heavens!" and we walked and then ate a huge spicy carribean dinner at Miss Ediths, I professed my love to miss Edith right after dinner, it was amazing. She said she would take me as one of her own children. But I love my family too much so I declined.
the next day after some bugs had made quite a meal of my elbow in the night ( I have around 25 bites in a very small area) we walked to the national park in search of some more animal sights, we got them! Many types of monkeys were everywhere and we walked to a point about 2.5 miles out and saw a large gang of about 10 capuchin, you know the cute white faced ones? Well they were really friendly at first and posed for pics and came really close to us, all I kept thinking was "these are wild animals" and I guess they learned that whatever is in a bag is food. Klaus got some great pics, then changed lenses and had me hold his bag, I looked over my shoulder and saw 2 staring at me, really really colse to me. Then one bared his teeth and kind of snarled at me, it was really primevil, I saw scared out of my mind. adrenaline started to pump and I said" we need to leave right now" Klaus said there was so much fear and emotion in my voice that he was freaked out. When he turned and saw those monkeys he knew too. We ran out of there double time.
After recovering we had a good night of no more monkeys and then came here to Puerto Viejo which is where we are, in a great place with a pool and hot tub, and there is no one else here! whooo0hoo Have a great Halloween everyone!
Oh yeah, congratulations to Ben and Will, they won first and Second prizes in a costume contest! Love you boys!

Hello all, Well I am convinced I have a unique touch and am able to break anything I come in contact with. bad things happen in threes, well I have successfully broken three things in a row. The first was my camera, no explanation there.
The second was when Klaus and I were planning a trip to the Santa Elena cloudburst preserve and the bus left at 8am. Breakfast was provided by the hotel (thought it wasn´t too filling) We woke up at 630 to the alarm and got all ready, for some reason it was cold outside, strange. But we got up ate really good meusli and fresh, fresh pina y melon de agua. Then the news came on. It was 630 and we had been up for at least on hour. I had hit the wrong time zone on my clock and it was one hour ahead of where we should have been. So we had to go and nap for another hour. I broke time.
After that mishap we went on a bumpy ride, as they all are, to Santa Elena Preserve. They have an amazing building that you drive up to and I was reminded of Jurassic Park. The fancy building amidst a lush forest with wild noises eminating from it. After getting out and stretching a little we set off into the forest for our hike. It was really green and dense as it was the secondary forest, the primary was a few Km away from us and it had a fee to get into. The path was really clear and I think it was someone´s job to sweep it nightly as I saw broom patterns in the dirt. Eh well, gotta keep it nice for the tourists right? We crossed eight suspension bridges ranging in length and height. Klaus wanted to get them really swinging, but I didn´t want too I guess I am a wussy. We were there for about three hours and only saw a few colorful birds and wild bugs, but nothing else that was movng around. The amazing part were the trees and Fauna of course. Huge ferns and bright colorful flowers in the most unexpected places. Unreal.
We Had to go and eat of course after this strenuous hike, and after we were done I noticed the cook, an older Señora, had cut her finger. I asked her what had happened and she made a chopping motion to her finger and said ¡Aii! We all laughed, but it looked painful.
We went to the Lecheria for some helados (I hope it was nonfat) and then walked to the frogpond. I think I know an awful lot about frogs right now, but they are really amazing. WE got to see many different species and my favorite was this teeny frog that was transparent in light. I could see it´s inner organs working, that was a sight for my eyes. We also walked by the El Bosque El Niños the forset of children and I lauged because all the signs said B.E.N. Just like it was Ben´s forest =)
We left Santa Elena for la Fortuna yesterday morning and rode up the craziest dirt road I have seen in a while, We rode across Lake Arenal and got our first view of Volcano Arenal, the top was covered in clouds at first but they blew off and we could see the peak, wow. It began to rain after we had crossed the lake and were in the bus, we drove on a paved road (!) to the town of La Fortuna and found a wonderful place with a balcony and an amazing view of the volcano. As I type this I can glance up and see it also.
Oh yeah we had the best meal of my entire life for 34$ in La Fortuna, if you ever are here go to Choza La Laural. We had a platter of varying foods that were so amazing I wanted to melt. 2 whole lobsters, huge shrimp, fresh pescado, sirlion steak, pork tenderloin and half a chicken all from the BBQ: Dad it was heaven! There were a few veggies also, but it was wild. We were staring across the table from each other with glee in our eyes and all we could say between bites was ¨I can´t believe it¨
We took a guided tour into the rainforest, of course it dumped on us but it was ok I am used to getting wet by now. We saw a few toucans and a few huge Turkeys in the trees, odd. Again amazing trees and plants. After hiking for about an hour, think the dipsea stairs hiking, we came to an observation piont for the volcano and the show started. I was mezmerized by the lava flow, to see and hear the huge red hot boulders crashing down the side of the volcano was just breathtaking. I cannot describe it properly, you have to have experienced it for yourself to appreciate it fully. Angela and Travis you have to come here.
After watching for about an hour we then went to Baldi Hot Springs. This too was unreal. A system of hotsprings feeding many different pools of water all with varying degrees of heat. the main one had a swim up bar and it was really chilly, well compared to a few other ones the hottest was 187 degrees! They had water slides and waterfalls all over this place, it was wonderful. It also had no roof, so you could see the moon and the volcano from a few pools as well. We took full advantage of those pools, the minerals were so good for us, My hair feels so soft today and so does my skin. It was a very surreal experience, sitting in a hotspring pool sipping planters punch and watching a volcano spew lava. I love my life.
So for today who knows what we will do, I will tell you the third thing that I broke was the toilet at breakfast. And I will leave it at that.

Have gone by and I am still standing! We arrived early from houston, where I only saw a few ladies with large hair and a handful of cowboys. I love people watching. The aeropuerto in San Jose is really small and efficient, we were waved through customs I hope the US is as easy. Drivers here are a different breed as are most in foreign countries, they tend to drive where they want and honk to jockey for position while attempting to pass everyone else in sight.
Our hotel was nice, cool clean and sort of hot water. They also have a house monkey named George. People name animals after friends or family members here as an honor or a joke, you decide. George was really friendly jumping into my arms and licking and nippig at my hand. It was the first time I had ever held a monkey and he was a good experience. Of course this morning he decided to attach himself to my head and hair for a few minutes, to my dismay as I had just washed it
We walked to the Mercado and around Alajuela for a bit, ate lunch at a Soda where we were stuffed for a few dollars. I am still a bit off on the exchange rate, but am getting better. I had a nap after lunch, during a HUGE downpour and when I woke up the sun had gone down. I couldn't figure out what time it was and thought I had slept the entire night and it was the next morning! I kept asking Klaus what day it was, after figuring that out (Tuesday) We went out for some ceviche at a cool Peruvian place, and then went back to bed, I love being on vacation.
We rode a local bus to Santa Elena this morning up a paved road, then off a paved road for another 90 minutes twisting through the mountains and hills. It was fun to be bouncing and listening to the bus grunt and groan. Oh yeah My camera isn't working either! I think I have this curse of cameras and other places that I go. At least this time I didn't drop it off of an elephant.
Well we are safe, happy and full of good food. I can't ask for much more. Talk to you soon.

// posted by Emily Larsen @ 1:33 PM 0 comments