The Second Time Around

Hey There!

Thanks to whoever still checks this blog of my travels. I´ll give the updates of my return trip to Costa Rica thus far:

I stepped back on Costa Rican soil for the first time in two years this past Sunday, June 15th very early in the morning. Now being an in-the-know traveler, I took a bus from the airport to downtown instead of a taxi, saving myself about $19. I then took a taxi to the school I attended where I was greeted by all the old staff which was a fun aspect I hadn´t even been expecting. I met up with my good Costa Rican friend Steven and we spent the day hanging out with him and friends and with a mission group that was also staying at the school during their trip. Steven and I are supposed to sing a song at the wedding in a couple weeks so we picked our favorite out of my options and I´m now really excited about it.

Monday I took the bus to San Jose and just wandered around. I had to refrain from buying anything at the fun outdoor market because I sadly realized upon arrival that my backpack is already at its max capacity, and this is just the start. No bueno. I sadly spent the day looking busy and unfriendly so people wouldn´t assume I was a vulnerable and ignorant tourist and therefore didn´t have much human interaction that day which was unfortunate. The map my friend from the school drew me of the return bus stop location confused me a little and I ended up having to ask a police officer if he knew where it was. He proceeded to escort me through the streets to my correct stop which of course made everyone´s stare at the white girl go from a sly glance to full-out gawk. He then worriedly told the man in line in front of me to keep an eye on me, as they could simply not understand how I would know when to get off at the right stop (even though I´ve done it several times). "Ella es Americana," he said to the man, as if in explanation of my antics.

Tuesday my first friend, Kerri arrived and that´s when I really started enjoying myself. We walked from our hostel in San Jose to an indoor market where there were all kinds of "soda", or places to sit at a barstool and order from a menu of a couple items. As our waiter served us "guayabana" juice and rice with shrimp, he soon got the whole restaurant staff at our table, chatting, practicing their English, and inviting us to go dancing (which we declined). My next friend Amanda and her roommate Lindsey arrived that evening.

Wednesday we four went back to the school so the other girls could say hello to the staff and while there we revamped our trip as we realized that the original trip included one leg of the journey that would have 30 hours of buses in about 4 days. Instead we decided to spend the remaining time in the Caribbean. We went to Lubnan that night , a restaurant-club where we ate Lebanese food and mostly watched people get drunk which was slightly entertaining, but mostly annoying, and we´ll surely be avoiding scenes like that again this trip.

Today we´re off for Playa Manzanillo where we plan to snorkel, ride bikes, and eat good seafood. Debbie from Germany and her mom arrived this morning, so it´ll be fun and interesting juggling three languages, two age groups, and six people on our way to the beach. Aye, perfecto. :)