Who's that band again? the one that sings jungle love?

Last friday, a dutch doctor, a traveling scot and a wayfaring american walked into a bar. we proceeded to fill ourselves up with the local beer "imperial" and believe me, i already miss the fresh hoppy taste of my alma mater sierra nevada. allen, the scot besides being a histerical scotsman, began telling me stories of how he learned the valuable skill of cutting cards to help get him through the tough times. he used to take it to vegas before they had the automatic counters and clean up before getting blacklisted from the casinos. he told me that never once has it gotten him in real trouble... oh wait, except that one time he was cutting cards in MOSCOW! he ended up getting tailed by the russian mob for a bit but eventually made it home safely. the bar we were drinking at had a VIP room in the back which was locked when we first got there. around 10:00 or so, it opened up and what do you know, there was a poker game going on. naturally, he decided to pick up a few bucks before his flight out the next morning. He had actually been pickpocketed a few days back so he took the opportunity that presented itself. I still have no idea how card cutting works, but it was pretty incredible to watch him just clean up with the disgruntled costa ricans around him.

before the vip room had opened, the three of us were challened to a game of pool by a few of the locals. we were doing pretty well until the house rules came into effect and suddenly we found ourselves getting creamed. they ticos were laughing histerically at us. after the three on three game, allen went off to the vip room and marye the dutch girl (pronounced similar to mariah( and i were challenged again. Once more, we were had due to the wacky tico rules but we still gave them a run for their money. after we were finished losing, marye started to tell me about her plans to go to puerto viejo the next morning. after a little bit of persuasion and a lot of alcohol consumption, i conceded to dropping my job hunt for a bit and experiencing some of the real costa rica.

the next morning, I rescheduled my interviews for the following week and went with marye to the bus station to depart for puerto viejo. her plan was to go to a long lost nannys residence to stay and enjoy for a while. yes, a long lost nanny who lived in the netherlands but now is in CR.

the bus ride was beautiful, full of dense jungle, many banana plantations, and thick cloud forests. upon arrival, we were initially going to camp at what we thought was a campground but turned out to be a very lame sandbox with bad reggae and goofy scenery. disillusioned, we headed down the street a few miles to marye's nanys place.

her place was breathtaking as well. surrounded by jungle and wildlife, she had an open air house with wooden furniture and a locked off area upstairs. she also has cabins which she rents out to tourists. about three hundred meters down a dirt path, you part the brush to find a secluded and pristine carribean beach front. it was a little awkward for me because it is on the east coast of the island so there was no ocean sunset. dont worry, i got over it.

that night, Cillica, the nanny came into town and we went to dinner with her and tanya, a german woman who lives on the property and handles most of the homes. we went a little ways down the street to a place called jungle love. yes, any of you who know my problems with remembering steve millers name should know that it took me a few days to place the song. jungle love was a little resturant owned by some american expats and young ones at that. in puerto viejo, aside from the carribean rice and beans, the popular dish was pizza and that is precisely what jungle loves specialty was.

the next few days were filled with hiking through the jungle, checking out the neighboring towns, and biking everywhere imaginable. I was suprised to find that there are squirrels in the jungle. squirrels just like you would see in california, but these squirrels are skilled at jungle things such as gripping on to frail plants and getting their hands on all the wild fruit. also, i happened to see the fabled giant butterflies of costa rica. shamefully, i still dont know what they are called, but they are huge and they have a majestic blue backside and a black underbelly.

Have you ever seen a guitar sweat? I have. the air is so moist over there that condensation was collecting on the body of the instrument. i would have to wipe it down a few times a day. also, with moisture like that, the mosquitos were out in full force and my feet once again cease to be feet and are some conglomeration of flesh and puffy swelling. the nets we slept in only did so much good. I would find new things to itch on the hourly.

yesterday, after swimming in the ocean during the pouring rain and remaining very warm, i found myself later in the night in my room strumming out bob dylans dont think twice. its a song i have not played in years and with a new sense of the tune, decided it was time to pack up and head back to san jose to get some work done. the next morning marye and i parted ways and i braved the nearly five hour bus back to the city. I also happened to get extremely carsick which i was shocked about. i never get car sick, but the massive amount of brake fumes got the better of me. as for now, i am back here at the hostel gallileo and settling in for a night of zombie movies with the other travelers. tomorrow i have to continue my job hunt and begin refreshing myself with the english grammar that i have long since forgot.