Monday, November 30, 2009

Sunset Jelly

Today I should be on the road, scrambling from bus to ferry, to bus after bus trying to get myself up to a little dicey town called Liberia in the north of costa rica. Unfortunately, A salad I decided to eat the night before had different plans. I found myself at the local party gathering called Day and Night feeling very woosy and uncollected. THere hadnt been enough alcohol consumed to be the cause of the feeling and before i knew it, i was on the verge of fainting. after gathering myself and making it out to the beach, the feeling overcame me again. each time fortunately i was able to find a place to sit and fight the feeling beofre the actual faint came. At this point, I decided it was about time to go home and sleep away whatever was eating at me. The night was spent tossing and turning with horrible stomache problems and just a stones throw from the full body eject button.

Come the morning, not much had changed. Everybody was telling me that i needed to drink a coke and i would feel better. Have you guys heard that before? a coke? for nausea? i was quick to shove that wisdom aside and hobble down to the bakery to tell them i couldnt work that day. Upon getting there, my boss martin, a cheeky belgian who i have become good friends with was annoyed about my request but forced a coke into my hands to help the nausea. what do you know? it worked... for about a half hour and then the misery set right back in. Coverage was found for me at work and i literally slept for the next 24 hours. Upon waking up however, i feel like a new man. i can stand up striaght, the feeling of puking is nowhere near me, and i have a stiff back and neck like you wouldnt believe. My final day in santa teresa is to be spent surfing, returning my board, and packing my things to be ready for the 6am bus tomorrow morning. ITs been fun, its been fast, and i made it out alive... or at least this far.

A lot of time has passed since my last post and im sure many interesting stories will be left out, but i do want to share of a recent love story. a bromance if you will. It was about two weeks ago when i stumbled into the hostel after my daily beating with the waves to notice a hand drum by the hammocks. It ended up belonging to a scruffy dreadlocked kid and i proposed the idea of jamming at sunset. I dried off and returned home to get my guitar so i could meet at the well known stump at playa carmen. The sun went down and we began to play. THis kid plays the hand drum unlike anything i have ever heard and we just went to town. Long strings of jams weaved into songs and back into more jams. before we knew it the night was late and we found ourselves kickin out more tunes in what we have dubbed the 'music room' which is really an empty room in the hostel that is going to be a bar. For the next week and a half, we had many a session as the sun would set, and in the musty, but overly reverberant music room. unfortunately he had to take off about a week ago, and i dont think i have yet recovered.

I gotta apologize once again about the short post, but this keyboard is driving me insane and my head isnt fully cleared from the food poisoning. There will be more on the veranda.

Monday, November 16, 2009

No Shirt, No Shoes, You're Welcome Here

About a week ago, I set out for the surf. giddy, with a childish joy in my heart. The road to the beach, although short is wrought with rocks of all shapes and sizes. my uncalloused feet cannot take the torrent of pain that is involved in the few hundred foot walk. because of this, i usually wear my sandals to the beach and leave them nestled near a piece of driftwood. On this fateful day, i set out as the sun was setting and got my jollies in the water. actually i got my ass handed to me on a silver platter as i usually do. when i came back to shore, i took a seat next to my chico and french canadian amigos to watch the rest of the sunset. when i the time came to pick up my sandals and head in, they were nowhere to be found. I held on to the naive notion that we just couldnt find them because it was dark so i walked barefoot back to the hostel with hopes of setting out early the next morning to find them. At the break of dawn the following day i was scouring the beach but they were nowhere to be found. Carlos, the resident 'badass' of the tranquilo backpackers hostel told me from the beginning the night before. they were stolen. At that point i knew that i had been initiated into santa teresa life. Not by choice, but so it goes. In a fit of annoyance the night they were stolen, I attempted to wear close toed shoes but it just shouldnt be done here. My feet also were in pain when i put them on due to the rediculous amount of bug bites they have acquired. About a half hour into the close toed shoe experience, i broke down and went next door to a supermarket called 'super ronny' and found myself a dinky new pair of flip flops. From here on out i have actually went to the lengths of making driftwood forts to keep my shoes safe.

Initially my intentions were to come to santa teresa, get in shape, learn to surf, and chill out. while all this has happened, there has been one other element to the equation. This place is one big party. There is no rest for the weary and upon wakeup, you either need a heaping plate of casado or you need to hit the ocean to clear your head. Every time you plan on having a low key night, something gets in the way and before you know it its 3am and you are swimming naked in the ocean. alright, that hasnt happened yet, but its probably on the horizon.

The surfing is taking its toll on me. This beach is fantastic to learn on, but it also makes you earn your stripes. the first few times i went out, i couldnt paddle out past the break to save my life. it was one beating after another. each day i find im a little stronger, a little more wise about how to guide myself in the ocean, and of course, a slightly better surfer than before. The waves here right now are huge. No joke, up to 6 or 8 feet. ive been learning on the fivers but when you go down, you go down hard. This morning however was a breakthrough. I actually chased down a wave, dropped in, which is still a bit scary for me, and got a ride. amped about my actual surfing, i paddled back out to be crushed repeatedly by any and every attempt i made afterwards. I usually go out about twice a day and at this point, average one or two good waves before i just fall to pieces. Nonetheless, its the life. constantly sore, constantly bruised, but a smile to boot.

On that note, I live with a canadian and am constantly surrounded by canadians here in santa teresa so you can only imagine what kind of dialect im picking up. ive cought myself saying ey quite a bit as well as 'to boot'. what can you do? ive also met quite a few french canadians since i have been here and trying to explain to them english sayings or slang is downright histerical. Half of the things we say make absolutely no sense. how do you explain the bees knees or the cats meow? why are stuck between a rock and a hard place? after endless laughs and explanations, my chico friend looks at the table and then at me and says, "should we go chill at your pad?" The three french canadians that were with us just reassumed the blank confused stair and my buddy and i reassumed our unbearable laughter.

Moving on, I work at the bakery regularly now and have to manage sleep, pool, partying and surfing around a work schedule. Its funny coming here after working so many service jobs in the states. the whole no shirt no shoes no dice is entirely non existant. Half of my customers are practically naked. and shoes? no shoes? take a seat, can i take your order? Ive found that i too have taken to the scantily clad fashion and other than the downside of a little sunburn here and there, its quite the life. im earning costa rican wages which are slightly less than two dollars an hour. the only saving grace of being a waiter or barista here is that tips are built into the bill. for that reason, if its a busy day, you can come out with a good 20 or 40 dollars in tips. however, I have been working the 2pm to close shifts and not having a steady influx of clientelle. Hopefully it will pick up. its also pretty funny here witht he language barrier. I can speak spanish well enough to take orders, get change, for here or to, etc etc but when a lot of people walk in to the resturant and see me... they havent even heard me say anything yet... they will automatically try and speak english with me. often times also their english is much worse than my spanish.

So time is flying here. Ive got about two weeks left before i have to get myself up to guatemala. The planning should prabably start fairly soon because it is going to be about a four day endeavor. However, I am settled in here so nicely right now that ill probably put that off for a week and a half or so. I know there is much more to be said and to write, but I am actually on a computer at the tranquillo backpackers hostel of which i do not live at. Ive become good friends with the french canadian reception guy and i am here so often that nobody is any the wiser. however, ive been hogging this thing for a little while now so i much be off. time to play pool, surf, work, etc.

on a quick note, my pool game is getting pretty good. bank shots are made on the regular and there is always a worthy opponent. anyways, gotta run.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Neverland

Here in santa teresa, the internet access is limited and this computer is a pain in the ass to use so this will be brief. yesterday i cought my first sizeable wave. scared the hell out of me, but left me wanting more. i traded the surf betty back in for the board i broke the fin on. Im diggin it and ill be back out in the waves very soon. I have also finally settled in to this place. Ive got an awesome little cottage two minutes walk from the beach where i can hear monkeys howling in the trees and see all sorts of really cool jungle creatures. On top of that, I have secured a job at the bakery and am looking into playing music a various different resturants and cafes at night. Its incredible the response i am getting everywhere i take this guitar. i just need to find a few other musicians to travel with and we would be set.

On another really cool note, there is guy from chico here right now and although he never saw the shorthand exchange, he definitely new the name. Score.

In a nutshell, life here consists of surfing, playing pool, playing music, more surfing, more pool and now a little job on the side. its not easy i tell ya. anyways, i cant stand to type on this keyboard anymore so i must be off. cheers.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Surf Betty

Surfing day 1

Hit the beach by about ten in the morning after securing a filling breakfast and a surf board. About twenty minutes after paddling out, the rain set in and sent the waves spiraling out of control. Not in the larger than life sense, but in the "I cant read the ocean anymore" sense. I lasted about 45 minutes and sufficiently drained myself of potable energy. the next few hours were spent conversing with the hostel goers and napping away my fatigue. After waking up and shaking the sleep from my eyes, I hit the surf again. just as before, not more than five minutes into the ocean, the rains came. I dont think i lasted more than fifteen minutes this time as i could barely muster the energy to paddle out. battered and bruised, I returned to the confines of the hostel. After setting my board on one of the vertical racks by my room, i turned to talk to a friend i had made from panama. A few seconds later, we hear the clammaring of boards toppling on top of eachother. my friend picked his up and it was fine. mine on the other hand, suffered a worse fate. It had completely snapped off one of the fins. This bad surfing omen resinated with me for a bit and i then decided to take it back to the shop to see what the damage was. The fin and labor will cost me $35 but the guy didnt seem to be bothered by the incident. Actually, he then proceeded to ask me where i was staying and offer me a room at his place. For the same price, come monday, I will have my own room in a house right on the beach and be living with a pretty interesting israeli guy.

Surfing Day 2

This morning I awoke early and made myself some pancakes at the self serve pancake breakfast area of the kitchen. full of sugar and butter, I decided to go check the bakery down the road once more for employment options. Come tuesday, I will be manning the espresso machine again. I'm not sure what kind of hours the guy can offer me, but im pretty excited to be working in this place. Job secured, I hit the surf with the guy from panama and a girl from germany. Before i go into my battles witht he ocean, I should first speak a little bit about my new surf board. my old board of which i broke will be out of commission until monday. the next best thing they had for me was a 7 foot surf betty. what is a surf betty you ask? Well, its a 7 foot sail boat with pink flowers all over it and a bit sticker that says "surf betty" on it. betty and I hit the surf this morning and actually had a very productive time. the waves were tiny but very consistent so i caught quite a few and slowly am beginning to get back into the swing of things. my weak little arms still get tired easily but in time they will back to their old paddling selves. I have arranged a lesson later today with one of the hostel goers in exchange for a guitar lesson. at about 4pm we set sail. In the meantime, I just returned from a bar/resturant called day and night of which i enquired about employment. tonight, there is a meeting with all the bartenders and come monday, I will be tending bar in santa teresa. As of next week, it looks like all will be settled. A nice place to live with a lively roommate, two jobs, and an interim of endless surf. Itll only be a matter of time before i turn in my surf betty for the next step up. As funny as she is, i have grown fond of her.

Jumping back in time, I did something fantastic last night. This is really a cool hostel because in santa teresa, there is not much to do when you arent surfing. However, there is a pool table beneath a patio here, so hours and hours are dedicated to the game. Last night, I was playing with another guy from chico against an israeli and the guy from panama and it was looking grim for california. we were way behind and it seemed like we were getting hustled. Finally, it was my turn and i began a run that lasted a few balls until it looked like i was in a tough possition. the opposing team started talking trash to us as i scoped out possible options. it was a longshot, but it looked like there was a slight chance that i could bank one of our balls in the side pocket. i parted the conversation and interjected as i always do when the situation comes, "hey guys... hey guys." They sneered at me and waited for what i had to say. "you wanna know why i make all my bank shots?" they looked perplexed to say the least. I stepped up to the pool table and with one glorious push, banked the ball off the rail and directly into the side pocket. "because my dads a banker!" I proclaimed and recieved the reaction that i typically do. A few laughs, but mainly unimpressed grimaces with my bland wit. That being said, we won the game and all was right with the world.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Back to One

We set around noon on monday with Montezuma being our final destination. a cab ride, a bus, a ferry, and two busses later we arrived. By then night had set in and we were trying to decide if it was safe to camp. The main dilema we had rested with the unpredictable rainy conditions. At the moment we arrived, the skies were clear as day but the winds made it clear that it could all change in an instant. After hiking around in the dark trying to find the campground, we grew weary and eventually settled in a hotel. conditions were lightly meager, but suitable for a ten dollar a night room nestled on the edge of the beach. Without further adieu, we retired for the evening.

The next morning was spent in a resturant called el sabano banano where we chose to eat in the jungle laden back porch area. Right in the middle of the deck, there was a good four foot wild iguana just soaking up some sun. The waiters thought nothing of it as i'm sure it was very normal business. Breakfast went smoothly with the exception of the jungle birds that have become very domesticated. There was a jar full of sugar packets that these birds just couldnt get their minds off of. Every few minutes or so, they would fly down and land on our table and inch closer to the sugar unless we waved them away with our water glasses. eventually then got the hint and beat it.

Bellies full, we set out into the jungle with hopes of finding a waterfall. Hours later after scurrying across clifsides, hopping rocks, and swinging from vines, we made it to a pretty sizeable fall. to our dismay however, we were unable to jump off of it because the angle just wasnt right. there were other rocks to jump off of, but nothing we did came close to the insane climbing and maneuvering of a tico who happened to be there as well. I dont know how this kid did it, but he pretty muched stuck to the side of these amazingly slippery rock faces and climbed a good thirty feet up as well. All slated with the grand finally of diving perfectly back into the water. My travel companion amy and i at this point climbed up another fall to which we found it was actually less slippery to climb directly up the flowing water fall than it was to climb up the mossy side.

The next day, after breakfast, we started to follow some surfers to see where they were headed and got sidetracked by a flowing ravine. We started hopping from rock to rock slowly up the ravine in hopes that it would lead us to another waterfall of salvation. about a mile and a half into the climb, we both looked at eachother, up towards the sky, and back at eachother. Little trickling rain drops were starting to fall from above. at this point in our hike, we were also at a standstill and lack of rocks to hop on. if we were to press on, it would require wading through some murky and slow moving water. Knowing we had a potentially dangerous trek back, we admitted defeat and turned around. On our way back, the rocks that we so carefully crawled over before were easilly hopped and gracefully balanced one by one by one. The only part that was particularly dicey was a section that was a little scary entering the ravine, but for me at least, terrifying when leaving. It involved shimmying along a cliffside and climbing higher as the ravine sunk lower. Rock holds were sparse and the earth on the side of the slope was very soft. on top of that, this little maneuver required us to climb onto an even higher rock with few to no holds. fortunatley, we both made it with no problems, just a lotta worry. after that, the rest of the way back was easy as pie and right as we set foot back on the beach, the heavens opened above and the heavy rain showered upon us. feeling very content with the day, we did little but eat and play music for its remainder.

This morning, we were up early. I said my goodbyes to Amy who had to head back into san jose because she is going back to the U.S. tomorrow. On my own again, i had some time to kill so i headed back into town and sat down for some breakfast. my host, a very charismatic and uppity nicaraguan ended up getting me to break out the guitar and play a few songs for the staff all before 9 in the morning. about an hour later, i was on one of two necessary busses to santa teresa, my new home for the next month. Along the way, i met two german guys who were traveling there as well. They found out I was from california and asked if i lived in san francisco. they then proceeded to say that they have met many californians and all are from san francisco. I told them no and started talking about how i have met more dutch people than any other nationality since i have been there. Sure enough, we soon boarded another bus and i sat next to this couple who was at the stop with us. we got to talking and when it finally came out to where they were from, they were from holland. They also laughed when i asked because they had heard my conversation with the german guys.

Once in santa teresa, I found room and board with the two german guys at a hostel called 'tranguillo backpackers hostel' and dropped off my backpack. From there, it was time to find work and a surf board. My job hunt was more of a detective game than anything else. Every place i would inquire and would get the response, "sorry, nothing here, but try that place"and then give me the name of another establishment. All in all, I could by next week potentially be working in one of two resturants, bartending in an israeli owned hotel, or doing the barista gig at a little air conditioned cafe called 'bakery'. Everything looks pretty cool. I figured a job is necessary because you can only surf so many hours in the day and it gets dark around five in the afternoon, so it will help pass the time. In california, when i was on my various employment persuits of the past year, whenever help was not needed, i would get a firm response of "no! we dont need anybody now." but costa rica and santa teresa in particular is very different. the people feel very bad and apologetic when they cant offer you work. i found i was the one assuring THEM that it was perfectly ok.

Tomorrow, bright and early, I am going to head out to the surf shop of a friend i have made here and he is going to outfit me with a big wide buoyant beginners surf board which i will be able to trade in for more advanced ones as i progress. All in all, this is truly one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. i was told that it was rated the third best sunset in the world. to which i inquired how does that happen? is there a committee in charge of sunset ratings? nonetheless, the place is incredible. a very suitable home for the next month. Now i just need to get in shape so i can go climb some volcanoes!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Yes, Its Real Jungle


The Rugged Pineapple... in person


This is Jane and yes, its real jungle


Last night was the halloween party here at Hostel Galileo and the christening of the Rugged Pineapple Bar. Theres nothing too amazing to post other than there was a good time had by all and I carved my first watermelon. Those things juice like crazy. Tomorrow, I will be traveling to Montezuma for a few days. After that I will be making my way into Santa Teresa which is in an area called Mal Pais. Not bat country... bad country. Once I arrive there, my objectives are to 1. pitch a tent 2. buy a surfboard and 3. contact a hotel about potential work. Its going to be a month of the easy life doing nothing but singing, surfing, and working on the side of possible. wish me luck.