Thanksgiving

The reality that I am living in a different country, a different culture, and away from family has sunk in most around the holidays. On the forth of July, there are no fireworks. On Easter no sunrise service. And this year, for Thanksgiving there was no turkey (they run about $40-$60 a bird here!). But no worries, I still got to eat and didn't even have to cook! Gilberth and Martin came over and made me a rico tico treat instead... Mahi Mahi, patacones, and homemade guacamole!

I can hardly believe I am going on my tenth month in Costa Rica, mainly because there are still days where I feel lost or shocked by the differences in cultures. I really haven't stopped learning. And even though my Spanish is better that it has ever been, I have had the feeling that the more I know, the more I know I don't know. So, I am going to take some tutoring next week! I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will help me get out of the lull I am in right now. Currently, I can communicate. It is ugly, but I can get my point across, which makes the need for learning and perfecting less. So classes are my Christmas gift to myself.

Now that we are heading out of rainy season, the monkeys are starting to come back on a regular basis. Yesterday, we had a first. A monkey entered the house, grabbed a banana, and ran back out on the deck. When he ran out, the other's saw, and there was a mad dash for the house. They were seriously rushing the door. Nicki shut the door and Hector shooed them away with the leaf blower. To the left, the daring one that made it safely in and out of the house.

With the beginning of summer, we are starting to have amazing sunsets again. I am also starting to miss the early morning rains that kept me cool when I went running. And more than anything, I am starting to sweat. Cross my fingers, my body has adjusted to the heat, but I know that it will be shocked returning to Michigan for Christmas.

I am so excited to come back for the holidays! I fly into Chicago on the 16th of December, and will be in Holland for two weeks. I can't wait to spend time with all of you there, to relax, rest, and bundle up in sweatpants, a hoodie, and a large pot of coffee (costa rican of course!).

Sarah, Mary, & Carly Visit! Part 7: Things I know nothing about...

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend every waking hour with Carly, Mary and Sarah while they were here.... So they had some adventures without me. Including the National Park (I am ashamed to say I have lived here almost a year and have not yet gone to the park... I live vicariously through my guests). If you go with a guide, they pick out things with their telescopes that you would never see yourselves. You can even take pictures through it! They also show you some cool tricks, like how that ant is holding up the stick. And, as you see, the animals in the park are not shy, pucker up carly!

Canopy tour! They made some friends, and had a blast.

The beach, crabs, Cafe Milagro, Pinto, and pretty drinks.

Classics.

Sarah, Mary, and Carly Visit! Part 6: More Adventures

Plinio Tower: Yup, you've seen pictures of this one before. But we climbed up for the view. Except this time, Sarah took it upon herself to try to get rid of any "unnecessary" parts of the tower, moving boards around and such. And we had an adventure on the way down, trying to blaze our own trail. Not going to lie, it was a struggle. As you can see, Carly bit it....

Agua Azul: Sarah, good choice on the burger. It is quite large, but much better than a small taquito with ketchup and mayo...

Hanging out... Christmart the beachmart and a wall of wine bottles

Sunsets and happy hour. The waitress insisted that Sarah take this picture. She was for real four feet tall.

Sarah, Mary and Calry Visit! Part 5: "In"

While we were often out and about, when I had to take care of the kids or when the rain kept us inside, we did some cooking and drink-mixing for ourselves. I loved it because it reminded me of our many dinner parties is college... and we had to be equally resourceful with ingredients at hand! There's nothing like spaghetti with homemade meat sauce or fresh guac.

Sarah, Mary, and Carly Visit! Part 4: "Out"

Even though things are slow because of low season (all that rain, and tourism being down) we still went out and took advantage of our nights... whether that was playing pool, bowling, or even making our way to the disco...

Monday night hot spot? That would be Byblos, where a mil ($2) covered all our drinks and table time. We got a few games in, but I quit early- I didn't bring my A game. I wont speak for Sarah and Carly...

Or how about Bobby D's? Their slogan, "is this THE WORLDS SMALLEST BOWLING ALLEY(?)". This two lane bowling area characterizes Quepos.... and much of Costa Rica. Forget about electric scoring, every time we bowled we had to set up our own pins and roll the ball back up! I hit my average, mid 60's, where Carly took it home. Below, me setting up pins, Katta and Christi posing for the camera, and Mary checks out the menu- with everything from pizza, to hot dogs, to patacones.

And then, there is Bambu Jam, The Lounge, and the Disco. I am proud to say that we all had the chance to dance! Below, Mary and I in the black light of the disco. There is something quite amusing about plastic cups. Sarah with her latin flavor of the week. Sarah, Mary and Carly with the canopy tour guias. And the girls at Bambu Jam, Carly- where's your lime?