costa rica: ocean water so warm, you don't even feel your own pee.

**now with pictures**

several days ago i told what i thought was my first spanish joke of the trip and got nuthin but crickets in return. not just total silence, but actual looks of complete puzzlement on everyone's faces. i suppose that while i do have a fair command of the language, i still need to work on my delivery.

for better or worse, it turns out that the dude with whom i'm supposed to work at the children's hospital has gone MIA, supposedly until tomorrow. so i've taken the last week to relax and get to know a few places in town, as well as out. last wednesday i took a trip to jaco, located on the central pacific side of the country and widely known as the most touristy beach town around. while i generally tend to appreciate less touristy areas, this place is touristy to the ticans themselves (although more and more to the gringos who over the past four years have gobbled up land and have been constructing more and more condos in the area), who were on spring break last week. the chance to hang with local tourists, plus the nearly three hour bus ride at a cost of $3 was enough to lure me in for a day in the sun.

by chance i was seated next to gabriel, a 5th (out of 6) year med student on the way there. turns out that here, the 6th year of med school is the equivalent of our intern year, after which everyone has the option of continuing to practice as a full-fledged general practitioner, or continue on to specialize in OBGYN, surgery, etc. according to gabriel, general practitioners bring home $1500/month, which strikes me as grossly underpaid considering the cost of living, which (busses notwithstanding) is not cheap. [gas approaches $4/gallon, a small can of tuna = $2, the cheapest lunches = $4, peanut butter = $6 for a smallish jar, etc.] the countryside en route was generally gorgeous and extremely middle class: virtually every abode i laid eyes on had a suzuki or toyota parked in the driveway.

i mentioned to gabriel that i wasn't seeing any of the poorness that i had expected-- he said that it's not too bad in this country despite a few scattered regions where it can be pretty sad. i also caught my first glimpse of exotic tican wildlife as we drove over a bridge near our destination-- i looked down to find what must've been a 12-foot crocodile sunning itself right on the shore of el rio taracula. quite a sight. life would suddenly suck if it were to bite you, i'm sure.

i was greeted in jaco by some dude who promptly stole my sunglasses. this guy was so good, i almost wanna say he deserved them. he had an approx four second window to swoop in silently like an owl, grab them off of the counter in front of me while i reached down into my bag to get some sunscreen, and disappear into the hot jaco air. he had definitely been working on his timing and execution. fortunately for me, i got them at that sweet sunglass shop in pacific beach on the corner of garnet and cass; replacing them won't be much of a chore or expense. i took off my shirt to reveal skin as white as the michigan winter (whitest.). i also need to work on my sunscreen application (splotchier sunburns the next day- picture a giraffe).

you'll hear that the ocean water here is warm, and man, it's the truth. i'd never before had zero hesitation upon immersing my armpits OR my legpit. it was wonderful, although i couldn't enjoy it as much as i wanted because i felt like i always needed to keep one eye on my stuff that was sitting solo on the shore, potentially enticing the owls.

i took a break from the sandy shore to hit up a local beachside bar that was wonderfully quaint and seemed to be a hit with the locals. while i am as big a football fan back in the states as almost anyone, it's really nice to be back in a country where futbol is truly appreciated. i've taken an interest in the european cup; watched a game between arsenal and villareal as i sat there absorbing the breeze that had the whole bar captivated. the dude next to me just about orgasmed when some arsenal player did a spectacular chest-strap-straight-to-a-bicycle for a goal that tied the game late in the 2nd half. "Pele reencarnado," he screamed. at one point, a f*kkin IGUANA came strolling into the place the kept three local toddlers and myself entirely occupied for a full 20 minutes. good times.

i was gonna take a hike up a nearby mountain that is generally hyped by the locals a great for wildlife viewing (particularly anteaters and sloths), but i was told at the last minute that the particular grove of mangos in that area won't be ripe for another month, at which point the monkeys should be showing up in hoards. so i'll wait to hit that up with ashley towards the end of our trip. lookin forward to it.

i'm thrilled to report that ashley surprised me by showing up the night of my birthday (thursday), rather than two days later as was originally planned. the timing couldn't've been more perfect, in small part because of how seriously the ticans take their jesus. the whole country closes down on the thursday and friday before easter (the law even prohibits sale of alcohol on those days), so there would otherwise have been little to keep me occupied. in fact, ashley walked in as i watched, completely out of desperation, The Happening, with mark wahlberg. worst movie ever. i actually had to go back the next night to finish it (sorry ash, for putting you through that) to see if the movie could actually finish as horribly as it started. it actually worsened as it went on. sweet mercy.

ash and i have very happily spent the last two days in a nearby town called cartago, which was actually the tican capital for about 260 years until the later 1800s. at the center of town is a beautiful basilica that was the big deal of the easter weekend; people apparently treat it as a catholic-type hajj and travel there from all over central america to mourn chris's death and celebrate his resurrection. good friday provided a huge ceremony/mass out in front, complete with hundreds of locals dressed in costume to reenact the crucifiction.

christ.


basilica de cartago



crucifiction.

yesterday was supposed to be our day to visit the local volcano (irazu), but very long story short, we missed the last bus that would've taken us to the peak and decided 1.5 miles in that a 4-hr hike to the summit at over 11,000 feet was a lapse in good judgment. deciding discretion was the better part of valor, we turned around, bought some delicious fruit (freshest.), and called it a day.

brief observations: pork and rice tamale with one hard boiled egg might be the perfect snack...my new favorite channel is National Geographic en espanol. this morning i learned a little about jaguars, poison dart frogs and eyelash vipers...i hate the dodgers... streets officially have names, but nobody knows what they are and there are no signs anywhere. directions are listed relative to a landmark, for example, as: 50 meters south and 100 meters north of the Burger King. often times, the landmark no longer exists, which can be a bit of a headache.

excited to get to work tomorrow, the first "normal" san jose day since i got here since this past week was spring break and the city was more deserted than usual. should be sweet.

alright then,