well, one large possible major highlight of the trip occurred in my absence. ash was apparently relatively fresh outta the shower and still damp, when she claims that she lowered her chin to her chest rapidly and suddenly neck farted. i've never heard of that, and i wish i'd been there.
last friday was the end of the san jose portion of our stay, as our ambulance contract expired. we loved the medics, enjoyed our time in the city, and were able to set a modest footprint while here. our favorite bar was called Ciros, which was only a few blocks from where we've lived. like everywhere else in the country, 80s music blared loudly at all hours. we discovered that 2 beers seemed to be my threshold to sing along while translating into spanish, which was really entertaining (to myself). my personal favorite was dire straits: dinero para nada (yo quiero mi-- yo quiero mi-- yo quiero mi ehmay teh veh-cheeekaaaaa...).
so with the end of our paramedic ride-alongs came the kicking of this vaycay into high gear. last sunday we went to a pro futbol game between the local saprissa team (yeah!) and the san carlos rivals (boo.). while i'm a little disappointed in myself that i allowed us to be talked outta purchasing tickets in the hooligan section by some super old 29yo paramedic who said it'd be too dangerous, we had an awesome time soaking in what san jose has to offer by way of its 1st place premier league team in their stadium that probably seats around 20,000.
i'm always interested in foreign stadium food: in costa rica they offer fajitas, meat/potato empanadas, pizza, churros, hotdogs with cole slaw and pico de gallo, and something else we were never able to identify. heeding the medic's advice, we ended up at the 50 yard line with a great view of the entire field. despite the supposed upper class neighbors to our left and right, there was enough emotion/rage to go around, as many/most were constantly yelling at the players and refs. one man in particular was my favorite to observe; every play had something wrong with it, it seemed. i might never actually decide if i most appreciated the obscenity-laced tirade aimed directly at the potato chip vendor when he stood upright, or when he nearly tore his girlfriend's face off with a kiss when saprissa scored their first goal (i checked-- she was no in fact injured). both were awesome to behold; this dude is a fan. regardless, the level of emotion certainly rubbed off on us gringos, as the word "puta" was screamed by my very own fiancee's virgin lips on at least three occasions. those were proud moments.
after saprissa's 2-0 victory, we left the stadium with perfect timing to witness the classic herd mentality of a group of young men getting angry, probably for nothing. one dude happened to get too close to utter what was very likely a poor choice of words to a not-so-tiny security guard, who promply threw a right that led to this dude's nose exploding pretty much all over the place. i guess security deals with things their own way here. rocks started flying, at which point ash and i decided we'd better duck out. good sh*t.
the following day we left early to a town called la fortuna, which is surrounded by dense tropical rainforest and situated directly east of a very active volcano. by very active i mean it's constantly shooting sh*t into the air. so much to say about the place i don't have a clue as to where to start. many dogs roam the streets in la fortuna, although they're not mangey or dirty. in fact, they have a tendency to greet whomever leaves their hostel with wagging tail to accompany them to wherever they end up. it's quite a perk of the place, actually. they hate peanut butter.
we had several adventures while in la fortuna. the highlights:
-the lava is only viewable at night and is shooting down the side of the volcano not visible where the hostels are located, so we took a trip to the north/west side of the volcano our first night. despite low clouds, we did catch enough of a glimpse to be able to say that we've seen lava flow out of a volcano. very impressive...
-next day we hiked up the large volcano (arenal)'s little, extinct brother called cerro chato. this involved hiking up straight through the jungle (which can be deafening, by the way, with the sounds of frogs, birds and insects-- it's pretty spectacular and easy to understand how people in the old days assumed it was haunted), into the clouds, up and over the ridge, and down into the lake that has collected since the last eruption. the whole hike was a tremendous pain in the *ss from a physical standpoint, which is precisely why it was so awesome when we arrived and found that we were completely alone in the middle of this volcanic crater lake. there's no way to describe the place and give it justice; suffice to say that it was lifechanging. when we arrived, the cloud was as dense as the jungle itself, with a visibility of about 10 feet. shortly thereafter, the cloud lifted to uncover the most gorgeous place we'd ever seen-- a pristine lake surrounded by about seven hundred and six shades of green, and no sign of human life anywhere. who needs clothes at a time like that.
-incidentally, for the biologists out there: this lake occupies a volcanic crater and is composed entirely of rain water. and yet, it has fish. the going hypothesis is a bird ate some fish and shat some eggs into the lake, while i suppose egg poop is possible, i've certainly never heard of it. anyone?
-after that hike we treated ourselves to a night at a pretty shi-shi spa that includes the tabacon river, which is a natural flow heated by the earth's magma to a temp of a toasty 103F. since it's a natural river, it's best to be careful: get the f*kk outta the water if you feel the earth quake, for example. there is a channel leading down the volcano directly into this resort that makes for a beautiful view and also for a death sentence if ol' faithful were to blow a large and unexpected gasket. needless to say the emergency exits are clearly marked and the cars need to be parked facing out, just in case. the night included a dinner buffet, at which ashley housed 3 heaping plates of vegetables. i dunno how you quantify bulky stool, her next one had to've been right up there.
-yesterday was a trip to another indescribable waterfall/river/jungle place. gorgeous. the walk back was also amazing as it was partly through a truly deafening small jungle portion followed by a walk through humble, residential la fortuna where we got to see what the locals do with their lives as the sun sets. everyone is always ready to say hello and wish us well. we wondered the response that two outta towners would get walking through a small rural town in the states. hard to say...
dotdotdots: despite the plethora of casinos, i have placed exactly one wager and won nine bucks. wuddup... everyone should have continual access to an excellent hammock… everytime we see someone smoking, we are reminded of how few people here smoke… as of tomorrow night i will have officially completed medical school and will be a doctor… i hate the dodgers.
time's up at the internet cafe so we'll sign off for how... we leave very early tomorrow to the osa peninsula in the remote southwest corner of the country (less developed.) for 5 days of roughing it with a personal guide. can't f*kkin wait.
alright then,
pura vida.
No comments:
Post a Comment