hey all,
in the best western hotel in managua, (seriously...)
had a beer with pa in the harshly lit and overventilated hotel restaurant and am going to attempt to update within my 1/2 hour time limit. .
returned from el porvenir this afternoon/early evening - one of the most appreciated showers ofmy life took place today just before 6pm. .
we drove the little trooper that isthe cdca bus to leon on saturday, spent some time touring aroudn the old cathedral and then tooling around the city for a short whiel (tried to find the ruben dario museum but failed . .)
lunched at a nice little nica place that serves way too much food for almost no money, (fried ,mashed potatoes filed with cheese?! . woah.) then headed out for the campo. .
the total trip is about 4 horus, the last two being part riverbed dustball road (complete with 'window drills' preparing to shut the bus windows stat whenever we had to stop for cows, other busses or whathaveyou, to prevent the duststorm from invading full force) and part tractor pull.
yes, as some of you may remember from experience or stories, the last leg of the journey to the co-op entails either a steepish but not terrible hike up the mountain, or a bumpy but humorous ride in a simple trailer attatched to a tractor.
so. we were covered in dust head to toe and gazing out over one of the most amazing views i have had the privelage to experience. and that was that.
sunday was, well, sunday, so we did a whole lot of nothing, 'chileando' in the hammocks that also served as our beds, reading, writing, chatting. . not much else.
tooka breif tour of the finca and got to look out to honduras. .
worked monday on a waterline project - they currently tractor in their water, but are about a month away from having it pumped up the hill. . so we dug. and dug. and hammocked. and dug. some of us carried pipes. .
we chatted with the kids and were in cots/hamocks by 8. (no electricity. . )
we played at the school today, teching the hokey pokey and various other songs to the littler ones around 8am, then playing soccer and writing biographies withthe older kids later in the morning.
we had hit too many rocks (literally) to continue with most of the work, so we just sat around and played the backpacker's guitar and talked.
ate another lunch of gallo pinto, said godbyes and headed down the hill.
stopped for ice cream and other sugars along the way and made it 'home' around 5.
cannot really beleive that thjis time tomorrow i will be inthe states, but well. . so it goes.
i plan to wrap up these shenanegins with another entry once i'm home, to kind of catch some of the bits i've missed.
for now, i am going to go drink some flor de cana with dad and try to sleep before our 5am wakeup.
goodnight,
love
mak
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
cdca
hello to all -
must be brief once again, but this internet sesh (the cdca dorm now has a computer?!? is 'mejor que nada' . .
dad and i had a successful trip up to ciudad sandinno, arriving in time to jump in on some work projects with the lopez group in the afternoon.
we leave early tomorrow morning for el porvenir, the coffee co-op in the mountains north of leon.
news of the passings of david fischer and leta marshal have been and doubtlessly will continue to be hard on the group - we had a circle yesterday to coincide with a gathering on the island, singing and speaking for david. .
dad brought new srtings for the guitar here, and we have been singing (i can hear 'paradise' coming up the stairs now) nightly, which has been a great help.
yesterday a few of us accompanied pat of the cdca to the clinc in nueva vida - not only was it wonderful to see the progress(completion! wallpaint! function!) on a building whose rebar skeleton i am familiar with, but we were allowed to attend a women's circle/support group. thankfully my spanish is good enough to have caught 90 percent of the conversatons, and i was even able to contribute a bit to the topic of the week, which was 'counseling'. .
today we went into managua to meet with some university student - spent the afternoon chatting, playing a delightfully disorganized game akin to sherades (sp?..) and then volleyball for at least an hour.
we danced a bit last night at an essentially deserted discoteque, but in true lopezian fashion didn't let the lack of latin dance skills or dancers phase us one bit.
will update on the progress of the cdca and all the co-ops in another entry.
i am truly having trouble understanding that i have less than a week left in central america. am definitely not letting this sad knowledge put a damper on things - still going full speed and making new friends along the way.
my love to home
--mak
must be brief once again, but this internet sesh (the cdca dorm now has a computer?!? is 'mejor que nada' . .
dad and i had a successful trip up to ciudad sandinno, arriving in time to jump in on some work projects with the lopez group in the afternoon.
we leave early tomorrow morning for el porvenir, the coffee co-op in the mountains north of leon.
news of the passings of david fischer and leta marshal have been and doubtlessly will continue to be hard on the group - we had a circle yesterday to coincide with a gathering on the island, singing and speaking for david. .
dad brought new srtings for the guitar here, and we have been singing (i can hear 'paradise' coming up the stairs now) nightly, which has been a great help.
yesterday a few of us accompanied pat of the cdca to the clinc in nueva vida - not only was it wonderful to see the progress(completion! wallpaint! function!) on a building whose rebar skeleton i am familiar with, but we were allowed to attend a women's circle/support group. thankfully my spanish is good enough to have caught 90 percent of the conversatons, and i was even able to contribute a bit to the topic of the week, which was 'counseling'. .
today we went into managua to meet with some university student - spent the afternoon chatting, playing a delightfully disorganized game akin to sherades (sp?..) and then volleyball for at least an hour.
we danced a bit last night at an essentially deserted discoteque, but in true lopezian fashion didn't let the lack of latin dance skills or dancers phase us one bit.
will update on the progress of the cdca and all the co-ops in another entry.
i am truly having trouble understanding that i have less than a week left in central america. am definitely not letting this sad knowledge put a damper on things - still going full speed and making new friends along the way.
my love to home
--mak
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
farewell bearded monkey
so we're checked out of the hostel, about to taxi it up to lake apoyo for a day of kayaking and rest.
tomorrow we journey to the cdca. . i have many memories of that compund, the neighborhood and the coffee coop, and am looking forward to refreshing and revisng all the sights, smells and sounds (always a curious mix) of the streets of neuva vida, the forests in the mountain, and the community at the cdca.
in recent hours, granada has delivered:
ancient (precolumbian - 800ad?) sculptures, a 14h century convent, a smelly walk to the lake, a street market, cuban cigars, a green cotton dress, women's co-op soap, conversations with the liquor and dress vendors (pirate whiskey and the merits of speaking spanish) . . excellent lunches and an evening of teaching dad about 'special verbs' in spanish.
more sometime - possibly after returning to the states.
my love to all,
--mak
tomorrow we journey to the cdca. . i have many memories of that compund, the neighborhood and the coffee coop, and am looking forward to refreshing and revisng all the sights, smells and sounds (always a curious mix) of the streets of neuva vida, the forests in the mountain, and the community at the cdca.
in recent hours, granada has delivered:
ancient (precolumbian - 800ad?) sculptures, a 14h century convent, a smelly walk to the lake, a street market, cuban cigars, a green cotton dress, women's co-op soap, conversations with the liquor and dress vendors (pirate whiskey and the merits of speaking spanish) . . excellent lunches and an evening of teaching dad about 'special verbs' in spanish.
more sometime - possibly after returning to the states.
my love to all,
--mak
Monday, February 16, 2009
vday danceathon, surfisde to granada
greetings from the bearded monkey!
i will begin this entry where i left off last time - -
from la penca, pa and i headed over to my host family's house, but had little luck - only cristian was home an erika wouldn't be getting back for another hour. we needed to meet jeffrey in town by 1, so we sent our hellos and started for the beach. we walked down playa potrero to flamingo, and spent a bit of time out on surfari - the sailboat that jeffrey captains. .
from there i took pa to flamingo beach, where we just chilled and swam for a couple hours.
we missed the 4pm bus, so shared a cab with an adorable couple from san jose.
after showering and resting a bit, we went out to el castillo for din din. . . we packed up, and jeffrey and i schemed a motorcycle mission to brasilito. that fell through when news of the traffic cop reached us - he doesn't have a moto license so that plan was foiled. . disappointing because we even had helmets - extremely ncommon for the area. .
so instead we headed out to see if there was a bus to the fiestas. . found heather and hannah at castillo - there was a valentine's event going on, with a mediocre cover band and lots of gingoes over 50. so, we decided to exchange heather's little scooter for the car, and drive to brasilito.
an excellent send-off night ensued; lots of Imperial ('the beer of costa rica'), strobe lights and dancing. .
we had a bit of a merengue marathon, where all four of us danced together - lots of improvisaton on jeffrey's part and more than a few bumbs and mixups. good fun. did our fair share of danehall/electro boogies, ridiculous and enjoyable..
yesterday, mark and jeffrey gave us a ride out to juacas, where we caught the 9:30 bus to liberia. .
and this is where the event of the day begins - a miracle if ever there was one.
my passport lives in my left, zippered pocket. while on the bus, said pocket was mysteriously unzipped (yeah, this is slightly embarassing, as i should have known to keep it on the side where dad was sitting, zipper or no)
so we get off this bus an i pat my pocket out of passport-security habit and FUCK, empty empty empty. .
after a few deep breathes to minimize my shakes of fury, i hunted down the bus we had just gotten off of.
unfortunately, it had already left.
fortunately, it was not headed to another town, but to the bus yard.
a taxi driver who was trying to convince us to take his cab to the border became extremely helpful, and got us the info on the busyard and ook us there. dad was sceptical but we figured it was worth a try, just in case the passport hadn't been stolen, and was waiting for me in the back of the bus. .
the whole 4 minute drive there my brain was on repeat - it is in between the seats, it is sitting there, blue and patient, just waiting for us to come find it - thisis ater the thoughts of -fuck, if i don't have a passport we might need to go 6 hours in the opposite direction to talk with the embassy, etc etc... -
practically ran to the abk of the bus once they opened it, and lo and behold, my little frayed passprt, sideways between the plastic seats. .
almost cried and definitely i some happydancing.
absolutely imredible.
now there's no way i unzipped that damn pocket. my guess is one of my neighbors took a looksee and, upon finding that there was no money there, just dropped the booklet.
i feel stupid and impossibly lucky. . and interesting mix.
so, ater those shenanegans, we heaed for the border. got through with good time, and continued on to granada. . the bearded monkey is a hostel i remember hearing about from a guy we met on the ferry to ometepe when i was here 4 years ago. on the trip, i promised myelf that i would go back to granada, and now here i am at last..
the monkey had sopace, so we got a double private room. it was up some steep stairs, the top of which seems to be a favorite nap spot of the hostel's adorably fat kitty. huge ponch, squashy face, and a few dreadlocks. . an excellent cat and my new best friend here.
we switched to a downstairs room today to minimize the heat - it's sweaty here almost 24/7. .
yesterday evening before the sun went down, we walked around the city a bit. there was music and dancing in the park, and we found a woman making tortillas flled with cabbage on the street - they were delicious. i had told pa that one of my missions for out time together was to find him some damn good homemade tortillas. . . checked that of this list.
we went to a little bar for adrink and i had a delicious, perfectly mixed flor de caña mojito. .
we stopped in a t a liquor store to get a couple bottles of the rum to bring home, and ended up chatting with the storeowver about scotches and nicaragua. .
we dined at the bearded monkey and set the fan to high power before going to sleep, and now it's 11am the next morning and we are planning our day.
going to check out some precolombian sclptures and a convent, then some other small parks and the market, plus whatever else we find. thinking of heading to lake apoyo tomorrow and spending one night there before going to the cdca. . we can kayak and swim, etc. . we will see.
more tomorrow, as i'm sure i've forgotten something,
love
mak.
i will begin this entry where i left off last time - -
from la penca, pa and i headed over to my host family's house, but had little luck - only cristian was home an erika wouldn't be getting back for another hour. we needed to meet jeffrey in town by 1, so we sent our hellos and started for the beach. we walked down playa potrero to flamingo, and spent a bit of time out on surfari - the sailboat that jeffrey captains. .
from there i took pa to flamingo beach, where we just chilled and swam for a couple hours.
we missed the 4pm bus, so shared a cab with an adorable couple from san jose.
after showering and resting a bit, we went out to el castillo for din din. . . we packed up, and jeffrey and i schemed a motorcycle mission to brasilito. that fell through when news of the traffic cop reached us - he doesn't have a moto license so that plan was foiled. . disappointing because we even had helmets - extremely ncommon for the area. .
so instead we headed out to see if there was a bus to the fiestas. . found heather and hannah at castillo - there was a valentine's event going on, with a mediocre cover band and lots of gingoes over 50. so, we decided to exchange heather's little scooter for the car, and drive to brasilito.
an excellent send-off night ensued; lots of Imperial ('the beer of costa rica'), strobe lights and dancing. .
we had a bit of a merengue marathon, where all four of us danced together - lots of improvisaton on jeffrey's part and more than a few bumbs and mixups. good fun. did our fair share of danehall/electro boogies, ridiculous and enjoyable..
yesterday, mark and jeffrey gave us a ride out to juacas, where we caught the 9:30 bus to liberia. .
and this is where the event of the day begins - a miracle if ever there was one.
my passport lives in my left, zippered pocket. while on the bus, said pocket was mysteriously unzipped (yeah, this is slightly embarassing, as i should have known to keep it on the side where dad was sitting, zipper or no)
so we get off this bus an i pat my pocket out of passport-security habit and FUCK, empty empty empty. .
after a few deep breathes to minimize my shakes of fury, i hunted down the bus we had just gotten off of.
unfortunately, it had already left.
fortunately, it was not headed to another town, but to the bus yard.
a taxi driver who was trying to convince us to take his cab to the border became extremely helpful, and got us the info on the busyard and ook us there. dad was sceptical but we figured it was worth a try, just in case the passport hadn't been stolen, and was waiting for me in the back of the bus. .
the whole 4 minute drive there my brain was on repeat - it is in between the seats, it is sitting there, blue and patient, just waiting for us to come find it - thisis ater the thoughts of -fuck, if i don't have a passport we might need to go 6 hours in the opposite direction to talk with the embassy, etc etc... -
practically ran to the abk of the bus once they opened it, and lo and behold, my little frayed passprt, sideways between the plastic seats. .
almost cried and definitely i some happydancing.
absolutely imredible.
now there's no way i unzipped that damn pocket. my guess is one of my neighbors took a looksee and, upon finding that there was no money there, just dropped the booklet.
i feel stupid and impossibly lucky. . and interesting mix.
so, ater those shenanegans, we heaed for the border. got through with good time, and continued on to granada. . the bearded monkey is a hostel i remember hearing about from a guy we met on the ferry to ometepe when i was here 4 years ago. on the trip, i promised myelf that i would go back to granada, and now here i am at last..
the monkey had sopace, so we got a double private room. it was up some steep stairs, the top of which seems to be a favorite nap spot of the hostel's adorably fat kitty. huge ponch, squashy face, and a few dreadlocks. . an excellent cat and my new best friend here.
we switched to a downstairs room today to minimize the heat - it's sweaty here almost 24/7. .
yesterday evening before the sun went down, we walked around the city a bit. there was music and dancing in the park, and we found a woman making tortillas flled with cabbage on the street - they were delicious. i had told pa that one of my missions for out time together was to find him some damn good homemade tortillas. . . checked that of this list.
we went to a little bar for adrink and i had a delicious, perfectly mixed flor de caña mojito. .
we stopped in a t a liquor store to get a couple bottles of the rum to bring home, and ended up chatting with the storeowver about scotches and nicaragua. .
we dined at the bearded monkey and set the fan to high power before going to sleep, and now it's 11am the next morning and we are planning our day.
going to check out some precolombian sclptures and a convent, then some other small parks and the market, plus whatever else we find. thinking of heading to lake apoyo tomorrow and spending one night there before going to the cdca. . we can kayak and swim, etc. . we will see.
more tomorrow, as i'm sure i've forgotten something,
love
mak.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
and the countdown begins...
hey
gotta be quick as pa is waiting outside -
we are about to go visit my old host family from potreo, then head to flamingo to meet efiam and go out on surfari for a sail.
we went to my favorite costa rican beach this morning - playa penca - and it started to rain.
rather enjoyed it but am now remarkably sticky.
yesterday pa came to class with me, which was quite fun and interesting. .
in the afternoon we bussed over to brasilito with the lovely norwegian girls in my class, and went to lunch. . they were kind enough to let us leave our things in their house while we went to playa conchal , so we got to go snorkeling together without having to worry about our bags.
snacked at 'outback jacks', a tacky but oddly endearing resaurant on the beach in brasilito. met up with the girls and went to watch the bull fights.
similar to zapote, but with a smaller ring and rickety wooden bleachers that we paid $4 to sit in. .
ate churros and cornpancakes and dad had a tamale and everyone drank beer..
then pa got pickpocketed, but we had money to get a cab home and he didn-t lose his passport - just a credit card. whheeee...
two other people we were with also lost money and a camera.
well, it was rather packed with people. . ah, well.
we just went back to outback jack's to hang out a bit then taxied home.
we will take the bus to nicaragua tomorrow, then stay in granada fora couple nights to check out the city and go to the nearby lake. (not lake nicaragua... the other one. apoya, i beleive.)
so anyhow, things are going well with the exception of the pickpocketing, and we are enjoying ourselves. it is interesting and moderately fun to have someone here to show around. . plus this way i get to visit all my favorite places int eh area one more time before i leave.
we will be meeting up with the lopez hs trip at the cdca as i may have mentioned, and if all goes as planned we will spend the 20th-24th at el porvenir, the coffee cooperative that the school visits each year. i am looking forward to spending some time there as my other visits were rather breif.
i hope to write again before we come home (really an having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that i will be in the northwest in less than 2 weeks..) but i am not sure i will be able to do so after leaving granada.
i'm getting excited to see everyone again, and to have some island time before (hopefully) returning to school.
love
mak
gotta be quick as pa is waiting outside -
we are about to go visit my old host family from potreo, then head to flamingo to meet efiam and go out on surfari for a sail.
we went to my favorite costa rican beach this morning - playa penca - and it started to rain.
rather enjoyed it but am now remarkably sticky.
yesterday pa came to class with me, which was quite fun and interesting. .
in the afternoon we bussed over to brasilito with the lovely norwegian girls in my class, and went to lunch. . they were kind enough to let us leave our things in their house while we went to playa conchal , so we got to go snorkeling together without having to worry about our bags.
snacked at 'outback jacks', a tacky but oddly endearing resaurant on the beach in brasilito. met up with the girls and went to watch the bull fights.
similar to zapote, but with a smaller ring and rickety wooden bleachers that we paid $4 to sit in. .
ate churros and cornpancakes and dad had a tamale and everyone drank beer..
then pa got pickpocketed, but we had money to get a cab home and he didn-t lose his passport - just a credit card. whheeee...
two other people we were with also lost money and a camera.
well, it was rather packed with people. . ah, well.
we just went back to outback jack's to hang out a bit then taxied home.
we will take the bus to nicaragua tomorrow, then stay in granada fora couple nights to check out the city and go to the nearby lake. (not lake nicaragua... the other one. apoya, i beleive.)
so anyhow, things are going well with the exception of the pickpocketing, and we are enjoying ourselves. it is interesting and moderately fun to have someone here to show around. . plus this way i get to visit all my favorite places int eh area one more time before i leave.
we will be meeting up with the lopez hs trip at the cdca as i may have mentioned, and if all goes as planned we will spend the 20th-24th at el porvenir, the coffee cooperative that the school visits each year. i am looking forward to spending some time there as my other visits were rather breif.
i hope to write again before we come home (really an having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that i will be in the northwest in less than 2 weeks..) but i am not sure i will be able to do so after leaving granada.
i'm getting excited to see everyone again, and to have some island time before (hopefully) returning to school.
love
mak
Monday, February 9, 2009
...
yesterday marked my 3 month anniversary (and the beginning of my final week) in costa rica; pa arrives on thursday afternoon, and we will be heading north on sunday.
i have changed residences - am staying in the lovely house of a lovely family from california - some of you may remember a mention or two of heather, mark, tara, and ben from my nicaraguan excursian of early december.
chilin with their dog kiki while they're out and about; pa and i may be sharing bunk beds for a couple nights while he's here. . it's a nice area of potrero, called surfside, not too far from the school and really rather close to one of cpi's bus stop.
haven't been up to much worth writing about, mostly writing, which is a welcome return - had been feeling a little frazzley and needed to get back to poetry and the like.
last week i stayed in the cpi residences, much like apartment stye college dorms. . uh huh.
really wasn't too terrible - lucked out on the roommate, a delightful gal from california, and the other residents all got along just fine. . sharing a small and ill equiped kitchen was less than desireable but the hot water (a marvel found only the b&b and the apts thus far) made up for the mild inconveniences.
went to tamarindo for dancing friday night - did not think i would be returning to that party party town, but the poweroutages that we've been having (yes, water's out, too..) made 'chillin alone for the night all calm-like and mellow' sing a whole new tune, so i jumped on in to the double-taxi exodus and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit. i still feel like that town's ratehr ridiculous, but the company made the evening and we got home before 3.
i requested miquelina as a teacher and am in her clas this week, along with two girls from norway - we've been getting along great; the laughs make up for the changes that come from a 3 person class. . (one-on-one may be intense but it's definitely more effective). .
am enjoying the hell out of being back by the sea - it's hotter than vita's on an august afternoon with cookies in the oven, but i am surviving just fine.
which brings me to:
the Ridiculous with a capitol R wind that're been blowing this past week. multiple days it's been too strong for safe sailing. however, i enjoy it immensely during the times when i'm not trying to relax on the beach/swim. with the wind chill, etc, the water feels a little mroe familiar .. aka fridgid. .
gotta surrender this machine to the horde of other students on the sign up sheet;
more later about other activites, observations, and most importantly nicaragua plans,
love,
mak
p.s. my dear brother is now back in the states. i say 'bollocks' to the japan border people, but i am not-so-secretly excited that i get to see him much sooner than planned. . .
i have changed residences - am staying in the lovely house of a lovely family from california - some of you may remember a mention or two of heather, mark, tara, and ben from my nicaraguan excursian of early december.
chilin with their dog kiki while they're out and about; pa and i may be sharing bunk beds for a couple nights while he's here. . it's a nice area of potrero, called surfside, not too far from the school and really rather close to one of cpi's bus stop.
haven't been up to much worth writing about, mostly writing, which is a welcome return - had been feeling a little frazzley and needed to get back to poetry and the like.
last week i stayed in the cpi residences, much like apartment stye college dorms. . uh huh.
really wasn't too terrible - lucked out on the roommate, a delightful gal from california, and the other residents all got along just fine. . sharing a small and ill equiped kitchen was less than desireable but the hot water (a marvel found only the b&b and the apts thus far) made up for the mild inconveniences.
went to tamarindo for dancing friday night - did not think i would be returning to that party party town, but the poweroutages that we've been having (yes, water's out, too..) made 'chillin alone for the night all calm-like and mellow' sing a whole new tune, so i jumped on in to the double-taxi exodus and actually enjoyed myself quite a bit. i still feel like that town's ratehr ridiculous, but the company made the evening and we got home before 3.
i requested miquelina as a teacher and am in her clas this week, along with two girls from norway - we've been getting along great; the laughs make up for the changes that come from a 3 person class. . (one-on-one may be intense but it's definitely more effective). .
am enjoying the hell out of being back by the sea - it's hotter than vita's on an august afternoon with cookies in the oven, but i am surviving just fine.
which brings me to:
the Ridiculous with a capitol R wind that're been blowing this past week. multiple days it's been too strong for safe sailing. however, i enjoy it immensely during the times when i'm not trying to relax on the beach/swim. with the wind chill, etc, the water feels a little mroe familiar .. aka fridgid. .
gotta surrender this machine to the horde of other students on the sign up sheet;
more later about other activites, observations, and most importantly nicaragua plans,
love,
mak
p.s. my dear brother is now back in the states. i say 'bollocks' to the japan border people, but i am not-so-secretly excited that i get to see him much sooner than planned. . .
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
writing once again from cpi flamingo's slow computers. .
after 2 luxuriously lazy days in san joaquin (didn't do much but wander, write, visit my old host-mom and watch 'ace of cakes') i took the bus back to guanacaste. the journey took 6 hours or so (with 1, count it, ONE ten-minute stop..) but unlike my first trip out here, i managed to stay awake most of the time to check out the changes in scenery.
i am staying in the student residences between flamingo and brasilito - tried for a private apt but they were all booked, so i am sharing a room with a gal named stacy from california (spent her first year in college at western. . ) and the kitchen with about 4 other shared rooms. .
everyone living there attends classes at cpi, in varying degrees of intensity and frequency.
on saturday, i will be packing up to move to surfside, a town between potrero (where i lived in nov/dec) and flamingo. the family i went to nicaragua with offered to let me stay at their place while they're on a little excursion to a park in the south. . so i will have the place (i.e. kitchen... mm) to myself (my friend Efriam rents a room attached to the house) for a week until dad comes. fortunately, they live rather close to one of the cpi busstops, and a walk along the beach to school would only be about 1/2 an hour.
i stopped by the divecenter today but missed my instructor; her coworker invited me tom come to a restaurant in surfside - el çastillo- tomorrow night to listen to some blues.. i am making a return to the debauchery and diversion that is ladies' night at las brisas, but i am considering stopping at el castillo along the way.
there is a swarm of students here this time around - slightly overwhelming but interesting nonetheless. i have 2 people in my class - 2 girls from norway who are traveling together. their next stop is cuba; i have met quite a few peolpe here who are on their way there and i can´t help but be a bit jealous. . .
am planning to take a real life surfing lesson right quick - figure it's worth it, for once at least, and the instructor is a friend of hannah and heather so it should be fun.
uhm. .
well it is about a thousand times hotter here than it was on the farm(s)
but nice despite.
gotta go do some stuff so i can write about it later. .
(home in <4 weeks?!)
love
mak
p.s. my little brother is stuck in korea for the moment, so if you know him write him notes so he has something to think about besides, you know, being stuck in korea. . .
after 2 luxuriously lazy days in san joaquin (didn't do much but wander, write, visit my old host-mom and watch 'ace of cakes') i took the bus back to guanacaste. the journey took 6 hours or so (with 1, count it, ONE ten-minute stop..) but unlike my first trip out here, i managed to stay awake most of the time to check out the changes in scenery.
i am staying in the student residences between flamingo and brasilito - tried for a private apt but they were all booked, so i am sharing a room with a gal named stacy from california (spent her first year in college at western. . ) and the kitchen with about 4 other shared rooms. .
everyone living there attends classes at cpi, in varying degrees of intensity and frequency.
on saturday, i will be packing up to move to surfside, a town between potrero (where i lived in nov/dec) and flamingo. the family i went to nicaragua with offered to let me stay at their place while they're on a little excursion to a park in the south. . so i will have the place (i.e. kitchen... mm) to myself (my friend Efriam rents a room attached to the house) for a week until dad comes. fortunately, they live rather close to one of the cpi busstops, and a walk along the beach to school would only be about 1/2 an hour.
i stopped by the divecenter today but missed my instructor; her coworker invited me tom come to a restaurant in surfside - el çastillo- tomorrow night to listen to some blues.. i am making a return to the debauchery and diversion that is ladies' night at las brisas, but i am considering stopping at el castillo along the way.
there is a swarm of students here this time around - slightly overwhelming but interesting nonetheless. i have 2 people in my class - 2 girls from norway who are traveling together. their next stop is cuba; i have met quite a few peolpe here who are on their way there and i can´t help but be a bit jealous. . .
am planning to take a real life surfing lesson right quick - figure it's worth it, for once at least, and the instructor is a friend of hannah and heather so it should be fun.
uhm. .
well it is about a thousand times hotter here than it was on the farm(s)
but nice despite.
gotta go do some stuff so i can write about it later. .
(home in <4 weeks?!)
love
mak
p.s. my little brother is stuck in korea for the moment, so if you know him write him notes so he has something to think about besides, you know, being stuck in korea. . .
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