Daytrip - Carara National Park

So, while staying in Jacó I took a daytrip to nearby Carara National Park. I didn't really know what to expect, other than the fact that a fellow hiker had said he'd seen lots of crocodiles and other animals.

As usual the bus was about an hour later than I'd expected, but at least I was ready and had a book to read. (The Audacity of Hope - an excellent and inspiring read - I highly recommend it). So, I finally got on the bus, told the bus driver that I'd like to get off at Carara, and prayed that he'd remember to stop, since it was just a random stop on the route, and they never announce stops, you just have to know where you are going and request a stop. After asking several people around me if they knew where Carara was so they could help me look for it, I found a nice lady who asked a bunch of people and I ended up being dropped off in the right place. Score!

My first stop on the hike was a bridge that had been recommended to me as a croc haven. My fellow traveler wasn't lying - I was treated to seeing over a dozen crocs lazing about. (pics below). I then went off on the actual hike. I saw countless lizards and iguanas (the iguanas would sometimes just chill on the path, so I almost stepped on several when I was looking off into the woods - scared the crap out of me!). I also saw/heard a bunch of scarlet macaws (they're really loud), a few more crocs by the river (from a safe distance), 2 more toucans, and a coati. It was extremely hot, so I hiked for a little over an hour then turned back.

By the time I got back I was extremely hot and hungry, so I made my way right to a restaurant for a soda. After I recuperated a bit, I asked when the next bus to Jacó was, and found out that it was going to arrive right now. I ran out to the bus stop (this is why being able to speak spanish is so important - the bus stop is completely unmarked, so I had to ask them where to go), and the the bus came 30 seconds later! Waaaay better than my normal wait-an-hour bus ventures.

Pics below - enjoy!

Croc bonanza! I was tempted to wander down for a closer look, but figured that was probably unwise. . .

someone knew I was coming and carved my initials into a tree - kind of creepy, especially 'cause it looks like the tree is bleeding. . .

one of the bazillion iguanas I saw on my hike

Update - Trekking around Northwest Costa Rica

Well hello everyone, long time no talk. For those who were worried, I am not in fact dead. I have just been wandering around and didn't quite get to posting on the blog. And then, right when I planned on writing, I got waylaid by a stomach bug (probably from the local produce). Luckily, I have nursed myself back to health on a diet of Saltines and Gatorade (shout-out to Briony and Justin who went shopping for me when I was too weak to do it myself), so now it's time for the long-awaited update!!

When I last wrote, I was in Tamarindo, home of the mutant banana, small waves, pizza-loving pickpockets, and cannibalistic bluejays. So it was without much regret that I bid tamarindo adieu and started heading down the coast, slowly working my way back to Jacó, where I would pick up my replacement credit cards (which were bring shipped to my surfing/spanish school).

My first stop was Santa Teresa, where I stayed at a Hostal Brunela which had been highly recommended by a friend (thanks Lock!). It certainly lived up to expectations. It was a fun little surfer haven, about 100 yards away from a gorgeous beach. Unfortunately the waves were absolutely huge, so I just played around in the whitewater and practiced my form - still very fun. It was also here that I met/hung out with Briony and Justin who stayed around in Santa Teresa after I left, but miraculously showed up at my hostel in Jacó when I was sick and helped me out.

After a few days here, I took a bus to Montezuma, where I'd stayed before. I hiked out to the waterfall I'd jumped off of a week earlier (don't worry mom, I didn't do any high jumps this time). In the evening I hung out with some friends I'd met on the bus. There was a hookah bar in the center of town, and they were hosting a hippie drum-session going, so we just chilled in the street, drinking Imperial (Costa Rican budweiser), enjoying the music and then checking out the random fire dancers. (pics at end of post)

The next morning (Fri) I caught the water taxi to Jacó and was amazed to see that all 3 replacement credit cards had arrived! I had been warned that even the express shipment could take over a week, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Since the shipping was so fast, I asked my parents to mail my bank card to me there (the bank had refused to mail outside of the US), rather than have them try and mail it somewhere later on my trip.

So, that brings me to where I am now. Just chilling in Jacó, recovering from my stomach bug, and waiting for my card to arrive. Once the bank card gets here, I will surgically attach it to my body so it can no longer be liberated by unscrupulous folks, and head back on my adventure. I plan on going to the Southeast corner of Costa Rica (Puerto Viejo) where I hope to do some relaxing and snorkeling, and then into Panama.

¡Hasta luego!

Lots of pics from my lsat week of travels are below:

the Santa Teresa beach

waves crashing in Santa Teresa

it's dusty in Santa Teresa!

Viva Imperial!!

hippie drum circle in Montezuma

right: fire dancing outside the hippie drum circle. below: movie of the fire dancing. (bonus - you can hear the drumming in the background)

Attack of the Mutant Costa Rican Banana

Hello all, I would like to interrupt your normal programming with a quick report on Costa Rican mutant bananas. I was at the grocery store the other day when I saw this genetic mistake - or is it actually the next step in banana evolution? (more space efficient!) I'll let you decide.

the mutant banana

me with the mutant banana shortly before I messily devoured it (RIP, mutant banana)

More Thievery in Costa Rica!

Man, it looks like everyone wants to get in on the "steal from the tourists" game in Costa Rica - even the birds! I shot this photo of a Costa Rican bluejay equivalent helping itself to an abandoned egg from our Hostel kitchen.

Caught in the act!!

Dear pickpocket, you suck - love, Adrian

So, thanks to a 17-year-old kid with quick hands, I've spent the last day and a half cancelling and replacing the contents of my wallet. Definitely a fun way to spend vacation time

My buddy Jason and I were at a local fair where they basically had a bull ring, and a hundred or more Ticos (Costa Ricans) would just hop in, and run like hell when the bull came at them. Craziness. We saw a couple guys get injured, but that didn't stop the others.


Anyways, Jason noticed some teenager hanging out a bit too close to us, and considered mentioning something, but dismissed it as paranoia. Then the kid disappeared, and a minute later I noticed my wallet was gone. We searched all around, but unfortunately the kid was long gone. We poked around a bit (and even came back the next day) hoping that the kid just took the $$$ in the money and threw the rest in the gutter, so I wouldn't have to replace my cards. No dice. As I later found out when I canceled my cards, he apparently went straight to a restaurant and grabbed a pizza. I hope you choked on it, jerk!

Anyways, I spent basically all of today calling up all my credit card companies / banks cancelling everything, and working out the details of getting replacements, a huge pain when you're in another country. Luckily, I kept my passport / traveler's checks separate (they were back at the hostel), so I'm not totally screwed. It'll just end up being a bit of a pain. Also, looking on the bright side, my camera was in my pocket right next to my wallet - I'm really glad that the thief didn't take that too - that would have really sucked! (and been more expensive to replace than the contents of my wallet).

So, this whole episode was a pain, but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I still have my passport and traveler's checks, and the companies will be mailing me new cards asap. I should be (almost) as good as new in about a week. Now, based on this episode, I've got some quick pointers on how to prepare so a theft like this will be less painful:

• always try to carry only a small amount of money, especially when in crowded areas. Cards / travelers checks can be replaced, cash cannot


• keep your passport, some travelers checks, and at least one bank card and one credit card in a separate safe place so you can have those as backup if your wallet is stolen. (my traveler's checks and passport were locked up at the Hostel - unfortunately I didn't separate my cards

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go out and buy another wallet - this one will have a chain!

Cruising on the Blue Dolphin

Last Saturday I interrupted my scheduled programming of lounging on the beach of Tamarindo for some lounging around on a Catamaran doing a sunset cruise (shout out to Lock for hooking me up with the locals-price for the cruise!). There were 10 other people on board the Blue Dolphin, and we all grabbed refreshments and made our way to the trampolines which are between the boat's pontoons, to relax while our captain piloted us to a nearby beach.

Once we arrived at the beach we snorkeled a bit, then made our way to shore. Unfortunately the visibility was rather poor so we didn't see much - just a few schools of fish and a lone puffer fish. Nonetheless, the dip was refreshing, and it was nice to chill on the beach.

After about an hour on the beach, we returned to the Blue Dolphin and headed back to Tamarindo. We ate, drank, and danced on the boat until the cruise was over (all too soon). Pics below - enjoy!

Chilling on the trampoline (no it's not as bouncy as the name implies, and yes, I tried)

View from the boat

Somehow the Blue Dolphin survived myy brief stint as its captain

The soon-to-be-setting sun casts a cool trail on the water

Quick Update / Call for Comments

Hello all,

So, yesterday my buddies and I waved goodbye to beautiful Montezuma and our hotel with the amazing porch view, and took a 5 hour shuttle / roller coaster ride on mostly unpaved roads to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. We'll be hanging out here for a while, surfing, etc. More details to come in a later post. I'm going to keep this short, because it's almost high tide, which means it's time to surf! You can rent a board here for $10 for 24 hrs - pretty good deal.

Anyways, you guys know what I'm up to from everything on this blog, but I'd love to know how things are going back in the states. So, if you have a chance, drop me a line - would love to hear a quick update / gossip / whatever - makes me feel more connected! Or, just comment away on the blog. I got some emails early on saying there were some difficulties commenting (especially for non-google users, I think), so I tweaked the security settings to make it easier to comment. So if you couldn't comment before, you should be able to now.

Ok, anyways, the waves are calling. Talk to you guys later - and hopefully I'll hear from you soon!

-Adrian

Adrian jumps off a 45 foot waterfall, lives to blog about it

So, as I'd mentioned in yesterday's blog post, on Monday I arrived in Montezuma and did a quick hike out to the waterfalls before it got dark. On Tuesday I went back with Jason, and we did what any guys do when confronted with a deep pool of water and a way to climb above the pool - jump into it from as high up as possible!

Disclaimer (specifically for my mom): since I'm writing this, I have clearly survived the adventure. In addition, I have already left Montezuma, so I won't be going back to jump more. In other words, no need to worry!

Jason and I started off jumping off of a smaller, 12-foot waterfall and a rope swing, but soon grew bored of that. Some folks were jumping off of the big waterfall, so we decided to follow suit. After jumping off of a lower ledge (30-35 feet), and working out the form of how to land in the water etc, I was ready for the big jump, the very top of the waterfall - 45+ feet up. This was a bit daunting as you had to clear a large bush in front of you, and that was all you could see. After one false start, I psyched myself up, and took a giant leap, and flew through the air to the water 45 feet below. It was one heck of an adrenaline rush. Now, don't just take my word for it - I've got proof! Check out the pics (and video) below:

me jumping off the waterfall

the view from the highest point to jump off of at the waterfall (this is where I jumped from in the video). You have to jump about 8 feet to clear the bush - intimidating!

left: jason jumps for it

below: video of my jump from the top of the falls

Goodbye Jaco, Hello Montezuma!

Yesterday was my last day in Jaco, Costa Rica, where I'd been taking surfing / spanish lessons for two weeks. I woke up early, did a final run along the beach, and enjoyed my last home-cooked meal from my home-stay mom. Then I grabbed a high-speed water taxi to Montezuma . Along the way we saw some dolphins, and a manta ray with a 10-12 foot wingspan. Pretty awesome.

Once in Montezuma I met up with Dom and Jason, two buddies from School of the World. They had headed up to Montezuma on Sat, but I'd stuck around so I could go to Manuel Antonio and chill with everyone from SOTW on sun. Montezuma is amazing. It's an incredibly small town with some nice beaches, and a cool set of waterfalls. I hiked the waterfalls that afternoon, and ended up meeting two girls who live in Clarendon, about a half mile away from where I lived before I left on this trip. They were also friends with some former co-workers of mine. Small world.

Besides that we've just been chiling in Montezuma, mostly just relaxing on our amazing porch in our hotel. It's on the second floor, has couches and a hammock, and an amazing view of the ocean, which is about 100 yards away. Tomorrow we're going to catch a 5-hour shuttle to Tamarindo, where we'll be hanging out and surfing for a week or so. More updates to follow once I settle in there. Check out below for pics.

Dolphins playing near our boat

sunrise from the yard in our hotel

the view from the hammock on our porch

Jason and Dom chilling on our awesome porch

Howler monkeys playing in the trees. We came across them while hiking to the waterfall

Surfing!

So, I'm now done with surfing / spanish school at School of the World in Jaco, Costa Rica. In case you all thought I was lying, and simply said I was surfing when I was really just lazing around all day, I can now offer photographic proof!

me with my "flower power" surfboard

group photo of our surfing class

about to catch a wave

I'm surfing!

surfing a wave

Weekend Adventure - Manuel Antonio

So, this weekend's trip was to Manuel Antonio, a wildlife park to the east of Jaco. I went with some friends from School of the world - Kerry, Cara, and Susan. Our adventure started bright and early at 5:30 so we could make it to the bus stop in time for the 6:00 bus. At this point I would like to make a quick aside to discuss an important Costa Rican phrase, "la hora Tica", which means "Costa Rican time." Let's just say that in Costa Rica (and I believe all of Central America), it's no problem to be late. So, back to the story - our bus arrived at 6:00 "la hora Tica", ie approximately 6:55. I definitely wish I'd known and could have had that extra hour of sleep!

We got to Manuel Antonio around 9 or so. We ended up paying $20 apiece to get a tour guide, which was a bit expensive but well worth it. We would just be walking along and our guide would point at some fuzzy thing through the trees and then point the telescope there and we'd see a sloth, some cicadas, a tree frog, some monkeys, or even a toucan. We could even take pictures through the telescope, so I got some great closeups (pictures below). If not for him we would have seen basically nothing.

After the tour, we went to the beach and relaxed a bit. This was probably the highlight of the tour because there were a bunch of white-faced monkeys over there. We saw some run over to someone's picnic and steal a bag of cheetos and some other food. Hi-larious! (especially because it wasn't happening to me).

We had a bit of a scare at the end of the day, because we all fell asleep on the bus, and when I woke up I was afraid that we'd missed our stop. Luckily we made it back safe and sound, but exhausted.

Pics are below. Enjoy!

Howler monkey through the spy scope

Costa Rican toucan

"Jesus Lizard" (so called because it can walk on water) through the spy scope

White-faced monkeys enjoying some stolen chips

White-faced monkeys inspecting some more stolen food

Weekend Adventure - Mt Arenal and Monte Verde

So, this past weekend I went on an adventure with a bunch of fellow students from School of the World. We hired a tour company to drive us to an active volcano (Mt Arenal) and accompanying hot springs, then to Monte Verde for some ziplining through the rainforest.

We woke up and met at the school at 7:30 AM on Saturday. This was a bit rough as we'd had a great end-of-the-week Argentinian barbecue the night before that ran really late, but somehow we managed. Our guide Hector picked us up in a very nice / comfortable van, and we napped away as he drove off into the mountains. At one point we were high up enough that we drove into the clouds which was pretty cool. I was napping in the back when I suddenly awoke as we screeched to a halt, because a cow was just chilling in the middle of the road. And at another point half of the road had disappeared into a sinkhole. Good times.

At lunch we saw two monkeys chilling in a tree. Sadly enough, these were the only monkeys we saw all trip. Similarly, when we got to Arenal, the volcano's cone was shrouded in clouds, and stayed that way the entire time. When it is visible you can see lava eruptions etc - pretty sweet - but as it was we just had to use our imaginations.

In Arenal, after lunch we spent several hours in the Baldi hot springs. Basically, they piped in some water from an underground thermal spring. According to the sign I read the water had all sorts of minerals etc and they had the scientific papers to prove it at the front desk. I decided I'd just take their word on it.

The springs were pretty cool. Basically it was a series of pools with different temperatures ranging from "warm pool" to "will cook you in 20 min." It was here that I made a fun discovery - hot water on a sunburn hurts like you would not believe! They also had a swim-up bar which was really cool, and even a waterslide. The english translation of the sign warned us to maintain proper "Lunch Position" which ended up becoming a catch-phrase for our trip ("remember to maintain the Lunch Position!").

After the springs we drove to an especially good place to view the volcano, although in our case it was an especially good place to NOT view it. Damn clouds! After that we grabbed dinner, returned for another hour of relaxing in the hot springs, hit up a local discotheque, then went to bed.

The next morning we woke up at 6:30, although we actually woke up at 5:30 thanks to a phone which thought it was on Daylight Savings Time. We had a half-asleep argument about whose watch/phone was right, finally settling it by finding the time on the tv. Luckily, we discovered we'd get another hour of sleep, which was good since we hadn't gotten to bed until 2, so that hour was much-needed

Then we headed to Monte Verde, and discovered another exciting thing about travelling in Costa Rica - not all the roads are actually paved. After several hours of dodging / bouncing over potholes, we finally arrived at the zipline place.

True to its name, the rainforest was rather rainy, but we didn't let that deter us. After we grabbed our gear and signed a contract basically saying it wasn't the zipline company's fault if we plunged to our doom (I pondered for a few minutes whether my insurance would actually cover this, or if they'd deem it an exreme sport, but then went for it), we headed off into the rainforest. Basically there were a series of wires over the forest, and they'd strap you into a pulley on the wire, and you'd take off over the forest to the next platform. It was a heck of an adrenaline rush, and the views were great when you weren't getting whipped in the face by the rain. One of the final stations was a Tarzan swing, where you basically jumped off a platform into space until the swing caught you and swung you up 20-25 feet. After arranging myself so that I was sure that no parts of my anatomy would get trapped and painfully crunched by the harness once it caught me (basically protecting a package that was very important to me, if you get my drift), I was ready to take the plunge. One hell of an adrenaline rush, as you free-fall for about 10 feet before it catches you.

After the zipline we did a quick bridge-walk through the rainforest, including a stop in the Hummingbird garden where I got some pretty amazing pics. Finally we packed back into the van, soaked and exhausted, but very happy, for the long trek home. Once we got back to the paved roads or guide Hector demonstrated his desire to be an Indy Circuit driver - apparently in Costa Rica, double-yellow lines are merely suggestions. However, we finally made it back to School of the World in one piece, and chilled with the other students while getting psyched for the next week of sun and surf. Below are some pics. Enjoy!

All of us at the Baldi hot springs

Group photo with our zipline guides

Group photo (minus Matt, who's taking the photo) on a bridge over the Monte verde rainforest

hummingbirds caught in action at the hummingbird garden

cool art shot - some neat berries in the rain

rainbow over Monte Verde

Adrian's Accidental Camping Adventure

Well, as the title implies, yesterday I had an accidental camping adventure. I hung out at School of the World, chilling with some of my fellow students, until about ten O'Clock. Then I headed back to my host family's house, only to discover that they had all gone to sleep, and locked the door! (note to my roommates - and here you thought I kept an early schedule!) I think my host mom thought she'd given me a key, but alas, she had not.

So, my adventure began. Luckily, it's nice and warm in Costa Rica, and there are some nice hammocks at the school, so I wasn't too worried. I just went back to the school and curled up in a hammock. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to factor in the mosquito issue. There was soon a swarm around me, feasting on any exposed flesh. I ended up solving this by using two towels as blankets, and covered every part of my body save a tiny hole to breathe out of.

Now, all of this would have been fine, except it ends up getting just a little bit chilly in the middle of the night. Because of the cold I ended up going in and out of sleep until 4 AM when I heard a friend wake up and catch a cab to the airport, so I snuck into his now-abandoned room and slept the rest of the night.

Good times. Anyways, now I have a key, so that won't happen again.

Quick update on everything else: the first week at School of the World is almost over - I can't believe how quickly it went by! I'm learning a lot of Spanish, and having a blast surfing. I'm now catching waves on my own, and caught two really good ones today. I've also had some pretty spectacular wipeouts. Oh, and I was chatting with a friend this morning who noted that I'd talked a lot about what I was doing, but hadn't mentioned my classmates, and was worried I was all sad and lonely. Don't worry - all the people at the school (classmates, instructors, etc) are awesome - I am just holding back on stories about them to protect the innocent.

Well, I just finished up yoga which was the last class of the week, and now I'm gonna get changed and then go to our end-of-the-week barbeque. I won't be posting anything this weekend 'cause I'll be off on a 2-day adventure - we're gonna go to a volcano, swim in some hot springs, and do a zipline tour (and see monkeys!) I'll send an update next week with the trip report.

Have a great weekend!

Crocs!

So, yesterday we went on a crocodile tour. We saw a bunch of birds (herons, falcons, pelicans, and many more whose names I immediately forgot), and of course tons of crocodiles. It was pretty amazing how close we got to the crocs - I actually touched one's tail! Our guide was crazy - he'd jump out of the boat and wave some chicken around to get the croc to snap at it for the cameras. Once he got kind of stuck in the mud and I really thought he'd get chomped, but he was quick, and made his escape. Ok, enough talk - on to the pictures!

A big ol' croc. Note the side of the boat in the pic - that's how close we were!

A croc snaps at a piece of chicken and occasionally our guide.

Me with a croc - there was a pic of me with an even bigger one but it didn't come out well

A falcon of some sort. I am mostly including this pic for my parents, who have been known to get up early on a weekend simply to go look at birds!

I am a liar (plus a general Costa Rica update)

So, in my last post I promised a minimum of one update a day, and then immediately failed to write a post the following day. Whoops. Surprisingly enough, things are extremely busy here, so it's a bit difficult to update the ol' blog. Besides running, scrounging around for meals, and chilling in hammocks, I also have 4 classes each day: spanish (regular class and lab), surfing, and yoga.

Spanish class has beeen great. We basically just chat in Spanish, so I've had a lot of chances to practice and get better. (random note: school is a lot more fun when it's in an open-air classroom with a nice breeze coming through). Additionally, I'm staying with a host family, so I try to practice my Spanish with them. Last night I watched "quien quiere ser un millionario" (who wants to be a millionaire), which was really fun. I was actually able to answer a lot of the questions, except for the Costa-Rican specific ones.

Surfing has been a blast. Most importantly, I still haven't been eaten by a shark, so I consider that to be a huge victory. After 3 classes, I finally graduated to catching waves on my own. It's difficult, and I had a pretty spectacular wipeout, but it's a heck of a lot of fun when it works. Additionally, on the first two days of surfing we went in the evening, so I was able to surf as the sun set. Quite the kodak moment. Unfortunately I don't have a waterproof camera, but I think some of the digital photography students were taking pics, so hopefully I can get my hands on some.

Then, last but not least, I have yoga class. The first class (on Monday) was quite a debacle. I'd gone running that morning, and also had my first surfing class, which was quite exhausting. Yoga started at 7, and I hadn't eatten dinner. Needless to say, it's very hard to be zen when all you can think about is how hungry you are. The Tuesday class was much better - it definitely feels good to stretch out after doing all that running and surfing.

Anyways, that's about all I have for now - time to start getting ready for yoga. I've learned my lesson, so I won't promise an update at a specific time, but I'll try to write one soon. This afternoon we went on a crocodile tour, and I got some pretty sweet pics. I'll try to do a writeup once I get the pics off my camera.

Hasta luego!

A long day of travel

Well, I know you were all holding your breath, wondering how I'd manage traveling in a non-English speaking country, trying to get to a beach 100 km from the airport, armed only with my wits, some traveler's checks, and a spanish-english dictionary. Well, don't let me keep you in suspense any longer - I made it!

After an uneventful flight where I dozed off and on (somehow the 3 1/2 hours of sleep I'd gotten last night wasn't quite enough), I got to Costa Rica around 12:30. I breezed through customs easily, which actually annoyed me. Technically you need to have proof that you are leaving Costa Rica within 90 days in order to be allowed to enter the country. Usually this is just a round-trip ticket, but since I was planning on leaving by bus, and wasn't even sure when I'd be leaving, I had had to buy a fully refundable return ticket which I plan on canceling. And they didn't even ask for it! Oh well, better safe than sorry, I guess.

I managed to ask directions to the bus stop in broken Spanish, and even got in the bus headed in the right direction! Once I got to San Jose I had to board yet another bus to head to Jaco, but first I had to find another bus station. I finally made it there, just as the 3:00 bus was about to leave. Unfortunately, I was then told that I'd need a ticket, and in the 2 minutes it took me to get that, the bus left! Lame.

I finally arrived at the School of the World around dark, and was taken to my host family, where I will be staying for a week. My host family is vey friendly, and there are two other people staying with them. We ended up chatting in Spanish for several hours - great practice! And, there was a huge bonus - one of the people staying with them, Monica, is a runner! We woke up the next morning (today) at 6 and went for a 5 mile run along the beach, where I saw some very intimidating breakers that I will be attempting to surf later on.

And that brings me to the present, where I'm sitting at the School of the World, waiting for classes to start. Today I have 2 spanish classes, surfing, then yoga. It's definitely a tough life :-)

Hope all is well with everyone back in the US, and you'll be hearing from me again soon.

P.S. At least at first, I'll be updating this blog pretty regularly (like once a day). I highly suggest using something like Google Reader to view the feed, as that makes it really easy to see when there's a new entry. Otherwise if you check once a week the posts will get overwhelming!

The Adventure Begins

After years of daydreaming, months of planning, and a 6 month delay after I broke my ankle, my trip is finally about to start! Right now it's 4:30 AM and I'm in Logan, still groggy from a 2:30 wakeup (~3 hrs of sleep), waiting for my flight.

What's that, you ask? How am I online then? Excellent question. Seeing as I'm hopelessly addicted to technology, and am having a very hard time contemplating 4 months without my iPhone. let alone being without both my iphone and laptop, I bought a netbook for my travels. I bought the Asus 1000 HE, and I'm loving it so far! (thanks for the recommendation, Drew!) It takes a little bit of time getting used to the 10" screen, but the keyboard's very well designed, it has a 160 gig HD, and I pimped it out with 2 gigs of RAM, so it's a pretty badass piece of equipment. Hopefullly this will make it much easier for me to store my photos, write blog entries while offline, etc. I'm just hoping it won't be stolen!

Anyways, today is basically dedicated to travel. My flight leaves at 5:30 AM, and gets into San Jose, Costa Rica, at 12:30 PM. I'm then going to see how well all those spanish classes in middle school and high school have served me as I try to get to Jaco by bus from San Jose. My destination is School of the World, a surfing / spanish school. Classes start tomorrow. I'll post another update in a few days once I'm settled in Costa Rica.