Pura Vida

Ok, it been long enough! I finally figured out the smartest way to keep in touch. I write at mi casa (I, thankfully, lugged my computer here with me.), save it on my portable drive, and then share here. It sure beats the time I have wasted staring at a blank internet connection while paying for it!
So, where to begin? First off, I love my new life and am striving to call this beautiful beach paradise home for a long time. I have my hands into lots of potential good jobs, but every thing is yet to be determined…, as I guess it always is. But, I mean that I don’t want to get to into job stuff, for that has been taking up quite a bit of my time lately. Instead, I want to share the fun that I have been having:
I have made some new friends. A couple of my friends I met when I first visited this area during the summer, the others are my newfound buddies. For example, Andrea is my Spanish teacher and she is wonderful. Her boyfriend is the guy that started the Spanish school where I am studying. He is from NY, but very non-New Yorker. We went out for beers the other night at this “hot” karaoke bar. Little did I know… but my new friend Andrea is quite the celebrity in Costa Rica. She was one of the winners of Costa Rica’s version of American Idol a few years ago. So, when we entered the bar, everyone knew her and she was forced (happily) to sing most of the night. It was not hard to see why she swept this country off their feet. Her voice is amazing, and besides my great friend, Kara, she dances like no one I have ever seen.

So, they are great…Oh, here is how my morning started today:
“Kerri, mi vecina, Kerri! Kerri benga…” (English in parentheses) (Kerri, my neighbor, Kerri! Come!)
Que? (What? Note: I had just heard the loudest and strangest animal-like yell from right above my house.)
“VAMOS!” (Let’s go!)
“Si, si, pero porque? (Yes, yes, but why?)

And then, not only did I know what my neighbor was so excited about, but I witnessed one of the coolest things I have ever seen. On our roof there were three holler monkeys eating almonds (Well, the people here call them almonds, but it is not what you are picturing. Imagine the seed that an almond grows inside, hard for me to describe, but more like a very large chestnut than an almond…) Anyway, we stood on our front steps (our steps are “sort of” made out of the earth) and watched in awe. The monkeys clearly saw us, but never seemed to care that they now had an audience. We watched them in silence for a long time, until the largest one decided to have some fun and threw his snack straight at us. Yup, he reached back and launched one of the large almond seeds straight at us. My reaction was very different from my neighbor’s. I was amused, she was startled. She told grabbed my hand and we ran into her house (our houses are separated by a wall, but connected). She explained that they can get really mean and that our “pelicula de la manana” (morning movie) was over. I thanked her for getting me and she offered me some of the juiciest pineapple I have ever had.

Then, I took a shower as the monkeys crashed about our metal roof, and got ready for my morning stroll on the beach. I have made it a habit of waking early (Seeing la amenecer (the sunrise) here is out-of-this-world, but it happens at 5 am, so I have only made it to one so far. Lame, I know!) and heading straight to the beach or to the waterfall. Since it is Sunday I don’t have my Spanish class, or my English classes (which happens around 10:30 and 2:00 every weekday) I took my time and strolled further down the beach this morning. The long walk was worth the buena vista (great view) I found after about a thirty minute stroll. I finished my book, The DaVinci Code. (I have never seen the movie or read the book, and it was the best option at the local book swap. It is a good read, but I bet the movie leaves a lot to be desired.) After staring at the sea for a long time, I swam a bit when the tide calmed down. The sea here is POWERFUL! From my apartment I have a gorgeous view of the sea, and am constantly pulled out of slumber due to the forceful sound of the waves. I don’t usually swim in the ocean here, for I have spent enough time near the sea to know that this area of the Pacific is a force to be reckoned with. And, I like my current life too much to end up lost at sea! But, almost every day I do hike up to the waterfall and swim there. There are three connected waterfalls here, and the bottom one is the most easily accessible, of course. The waterfall is about 50 feet and the pool it creates is a swimmer’s dream-come-true. The force of the down-falling water creates a strong current. When you swim against this current it is hard to make progress but it creates the ideal swimming tank. So, that is my new favorite source of expending energy.

Well, let’s see, what else? Everything is PURA VIDA here so far. I not only feel like I made the right decision, but for the first time in a long time I feel like I found a place to happily call home for quite some time…

Ok, maybe not the end

I love sitting at my parents' house in Ocean City surrounded by my beach-loving clan. Yesterday, as I drove with my cousin to pick up our carry-out dinner, I thought about how different our thoughts must be as we sit and sing the newest hit pop song that bellows from my mom's car radio.

She (an eighth grader) and me (an almost 30 year old woman) certainly have different thoughts running through our minds. But, surprisingly (or maybe not if you know me well) we utterly enjoyed each other's company as we build sandcastles on the beach and talk about life under sunbeams. We even came home and ended a glorious beach day with some abdominal work, stretching, laughing and more talking.

I don't feel that much older than an eighth grader some days, but then reality strikes hard. Reality hit hard this morning as I heard myself conversing with my uncles and father about "refinancing" and "interest rates". As this conversation took place I couldn't resist glancing at my eighth grade cousin to see what she was doing during that "adult" conversation. Not to my surprise, she was juggling a soccer ball in the grass as my dog stared at her longingly.

It is weird to be me these days, for large parts of me long to go back to juggling soccer balls in the grass. But, then again there is another large part of me that wants to hang with the "adult" conversation about money, real estate and love. I am stuck in the middle now, but know that reality won't let me turn back into an eighth grader. I will only get older and will only continue with those adult conversations...that is inevitable.

What I don't believe is inevitable is how I feel about reality. I can easily be a part of those adult conversations that take place on the deck as I juggle a soccer ball from the grass. And, I want to be that "girl" for many more years!