In for a Good Time

plans

2005-09-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

So i fly into calgary monday night at 9:30. My flight number is AA641 coming from dallas so there is no confusion like last time. I will be going to med hat late thursday night. Wahoo. ps.. very sunny today almost too hot....almost

last days

2005-09-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

sorry too busy enjoying the sunny weather to post..looking forward to seeing everyone

coming to an end

2005-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we headed in to san jose to go pick up my tickets. Spent some time in the office in the afternoon then headed back to jaco. The day went by very fast. This morning i spent a little time in the sun but it has now clouded over. Cant believe the end is coming so soon..ahhh

taste of heaven

2005-09-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

Last night i started getting my things organized to pack...its weird that im thinking about packing a week before i leave and some people are only here for a week. I hung out at charles for a bit then went home and went to bed. This morning we had crazy rain it has been cloudy all day..sucks for me when i want to see as much sun before i can as possible. Although, i had a wonderful surprise this morning. Charles got a girl to give me a one hour message. I felt like i was in a drunken stuper after since i was so relaxed. It was awesome. I still feel like im moving a little slower than usual. I went to meet Jenny for lunch but she was busy so i sat and talked to Daniel a guy from christian surfers who toured central america taking pics for the pro tour. He always has interesting stories... Now im back at work...working hard as usual...

cheese factory!!!!

2005-09-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

So friday night we just hung out. Saturday morning was very very windy. It was kinda crazy. Lindy decided she needed to confirm her flights..we found out that once again she was booked on an imaginary flight. We called her mom to get everything worked out while we walked a few kms to find a cheese factory..that was kinda neat..looked in the observation room and saw some cheese being made. Kinda neat. That night we went to a cute little restaruant that had live music. It was a nice night! We left monteverde early sunday morning and headed back to san jose. We hung out at enriques in the back yard since it was a nice sunny day. At this point lindy was supposed to be on the airplane home..but her flight got rebooked to monday morning. So monday we caught a cab to the airport and then i headed to the bus stop and caught the bus back to jaco. Now im here at work chillin where it is wonderfully sunny!

chuckles

2005-09-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

So wednesday night we had bible study then went to Hermosa for dinner. It was quite tasty. We packed up our stuff to get ready for our trip. Thursday morning we headed into san jose with charles. There we hung out at the mall and picked up a few things lindy wanted to get before we headed out. She also got her ears peirced...for like 6 dollars..thats insane. I could have gotten any peircing for 16 dollars. Made me want to get one just cause it was so cheap and they do really good jobs...it was the place Coky got his tattoo and said it was the best place to go in san jose. We then hung out a bit and went to the Jazz cafe for some live music in the evening. the music was so good!! We went home fairly early since we had to catch the bus at 6:30 this morning. After a four and a half hour beautiful bus ride we arrived in Monteverde. We got a room at an awesome hostel and signed up to do the canopy tour. We did that this afternoon at 2:30. It was raining the whole time but it was still lots of fun. We went across a bunch of zip lines, swung on a tarzan swing, and went repelling. Super fun. Our guides were really awesome too. Haha this one had the funniest laugh and him and the other guides would be talking really fast in spanish and they would start laughing. This guy had such a high pitched funny giggle lindy and i would burst out laughing...although we had no idea what they were laughing about. Saw some really beautiful scenery. We came home and rested and now we are here and the internet cafe. Got some intense spanish music goin on. Its so cute.

catchin up

2005-09-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

Well monday was a nice relaxing day just chillin. We hung out with jaime in the evening. It was quite nice. Tuesday we got up early only to miss the first bus to manuel antonio but caught the next one at 9:30. We walked around the park, saw some monkeys, multi colored crabs and some really weird looking rabbit/rat lookin thing. We got some time on the beach but got rained out in the early afternoon. We hung out in the town of manuel antonio for a few minutes then headed back to jaco...barely catching the last bus. When we got home we showered up, did a bit of shopping and then ate supper at subway..hmmmm...We hung out with a few friends then headed home tired after a long day. This morning i had my womans bible study and then came to work. We went to the waterfall today and just got back. Tomorrow morning we head in to san jose to start our travels. Will be fun. Miss ya
Christiann

that thought was a little too silly even for me

2005-09-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Charles had a little bbq. There were only like 7 of us but we had some chicken burgers and listened to charles and two of his friends jam..they sounded pretty darn good. Then we went to watch the sunset at hermosa. We then ate at a restaurant on the beach. It was really good and we hung out with a few people we met from florida. Lindy ended up frolicking in the ocean a few times last night and it was a night. Lindy and i woke up and were wide awake and super chatty for about an hour this morning then within like five minutes we were both back asleep on my bed..it was kinda funny. Anyways just hangin at work.

wonderful day

2005-09-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

So last night was pretty uneventful. Went to the gym then hung out a bit with lindy. This morning we had kids club which was a lot of fun. We played twister while the kids were arriving and also played telephone. I didnt play because i dont have a full grasp on the language and it really wouldnt be good for that game. We did a lesson and craft and that was it. After lindy and i went to the beach and swam in the ocean a bit. We just had a sandwich and are now here checking our email. Tonight we are getting ready and going out so that should be fun. Lindy burnt today..i get to hang out with a little chile pepper tonight...wahoo

day trip

2005-09-02T12:05:00.001-07:00

So this week has been pretty low key with lindy here. Mostly just us hanging out. She comes to work with me and lays by the pool. Yesterday we went to san jose for the day..she needed to cash some canadian travellers cheques and that is the only place that does it. So we went up with charles in the morning went to the bank and then went shopping for the day. We took a cab to charles office and then he drove us home after. It was a fun day. Now we're at work just chillin.

day trip

2005-09-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

So this week has been pretty low key with lindy here. Mostly just us hangning out. She comes to work with me and lays by the pool. Yesterday we went to san jose for the day..she needed to cash some canadian travellers cheques and that is the only place that does it. So we went up with charles in the morning went to the bank and then went shopping for the day. We took a cab to charles office and then he drove us home after. It was a fun day. Now we're at work just chillin.

its official

2005-08-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

Just want to post that the flights for my return have officially been booked and i am arriving Sept 19.....
what?????

lindy and christi's excellent adventure

2005-08-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

After they booked lindy on an imaginary flight, she finally arrived joyfully saturday night
We then cabbed it to Jaco, with a cab driver who was wacko
Our sunday consisted of a long siesta, then we went to church which was a fiesta
This morning we swam in the ocean, and the waves put us in motion
It was lindy's first time, which is almost a crime
But we had a giggle and a laugh, and a jolt and a baugh (?)
What that means i'll never know, lindy says its as fun as snow
We now make soup at my place of work, around the corner i see a kitty lurk
Although something productive i have not done, managed have we to have some fun
The adventure for us has just begun, now outside we go to enjoy some sun

love ya and miss ya lots
sep 19 is day of return

tomorrow!!!

2005-08-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

So at this time tomorrow i will be hanging out with someone i like to call lindoune whisk...aka Lindy. Im pretty freakin pumped if you cant tell. This week has just flown by. We have been busy at the office and i have actually done some work. Yesterday i took it easy and got some sun by the pool since my true color was starting to show..but dont worry im costa rican again. My roomate Shanna leaves for the states tomorrow so it will be a nice exchange of roomates. Nice day again today. ahhh im so excited i cant think or remember anything i did this week bc i just keep thinking about a certain someone....miss ya guys

monday monday

2005-08-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Definetely had a good weekend. Saturday night christian surfers had another skate competition which is always fun. Lots of kids show up to watch. Then Shanna had a slumber party for about 7 girls on the property which was fun. (age range 8-12) Talk about an eventful day with kids club in the morning also..Sunday was pretty uneventful except that Shanna fell during kids club and it was pretty bad so she decided maybe she should get it checked out. We walked around all of jaco going to different places until we finally found the clinic...after getting charged 20 dollars (american) for the doctor to look at it and say it was alright we headed home. He said she can take anti-inflamatories and antibiotics if she wants but she decided just to suck it up. That night we had a taco dinner before church for Jim's birthday, where everyone brought one thing. Then Shanna and i went to our friends apartment who is in the states for a month. There we watched Schindlers List which was being played on tv. Now im here at work and we are having a busy day so i got to run!

im walkin on sunshine

2005-08-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

things are going well here. dont know what to say except been hanging out, working and doin my thang. I just had a huge lunch with jaime and i can barely walk im so full. She is doing very well and although we arent living together things are great between us. Now that im learning spanish more and im on the christian surfers property i have been a lot more involved with the locals and community. This morning was very cloudy and rainy so it was hard to get up and i have been a little groggy all day...yeah not too interesting but yeah. haha im scrambling to find something exciting..o yeah there was a soccer game of Costa Rica against Mexico on monday which was fun to watch with all the locals...although costa rica lost it was a good time. Miss ya guys lots

happy mothers day!!!

2005-08-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since im officially costa rican i might as well partake in their holidays! So it was a long weekend this week but although that didnt really effect my job im still enjoying it.

they're officially gone

2005-08-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

So ash and tannis got a ride with a friend who does transfers to san jose on sat morning. They were staying over night then catching a plane early this morning! I had a lot of fun with them. Since they left i have just been chillin. Last night i went to hermosa and had dinner there. It was SO good. I had cajun mahi mahi...i cant even descrbe the goodness..and cheap too. Today im hanging out. I wanted to get some sun in but it is pretty cloudy today! Tonight i have church.. my roomate is on a surf trip so its just me for a couple days. Lindy comes in less than 2 weeks..ahhhh im so excited

finally saw a sloth

2005-08-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a great day. I met ashley and tanno at about 830 in the morning since i didnt talk to them the evening before to see what they wanted to do for the day. They said they were up for going to Manuel Antonio. So Charles drove us around 10. He showed us a little cove area in quepos with beautiful green water then took us to the national park manuel antonio. We walked around the park a bit first and got to see two sloths..one was pretty big. We saw some big lizzards, a few monkeys, and a possum. Then we sun bathed on the nice white sand beach. After we had got enough of the intense sun we met up with Charles who had left to be in the shade. We grabbed some fresh juice then headed home. We stopped at a hotel that overlooked manuel antonio then left. It was sunny all day long which doesnt happen often so we were very lucky. I was drained from the sun so i went to my room when we got back which was about 4ish. I started reading my freakin amazing book i can put down and then i got thirsty so i got up for a drink. Shanna came in to change for bible study. It was so confusing because i didnt even realise i had fallen asleep for the past 2 and a half hours. Then had bible study and got invited to go out for sushi after..although i didnt have sushi it was nice just to hang out.

found my happy place

2005-08-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Hermosa for sunset and it was very nice. Clear sunset which arent very common these days. Then i went to church and Tannis and Ash did their own thing and went to bed. Then i went to church and hung out with my roomate after. This morning we got up at 5 and went on a 2 hour hike in the mountains which was fun. Now im at work and totally wiped out. Its a sunny day so i think tannis and ash are hitting the beach hard.

they're here!

2005-08-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

So friday night i took the bus to go pick up ash and tannis. Their flight came in late but all went well and we took a taxi home. Saturday we spent the day just planning the tours they wanted to go on and the rest of the week. So it was pretty laid back. They did a bit of shopping but thats it. Today we went to the beach and it started raining so we went for a walk and then it stopped and we went back. Tonight we are going to the next beach to watch the sunset then im going to church. It will be an early night because tomorrow morning we are going for a hike. Thats about it.

today's the day

2005-08-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well this morning i headed to the market. There is a fruit and veggie market that comes every friday so i like to go when i can. The prices are not much cheaper than just buying them at the store buy i am supporting local farmers and its a fun experience..it challenges my spanish a lot. Then i have just been at work doin the same old thing. I head to san jose on the bus at 5 to go pick up ash and tannis. Im excited about that! Last night they had a family banquet on the christian surfers property for the families that come to the bible studies or have kids that do. It was fun. One of the missions groups put it on and paid for all the food and everything which is super cool. Not too much else goin on.

mariposas?

2005-08-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

So there has been an abnormal increase of the butterfly population in the last few days. They are almost everywhere. I was riding my bike home from work yesterday and i noticed there were a bunch of them flying out of a field. But i thought maybe something just scared them out of the grass...but for the rest of the way home they were all over. Then a few hours later i was working out and the cardio machines face the street. I watched them flying around the whole time. Im not saying they are like swarming but enough to notice them. They are black with lime green coloring which is very pretty. Today has been sunny all day long which is very rare during the rainy season. I am at work but i find every reason to go outside in the sun. Right now im figuring out everything about getting back mid september! Reading a book right now about missionaries who go into remote places of the world to tell people about Jesus. extremely good....like to african indigenous people who have never seen white people before and into the forests of central america. cant stop thinking about Ash getting here...only a few days...that about wraps it up!

wow its been a while

2005-07-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Never really noticed that i have failed to post in a bit..it may because i think of posted when something happens or i have something to tell. and other than the twitch in my eye is still kickin around not much has happened the last few days. We got new phones at the office which are a lot clearer calling canada which is kinda exciting. Yesterday was cloudy and i planned to work on my tan since i dont spend too much time in the sun being that i work in an office...but maybe today. Shanna my new roomate came yesterday which is pretty darn cool. This past week has been very quiet with a lot of people going away on vacation and such but everyone is starting to come back and more missions groups comes this weekend so its all pickin up again. Of course im at work right now so maybe i should get something done..like feed the cat maybe...hmm i think shes hungry..yes we have a cat named Minina. I dont really like her but Charles does so i cant argue. Got awesome news that Ashley and Tannis are coming in a week...ahhh

twitch

2005-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

i got a wicked twitch in my left eye for the past two days...i tell ya. Just workin and finding things to do with my free time since i have no roomate.

thats costa rica

2005-07-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well the internet has been down for the past two and a half days...all over jaco..you cant really rely on anything here. The internet, power, telephone all goes in and out. Anyways, back to what i have been up to. Friday night Danielle and i watched a movie after going out for ice cream. Saturday we slept in a lot. It was nice. Hmmm dont really remember what we did that day but it probably wasnt too exciting. Then for supper we went for dinner with three of the little christian surf dudes. It was fun especially bc none of them really get the chance to eat out but it was Danielle's treat. That night we slept outside under the stars. Sunday we cleaned and Danielle packed to leave and that was about it. Very sad day..i will miss her a lot. Thinking of ya guys

burning balls of fire

2005-07-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful morning. This morning Danielle and i got up at 5..yes 5 am and went on a hike through the mountains behind jaco...when i say mountains they are more like large hills kinda like elkwater (but a bit more tropical of course). It was super fun but very uphill. It was nice to watch the sun rise. Then i hung out at the cafe with her before i went to work. I have failed to mention that 3 weeks ago i went to go get my hair cut...although i asked for just a trim i got A LOT cut off...it was pretty bad..but it has now partially grown out and i can finally throw it up in a pony tail...although only about three quarters stays in...Its pretty darn short. haha im so glad there are no pictures of me when i first cut it. So if you guys are wondering where the heck jaime disappeared to, well we kinda had a falling out and i moved in with Danielle. Dont get me wrong Jaime and i are still friends and hang out at bible study and go to coffee, but our lives are definetely headed in different directions. I realized that about 3 weeks ago and that was when i moved in with Danielle on the christian surfers property. I never mentioned it before bc i didnt know if it would be permanent but it is, and i have peace about it. Its just kinda crappy bc i lost a chunk of money on the deposit i put down on the house we were renting and i will never see it. However, it is no question the best/hardest decision i have made....ever. Now that you know a little more of the story hopefully that answers any questions about Jaimes sudden dissapearance. Miss ya guys

taken er easy

2005-07-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hmmm im sitting here trying to think about what i have been up to lately. Well i finished the book that was keeping me busy at night. It was really good...dont remember if i mentioned it, well its about a guy who interviews a bunch of phDs and historians about the bible and proof that the stories are true/untrue and comparing them to other accounts of history. Very good. This morning i rode my bike along the bottom of the mountains near jaco and it was beautiful...Had ceviche for dinner last night...one of the meals i will probably miss the most back in canada. Its fish or other seafood cooked by marinating it in lemon and lime juice...so so good. Im trying to locate a copy of the chronicles of narnia bc i want to read that series next. Other than that everything the same..miss ya guys

night surfing

2005-07-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

So last night Danielle and i went to the OP surf contest in hermosa..theres a big swell right now so the waves are huge. It was cool bc it was at night so they had a huge light on the water..there were lots of people there so it was really amazing. This weekend jaco is SO packed with people. Like insanely bc it is the last weekend before kids go back to school. Tonight there is a big church service on the property where i live with a mission group where Danielle is leading worhsip which is very exciting!!! Today we did some laundry and i picked up a disposable camera bc i thought that would be handy since i have like no pictures. And for all of you....
the weather is here...i wish you were beautiful

wahoo!!!

2005-07-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

haha guess what mom? Danielle and i are making a wahoo board..yuppers making one just like the one we have. We have about half of the holes made. Its funny bc Danielle was trying to explain the game to me and i was like "wahoo?" and she was SO surprised i had head of it. The last two nights Danielle and i have been hanging out after she gets off work. Its cool bc the more we get to know each other the more differences we find we have between canadians and americans...the was we say pardon me, kitty corner/katty corner, about, americans actuallyhave frats and sororities that are "cool" to be a part of (which i learned A LOT about), and i just informed her yesterday there is such a thing as ketchup chips...man the taste is hard to explain. There are so many more things but thats all i can think of off the top of my head. Tonight we are going for dinner (they dont use the word supper ever) with Hanna and Shaun tonight before they head to an international christian surfers conference in hawaii where they are getting married. So thats all exciting stuff that im sure you guys dont care too much about...anyways going out to enjoy some sun..miss ya guys

heck yeah

2005-07-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

So i got a new bike! Its pretty much the coolest bike i have ever seen. Its a cruiser...no need for different speeds, with a basket on the front. It is electric blue...i pretty much love it. I can probably guess what your thinking and no i havent taken it off any sweet jumps. Maybe soon though. At work right now..surprised? Last night had a bible study with SO many ppl. There were 3 missions groups from different places in the states and all the locals. It started pouring in the middle and we are only in a hut like thing so it was kinda cool with the thunder and lightening. One of the groups brought about 15 or more pizzas so that was tasty. after i read and went to sleep. Great news, one of the groups left their extra food before they went home and so now i have oatmeal again for breakfast. Im pumped about that. Im going to run...miss ya guys

sicky

2005-07-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

think i got something yesterday i have been feeling under the weather all last night and today..i know you probably werent too interested in hearing that, but i thought it was good to note that in the time i have been here only twice have i felt ill and it hasnt lasted long..my body has adjusted better than i expected! Working hard this morning. got to get back to it

send me some love

2005-07-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Hey guys hows it going? Im doing great!! Yesterday i had a really slack day and almost literally did nothing. It felt good since i have been working a lot lately. I went to the beach to relax and as soon as i got there it started raining. When i went to bed there was a frog stuck to my window. It looked really cool bc he had like little suctions on his feet and they were all spread out on the window...did i mention i went for sushi a few weeks ago..well i did and it was disgusting but a great experience...tried many things i hadnt and it was all on Jorge my boss' business partner. I had raw octupus, crab and many many different fish...i was just thinking about it so i thought i would write about it. it was at a real nice place so i had the full treatment which was kinda cool. This week i had a reikhe message..sorry dont know the spelling. One of charle's friends studied it so she gave me one and it was rediculous. She just put pressure on various points on my body. I though i wasnt getting anything out of it bc i was a little stressed and my mind was going a mile a minute but after she said "lay down for a few minutes before you get up" so i did and when it was time to get up i like couldnt move. My body was so relaxed i felt like a rock and when i did get up i laid on the couch for about an hour taking in how great i felt and how after it i had nothing on my mind. That was pretty cool. So anyways today i cleaned for a long time and then visited Danielle who was working at the coffee shop all day. I got an address here if anyone wants to send anything..which would be super!!

Christiann Munro
Sureadores Cristianos
Codigo Postal 4023-297
Jaco, Punteranas, Costa Rica

miss ya guys

te extrano

2005-07-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...just hanging out after work. I watched national treasure today...it was alright nothing special. Tonight im hanging out with danielle and we are baking for the christian surfers. Should be pretty exciting. Well its not quite saturday yet but just in case i dont make it to the office tomorrow im going to post a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite sister ever. I miss you and love you so much. If i dont get a hold of you on the phone have a great night and know i will be thinking about you. I have figured out learning spanish isnt good unless i actually practice it..which i havent really been doing too much of..so im now going to try to speak more spanish...anyways..im not coming in to work tomorrow so as soon as i leave this office im pupmed for my weekend which probably wont be different than any other day but it will be nice. My title means i miss you if anyone was wondering...i got a date tomorrow...haha i wish it was exciting news but me and jaime are going for coffee so thats about as mush plans as i have.

im the boss

2005-07-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today i would normally go to san jose but im staying at the office being the head chief. Yeah you know it. Things have been going well. I have made an awesome new friend named Danielle from south carolina i think it is. Shes pretty darn cool. I have been very busy at work which is great. Its not like stressful work but its stuff to do like run errands and such. Last night a group of us went to the Los Suenos resort (the nicest place to stay of anywhere nearby) it was freakin gorgeous. We just had a drink and some appetizers and then walked around the pools and yard area. Weather has been hot lately. The weeks are going by SO fast. Its kinda scary that its already july. I dont comprehend. Counting down the days until lindy comes!!! i will write again soon..as we just got the internet back up at the office yesterday

well well well

2005-06-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

yes im back..i thought i was going to retire this page but seeing as i got messages from probably the three coolest people i know (literally) i knew i couldnt give it up. A lot has gone on since the last post...i saw a black and flouresent green frog (SO cool) and found out 2 minutes later it is deadly poisonous. Karl came for a week and we had some good times although i was too busy to show him around which kinda sucked. My new room mate Jen which im sure will be in more posts had her cousin come for a visit which was fun. It has been very hot the last couple days with no rain which sucks. The internet is down at the office so im at a cafe right now...work is great..we have been going to san jose a lot which i enjoy but it makes me pretty tired. The road is no straight prairie cruise...it is 2 hours winding through the mountains that only have a small barb wired fence stopping you from going over the cliff...which is sad but actually happens a lot to people who dont take it slow at night or in the rain. I got to run...try and post again soon

come to the conclusion....

2005-06-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

I was SO shocked when i came on here and found out i hadnt posted since wednesday..i guess i have a lot to write now. On thursday morning i headed to san jose with charles and two local girls who needed a ride. We went to a meeting soon after arriving. then we headed to the lawyers office where i sat behind a big wooden desk in a black leather chair and doodled for 2 hours while charles did business meetings. i felt special sitting in a gorgeous office with a desk and phone all to myself..there is only our desk and the lawyers desk in the large office because he moved all the others who work for him across the hall so its quiet in the office. After this i met with Coky and we saw star wars. My eyes were literally glued to the screen the whole time. Then i stayed over at charles house. In the morning we went for coffee hit up a mall then headed home. Saturday morning i helped with kids club which had over 70 kids come. It was a ton of fun. Then i helped at work a bit and chilled for the rest of the day. Sunday was a chillin day. We had big plans of going surfing but jaimes surfboard flew off piko's car and surfed down the highway...Piko was the one who shaped the board so hes going to fix it and we will be out again in a few days. I went to church sunday night then went to wishbone and hung out a bit. THis morning Charles got some awesome news about new clients so instead of going to work he took us to a waterfall nearby that is on private property...it has two waterfalls with three pools to bathe in...so me charles and jaime climbed to the top and charles showed us how to find this cool teal clay on the sides. His local friend who showed him the place said the indigenous people used it for camoflouge...it was an amazing teal color and we had awesome mud bathes...after washing off the mood in the waterfall my skin has never been softer...we headed home and now im chillin at work. As for the title of this post, i came to the conclusion there is no one in this world i would trade lives with right now. I feel so great, im working, enjoying life in a healthy way and have awesome people around me...i am so blessed..i told someone this last night and then this morning when i went to the waterfalls and it was lightly raining but the sun was shinning down on us i was like...now i have a slight idea of what heaven is going to be like

and im back

2005-06-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

So im not going to write what has happened to me day by day bc that is difficult to remember since all my days melt together in my mind....but this is whats been going on...It has been raining lately but nothing too intense. I felt my first very minor earthquake...it lasted like 5 seconds but all the chairs in the living room vibrated for like 20 seconds after. Jaime and i have been chillin out at night watching surf videos to get us pumped about becoming professional surfers. Another amazing thing...this past week people have been talking to me in spanish and not translating into english...not that im fluent in the least but im able to understand a lot more and speak what i need to. Classes are going swell..they help a lot on the grammer side of things. Work is amazing...Jaime, my boss and I are heading to san jose tomorrow for a work trip then hopefully star wars at night. So i have been hittin up the new air conditioned gym and every morning i am the only one in there...its amazing how much faster your workouts go when you have no one else around.. Thanks SO much dad for your help things have been going better than i expected so i am in the clear now. Im feeling healthier and better than ever...literally...school and my next step after this has been on my mind lately...love ya guys

change of plans

2005-06-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

We definetely missed the bus for san jose yesterday which really sucked...it wasnt really our fault since the lady didnt tell us it was a different bus that didnt stop at the normal pick up.. we were very dissapointed so we went to charles our boss' house to see what he was up to since we knew he would be home and he had a vehicle. We ended up cruising up and down the coast listening to music and stopping at random places along the way. It was super fun and jaime and i got to drive for a while. We did a bit of off roading and then headed back home....gtg i will finish my day later

no surf

2005-06-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

So yesterday jaime and i went to go surfing in the morning...the beach had been pretty dirty since the last heavy rainfall there was a lot of logs, sticks and garbage on the beach...while walking into the water i got hit in the leg by a 2x4...i looked at it and there was two nails sticking out of it so that pretty much discouraged me for the day...so i am waiting till the beach is cleaned till i go out again..prob tomorrow it will be ok. After that we went to the office and tanned by the pool until my boss showed up and we got a lot done...Then i got ready and ate some supper with a group of friends then we watched hitch. Today we are heading to san jose for the day..i have 20 minutes until i catch the bus....later gaters

i know, eh

2005-06-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

So two more of our friends left today which is a little sad. These two brothers pointed out every time jaime and i said eh, about, house, or any of the other words that gave us our canadian accent. I never noticed how much i said eh until i met them. Yesterday was pretty laid back and today is following on the same note. Charles is out of the office for the day so im running the show. Which means i have started to watch troy (which he rented for me for the day) done some emailing and read a little also. Yes it had been a productive day. The only thing that sucks is i have to hang around the office until he gets back which will prob be around 6 or 7. Thats ok bc i got a lot i can do including laying by the pool. Im not trying to brag about my awesome life its just that i cant comprehend being in canada right now and the stress that comes with it. Im SO excited to announce the arrival of my newest nephew Hayden (sp?)....although i wont see him for a while i hear hes a cute guy. love and stuff

o the rain

2005-05-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

So nothing has happened to me this week. It has been very laid back. Last night Jaime and i went to wishbone and got free meals for when she had her allergic reaction. Its been sad since last week, this week, and next week 7 of our friends have left or are leaving. We are spending a lot more time just the two of us which is fun but different than im used to. Last night we had an insane thunder shower...the lightening would light up our whole house like a light turned on and the thunder shook the walls...it was insane..our house flooded a bit but not bad at all compared to others...its kinda something to expect when it downpours for hours on end..its not bad bc it happens all night and then during the day we have clear skies and then it rains at night again. Some houses get totally flooded, its really bad. So we arent surfing today bc there is a lot of debris and bad stuff in the ocean from the rain which kinda sucks. I got the day off today bc my boss decided to go on a holiday to Manuel Antonio..man its a stressful life...miss ya guys lots...waiting to hear good news about the new baby

life goes on

2005-05-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

So tuesday after all the events we went to work as normal..but as you can probably guess we felt far from normal after getting no sleep the night before and all the excitement..so after "working" for an hour charles let us go and rest...so i went and visited some friends, got some ice cream and went back to work. After i finished work i hung out at the house with jaime. We ended up sharinf her bed. which is kinda funny bc we have 6 beds in our house and me, jaime and brooklyn shared one. Wednesday we went to work and stayed all day which is pretty rare. After it was funny bc matt's little brother was flying in to costa rica the next day so he called home to get his brother to bring him something, but he was informed by his parents his brother was actually flying in that night...so matt got a rental car and jaime accompanied him to san jose while went to a bible study with the christian surfers..Jaime hadnt got home once it was finished so i hung out at my friends cafe until she got home. It was fun bc there were a 4 of us just relaxing and listening to music.
Yesterday we took a field trip to San Jose for work. We left at 9 in the morning. Once we got there we (jaime, charles, and i) went to an office of some people we will be working a lot with. Charles wanted us to get to know a bit about their business and meet the people. Then we picked up 3 others who work for charles and we went to his lawyers office and he explained his side of everything we do so we understand the process a lot more. After we grabbed some gub, made a couple stops and then headed home..i was the dj with jaimes ipod the whole way home (1 hour and 45 min) It was so fun we sang to every song and the time flew by..i didnt want to get out. Once we got home matt, his bro and another christian surfer stopped by and we made plans for the weekend then i retired to bed.
This morning our lovely landlord decided to show up at like 8 in the morning... i had been up for a couple hours but i had to wake jaime up to talk to him so it was no fun...but hes a very nice man (we had only met the property manager before this) Now im at work and about to work...everything is updated now...thanks mom for the the update on your life i had been missing whats going on at home

continuation

2005-05-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

So we walk into our house.. im giggling bc of all the excitement and jaime all over the place from the adrenalin from the epi pen. We walk into her room and it has been ransacked...her stuff if everywhere..bed upturned, all drawers open, clothes everywhere, you get the idea. She has a side door that connects to her room that was broken down. So the guys we were with searched the house while i curled up on the couch really scared. Well he wasnt in the house so jaime breifly looked through her stuff to see if anything was missing. The only thing they had taken was a piko hat and some sunglasses that were given to her. He must have been scared out bc jaime has a lot of things to steal including jewlry, expensive perfume, ipod, our dvd player and so on. So jaime went outside and we saw a running car across the street on the corner so Jaime went out and started yelling at them until reached behind his seat and she ran back into the house. A minute later someone got in and they drove away. Since this happened we have found out that this group of ppl from san jose have gotten in trouble before in jaco sol (area where we live) and they are banned from there. We found that out bc we got to see the car and it is well known around here but thankfully jaime didnt go up to it bc they are extremely bad news. So after that Jordan, one of the guys we were with started to help Jaime fold and put away her clothes..heh he is a manager at abercrombie and fitch so he has a lot of experience with clothes folding and she has an insane amount of clothes. We ended up staying up all night..we drilled the door closed, hung out and talked about the night..its kinda funny bc jaime has the exact foot print of the culprit on a pair of her black pants. This event kept us pretty busy tuesday so i will write about that in my next post

monday monday

2005-05-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

I dont know if you are ready for this blog so i guess it is good you are sitting while you read this. Monday was a great work day, we got a lot accomplished at the office (including all our laundry)...so we went home and hung out after work feeling awesome about the day. Some of our friends were going back to California tuesday so they wanted to take us out to wishbone for dinner. As most of you know wishbone is our favorite place and jaime gets the same thing every time she goes (seared sashimi). We dont hang out a lot with this group of people but we thought it would be fun for their last night. We went for dinner and jaime ordered her regular meal. I had mahi mahi and veggies (mmm mmm good) Well, half way through the meal Jaime whispers to me "i think i have a problem" then later "yeah we need to go" ...well she is allergic to all fish except tuna. So somehow here tuna had touched another fish (even though the restaurant swears this couldnt have happened) we ran to the pharmacy and the lady tells us calmy to come back in the morning when the doctor is in.. jaime replied "i wont be living in the morning" and we left..it was actually kinda funny how calm the lady was....we went back to the restaurant and one of the guys had an epi-pen for his bee allergy...so we cruised to his house (felt like i was in an ambulance) and after she got injected we were able to calm down a bit..thank God we were with someone with that or who knows what would have happened bc at this time jaime's face and cheeks were already fully swollen..so now jaime will have an epi pen just in case that happens again. The whole time it was happening it was more of an adventure than a life threatening situation..jaime was pretty light hearted about it..and we laughed and joked the whole time.. after this went down she broke out in a rash all over her body so we decided to go home for the night...when we arrived our second adventure begain but i will write that out later today as this has already been a long post

fruit loop challenge

2005-05-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

So saturday night Jaime and i decided just to hang out at the new house. While chillin out, two of our friends came over. We were just hanging out eating fruit loops and having a few beer when we thought of a great idea. We would have a test to see who could identify the different types of fruit loops. Two people at a time would close their eyes and they would eat 2 fruit loops. We would tell them what the colors were and they would have to say which was which. The conclusion we came to was that although the box said bursting with new flavors they were just bursting with more sugar!! We watched Lemony Snicket's A series of unfortunate events then went to bed. Sunday morning we got up and just chilled a bit then i went and visited a friend at her cafe. When i got back one of Jaimes local friends was going surfing in Escondida (sp?) so we decided to join. Anyone else who wants to surf there has to go by boat and then surfs out at the reef break and then get back in the boat to go back to jaco. They arent allowed to go on the beach bc it is private. Well Pico had the hook-up so we drove there through Los Suenos resort and Marina to get there...which is so rediculously beautiful. Many loaded people who have houses or condos...i have never been in a neighbourhood like that in my life. Then we went to the house of Pico's surf friend. We walk up to the door and there is a huge open living room and kitchen with no far wall only a folding window which was open. Then you see an amazing view of the ocean...not only that, he has an infinity pool which is a pool that has no far edge only water that flows over the side so it looks like the pool that connects with the ocean. An amazing view with no other houses in sight. He also had a hot tub which i thought was ridiculous. So jaime and i hung out and swam in the pool all day. It was so nice...like a real vacation. We got served any drinks we wanted by the house owner and never wanted to leave. So i have been doing wicked awesome lately. Not to mention jaime and i have had a couple dance parties at our house...they consist of me, jaime, and moon, dancing around the living room to random song on her ipod and laughing a lot at our craziness...so yes dad im starting lessons again this week..alex was sick but im going to visit him today to see when we can start. Nice hot weather... work is great...eating popcorn...should get back to work.. love ya lots mom and dad thanks for everything

how wonderful

2005-05-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i went to work but was completely unmotivated...so here i am today to do a bit and catch up. The whole day i was at work it was a hot sunny day and then i got off went for food..i got home and was standing in my front yard and i saw a mom and 2 kids running really fast down the street...Jaime looks at me and says "whats that noise" and within seconds the rain hit...we could see it come towards us..it was pretty weird. Then it rained the whole night but not too hard. We went and visited some friends then watched Star Wars. Jaime's co-owner of the store and made us a big house warming dinner and then we got too keep all the left overs which was great. It was a tasty dinner. This morning i slept in until 9:30 which is a rare occurence. Then i helped at kids club...we did the story of david and goliath. W made david puppets after and i got covered in paint. Now im here at work after showering of course. Thats about it...hope everyone is peachy keen.

AHHHHHHH

2005-05-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Thats my excitment summed up in one word. So we got our new house today and its pretty awesome. We looked at a load of houses and this was the best and the least expensive...jaime and i are like off the walls with excitement. In our searching we also found a house perfect for our boss...he rents out 2 right now that are alright and if he moves to this new one it is less and a lot better. And of course it benefits me bc i work there....imagine right now...great house with pool table, new barbeque, fuseball, gorgeous tiled pool with waterfall, vines up all the walls with colorful flowers.....ahhhhh...but thats not for sure...i will know tomorrow. Potential tropical storm coming our way which is a little scary but i doubt it. They are just warning us just in case. Loving my new hair cut. i have no idea why i didnt do this 3 months ago...makes a world of difference. I stay much cooler now. Beautiful day and i got to go.

wowza

2005-05-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

well yesterday i had a nice run in the morning in the clouds so it wasnt too hot...but then about 15 minutes after i got home it started to rain..ok so that was at about 8 in the morning and then it rained until about 4. Jaime and i worked all day...well not all day but you know what i mean. Then we hung out in our cold house and visited with various friends who stopped by. We watched the first disc of lord of the rings the two towers then went to bed pretty much. This morning i got up early bc the sun is out in full today...like intense heat...what is this...one day torrential down pour and then the next burning heat...im about to start work so hopefully everyone is peachy back home

crazy rain

2005-05-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

so we didnt end up going to san jose because we needed to meet the lady we are renting the new house from. Yesterday was pretty slack..didnt do too much..story of my life. But in the evening around 6 it rained HARD for about 2 hours..the power went out which was interesting. Jaime and i gave ourselves facials to pass time while the power was out. In the candle light of course. Then it cleared up and we showered and went out with some friends. Today we have been hanging out and i have been trying to get some sun since i am white compared to everyone around me. Thats about it! miss ya guys

ice cream

2005-05-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

yes i have dearly missed that since being in canada. Everyone asks me how my trip to canada was...my first response...cold...then great! When i mention that there was snow on the ground the day i arrived everyone is so shocked it makes me laugh. Last night i sat and listened to Jaime´s ipod for literally 2 hours...there are over 4000 songs on it and i cant handle the selection. This morning i got up and went for a run early...sue to the heat (at 6 in the morning) i had to stop early. But it was good...Jaime and i are planning a trip to san jose tomorrow to go pick up my new baby turtles...but i should get back to work...miss ya guys

o the heat

2005-05-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

So it was nice and hot today. I got up to a lot of nothing. I unpacked all my stuff and then watched legends of the fall...o brad how i love you. Jaime showed me the house we are potentially moving in to. We hear back from the lady on sunday. We pay less for this house and its bigger with a big enclosed yard and it is in a great part of town so im pumped about it. I went to talk to my boss and i start tomorrow probably for half a day or something. Things are rolling. Hope everything is well in canada...by the way dad that is a crazy story..what a small world. And rich told me tuesday night went well...congrats mom...

home

2005-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

I just got back here...i have been in jaco for about an hour and i have seen almost everyone i know except for Jaime. I think it is bc she is looking for me at the same time! The flights went well and the 5 hour lay over went fast. No i didnt get my bags searched which i was a little worried about. It is so hot today i have to re-adjust to the heat! Its funny bc no one recognizes me with my new hair..they all have to do double takes..it makes me laugh...anyways thats about it...

welcomed friend

2005-04-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

I got a new friend yesterday. Its a little turtle Carolina found in Jamies store...its so cute. So we brought it home and its our new pet..i love it so much. SO the count down is on until i come home...what is that all about. Im still having the time of my life down here. The internet and cable was down for the past 3 days (they are run by the same company). I started working in an office and that is going swell..my boss is a great guy. We watched boiler room on friday...it was about the illegal side of what he does...pretty interesting. I have been noticing some things that remind me everyday that im not in Canada anymore....heres a quick list...1) we have road kill of frogs and iguanas 2) the main form of transportation is bikes 3) i can eat bananas for less than 5 cents canadian 4) instead of deer on my front lawn i have wild horses 5) everyone's days revolve when they can get wet...wether it be in a pool or the ocean..some day the heat is killer 6) a day without ice cream is like an oreo with no filling in the middle...anyways im sure i could go on forever....its great...i love everything about it but im looking forward to some good homestyle Tim Hortons....hmmmm..i will leave on that pleasant thought

day at work?

2005-04-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

what is that? i stayed at jaimes store all day bc on tuesday it is the day off for her worker girl. So i stayed at the store..it was quite uneventful but good..i had time to read and relax.. listen to music and visit with a friend who came in. It was kinda cool bc a few customers came in and they spoke only in spanish..although i suck at speaking it, it surprised me that i understood exactly what they asked and fumbled to answer in my spanglish. I closed the store for an hour and went for a lesson. It has helped me SO much that i have already learned french..Alex told me that i am picking it up a lot faster than most people bc i have the french background. Last night i went to a Mauricio's 15 yr old sisters bday party..it was fun..it was a group of 15ish yr old girls listening to music and dancing around...but unlike when i was 15 dancing to shania twain and groups like the spice girls they were salsa dancing and stuff like that...i was like o wow if only i could ever move like that...thats about all..

all alone

2005-04-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Jaime left for canada on saturday and now im here by my lonesome. Well not really but its weird to have her gone. So saturday i started working at the store. Nothing too exciting happened that day. It was pretty chillin. Sunday i went to the surf contest for the whole day... it was for like 5 hours. It was fun and i saw some pretty amazing surfers. It was SO hot that day too...i almost burnt from being in the sun so long (yesterday my skin was kinda sore but not red or anything)... It was cool because there is a latin american surf magazine that is really popular here and then at the contest i saw SO many of the people that are in the magazine.. Yesterday i had another spanish lesson (i dont have them on the weekends bc my teacher goes to san jose to teach) I feel so productive when i have my lessons...I went to this resort yesterday that is at the highest point in the area and watched the sunset. It was amazing. The countdown is on until i come home...i am looking forward to comming home but i cant imagine leaving here...love ya guys

well well

2005-04-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

so i havent been keeping up with my posting. I have been pretty busy helping jaime with her store. She is leaving tom morning to go to canada and she is training me to take her job. It will be fun bc all i really have to do is open and close it. Today is the first day of the latin american surf contest at playa hermosa (the beach right beside ours)...this beach has constant huge waves so it is a great place. A few of my friends are working over there for the weekend so i plan on checking it out...it will be cool to see the pros surfing. I have been learning spanish and doing all the usual things. Its funny bc although i dont have a job i feel busy or that i have things to do all the time. Next week im planning to go to monteverde with some friends who have a vehicle which will be great. I dont know if i ever mentioned that here in jaco i have a dog..well its jaime's but now im its stepmom...its a 2 year old black lab...so cute..named Brooklyn but goes by brooklyn, brook, moon, honeymoon, brookmoon, smoochmoon, mooning, and moonsmoots. Shes awesome bc if there is a huge bug and me and jaime freak out she will chase it out of the house. She is our protecter and sits and watches out the window for strangers. Anyways...miss ya lots

pfff

2005-03-26T20:44:00.005-07:00

sorry this is being weird again and i totally explained my saturday twice....

pfff

2005-03-26T20:44:00.004-07:00

so my "long day" post actually worked so you have my saturday explained twice..sorry guys

pfff

2005-03-26T20:44:00.003-07:00

so i totally wrote the same thing twice...now my "long day" post worked and i just re-explained everything....sorry guys for the mix up

Happy Easter

2005-03-26T20:44:00.002-07:00

this is kinda weird...i totally did a post on sat night and it didnt go up...i guess i will write it all again. So saturday was a long day. I got up and did kids club on sat morning. We painted eggs and it was so fun. The kids loved it. Then i went straight to the beach to volunteer at the surf contest. Im not going to lie i had a pretty easy job...all i had to do was give the different colored shirts the surfers and get them back when they were done their heat. It was fun but i was in the sun all day and it was quite draining. We went to tabacon to play fooseball at night and when we were about to leave Coky went to unlock his bike. He put his key in and went to turn it at the key broke in half. It was pretty funny. He had to saw through the lock which surprisingly only took about five minutes. Easter sunday was good too...not too eventful but we made rice crispie squares and decorated them with colored icing. We went to church and then after everyone brought food and snacks and i ate so much..it was SO good...Today is quite cloudy which is kinda nice because im helping Jaime do inventory in her store...thats about it....

long day

2005-03-26T20:44:00.001-07:00

So this morning i helped with kids club. It was tons of fun. They loved the hunt and painting the eggs. After i went straight to the surf contest. My job was to hand out the different color shirts to the surfers when it was their heat. That went on for 6 hours. But it was a semi-cloudy day so it was nice. The beach was packed with people so there was always someone to talk to. I went home and showered then we headed to Tabacon for fooseball. When we were about to leave Coky put his key in his bike lock and when he turned it, it totally broke off. It was quite funny. So he is over there sawing away at the lock while i update whats going on with my life. Since the city is so busy its not a good idea for him to leave his bike somewhere...but that might be the case. He just came in and it was finished...wow doesnt take long to break a lock...hope things are peachy keen in canada

2005-03-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Good Friday

2005-03-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

Last night we did the usual and went to Tabacon to play fooseball (sp?)..i was on a team with Coky (a local) and we kicked butt. Won every game...i usually suck but i was on fire last night. This morning i got up and went for coffee and to help my friends at their cafe. After i went with Rhianne to boil 60 easter eggs for the local kids for tomorrow morning. And i made an example to show them...it made me so excited for tomorrow. It brought back a lot of great memories from growing up and making easter eggs every year. Tomorrow morning the christian surfers surf contest starts too..i also have to help with that so it will be a busy day. Its insanely hot today and the streets are packed with people. I dont mind since it is Good Friday and a perfect day to stay home to pray and reflect. Thats about it....love ya lots...

amazing day

2005-03-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday i went for spanish lessons. They were fun like usual. At the end of the class we played a game like scattegories. A letter was picked then you needed to think of a verb, adjective, place, thing, and brand starting with that letter. Since my spanish vocabulary is not very large i lost every game...but i had lots of fun in the process. Right after my lesson i jumped in a little jeep with a friend from christian surfers and we headed for san jose. When we were there he needed to pick up some shirts for the surf contest on saturday (the reason we went). Then we went to a big (very nice) mall and to the movies. It was quite fun....we then drove around san jose seeing some of the sights at night. We also drove up a nearby mountain to look over the valley of san jose at night...so beautiful. We stayed overnight at his families house (cutest spanish family) then came home in the morning. We stopped at a bridge that is famous for ALWAYS having crocodiles under it. Yeah there were over 10 of them when we went by it...things are going great!!!! miss you

o the rain

2005-03-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

So this morning i was up and drinking a latte by 7:00...it was quite wonderful. The mornings here are so awesome...quiet, warm and comfortable. Yesterday it poured for about 2 hours. It was extremely hot during the day so the rain cool things down. I walked home from a friends and within a minute i was drenched. The roads all flooded but it was fun.
Yesterday Jaime and i went to the grocery store and got a bunch of stuff to clean the house with. We didnt feel like walking home so we took a taxi...it costs 500 colones to take a taxi anywhere in jaco... thats about $1.25.. we told him to turn on caille nation (our street) we were talking and not paying attention and he stopped right in front of our house...we were like, you know youve lived somewhere too long when the taxi drivers know exactly where you live.
Going for spanish lessons this afternoon...so on that note
Hasta luego

forgot to mention

2005-03-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

mae..the title of my last post... means dude and the surfers use it like every other word...its kinda funny (pronounced my)

mae

2005-03-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Its about time eh? yeah i have tried to post everyday and its just not letting me. But it worked today so im going to try and get in as much as possible. Well i called my parents on sat and they were both home...what???? i was so surprised but it was good. Saturday morning i helped with the kids club again and we taught them the story of Jonah. I have been able to go running everday on the beach. I think that is what im going to miss the most when i come home. At the same time everynight right before sunset i run on the beach and watch the sun go down....yeah its amazing.
A couple days ago walking to my house i notice that a big bush all of a sudden had flowers...ones i had never noticed before. I walked over to take a smell and it was so beautiful and strong. Now everyday while walking home i make sure i take a trip to the bush. Also a guy living here showed me how to smell these different looking flowers. If you put your nose to them you dont smell anything but if you hold it in your hand and squeeze it has an amazing scent. I really have time to stop and smell the flowers here.
This is the busiest week around town since it is Holy week and all the schools have it off..The city is packed with people. On saturday we are coloring easter eggs and doing an easter egg hunt for the kids. It will be interesting since they have never done anything like it before.
I have had 4 spanish lessons and things are comming a long great. Its so much easier to learn when there is spanish around you all the time. Like everyday i learn new things i can use. I dont have a lesson today so im going to review all the stuff we have done so far and then i have another lesson tomorrow.
I just stopped at the internet cafe on my way to a cafe my friends are opening. It opens on friday. They asked me to stop by and see if i could help them. Since i have had experience making lattes and such i may be able to help them perfect some drinks. Im excited for it to open bc it will be a great air condidtioned placed to hang out when you need to get out of the heat.
Im going to head out and i will post again soon i promise...well i dont promise but i will see if this thing will let me. I was recently told many ppl are reading this so i will keep up with it....
love and miss all you guys
PS i love you Grandma and im so happy you can come and read about my adventures too

sorry guys about the lack of posts

2005-03-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

well this blogger thing has been frustrating lately and i havent been able to post. But now i will try to inform you of everything that has gone on. Since the boys have left i have just been hanging out with Jaime and helping with her store. I got offered a job going to surf competitions to promote a local surf company so thats pretty cool and we will see if that works out. I started spanish lessons. This guy is teaching me who teaches both english and spanish at the university in San Jose. Hes fun and makes things interesting. So thats been good. Last night Jaime and i went to a cute local restaurant beside a little river. It was cute. We are getting very close. Shes definetely my new sister. We hang out a lot but also spend a lot of time apart. Things here are awesome...i couldnt be happier

hopefully this one works

2005-03-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

So saturday morning i helped out with kids club. They christian surfers lead some games and crafts for the local kids. It was super fun! After that there was a big surf competition here in jaco. It was so cool, the first surf competition i have ever been to. It was kinda like i was in blue crush, but better of course. That night Jamie and i decided to make home made soup. It was amazingly good. We had lots of fresh vegetables and chicken....im not going to lie...i impressed myself with how good it turned out. The power went out around the city for over an hour which kinda sucked. It goes out often but only for a couple minutes. Sunday i watched more of the competition. At sunset all the surfers were out (high tide was at sunset) so there were amazing surfers to watch! It was the boys last night so we all went out for supper and then went out. It was quite fun! This morning jamie and i got up and went to say goodbye to the boys. It was actually kinda sad. Today we are having a bbq and some friends over to hang out....wow this is the life..i never want to leave..literally

hopefully this one works

2005-03-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

bah the last blog didnt work

2005-03-13T12:09:00.003-07:00

bah the last blog didnt work

2005-03-13T12:09:00.002-07:00

bah

2005-03-13T12:09:00.001-07:00

just wrote a long blog and it didnt work..i will write it again later.

busy town

2005-03-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

im pretty much the best fisher i know

2005-03-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

So i FINALLY have something worth reading. Last night Jamie and i went to supper with the boys and it was a lot of fun. Sergio met us there and told us a hilarious story about when he working on a fishing boat. These old ladies could not catch a fish all day so they (the two of them working) had a fish they had already caught. They hooked a line onto it and pretended to reel it in. They made a big scene of it and when they got it in the boat Sergio started to hit it with a little wooden bat he had until it was "dead"....the ladies were SO excited they tipped both of them great...but if they would have looked a little closer they would have noticed that rigomortis (sp?) had already set in and it was totally stiff with its tail curled from being in the bucket for so long. Anyways, we had fun. Then i met Monica (marks sister) and we all went back to our house and watched napolean dynamite...i was the only one who had seen it. In the morning we all got up early (monica left for san jose) and we went on a day long fishing trip. It was SO fun and now we are all SO burnt even after all the sunscreen we applied...although im so black by now i only tinged red...nothing bad...We caught 5 hammerjacks and 2 tunas. We got to take them home and are going to take them to a restaurant to cook them up for us. We saw a school of dolphins and they swam all around and under our boat. We saw HUGE waves breaking in the middle of the ocean. And the coolest thing of all is that we saw a gigantic manta ray or sting ray (i dont know the difference) jump out of the water...we all thought it must have been atleast 6 feet long...like it was crazy. We all are dead tired now and im sure have heat exhaustion. The boat was 25 feet long so just a little one but we were the only ones on it. Tonight we are laying low. Miss you guys

just lovely

2005-03-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

So last night it rained ridiculous amounts...like so much all night until this morning. It was quite beautiful. It has just cleared up and it is sunny now. The boys are doing great...nice and red from the sun.. Yesterday we went surfing together and they are planning a fishing trip for tomorrow. Feeling great and enjoying the beautiful weather.

what fun

2005-03-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

So things have been great with the boys. They went out surfing twice (without lessons) and got pounded. I went out earlier in the morning and the waves were huge so i didnt stay for long. They didnt understand when i told them i didnt want to go with them...it was a killer day. We went out last night and it was great fun...my favorite quote was when Ger came up to me and said "i love it here...im exotic" refering to the girls from costa rica. Everyones keeping it safe and the boys have big plans to go skidooing tomorrow morning. Last night i met a guy from the Hurley surf team whos on a one year surf trip with 13 other surfers sailing around the world to all the best surf locations. It was pretty neat...all thats new....

Its on

2005-03-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well my room mate got back from Canada which was nice. Shes my Jaco sister now. Yesterday i got up early and went to San Jose...once i arrived i went to Cartago. That is a city nearby. I spent the day there and went to a beautiful Bacilica and then to some ruins of a very old church ruined by an earthquake. Then i headed to the airport to meet my bro. We were planning on staying the night in San Jose but we decided to head back. The boys jumped in the ocean as soon as they got here. heh they are pretty entertaining...we went out last night when we got home. So far so good but i can imagine this is going to be a crazy week. miss ya guys

lluvia????

2005-03-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

So it rained today...hence the title of this post. (i had to ask the gentleman sitting next to me what the word for rain was bc we all know my spanish skills) It was SO nice...i got up to go surfing and after i was done it started raining. It was only for about half an hour but it was the most i have experienced here...it is starting to clear up now but the clouds are a welcomed change to the scorching hot weather. This morning i got killed by the waves so now it has made me more determined to go out more often. The waves were huge and i got pounded a few times. I also didnt know i went out right at high tide when they are big so i will plan better next time. Last night some canadians made a bonfire on the beach which was nice...random people see the fire and show up so i guess its a great way to meet people...although here everyone is here for a couple days and then leaves so you meet so many people only to forget them 2 days later. Thats all to report...laying low today so i can get up and surf again tomorrow morning when there is no one out on the water...later dudes and dudettes (i have to practice my surfer lingo)

beach bum

2005-03-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

hmm i guess i have been slacking with this lately. Well not really since there is nothing new really to post. I met 2 guys who took a 6 month trip from vancouver down to the panama. They are heading to cuba last (which will be in 2 days) They have so many great stories and it has been fun hanging around them for the past couple days. In their whole trip the only bad thing that has happened was that one of them had a pair of sandals stolen last week on the beach. They have met SO many people who have taken them home to feed them and let them stay for a couple days. They are both from Germany. Im about to go surfing so that should be good. Im looking forward to friday when my bro arrives. Should be a fun time. I found a great school to learn spanish so i hope to start that up not next week but the week after. miss ya guys

indescribable

2005-02-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

So yesterday high tide was at 4. So that means surfing is good for about two hours before and after. It changes everyday so its not always the same time. Last night was perfect because i got to surf the sunset. Wow it was amazing. What made it extra good was the first wave i tried to catch was successfull. Right after i did i saw my surf instructor and another friend and was so proud bc they all saw my awesomeness...haha not anywhere near their talent level but its all good. Then when it was almost sunset a friend and i paddled past where the waves were breaking and laid on our surfboards to watch the sunset...it was great. Today im going surfing with another canadian who is just learning which will be fun. Its the weekend so its really busy around town. mmmmm ice cream.......

surf session

2005-02-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

well yesterday i went surfing for 2 and a half hours..wow it was quite the session..im sure you are all wondering how my surfing is comming along. Im definetely not as good as i should be by now. I have spent too much time enjoying myself at night and dont make it out the next day. But now im determined to go out everyday. It was awesome yesterday. I caught a couple amazing waves and im working on turning the surf board. Last night a couple ppl hung out at a friends house who made fish, salad and mashed potatoes then we watched spiderman 2. It was a nice relaxing night. I hope to go out surfing with my friend in an hour. Its crazy here bc if you are looking for someone you just walk around until you find them. Even if someone has a phone its not very likely they will be near it. hope everything is going well in Canada....

little adventure

2005-02-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

So i met a couple more ppl a couple days ago. One was a proffesional surfer from the states. He was pretty awesome but the kind of guy that no matter what you are talking about it always ends in surfing. But i guess thats why hes the one getting paid to surf. They were making a surf video at the beach next to mine. Today we went in a 4x4 looking for some waterfalls. We didnt find any but we saw lots of animals, beautiful scenery and some remote beach. I guess the adventure was enough. Went for a run early and im dead tired now so i think i will have a little nap. Last night got to talk to the rents which was great. It was nice to hear a familiar voice. thinkin of ya

livin the life

2005-02-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well things have been going well lately. Nothing too exciting. actually something crazy happened yesterday...i was hanging out with two of my guy friends i met like the first couple days i was here which are from Israel...(theres a huge israeli community here and they all love my tattoo bc they have NEVER seen anyone who is not hebrew have hebrew writing on them...they all read and speak hebrew its kinda cool) but anyways, i was with them and we started talking to this girl at the table beside us who was by herself. First it was just light conversation until she nonchalantly said she was a neonazi. Yeah it was crazy, she had the nazi symbol on her wrist and the back of her head was shaved (like the skinheads that i only learnt to exist from the movie american history x)...they started pressing her about what she beleived and stuff like that. The conversation started to get really heated up and i started to get scared bc this is OBVIOUSLY a touchy subject them being jewish. I had to force them to leave with me otherwise things could have gotten pretty ugly....both mayor and gili (the two guys) could not get over it and it bothered them all day yesterday. Sundays are my least favorite days bc the beach is SO busy....like this morning by 830 i must have seen 5 bus loads of ppl arrive. I went for my run on the beach and then i plan on chillin in the shade reading and then hanging out with ethan (the guy i ran into that i knew from med hat) i havent gone surfing the last few days bc since i moved in with jamie i leave my sufboard at my friends shop on the beach so i dont have to haul it back and forth. But he went into san jose for a couple of days without my knowing and my board is locked up....did i mention i bought a second hand board like the first week i was here...7 foot one. Its awesome i love it. I also didnt mention i took my dreads out bc my scalp was WAY too itchy with the sand from the beach...My spanish is picking up a bit which is kinda cool. haha another funny thing about life here is that i go for an ice cream cone everyday...its beautiful..they have ice cream shops everywhere and the ice cream is deadly. i was talking to one of my canadian friends and we came to this conclusion; no matter if you have had a busy day or do nothing (literally) all day long at the end of the day if someone asks, you have always had an amazing day. There is absolutly no place for worries or stress here. Everything revolves around "tico time". Tico is the slang for costa ricans. They do everything at an extremely slow pace and are late for everything...which enforces the laid back atmosphere...hmm i think thats it for today...wish you could all be here with me!!!!

Home sweet home

2005-02-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

So im back from Quepos and its good to be home! Manuel Antonio was a very pretty park. It is like a forest with paths to walk through and beaches with beautiful sand. We got to see like 10 monkeys so that was kinda cool. We went off the path a bit for an adventure which was interesting. After we went through the town of Maneul Antonio which was a pretty city itself...alot wealthier place than where im staying. There were a lot of cool restaraunts..one was under the wing of a huge vintage airplane, one was in a train, and another built on top of a huge rock. Its a cool place. We took the bus home which was a lot better experience than the way there. We just got to the bus station got on the bus that was waiting...got a seat to ourselves and then it left 5 minutes later..the trip back went by so fast. When we got back into Jaco i wasnt in the city for more than 5 minutes and i saw 3 ppl i knew...i found my new home. heh its pretty cool. Yesterday i decided i should relax and lay on the beach for a while which i havent done in a long time. So i get there and lay down and all of a sudden it clouds over...i have hope and stay for about 45 minutes just reading before i decide to leave. I walked a couple blocks toward my house and the sun came out again...not impressed. By this time i didnt care and went home...i just remembered...i touched a crocodile on my trip too. My roommate jamie left today for canada for 2 weeks so that kinda sucks..she introduced me to a guy yesterday that supposedly plays for the montreal expos...yeah i dont know who he is..like he wont take pictures with anybody, he wont drink or surf or anything...i know nothing of baseball so i dunno...he says hes been playing for 5 years his name is Carlos...but that may be a nickname im not sure...nothing else new that i can think of...hope everyone is doing great

ahh the heat

2005-02-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

This morning i caught the bus to Quepos...I had to stand in the sun for well over an hour to catch the bus then i didnt even get a seat so i stood up for another hour and a half..it was quite deadly...toured the city of Qeupos and then im going for supper. Tomorrow im getting up early to go to Manuel Antonio which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of costa rica and there are lots of wild life to see so that will be cool. Bring on the sloths and monkeys!
later

mi vida loca

2005-02-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

ive been pretty busy lately so i havent posted in a while. Yesterday i went on a long walk to go find the secret beach. It was quite fun actually. This morning i got up early and went surfing. My sandals are getting worn out from all the walking im doing so i have to buy new ones. Met more canadians and americans so have been having lots of fun. The craziest thing happened on sat night. I saw someone i recognized at the bar and so i went to talk to him and it was someone from med hat that i had met...it was crazy. Tomorrow im going to Quepos for 3 days so im excited for that. Happy Valentines day!!!!!
later dudes

new roomie

2005-02-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

i moved in with the canadian girl..her name is jamie and has been living here in Jaco for 8 months. She just opened a store here that is amazing. She said if i come and help her out once in a while she will give me clothes for pay so thats awesome. I thought i was moving in with 2 canadians but its actually her and her personal assistant Sergio. He does all the house cleaning, our dishes, laundry, if we need to be woken at a certain time and keeps an eye out for us at night...its pretty awesome how taken care of i am. I have my own bedroom and bathroom in a small house we share. Im getting a great deal too....met another canadian last night who is here 3 months also doing the exact same thing as me except he came one week later...so i think we will be doing some road trips together hopefully quite soon. My spanish is improving but i still suck.....
thats about it
miss ya guys and i will try my best to post pics tonight

town of Jaco

2005-02-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

So i guess i havent really said anything about the place im staying. Well its a town based around surfing. There is the beach and then the main road that runs along the beach.This is where all the restaurants and stores are. There are internet cafes EVERYWHERE...like no exageration there is one every 5 stores...but they are all small with only a couple computers...it is 1 dollar per hour so its not too bad. I like comming to email bc they are always air condidtioned. its a great excuse to get out of the heat for a couple minutes bc none of the restaurants or stores have walls...they are all out in the open...its great when there is a breeze comming off the ocean but other than that is can get pretty toasty. Last night i fell asleep early so im up early this morning and hopefully i will get in a lot of surfing today...im planning my first trip out of jaco on monday..i think i will go into san jose for the day but we'll see. I was told about a secret beach yesterday so im planning on going on an adventure today so i will keep you posted on how that goes. I feel like im starting to get a bit of a cold (i dont know how that works) but other than that i have been feeling great....ps i do check my emails and respond every couple days

buenas olas

2005-02-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

thats "good waves" in spanish...the newest phrase i have learnt. i didnt go out surfing today bc i was packing my stuff to move into a house with 2 other canadian girls who have been living down here for a while. i move in after supper...that should be good..they are so nice. So last night after the sunset i decided to go for a walk on the beach..as i was walking i saw my friend henry who was taking his 2 horses back to his house in the mountains so i got to ride his horse down the beach...it was quite nice.... thats about all new.....later dudes and dudettes

just another day in paradise

2005-02-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today i made a quick trip to playa hermosa the beach next to where im staying...its a cute little town. I went surfing but there were a lot of ppl out there so i finished early. Im finding more things to do during the day so the days are flying by...i got dreads yesterday and today i got cocunut oil to put on them...it makes your hair smell SO good...got to jet i go to the beach everyday to watch the sunset (everyone does its kind of a ritual thing) hope things are going great

surf mama

2005-02-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

so i have gone out twice since my first time and things went a lot better. The reason i got so beat up the first time is that i got killed by a big wave i didnt see comming. Now im ok but sore...its a good sore of course. I have met a couple ppl who im hanging out with a lot now...Jaco is a lot smaller in one week...i feel like i know all the locals now..heh i have a perma grin just thinking about it. The past two days i havent done anything but relax and surf...i looked at two places i might rent. Both are 250 a month and one is close to the beach with no kitchen and one is part of a cute house but far from the beach...still lots more to look at though. I think im going to stay in jaco in the week and surf and then backpack to different places on the weekend. Hmmm there is so much to say i never remember when i get here....weather is great, today it sprinkled for about 25 minutes then the sun came back out...the food is great and cheap...you can get any meal plus a drink and dessert for less than 10 dollars...most of my meals come to about 2.50$. Its sweet. Tonight im laying low and just going to hang out at my hotel with roxy my manager...we get a lont great...the place im staying at is really nice but its 25 a night and more than i budgeted so i plan to leave in a couple days but its a great place. i dont know what time it is and i think the this place is closing so i gtg...i never know what time it is, its a crazy feeling....
miss ya

CHECK MATE

2005-02-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

So i had my first attempts at surfing yesterday...i really did take a licking...wow got a bruise under my chin and a couple on my knees and elbows but it was SO worth it...i got lessons by a local surfer named Minor. yeah its different. He is actually sponsered and has his pic in a surf magazine (so he told me but his mom has the magazine so he couldnt show me) So its great bc i had budgeted to be paying for lessons and renting boards but i have met enough ppl who said they would borrow me their old long boards until i learn. Wow i couldnt be happier right now. yesterday i took the mangager of my hotel´s daughter to the beach for a couple hours and we played in the sand and waves and it was so fun...even though she doesnt speak english...although i burnt yesterday because of it. yes i did put on sunscreen but it was clearly not enough. today im keeping it low key and looking through stores, reading and anything else that does not invlove sun. its not too bad except when minor saw me today he laughed and said (in his broken english) "you red like chili pepper"...i thought it was humerous. Last night a gentleman from my hotel invited me out to a local restaurant for supper. He is a very interesting man who was a professor at long island university teaching spanish for 20 years but now he is retired and travels to a different country every winter. We had a great supper. Last night i went out to one of the clubs but after walking in and dancing for approximately 10 minutes it was WAY to hot to be in there and i retired early for the night. o yeah..i never realized how good cold beer on a hot day until i got here.....
love reading your comments so kepp them comming...miss you and i hope to get some pics on here early next week

interesting night

2005-02-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

well last night i practiced a bit more of my spanish with the guy at my hotel...its funny bc he speaks no english whatsoever and me the same with spanish...he showed me the 2 guard dogs for the hotel and they are big and scary....the manager of the hotel...a girl in her twenties invited me out to a bar down the street...so while we drove there her car broke down and that was kinda funny...so we got it towed back then took a cab to a bar at the next beach down the street and then went to another one after that...it was a lot of fun and they played about the same kind of music you'd hear at ezzies but a few spanish songs thrown in here and there....slept in then was a beach bum for the rest of the day....i met a guy who teaches surf lessons in miami and he is here on vacation and said he would love to teach me how to surf. so i hope to start that up tomorrow...meeting so many wonderful ppl it is hard to remember everyones names. ...miss ya

Day 2

2005-02-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

wow so much to say...i had my first costa rican sunset on the beach drinking an imperial (costa rican beer). It c0sts about 75 cents for one at the bar on the beach so how can you go wrong...im staying at a cute little place with a swimming pool a short 30 second walk to the beach...last night after sitting and watching all the surfers as the tide came in i met a couple canadians and we in turn met 4 spanish guys....they were a lot of fun to hang out with for the night...taught me some spanish, played some darts, talked about fashion tv and maddonna (yes two of them were gay) . I definetely went to bed with a smile on my face! I had a crappy 3 hour bus ride to the coast yesterday but im on the beach now so thats all that matters....at the place im staying there is a guy who is the son of the owner who only has school until gr 3 so im teaching him english and hes teaching me spanish...its great! thats all i can think of...i will post again soon

Im here!!!!!

2005-02-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

HOLA
Well yesterday i had a full day of traveling. It went by fast. When i was going through the airport three times either the person before me or after me got their bags checked....i guess i just look too innocent for them to expect anything. hmm crappy movies on the flights, the 5 hour layover in houston went fast bc i went exploring in the HUGE airport. I landed in Costa Rica about 45 minutes late so that wasnt too bad and then had a vehicle waiting for me to take me to my place of rest. Im not going to lie to you, im definetely not staying at the hilton. In my room i have four yellow cement walls, a bed, mirror and a night stand....but i LOVE it. I couldnt be happier right now. I just ate a complimentary breakfast of a variety of fruit and coffee outside under a roof of bamboo with vines and plants all around..its beautiful! A hummingbird even visited me while i was eating. The people are SO nice and helpful. But one thing i did learn is that i SUCK at understanding spanish...but everyone is patient and we do the half spanish half english thing. I met two other lone travellers yesterday which was great although they had totally different plans for their trips...but it was still nice to know how friendly ppl really are. Im going to go now...im heading to Jaco which will be the town i learn to surf it is about 3 hours from where i am right now so i got to get on that....miss you all already!

Getting ready

2005-01-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

Well, just pulling everything together for the trip...when i post next i will be in the wonderful country of Costa Rica. Cant wait!!!!