Caribbean {(Don't Worry- Be Happy)}
The week literally flew by, and before I knew it I was leaving my last day of our month-long Spanish class and saying goodbye to the most gorgeous professor ever (we call him Enrinque Iglesias haha). We had our last oral presentation explaining recipes, and because I was literally obsessed with the Agua de Sapo from the last weekend, Anita and I chose to make that for our presentation. It was dericious, and it felt good to have Tico approval of our rendition of this Caribbean Treat!
After class, Anita and I walk downtown and check out the Museo National, which starts out with a butterfly garden, and has tons of historical trinkets from the native Colombian era all the way to Italian Wars, and even some random Japanese Dolls which were pretty gorgeous. After being wowed by some Costa Rican and Latin American History, we walk to this restaurant to have our goodbye dinner to Anita with everyone in the program because she is leaving to go back to Spring Semester in her University in Tenn. Maggie, our program director had recommended this place, and it was LEGIT. The food and service was fantastic, and although my plate was $14 it was going to last me about two more meals so it was worth it. We said goodbye to Anita one last time, and then parted ways to send some people off to buy our bus tickets to the beach.
Before I know it, I'm getting up at 4:30 am to take a bus to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca to spend the weekend in the Caribbean with some friends from the CEA program. I literally do not care what time you went to bed, nor what glorious song you arise to, 4:30 am requires a snooze button. After showering and embracing my loco decision to always pack the morning I leave, I grab a cold pancake our Tica Mom prepared for us the night before and head out the door at 5:15 am with one of my roommates, Laney, towards Veritas University where we are meeting Courtney and Taylor to take a taxi to the bus station. Catching a taxi before the sun rises is harder than we think , but as soon as we call one in, we finally find one to flag down. Oh well, we hop in and head to the bus station, laughing from deliriousness.
Courtney, Taylor, Laney, and I get our tickets and meet up with Colleen, Jordon, Lani, Kevin, and Hayden in line for the bus. We have a little freak out moment because they won't let us on; this bus is for 6:00 and ours is for 6:15. Thank God we are not going to get left behind! We get on the bus and I get stuck with the odd seat out, so I have to sit with a random Tico I have never seen before. A group of 3 Ticos get on and start laughing as one of them slides into the seat next to me and the other 2 sit across the aisle.
The Bus takes off and after only an hour and a half of this 4-5 hour bus ride we come to a COMPLETE stop. The strangely quiet Tico beside me switches places with his talkative friend, and we all talk the rest of the way there, because the bus was stopped for almost 2 hours due to road construction (such is the way with Tico Time, the bus wasn't even cranked). We are there so long we make friends with the Ticos beside us who are actually really friendly students our age studying at one of the better universities in San Jose, and also staying at the same hostel as us. One recommends renting bikes and biking to Punta Uva and Manzanillo, an advice we cannot pass up.
Once we get there and find the hostel, we rent out hammocks for the weekend and settle in. We are staying at Rocking J's, one of the more well-known hostels in Puerto Viejo. The hostel is right on the beach front, and full of like-minded travelers looking for a Caribbean style treat. We find our hammocks, fill our lockers, and proceed to chill, hard.
When we rent the bikes we just ride down the main road from town and stop at every beach along the way. This is freedom at it's finest. Playa Cocles is the strongest tide, with fierce waves and gnarly surfers. This beach has so much energy and I am so happy to swim in the shore with the waves crashing down on me but dare not drift too far in because of the rip tides. Playa Chiquita is cute and has a little forest on the shore. Punta Uva is the most gorgeous and the farthest down we get. This place is literally like a desk top background, with calm teal and blue waters surrounded by some rocky cliffs in the distance.. We half expect to see the Black Pearl pulling into port. I am by far having the time of my love and loving all the beauty Costa Rica has to offer <3
I spend much of the weekend eating the snacks I brought in order to save alot of money, but the one place I cannot pass up is getting coffee at the well-known lunch place called Bread and Chocolate. The coffee is freaking AMAZING and comes in your own little mini-french press, and all of the ingredients like the bread and jam and pb are house made. I also take a mocha cheesecake to go and keep it in the hostel fridge and it is absolutely DEVINE.
Some of us stayed for two nights and got the unique experience of watching the Super Bowl at a beachfront bar in Costa Rica called Tasty Waves in Playa Cocles, which was pretty cool although I personally don't really care very much about NFL football. We left after the projector started overheating and the game was nearly over, and stopped by the hostel on our way back into Puerto Viejo town. I saw the tico from the bus sitting there and invited him with us, and we ended up walking and talking on the beach all night after all the girls I was with decided to disperse. How interesting it is to get to know people from different backgrounds and cultures. It has definitely put an unquenchable thirst in me, to strive to know. I want to travel and to talk to people and to listen and to learn.
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| Caribbean Food accompanied by Agua de Sapo, a sweet ginger drink that is a favorite of the locals |
After class, Anita and I walk downtown and check out the Museo National, which starts out with a butterfly garden, and has tons of historical trinkets from the native Colombian era all the way to Italian Wars, and even some random Japanese Dolls which were pretty gorgeous. After being wowed by some Costa Rican and Latin American History, we walk to this restaurant to have our goodbye dinner to Anita with everyone in the program because she is leaving to go back to Spring Semester in her University in Tenn. Maggie, our program director had recommended this place, and it was LEGIT. The food and service was fantastic, and although my plate was $14 it was going to last me about two more meals so it was worth it. We said goodbye to Anita one last time, and then parted ways to send some people off to buy our bus tickets to the beach.
Before I know it, I'm getting up at 4:30 am to take a bus to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca to spend the weekend in the Caribbean with some friends from the CEA program. I literally do not care what time you went to bed, nor what glorious song you arise to, 4:30 am requires a snooze button. After showering and embracing my loco decision to always pack the morning I leave, I grab a cold pancake our Tica Mom prepared for us the night before and head out the door at 5:15 am with one of my roommates, Laney, towards Veritas University where we are meeting Courtney and Taylor to take a taxi to the bus station. Catching a taxi before the sun rises is harder than we think , but as soon as we call one in, we finally find one to flag down. Oh well, we hop in and head to the bus station, laughing from deliriousness.
Courtney, Taylor, Laney, and I get our tickets and meet up with Colleen, Jordon, Lani, Kevin, and Hayden in line for the bus. We have a little freak out moment because they won't let us on; this bus is for 6:00 and ours is for 6:15. Thank God we are not going to get left behind! We get on the bus and I get stuck with the odd seat out, so I have to sit with a random Tico I have never seen before. A group of 3 Ticos get on and start laughing as one of them slides into the seat next to me and the other 2 sit across the aisle.
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| The Hammocks at hostel Rocking J's Credit: Kevin Brady |
The Bus takes off and after only an hour and a half of this 4-5 hour bus ride we come to a COMPLETE stop. The strangely quiet Tico beside me switches places with his talkative friend, and we all talk the rest of the way there, because the bus was stopped for almost 2 hours due to road construction (such is the way with Tico Time, the bus wasn't even cranked). We are there so long we make friends with the Ticos beside us who are actually really friendly students our age studying at one of the better universities in San Jose, and also staying at the same hostel as us. One recommends renting bikes and biking to Punta Uva and Manzanillo, an advice we cannot pass up.
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| Playa Cocles with Laney, Courtney, Lani, and Me Credit: Kevin Brady |
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| Hayden, Laney, Kevin, Me, Lani, and Courtney in Punta Uva Photo Cred: Taylor & Kevin |
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| Me in the beautiful beach of Punta Uva Cred: Kevin |
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| Biking down the road to visit the beaches was probably my favorite part of the trip. Credit: Kevin Brady |
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| The food at bread and chocolate was the best I've had in a while, and it was all wholesome and homemade! |
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” ― Cesare Pavese
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