#3 Fantastic people & Tamarindo

I’ve always been a fan of fellowship, of course, however I’ve just begun to appreciate the concept of community. I really hate to sound corny, but I’m positive it’s true; you can be happy anywhere in the world as long as you are with people you appreciate, respect and love.

I suppose my situation isn’t exactly the perfect anecdote for my point- I’m in a very desirable place. More importantly, incredible people surround me.

The community at school and with in the ISA program is so comfortable and welcoming! The students who are studying abroad at Veritas University have been so out going, friendly, caring and open-minded. I’ve never made friends this easily or this fast. During class they share their thoughts, make conversation and seem like friends right after meeting them. During breaks or after classes, visiting, making plans and eating is always possible.

My friend Kenya is one of the coolest girls I know. She has mad style, she’s smart, beautiful, fluent in Spanish, hilarious, has the greatest laugh, friendly & easy to talk to- She can also give a mean back massage! Her disability doesn’t stop her from doing anything; she came to Costa Rica in a wheel chair and has made every minute count. I’m so blessed to have Kenya as a friend because she is always demonstrating patience, care and positivity.

Another expert at being positive is my Alternative Health Approaches professor.  Each time I pass my Alternative Health professor in the hall he stops and greets me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Last week during class he explained he was a bit unorganized for class because after working on the computer for three hours, it crashed and all of his work was lost. The class reacted with sympathy and he responded, “That’s okay, I’ll do it better next time”. During another class period we were watching a movie that had drumming as background music. When loud banging noise from the construction in room below resonated through out our classroom, my professor laughed and celebrated because we then had even more background music! He is professional at being happy and his positivity is so prevalent and contagious.

While the community surrounding me at school is extraordinary, my experience here thus far is as well. I’ve had a fantastic time!

I started my weekend Thursday by attending dance class and then adventuring into downtown San Jose with a group of friends. Our short taxi ride was an adventure in itself; we were speeding down busy streets, passing prostitutes & stray dogs in heat. If that wasn’t enough, our taxi driver honking at people and other cars while busting the most demonic and terrifying cackle. After arriving at our destination, a dance club called “Castro’s”, we proceeded to Salsa, merengue and freestyle dance until early hours of the morning.

On Friday we left for Playa Tamarindo, which is in Northwestern region of Costa Rica called Guanacaste. A six-hour bus ride from San Jose was rather nice for those of us who had been out dancing and socializing all week. When we arrived in Tamarindo it was pouring rain, but that didn’t stop us from partaking in another night of dancing.

When we arrived to the club we barely had time to stress over the flight of stairs- within seconds of arriving, our friend Jon and a few of the local guys carried Kenya up to the club. We spent the night sweating through our clothes, drinking Imperial beer and dancing with one particular Costa Rican girl who seemed to befriend our entire posse by sharing dance moves, cheering drinks and smiling.  Non-verbal communication is crucial when the club music is bumpin’!

The next morning we woke up over looking the Pacific Ocean. The volcanic ash in the sand at Playa Tamarindo made the view especially unique. Many of us spent the morning on the beach exploring and swimming in the water. Around 1PM we boarded a large catamaran, complete with booths, deck seating, an open bar and music!

The boat took us to another part of the coast about 45 minutes from Tararmindo. The cliffs, secluded areas of land and wildlife were amazing! We parked near land and spent some time swimming in the clear water and jumping off the deck of the boat into the water. When I was swimming I felt tingling on my back, leg and arm. As soon as I heard a girl swimming next to me say that she had been stung by something, I realized I had been too. When I got out of the water I felt the painful, stinging and itchy feeling all over my back. I’ve never felt anything like it! The boat captain thought it was Jellyfish, but later after the pain and redness had gone away we heard hearsay of small plant like species that release stingers (?).

With time (and beer), I (and the few others who were stung) began to feel better. The crew fed us dinner and then we headed back to Tamarindo to see the sunset. On our way back we saw dolphin, a humpback whale, (which looked like a mountain forming in the water) and two large turtles mating!! The overcast skies hid the sunset, but the boat trip was still a great time.

Some of the group finished off the day with another round of Salsa dancing at a bar down from our hotel. Even though the bar and dance floor lacked walls and doors, the place reeked of Marijuana.

Sunday morning many students attended a Mangrove tour down the road from our Hotel. On the tour they saw lots of wildlife and plants. Since I anticipated sleeping later than the tour I didn’t plan on attending. Instead my friend Jon and I rented surfboards for $10 each. When the crazy surf guy asked us what size board we need we were dumbfounded. He responded “So you guys just wanna go out there and @#%& around!?” – all of the sudden we felt a little uneasy. He gave us boards, surf shirts and then began walking us to the water explaining that he’d go out and teach us if we gave him a tip later on.

“Follow me mami, you let me carry the board for you”- this guy was hilarious. As soon as he stepped into the water his mouth never stopped moving. “Common baby! You takin’ too long! I’m ready to show you the surf!”—“Let’s go baby cakes get on the board!”- I had about 5 different nicknames from him. I think he was a mix between  Adam Sandler’s friend in the movie Fifty Firsts Dates and Sanka from Cool Runnings. His balding head of dread locks cracked me up. When a big wave came his way he would curse -“Holy *#$@”, open his eyes really wide, fill his cheeks up with air, plug his nose and bob into water. Other times he’d yell at us “You better hang on to your damn board!” We laughed so hard.

He’d yell, “What are you doing! Hurry, get on your board!” I’d get up as fast as I could and my bathing suit bottoms would slide down. After re-nicknaming me “Underwear problems” he began to adjust my arms, feet position AND pull up my “Underwear” for me – “You better be careful with your underwear here! My waves here take whatever they want!”

When a good wave came he would either push me forward at the right timing or tell me when to paddle and when to stand up. Jon and I did surprising well (as far as we’re concerned!)- There were only a few waves that we didn’t catch. Our loco instructor never stopped yelling tips “Stay low!” & “Bend your knees!”, but we thought we looked and did great!

After about an hour I was beginning to feel tired and as if I was getting skin cancer. When I returned to the surf after dragging my body and my board the instructor yelled “Hey action lady I’ve been waiting for you for two days!”

We had so much fun surfing, and really didn’t end up spending too much money. Even though we were broke at the end of the trip, I felt it was all worth it!

We arrived back into San Jose yesterday evening. Jocelyn and I returned back home to find Tyrone very sad. He sat us at the kitchen table and began to tell us why our host mom had still not returned from New Jersey.

With tears in his eyes he explained that her ankle had become swollen and the Dr. advised her not to fly. Jocelyn and I didn’t know what to say- it was so hard to see him so upset. He misses her so much!

This man with his job and three daughters who are in school and working have been working so hard to keep the house clean and the meals cooked for Jocelyn and I. We know how much Venessa (our Tica Mom) means to Tyrone; he is the only elderly man that I have heard openly expressed his love for his wife. He’ll sit with Jocelyn and I at the table and say things like “I can’t wait for you to meet my wife” – “She is so beautiful and such a good person”. His appreciation and love for his family is always prevalent and I feel so special to witness it and to have become apart of it.