mas nostalgia...

This photo was also taken by the ever so talented Kaya, as I brought the Yaris to a screeching halt on a windy road somewhere in the depth of Costa Rica. Today is rainy and grey. Just thinking back to the wonderful trip... (Ok, here we go...) WHY can't life be this way all the time?? New scenery, new colors, new sounds, new faces, new fragrances, new languages, new sensations??? Why?

tengo un dolor
en mi pobre corazon
quiero que la vida
sea una fiesta
con cerveza y sandia!

Oh boy! I'm also a poet too! YEA creelo creelo gente!!!!
ok, that's it for today... hugs!

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Nostalgia...

Ahhh... today we are having a bit of Costa Rica nostalgia... The Volcano Arenal. I am ready for a vacation! Better put: I'm ready for an adventure. Something that will make your blood circulate, make you sweat a bit... like I'll can't believe we went repelling of waterfalls! Can't wait to do that again, what a rush!

Where would you rather be right now!? If time or money was not an issue... anywhere... tell me!

Oh by the way, Kaya took that picture. She is just a visual genious! I believe it was from the porch at our cabana place while having breakfast. Desayuno "Americano"- two eggs, hot dog, fruits and toast... and coffee... of course! We would call it, our breakfast with the Volcano.

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Caution: Girls on a board!

Hey people! It was pointed out that my other post was not very fare. Not because I was ruthlessly giving scores to nice surfer boys, but because I didn't put up any pictures of any surfer GIRLS. Well, here you go! Here at SP, we deliver.

First of all, no this is NOT Kaiya and I... although these girls are definitely adorable as well. And I chose this picture (from the randomness of the internet) because this is EXACTLY what we would have looked like if we decided to go surfing. Why? Because:

1. We would also be renting only ONE board for two, cus' we're cheap like that.
2. We'd probably be holding on to each other in some way.
3. We would be laughing just like that.
4. I'd be the first on on the board pretending to know what I'm doing...
5. And yes I have blondish hair and Kaiya has black hair, we had great tans like that and cute bikinis!

There you have it. Except we didn't really go surfing... (better view of the surfer boys are from the beach anyway...)

No, honestly, when I was 8 on a summer family trip to the beach (at that time we didn't live near the sea) this huge wave threw me pretty hard. So hard that my kid bathingsuit (that was tied on strings) was on me no more, neither were my goggles, nor my blow up dolphin doll. After that time, I do NOT go swimming out into big waves. Everytime I see that towering wall of water I want to throw up. I'm not afraid of water, or anything, I've worked as a lifeguard all through highschool in a "wave pool" actually!! haha. But I am definitely not comfortable with ocean waves... I do think one day I will try it. This summer even! I think I may be ready. Yeah, after all, this summer will be exactly 20 years since the "wave throw". !!! I think I SHOULD celebrate it... on that board!!! Pura Vida! ...or shall I just say: Sempre Primavera!!!!!

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Lots of Deliciousness in Costa Rica!

Ok, so after we got over the initial shock of being on vacation and having only to worry about rotating your bodies to be in perfect alignment with the sun rays... we really started to relax and enjoy the good things Costa Rica had to offer...

Ahhh... lets survey the beach.... beeeeautiful.....

Oh... what's this? Looking good... looking good, ehhh, seven and a half, respectable, though I must disagree with his shoe choice...



















Now this is a sight for sore eyes! Very nice, very nice, lets give them both

a 9...

And look at THAT!

Now this fillet gets a PERFECT score!!!!

Yes, definitely hungry after all that wild life watching...

This is what we would have for lunch usually, a "casado" (married). Rice, beans, a plantain, salad and your choice of fish, chicken or meat. This one is actually a Mahi-Mahi fillet. YUMMY!! (And of course - about 4 or 5 Imperiales!)

*Disclaimer: Yes its OK for SemprePrimavera to assign numbers to surfer boys. But Kids, don't repeat everything aunt SP does... we may all get into trouble...

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First leg of the trip - Tamarindo

How great was Tamarindo?! VERY great! :)

Actually to be perfectly honest, Kaiya and I had a slight freak-out session the first day... First of all, for me, this was the first "real" vacation in 2.5 years! (I know I'll never wait this long again!)

Secondly, we have spent the better part of the day battling potholes... so you can imagine that when we pulled into town and finally found our way to our hotel up the road, all we wanted to do was have a drink IMMEDIATELY. (MANY drinks to be exact.)

We were experiencing this strange sense of pride to survive. Yet, its not like we did anything special... just drove a few hours from one city to the next? Right? Well, I think it was more... It was almost pride in being able to escape the civilization as we know it, our corporate jobs, our auto-temperature controlled homes and self-flushing toilets... I think it was the realization of how complex, information driven, multi-tasking our everyday life is; it was realizing that our brains have probably changed to function differently because of the lifestyle we are forced to live. I think the scariest part was thinking that there is "no way out" for us. Here we were about to start our two and a half weeks of relaxation, beach and sun! And all we could think of was how HORRIFYING this idea was. How almost uncomfortable it made us feel... how foreign it seemed!

We RAN down the hill to this restaurant called "Las Palmas". It is set right on the beach with tables sharing the space with palms. Before we even sat down we made eye contact with the waitress across the restaurant and soundlessly mouthed the words: "Dos Imperiales, porfavor!" She sensed our desperation and come over immediately with two bottles.

Kaiya and I subdued our usually prolonged toasts to a simple "Cheers" and inhaled our beers without a word. By the time the waitress made her way to bring the menues we were already looking for her and signaling for two more Imperiales. After the third beer, Kaya looked over and as if she was reading my mind, said:
"We're gonna be OK..."
"Yup"
And yes, we finally were beginning to "relax", to notice the swaying leaves of the palm trees, to sense the magnetic darkness of the ocean, to feel the breathe carrying the scent of jasmine flowers. Yes we would learn and remember how to enjoy life again... even if it took many more hours of driving over potholes or 100 more IMPERIALES!!!


Some info on Tamarindo Beach:
Tamarindo Info
Chocolate Aparthotel

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Corona, you got NOTHING on these bad boys!!

Happy FRIDAY!!!!
Here is an inspirational photo to get this weekend started RIGHT!!!!!!

More Costa Rica to follow this weekend... or not...

For those of you that have experienced the wondrous taste of Imperial beer, you'll be happy to know that their export to the USA has already started. They're already in California and hopefully very soon will be everywhere!

Imperial Cerveza

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Bad girls just don't listen

Ok, before deciding that renting a car for our trip to Costa Rica I did some serious planning...
I sat down with a map and measured the roads with my finger than looked at the little ruler on the bottom of the map and measured my finger to see how many kilometers we would be driving. Simple? Yes. Effective. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Fine, fine, it wasn't EXACTLY like that, I'm not THAT blonde. I did check out various websites and articles about driving and roads and such. I did read the warnings and the horror stories on other blogs about the potholes and bad roads, and conditions and traffic, etc, etc, etc. What did I do?? I laughed, sometimes rolled my eyes... laughed some more, shrugged my shoulders... than "just to be on the safe side" added about half an hour driving time to each of the legs of the trip and that was it! BAD ALE!!!! BAAAAAD!!!!!! Now if you are reading this, and you are yourself planning a trip to Costa Rica, and you are planning to drive... listen closely... NO, GET closer... CLOSER, I want you sooo close that you are kissing the screen.... good... now listen....







THE ROADS ARE HOOOOORRRIBLEE!!!!!!!!!



You got that!?
If you think you will be driving for 2 hours, you will be driving for 4! Some stretches of the road are just so bad with potholes that you will be driving at the rate of 2km/hour. Drive early in the morning just in case you run late. And remember it gets dark promptly at 6pm, and you DO NOT want to be driving in the dark.

Now sure, you can be like me, and kinda laugh and shrug your shoulders, but honestly you really don't need the aggravation on your trip. Do you need a 4-wheel drive? Yes if you plan on getting of the main highway. We didn't have a 4WD and we got by ok since we only drove to main areas, but even so, the extra $200 would have been spent very well to have the security. Even on the best stretches of roads there are little holes and dents that if you are not careful can damage the wheels in a little car, while in a bigger 4WD would be hardly noticeable. Plus your butt won't get wet as you're fording rivers (OK just kidding, no river fording on highways.)

Under NO circumstances, and I mean that, should you ever take the highway that goes to Liberia. If you are driving to Nicoya (Tamarindo and such) take the Amistad con Taiwan bridge. Also I hear that the highway around the Arenal Lake is terrible, we have not been on it but fellow travelers have given some tearful accounts.

Basically we leisurely left the hotel at 11.30. We had the AUDACITY to stop for a nice sit-down lunch at this place called "White Horse". Which is overpriced and overrated, stopping at any "SODA" of the highway would have been just fine as well. Anyway, after that we basically spent the next 5 horse swerving to avoid potholes. And its not like you swerve, or go slowly, you kinda sverve into ON COMING TRAFFIC!! Or they're swerving right into you!!! If you slow down too much, you run the risk of cars behind you ramming into you, which would be especially unpleasant if the car behind you is a CEMENT TRUCK!!!!! We actually would just pull over and let trucks and cars pass us if we felt we were holding them up. Of course within minutes we would see those hot shots on the side of the road calling their mommies to come change the tires for them... but hey, pura vida...

We did make it to Tamarindo. FINALLY we pulled into town just as the sun definitively set...

to be continued...

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Deliciousness...

We booked a hotel near Alejuela for our first night. Plane arrived at 6.00pm and we had a dinner reservation for 7.30pm and it turned out to be perfectly timed! Customs at Juan Santa Maria Airport were just about non existent, ok, fine they did stamp our passports but when we got to the people that checked luggage and we hesitated while looking for the special forms we had filled out... they simply just waved us through without even pausing their conversation. Pura Vida! (This is a Costa Rican saying meaning anything from hello, godbye, whatever, nevermind, it's all good. Literal translation is: Pure Life, meaning that in Costa Rica life is pure, without artificial ingredients. Or maybe its just a tourism slogan...? Ahh, who cares, pura vida.)

Next day, early in the morning... ok, fine, like 11.30, we got into our brand spanking new Toyota, Yaris and drove of west... woooow wait... First, we had an AMAZING breakfast! Delicious, fresh fruits, coffee, toast, eggs and bacon... and somebody stop us!
(Note: the pasty white arms, bleeh.) Ok, THAN we got into the Yaris and drove of

Important info:
Hotels by region: http://www.hotels.co.cr/

Cellphone band:
GSM 1800

Toooo tired to talk about our horrifying drive to Tamarindo beach... tomorrow...
***
I will give a Nicholas update: he asked me for my number... and yes we are emailing everyday and stuff. I'm begining to get a bit impatient though. Like I just wish he'd fly over here so I can take a looky-look-see. Or at least offer to sponser my visit over there. I don't want to be the one making moves but at the same time I want to move things along already. (My impatient Aries nature.)

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Finally we take of.

Sunday morning. I will get myself over to the pool today! I will get to New Jersey to try on Brides Maids dresses. (That's for the June wedding in Chicago.) Lots to do today... All I want to do though is just sit around drinking Imperiales and maybe later go climb something... ahhh wishing I was still in Costa Rica... well you do know what's the absolute best way to beat the post-vacation blues? is to plan your NEXT TRIP!!! And that's exactly what I'll do!... as soon as I'm done reveling in post Costarican bliss...

Ok, we continue:

Tuesday, December 21st, 2005

Good morning!!! Rise and shine!!!!! Our sleepy heads bobed from underneath the blankets thinking that it was way too cold in the house... (My parents like to experiment with how low of a temperature you body can take while sleeping...) Anyway, its OK, cus guess what!? This very evening we would be enveloped in HEAT! We'd be so close to the equator that the pure excitement from processing this information would be in itself a danger! Ahhh... we couldn't wait!

I flipped the TV on to check on the traffic and such. But the moment I saw the overly excited look on the news announcer chick's face I KNEW something was wrong...!

THE STRIKE!!!!!!!

Today was a first day of a city-wide transit workers' strike!!! This meant that all public transportation including busses, trains, subways would be shut down! You know what ELSE!! The BRIDGES!!!! (Since no toll workers would be there). We live on an Island... BRIDE is the only way off the island!!!! I panicked. I'm not a panicky type person, but I panicked. There was something VERY important at stake right now... MY TIME OFF!!!!!!! I knew immediately thought that this was the work of the Invisible Enemy*.

*Just to remind you, I hate New York, but so many people can't see why!? Apparently they don't notice the ugly people in subways, or that there is never parking when you need it, or that public transportation is always late, etc...etc...etc... But I SEE THROUGH it! I know that there is this evil invisible force that does everything possible to make your life miserable... as if in re-payment for you living in this "great, wonderful Big Apple, full of magic and excitement" bleeeeh, its just an oversized, smelly trash container. Anyway, I call this evil force the "Invisible Enemy".

Well after about half an hour negotiating with car service companies that were just not "allowing their people to get of the island" my father took pity and offered to drive us to the airport. And amazingly despite all the threats and warnings about the traffic and bridges being closed we got to the airport flawlessly!

At the airport checkin counter we requested "emergency row" seats (Thanks for the tip Viking!) and flew in style. Of course Kaiya was starving the whole way, even though we had a huge breakfast at my house consisting of Ikea pancakes and Lingdonberry spread.

to be continued...

Tomorrow: First night in Costa Rica, and the horrific drive to Tamarindo...

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Empezamos!

Costa Rica... ahhh... what can I say... except...

...IT IS WILD OUT THERE!!!!!!

Ok, I guess better start at the very beginning...

Monday, December 20th, 2005

My friend Kaiya arrives from Chicago at New York City. We decided to embark on the advanture precisely at the same time! (That and the fact that neither of us wanted to wait for the other at the airport, or worse... out there in Costa Rica somewhere...) A bit of background information on Kaiya, since we'll all be getting pretty tight right about now...

Kaiya and I met in high-school, I think due to mutual admiration of each other's outfits or something. She eats non stop all the time, but is THIN! (Hot and Sour soup is her absolute favorite). She is very talented in the arts and music. Some or our past escapades include trips to: California, Key West, Sardegna and countless gallivanting in NYC and Chicago.

Knowing these few brief facts, it should not surprise you that at precisely 1.45pm, as I dialed her number, wondering where the heck was she since the plane landed at 12.55...
"Where ARE you!?"
"I'm buying Hot and Sour soup around the corner" said Kaiya's calm and collected voice...
"WHAT!? You're already HERE! And you did not call me upon "touch down" as I instructed you to!?!" I hissed into the phone obviously jetlegged and over caffeinated (remember the day before I came from the Spain trip).
"Oh, well pick me up a small one.." I added remembering that I haven't had lunch yet.

After a whole bunch of hugs and exclamations we headed to Barns and Noble to make some last minute purchases for our trip... such as some books, Vogue.... oh and a ROAD MAP! (yes that would indeed be helpful.)

Later, standing on a corner trying to catch a cab, in complete darkness enduring FREEZING wind, we exchanged looks and I said:

"Kaiya, this NASTY weather just SUCKS major ass, why don't we just freakin' go somewhere HOT!? Whatever, lets just go to Costa Rica!!!"

"Good idea!!!" said Kaiya

How many times people say things like that in the desperate moments as freezing cold creeps through to the bone, but it felt great to say it knowing that the next day it would be precisely what we will do!

We're going to Costa Rica!!!!

to be continued...

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...Estoy Aqui... quiriendo te....

I'm BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and i will tell you EVERYTHING!!!!!!
...tomorrow :)

I missed you guys for real! you can ask Kaiya!! (ok, fine, i missed everyone the first week... the second week I was so relaxed and having so much fun I couldn't even remember MY NAME!!!)

.... but tomorrow.... tomorrow I talk....

KISSES!

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wild on location...

wow- you thought i was going to be away forever and ever? eh?! haha nooooo I need a little breather from all the beach and relaxing that's going on over here....

its been how many days?? don't know, cus guess what, i don't know what day it is!!! We are in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and already have had time to get really beached! I'm so black! No really, SO black!

Kaya, my friend that i'm traveling with, is here, and is commemorating EVERYTHING we do on camera. When I come back I want to write down everything that happened day by day so I don't forget and keep everything straight.

All I gotta say so far is that here in CR we wake up to the natural alarm clock of the sunrise... we know when noon hits by the hungry feeling being ready for lunch... we know when its 6pm because the sun sets, and we can tell when its 8pm because we're hungry again! I threw my watch awwwway, no need for it! what a concept!

Tamarindo is kinda "wild" by my standards, the dirt roads, the wild beach. It is HIGH season here, but still, if you walk just a bit oway, you have the entire beach to yourself! It really is much different here than anywhere else I have been!

Hot Guy report:
a. 4 sexy scandinavian boys
b. 2 sexy brasilian brothers... ohhhhhh
c. 3 sexy argentinian friends (forever attached to their surfboards)

another words... looking good from overhere...

food report:
a. Coffee!!!! cafe con leche
b. Ceviche!!!!!! I looooove, its white fish marinated in lemonlime juice.
c. other seafood
d. FRUITS!! the best, passionfruit is my love, papaya, watermelon, cantelope - it all has a very real taste- unlike the plastic fruits we eat in NY--


drink report:
a-x,y,z - IMPERIAL beer- so wonderful! smooth, refreshing... just YUMMY!

ok, time to go email my mommi and daddi.... :) and than off to watch the sunset.... hmmm heheheh

if no talk, have a great new years!
bessotos grandes!

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"Hello... I'm having an emergency..."

I'm about to reveal something to you that will make you love me forever and ever!!!

You remember my plans of going to volunteer at an orphanage in Dominican Republic? Well that broke up- the site where the building work is going on got flooded so all trips are suspended at the moment... so I looked into my second choice, which was an orphanage in Mexico... well a big group was already signed up to go there and there was no more room for other volunteers. At some point in the process my friend Kaiya suggested we try Costa Rica, and we looked into a few orphanages there but apparently there is a WAITING list to volunteer at a CR orphanage since its a popular volunteer destination! I will definitely adress this issue later and much more indepth because I learned that the whole non-profit world is one big interconnected mafia! (TRUST me I WILL go into details a bit later.) But this isn't what I'm going to tell you that you'll love me for.

Basically Kaiya and I were left with no more options so we just booked a pair of tickets to Costa Rica last weekend and decided that we're going no matter what!

What we didn't realize is that apparently the ENTIRE COUNTRY gets booked up for the end of December. Not only is that time considered the "high season" it is the HIGH SEASON OF the high season, where not only a ton of tourists show up, but all Costaricans go on vacation as well! Ooops.

Well, nothing is impossible at SP (unless the non-profit mafia is involved) so I stepped up. As the result last week I've been doing some creative work... and I bring you:

The 5 STRATEGIES TO Getting RESERVATIONS AT A BOOKED UP HOTEL

First of all lets discuss a couple of givens:
- always use polite, happy tone - smile, they want happy people staying at their hotels
- be empathetically- "Yes of course I understand you hotel is completely booked, right, I imagined as much..."
- and don't take NO for an answer!

OK, here we go:
"The Confused Act" - just act really confused, your tone will throw them of and make them pay attention.

"The Repeat" - Ask for availability naming each date individually. After you're done with the cycle, REPEAT. Ex: "Do you have December 27 available?" -No- "December 28th?" "December 29th?" "December 30th?" ... "Ok, yes I understand, what about December 27th?" etc.

"The Call Back" - If the confused act and repeat didn't get you anywhere, hang up, and call back in about 20 minutes. Lead in with a story how you just booked a different place for some of the dates and have new dates you want to check with them. Than proceed: "The dates I now need are: December 27th, 28th and 29th"

The good old "Bait and Switch" - This one is good because it gets the owner to start saying "yes".
Ex: "Good morning, I'd like to book a room in December..."
"Yes, Ok, what dates do you need?"
"I need 27 through 30th"
"Oh, sorry ALL booked"
"Ok, well which dates you do have?"
"Lets see we have 21, 22, and 25 ONLY"
"OK, I'll TAKE IT!"

Feel free to call back in 20 minutes and say: "Oh, I need to change my reservation... There was a full week available somewhere else, so I'd like to change the reservation to Dec 27th, 28th and 29th"

The "Add on" -
You might have caught that I left out Dec 30th when booking earlier... that's because we can always perform the "add on". Book your reservation, if you still have a few days before or after the booking, feel free to wait 20 minutes and call back. Say you called everyone and you just need the one more day.

Now mind you, its possible that these worked because they all are boutique hotels and when you call you're usually talking to the owner or at least someone related. Not sure if these will have the same effect on large hotels...

I will tell you this. All hotels always keep an "emergency" room available. Even through the high seasons. I'm not exactly sure why they do it... but there is always at least ONE room kept open, its just a matter of being that person who will be awarded the "emergency" room.

OH, and there is always the sixths strategy for booking hotels during the high season... YOU CALL IN ADVANCE!!!

So, yeah, how was your Thanksgiving? :)

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