Monday, March 30, 2009

Yesterday we went to the beach with our friends up the hill. The surf was not great due to strong on-shore winds, but we still had fun paddling around. On the way home, one of the locals was walking and asked us for a ride due to a major gash in his back from being banged against the reef yesterday morning surfing. Since Dr. Tom was in the car with us, we took him up to the B&B to have a look. Indeed he needed stitches, and someone had already tried stitching him up, but two of the four stitches had come out. Cos and I left before Dr. Tom went to work on the patient, since they were waiting for the appropriate instruments to perform the surgery on the picnic table on the patio.
This morning I woke up before the sun and had the pleasure of listening to the beautiful sounds of nature – the monkeys, the birds, the roosters crowing – and then I realized that the reason I could hear everything so well was that the power had gone out and therefore all the fans were off inside and I had full access to the outside early morning sounds.
Cosmo and I went out on the front porch to watch the sun come up through the forest next to the house and to watch the birds come alive with the first light of day. I made coffee and Cos jumped up into my lap so that we could snuggle while I sipped my delicious Costa Rican fresh brew. Oh how we love our mornings. Cos tells me that it’s a new beginning, each day a new opportunity to try again, to do your best. Happy Birthday to my dear ol’ Mom! Once again I am away for your birthday celebration, but we’ll be thinking about you today and wishing you beautiful energy on this very special day.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fun in the Sun and Waves

Yesterday was one of the funnest days surfing so far! I got the beach early to try and beat the on-shore winds, but they beat me. As I was strapping on my leash to my ankle, I noticed that the tip of my board had been bashed in. Que Lastima!! I had loaned it to my friend who allows me to store my board at his store which is on the way to Avellana, but all is well because I had SolarRes for a previous ding when I somehow lost my fin. So I spent the morning repairing the entire tip of my board and I now feel that I could and should be a certified ‘ding repair’ shop! Perhaps that what I'll do if I don't find work in my field when I go back; Jen's Traveling Ding Repair'. After grabbing a delicious bite to eat at a friend’s friend’s house and letting the fresh fish which was caught that morning, rice, beans, and fried plantains digest, I was ready to hit the waves on my newly repaired board, along with everyone else who’d been waiting for the winds to shift. Yippee! I rode more waves yesterday than ever before. Then we went to watch the Costa Rica vs. Mexico game at a local bar/restaurant. I learned yesterday that Mexico is Costa Rica’s biggest rival, which was very exciting, but Mexico won. Que Lastima!!! But all is well because I'm living in Paradise and loving each day. I hope you all are having a wonderful day in your own little paradise! Pura Vida.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

This morning I woke up with a super swollen eye. I wasn’t sure if it was from drinking too much wine last night at Casa Papaya in honor of Jody’s birthday party, sympathy swelling for Cosmo’s infected eye, or if the poison from the insect bite/sting that I got riding my bike to Playa Avellanas yesterday had moved all the way around my eye. Based on the few bites that have surfaced on the right side of my eye today, it was indeed the insect sting/bite. We’ll see how yoga goes with a swollen eye today. Our guest of honor from last night will be teaching our yoga class today, as Gabby is attending a retreat in San Jose and driving back this morning. Can’t wait for yet another accent narrating our yoga practice – this one from North Carolina. Jody and Anja have been celebrating Jody’s birthday here in Playa Negra since last Thursday. Turns out, they celebrate each other’s birthdays each year with a cool trip! Thursday evening we all walked down to the beach together for the sunset and they told me the greatest story about being on Oprah. Apparently, two years ago for Jody’s birthday, Anja was trying to arrange a trip to attend the Oprah show. She was on the website looking around for tickets and other info. and left an opinion re: an upcoming show, when the co-producer called her to see if she could fly out the next day and appear on the show in two days! Anja said yes and arranged for Jody to come along (of course), so they were flown out, wined and dined, put up in a beautiful hotel, appeared on the Oprah show with her opinion about choosing to be single still at 40-something, and then flown home! They are sisters, are so pleasant and fun to be around, it was truly a pleasure to have met them.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Wild Life Talk around the Casita

Gecko talk around the casita: “I heard that she’s really friendly. She didn’t even kill the giant Jumping Spider cruising around in here last night! C’mon in guys, it’s safe. I’ve been hanging out around this shower all morning with her in and out and all she wants to do is take photos and talk. I think she’s loca or she’s really bored or something.” In fact, I think I’m more entertained just watching and listening to her talk to all of us while we just sit here. That stupid flash is about to blind me though. Little ants to each other: “Check it out guys, a gigantic piece of cookie on the bathroom floor! Food party!!!” Big ants to each other: “Check it out guys, a little ant feast! I get the ones covering this half of the cookie, you guys can have the rest.” Little ants: “party’s over guys – the cookie ……whoa, and half of us were just swept into the garbage. Hey, wait, where did the other half go? Run! Big ants!” Bee trying to go into old nail holes in the wooden slats on the house: “I could have sworn that this was my hive. What the h#$l is going on? This must be it - I’ll just try again. Guys, is anyone in there? Can you please help me out here? Bee to the butterfly and other type of bee on the slats: Hey, have you guys seen my hive? I could have sworn it was right here, but come to think of it, I don’t remember you guys…and I certainly don’t remember this dog! Ah, here is my hive – holy sh!t, that’s the wasp’s – sorry about that, I’ll just be on my way.” Buzz. Notes from the Iguanas around the farm: Would you please get rid of that damn dog? How do you think we became so big? Yup, that’s right, because we eat out of the compost pile every night. By the way, did you put that papaya in there cause that was nice! Oh yeah, about the dog. You know, that other little white dog doesn’t bother us, this one………..can you please explain to him that he’ll never ever catch us because we climb trees. Ok thanks. And do feel free to keep putting papaya in the compost trench.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Yoga in Costa Rica

Today I’m sore from my Hatha yoga class this morning with Gabriella. Yoga in Playa Negra is much different than our yoga classes in Dominical, where classes were tailored toward the new comer, and therefore more mellow. Actually, there is nothing mellow about Gabriella’s class. She had us doing full bridge pose, head stands, shoulder stands, crab pose, and lots of other inverted poses and twists combined for far too many breaths (in my mind anyway). On the upside though, I take about a 10-minute walk along a path through the farm, walk up a small hill, and I’m there. Did I mention how incredibly stoked I am about being able to walk to yoga rather than drive to get there, as I did in the States? Don’t get me wrong though, I do so miss my studio back at home, including the incredibly knowledgable teachers, and I have a completely new appreciation for oh so many aspects of it. In Dominical, we were able to really practice ‘focusing during practice’ with heavy construction (including sawing metal, heavy pounding, and things slamming to the ground from other stories) going on a mere 10-feet beyond the open air studio. You have to ignore other sounds such as barking dogs everywhere, and cars and trucks zooming by the entire hour and a half, which soon felt completely normal. Thursday night Yin yoga with Julie in Dominical was my favorite because most of the construction sounds had quieted down once the sun set, however last Thursday evening, the power went out only about 25 minutes into our practice. We got to practice for about 20 minutes in the dark until a lighter was located to light the small candles in the room, in order to finish out the rest of the practice by candle light. The candles gave such a great feel, that when I bumped into Julie the following day, she indicated that they had decided to light candles for every Thursday evening class from now on! I gave my full support, as it always seemed a waste to me that there were sweet little tea candles placed nicely along the mirror, but were never lit. Anyway, Thursday evening Yin yoga at Bamboo Yoga studio should be a great experience. Another thing I like about yoga in Costa Rica is that there are so many cool accents - I'm not at all used to that, and I love it so much!!! Julie had more of a British accent, Sofia had more of an Australian accent (i think), and Grabriella is from Venezuela, so I get to hear her beautiful teachings with a beautiful spanish accent. Sigh, I so love the variety in life! Today, during Gabriella’s class, it was very windy and my mat kept hitting me in the head every time a gust of wind came through the studio. There was an abundance of wind gusts today, as there have been since I arrived last Friday. I suppose every practice has it’s challenges and that is what helps to make life interesting and fun. I hope you all are having a fun and interesting practice throughout all of your daily activities today!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Casa La Paz

Last Friday I moved up the coast a good long distance to the Guanacaste area. Similar to last March, I again find myself living in a beautiful little casita with things that I don’t need, such as granite countertops, oversized shower heads, light dimmers, Cuisinart appliances, and night lights furnished throughout. I probably most appreciate the patio space, where I like to hang out every morning and night before and after sleeping. At night, I can hear only the howler monkeys through the wind, and in the morning I hear the wind chimes and the happy birds that surround my space while I eat my breakfast and sip my cafĂ© con leche. At home, I hang out on my deck in the summertime as often as possible, but I’m always having to look at and be looked at by neighbors in almost all directions. Although I do love my neighbors a ton, it sure is nice to stare out at wild life instead for a while. I have a fairly lengthy walk to the surf beaches from here. Although it was presented as a 10-minute walk, it’s actually a good 25 minutes instead. On the upside though, I seem to be staying in good shape with yoga, surf, and walking everywhere. Oh, and I’ve rented a bike for the month, which helps with trips to and from the very few local establishments and to the beach. Once the water warms up to beyond ice cold (due to the currents passing through), I’ll be trying the bike ride to the beach with my 7-foot board in hand and trusty little Cos running by my side. I’ll let you know how that all goes – it’s a shame that I can’t take video of my goofy self at times like these!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Dominical Surf Photos

First off, I am VERY hesitant to post these photos, but because I often receive emails from friends asking me “Where are the pictures of you surfing? You need to post some.” I have decided to do just that. Know that the reason I have not done so before now, and only do so by request is that I simply do not feel that I know how to surf yet (and have never had a photographer with a high powered lens taking photos, but my house mate just happened to be shooting my fellow house mate that morning and took some of me as well!). You see, when I first started, my friends told me that it will take ‘a good year’ of surfing before you can really surf. I’m going on my fifth month, therefore I’m less than half way there. Some days I feel like I’m improving, and some days I feel like a COMPLETE beginner! The other day I was having a bad day of surf near the river mouth in Playa Avellana in serious winds, not catching anything, but instead being pushed by the wind out further and further because it was and off shore wind, every time I paddled to stay on the inside, I was sprayed in the face as if I were nailed to the bow of a boat in super choppy water face first. My board, just like the bow of a boat would slap against every single choppy wave and spray me in the face non-stop. Anyway, I found myself a good distance away from the other surfers and there was much sea-life activity that morning. As I was watching different fish boils, and had noticed several large fish riding a wave as I’d paddled out, I saw something large and brown surfacing just beyond me and my board. This motivated me to paddle into the wind, and spray and get back to the other surfers, but even as a got closer to the other surfers it continued to surface. I asked one of my local friends I was surfing with that day if he’d seen it and he informed me that it was a sea turtle. Just as he said it, it raised it’s turtle head out of the water and he was so amazingly cute!!!! He continued to bob around me and at one point he was not more than four feet away from me. What an incredible day to be in the water that day! In Dominical, I saw a huge Sting Ray (is that a Manta ray?) fly out of the water while I was surfing one day. He had about a three foot wing span and was so beautiful. OK, here you go, I gotta go practice my surf !!! Life is so beautiful and full of wonderful little surprises! Pura vida to all.