Costa Rica

Here is my long over due Costa Rica post :

I went to Costa Rica a fews back. I went with B, a coworker, and No- we did not sleep together like everyone and their mother thought we were going to.
Honestly the idea did not really come up - is that strange? I think my subconscious knew that if I obsessed and fretted about all the possible romantic situations, I would not have been able to really enjoy my vacation so I put it out of my mind and just indulged in everything else.

We were only gone Friday to Wednesday but it felt like weeks longer. We would get up at 9 in the morning every day which made the days seem endless. Endless but not tiring. It was so nice to just get away from everything - to get away from work, and the city, and my friends ( no offense), and to turn off my brain and enjoy things using my senses as opposed to my head.

Our first day we took a 4 hour luxury car ride from the capital, San Jose, to a small town called Arenal. Arenal is centered around the most active volcano in Costa Rico (one of the most active volcanoes in the world). We had a hotel on the foot of the volcano with floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the flowing magma at night.
In the evening we decided to take a hike up the base of the volcano and as we crawled up the charred rocks it started to rain. Now rain in Costa Rica is unlike anything you've ever seen because it rains forever, sheets and sheets of water. I had told B that he was a pussy for putting on his poncho so he took it off before it started pouring and was a little disgruntled because we ended up having to walk miles in clothes that were absolutely soaked and soggy.

This was immediately followed by Hot Springs. It was dark by then so we sat in the pool- water heated upwards of 50-70 degrees depending on which one you sat in- drinking tropical drinks while the rain kept on a-falling. This was probably the first moment when I truly felt that "vacation" feeling. Like whoa- I am not Kansas anymore! I am not in NY-fucking - City anymore! Hip-hip hooray!!

Next day we took a 5 hour long horse back riding trip from Arenal to Monteverde. Now this was my first time on a horse so...The website had advertised that it was "ok" for beginners and that the experienced travel guides would be there to help. The experienced travel guides turned out to be 2 twelve year old boys who couldn't speak a word of English and "ok" turned out to be a ridiculously grueling uphill journey into the mountains of Costa Rica, trotting down narrow paths above miles and miles of cliffs and jagged rocks. Did I mention that it rained the whole time? Like hard rain? Like your poncho and water boots no longer really serve their original purpose of protecting you because I've been on this goddamn horse for 5 hours type of thing. Like my ass hurt for days afterwards. Did I mention that this was fucking awesome?!!

As a present to ourselves we then spent the evening smoking Cuban cigars, drinking wine, and bonding over the trials and tribulations of our past relationships :)

I really pressured B into coming zip lining. I thought it would be really cool. My impression of zip lining was Tree A about 100 meters away from Tree B, with a steel rode in middle that you swing back and forth from, like back in the days of summer camp. Apparently what ziplining really means is flying OVER the rain forest of Monteverde on 9 cable systems, the longest 770 meters long (2,525 feet), and 130 meters high (426 feet) with a total stretch of 1.9 miles of cables about 3,000 ft through primary forest.

"But Wendy", you may ask. "Aren't you deathly afraid of heights." To which I may reply, "You bet your fucking ass I am."
I only seemed to figure out this part as I got to the top of this huge suspension bridge and they told me "let go". So hyperventilation ensues... but I did it!! so that was fucking awesome. Oh. and It rained.

Last day ended up in a small surfer beach town of Jaco. We wanted a relaxing day so we took a long walk on the beach. We walked mainly in silence, which I enjoyed, because I realized I could actually walk in silence with this person and not feel the urge to constantly talk so as to fill up any potential awkward pauses. Looking back it was a very romantic walk with the waves crashing onto the beach and the huge rocks off of the coast... And the rain. Always the rain. But nice rain. Almost like a lets ravish each other on this beautiful beach kind of rain. Almost. But not quite.

Another attraction was going to a bar in Jaco that ended up being a prostitute hole where B attempted to find us some sweet unsuspecting Costa Rican hooker to have an orgy with. He used his amazing sales skills and his broken Spanish to get it down to $50. Nice job - right?


SO yeah- All in all a great trip. But that was 3 weeks ago and now I am stressed again and am in desperate need of another vacation. Any ideas??

Oh and I am at work right now. 7 pm on a Saturday night. Again.