Bocas del Toro

I have three Spanish friends now, residents in pediatrics, who I met at the hospital. They are really nice and have been wonderful to work with. Also, I think their Spanish is easier to understand than Costa Rican Spanish. Which disputes the theory that it is only that I'm not used to the accent. I think its the mumbling and the mountains of slang. I printed out like 10 pages of words that are specific to Costa Rica. I know a lot of them already, because every other word from my friends at the climbing gym is mae (dude).
This is them, Nuria, Sylvia and Constanza. Here we are in the bus on the way to Bocas del Toro, some beautiful islands of the coast of Panama. We got to the station too late and had to sit on the floor for the entire 4.5 hour trip along with 14 others. It was jam packed sardine time. Very hot, very uncomfortable. And unfortunately, there is no floor discount.

What a cute little ramshackle house in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We stayed here overnight on the way to Bocas del Toro. The Caribbean coast is beautiful and it rains MUCH less here in October than in does in San Jose, where it has been raining nonstop. It used to be that you could plan around the rain, but not so much these days.

This chubby cutie held up his arms for us to hold him, so his mom let us pass him around. Aw.







I have never seen dolphins in the wild and I have to admit, I was definitely touristily gleeful. They are so playful; they were jumping and playing in the wake behind our boat. I didn't get a pic of them jumping, its so hard to time it right! But, you get the idea.

Snorkeling in the amazing reefs of the coast of Panama. So many fluorescent fish! I think my favorite are the black ones with glowing blue polka dots. Or the Nemo fish, of course. The jellyfish and the swordfish are too shallow for comfort; I was a little scared of them. We got a perfect, wonderful sunny day and didn't regret it even with the sunburns after. Sigh.

And you, too, could own your own island in Panama. Have your own private quiet beach with water taxis to take you where you want to go. You, too, could have Kayla at your disposal. SHE is is the assistant to the First Lady of Panama, and we have her card and were invited to call her with any needs we might have. She said we should stay and practice medicine right there in paradise. We thought maybe she should use her power to change the very rowdy fiesta at our hostel to another night, as we were too tired to listen to bad music and dance with hot French surfers. All of this for only $225,000. Really, tempting. I'm telling you. If only I had that much money in the positive instead of in the negative (loans). Kayla, can you help me with that one?

Another view of island paradise. I didn't even think I was that beachy of a person. I think if I take up surfing, I could live on a beachy paradise forever. I'm too sporty to live somewhere without a sport, though. Too much relaxation. Need exercise. Although I did get to do some yoga on the beach and run around the island we stayed on.

A cute hut, unfor- tunately above our price range. I guess I didn't take a picture of the lovely Aqua Lounge where we stayed. It had a water trampoline, hammocks and dominos. About all I would have wanted was them to stop blasting loud bad American pop, especially at 7AM. I also didn't take a picture of the beach from Survivor that we went to. Beautiful, white sand beaches and some red poison froggies. We ran into Ella Baila Sola, an Israeli chick we nicknamed on the bus because she and her sidekick were belting out music for half the trip. She was chain smoking to keep up her sultry tone. We really should have gone to see the show . . . But we still had a great trip.

Playa Dominical

Holy crazy bug! Its a flying rhinoceros. I can't believe I actually held it in my hand. It grabs onto you with its little suction cup feet, so I was more scared when I couldn't get it off of me than I was holding it. This is at Playa Dominical, where we went after we got rained out bouldering. It is a gorgeous beach that is a little off the beaten track, so it less touristy than some of the other beaches.

Some really cool folk we met in Playa Dominical, these are some ex pro snow- boarders from Whistler area who are living here now and raising their babe.

Eduardo, me and David at the hostel in Playa Dominical.








This is the cut little wimpy car that I talked about a few entries back. I have to admit, I never really thought power mattered at all to me. Have a little economical car, save the planet. But, seriously. What a pain in the butt to go so slow and have no power. Never. Unless I live in Iowa.

Me with a stick at Playa Dominical. Not really the best of pictures, but I didn't take any other ones. Somehow, however, I did manage to get sand in the shutter so its stuck open. Even though I left my camera at home when we were swimming and such. Argh.

Cerro de la Muerte

Supuesta- mente, this is a very good place to do some bouldering. Here is the warm up boulder, which doesn't really give you a very good flavor for the place. I rented a car for the adventure, so that we could get up there with all the crash pads, etc.
It was a cute little Peugeot, which has absolutely no power. I basically couldn't pass unless I was in second gear and going downhill. And flooring it. I think everyone thought that I was a slow driver even though I kept telling them it was the car, until we turned off onto a semi-steep dirt road and the car stopped going when I was in first gear. Everyone had to get out and push while I floored it and it smelled like some burning rubber. Oh, well, that's what they get for renting me a car with a puny motor.
So, we arrived and started climbing at maybe 9AM. And it started pouring at 10. Got to love the rainy season in Costa Rica. Hopefully get to go back and try again.

Leaf Cutter Ants

These little prodigious hormigas carry leaves for far distances, like miles and miles in ant extra- polation. Supposedly, they cover the leaves with their saliva while they're going and this allows the leaf to ferment and become food for the tribe. I don't know how accurate that source is. Also, I tried moonshine with a tomato chaser. It was disgusting, but at least I'm not blind yet.

Bouldering Comp

I won (for women) in a Costa Rican climbing comp! Which isn't really saying much because women don't really climb in Costa Rica. There are a few and now I know them both. Women here are, however, very good at walking in high heels, a sport I will never master. i don't know if you can even tell in the pic, but this guy has rubber shards for back hair, which I found amusing. There are quite a few men here that are really really impressive rock climbers, though. They're really fun to climb with. This weekend, we're going to Cerro de la Muerte, a bouldering area up in the mountains that is in a cloud forest. I rented a car today, and had a CRAZY time driving home during rush hour. I've never driven on round-abouts, especially not with people seriously 6 inches from me trying to merge into the side of me if I don't let them in and people behind me honking so I won't let anyone in. But, I made it in my cute little rental Peugeot (only $10/day)! Most other things, though, are really not so different in price from the US. No one ever said Costa Rica was cheap.

The Almost Robbery

I almost got robbed! How's this for an epic:
I felt my backback slightly lighter, whirled around and saw that some muchacho had my camera in his hands. I whacked him in the arm as he tried to pass it off to his partner in crime. My camera flew about 5 feet away and I got it back without losing anything.
It was quite exciting, really, for a few reasons. First, I didn't actually lose anything. Granted, I wasn't being as careful as I should have been because my camera shouldn't have been there in the first place. Secondly, because you never really know how you're going to react when something like that happens and I reacted really well. So, that's kind of nice to know. Thirdly, I am proud of myself because I reacted in Spanish!

TLC

All the No's for the TLC (the free trade agreement with the US) gathered last Sunday to demonstrate. I guess I agree with those who say that Costa Rica will probably get screwed either way. Because at this point, they are the only country that hasn't agreed. So, clearly the manipulative US will just trade with everyone else and leave poor little Costa Rica high and dry (well, it will probably still be wet here) until they agree to be manipulated, too.

ATM Lines

One thing that confuses me is how there is ALWAYS lines for all the ATMs. Its not as if there are a dearth of ATMs, either. They are really all over, but no matter what time or where you are, you can expect a line. This picture doesn't really capture the essence of the issue. But allow me to explain: there is a line of about 50 people and it is pouring rain. People are waiting to use an ATM in the pouring rain for at least half an hour. Do you see why I'm confused?