Hi everyone, and happy Christmas, Hannukah or whatever other celebrations you may be involved in!
As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t posted in a long time – again. I didn’t post for a while before I came home from Costa Rica, and since then it’s been Christmas central around here so I’m only just now sitting down with my computer to give you all the love and attention you deserve :P
This is how it feels to be Home For Christmas.
Filed under Scotland
Do you see how easy it was to suddenly bring my ‘Last Month Of My Life’ posts back into the realms of accurate titling? While I was happily parenthesising away and turning even my headlines into the grammatical equivalent of Ulysses – where else have you ever seen a title which contains a dash and TWO sets of brackets? – it turns out I could have just chucked an ‘s’ on at the end of ‘month’ and called it a day. Hindsight’s a bitch, as they say.
Shall I continue chatting about the syntax tree of today’s title, or would you rather I just got on wi- ok, ok! No need to shout, I’m getting to it!
Jeez. Continue reading
Filed under Costa Rica
Hello one and all.
I left you in the lurch a little too long with the camera thing, didn’t I? So long you’ve probably forgotten what that nagging feeling in the back of your mind is all about and why your shoulders are so tense. Well, don’t you worry, I’ll put it all to rest today: so grab a cup of tea, read on, and later you can go get yourself a massage or something. Continue reading
Filed under Costa Rica
Note: I wrote some, not all, of this while I was actually in Nicaragua, which is why there may be some discrepancies. Just roll with it – it’ll be okay.
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I’m sick of hearing myself say how fast the time goes.
So instead of mentioning it outright, I hid it away in a secondary clause where it was less offensive. You’re welcome.
So it’s the 19th of November, and my fourth-last weekend in Central America is off to a fantastic start with gorgeous weather and an even more gorgeous hostel. It’s called Bigfoot, it’s like Galileo only better, and right now Purple Rain is wafting through from the Pure Earth vegetarian café to the poolside seating – where I’m currently melting into a little pool of my own.
The Pure Earth Café is a 100% non-profit vegetarian café run by Bigfoot hostel.
Filed under Costa Rica
I now have only four weekends left here in Costa Rica. Can you believe it? That wasn’t so long, was it?
I’m measuring in weekends because they’re pretty much my only chance to take advantage of being in Costa Rica. Don’t get me wrong – San Ramón is a lovely town, my coworkers are wonderful, and I enjoy my job and feel like it matters. However, while my daily life is nice here, it’s still daily life, and my weekends are when I can properly get out into the green of Costa Rica and feel like I’m really here.
Filed under Costa Rica
So I left off last time with a picture of a monkey, our arrival in Tamarindo and the subtle suggestion that there may be trouble ahead. I do spin a good yarn, don’t I? Well, dear readers, all will now be revealed. First of all, two conclusions we quickly drew about the Pacific town of Tamarindo.
Conclusion #1: surfing is all anyone cares about in this town. By extension, there are surf-brand clothes shops and beach restaurants and juice bars where you’ll often see white-nosed, shirtless patrons enjoying an ice-cold beverage between waves; but more or less, everyone is just surfing, all the time. Continue reading
Filed under Costa Rica
It’s true – during my last couple of years of high school, this was what they called me.
My group of friends was something of an offshoot from the main clamour of students. Most of us were not part of the ‘elite’ classes you always find in secondary education; nor, I like to believe, were we looked upon as nerds or outcasts (for the most part). For the lack of a more universally-accurate description of us, we were generally known simply as ‘The Jugglers’. I think I started going to Duncan’s Juggling Club in my fourth year, and I learned a few new skills, made a few new friends, and achieved my original goal of operating in the same circles as the boy I liked, back in the day.
Give me three hacky sacks, apples, clubs even; and I’d be able to knock your socks off with 3-ball cascades, inverse tosses, showers or even the occasional flash. But throw a projectile my way with as much warning as you please, and I would miss it every time. It’s not difficult to see why they called me the juggler who couldn’t catch. Continue reading
Filed under Costa Rica
It wasn’t long after I arrived here that we made our first little trip. Destination: Zarcero. Or, more precisely, Bernardita’s parents’ farm a little past Zarcero. The climate there is like that of Monteverde: green, chilly, draped in fog. When the mists cleared – rarely for longer than 20 minutes or so – the mountainous landscape was impressive to behold, and it felt very natural, fresh and rural.
It was a farm, after all.
Mum's favourite little critters!
Filed under Costa Rica
How many months does it take to turn a tourist into a tica?
That’s not really a fair question, and of course I know I’ll never be Costa Rican. However, I’ve been here in San Ramón, with a job and a (host) family and a purpose, for two months now; and I’m feeling pretty settled in.
The sunset from my window that first night
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Episode Forty, huh? Well, well, well. Celebrations would be in order, only I don’t really have anything to celebrate with.
How about you all celebrate by leaving me a warm and friendly message to tell me you stopped by? That would really make my day.
Remember when I said that I was writing from the clouds of Monteverde and you should stay tuned for news on our adventures there? Well, that’s what I have in store for you today. Just when the heat of La Fortuna was getting to be oppressive and a little too much to bear, we high-tailed it out of there and hopped on a minibus to the cloud forest. Ahhhhhhh, refreshingísimo. Continue reading
Filed under Costa Rica
Roamward Bound 