Yesterday was definitely interesting and fun. Our host family cousin, Antony, offered to take us to the beach. After waiting for at least an hour at the school, where it was cloudy and spitting rain occassionally, I did begin to think he may not come. I understand Tico time is usually later than planned on, but when he did show up he let me know that he had overslept (he works taxis at night, so understandable). Anne and I climbed into the taxi, after Pedro, our driver, opened my door from inside since the door handle was broken off on the outside. We drove first to our house to drop off our stuff and pick up the surf board for Antony. On our way Antony saw his friend, Edwin, who he convinced to join us. The surf board didn't really fit and so we propped it up through the back windows and I just prayed that no cars hit the board as we drove. The guys then stopped to get rope to tie the board on top, which worked part of the way, but then started to come off. Another stop was made at the store to buy the national drink and we continued on our way to Pirates Beach (took me awhile to figure out what the name of the beach was since the pronunciation at first was peer-raw-tays).
Pirates Beach was very nice - with some bick rock islands out in the water. Most of the people there were Ticos and it was definitely a more remote beach that can only be found by winding your way through some very dusty and bumpy dirt roads (as are most of the roads here). The waves were too small to surf and the air was not all that warm, so we sat on the beach talking.
Pedro was definitely the smooth talker first saying he wanted a girl from the United States but then changed it to Holland as he continued for the rest of the night to tease Anne mercilessly. "Anne, I love you, Anne you are my princess, Anne I will move to Holland for you...". This was all being poorly translated between Spanish and English. They spoke what English they knew, we spoke what Spanish we knew and of course pulled out the dictionaries constantly. I did find a great application for my iTouch that has a Spanish/English roladex type of dictionary, so I used that frequently. Poor Anne was annoyed by the end of the evening since he was laying it on so thick. I was very glad that I was older than most of them and said that I had somewhat of a boyfriend back at home (okay...so a little stretching of the truth done to avoid getting harrassed).
I discovered that Edwin was from Nicaragua, and like many, had moved here to work. When he discovered I was a Christian he beamed with delight and we talked some about the Bible. He told me he liked to study the Bible but needs a bigger one. In Nicaragua he attended an Assemblies of God church and then goes to one here in Tamarindo. I shared a little bit about my experience on Sunday - it's always good to meet another believer and be able to encourage each other just with the knowledge of our existence.
The sunset on the beach was amazingly beautiful. The clouds were perfect and at one point they funneled the sun rays just right to appear as if the heaven were opening up to show the glory of God. I tried capturing they beauty on my camera, but I am afraid when I get home to put it on my computer it will look very grainy.
Anne had had just about enough of Pedro's harrassment so we were relieved when Edwin had to return to work (they all three are taxi drivers). We drove back down the dusty road, with the surf board creating a divide between Anne, Antony, and I and the other two, which made it hard to talk. So, I pulled out my iTouch and Anne and I shouted out lyrics along with Abba. I played a few other songs to see what the guys in the car recognized. We stopped at a very fully gas station to fill up the car so we also took the opportunity to take pictures in the car and with our new friends.
After we arrived back home safely (which I think is always something of a feat on Costa Rican roads), we had dinner - pile of rice with platinos. Then, when I tried to take a shower, no water. Hmmm....so I waited a bit and Antony came in and invited us to the pool next door with his friend Jerry. We didn't know there was a pool next door because the cabins are private and behind a nice wooden fence. Actually, the cabins are very pretty - colorful with Spanish adobe type architecture. We saw the pool was small and not heated, so we just looked. Jerry and Antony decided to walk to the store for some more Costa Rican drink so we joined them and to look around the supermarket. I like to look at the grocery stores and see what products are simlar and different - gives you a little insight to the culture. I also like to see what kinds of desserts and bread they have - two of my favorite things.
Just after we left the house, Anne walked past something that made her look twice - a scorpion. I think a very common sight here; our teacher Greiven had just shown us one in a matchbox earlier in class that day. We stopped and I took some pictures (I've seen them before in the states, but for whatever reason, I like to take pictures of these things). I lost sight of it, since it was dark and then thought maybe it was dead until Antony touch it with the bottle and it started to scurry away; at which point Anne and I promptly shrieked. After my pictures, I then instructed Antony to kill it, which he tried with the glass bottle in his hand.
At the store we ran into another schoolmate who was just sitting outside talking with a Tico. We looked around, Anne bought some chocolate which she shared, Jerry bought stuff to make chips and salsa. We walked back to his cabin, which was nice but very small. He fixed us snacks, we listened to some music on his computer, and I teased him some about the stuffed dog he had. Jerry works in the hotel here and both Anne and I discovered he is a total sweetheart of a guy. So polite and kind - as are many of the people here.
It really wasn't all that late, but we were both tired so walked back next door to get ready for bed. Luckily the water was on again, so I got my shower finally and went to sleep, somewhat hesitantly thinking of the scorpions and tarantulas that lurked around.
This morning I spent time looking up information on Arenal and Monteverde because Anne and Silke may join me but we have to keep it as inexpensive as possible. So time to go visit the travel places in the town and then maybe stop and see Stacy, the pastor's wife here in Tamarindo.
Adios!
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