Dominical, Round 2

So I'm back in Dominical. We had an awesome session at the soda mary secret spot yesterday morning before we left, and topped it off with some Margarita's for breakfast. I was so sad to leave my esterillos family, and I'm still feeling the hurt today. Adam, Brett, Les, Mike, Pat, John, michele, jeni, brian, maria, suzanne - all of them, they've all been so great to me. Without shawn being there, they've really kept me company! I think that i will only be in dominical for a week or so. then suzi and pat are going to come for a visit and ill head back to esterillos with them.

we pulled into dominical and went snorkeling. my first time ever. i know, hard to believe. and dont you know it that i got attacked by a damn jellyfish. the most horrible pain that ive ever felt. i swam to the beach, peed in a bucket, and poured it over my back and arm. ha. everyone couldnt believe how bad id gotten whacked...i still have welts on my arm. that was definitely some higher force telling me that i had no business snorkeling. ha. after that surfed some head high dominical, some overhead sets. i forgot what a really heavy wave feels like. i got my ass handed to me a couple times, but all in all i had a good time. went to soda nanyoa for dinner, then rested up for this mornings surf.

surfed la punta. overhead. clean. fun, left pointbreak. i got a bomber. i also got a head full of water because it later closed out. ha.

im missing shawn.
im missing mom.
im missing esterillos.
im missing venison.
and scrapple.
and maude.

but im still having a good time here.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo pura vida.

DAD

Waiting on Dad, Paul, Jbird and Toy. Paul and Dad's plane got in around 1pm today, so I'm hoping that they are here around 330-4. Everyone at Soda Mary is SO excited to meet Dad, because I've been talking about him a ton, and I've told some pretty damn funny stories about him. So to greet him, the whole crew that I hang with is getting together and throwing a little "welcome" party. Suzanne, Jeni and I had a 'girls day' in Parrita today. Went shopping and out to lunch, and while we were in town I stopped by the butchers for chicken so that Larry can make his world famous Fried Chicken. MmMm, Dad loves fried chicken!!! Jeni is going to make deviled eggs, suzanne is making brownies, I'm going to make some hummus with veggies as well as some salsa. And the boys are bringing beer. Lots o beer. I can't wait for my Dad to meet everybody that has become my family here, and I know that they can't wait to meet him.

Tomorrow we are going to get up early and surf, then head on our way to Dominical. Tentatively the plan for me is to go with the boys to Dominical, stay for a week then Suzi and Pat will come for a visit for a few days, then I'll hop in the car with them and head back to Esterillos. Hopefully Dad and the boys will head down sometime as well, for about a week. Woohoo.

PURA VIDA.

Surf, Sushi and Waterfalls.

Had the most wonderful time at the waterfall today. The water was cold, which was fabulous and refreshing! Made a couple jumps (off the cissy level - no big jumps off the log) and had alotta laughs. This is the crew: Suzanne, Me, Adam and Ozzie

Suzanne, my partner in crime here in Costa Rica. "Crime" being guitar lessons, beaching it, and hanging out watching trash tv and drinking BIALETTI's!!

This is Pat. She is one badass chick. She's somewhere in her 50's, moved down here about 4 years ago, and has the best day of her life every.single.day. She's epic.

This is my monkey jump. Or my "AH BEES, JUMP to SAVE YOUR LIFE". Or my Mexican Wrestler jump - jumping off the strings and into the ring. Whatever it is, I look like a kook.

To Check Out More Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=209316&l=49dd2&id=653500240

Waves AND Waterfall ... BAH.

Super fun surf session out front of Low Tide in the AM followed by a huge FISH TACO feast back at the casa. Some beers for the boys and a banana leche for me, then a fun, mellow evening session out front. Surfed til the sun went down, then showered up, dressed up and got ready for Soda Mary Monday Night Live. It was nice to be clean and in some nice clothes, I've been sandy and bumming it around in beat up t's. Playing at Monday Night Live was myself, channin, JD, ricky and mike. Wooohooo, great times. The place was packed -- news has spread about our Monday evenings. There were dogs everywhere, people everywhere, beer cans everywhere, and GUACAMOLE (thanks to Jeni, MmMmMm). I will upload some pictures later.

Woke up at 5am, made coffee, then Adam, Ozzie and I went down to the "soda mary secret spot". We scored some really fun waves, just the three of us, for about 2 hours. We surfed until dead.low.tide. The walk in was interesting. Adam had on reef booties, but Oz and I weren't so lucky. And as soon as Adam said that there were NO sea urchins, we looked down and sure enough, there were THOUSANDS of them. We walked very, very, very carefully. I feel like our walk in was as long as our surf session was. Hahaha. Lucky for me though Adam was kind enough to carry my longboard. If he hadn't I would never have made it. We stopped halfway on our walk home to Margaritas for a desayuno of scrambled eggs, gallo pinto, plantains, cafe con leche and jugo de mora (blackberry juice). We waddled back, stuffed, to the house and now everyones scrambling to get ready for the WATERFALL. Pat, Suzi, Jeni, Ozzie, Adam, myself and a few of Pat's friends are all heading up. Wooohooo. I'm sure that we will take some good photos today, so I'll post those later as well.

Sorry for those of you who are in the NorthEast, getting shit on by this snowstorm. Bah. Pura Vida.

Fat and Happy.

I'm Fat and Happy. The saying is 100% spot on. You can truly measure (my) weight by how much fun I'm having. The few beers I've been drinking plus beans and tortillas have clung to my hips and my buddha belly. All of the hard work, 3 months, 6 days a week sweating and working my ass off at the gym has all gone down the drain. Bah. I'm cursed. Surfing for hours a day doesn't do anything for me except for bulking up my back and my big arms. I can't get myself to go for a run. I just refuse. It's so damn hot here, doing any kind of work out that isn't in an airconditioned room is outta the question. Pilates - HA - I tried that, twice, unsuccessfully. I need the motivation of a class, and the pressure of having people watching me to actually go thru with the pain. So, on that note, pour me another beer! I have one more month of gluttony in paradise - the gym will be waiting for me at home. So if anyone wants to know what to get me for my birthday (march 3rd), hint hint, I'll take a 3 month membership to the community center, as well as some new sneakers and a good workout outfit -- heaven knows, I'm gonna need it!!

Cheers to being FAT AND HAPPY!

"Fun is where it's at. That's why you have to be there."

trying to remember what ive done the past day and a half...

Surfed Hermosa yesterday and got some fun fun waves. I went with Mike and Pat. We had a great time, and I love love love Mike's dog Paloma. She's so cute. Someone had put her in a burlap bag and threw her in the river. Mike has her now, and it's BEYOND me why anyone would EVER do something like that to an animal - especially Paloma. She's the most sweet, submissive dog. Pat took some photos, and she said that she will email them to me this week. About an hour before sunset we headed to Backyards, a bar in Hermosa that's a pretty 'happenin' spot. We met up with the whole Soda Mary crew: adam, maria, brett, ozzy, suzi, cam and ben to see Cupacabra - a local band that is friends with the crew. They were great - a cover band that played mostly classic rock, an awesome band to dance to...And DANCE we did!! Mike (legend mike) was busting some serious moves, Ben was breaking out some dances moves that only a 6'7" goofy English guy could, and Maria and I were shaking our booties. Good times, but the night pretty much ended when Brett tried to dip me and instead took us both down - like a ton of bricks. After that Suzi, Cam, Ben, Adam, Ozzy, Maria and I decided to go dancing in Jaco. We all hate the town, but at 8pm it was the only place happening in town. We all were hungry, so we stopped for food first. Bad idea, we ate and were all ready for bed. But before we left, we stopped for ICE CREAM!!! MmmMmM. All of us were exhausted and asleep by 10:30pm. Ha. So much for a party night.

I slept with the lights off last night, and I was in my room all alone! I had to put my ipod on though because every time I heard a rustle outside I thought that it was some crazy man who was going to try to bust into my room to kill me and eat me! Bah! So - after one song on the ipod I was sound asleep. Woke up this morning and went for a surf outfront...we were having a "World Domination Longboard Competition" because Ozzy (who lives in atenas) brought his longboard this time, as well as a load of trash talk. I whooped his ass. I think he was a bit hungover though from the night before (...light-weight). Also a highlight of the contest was the new 'stache that Adam is rocking. He looks:
a) like a 70's porn star
b) white trash
c) out of an old western
All these are very different, I know, but the mustache can be interpreted many ways...
The waves out front were actually really fun. The tide was low but the waves were breaking out pretty far and breaking all the way to the beach. After that we all had some burgers at Low Tide Lounge (BAH, I know, I have no control!!), then rested up for our evening session. I rested at Suzanne's house up the street. It's airconditioned!!!!!! WOOHOOO!! AC! We watched trash tv (E News Live and VH1), drank some BIALETTI (yes, she has a bialetti espresso machine), and she baked an upside pineapple cake for this evening. Surfed Bejuco this evening, but it was just death barrels. I'm surprised no one broke their boards - though Ozzy ruptured his eardrum and Adam ripped open his toe.

Again, the second time that I have ever tried to make plans this whole trip: a big dinner party of fish tacos at the house. Never happened. It was Ozzy, Cam and I tonight, and we had pasta. Hahaha. No plans in Costa Rica. It just doesn't happen. The only thing that will happen as planned is the upside down pineapple cake...I hope. Suzi's not here yet, but I'm hoping that she doesn't let us down. That would be a real heartbreaker.

Hopefully we will have some fun surf again tomorrow. We are hoping to catch the "Soda Mary Secret Spot" this swell (monday and tuesday). Woohoo.

Pura Vida. *to check out photos from our night out last night go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206886&l=28ed4&id=653500240

www.sodamarysurfteamcostarica.blogspot.com

Hello, this is Cailin, just wanted to let you know that I taught Brett how to blog and now he's outta control and way better blogger than me, so check out his blog, become a follower. Right now I'm listenen to some George "The Man" Strait, now that's some good Texas music, pura vida!

PS: In case you not sure, Cailin did not post this blog, she left for Hermosa and she was still logged in so Brett took advantage of the opp...

Salsa and Songs

SO..woke up this morning, made some (world famous) mango salsa, had some coffee and then went for a surf. Michele and Nico left today :( I miss Michele already. So, I went to drown my sorrows in the waves. It was clean for about a half hour before the wind came up. Just surfed out front, but down in front of the LowTide Lounge so its a bit zippier. All in all surfed for over an hour. Came back to the house and was a bit hungry - and Pat and Adam were ravenous. SO, I was like HEY - how about I make my world famous fish tacos!! We had leftover fish from last night, I had salsa already made, and I just needed to whip up some guacamole, and slice come cabbage. MmMm, MmMm, MmMm were they good. Pat said that they were the best she's ever had - and Adam's big smile spoke for itself. Then Steve popped over to play some tunes. He's a bit crazy, but he's entertaining. Worked in the music industry forever, and knows EVERYONE. I'm talking EVERYONE. The most famous people in the whole world, people who created Rock and Roll -- and he was on tour with them. Interesting guy with amazing stories. Anyways - he played some tunes for us. Such a treat. I have some photos of him above. Going surfing in Hermosa now, then going to see a friends band at Backdoor in Hermosa tonight, and then jamming with Steve at Soda Mary tonight! BAH. Life is good. Pura Vida.

VEGETABLES.

Yesterday, Suzanne took Adam and I to the wonderful produce market (they have one every friday) to get some local, delicious, cheap veggies. Woohooo. I spent 1/4 of what I would have spent at the super sol down the street, AND the veggies were better - with a much bigger selection. I bought a ton of stuff - planning to make some of my world famous mango salsa. Suzanne, a vegetarian, also loaded up. Adam - adam bought sticky buns. Two trays of them. He bought one tray, and we all had one in the car. The most delicious, sinful thing that I have EVER eaten. We were all moaning and groaning. Adam quickly hopped out of the car and ran back to the amish ladie's stand and bought an additional tray of them. Ha. Here we are enjoying our delicious sticky buns!!!!

SHAWN - WE MISS YOU!!

I've been missing Shawn, but it's not just me - so does the Soda Mary Crew. The first avocado of the season is ripe, and we are dedicating it to you.

Shawn sent me a very sweet song via email, and the lyrics made me cry a bit - joy and sadness. All that sappy stuff. So I washed that down with some of Big Ben's Curry, and what a night it was. So delicious. MmMm. And after going to the veggie market in Jaco today, I'll be eating great all week.





Don't worry Shawn -I'll be home before ya know it, and Jersey will be starting to warm up any day now (well, maybe...).

Growing Up

I've been surfing for a long time. I have done competitions all over, and traveled all over - surfing amazing waves, and surfing them well. BUT - I've always been terrified of the water. Well, as of last year (some humbling waves in Dominical) I now have a respect for the ocean as oppossed to a fear...kindof. Anyways, for the first time in my WHOLE life I paddled out by myself. And I surfed solo for a half hour. For a few minutes I was a bit spooked, but then I warmed up to the peace of surfing all alone in the big, blue ocean.

I'm starting to grow up...I think.

“There is nothing wrong with being afraid---but there is nothing more wrong than allowing that to be your master.”

Sleeping Sound with the Lights OFF.

I slept with the lights OFF last night!! Yay. This was (partly) because I have a new roommate. Her name is Amber. She is a hiker from Montana. She is also on my Costa time...waking up around 5am and going to bed rather early, so it's a match made in heaven. We are going to take her surfing with us today. Teach her some moves!

Woke up at 8am today, though. The latest that I have slept, ever, in Costa Rica. I woke up at 3, then 4, and then was awake from 5 til 6 - begging the sleep gods to just let me have a bit more shut eye. Today is going to be HOT. I'm talking HOT. So I knew that taking a nap in the afternoon was out of the question, unless I planned to sweat to death. And the tide isn't til later today, so early A.M. surfing is out. Thankfully I fell back to sleep around 6 and got another two hours. Thank you thank you thank you. When I woke up, Cam was just coming back from the new Soda in town. Well, it was there before and no it is reopened. And it is CHEAP, so it is obviously my new favorite restaurant. Cam and I are going to get lunch there today. She is having some fresh fish some in - and a fish casado (rice, beans, salad and meat typically) is 1800 colones...thats 3 bucks - AND it includes juice, fresh Pineapple juice. MmMmM. Hooray for cheap soda's!

Shawn (my boyfriend) is going out on a date today with Doreen (my mom). Lunch and a movie. I'm glad that the two of them are keeping eachother company because I know that they both miss me terribly (they DO! I know, it's crazy...).

Finished FRANNY & ZOOEY today. I will blog about that later. It needs some love and affection considering the post.

JUST got off the phone with my friend Suzanne. She's so great, and I'm so glad to be her friend. She is going into Jaco today around noon for their veggie market - and then she has to run some errands, so she invited me along! Hooray! I don't really love Jaco or anything, but its nice to visit for an hour or so. Then she invited me to a party at a house here in Esterillos. It starts around 3 and it's drinks and food. It'll be a cool way to meet some of the (other) locals around here. Woohoo, so on that note - I gotta go right now. Going to hop in the water and get in a quick surf before my day of fun.

Pura VIda.

Garbage Day and Battle of the Blogs

Today was garbage day in Esterillos. Garbage day is a VERY important day, a day that you do not want to miss. With the heat and the bugs, anything organic gets pretty nasty pretty quick. You can't flush your t-p, so your 'shit paper' (as brett calls it) gets thrown in the trash. Also, beer is consumed here like water -- so we have an abundance of empty beer cans. As you can see, garbage day is muy muy muy importante. The key is though that you gotta be here for the trash man -- when he beeps as he drives down the street, you run your trash out. Well damnit, Brett waited around all day and the trash man never came! So we are hoping that they are going to come tomorrow. And goddamnit don't you know that the damn dogs got into the trash while we weren't here and spread it all over the street. Bah. Trash is a big deal here -- the little things you take for granted back home... Here's Cam and I, praying to the trash-gods that they come and get this stinking heap out of our front yard:

BATTLE OF THE BLOGS:
World Domination Blogging Competition

I introduced Brett to Blogging. So I guess that I am the only one to blame. But he has become an addict (much like myself), thinking about what the blog will entail and stressing over a clever name as well as which pictures to put up. Ha. Him and I compete for computer time so that we can give our blog lots of love and attention. Recently (now that I'm BACK at soda mary, no longer on the caribbean - and now that he's a madrambler as well) our blogs have been mimicking one another. His take and my take. Check it out, he's freaking hysterical - AND the best part is that he types the way that he speaks --- with a southern, Texan accent. Hahaha. His blog is www.sodamarysurfteamcostarica.blogspot.com This is Brett:


Making plans in Costa Rica doesn't happen. So I don't know why I try. It's not so much that I plan, I just try to make a bit of a guideline - mostly so that I don't get caught up sitting around, drinking beer, and talkin trash on the front porch of soda mary. So anyways...my plans with Suzi didn't pan out, and we ate at Azul because our fish guy never came thru. BUT I was ecstatic that Cam was back so that I now have someone to play dominoes with. We had a reunion special: World Domination Dominoe Competition. I WHOOPED his ass. Smoked em. By over 100 points. Wooohooo. Damn it feels good to be a gangsta. hahahahahahahahahahaha. Sorry cam. This is Cam:

An Extra Cup of Coffee

Today I'm treating myself to a second cup of coffee (americano*), at 6pm. I deserve it. What a great day. Woke up this morning and hung with Michele for a bit. Had a few laughs thanks to Shawn's emails. He keeps me updated on the jersey/philly hap's with photos. Last night he stayed at our friend Tim and Liz's place in Philly -- so today's photos were of their kids Jack Peter and Steele. Very cute, and funny. I even got to talk to Jack Peter for a few minutes via Skype. He told me all about his new trucks (he's obsessed with trucks) and then told me to have a good surf. Ha. Ate a tortilla with some beans and tomato and then went for a surf with Les and Brett. Les is a funny, funny, funny, FUNNY guy. I always know I'm in for a good laugh when I hang out with him - especially when you add his son, Adam, into the equation. The banter that goes on between these two would make a grown man blush, but truly (though they would never admit it) they are two softies - gentleman to the core. Every day I get more and more comfortable with Esterillos and the Soda Mary crew, and every day I fall more and more in love with this part of Costa Rica. I really wish that Shawn didn't have to be responsible and have a job - because I would be perfectly content to stay here until summer started up in Jersey. Dominical was great last year. Last year it was just what I needed. Last year there was no where else that I wanted to be. But this year - I'm happy here, I need to be here, and there's no where else right now that I'd rather be. The draw to Dominical this year is my dad, paulie and the waves. As for the 'lifestyle' and attitude though, this is where it's at! I wrote something the other day - basically about how I always feel this way - just completely absorbing what I'm involved in at that very moment. It's called 'until tomorrow'. Not a song (well, atleast not yet...?), just a poem.

Until Tomorrow:

temporary.
everything feels so temporary.
living in the moment -
i only want to be where i am (at this moment)
i only want to feel whatever it is i am feeling (at this moment)
completely at this moment. right at this moment.
until i dont want to feel it anymore

i want to live in right now - until tomorrow
i want to love and breathe and hurt right now
until tomorrow
until tomorrow brings me something new
or perhaps something the same
regardless - it will be tomorrows' day, tomorrow
but for now, i just want today

i cannot say what i want tomorrow
i only know what i want today
everything else is just temporary
until tomorrow.

After surfing with the oh-so-much-fun--makin-me-feel-at-home-all-the-time Soda Mary crew we headed back to the house. On the way back I ran into Jeni, my fire-throwing-friend. She said that she had some 'practice' fire throwers and was headed to the beach if I wanted a lesson. On the way we stopped at Low-Tide Lounge for a burger. BAH, yes, another burger. Two days in a row. But goddamn, they are so good. Again - with bacon and avocado. MMM. Les treated me, so I owe him a lunch. Then Jeni bought a round. I've been drinking Imperial Light, poured into a salt-rimmed glass with lime. MmMmM so good. Then I headed to la playa for my lesson. I started out awful, but got the hang of it rather quickly. Though there was no fire, I heated up quickly and had to cool down with a swim in the beautiful pacific. When I got back to Soda I showed off my new skills to the boys. Brett took these photos:

We decided that life is short, and the waves were still fun and ridable, so we all paddled back out for another session. Plus CAM ARRIVED, so we definitely needed to join him for a session. We are so excited for Cam because he got the job that he was gunning for. He now will be teaching at a private school that is NOT in san jose (where he was up until today). So now he will be living in Esterillos, getting in surf sessions before AND after class - and be able to hang with the Soda crew all the time. Plus, the pay is a bit more - which doesn't hurt. Had some fun rides then got out so that Cam and I could walk down to the fish market (a house of a fisherman who sells his days catch), but we missed him. To drown our sorrows we stopped at the LowTide Lounge where Brett, Les, Adam, Maria and Suzi were for a beer. Maria is Adam's girlfriend. A tica that lives next door to us and also works at the LowTide. She's been helping me with my spanish. She just speaks spanish to me like I understand every word. hahaha. It's helping though. And she's very patient. Also hung out with my fabulous new friend Suzanne. She's lived in Argentina and all over costa rica, she is fluent in spanish and she's just fabulous. Loves animals, and is dying to surf and play guitar (shes the one I gave the lesson to the other day). She also shares a passion for yoga. Tonight she is going to pick me up and bring me to her house to hang out. We're gonna do a yoga DVD, hang - chat, and watch a movie. She lives up on the hill where Adam and Les live. Very cool. She's going to give me a real-deal spanish lesson this week. Woohooo.

This is Maria and Adam

Gotta go now- because our fish guy didnt come thru, Cam and I are heading to Azul. MMM CEVICHE!!!! It's the best. Pura Vida.

Guitar Lessons @ Soda Mary

That's right, I now offer guitar lessons at Soda Mary. So get in line... hahaha.

Today Is Wednesday in Costa Rica.

Today is Wednesday in Costa Rica.

Not Friday, no - not Saturday, nor is it Sunday.

Today is Wednesday.

Brett's Beer Count: Upwards of 10 and still going strong

Adam's Beer Count: 5, and still going strong

Cailin's Beer Count: 3, and about ready for a nap

Did I mention that it's 3pm?

Which means that these numbers are unusually low for the Soda Mary Crew and all of Esterillos.

“Do not cease to drink beer, to eat, to intoxicate thyself, to make love, and to celebrate the good days.” - Egyptian Proverb

PURA VIDA

Burger's, Achin Back, and Beers

In Costa, I try to stay up until ATLEAST 8pm. I can't go to sleep before then. Well, last night I was fighting it as hard as I could. Laid in my bed at 7pm to read, don't think that I even got a page and woke up at 11pm with my door open and my light on, still in my skirt. Fired up the fan, (left on the light), put on my pj's and locked the door. Woke up this morning at 5am, fell back to sleep, and got outta bed around 6am. Had my Bialetti (thank GOD for julisa...this was my christmas gift from her, and it has certainly been used atleast once a day since i got it), Skyped Mom and Shawn, and then headed out for a surf with Adam. We went to 'soda marys secret spot'. Now - my WHOLE body, every part of my being, is ACHING from yesterdays surf, as well as the walk to and from the secret spot. So this morning I was in agony. Walked the 25 minute trek with my heavy ass classic longboard on my head (it doesnt fit under my arm). I try to adjust the weight of the board from the top of my head, to the front of my head, and sometimes just balancing it on my hands above the board -- because my damn head is slowly becoming flat. Yes, flat. I'm not lying. By board is slowly crushing my skull. Got down there at a pretty low tide and very very carefully began the long paddle out. Adam had reef booties, so he walked most of the way. Mike (LEGEND mike) was not too far behind us. We got out there and got it good - not nearly as good as we did yesterday, or the time that Shawnie was here -- but it was chest to head high and clean. Plus, only us out there. Mike definitely had the wipe-out of the days. Him and his huge longboard tumbling together down the face of the wave and around the water. I was trying to supress my laughter because I wasn't sure if he was seriously hurt, but when he came up alive I laughed for 10 minutes straight. About an hour into our surf Adam and I started to talk about food....BAD IDEA. We got stuck on hamburgers- so after 2.5 hours of surf we ran out of the water, in a mad-dash to the LowTide Lounge for a loaded burger. My head was aching, my arms and my back were breaking, from holding my board - but I figured that I had to suffer thru it and EARN my burger. We had cheeseburgers with bacon and avocado, french fries on the side, and washed it down with soda. For dessert, we had a beer with Brian (the manager) and his very cute, insanely obedient yellow Lab, Jake. Adam and Brian tried a new Israeli beer that LowTide has, and I had an ice cold imperial light, served in a glass with a salted rim and some lime. MMM. MUY DELICIOUSO. Lovin it. Came back to Soda Mary, and I am now suffering from a food-hangover. My body is hurting, and it's calling for another ice cold beer. Trying to fight the urge and take a nap, but I'm thinking that it's too hot for that. PURA VIDA.

I mean...who DOESN'T like burgers?
Here's a quote from one of my (newest) favorite authors, Tom Robbins:


"A Hamburger is warm and fragrant and juicy. A hamburger is soft and nonthreatening. It personifies the Great Mother herself who has nourished us from the beginning. A hamburger is an icon of layered circles, the circle being at once the most spiritual and the most sensual of shapes. A hamburger is companionable and faintly erotic. The nipple of the Goddess, the bountiful belly-ball of Eve. You are what you think you eat."
Tom Robbins

Amazing Day

:Here are some more photos from last night that Pat took:

BAH. Amazing day. Barack Obama, a black man, was sworn in today as the PRESIDENT...GoodBye Bush. I had the best session yet that I have had in Costa Rica, and sitting in a rocking chair watching the inauguration. Beautiful beautiful day...and its only 1pm.

Surfed the 'soda mary secret spot' this morning. Perfect, overhead, clean, consistent lefts. Lefts - I know. But amazing. Only a few of us in the water. Adam and I talked trash to eachother the whole session, laughing like crazy people, with smiles from ear to ear. My legs hurt from surfing, a pain that I don't often get...but I stopped counting my waves when I hit 30...we only surfed for 2.5 hours, but it was wave after wave after wave. Legend mike, adam, and I for the first 45 minutes and then Nico, Michele and Thoralf joined us. Adam and I then went to my favorite place to eat in costa rica (aside from soda nanyoa in dominical..but i must say this breakfast is the best in all of costa), MARGARITAS. It's the old ladies backyard. Had some MORA juice, blackberries. MMMM. So good. And cafe con leche...the works. Did I mention that it's only 3 bucks for coffee, juice, fried plantains, gallo pinto and scrambled eggs?

Hanging out now, utterly exhausted and sweating to death - but what a glorious day. Throwing an empty coconut now for Newman (adams dog) and getting ready for a little siesta.

Soda Mary Live

Last night we had a fiesta fiesta at Soda Mary. It was the first night in Costa Rica that I have really put down some beer...AND fried chicken. It was Marias, adam's tica girlfriend and our neighbor, sisters' 21st birthday last night, so Larry (that lives here at the soda) decided to throw her a birthday party: cake with candles and FRIED CHICKEN. Those of you who know me KNOW that I hate eating anything off the bone. I just can't get down with it, and really I'm not that successful, always leaving a bunch of meat on the bone. Well, I was ravenous so I figured that I would have one piece of Larry's fried chicken. Well about 10 pieces later Adam started to make fun of me for being a fried-chicken-eating-machine. Ha. It was so delicous. So so SO delicious. If I only eat fried chicken once in my life, I'm glad that it was Larry's. Kudos, chef. Also in attendance was the whole family from next door, the soda crew (adam, les, larry, brett, mike, pat, nico, michele, thoralf, brian, Jeni, suzanne) and few others. Damn it was fun. I was playing guitar and legend mike was RIPPING - jamming from the depths of his soul, on harmonica. Little kids were dancing, people were tapping their feet, and Les sat in his rocking chair - beer in hand - happy as a clam. There were dogs and puppies and unfortunately for the cat, one cat. ha. Such a fabulous time, such a fabulous (dysfunctional) family that we've become. We were all sad though that Shawn wasn't here, so the birthday party turned hootenany, turned into a Shawnie-Lovefest. Ha.

I couldn't have been THAT drunk because after almost 2 weeks of trying to figure out how to set the alarm on my watch I finally was successful...unfortunately it worked, going off at 5am. Yes, I slept with my light on again. Laugh it up. I woke up at 3am again...was awake for an hour, staring at the illuminated ceiling.

Downstairs now, having BIALETTI with mike, adam, brett and michele. Getting ready to head to Panama for a few days with Les and Adam. I hope they don't mind - I kind of invited myself, but I'm sure that they will be thankful for one more person to bicker with (the pair of them bicker like two old ladies). We are going to take the bus down, then rent a car - sans boards. This is a fun, culture trip. If the waves are really good then we will rent boards, but otherwise we are just cruisin around.

PURA VIDA.

carib crew

So, pretty soon my European Surf Crew will be leaving. I will either be staying in Hermosa or in Esterillos until my dad and paulie get here on the 28th. Going to try to talk Jbird into picking me up as well on the way to Dominical. I miss my dad and can't wait to see him!! I bought him a special gift in Cahuita... he's gonna love it!

Surfed today in Hermosa...down the way, and ran into Noah. He's living on the hill in hermosa, and loving life. We had a good time, but I had another run-in with the man-eating Manta Rays. Bah. I'm too young to die, so I got out of the water. No worries though, by that time I had my fair share of chest to overhead waves.

Made some hummus and snacking now, hopefully going to get in another surf later.

ciao

shawn representing soda mary

Shawn surfed today. In the snow. Air temp was 28 degrees F, and the water was 34. Brr. Here he is, representing Soda Mary all the way back home...

Scared of the Dark.

Fast-forward to 3am...me asleep in a room alone, with the light on because I couldn't get myself to turn off the light before I went to bed. I was exhausted and tried to stay up as late as I could until I just passed out. I almost walked across the hall and knocked on Nico, Michele and Thoralf's room but even that was just a bit too low for me. "Excuse me, can I sleep in your room tonight because I'm scared of the dark?" hahahahaha. I'm SURE that they would think it was some kind of joke. Finally at 4am, I turned the light off and slept for an hour in the dark. So brave!! I have something they call "grow-up-youre-not-a-child" disease. All of the fears that you are supposed to grow out of by the time you are 10, sometimes earlier, I just have not.
-being in a house alone
-the dark (outside and inside)
-water and sharks
-not being able to get ahold of mom and dad
-not being able to get to the internet (ok, this may not have been the case for OUR generation of internet users, but im sure a 10 year old nowadays would fear being away from A.I.M or something).

anyways...you get my drift. im a little bitch, and this year for my birthday i have only one wish - to finally be a big girl and be able to sleep in my own bed, in my own room, in the dark!! hahaha. bah. sad but true.


We had such a great time at the Caribbean, but I am so glad to be back home at Soda Mary. This morning I had my first Bialetti Americano in a week, and it is looong looong overdue. I am cherishing each and every sip. MmMm, SO good. Brett was definitely stoked to see us last night, we are like family and he has had an empty nest. No Cam, No Todd, Noah and his lady moved to Hermosa and there's no stragglers...just him and Larry. I turned him into a blogging fiend: check it out, http://sodamarysurfteamcostarica.blogspot.com Which brings me to the fact that the internet-junky within me is soooo so so so thankful for having the internet at our own house. Woohoo!!

Finishing my coffee then heading to Bejuco I believe for some surf.
Write more later, but in the meantime check out the photos:

Here are caribbean photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=205742&l=5330f&id=653500240

back home @ soda mary

so we are back at soda mary...after 9 hours of traveling. it was a good day though. just ate some food, took a shower, and uploaded some photos onto facebook. going to go to bed now though because we are getting up early for surf tomorrow.

write more later.

pura vida.

"RANDOM"

Random.

This is a word that I use rather often.

Main Entry: 1ran·dom
Pronunciation: \ˈran-dəm\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, succession, surge, from Anglo-French randun, from Old French randir to run, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German rinnan to run — more at run
Date: 1561
: a haphazard course
— at random : without definite aim, direction, rule, or method

Finally, after it being used several times, the Swiss and the German said "what is this random that you speak of?" They thought that it was a bad thing. For example we were out at a restaurant and they were playing a bunch of reggaeton. After a half hour of this, an old-school , pop Whitney Houston song came on. I was like "Wow, that's random". Well now, they are pros...using random at every chance they get. Hahaha. The other day a very very very heavy set woman was holding hands with a skinny man and thoralf exclaimed, "That's random". ha.

RANDom..isn't it?

Wonderful Night.

Saturday Jan 17th, 10 20pm, Cahuita, Costa Rica

Tonight was a wonderful night. Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. And after the discouraging day it was just what I needed...what we ALL needed. We've all been a bit down and frustrated the past 2 days about the car, Michele is pissed off at her university, and the past 2 days we could have really used some good waves to cheer us up. After a frustrated conversation about the car and brakes *the LACK of brakes, in regards to tomorrows journey over the mountain, I recommended pizza and beer. I'm tired of worrying about money, so tonight it was no object, and the others were feeling the same. We had garlic bread app and I had a salad. We each had our own FABULOUSLY delicious pizzas, and we ended with tiramisu and espressos *the European way! We were at our table for almost 3 hours. The conversaton was great/ tons of great stories, good jokes and some good old fashioned trash talking. They talked about Italians, their accent and rudeness, speaking german, alcohol, traveling europe, and espresso...ps america, you do NOT drink ur espresso with a lemon peel!! I taught them about beer pong and flip cup, which theyd never heard of, and they taught me some european drinking games. We laughed. Ate. Laughed. Drank. Laughed and laughed some more. Nico won the world domination pizza eating contest and MONO Michele woke up from her nap at the table the second she heard the word TIRAMISU. Did I mention that I enjoy my travel partners?

Tonight is movie night and surprise surprise Michele is asleep already. She says that she likes to listen to movies. Hahahaha. I'm not far behind her, this is the latest I've been up so far in Costa Rica.

Gute Nacht.
Good Night.
Buenos Noches.

Crash.

Last night we crashed the car. Nothing serious. Just into a wall. We've been having some minor brake troubles for two days. But as of last night you had to push the brake pedal all the way down 6 times before the car would stop. It made for an interesting evening. This morning we woke up and went to the mechanic down the street. He let some air out of the brake and drained some kind of fluid. He got the brakes working in the front at least, but he said that the back ones weren't working, and only one pump was working on the front brakes...so before we make the 7 hour trek over the mountain tomorrow back to esterillos that we should get it looked at by a bigger mechanic, in limon, and perhaps have a few parts replaced. This cost us 5000 colones, $10. We headed back for a surf...it was, eh. Ate an empanada and then hopped into the car to head to LIMON. Limon is 50 KM from our cute town of Cahuita. It is dirty and smelly. In the travel book under "sights" for limon it lists prostitution, garbage and crime. There is one park that they mention where you can see sloths, but they said that the crime is bad so be careful. We drive all the way there, the mechanic drives around for a while, slamming on the brakes, and poof - they are fixed. Nothing is broken any longer, and we dont need anything replaced. Wierd. Anyways, we hop back into the car to leave Limon with headaches from the diesel fumes and in about an hour we are back to town.

THAT is my brake story. The car that Thoralf rented is kinda a piece of shit in the sense that nothing works the way it should *windows, locks, doors, brakes, etc.

This morning I had coffee with Michele 'me-shell', my new fabulous swiss friend. She has traveled all over the world. Very cool. We started to plan a trip through Sri Lanka and Thailand. She has family there. She has been to Sri Lanka before...and her story of being there is magical. She saw some documentary on the TV about a monk living in a remote cave in sri lanka. He's also an artist, who created the most beautiful paintings that she'd ever seen...michelle is an artist by the way. She contacted the TV station for information on the person who created the documentary and then contacted that man for information about the monk. Then she began corresponding with this monk. He was happy to have someone so young being so interested and determined in meeting him. Mostly he was contacted by the elderly and dying. She went to visit and he showed her all over sri lanka and took her with him to hospitals, broken and beatdown hospitals, filled with the dying. She couldn't understand what they were saying to one another, but she said that she felt something so powerful that she has never felt before.Michele is not religious, but she said she certainly feels a tie to buddhism, this monk in particular. He has since died, but every year on December 20th the other monks and people in town celebrate his life on the date of his death with a full day of chanting and prayer. We are hoping to get out there this time next year and be a part of it. All in all, Michele is kickass. Her parents are sailors. They sail. On a sailboat. All over the world, all year round. So she has grown up on the water. She plans to be a dive instructor, working and traveling her way around the world. I'm definitely excited to have become friends with her, and I'm sure that we will meet up for travel adventures throughout the years to come.

Have to go now, want to Skype call Shawn before they close the internet down.

Oh yeah, ate in Puerto Viejo last night at the same place we ate the other day, Jammin Jerk and Juice. BAH. It's so amazing. So cute and the best best best food. I got the same thing I had the other day, the Mid Eastern Rice Salad. It's brown rice with tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and other seasonings with a spicy peanut, thai dressing and pitas. MMMM. And I had Sorrel Iced Ginger Tea. MMMM. This woman makes the best stuff.

We are headed back to Esterillos tomorrow. So wish us luck and pray to the brake gods. Sometime in the next few days I will be posting Caribbean photos. xo pura vida.

todays post ... saturday*

i have a great post for you about yesterdays loooong day, and today, but we have to go to the mechanic to get our brakes fixed. wish us luck. bah. i will write later. so stay tuned...

i miss...

i miss the gym. i never thought that id say it, but i miss it. a lot. surfing isnt the same. i want to sweat and get a good cardio workout. i almost went running yesterday! RUNNING. ha. ME. i know, totally crazy. but ive been craving it.

i also miss having a kitchen and fridge like we did at soda mary. i am spending an extra 10 to 15 dollars a day on food, bevs and coffee because of it!!! you dont realize how much money that you save by eatting at home...i mean it costs cents, literally nickels and dimes.

i miss my mom, my dad and shawnie and maude too. and every now and then, ONLY for a few seconds, i miss the idea of being cold. ha. but not THAT much.

Today is Thursday.

Today is Thursday. I know that because the people sitting next to me in the internet cafe told me so. I wouldn't know if they were right or wrong - im not even sure what the date is. I know that we are still in the month of January though.

Last night was Nico's birthday. On our way walking into the busier part of town, it started to DOWNPOUR. I'm talking Caribbean rain....REAL rain. So we ran to the only restaurant on the street...Sombre las Olas. It's a seafood and italian place on the beach...a bit out of the price range that we are trying to stay in, but hey -- it's a celebration. We had some delicious bruschetta, and then Nico, Michelle and I had pasta, and Thoralf had Caribbean cooked snapper. MMM. It was very good. Though we all wanted to go out to continue the celebration, we were all exhausted and the rain was coming down hard. michelle and i fell asleep the second we got back to the cabina, and the boys stayed up drinking CAHUITA. Cahuita is a rum that is only made and sold in the town of Cahuita. It is DELICIOUS. We sip on it all day long. Just little sips, but they warm you up and make you feel good all over. It's coconut flavor as well, mmmm. Michelle is obsessed. hahaa. We took some photos the other day, a 'cahuita photo shoot'. The photos will be up this week...you're going to crack up.

Anyways...woke up early this morning to drive 40 minutes to a spot deep in puerto viejo. The waves were big, messy, big, and not worth paddling out. We came back to Cahuita, and sure enough the waves were perfect and clean. Got in a two hour session, ate lunch, and then amazingly the waves were still good!!! So we got in another 2 or 3 hours. I cant figure out this break. I've named it "NO SE" because I never know what the hell its going to be doing. The wind, the tide, there is no pattern. Who knows. All I know is that today is was overhead and super fun.

I'm in love with a little dog down here. Medium sized...bigger than a yorky, and smaller than a lab. She's sooo cute. She is very skinny, likes to cuddle and has a wicked cut around her neck. Someone put a chain around her neck as a collar, with a lock on it, and she kept growing and it got tighter and tighter and tighter. I was looking for bolt cutters yesterday in town, and luckily later that night someone had taken her horrible 'collar' off. She follows me around town, and today even followed me out into the water when I went surfing. She only went out about 10 feet...but you could tell she was anxious to come out. She is definitely still young. Probably only a year old, but super sweet. I'm going to ask around town and see if she has a name. How about it shawnie?? Another female dog??

Today is Thursday and the Caribbean is BEAUTIFUL.

Simplicity.

When im in costa rica, i want for nothing. well, nothing besides some waves, chicken tacos from soda nanyoa, and maybe a good book. but those 'things' that i want, i need in the states - they just disappear. a new car, better cell phone, clothes, jewelry, it all seems so small and insignificant compared to the big picture...the big picture that really becomes clear being in costa rica. surely i ache for a home in costa rica, but a humble home - with a watermelon patch, an avocado tree and 2 rocking chairs. i dont know why i cannot hold onto this ideal of peace and simplicity once i get home?

bah. costa rica - penetrate me, i want to drink you up and live you every day.

pura vida.

day 3 in cahuita

caribbean!!!!!!!!!!!!!

woooohoooo. me gusta. me gusta. me gusta.

it was almost time for dinner last night, but i was craving an ice cold beer. craving. so thoralf, nico and i walked down to the reggae bar at the end of the street for some muy deliciouso y frio cervezas. later, we showered up and we walked around town to pick out a restaurant. we ended up going out to this place that served italian and local food. michelle and i opted for the italian pasta (sooo delicious) and the boys had local food. my dinner was 3000 colones, about 6 bucks, and i threw in an extra dollar for a tip. on the way home, michelle was falling asleep, so her and nico went home for bed. thoralf and i went to the beach bar for one more beer and some conversation. i have a hard time understanding his english because of his thick german accent, but we get by. he has some great travel stories. when he was 24 he spent a year traveling through australia. he only had enough money for a ticket and only a little bit of spending money. he got a working visa that allows you to stay for one year. he bought a car and traveled around the whole coast of australia. he took temporary jobs to make money - being a farmhand, a busdriver, even though he wasnt certified hahaha, and picked peppers for 3 weeks. he said that he hasnt eaten a pepper since. i love to her my traveling partners stories - since the 3 of them are from europe and traveling to other countries is like traveling to neighboring states, they always have a good story to tell.

this morning i slept in until 7am. thorolf went surfing, and then nico, michelle and i went out for breakfast. im glad that we waited, because the waves only got better. it didnt look that big, but the white water here is so goddamn powerful, it took me some serious time and effort to get out. once i was out, i was fine. had some nice waves and then came back to the house for a rest in the hammock.

today is nico´s birthday, so i think that we are going to drink some rum, play some fooseball, and go out to eat tonight. not sure if we are going to get waves again, but it sure would be nice. tomorrow we are going into puerto viejo for breakfast at a place that nico and michelle rave about, and then try out a new break that is 30 minutes from there. woohooo.

pura vida.

waves on the e.c.

the caribbean is difficult to figure out. the tide doesnt really change more than 2 feet between high and low tide, so i gather that it doesnt matter that much. it was shit when we checked it this morning. we checked the waves again after breakfast and they sucked. we loaded up the car, packed day bags, and when we pulled 50feet to the end of the street to leave town,and the waves were head high and perfect, clean. ha. crazy that it changed so quick. so we returned the car to the cabina and went for a surf right out front. it was fun, powerful and clean. surfed for about 30 minutes and then within 5 minutes it almost doubled in size/weight. heavy and fast. the sets were breaking like the day that shawn, me and adam surfed the 'secret' spot in esterillos. totally crazy and totally random. it was difficult to find a spot, there isnt one peak. but i had the 3 biggest waves out there. the locals were hooting and hollering me on. and then just as quickly as the well cleaned up, and then picked up, it turned to shit again. in the matter of minutes. but we got in a good two hours of surf so that was good. i think that my leash stretched about a foot today haha. a few i stayed in too late and couldn't cut out, so i just had to jump off my board. some powerful surf out there. also, there is a current which you should definitely pay attention too. i just took a peek at it, but it looked crappy like this morning. but who knows, going to keep my eye on it and maybe it will get perfect again before dark?

we came back to the cabina and just hung out in the hammocks and rocking chairs. we moved into a room upstairs that is beautiful and cozy. its crazy how much cooler it is on the caribbean...even the water. its only a few degrees cooler, but the water is refreshing and the air isn't sweltering. i was dozing in and out of sleep in the hammock when nico gave us a holler about empanadas. a woman stopped by the house with chicken empanadas, for 400 colones!!!! mmmm. it was so good, and it was just what i needed.

looking forward to what the east coast will continue to throw my way. and lucky us, michelle checked the swell and in a few days when we head back to esterillos, a swell will be rolling thru! woohooo. pura vida.

Caribbean Cahuita

Caribbean Cahuita.
Jan 12th, Cahuita, costa rica 8pm

it took us 7 hours but we made it. cahuita (ka-hweat-ah) on the east coast of costa rica, about an hour south of limon. i love my traveling partners. they are friendly and funny and witty. me gusta. they have a good sense of humor, and even joked about selling me into the slave trade. i told them that my dad used to threaten to sell me to the gypsies when i was a kid. they got a good laugh out of it, and now their story is that they are selling me to the gypsy king. im very grateful that they speak english for me, so that i understand what is going on. though once they forgot, when they were talking about checking the brakes, and i went flying into the back of michelles seat. hahahaha. they are still apologizing. what can i say, i just cant seem to understand german.

the caribbean side is green. so green. beautiful green. and it SMELLS green. but its also surprisingly industrial? it seems as though, aside from the jobs in the beach town, the only other option is logging and driving huge mac trucks.

to pass the time on our drive we listened to a book on tape. some ´horror´story from the 1930s, narrated by, surprise, an english man. interesting. and a bit odd.

the place that we are staying, cabinas mambo, is gorgeous. its 40$ for a big room with one double bed, 2 singles and a big bathroom. there are hammocks outside and its steps from the beach. so for $10 a night, we are making out really well. its 8pm now, and we are going to head out for some good, local caribbean cuisine. mmm. all in all, im feeling superstoked on my adventure. i do feel a tadbit like shit though because my traveling friends speak fluent german, english, spanish and french as well as bits of other languages, and i barely have mastered english. ha.

AFTER DINNER....
the caribbean is bad ass. AUTHENTIC. ALIVE. im in love.

getting ready for some shut eye and hopefully wake up to waves. good night. buenos noches...or in german, GUTE NACHT!

Rainy Zen.
Jan 13th, Cahuita costa rica, 7am?

woke up this morning around 5 530am. not sure because i forgot my watch @ soda mary, but thats around the time that ive been up every morning and the sun was just starting to peek through.

walked down to the beach, about a 30 sec walk to check the waves. its about head high and building. a bit gray and a bit unsure, kind of reminded of a fall jersey swell. but we are told that it will clean up by the afternoon.

did some yoga on our very zen inspired front porch. ive really been getting into a routine with the yoga and im feeling great - light and limber. as soon as i began it started to rain, which helped me to relax and focus on my breathing. mmmm.

the swiss sleep late so im just hanging solo on the front porch, listening to the rain and wishing for some cafe con leche. nowhere is open yet and unfortunately we dont have a kitchen at this cabina, so im living sans-coffee for about another hour. ciao.


Had coffee with my german friend, thoralf. it was interesting to talk about all of his crazy travels. funny guy. have a hard time understanding his english because of the heavy german accent, but we get by. his girlfriend is coming in this week, so im excited to add another girl into the mix. woohooo. pura vida.

posting comments

its easy. click on the comments. then you have to select a profile...it will give you a scroll down list - select name-url. you dont have to put in a url, just your name, and then type your comment. voila.

also, here is the link for costa photos. its a public link, so everyone should be able to view them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199988&l=900d4&id=653500240

headed to the caribbean

Hello.

My name is Cailin Callahan.

I am 21 years old, and I'm afraid of the dark.

Ha. True story. I had to sleep in a room by myself last night and I'm not going to lie, I was totally creepin out. Damnit. I need to grow up. How am I supposed to travel the world if I am afraid of the dark. I was so thankful for 530am when the sun started to creep out. Ha.

I was super stiff when I woke up, so I did yoga for about an hour, and now I am feeling great. Had some coffee and some breakfast, and hung out with the crew. The dog that adopted me for the day is Stain (or stained or stainer). A black pitpull mix.So sweet. I was glad for the canine company.

Talked to Nico, Michelle and Thoralf (tor-af), and I'm going to head to the Caribbean coast with them for a week. There are no waves here, and without them here I will have no ride to any better breaks like Hermosa, which is about a 15 to 20 minute car drive away. SO - not sure if they have the internet where we are going, so I may or may not be able to write or blog for the next week. We are going to be staying right by Salsa Brava -- though I highly highly highly doubt we will be surfing that wave!!!!

Pura Vida!!!

xo cailin

4.5 Hour Hermosa Session

Hey there. Today is the 11th of January. Shawn left this morning. I'm pretty bummed, but I travel well solo, so hopefully that will start kicking in soon. Plus, with Skype I can call him every day, and even see him on the webcam!! After he left I hit up the SuperSol for some essentials (tortillas, beans, coconut cookies, milk, etc.) and then uploaded some photos onto facebook from dominical (check them out here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199988&l=900d4&id=653500240 ).

Thoralf, Michelle, and Niko were heading into Jaco to look for a board for Thoralf, and then were going to go for a surf in Hermosa. So I hopped in the car with them. Had a fun time cruising around and then unloaded at a solid chest to head high swell at Hermosa. It was good for 20 minutes, then the wind picked up, then it glassed off, then it got bumpy. Ha. You see where I'm going with this. But the last 2 hours were really great. Everyone I was with was in and out of the water. Taking breaks and such. Not me. I surfed for almost 5 hours, going only on a bowl of frosted flakes. My back is aching, my arms are breaking. Ibprofuen is calling my name for sure. When we left we hit up the smoothie shack at the end of Hermosa. There was this Venezuelan chick, Simone, who was there selling homemade bathings. Badass. And she's a surfer - making them for specifically for surfing chicas. Michelle and I were going crazy over the bathingsuits, but of course had to money. We planned to meet her in town about 2 hours later to buy the suits. So Michelle and I cleaned up, ran some errands then headed to town. Well we looked all over Hermosa. And we couldn't find Simone. We were kindof hazy about our meeting point, and finally we ended up at a bar that was happening in Hermosa, in hopes of finding our fabulous homemade suits. No Simone, but there was a live band. So we decided to have a beer and listen to the music. The second we got a beer, they took a set break. They came back on when we were walking out the door. hahaha. Shit luck. oh well. We are hoping to run into her tomorrow.

Back at the house. Just had a fried egg on a tortilla with beans, onions, tomato and avocado. MmMm. I had a really wonderful day, and I'm totally bummed that Nico, Michelle and Thoralf are leaving for the Caribbean tomorrow. Michelle is fabulous. She speaks 4 languages and goes to school in San Jose for art. She's swiss. So is her boyfriend, Nico. But they both look Tico and speak fluent spanish. Their friend is German, and he's always busy traveling the world. A neat group. I'm tossing around the idea of going to the caribbean coast with them for a week. It's only a week, I've never been, it's cheap, and it will mix it up a bit. Who knows. I'm just trying to roll with it.

And the winner is....

...ESTERILLOS!!!

Bah. But don't think that I didn't change my mind 40 friggin times before I finally decided on esterillos. We were half way here, driving down a shitty dirt road, and I turned to shawn and said "babe, maybe I should have stayed in dominical?". hahaha. bah. but im happy with my choice. a few more weeks in esterillos will do me good. shawn is happy because he knows that the boys here will look out for me, and im happy because ive become good friends with the messed up, mayhem, soda mary family.

we surfed some crappy hermosa when we got into town, but after that ride i was thankful to get myself into some water. showered up and now we are getting ready to head down to the Full Moon Party at the bar down the street. $2 burgers, $1 fish tacos and 1.5$ beers. mmmm.

blogs will be back, full force and better than ever. now that im here i will be posting some dominical photos as well. so keep checking back for updates.

PURA VIDA.

la parcela and decisions, decisions, decisions

last night shawn, bill and i ate at la parcela for shawns last dinner in dominical. la parcela was bills favorite restaurant. its on a cliff, overlooking la punta, and its very beautiful. they were always busy, especially on the weekends. well on friday night, prime dinner time, we were the only table there. and i think one of the only for the night. their prices doubled. for the 3 of us to eat a very humble humble dinner cost 50 bucks....almost 3 times what the other places in town cost. now i know why it was so quiet. it was nice though, having the place to ourselves -- and the view, which was lit up by the full moon. saw some guys with flashlights walking around on the reef, looking for lobsters!!

this morning we woke up around 530. i made breakfast...scrambled eggs with onions, sauteed plantains, fresh pineapple, toast, and banana leches. mmmmm. so good. went for a tour through the mountains -- looking at all of the beautiful properties and views in billys neighborhood. shawnie and i both started schemeing for a life in paradise as opposed to the rat race in the states. hahaha. wishful thinking. bring money.

shawn has to leave in 2 hours for esterillos. so i have 2 hours to decide...
dominical
billys house, or
esterillos

hahaha. and i still have no idea. bah. its driving me crazy. im sure that i will decide about 2 minutes before its time for him to leave.

gotta go. going to get a coconut from the fruit guy, and then a hummus and avocado pita from CHAPYS!!!!

necesito un casa

i need a place. shawn and i are in dominical today. ran into 2 people that i knew last year, and they were still tweaking out from the night before. definitely trying to find a place on my own. still trying to figure it all out.

tide is low so the waves are closing out. the waves do seem to be looking up though which is good.

saw my buddy mike who owns costa rica dive and surf. they were just getting the business started last year when i was here, and this year its booming. im glad for him - he lives and breathes scuba.

town is different from what i remember. i dont know if the town and people have changed, or that im just looking at it from a different angle. who knows. cant wait for the waves to pick up.

shawn and billy speared fish yesterday!!!! wooohooo!!! my men, the providers. shawn caught the first, biggest and most. parrotfish. i took pictures - ill post them another day. crazy looking fish. we ate them for dinner.

going to head back to billys soon. write more later.

xo cailin

settling in

san martin , dominical, costa rica
jan 6th 5pm

shawn and billy get along like two peas in a pod - both simple, quiet men. ive been keeping to myself, reading and writing, while they pal around the property, talking about building things, fixing things, making things, planting things, surfing and simplicity. simplicity is certainly a way to sum up costa rican life - especially billys. and its something, that comes very naturally when you are here. im completely content to wake with the sun and retire after it sets. no tv, no radio, but just books and conversations. im feeling a bit anxious without the inernet, but that will pass in about a week...i hope. we spent the early evening sitting out back watching the monkeys- i made a video of it that i will post this week. soon we will have some dinner, then sit in rocking chairs out front sipping te until its time to retire to bed.

the book im reading is ´best friends´ by martha moody. definitely a female read, but fabulous none the less. its not sappy but sharp and funny, a perfect depiction of the female friendship. im really enjoying it. clare LOVES sallys adjectives! adores them! and thats how i feel about certain odd features that my best friends have.

kill day 2009
billys house, dominical, jan 7th 5pm

kill day 2009. thats what billy and shawn dubbed today, over our banana pancake breakfast. because the waves are horrible and the tides not helping they were going to, as my dad says, kill em and eat em. well two attempts by noon...spearfishing with a snorkel and then fishing off rocks, we had nothing but sunburns. they decided on fishing off surfboards around 3 pm. that failed as well...so tonight over dinner they began to scheme tomorrows attack.

i did pilates this afternoon. well i tried. i got through yoga and i felt great, energized. but pilates was kicking my ass and it was hot out, and i realized that i just am not motivated enough to kick my ass all alone - i need to go to the pilates class. so...pilates is out. im definitely getting my buddha belly back. i guess all of the avocadoes and coconut cookies are catching up to me.

ive been stressing for the past 3 days about what im going to do once shawn leaves. billys place is beautiful, breathtaking, peaceful and FREE. but im at his mercy because its secluded. i cant do what i want when i want. so today i decided...no more worrying myself to the point of ulcers - yes, ulcers, thats how much of a worrywort i am. i decided im going to rent myself a little place at the end of town...the quiet end of town. live alone. surf every day, play music every day, write every day, visit the internet everyday, give surf lessons and start taking a few yoga classes in town. i feel good about it. i felt shallow before because i was missing the internet - but i realized that the internet is my connection to all of you - my friends, family, and hey...even a few interested readers. traveling alone im never alone, but i sometimes get lonely. so living in dominical is whats going to happen. boom. i made my decision.

so for a few more days the blog will be here and there - but soon ill be back in action.

love you and miss you all.
xo

pura vida.


ps...had dinner at soda nanyoa tonight. had their chicken soup--served witha side of rice and an egg in the soup...so fucking good. bah. i had to curse. its that amazing. phenomenal.

dominical

i believe that today is the 6th of january. we are in dominical, arrived yesterday after driving 2 hours on a bumpy, dirt road. what an adventure. we stopped in town to my favorite, soda nanyoa, for some chicken tacos. the town was packed. PACKED. we left and headed to billys. he was putzing around the house - he´s in a constant state of putzing around the house. we ooooohed-and ahhhhhed at the beautiful house and view, and settled into our room. we are in the room that sits on the cliff, overlooking the ocean. gorgeous. you could tell that billy was happy to have some company, because the usually-quiet bill was a chatty kathy! im stoked to be at his house, it is gorgeous and wondeful, but there is no internet and it´s about a 20min drive into town. not sure how town is going to be either this year because its so crowded. im trying to figure out where im going to live once shawnie leaves .

i was asleep by 730pm. i usually am up until atleast 8! we woke up at 5, had some coffee and some bananas then headed into dominical for a surf. we got skunked. it was high tide, but the waves were closing out. 2 feet, and onshore winds. im hoping, hoping, hoping that it gets better...soon. oh yeah -- forget to tell you that shawn got whacked in the head by his board yesterday morning at la lecheria. a pretty nasty gash that probably could have used a few stiches. we taped it shut, and then this morning cleaned it and superglued it.

i know i sound like a crazy lady for missing the internet - but when you are traveling alone, it is the one thing that keeps you connected. so in the mean time, blogs will probably be far and few between -- but ill be writing in my journal, and dating the entries, so i can blog them later.

missin you all!!

Photos!!

Check out my public album with photos from Costa here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199988&l=900d4&id=653500240

Heading down to Dominical now. Packing up our things from the Soda Mary and saying a teary goodbye. I'm really really going to miss it here. It has become family. I know that I will stay in touch with these boys, and I know that I will be back.

Gotta go. Won't be able to blog as often in Dominical - but I will be writing down entries and then posting them whenever I get to a computer.

xo PURA VIDA, Cailin

Buckled Boards

Buckled Boards
Esterillos, Costa Rica 4pm, jan 4th:

This morning we made the 20 minute walk to La Lecheria as the sun rose. It was big. The wave was about 300 yards out, but still, from the beach you could tell that these waves were no joke. We paddled out through the channel - a very long paddle through the channel. The waves were anywhere from 6-8' (with 8 to 10' faces) and the bombing sets that rolled through were about 8-10', some with 12 foot faces. I had some big waves today, and some very late takeoffs. I didn't fall once. Not once. I stuck every drop in and was screaming across the face of every wave. You never knew if someone survived or not until them came shooting over the back of the wave - because people were disappearing behind a wall of water. Surfing with us today was Cam, Shawn, Ben, Adam, Shannon, one local guy, and Fred on a kayak. Cam buckled his longboard on the first wave and had to get out of the water. Shannon buckled his longboard on his 3rd wave...he had to get out. We all took turns hooting and hollering eachother into these fabulous waves, and oooooing and ahhhhhhing as we watched people get creamed. I had to break into my "death paddle" twice. The death paddle is when I muster every bit of strength that is in my body, every bit from every part of my being, and paddle like hell. Paddling for my life -- because there is a set covering the horizon and coming for me. I couldn't paddle this fast if I tried, only when the 'death paddle' is truly needed. The boys laughed when they heard about my death paddle, but when a huge set came out the back and I was 70 yards past everyone as they got clobbered, the laughing ended. Ha. Ha. Ha muthafuckas.

A few hours later, once we had beaten our bodies to oblivion, we got out of the water and walked down the beach - stumbling into Margaritas to reminesce over our awesome waves, and (their) disasterous wipeouts. Margarita's is totally cool. It is a womans house (margarita) and you just post up in her back yard at this little table she has on the porch, and she brings you out coffee and juice. You don't get to order here - there is no menu. You get what she is cooking, for 1500 colones ( a whopping 3 dollars, bevs and all). We got a heaping pile of gallo de pinto (rice and beans), scrambled eggs, and fried plantains. MmMmM and for only 3 bucks. Authentic.

Got back and have had no desire to do anything. None of us want to go for another surf. We don't want to swim, or dance or play! haha. We did play a very intense round of Dominoes ( i lost damnit), but the stress of it wore us all out so we took naps. Adam, Ben, Shawn and I are heading to Jaco in a bit for some sushi @ TSNAMI SUSHI - supposedly the BEST, not just in town, but in all of Costa Rica. I looked it up online and a ton of travelers have given it rave reviews on their blogs and on travel sites.

The swell is supposed to pick up a little more tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to another surf at La Lecheria before heading to Dominical. PS: It's called Lecheria because the little house that sits out front of the break, the only house around, used to be a dairy farm.

I will post some pictures from Soda Mary, and a couple from our SODA MARY SOCIAL (Hootenany) last night. (computers acting up now, ill have to upload later) Shannon on violin and guitar, me on guitar and vocals, and mike - fabulous mike - on harmonicas. We had too much fun and put on a show for many people from ESterillos. I even sold 5 cds, and made some money in the love bucket!!

Early AM Update

Today is Sunday, our last day in Esterillos, we leave tomorrow for Dominical. It's 5:15am and I am half way through my cup of coffee (americano...obviously!) The swell finally started pumping last night -- got in some great surf before dinner, right out front here in Esterillos. Solid head high, with bigger sets. It was breaking about 250 yards out, 300 yards out, all the way to the beach. For a longboarder it was awesome. It would vary from a bit mushy, to fast and steep, depending upon where you were on the reef. Sets were only coming through about every 20 minutes, but thats okay, because that's how long it took you to paddle back out into the lineup. Came home for grub and then the Soda Mary Social, or Hootenany. So much fun, I will write more later and post pictures. Getting ready to head to La Lecheria as soon as day breaks. It's also known as the "secret spot", a left point break that fires over the reef - a 20 minute walk away. Cam is walking there now, in the pitch black morning, to check it. He suffers from extreme-surf-stoke. haha.

Gotta go stretch. Ciao.