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.