Somebody Told Me There Were Cherry Blue Skies

Greeting again from the Pura Vida. Chances are over the next month you won’t be hearing much from me because I move to my site this weekend. Granted, I might find myself desperately bored in the Internet café a couple of times a week, so who knows. I have lost all track of time and space. I can’t believe that I have been here for less than a month. I have begun to truly adjust to the Pura Vida. I don’t mind that it takes 2 hours to eat lunch because the service is so slow. I am beginning to find hour long bus rides short if not pleasant. I still miss the comforts of home and am desperate for new music and my The Office DVD’s, but everything has fallen into place. Now, it’s time to pick up and start something entirely new. My town is still almost a joke to me. I can’t believe that there is no public phone. Luckily my host brother has a cell so I can receive phone calls from all of you fine people out there. I don’t understand how a town of 100 people can have 60 students in the 1st through 6th grades, but I am sure I will figure it out when I get there. I am going to be really sad to leave my group when the time comes. I really enjoy spending time with everyone. Having a built in social network is like being in college and I love it. We all went to the Caribbean this weekend. We got a flat tire on our private bus in the middle of the night on the way there, which felt considerably less than safe, but I don’t know that I have ever seen a sky so beautiful or so filled with stars. I experienced the Gulf of Mexico for the first time; I saw my first black sand beach and my first wild monkey. So, that was pretty cool. I also spent about 10 hours of the weekend in a hammock listening to my IPod and living the dream. If that’s how I get to spend my free time in Costa Rica over the next 11 months, I will never complain. I have been writing the books a lot, which is great. I think that that will continue as my free time increases exponentially.
I met this guy named Jim on Monday who was a volunteer here last year. He was one of the volunteer at Manuel Antonio, which is Jack and Kristi’s site. I thought he was very cool. He grew up in Colorado and went to Boulder for engineering. He lived in Philadelphia, Taos, San Diego, Australia and of course Costa Rica. Also, a couple years ago, he and one of his friends bought a van in Paris and drove down to Morocco with a guitar a surfboard, skis, a couple changes of clothes and basically nothing else. I’m definitely not enough of a hippy to pull that off, but I have a lot of respect for him. I like being at the point of my life where I am constantly meeting people who can change my perspective. Here is a guy who had never traveled before he was 17 and now is completely unafraid of experiencing new things. He has headed back to the states so I don’t get to pick his brain anymore, but I’m sure that being the super volunteer he was I could get in touch with him if I really needed.
I am beginning to struggle with my diet here. I am one of the few kids who hasn’t been sick, but I am generally hungry after all meals, even if I clear my plate. I am getting pretty desperate for animal protein. I keep sneaking away for snacks of grilled chicken in between meals. I have no idea what I am going to do in El Vergel with Rice and Beans three times a day. I think that there are going to be a lot of Luna Bars and Tuna Sandwiches in my future. I do however, love gallopinto which is rice and beans mixed together, most regularly seen at breakfast. I like mine coupled with scrambled eggs and bread. That is a breakfast that I am probably going to keep making upon my return. It really fills you up for the day. El Vergel is a big fruit town and so I will be able to get a lot more vitamins in my diet once I arrive there, which should be good. I can’t wait for mangoes and pineapple.
Our group had salsa lessons a couple of days ago, which was entertaining as I am sure you can imagine. I am not nearly as good of a dancer as I would like to think, but that doesn’t actually surprise me. It was a good time and now I have the basic steps for the festival a town away from me next weekend. Not much has been going on in these parts. The weather is perfect everyday and I haven’t been followed by any crazy dogs in about a week. I am going to compile a list of things that I need from the states once I get into El Vergel. Then I will post it here along with my mailing address and information on how to send me packages. (There are no streets or real addresses here so it can get to be complicated.) Okay guys. I love you all. Thanks for reading. Shoot me an email and think of me if you read good books. I am going to need a lot of personal reading material over the next 11 months.