Visitors!

You know what’s awesome? Beach weekends with your family, where you don’t have to take the bus and you get to take HOT Showers. That’s right boys and girls, my Mom and Aunt took the plunge and came to visit me in Costa Rica. They were big hits at the escuela El Vergel. I am pretty sure that my students wanted me to go back to the States and have them stay. While here they bought me a bike and a fan for the sweltering heat that seems to dominate my room. They also provided the school with a ton of new markers, books, jump ropes, lego’s and other goodies. Not to mention the host of delicious food products they brought me from fine quality stores like Trader Joes.
I am sure that I am going to have a terrible crash soon, because they have left and I lived in complete glory for a few days, but until then, I am pretty satisfied.
They arrived on Thursday and the bus that I was supposed to take to Palmar was a whopping 40 minutes late (which, by the way, still qualifies as “on time” in Costa Rica). When I finally got to Palmar Norte I had to take a Taxi to the airport and there standing next to their rental car, were my Mom and my Auntie Carolyn. We went to meet my host family and see my village. I think they were as surprised as I was upon first sight of El Vergel, which hardly qualifies as a town by any standards I had previously known.
We then went on a bit of a wild goose chase in search of hotels and rental homes that my Aunt Carolyn had found online. Unfortunately, since Costa Rica has no addresses and directions are a little less than helpful, we were slightly less successful than we would have liked. The hotel we settled for was lovely and not far from Domical. It had a beach, a pool and air conditioning, how great is that?
On Friday, my family helped me teach my classes in the morning, then we went to visit Mikki in Rey Curre, who was having a bad day, but which we were able to remedy with an unexpected and unannounced visit of excessively happy gringos. Mom, Carolyn and I then got back in the car and started driving out to Dominical. We were about halfway there when we realized how hungry we were. As such, we found it appropriate to load up on a delicious lunch of Burgers and fries at “Andy’s Burger Shack” a hole in the wall on the side of the coast highway that I will absolutely be visiting when the opportunity arises again.
Unfortunately, our first hotel did not have television and so at 8:00 we found ourselves scrambling around Dominical looking for a bar where I could watch La Hija Del Mariachi. I know, it seems a bit absurd, but you should all realize that this is the LAST WEEK of La Hija, so I really can’t miss anything. We finally found a bar and were sitting drinking Imperial and watching the Novella in time for the first commercial break. What can I say? My Mom’s a champ and wouldn’t give up until I had La Hija.
Saturday was fantastic in the sense that I sat in a hammock and laid by the pool for practically the whole day. I also got to talk to the one and only Katie Perkins, which was pretty sweet. Back at the hotel, I soaked up the joys of iTunes, John Legend, Rilo Kiley and wireless internet. Riveting, I know. It was however the first time in 13 years that I didn’t talk to my dear friend Alison Buckland on her birthday. Sunday included more of the same and some of the best food I have had since my arrival in Costa Rica.
My Mom and Carolyn headed back to the states on Tuesday, it was sad to part, but they’ll be back. They always come back. I’ve got four days of La Hija to look forward to and then I am sure I’ll find something to keep myself occupied. Who knows, I might even take to finishing the books.
Pura Vida guys. Oh, and Alison, if you are reading this HAPPY BIRTHDAY!