Withering

Here is how this post came to be:  I got cleared by the doctor today!  My platelets are finally on the rise.  This means I am out of the danger zone, but I am still quite tired.  All of this time spent laying in bed has given me a lot of time to think, it has actually been kind of difficult.  When not working on my determined goal of learning Spanish fluently, I struggle with being here.  Reading all of my amazing adventure posts, that may be difficult to imagine, but its true.  I was laying on my bed looking at my guitar case.  Before I left I painted it a little (disfigured it as Dad said) and wrote the words "Whose leaves do not wither" from the Psalm about the tree planted by the River.  I wanted to be that tree.  I have felt withered lately, not thriving, but surviving.  I got up to take a picture of the case and to tell you all about this, and when I went to put the pictures on my computer I found the pictures from Tori and I's Nigella Lawson baking date.  My spirits were lifted a little.  I've not been abandoned here.  The refreshing respiration in my life may be whispers, but they are there, and I'll make it.  

So here she is:  my breathe of fresh air of late:  Tori, and the caramel croissant pudding that we made for supper.  For all of the beautiful places I have seen, all of the grand adventures I've been privileged to experience, none of it compares to a simple dinner with a new friend and deep connective conversation.  I am sure that people are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.  

Palabra del Dia: Dengue

Well, 2 hours in the clinic and 1 blood test later proved that I had a case for feeling as icky as I have for the past four days.  I have Dengue Fever.  It sounds exotic...but it feels just plain awful.

every good gift Part 2--The Adventures

Well, after a very rough night and day I am feeling well enough to sit up, which is good, because I felt like I wasted an entire day.

So, to pick up where we left off.  I got myself ready to go white water rafting, and then I waited...at about 8:15 I began to get more than nervous.  There is Tico time...and then there is Tico time.  I asked the front desk what I should do, and they called Iguana Tours for me.  Sure enough, worst fear realized:  they didn't have a reservation for me.  My heart sunk.  The tour ends at 3, and I had to check out of my room tomorrow at 11, so there was no way I could just go tomorrow.  I expressed this to the front desk, and here is an amazingly good gift:  she said that she could keep my bags behind the front desk for me and then open up a room for me to shower and change tomorrow.  Not only that, but she called them personally and made a reservation for me.  She really didn't have to do that for me, but she did, and I was exceedingly grateful.  Beyond that she said I really should go see the national park and so she called a taxi for me.

Yes, it was extremely hot and we were quite sweaty.

The taxi cost $10, as did a ticket into the national park.  All of my money.  Oh dear, there goes my plan of buying cheap food in town.  Oh well.  In the national park I ran into the couple from Spain!  I can't believe the timing of that.  They asked me if I would walk around with them!  So I spent the whole day with them, speaking Spanish and NOT being alone.  So kind.


Their names are Maria Angelina (Angie) and Marcos.  I really can't believe that they wanted me to spend all day with them, but I'm not going to knock it.  The national park had some lovely beaches in it.  If I hadn't been dressed to go white water rafting I wouldn't have been wearing my bathing suite.  Another little kindness.

 
Every once and a while I have to pinch myself....I'm actually here, in Costa Rica, and it can be so exotic.  I mean, look at this punk tree, looks like its wearing a bunch of spiky bracelets.

 There were places that made me feel like I was stepping into the lives of the Swiss Family Robinson.

 We went on a long trail hike, and there were look out points every so often.  Isn't this just enchanting?

 Look!  A sloth!  It had a baby on its tummy, but I never got a good picture of that.

This beach made me feel like I should be hiding my vast treasure.  Arg matey.

The next day adventure was the white water rafting.  I don't have any pictures of that, because as cool as it was I wasn't willing to pay $40 dollars for the CD of pictures.  Our guide Juan Jose was fabulous.  He really knew what he was doing and he made the trip really fun for us :)  I was with a couple from Miami, he was as Italian as they come and she was sweet and quite.  I had a lot of fun with them.  I was the only non couple out of all of the three boats that were with our group...if I had a dime for every time during this entire vacation that someone asked me where my husband was I could have paid for the whole trip.

When I got back to the hotel I rushed around to get ready because Juan Jose very kindly was waiting with the car for me (I didn't have enough money to pay for a taxi!).  Yet another kindness.  He took me all the way to the bus station for free.  After waiting for 2 hours for the bus to leave and then riding 4 hours I was ready to be home.  As soon as I got off the bus in Puntarenas it started pouring down rain.  By the time I walked the 2 miles from the station to my house I was soaked.  A nice looking man pulled his car over and asked if I wanted a ride....of COURSE I wanted a ride.  I was exhausted and wet, but he was a stranger, and I dont get into cars with strangers.  My bedroom was such a welcomed site...until I saw the cockroach on my pillow.  A far cry from the 5 star hotel I had just left.  Learning to be content. 

"every good gift...Part 1--The Hotel

My trip to Manuel Antonio certainly falls squarely under this heading.  I was awarded a travel grant that allowed me to take a trip on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to Manuel Antonio, home of the national park and the most exotic, extravagant hotel I have ever stayed in.  Good gifts.  As part of my proposal I went white water rafting down the Savegre river.  Amazingly fun.  Lets start from the begging though shall we?  And pictures, there should be pictures.

So, at 7:45 in the morning I went to the bus stop to catch the 8:00 bus to Quepos...only to find that the bus left at 9:30.  Had I lived closer than a 30 min. walk I would have gone home..as it was I sat on a bench and people-watched.  Just before boarding I met a couple from Spain...their accents gave them away immediately.  We exchanged pleasantries but did not end up sitting together on the bus.  I wish we would have, I sat in between a screaming 3 year old/his frustrated mother and a man that gave off vibes that I elected to ignore since I was traveling alone.  4 hours later we arrived at Quepos where I inquired as to my next move and consequently boarded a smaller bus that would take me to Manuel Antonio.  I was on edge the entire bus ride, because I had asked in Spanish, and while I had been 100% sure I understood the directions...well you know what worry is like as a bus full of chattering Costa Ricans goes whirring around curves and up mountain sides that certainly seem to be heading into the middle of nowhere.  As it turns out, I had cause to be concerned.  30 minutes into this short ride the scenery began to look familiar.  A quick look around the bus confirmed that all the original passengers had departed.  I was going on round 2 of this bus route.  I asked the driver where my hotel was and he told me the closest he could get was to the end of the road.  No problem.  A brisk 3 mile walk in the 90+ degree weather later and I arrived at the hotel.  Rumpled and drenched in sweat I certainly did not feel like the crisp elite beaming-with-joy honeymoon crowd that this hotel catered to.  Nevertheless I am sure no guest had ever been happier to arrive.  My room took my breath away.  The absolute cleanliness, the air conditioning, the spacious elegant design, the hot tub...all of it brought me near to tears.  I have to warn you, the pictures provide a drastic reductionism of the grandeur.

...yes I brought Chippy.  It is a romantic honeymoon suite...I couldn't face it alone.  The next picture however is more accurate

Reality:  Not two loving swans, but one faceplanted on the bed while a chipmunk that belongs in a crib rather than on a fluffy white bed surrounded by decorator pillows looks on, gleeful for at his good fortune.

Couples massage tables.

Jacuzzi! 

A sunset view

 So I've arrived.  Disgusting as I was I immidiately drew a bubble bath...which I now believe to be a practiced art.  I need more practice.  Long story short I ended up bailing bubbles like my life depended on it to stop the growing mounds from extinguishing my relaxing spa candles.  The bathroom looked like the floor of the Abominable Ssnowman's favorite barber shop. 

Next good gift:  Massage and facial in the most relaxing alcove of a room that you can imagine.  Cherry on top:  the massage oil was jasmine scented.

Keep heaping on the presents:  the hotel restaurant was offering a 50% discount during my entire stay.  Which is good because it cost $10 to get into town to buy food.  The restaurant was on a roofed patio that hung out over the edge of the rainforest.  The tables and chairs were draped in elegant white clothes with burgundy accents and the only light came from the candles on the table and soft can lights above.  It was the type of fancy that made me cut each bite in a small lady like portion that dad would be proud of.    The waiter took pity on me...the only non lovebird in the room...and spent a lot of time talking to me at my table while I waited on my food.  Not to be too academic but this entire trip was amazing for getting to practice Spanish.  Zero English the whole time.

After the best night's sleep I have had since coming to Costa Rica I woke up in a cloud of contentment and went down to enjoy the free breakfast.  It was not only a luscious buffet but also your choice of a menu breakfast.  Pampered beyond belief.  And I got to eat pancakes!  Real pancakes with maple syrup.  Its really the little things.

 This is where I will leave you for now...soaking in luxury.  I'll be back to finish it off with Part 2--The Adventures.