So this one time..I got robbed..

Alright. Before I tell the story, promise you won't judge. I'll admit, our actions that led up to the robbery were stupid...but just go with me. I trust people…and now, I don't so much. The game plan for the weekend was to go to Puntarenas, spend the night, get on the fairy and go to the peninsula, and eventually make it to Tortuga Island; however, the events of the weekend went something like this:
On Saturday we got to Puntarenas at about 6:30. It was dark, but still early. We had made reservations with any hotels, so we were walking around trying to find one. As we were taking our time scouting out the options, we witnessed one robbery. So we decided that the next place we found would be good enough. We ended up paying $8 per person to stay in Las Cabezas (The Heads). It wasn’t 4 stars, but it was clean and safer than outside. While we were checking in, a man ran in and told the hotel keeper his son had just been robbed outside…Ok…good thing we were inside. We basically ran to a Chinese restaurant to eat dinner, and then went directly back and stayed in. Liza ended up talking to a man from L.A. who has travelled to C.R. a lot…and he had been robbed the day before in broad daylight with a knife on a crowded pier. Slightly disturbing…
On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early at 4 a.m. so we would make the 5 a.m. ferry. On the ferry we watched the sunrise over the islands and mountains. It was a beautiful morning…so far.
When we got to the peninsula, someone told us a bus would be coming around 7, so we ate breakfast and then waited for the bus. When the bus came, we asked if it went to Curú, which is where we wanted to go. However, it did not, so we didn’t board. It wasn’t until we looked at the map that we realized we should have gotten on that bus. Now since it was so early in the morning, there were no other tourists there; therefore, we figured there wouldn’t be another bus for quite sometime, and we didn’t want to waste anymore time waiting, so we decided to walk since it was only 6 km. So we began our journey.
As we were walking, we noticed a 20something old man following us. He seemed to be gaining on us, but we didn’t think anything of it. He eventually caught up to us just as we hit a fork in the road. He asked us if we were going to Curú, and we said yes. So he told us we needed to go left. Now left of us was a gravel road, but it looked well traveled, and right—the way we were going—was paved. However, he IS a native and he should know best. So we started walking on the road to the left. He walked a few steps and then turned and asked us if we wanted him to accompany us…and me…being the fool I am said “If you want to…” Dumb..dumb..dumb.
Anyway, we were walking down this road, and there were cars, and one person even waved to him and said “Hola Antonio” which happens to be the name he gave us. So obviously he didn’t lie about that. He was dressed in Billabong attire and told us he worked at the university. We walked a ways, chatting with him. I asked him if there were taxis and busses there, just in case this was the wrong way. And he said “Yes, many..” Right….
So eventually we ascended a pretty steep hill and I asked him if we were almost there and he smiled and said “yes.” When I got to the top of the hill, it was very beautiful, with a beautiful view of the ocean and jungle; however, it didn’t seem anywhere near a tourist area. Then my friend Liza and I turned around to see this guy with a knife to our friend Mari’s neck. He told us to throw all our money down, so Liza, Jared, Mari, and I all threw our money down on the ground. He also wanted digital cameras. Fortunately for me I didn’t take mine, but the others all threw their cameras on the ground. Then Liza and I were supposed to put the money and electronics in her purse. So we bent down and cleaned up the money, all while Mari had a knife to her throat.
When we got it all picked up he said “Don’t follow me,” and left. We all sat, stunned, when suddenly he came back and told us to empty out our bags. We emptied everything out and he took some more stuff, again said “Don’t follow me,” and left. Again, we sat, unmoving. He returned again and this time told us to take our clothes off. We took our clothes off and then he said “todo” (all). I said “desnudo?” (naked), and he said “sí.” So we took everything off, exposed to this sick, sick man. And he said “Don’t follow me” which at his point we wanted to laugh…did he really think we were going to follow him? And then he left. This time, we threw our cloths on and backed our bags. There was only one road down the mountain, and that was the road he was on. So, we decided to head into the jungle toward the ocean. We figured if we could get the ocean we would be able to work our way around the coast to the pier. Just so everyone is aware, there are poisonous snakes, spiders, and frogs in the tropical rainforest—and we were in shorts and sandals. There is only really one technique to go down a mountain…slide until you can either grab onto or hit a tree. So this is how we travelled. Eventually we found a place where water had washed away the rocks, and we knew that that would eventually lead us to more water, so we followed that. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, we found a trail. We decided to follow the trail, which was going well for us until we heard howler moneys…lot of them. So we decided to use the handy dandy “Lonely Planet” guide book for its reference about howler monkeys. It didn’t say anything about them being dangerous, and honestly, we decided a crazy dude with a knife was more dangerous than monkeys. So we kept going. At this point, a black, cat, jaguar type thing jumped across the trail. Liza basically ran us over trying to get away from it…but again. We decided to take our chances with the animals. So we all picked up some sticks and continued walking. The path led us around the howlers monkeys, and we eventually found a road. We were a little hesitant to follow a road that could eventually lead us to the crazy man again, but we took our chances. We found a payphone, and I called 911 twice; however, the call was cut short both times…cuz surprise…it was broken. Anyway, police eventually came to the beach, but didn’t seem to care much about our story. We eventually made it back to the ferry, back to San José, and back to our host families, alive. It was a dumb mistake, but a good lesson. And we were all just glad to be alive. It could’ve been so much worse. So I hope you enjoyed the story of “what I did this weekend.”

Week 2

(Pictures: top left-the family dog Mily and me; top right-host parents Alfredo and Ana; bottom-me and Poás Volcano)

Ok. So you would think it would be easy to update this when only a week or so has passed…but it’s not. So I’ll do my best to summarize, but before I summarize, I would like to make a comment. Even though as a foreigner you may tend to stick out, it is better to stick out that blend in. Why? Because when you blend it people start to talk to you…asking questions, making comments… And then you just have to stand there looking dumb because you don’t know what they said or attempt to say something other than sí. On Monday I was standing at a bus stop waiting and an older woman asked me something about a bus and where it came from…I couldn’t tell you exactly what she said. So I told her I was a foreigner and that I was waiting for a bus to go to Heredia and it came from that road and came by the stop that I was standing at. Then she said something about how kind I was and made the symbol of the cross over her chest. I’ve been living in San Pablo for what…11 days…and I’m giving bus route advice. Not good. I hope she found wherever she was looking for because I did hear her say something about a hospital…
Anyway, last week I did a few minor things…I saw National Treasure 2 in the theatre with Ana’s nieces (Lucia and Jimena). We also watched Stick It at Lucia’s house. Fortunately for me, both were in English with Spanish subtitles. My host mom, Ana, and her sister (Lucia’s mom) and her brother (Jimena’s dad), and her mother all live in the same gated area…like 15 feet apart.
I also played with Ismael, Ana’s grandson a few times this week. We played hide-and-seek and rock, paper, scissors, and animals. He really likes to play animals. For some reason he really likes me…and usually little kids stay away from me and I stay away from them and everybody’s happy. On Sunday I went with Ana, her daughter Christina, and Isamel to the town Atenas to a swimming pool. I played with Ismael, and then Ismael and I went for a 3 minute horseback ride around the trees near the pool. It was a nice day. And then Monday he came over for lunch and we played animals again. At lunch he informed everyone that I am the champion and therefore only he and I were going to play. He’s a funny little guy.
Anyway, the biggest events of the past week happened on Saturday. I went with the university to Café Britt (to learn how coffee was made and get free samples) and then to Poás Volcano. It was cloudy at the volcano at first, but then it cleared up long enough for me to get a few pictures. My first volcano!
Oh, and speaking of firsts, I experienced my first “temblor” which translated means earth tremor. It’s kind of like an earthquake except not destructive. Exciting…I know.
Oh, and on Saturday night I went to Palmares (google it). It’s the name of a city but it’s a pretty big celebration/fair thing. That was intense. However, I ended up getting beer thrown on me from a balcony while standing in line to use a pora-potty that I had to pay for…which smelled like diarrhea (by the way). So it was good to go and experience it, but I don’t need to go again.
Ok…one more thing, and then I swear I’ll be done. I asked Ana for my address so my family could send me stuff if they wanted to. This is what she wrote:
Ana I. Chacón Gutierréz
San Pablo de Heredia
Costado oeste de la Escuela
Costa Rica, A.C.
Interesting note: “Costado oeste de la Escuela” literally means “west side of the school.” They don’t have street names or signs here, and when they do have them they don’t use them. How does it work? I don’t know that it does. I’ve heard a lot of students saying they didn’t get mail that was sent to them. But I guess if it’s good enough for the Ticos (Costa Ricans), it’s good enough for me.
Oh, one final thing. I played soccer today, and I sucked.

The End!

Alright, I´m here...

So, I´m finally here in Costa Rica, and I´m all settled in. My host family is wonderful. My "mom" has been really good about taking me places and teaching my the bus routes. (Public transportation has been a big obstacle for me...I don´t even know how to ride a bus in English or take a cab in English...how am I supposed to do it in Spanish?) Anyway, I have gone to a mall in San José, and I´ve basically met the whole family. I know here sisters, mother, nieces, daughters, grandson, friends, and neighbors.
When I got here they showed me my room (I have my own bathroom by the way!) and I got settled in. On Saturday I had orientation at the school and met some other students who are studying here as well. On Saturday night I went with her to the neighbors for a Catholic gathering...can´t remember the name in Spanish. It´s Costa Rican tradition to gather as friends and family and pray to Mary for the safety of their children. On Sunday, we went to the mall, and then in the evening...another Catholic gathering thing with Ana´s (the mom) family. Monday night I played hide-and-seek with her 4-year old grandson Ismael. And tonight I´m going to the movies with her nieces, Lucia (14) and Jimena (14).
In between all this I´ve been reading, writing in my journal, talking to the family dog (Mily) in English, and trying to figure out where the hec I am and where I need to go to get to where I want to go. I live in San Pablo, which I believe is a suburb of Heredia. I walked to class today and it took me about 30 minutes.
So, I´m getting settled in and I think I know where I´m going now. So hopefully now I can make friends with some of the other students studying here at the Universidad Nacional (UNA).
About the most exciting thing that has happened so far was when I locked myself in the bathroom in my room. I had been in the bathroom for about 5 minutes, trying to escape when Ana yelled at me to shut the window in the bathroom so the wind didn´t blow the door at night. I yelled back at her (in Spanish) "I´m locked in the bathroom and can´t escape." So she must think I´m really wierd or something because she thought I was joking...I don´t know what kind of sick humor that would be. But anyway, after about 5 more minutes of trying to escape I yelled "Ana, I need help." And she yelled "Dios Mio!" (Oh my God), and ran to my aid. At first she told me I would have to sleep in the bathroom because we couldn´t get the door open, but after about 5 more minutes of trying, we succeeded and I was freed...what a day..
Oh, and one more interesting fact...the neighboor has a goat, geese, and turkeys...and I think by the end of the 4 months I will have killed them and fed them to her... So some advice, when you have nieghbors, don´t own such animals.
Well, I hope to have some more interesting stories soon!