Day Twenty One - Playing the Waiting Game

The sky was crying this morning - I think it knew that we were leaving. Then again, it is the rainy season in Costa Rica, but I do like it when things get to be poetic like that.

We ate our last breakfast with Ana Patricia – of course it was gallo pinto. She was so excited to tell us about her trip to San Jose and being on TV. I showed her the video we took of the show and she was just glowing. Although, she was happy to recount her time on TV, it seemed that there might have been a tear in her eye. We definitely made a very strong connection with our host parents – a lot deeper than I think most relationships get. Before we left, we ran across the street to say good bye to Tomas as well. He was working in the morning and was happy that we came to have one last good bye. We will definitely have to stay in contact with them.

Around 7 o’clock, our bus arrived and we started our trip to Manuel Antonio. Manuel Antonio is one of the first national parks of Costa Rica and it is located on the southern coast about halfway through the country. Since we were coming down from the mountains, we knew it would take a while to reach the shore, but I don’t think we were prepared for how long the trip was going to actually be. More on that later.

After driving for a couple hours, we made a stop, our first of many, to pick up the rest of our exploration party. Six students from Playa Flamingo joined us as we made our journey to the national park. Kel and I were happy to see some familiar faces waiting to get picked up. Ted, one of the first people we met in Costa Rica, and a couple others from our previous stay in Heredia hopped on the bus and we were off.

Remember how I said we were prepared for a long journey? Well, here’s the part where it gets really long. About an hour after picking Ted and the rest of our party up, we stopped again for breakfast at the equivalent of a truck stop. We munched on gallo pinto again, and after an hour, we cruised away. An hour later, our driver wanted a smoke…so we stopped again. 45 minutes later someone wanted to take a photo of the first sight of the coastline…so we stopped again.

About three random stops later, we made it to Quepos, the town near the park where we would be staying. We checked in the hotel and our guide decided it was time for lunch. We hit up this little chicken joint where Kelly and I shared some nachos. I found some mamon chino at a little fruit stand near the restaurant and needless to say I was satisfied. We left and went back to the hotel one last time so people could change into beach clothes before we made our way to the hike and beach in Manuel Antonio Park.

That is where we thought we were going. By the time we all loaded up and made it to the park, it was about 3 o’clock. Funny story – the park closes at 4. And when our guide tried to pay our entrance with 100 dollar bills, the cashier said he couldn’t take them. So the trip that we paid for – to visit the national park – was not going as planned. We headed to the other beach that was not as secluded and didn’t include a hike. And to top it all off, the rain began. I still made my way into the ocean, but sadly, no one else would come.

In fact, they thought it a better idea to find a bar to try and wait out the rain. We found a place, ordered drinks and started to play cards. Turns out, Costa Rica has some pretty crazy rules when it comes to playing blackjack. One of my favorites is that if you get a face card and a two, it equals 20.5. Don’t ask me how that math works, but it helped me beat the dealer a few times. Sadly, the rain didn’t stop, but we still had fun. There’s that saying about turning lemons into lemonade, but I think it works better when you take coconuts and turn them into pina coladas.

We headed back to hotel and decided to go swimming in the rain. The water was chilly, but we shared some wine to celebrate one of our group member’s birthday – so we stayed warm. After the swim, we relaxed until we left for dinner. We headed back to Quepos because it is less expensive than around Manuel Antonio. We found a little Itallian place that had moderately priced food and live music. The meal would have been great, but it took three hours to complete. I guess today was just a day of waiting for us. Tico time does exist, we better get used to it.

After dinner, a few of us got together on the patio in Ted’s room for more cards and drinks. It was really nice to lay low and socialize with people. I dazzled with a few of my magic tricks and we all shared some really great stories. For the most part, there are really good people studying at our school. They all have very different backgrounds, but they all seem fairly genuine…even Ted. Kel and I both hope to stay in contact with many of them. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a CPI reunion.

Much love,

Casey