The Beach House

Last night, Amy and I went on an adventure with Jose David and Marco (the two cousins who live with us) for a late night snack. They are great company. All Jose David wants to do is learn English, and all Marco wants to do is pretend he doesn't understand as much English as he really does. He's picked up on a lot of our girly gossip that way.

We spent the rest of the night trying to teach Jose David English. I forgot how difficult of a language it is. We break all of our rules. I tried teaching Brandon how to convert the metric system to our system so he could calculate how tall he is. He's 5'7", if you were wondering.

I woke up in the middle of the night sick again. It's getting tiresome, but Patri made me my special tea and a hot vegetable soup. I spent the morning between the bathroom and the bedroom, but I finally feel a lot better. I met up with Amy and Natalie for lunch at a local outdoor restaurant. I can't remember the name right now, but they have guacamole (translation: I will be going back).

Afterwards, Amy, Natalie and I went exploring in Zapote. I feel like I'm starting to gain a better sense of my surroundings, which I love. We found Pali, a little discount supermarket, and bought some snacks for our weekend getaway. We had fun dancing up and down the aisles while Latin music played (similar to elevator music, but so much better!). I do miss Publix, though. There's a market here called Auto Mercado that brings in a lot of food from the United States. I want to go there soon. I miss peanut butter and regularly sized apples and baby carrots and...I'll stop there.

It's been pouring all afternoon, so I took advantage of my downtime and finished the book I've been reading every night. The Beach House, by Georgia Brockoven, is about four different families who rent/live in the same beach house different months out of the year. It was a little corny and highly predictable, but it kept me interested until the picture perfect ending. I recommend it if you're looking for an easy mindless read.

Tonight, we have some sort of planned event at a hotel. I think it's just dinner and a guest speaker, but I'm not looking forward to venturing out in this weather. Amy mentioned possibly checking out the downtown nightlife afterward. We've been meaning to go to Castro's since we got here. Castro's has a reputation for great ambiance and even better dancing. I want to go!

Patri was telling us today how a friend of hers just had breast implants and liposuction. Joaquin was telling me that more and more people from the United States have been coming to Costa Rica for plastic surgery and other medical treatments. Apparently, the medical care is the same quality, but the costs are much less. Piercings and tattoos are also significantly less here ($5 for any hole in your ear). It's almost too cheap to resist...just kidding! Kind of.

Tomorrow we are going to Cahuita, a tiny Carribean beach town in Limon. I am so excited! We're staying in our own little beach house that's really more like a bungalow, and going to the beach to snorkel and swim. We booked our own bus to chauffeur us around for the whole weekend, too. I'm praying for good weather.

Off to hail a cab into the city...

Pura Vida,
Lauren