Pura Vida

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Pura Vida!

Friday was another extremely early morning- 5 A.M to be exact. Luckly for me Liz's generous cousin didn't need too much persuading to drive me to the airport. I'm grateful for his kindness; the thought of using public transportation in El Salvador alone is terrifying. The pit in my stomach disappeared after he volunteered. I arrived at the airport at 6 A.M. Quickly, I checked my bag and headed through security and immigration. Lucky for me, it was essential for my pack to be searched. There they found a small cosmetic scissor, my inhaler, and epipen; all forbidden items. I was at peace with letting the scissor go, however, I was unwilling to let the inhaler and pen be discarded. I've never used the epipen before but the idea of having my food contaminated with shellfish and being unprepared was not a chance I was willing to take. With the limited polite Spanish that I know, I was able to persuade security to allow me to keep my inhaler and pen. I think the universal sign for death was what did it. I was able to portray without it I may die, which is a little overaggerated but I did get to keep them both. I did promise not to use it to gauge passengers eyes with the epipen (which sounds totally like something I would do)! After, the forty five minute debacle with security, I arrived at my gate at the time of boarding. Fortunately, I had two peaceful flights to Costa Rica where I caught up on my reading.

I arrived an hour and a half before Amy. I patiently waited her arrival at the baggage claim in the San Jose airport. Amy finally strutted down, got her suitcase, and the second half of my Central America adventure was underway. A crazy Tico overcharged us for our ride to Tranquilo Backpackers where we resided (beginning at 7 P.M because Amy was too tired to function from her travel) for the night. We were greeted by a slimy cat and many unbathed foreigners. Who could blame them? The public shower situation was not very pleasant. Needless to say, we fit right in. With the help of Lonely Planet, the Internet, and our new friend Diego (friendly hotel staff) we proceded to book our excursion to the coast before plopping in what appeared to be a small maintenance closet with bunk beds for our night sleep. Obviously it was necessary for me to hang my bug net for security. Our room was placed beside the main party area making for a nice sound sleep and a wonderful 5:30 A.M. wake- up.

Diego, our friendly hotel staff, assured us that there was a bus to Playa Coco at 6 A.M, which Amy and I jumped on because we wanted to be at the beach ASAP and out of the city. We arrived at the bus station to learn that the ride was in fact at 8 A.M. We waited for our five hour five dollar trip to the playa. Sixty plus Ticos, Amy and I boarded the bus; the minute we sat down we felt the urge to shower. The bus was visibly filled with dirt, grime, sweat, and germs. It probably could have used a good Armoral twenty years prior. (I believe trips like these is what makes my immune system so strong). Of course, there was no a/c but a nice breeze flowed through the windows, along with various foul smells. When we entered Liberia (a town along our journey) we witnessed authentic cowboys on horseback infront of the Cinnabon and Burger King. I expect they go through the drive-thru on their caballos.

We arrived at Playa Del Coco and quicky hailed a cab to our hotel, Villa de los Suenos, which is located ten minutes north on Playa Hermosa. Rapidly, we changed into our swimsuits and headed down the dirt path to the beach. We enjoyed daqiuiris, coladas, and reading. After a few hours, we returned to the hotel to take a dip in the pool, plan the next day's trip, and enjoy the ambience with a glass of wine in hand. A night of salsa dancing awaits.

Let's see where Lonely Planet leads us. Stay tuned...

Christina and Amy

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Comments

[Lizette Howard]

I'm so glad you got to CR okay. I miss you. Have fun!

[Hanna]

Next year I'm coming with!