San Jose: White Water Rafting & Jazz Cafe

The morning started off pretty rough with only getting 4.5 hours of sleep. I was really tired and just wanted to get some more sleep. we get into the bus that is supposed to take us to the white water rafting site and I just fall straight asleep. I slept the entire way and wake up to where we are supposed to eat breakfast. Breakfast is pretty standard... fruit, rice & beans, eggs, and coffee. We eat and then get ready to go. We get back into the bus and head for about another hour to the actual place we were going to raft - the Rio Pacuare.

While on the way Daniel our car guide talks to us about what we need to do while in the raft. There will be a guide with us and he will let us know when to paddle, stop paddling, reverse paddle, etc. He explains what to do in case somebody falls out and then he starts to tell us about the crocodile in the river. I immediately get this horrible look on my face and am considering going back. He then begins to describe what to do when a crocodile starts to come towards you and its all over for me... I have now made up my mind to DEFINITELY go back. I ask him if this is real and he kind of hesitates and we all realize he is kidding... haha.... what a relief. I was about to be a little sissy and not get in the water.

We get to the river and start to pick out our life jackets, helmets, and paddles while putting on lots of sunscreen. We then load up into our rafts and our river guide - Kenneth shows us exactly how to paddle and tries to get us to practice paddling. I have no arm strength so paddling is a little difficult, especially because Geoff made me and him the captains. ha! We practice a bit and get a little better at it and then sit there for like 20 minutes just cooking in the heat. FINALLY we get to start moving down the river and it gets a little easier to paddle.

The easier rapids are the ones we start with and paddling is not difficult at all... I can just already tell that I will probably have a pink nose and cheeks by the end of this and I am going to have some blisters on my right paddle hand. While we are floating/paddling down the river we all try and look around us and are just amazed. (a little too amazed because we don't hear him say paddle or stop a couple of times) It seriously looks like we are in Jurassic Park. There are cliffs on both sides of us that are just GREEN. I mean its just lush forest covering the cliffs. There are also random little waterfalls scattered throughout the green. I half expected a pterodactyl to fly over us like in Jurassic Park 3. I seriously was in awe of the scenery around us. It just made me think of how much I love Costa Rica and what it has to offer.

As we rode down the river, Kenneth would warn us when a number 4 rapid was coming up and those were definitely the best. On most of them we got down and just rode with the current. It was soooo fun!! One time he even let us all crowd into the back of the raft and we went faster down the rapid. Kenneth was just all around amazing. I was seriously dumbfounded at how well he knew the rapids. I know that this was his job, but still. He knew exactly when to let us get out and swim or pile into the back of the raft and he also knew when to tell us to get back into position. I mean it was amazing. His timing was on point. It made the trip altogether more fun and exciting!

Around 12 we all started to ask about lunch. We were all pretty hungry and tired from paddling for about an hour and half through hard-core rapids. Well were we in for at treat. We pull over off of the river and climb a little cliff up to a pavilion, there were probably about 10 rafts that all pulled over. The guides started lugging these huge blue bins up the cliff and they set them near the table under the pavilion. All of a sudden pounds and pounds of food started to appear on the table. Bread, lettuce, tomatoes, tortillas, salsa, tortilla chips, beans, onions, jalapenos, pineapples, watermelon, lunch meat... I mean it was a lot. Just as soon as the food appeared out of these bins, the guides started chopping up the vegetables and fruits like they were sous chefs. I mean just going at it. If I had not already thought our guide was pretty attractive... seeing him there chopping up tomatoes and onions was a definite turn on. It was just ridiculous. I could not stop looking at them with a flabbergasted look. No more than 20 minutes later we were eating lunch. It was delicious... we made our own burritos or sandwiches and then had cut up pineapple or watermelon for dessert. They even had a type of peach tea for us to drink. It was pretty close to what I imagine heaven being like.

About 30-40 minutes later we were back in our rafts paddling the last half of the river. This was definitely my most favorite day of the entire trip. Beautiful scenery, scrumptious food, friendly people, and even a workout.

We got off of our raft and were about to put up our jackets and helmets when we saw a sloth! No sooner had we seen the sloth when we realized it had a baby on its stomach!! It was adorable and such a shocking experience to see one so close. A great end to the river excursion.

We headed back to Hotel Don Carlos to get ready for our night out.

After we were all ready we had no idea where we were eating but Patricia had this great place picked out. We get there and the place is breath-taking. Not only does the restaurant look like this expensive 5-star place, but the view is of the entire city of San Jose. We all tried to get a picture of the scene but no camera could capture it. I had chill bumps from how alarmingly stunning the view was. We were on the side of the mountain staring at a city of lights. Magnificent.

Unfortunately Katy was not feeling well and some of the girls were really tired so Jimmy, our bus driver, took them home and the rest of us went to Jazz Cafe Ezcazu. It was not as fun as the night before but it was still fun. I got pretty drunk and tried to dance with Geoff.... it didn't quite work haha. We left after about an hour and then we all shared a bottle of wine Quint had given to Spencer and Aurora. By far the greatest day of the trip.

San Jose: Casa Franco, Tin Jo, & Jazz Cafe

So today we went to this poet's house... her name is Luisiana Naranjo. She turned her grandparents house into a Bed and Breakfast and lives in the house in the back. The bed and breakfast was absolutely adorable and decorated very well. The "living room" had records posted up on one of the walls and then another wall had a different type of wallpaper with pictures of famous people such as Marilyn Monroe. We began our visit with a talk from a famous author, Daniel Gallegos. He talked to us about the history of literature in Costa Rica and discussed the influence of certain writers. It was a very interesting topic and he ended the session with a little bit about himself. It was great in that he at first was going to be a lawyer because it was just a better choice as a career, but in the end he realized being happy is better than just becoming something for the money. That is why he eventually became a writer. Daniel told us to just become what we want to be deep down, because otherwise we wont truly be happy.

After eating lunch we heard Luisiana Naranjo read a couple of her poems. Even though she could only read them in Spanish it was still amazing. Her facial expressions and the inflections in her voice made the foreign language almost understandable. I thought she was great at reading her poetry and you could just see and hear the passion. I loved it. I did not mind listening to her read in Spanish. Unfortunately she was on her way to Monteverde so she could only read a few.

We left Casa Franco and headed for Moravia to shop! It was pretty much a strip of little souvenir shops and I got a couple of cute things. I didn't want to get too many things though because I didn't want to get cheated out of my money and buy jacked-up priced guatemalan made souvenirs.

While waiting for everyone to finish souvenir shopping Patricia called the hotel and asked them to warm up the jacuzzi for us! So when we got back there was a hot jacuzzi waiting for us:) Katy, Cassie, AJ, Geoff, and I went to the bar and got a drink and then got into the jacuzzi! It was a pretty tiny little jacuzzi but we all fit nicely and it was sooo warm and comforting on my back. It was quite amazing. We then decided to get into the pool and try to stand the freezing water... that lasted about 5 minutes and then we all got back into the jacuzzi. Around 5:30 we all decided to go get ready for Tin Jo - the local asian restaurant.

We arrived at Tin Jo and the place was definitely intriguing to say the least. It was an asian restaurant but it had random Native American and South American relics randomly placed. I guess its because we were in Costa Rica? I have noticed that Costa Ricans love to combine their culture with other cultures... in food, decorations, architecture... just everywhere. The restaurant was still beautiful, the decorations just didn't exactly match the food that was being prepared in the back.

As far as how great the food was.. there was absolutely no question. I got this amazing pineapple/coconut shrimp that was a bit spicy with jasmine rice and it was exquisite. It was served in an actual half of a pineapple and had basil leaves in it and was just YUM. The only thing I would have complained about is that I wish there would have been more. Definitely the best meal of the trip. It was weird to in that I would have never thought an asian restaurant in Costa Rica would be the best asian restaurant food I have ever had but it was. Way better than their take on Italian food. I even tried this ginger & lemongrass drink that tasted very gingery... just how I like it. OH AJ and I also shared a salmon sushi roll that was easily at the top of my list for best sushi I have had. The rice had crunchy sesame seeds and maybe some crumbs in it that added a little crunch to every bite. It was a perfect balance.

After a splendid dinner we headed for the Jazz Cafe San Pedro. We were about to see Lucho Calavera y la Canalla perform. We had no idea what treat was in store for us. When the band first started playing I thought everyone was on stage but then this guy in a pink zebra-striped pimp outfit runs on stage with two scantily dressed women. The women get on both sides and dance along to a couple of songs while the lead singer belts out crazy sounds and dances around like a mad man. This is all in VERY good taste. It just got the crowd rowled up more and everybody got more and more loose as they continued on into their set. They would get the audience to sing with them and they even did a shout out to the UGA chicas!! We danced soo much and just had a fantastic time. The band was incredible. I really wish they would come to Athens. We left around midnight and headed home because we had to be up in about 5 hours.

San Jose: Alejandro Tossati & Rapsodia

We started the day out with breakfast at the hotel. It was pretty much the same type of food that we had been eating at the ecolodge with the addition of cereal. Afterwards we took a bus to the post office and began our walking tour with Alejandro Tossati. This guy was amazing. He knew so much about San Jose, and even more interesting information about things that most people are not told. We learned about the history of San jose and how they like to erase their history and start a new, even though that is not necessarily the best thing for their country. We also learned about the different types of architecture in San Jose such as the spanish influence, the german influence, and the italian influence. The german buildings were not that pretty at all, but the other two influences made GORGEOUS buildings such as the National Theatre. We walked around and stopped at a food stand on the corner of one of the streets and had some coconut water from a young, fresh coconut. It was delicious! The guy just cut it open and we stuck a straw in it and drank. We also tried this other fruit that was very mushy and felt weird on my tongue so I did not go back and buy more. It opened up like a grape but then inside was this orangey gooey fruit with a huge seed inside of it. We then tried on some dresses at a local boutique and although I found a really cute one - it was a bit too dressy for my taste at the time. I wanted more casual and flowy dresses. Afterwards we walked around a bit more and he showed us the place where the presidential candidates give their speeches right before the elections. We also walked through the ministry of culture and saw a small art collection inside that was very interesting. Alejandro even showed me a painting a chinese man did that was very interesting and modern. He said he showed it to me because this particular chinese man always went to Korea and had very good relations with the Koreans. This art exhibit was very interesting because of the different types of art it had... for example a picture of a giant supermodel Barbie, an assortment of red-painted shoes, a huge watercolor painting, etc. It was all very abstract - some interestingly beautiful and some just a bit freaky.

Afterwards we went to lunch at the National Theatre and it was okay... we had lasagna... but there was this soup that we had that is only available in Costa Rica because of where the plant grows and it was DELICIOUS. It tasted kind of like twice-baked potato soup from ABC BUT it had this extra flavor that added so much to it. I mean I had to stop eating it and save some for the rest of the table. The fruit is called pejibaye and is a relative of the coconut, but tastes NOTHING like it. It seriously was the best soup I have ever tasted. The rest of the meal did not compare. We all finished up eating (including these little chocolate desserts) and then headed upstairs so Alejandro could tell us a story. This was not just any normal story... he acted out all of the parts and was amazing. I mean I am jealous of his child because she is going to be able to have him tell her these stories all the time. It was a story that was told by one of the native groups of Costa Rica about the creation of the world. I mean he was sooo animated and really brought the story to life. I probably could have sat there and listened to him tell about 20 more of those stories. Unfortunately though he had to go home and take care of his 1 month old baby.

The next part of our tour that day was at the Editus Academy of Music. We met a 3 time Grammy percussionist and listened to him speak about the way he feels about music and also were able to play with some of the instruments. There were some really interesting ones like this big ceramic "pot" that was shaped like a bouba and had a hole where you could place your hand and it made very oceanic noises. One of the things he talked about was that there were recordings of certain vibrations that were supposed to be representative of the planets and if you listened to them then you would feel that way. For example, the planet venus' vibrations would make you feel in love or amorous. It was a very interesting seminar and you could tell just from him playing the instruments for like 1 minute how passionate he was about the instruments and the vibrations he made. Soo.. while we were in there an EARTHQUAKE hit!! We actually felt the tremors of one that hit San Jose and had a 6.3 magnitude!! It was crazy... like we were actually shaking... wow. a truly Costa Rican experience.

Later that night we went to Rapsodia to eat and DANCE. It was truly a unique experience. First of all I would like to say that the food there was scrumptious (courtesy of Spenser)!! We had these little steak and chicken pieces that we dipped into a mushroom sauce and then french fries to go along with that AS WELL AS a basil & tomato pizza with balsamic vinaigrette salad on top of a baguette. I mean I ate so much I made my stomach hurt and so I couldn't dance immediately... it was quite sad but worth it:) Afterwards we all hit the bar and I had a delicious mojito!! I had some other stuff to drink and I finally felt ready to dance... Geoff and I danced for a while and had a blast... although he was not completely there he was amazing... we were dipping, spinning, twirling, everything!! I was definitely sweating ball sacks afterwards. I mean it was definitely the most fun dancing experience to date. Rapsodia played all sorts of music including old 80s, merengue, 90s... an awesome array. The place was really pretty and club-like too with smoke, neon light beams, very modern furniture (white), a d.j., and glass tables. I really enjoyed our time there.

We get back to the hotel and we are all pretty tipsy/drunk and we invite the guys over to like talk again and watch tv. Well Cassie and Katy are in the bathroom trying to get Cassie's dress off so she can change and they are laughing really loudly and Katy is softly trying to call me in there... when Aurora comes and says we are being loud... lol well Geoff was really hot so he unbuttoned his shirt and hurriedly rolls over... I mean it was hysterical. Definitely a night to remember.

San Jose: Adrianno Corrales & Cafe Mundo

Our first day in San Jose was probably my least favorite but it was still interesting and fun nonetheless. We rode in a bus for about 3 hours again to get there and I slept the entire way. Everything went by waaay faster, although I did miss a lot of scenery. We showed up at our Hotel - Hotel Don Carlos - and immediately freshened up and went to lunch. The hotel was amazing. When you walked in past the front desk, immediately to your left there was this waterfall like structure that was made to look like an old aztec/incan relic with exotic looking plants and mini waterfalls going down and around it. There were also 3 displays of jade, gold, and other types of expensive jewelry in that area. After you walked down a hallway past the computers and dining area there was a little courtyard with a little pool that also had a waterfall and a jacuzzi about the size of a large kiddie pool. The courtyard had a pretty terrace like area that had iron chairs and tables and a bar area to sit and eat or drink. Our room was nice and had 3 beds, a tv, and a bathroom with more than just one mirror! After we changed we immediately went to lunch in the dining area. I had nachos and a coke to drink (with REAL sugar!) The nachos were alright but I did not finish them. Next stop was a poetry workshop. We walked to a nearby college campus and had a little workshop with a famous poet, Adrianno Corrales. This experience was probably my least favorite of the entire San Jose experience. We had just been traveling on a bus for 3 hours and now we were expected to sit and listen to 4 poest read, out loud, their poetry for another 3.5 hours in a hot, muggy room. What was even worse was that they only spoke Spanish and so I had no idea what they were saying for all of those 3.5 hours. It was actually quite miserable for me and I really wish they would shorten that part of the trip. The poets were really nice and I wish I would have known what they were saying but it just wasn't possible. Finally we left around 6:15 and got ready for dinner. (getting ready included stopping by the bar)

Dinner was at Cafe Mundo. We get there and it is this beautiful restaurant that has exotic green plants placed strategically everywhere. It was gorgeous. We were all starving by this point and fortunately there was a menu we could choose from that gave us a drink, a salad, 5 different entrees to choose from, and a dessert. It was a great deal. I chose this grilled chicken dish and it was absolutely amazing. I do not even like grilled chicken, but this was sooo juicy and delicious. This food made me REALLY excited about the other dinners to come. We ended the night by going up to the guys room and just talking and watching tv. It was a great way to end an okay afternoon.