I woke up this morning and couldn’t remember where I was for a moment, and then began piecing together the day before, coming to the conclusion that it was a little bit like one of those times you have too much to drink and need the help of others to remember what actually happened. I’ll start from the beginning.
We’ve arrived!!! Just after our plane touched down in San Juan, we felt the plane shift violently from side to side, and up and down. We and our fellow passengers assumed it was some kind of mechanical glitch, but as we walked into a mostly-dark and dusty airport it became clear that something bigger had just occurred. It turns out that our welcoming committee consisted of an earthq uake that registered 6.4 on the richter scale- the strongest that the country has seen since 1997. Our taxi driver, a nice guy named Alex, said that the country just had to welcome us in a huge way.
Absolutely every single person we’ve met here so far has been incredibly nice and genuinely friendly. We chatted (en espanol, por supuesto) with the taxi driver who brought us to the bus station, and he made some recommendations of places to see. When we told him how long we’d be in the country, he said we need to be careful that we don’t come home with boyfriends. When I told him that Gwen and I were “novias,” he said, “Que Buena! Hay muchas hombres con hombres y mujeres con mujeres aqui. Es natural, no es una problema aqui- Si?” Which means- there are lots of boys with boys and girls with girls here. It’s natural, it’s not a problem here.”
We were dropped off at the bus station, and then approached by a tour operator who had just dropped off a group of people, and wanted to know where we were wanting to take the bus, in case it was where he was headed. Our original plan had been to take a bus to Ciudad Quesada, then stay at a hotel until another bus would take us to the town of La Fortuna the next morning. Instead, we took a van to La Fortuna, which was fast and cheap!!! The tour operator’s name is Alonzo, and his girlfriend, who is from La Fortuna, was also with us. We chatted during the 3.5 hour van ride- a ride made longer by the unexpected amount of traffic leaving San Juan. The earthquake had caused many businesses to close, including the bus station for awhile, so we were lucky to get this ride!
Alonzo’s girlfriend knew of a place to get a special kind of cheese- queso palmito- which is like a huge ball of delicious string cheese. She offered some to Gwen and me- it was basically the best cheese in the whole entire world.
So- we arrive in La Fortuna and check into our hotel a day early, which is no problem. Alonzo waits for us (so nice!) and takes us on a driving tour of La Fortuna, pointing out the good sodas (little restaurants), bakeries, the post office, etc, then drops us off in front of the internet café.
We realized halfway through dinner that we’d left the key to our hotel room in his van- whoops! But he’d given us his number so that we could hang out or go on trips with him later, so I called and explained the situation. He offered to come out and meet us with the key, but ended up dropping it off this morning.
We’re staying in a place called Hotel Dorothy, which is about two blocks from town. You have to cross over a little river to get to the street we’re on, which gives us a nice walk into town. The hotel is family-run and feels very safe. After sleeping in this morning, we had plans to go out to breakfast, but instead were served a free breakfast of fried plantains, eggs, beans, toast, and pineapple here in the hotel. We also get free coffee all day long. I’m on my fourth cup.
After breakfast we wandered into town to buy a watch (of all the things to forget!) and check our email at the internet café. After we paid, I turned around and saw……our friend Alonzo! He hugged each of us twice, and said that if we wanted a ride to the hot springs tonight, he’d come and get us at our hotel, since he’s going that way anyway.
I should note that absolutely none of this hugging or offering of free rides felt at all creepy. So far, we’ve been treated like good friends by almost everyone we’ve interacted with. It’s refreshing.
We had plans to explore a local swimming hole this afternoon, but Gwen just fell asleep, so we might put that off until tomorrow. This evening will probably include some Spanish karaoke, some Imperial beers, and perhaps some hot springs.
I keep asking Gwen if this feels real yet- that we’re actually here, and having this adventure we’ve been planning for so long. It’s feeling more and more real, but I can’t believe that this beautiful, fun, awesome place is our home for now. I know we’ll probably have some frustrating days or misguided plans in the future, but for now, it’s just so perfect to be here together.
Saturday, January 10th
We’ve just settled in another hostel, this one is down the street and is only making us pay $4 each per night, because we share a bed. Yesterday afternoon we walked about 10 minutes away from town where I had heard about a place where the locals go swimming. The walk itself was beautiful- green and lush and amazing. Everywhere we go in and around town, we see this huge volcano in the horizon, so we got a few views of the volcano during this walk. The highlight of the walk to the river for me was seeing about a million leafcutter ants- (Sam- you used to be obsessed with these, remember?) Once we got to the river, we wandered back and forth on the bank, trying to decide the best way to actually get in the water. I decided on the “allow a stranger to guide your sweaty legs down a steep cliff” route, while Gwen opted for the tarzan swing. She won. The water was, in a word, perfect. A waterfall led into a great swimming hole, with rocks to sit on, and so much beautiful jungle all around us.
This morning after breakfast, we wandered around town, comparison-shopping for volcano tours and hot springs tickets- we’re on our way there in a few minutes. Today’s view of the volcano is the most clear we’ve seen, so we’re excited to do the tour of the volcano today. (You’ll be able to see the pictures as soon as I figure out how to load them.)
We are, in general, very happy, very sweaty, and speaking as much broken Spanish as possible.
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