Ahhhh traveling abroad, what an experience!! Its only day tres, and we already have tales that will be told for lifetimes to come. Ill just start from the top. We arrived in San Jose at 5:30 am after an uncomfortable 5 1/2 hr flight. Due to complications with booking my window seat turned into an aisle seat that did not recline. Unluckily for me, the seat in front of me reclined twice as far as it should have, leaving me no choice but to read my book, and ogle at the two new surf mags i had brought with me. After landing, getting through customs, and getting our bags, we hopped in a taxi bound for downtown San Jose. The cab driver took us for the most obvious loop, taking a 30 minute rout that should have taken 15 minutes. We got out at the Tica Bus stop feeling thoroughly taken advantage of, but we were happy to be there. We entered line to buy our tickets, but once we got to the counter (20 people in line behind us), we soon discovered that not only did the guy behind the counter not speak a word of english, but no one else in the building did either. After rattling off something in spanish Rob and I looked at each other with the blankest of looks as the people behind us waited impatiently. The hombre smiled, and looked at his partner and said something along the lines of ¨stupid gringos¨. Through our broken spanish and spanish comprehension, we soon discovered that the 7:30 bus was full, and the next available bus was at 12:30 pm. It was 6:30 am. We had some time. We decided to walk around San Jose for a bit to check it out and find some food. Unfortunately this was the semi industrial area (very ghetto, with garbage dumped everywhere in the streets, mangy stray dogs, and unmarked massive 4 ft deep holes in the concrete sidewalks), so Rob and I walking around with our backpacks stuck out like the sorest of thumbs. For the HI people, picture two asian teenagers walking around Wailuku at 7 am with backpacks and nothing but a few phrases of english in their arsenal. Yea, we got some looks. We eventually found a little restaurant and ate a massive meal of gallo pinto, huevos, y salchichones (eggs, beans and rice, and sausage) for 1400 colones, which is about $3.25. After walking some more, reading, and destroying high scores on Rob´s electronic Yatzee game, it was time to get on the bus. Our time in San Jose was an interesting and uncomfortable welcome to the country, in which i felt thoroughly out of my element....and i loved it!
The bus was somewhat comfortable in that at least my seat reclined this time. Unfortunately we were put in the back of the bus right next to the porto potty, with a fresh smell of urine fluttering into our nostrils every time the door opened. Mmmm, discrimination perhaps? Anyway, no biggie. I thought it was fairly odd that the movies were shown in english considering Rob and I, along with 1 french girl were the only ones that spoke any english on the 50 person bus. It was pouring down rain, (or lluvia, one word i remembered from spanish classes), so it was slow going. The country is beautiful though, so i didnt mind. It has a striking resemblance to Hawaii, which makes sense given the proximity to the equator. It was nice. All the awkwardness aside, I felt somewhat at home. In addition to the slow ride we also had to do border stops, which took forever. All in all the bus took about 10 hours. In Rivas we caught a taxi for 60 Cordoba ($3) a piece to San Juan Del Sur, and after feeling fairly sketched out, we arrived and the taxi driver turned out to be one of the nicest guys around, finding us a hostel that actually had room. SJDS is the coolest little town right on the ocean, with interesting architecture, friendlý-ish people, and a thriving international traveler population. Everywhere you look there are hostels. We found a room, walked the town/beach, and then crashed. We did meet an australian chick who had just come from Bolivia and chewing on coca leaves that she had bought there. She told us that the locals there use this substance daily and it is no big deal. She said that they have a ritual in which you take about 5 leaves, rip them in half 3 times, throw some of the leaves over your back as an offering to mother earth, and then put the leaves in between your teeth. You then take a small bite of this stone-like substance which is the stimulant enhancer. You grind all of this between your teeth until it turns to a paste at which time you spit it out. She said side effects include a numbing of the mouth, and then a small boost of energy somewhat similar to a cup of coffee. An interesting ritual. She said that all the political leaders in that area of the world are pro-coca plantations because it is a source of economic stimulation for the countries, and this ritual is also part of everyday living with the local people. The next day we moved to Casa Oro, and nicer hostel with more going on and then set out to find surfboards. Unfortunately used boards were much more expensive than we´d expected, with most going for upwards of $200. After several hours with no luck, we cruised on the beach for awhile before getting back at it.
The first shop we checked on the way back had no boards, but a guy ¨working¨there said he had a friend and could help us out. You may be wondering why working is in quotes, ill explain later. The guy, named Adolfo, told us to go wait at our hostel and he would come by. He did, and we went off with him to find these alleged boards. Adolfo was a very talkative, happy go lucky type of guy and spoke english, albeit it was very broken. I could honestly understand him better in spanish. He took us to the back of this bar, and showed us two of the roughest boards i´d seen. Fortunately they were too short, so we didnt have to insult him by saying they were too shitty. He then took us to another board shop where they had a pretty good selection. Coincidentally we had been in this store earlier, and the boards were not for sale. I guess they had to liquidate some assets because now they were for sale. Ahh the perks of being amigos con Adolfo. We chose two boards, and bought them for $290 total. Not bad. We then went in search of leashes, with Adolfo once again at the helm. We had no luck, but Adolfo said he´d find some for us before we left. He then took us down to this bar on the beach for a beer and the sunset, it was purely awesome. Much like Hawaii, but more enjoyable given our situation. Adolfo was great the entire time, and told me that he was a spanish teacher. This was good for me because he helped me to converse with him in his native tongue, boosting my confidence and bringing the language back into my mind. Everything was sweet, but that was about to change. Adolfo asked if he could see us that night, and we said sure, we´d meet him at the hostel bar at 9pm. After walking away Rob and i both expressed that we´d gotten a weird vibe from the guy. Just the way he asked, it seemed kind of sketchy. But whatever, right? He is a nice guy. He came at 9, we had a beer, and then he took us to ¨his uncles bar, which he owned half of¨. Down two sketchy back alleys, i was about to call it quits when we finally arrived. Adolfo kept talking about how cool it was, how beautiful the girls were, and how we wouldn´t spend hardly any money on drinks. Inside the bar there was no one but the bartenders, and adolfos uncle, who we figured out was not actually his unlce at all. We got a beer, and then Rob and I made the executive decision to leave. we went to the bar to pay, and Adolfo quickly slithered off to the bathroom. We paid for our beers, and waited for adolfo to return to pay for his. He came back and said he didnt have any money, so i picked it up for him. He wanted to show us the upstairs of the bar real quick, so we went up, sat down, and rob went to the bathroom. It was at this point that Adolfo got all up in my face asking why i hadnt just paid for his beer right off the bat. I explained the situation to him and that it was no problem. I told him to order us another round on my tab to make up for the confusion, and to show him that i was thankful for his help. He did order another, but only for himself. I was under the impression that he was friends with all the people in the bar, so i didnt want to cause a scene. He was really seriously mad, and at this point i could tell that he was on something, and emotionally unstable. Rob returned and we both tried to calm him down. It didnt really work, he just started acting really crazy. The bar tender had told rob on his way to the bathroom that Adolfo esta loco, so at least he knew. I thought that all these people were on adolfo´s side, so i didnt want to pit him/them against us. As soon as he had finished his beer i paid for it and we got the hell out of there. He walked with us back to our hostel, and then just outside, asked for 20 cordobas ($1) for a bag of cocain that we could all do. We both told him that we dont do that, and we were just going to go to sleep. He started to freak out, touching his head, rubbing his face, and pulling his hair. He kept asking, dropping his number down to 10 cordobas (50 cents). We tried to rush inside but he was all over us. Just then, a guy who we believe to be his drug dealer rolled up. I thought this guy was trying to fight rob because adolfo was standing in between them, sort of pushing the guy back. It was a tense situation. Right then the guy shoved adolfo, and adolfo took off down the street. The guy told us we were all good, and then walked off.
So basically the moral of the story is don´t trust anyone. That saying ¨tust your instincts¨ is something that we did not do. I knew the guy was sketchy and going to his bar was probably the worst decision ever. In the end it was an experience that i will never forget, and thankfully we didnt get into any serious trouble. I was a little bummed because he seemed like such a nice guy, and i thought it was cool that a local person would reach out to us like that. To find out that he just wanted drug money the whole time was a little disheartening. But hey, you learn, you grow, and life goes on.
We stayed at Oro again last night and surfed out front in the bay yesterday evening. It was not the best wave in the world, but it felt awesome to be in the water, not to mention the majestic backdrop lush green forest, the small fishing village, as well as an enormous statue located at the top of the cliff on the north end of the bay. Last night we just cooked and stayed in. We made the worst dinner i have ever had. I actually regret even making it because i felt worse after the meal than i did before. The hot dogs are not nearly as good as the ones in the US, and someone gave us some second hand rice and beans to help us spice things up. Our hot dog stew turned into a disaster, and we were the laughing stock of the kitchen haha. At least the food is very cheap here and we can eat like kings for around $5/day. We will be heading to Playa Madera tomorrow (15 mins away) because this beach has much better surf and we are both very excited to get some good waves.
All in all the trip has been awesome so far. I have had great experiences, and seeing as how barely anyone speaks english i have been able to exercise my spanish, which is a very liberating experience. More to come soon, beeches....
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