Costa Rica - San Jose and Jaco

We fully expected to breeze through costa rica in a couple of weeks. We heard repeatedly about how expensive and Americanized the country was and didn't want any part of it. We crossed the border with out incident and made our way to the first place to stay - Liberia. The rumors we heard were true and the cheapest hotel was well over 30 dollars per night. We found a rather unorthodox solution and managed to get the owner of a parking lot to let us put up our tent for a reasonable price. We decided we should try to stay free as much as we could while in costa rica and set out to find an internet connection. A few messages sent out on the Couch Surfing network yielded fast results and we were on our way to stay with Edward in San Jose.

We were received with open arms, a nearly perfect American accent and a garage for the bug. We went out for food and drinks and hit it off well. The next night he through a party and I did my best to follow the conversations in Spanish. I was doing what I thought was pretty well but my stomach and my head had other plans for me. A few beers went quickly to my head and I soon felt very nauseous. I laid down hoping it would pass but soon found myself praying to the porcelain gods.

Our third night proved a tragic one. One of the room mates brother's was staying the night at the house because a group of them was headed to a large out door concert in the morning. we gave up our space in the garage and left the car on the street. We awoke early the next morning to discover the car had been broken into. I ran to the car in disbelief. The door was still open resting against the curb and clothes were hanging out of the door onto the street. They'd stolen our drum, maracas, clarinet, passports, paper work for the car, our bag of winter clothes, Pao's backpack and a lot of her clothes including a brand new pair of Levi's she's bought just the day before. We were both very upset but it wasn't long before we began to see it as a lesson from the universe to simplify and trust our instincts. Pao replaced her passport the next day and I filed for mine. Soured on San Jose we headed to Jaco to meet with our new friends Slava, Anya, Rolland and Ryan.

We arrived to what felt immediately like home. We passed the days lazily by the pool and cooking meals for each other. There was a certain balance to the six of us. We made quick friends of a shop owner named Caliche who free shared his wine and the space out side of his shop for fire dance. Anya a gymnast and member of a circus in Toronto found a group of Silks performers she could practice with and showed off her skills twisting up and down the long red silks hung from the trees. The stay in Jaco was exactly the relaxing time we needed after our time roughing it on the beach and the trauma of San Jose. The high light of the experience was a night of group massage. Pao, Anya, Rolland and I took turns being the center of a three person massage. The event turned out to be quite an endurance trial but we were all glad we finished and the energy was shared equally with everyone. Eventual came the time for our hosts to return to the winter colds of canada and for us to continue our adventures as a duo once again. We returned to San Jose just long enough to get my passport and then made our way to the wilds of Costa Rica's Osa Penninsula and our new home in the Herrera Gardens.