¡PURA VIDA in Jaco!

This weekend was probably one of the best weekend I have had out of all 6 since I've been here. (Wow, only 6? sometimes feels like I've been here so much longer than that already!) Friday afternoon, we boarded the school van/bus with 14 of us, a van that was to hold 12, and had no air-conditioning. But no matter, we're in Costa Rica - Pura Vida - no need to complain.

There was a group of 8 girls, and then the 5 of us (3 guys 2 girls) that were going on this van. There was a larger number of people going Saturday morning and staying in Playa Hermosa, but we decided to go up Friday and stay in Jaco. Where were we going to stay? That was still TBD after arrival. The 8 girls had a nice condo that they had already made arrangements to stay in - we decided to wing it and look for a hostel somewhere in town.

After about a 2 hour ride, we arrived, dropped the girls at their place, and got out of the van at ours, a small hostel, recommended by a friend, which was advertised by a small sign that said "$9 Beds on Bohia"



We walked in. Spoke with this girl from Sweden maybe? Who was there working as a waitress in the small restaurant connected - for an internship/work abroad kind of thing. She told us we could have a room with AC for $11 a night if we preferred. With the humidity we on the way up, we didn't hesitate before accepting. There also was an offer of breakfast for $2 a morning which included Gallo Pinto (popular rice and beans dish here), a piece of toast, scrambled eggs, coffee. I chose not to get that considering I dont drink coffee and I don't eat Gallo Pinto.

Our room, reminded me something of a dorm room - with 3 sets of bunks. There was already 1 suitcase in the room - so first we spent a few minutes trying to guess if it would be a girl or a guy: The black suitcase told us it could be either, but we figured since it was alone, it much be a buy because girls dont often/shouldnt travel alone.



So we set our stuff down, changed, and went to the beach. Played some sand soccer with the locals, layed out in the sun, watched the sunset, and played in the ocean a little bit. I will say, that I before this trip I was never sure how anyone could really drown in the ocean. But the current and under-tow of the ocean here was INCREDIBLE. So strong that I was only in the SHALLOW water for a few minutes - after being knocked out several times by the waves - that were like 3 times my size. The sunset was beautiful, as is on any beach.



The beach at Jaco was very interesting, and beautiful because of this. First, the beaches here are all interesting because they are in the middle of the mountains. Then, this beach, Jaco, when it was low tide - you could walk almost half the length of a football field, if not more, and still be in water that was not even knee-deep. The beach was so flat.



Saturday, we woke up early, walked around town for a little bit while waiting for the others to wake up. I ate cup of ramen for breakfast, because I didnt order from the hostel annnd it was the first thing i found. We then headed to the beach again for a little bit, and then decided to take a cab to Playa Hermosa to meet up with some of the others that were staying there. It was about 7km away from where we were staying. Playa Hermosa is a big surfing beach - and we spent literally at least an hour and a half watching people surf. It was just so awesome, and so beautiful. And, the beach here was so much different than Jaco! It was very hilly, not flat. So we got to Jaco, ate lunch, and then hung out for a few hours there until going back to our hostel to clean up and relax for the rest of the night.



Sunday was about the same thing: We all woke up, went to the beach, came back, relaxed, and then left to head back to San Jose.

This weekend was only so wonderful for the simplest reasons. We went in a smaller group - we were a group of 5 who went to meet up with some others on occasion instead of the normal group of 15-25. We stayed in a hostel, a simple hostel with one shower for all 6 rooms full of people. We layed in hammocks in the evenings and out on the beach during the day. The water was perfect temperature and was wonderful just to be in for a few minutes. We met so many cool, interesting people at the hostel as well : for example, one young boy about our age who quit his job just to travel Costa Rica for 3 months and had been in Jaco for 10 days so far. Another man from England who is teaching English abroad for a year, and next year will go to Japan to do the same thing. In hotels, you meet people from all over who are traveling for many different reasons.

The beauty of the beach, and even of the hot weather is one that can't even be perfectly described. It's just one that surrounds you when you are there, and is only something that one can experience on their own. On Saturday, while the boys were swimming in the monstrous ocean, Meira and I lied on the beach and were just mesmerized by the beauty of the ocean, the sunset, the mountains, even the SAND, which at Playa Hermosa was made up of little teeny tiny (and i mean teeny tiny) rocks! (Sand/rocks that are inescapable - and once you get a little on you, you will never get away from it!)

Well, needless to say, THAT was a small taste of paradise for us, and one that we FOR SURE are going to return to experience before our semester here in Costa Rica ends.

Now back to "real life" in San Jose, with school and such to attend.
¡Que tengan una buena semana! (Hope you all have a great week!)
-Britt