San Jose - stay #3

Although we´re now sitting in Playa Manuel Antonio, we have lots to fill everyone in from the past week and a half...

…Transportation
The road trip back to San Jose from Montezuma…yikes! How a 4-5 hour journey can turn into more than 9 hours...

• Step 1: Wait for ½ hour then miss the bus because of getting too many different answers from people on the street. Spend an hour and a half at the internet café waiting for the next bus.
  



• Step 2: Take the bus from Montezuma to Paquera.
  



• Step 3: Take the ferry from Paquera on the Nicoya Penninsula to Puntarenas. A journey that took 1 hour on the way out took over 2 hours on the way back.
  



• Step 4: Take a taxi from the ferry to the bus station at Puntarenas, get there just in time to miss the 6:00 bus. Wait an hour for the 7:00 bus.
  



• Step 5: Take the 7:00 bus back to San Jose.
  



• Step 6: Take a taxi home and drop into bed at 11:00 pm.
  Public transportation…it’s always an adventure!

…Rafting the Pacuare River in Costa Rica

• Rafting with the Make-a-Wish girls from Chicago, and Rios Tropicales river-guide Alejandro on the Pacuare River. Pura vida! The river is class III and IV and is the 5th most rafted river in the world. It was an incredible ride, my best rafting experience ever, hands down. Mike, who has rafted several US rivers, including the Gauley in flood season, noted that the whitewater class ratings in CR seem different than US – here, a IV was very much like a V in the US… whew. We don´t have our photo package yet, but you can visit http://www.riostropicales.com/english.htm to check out their gallery. We rafted beside the waterfall shown in pic #3 and saw as much whitewater as you seen in many of the picture at the end of their real. Unfortunately, we didn´t see as much wildlife, but we did see people from the native mountain tribe playing along the river. It reminded Mike of missionary Marilyn Lazlo´s descriptions of the people of Papua New Guinea.

…Weekend experiences

A day at the Feria (fruit and vegetable market), which seriously took up at least 6 acres, possibly more around 10 by the time you walk around the perimeter. We wandered through seemingly endless stalls of brightly colored produce with Mayela as our guide. Along the way we tasted at least five completely new fruits. Mike went crazy on the pineapple, and the trunk was packed with an amazing assortment of freshness on the way home.

• Church with our Costa Rican family at Oasis, the largest church in Central America.
  Spending Father’s Day in Costa Rica with our Tico family. We had a very tasty family meal complete with a professionally decorated cake, courtesy of Mayela. Sorry we weren’t there to celebrate with you, Dads!

…The Abraham Project

• Serving with the Abraham Project for a week. What an amazing experience to help with a small piece of their vision. (more on this experience in another blog article) routine: ...up at 5:30AM, help with the building projects, home around 6 or 7, eat and sleep... no time for internet, thus the long wait for updates... sorry.
  


• Our dinner of RostiPollo with Pops for desert. When day-dreaming now, Mike thinks about what he will get on his next trip to Pops. He recommends the Passión Queque (passion cake) flavor dipped in chocolate and peanuts...



• We spent our 4th anniversary at the Abraham Project shoveling sand, rocks, and cement to make concrete; pulling nails out of boards; and transporting heavy wheelbarrows full of concrete. Don’t worry, we’re celebrating for real at the beach this weekend. Also as an added perk, Mayela made us a Tres Leches cake. Yummmm.

…More familiar faces

• Dinner with Crhis, Pey, and Teresa. We tried Olla de Carne (a sort of Costa Rican beef stew) for the first time while talking half in English and half in Spanish. Happy birthday, Teresa!!

…Getting $$$

• The day of serious drama at the bank. Serious ARGGGHHH, that day. It’s just not this tricky to access our money in the states.