When it rains, it pours....

So I have just finished my fourth day of work at The Bakery and I am really tired, although I feel as though I have no room to complain, probably for a lot of reasons, but mainly because the owners and bakers seem to get no sleep at all. To make what could be a very long story, shorter, I am now working at a place called The Bakery. It just opened on Tuesday so it has been very hectic, but also a lot of fun. I am one of the only ones that knows how to make coffee so I am in charge of the fancy coffee machine, which I love, of course! The food is Italian, European, Belgian, inspired with crepes, paninis, waffles, tons of pastries, delicious pasta, and of course, coffee. It is really the first of its kind in this town so it is already a really popular place with expats and tourists. Martin, the owner in charge of everything front of house is very nice and accomodating to everyone working there. He asks our advice on how things should be done and what the prices should be. Both him and Mossi, the other owner and the one behind all the delicious food, are from Belgium and have lived and worked in this area for a long time. Martin pronounces my name "Kate-Trin" which I laugh about until I realize that I´m sure I pronounce his wrong too. I could go on for a very long time about everything that has to do with work, but right now I am very tired, since working at 630 this morning felt very early.

However, I love the job and I´m already learning a lot more Spanish, from the patrons, but probably more from the staff. It´s so cool to meet so many different people from all over. Our store has people from Argentina, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Caribbean side of Costa Rica, Belgium, Israel, and Canada. The people who come in are from all over the place and are all so friendly and already know each other. It makes me realize what a small town this is. I think Martin knows almost every single person who comes into the bakery. One of the bakers is also from Belgium and very enthusiastic every time we talk because he is trying to get better at English. He´s really patient when I ask him questions about what´s in all the pastries AND he just got a tiny little rottweiler puppy that is only six weeks old. His name is Aluha, or Ahula, I can´t remember, after a French candy. He hates to be left alone and and whines every time Cedric goes inside. So I went outside to clean with the intent of really going to play with the puppy and as soon as I got close to him, he sat down right on my feet and curled up! I really will try and put up pictures of everything soon!

In other news, it has been raining like crazy here lately! It´s almost a nonstop deluge that reminds me a lot of Charleston during hurricane season. The only difference is, here the roads are mud and gravel so rain makes everything you own muddy, sticky, and wet for days because it´s so humid nothing ever dries. Last night I was very tired after work and came home so frustrated with the lack of a washer and dryer! Although as soon as I was done washing my clothes, I laughed at myself because this is all part of the experience.

I´m not making much money, yet, but maybe more in the high season, which starts in between November and December. In the past two days, both pair of sandals I brought broke, so all the money I made yesterday I had to use to buy new sandals. I had just a little bit left over to get beans and rice for dinner. I was determined that once I started workinb I would not take any more money out of my American account. Although I know that´s not going to be a reality because rent is due in a week and I won´t make enough before then. Honestly, though, I felt fantastic getting off work yesterday. I didn´t have a lot of money left, but that made me feel, for the first time, like I actually lived here. It´s strange, but using all the money I made that day just to give myself the bare essentials was so satisfying, for some reason. I think it really made me appreciate the difference between what is necessary and what is just extranneous purchases because I have extra money I can´t stand holding onto.

A few nights ago, Davey and I went to our favorite (only one we really go to) bar in Santa Teresa. It´s the sports bar, conveniently, right across from The Bakery. I found out the first day we went in there that the bartender and owner went to College of Charleston. In fact, he´s back in Charleston right now! So seeing as how there are so few people in town right now, and even fewer that actually care about American sports, we knows the bartenders and all the other bar patrons really well. We´re even on a first name basis with the town drunk, as someone called him, which I think is kind of a cruel term. His name is Emilio, but he responds better to "Michael Jackson" because he can dance just like him! Well, Emilio thinks he can, but when you ask him to do the moonwalk, he kind of just wags his feet, but his Thriller dance is good! Anyway, we went to the bar just to watch a baseball game and it started pouring so hard that we ended up being there way longer than expected. We kept waiting for it to stop raining, but it didn´t. I had to be at work at 8 AM the following morning for the first day the store was open. After a while Davey and I decided to just run for it. I took off my shoes and we pretty much sprinted the half mile back to our house. Not that it really mattered because the second we stepped outside, we were soaked!

One thing I don´t miss at all about the US is my least favorite company (after Comcast), ATT. I was just charged a ridiculous amount for reasons I cannot fathom, especially considering that for almost this entire past billing cycle, and my last ever with them, thank goodness, I have been in Costa Rica, not using my phone. Anyway, that´s my rant. I´m still trying to figure out what to be for Halloween because I have a very limited budget and even less to work with! Any ideas, anyone? I might just roll around in the street for a while and go as a mud monster or something. I hope to get back to the blog again soon!

The Bakery

This morning I woke up and decided that after a week of adjustment, it´s time to enjoy Costa Rica. What is that expression about idle hands and the devil? Well, I don´t want to invoke any evil spirits so I went on a job hunt! The hunt actually turned out to be very easy as the first place I went into hired me. It is a brand new bakery opening up next week and it´s called... The Bakery! I feel like I am summoning Tess, Kendall, and Shannon and that this must somehow be a prolonged Cupcake exposure effect. After watching Tess ice cupcakes to perfection for three years, I must have started to get jealous.

Anyway, The Bakery is owned by two men who have worked in this area for a long time at many different restaurants so hopefully they have figured out what works and what doesn´t. One of them is Flemish Belgian and the other is Italian. They will be serving nice, big breakfasts in the morning, lunches, dinner with good Italian pasta, and coffee and pastries all day long! I start tomorrow passing out flyers to all the hostels, hotels, and other restaurants in the area. My pay is 700 colones per hour! Which is only about a dollar, but in the United States as a waitress I only got about 3 dollars and that was all taken out for taxes. Let´s hope the tips are good!

Last night Dave and I met up with a friend, Tasha, who we met one of our first nights here. She is from London and is travelling all over Central and South America before journeying onto South Africa and then Australia in a couple months time. She´s leaving today for Peru so last night we got together with her for a goodbye dinner.

Before dinner, however, Dave and I went for a swim in the ocean right around dusk and as I was coming out of the water, I heard a low, gruff noise that sounded almost like dogs barking. It was coming from the highest branches of a tree that I can´t identify and it was a family of monkeys! Apparently howler monkeys are most active at dawn and dusk and I was lucky enough to see this family running through the trees, grunting at each other. They are amazingly quiet when they want to be, though, sneaking across the tree limbs with cat-like stealth.

I am working on getting pictures up. I think I might try to use my neighbor´s computer to upload them so I can at least have them somewhere on a computer. I want everyone to see where we live!

Tourist season must be right around the corner, there is a lot of construction going on in the roads and on a lot of the restaurants and hostels.

I can´t wait to start my job tomorrow! I´m off to paint my room something tropical!

La Pura Vida en Costa Rica

So we made it to Costa Rica! First and foremost, a caveat to anyone interested in coming down to visit, it´s not a quick weekend getaway like some of you had hoped, because it takes at least a day just to get here.

Davey and got an early flight out of Atlanta last Saturday, landed in Liberia at around noon or one, we were unsure of the time so I´m not sure which, and started our trek south. We had read that you can travel by bus directly south from Liberia to the Nicoya peninsula and to Mal Pais, but as soon as we got here, everyone told us that was impossible. That link is the route we finally took coming down here. Of course the Ticos (Costa Ricans) also had money on their mind, not convenience, but they were adamant that we couldn´t just get a bus to Mal Pais. So we got a bus along the Interamerican Highway down to Puntarenas, to a ferry to Paquera and finally a crazy cab ride at breakneck speed over potholed, dirt roads to Mal Pais. We finally got in around 8 pm, I think. Apparently in a few weeks when the rain stops, they start grading the road so it´s a little better, but it´s still very windy and not ideal for quick travel.

We stayed at the Cuesta Arriba hostel for four nights while we looked for an apartment. Every apartment we looked in was usually one bedroom, dark, with few windows and not always a lot of security. The first one we checked out I fell in love with. It was like a treehouse sitting at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. However, too much like a treehouse it was, and didn´t have walls or locks. The loft where we would have slept would have been great, but it probably wasn´t the safest place to store our passports. Davey and I figure we could make a great little retreat down here if we just had the capital because the rooms that Costa Ricans rent are definitely livable but have all the wrong amenities for American travelers. And if you´re looking to make money, you have to be realistic about your target audience. As in a lot of places in Latin America, Ticos would rather have a TV in a dark, small room than their own space with natural light. I found the same thing to be true in Cuba where people sit in the heat of the day inside with the TV on, an entire family crowded around watching sports or soap operas. It´s interesting what different cultures consider to be prime real estate.

Anyway, we found a place in a cool little neighborhood off the road with lots of security. I couldn´t have found it without Courtney because it´s the same place she lived when she was down here. There are three other apartments, one occupied by a couple, her from Minnesota, him from El Salvador, who have been there for a while and make and sell jewelry on the beach during the high season. The other is a newly transplanted couple from Utah who blow glass. The third apartment is three guys, one each from the States, Mexico, and Argentina, who work at a resort a little way down the road. Everyone is really nice and welcoming and although this is meant to be a cultural experience, it´s kind of nice to be surrounded by some English speakers.

Our first night there we all had a bonfire on the beach and had a lot of fun getting to know everyone while surrounded by thousands of busy little hermit crabs. And we have already seen howler monkeys as well! They were playing around in the trees the second night we got there and sometimes at night the males make this deep, gruff noise that would be a little frightening if you didn´t know it was coming from a relatively small animal.

We´ve met a lot of nice people so far, through our hostel, our apartment and just going out. And we have walked a ton! I think next week I might try a surf lesson because it looks like so much fun. I have a lot of other things to add, but for right now my Internet bill is getting pretty high!

The Toothless Wonder

So Davey and I were all ready to go, passports in hand, excited faces looking to the sky for departing airplanes, and... I had to get my wisdom teeth out. Well, that certainly put a damper on things! Anyway, this was a long time coming I suppose and something that should be done before I get down to Costa Rica and they fall out on their own.

So as I'm healing, which is actually pretty painless, I'm also packing! Tomorrow morning Davey and I will head up to Portland for a 6 AM flight (meaning 1:30 AM wake-up call) and hopefully get to Atlanta by mid-afternoon. We'll spend the night with Cindy, who also housed me on my trip out west, and hopefully Kendall will show up at the airport to get us! On Saturday morning we'll get on a plane to Liberia, Costa Rica and get in around midday there! My friend Courtney gave me a ton of great information about where to stay, who to see, and how to get a job once we get down there and without her we would really be traveling aimlessly. So here we go! I hope everyone decides to come visit once we get a place down there!