Nature up close!

Jan 11: 89 degrees

Kasia here...

Today is our first day without class and we sleep in for about half an hour.  It feels great just knowing that we did not have to wake up to an alarm clock.  This also reminds us just how much of our lives is run by that annoying sound of the alarm going off in the morning.  The difference now is that our heads are no longer flooded with thoughts and worries about work.  It made my stomach turn a little to just write about it.

Instead, we start our day with a pot of coffee and a game called Sequence.  Our friend Jamie bought a travel version for us as a gift.  We set up shop on the patio of our apartment.  We are surrounded by trees, a walkway and many tropical plants in the garden.  There is a slight breeze and we can hear the ocean.  Let's take our time this morning and enjoy our surroundings.

It wasn't that long before our apartment neighbor, Todd, walked by with his dog Ella.  Todd and his wife are from the Florida Keys and visiting Costa Rica to see if it is a place that he and his wife could live out their retirement.  Todd is an extremely friendly guy and was very open about his political views and his frustration with American government.  Nonetheless, we continue to have great conversations and it is obvious that everyone enjoyed chatting.  Todd graciously has invited us down to his house later this year to visit.  He is excited to teach Mandy and I how to hunt for lobster.  We agree to make it a date and we exchange information.

Today, we also hit the laundromat.  But you don't get to wash your own clothes...you deliver them, you pick them up hours later, and you get charged by the kilo.   In Tamarindo (an expensive town, even in relatively expensive Costa Rica), our one load of laundry costs us $13.  We will be more resourceful in coming weeks with what we packed! 

It only feels appropriate now to head to the beach.  We have some sun and fun but no luck finding a surf board on this end of the beach.  No complaints since we have many days ahead of us in the sun.  On the way to the beach, we discover the stairs to take us to the beach are being renovated.  For a moment this blockade to the beach felt like the end of the world.  We grabbed our things and went to find another path.  About 30 feet down the road we see a little dirt path between a resort and a house.  We take it.  Mid path, I look up and barely mutter Mandy's name.  "Mandy look!".  Within about an arms length, a type of bird we have never seen before.  It looks like a Blue Jay and a quail had a baby.  The bird is not at all concerned with us.  Rather, it seems to be chatting with us.  We chat back and it continues.  "How cool is that?" As we utter our famous last words, "I wish we had the camera."  I look it up, and it is a White-Throated Magpie Jay.  http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/image/110117732

White-Throated Magpie-Jay

White-Throated Magpie-Jay