January 17: 88 degrees

This morning, seven of us pack up to go to a beach that we are told is beautiful 20 minutes away and off the beaten path. Almost guaranteed to see no Gringos there other than ourselves. Towels, check! Flip flops, check! Sunscreen, check! Husbands and/or wives, check! Let's go!

We pack into two vehicles and one turn of the key in the ignition and we discover that Sara's car is dead. We flag down Henry to make sure he doesn't leave just yet and pull out some jumper cables. Pop open the hood of each car and everyone stops. We have two Brits, two Americans and one Diva amongst us and no one knows how to use jumper cables. Surely, being from a town that resembles the wintery depths of hell, I know enough about a dead vehicle to jump start this car. I grab the jumper cables and begin to attach them. With the help of Henry and YouTube, we were able to figure out where the second black grip goes. Start vehicle one and let it run a few moments. Now, turn vehicle two...success!

Revelling in our new found success, we head off to the beach. The path there is mostly dirt roads and we had to ask to make sure that the river we have to cross is low enough to do so. We cross the river in our vehicle and are surrounded by beautiful trees and fields. With so many twists and turns, there is no way we would be able to get to this beach ourselves, let alone tell anyone else how to get there. Besides, we have been sworn to secrecy to preserve the beach's tranquility.

Upon arrival, we unpack chairs, towels, lunch, etc. We cannot yet get there without crossing a small river by foot. Just as everyone was about knee deep in the river, Sara conveniently reminds us to watch for alligators. Everyone pauses to see if she is kidding. We still don't know for sure.

We find some trees for shade and we unload all of our things there. Time to hit the water. The water is gorgeous and the waves are much bigger than what you would find at high tide in Samara. Good thing we brought boogie boards. The waves are rolling in quickly and they are big. We are catching quite a few waves but getting thrown around like rag dolls. Mandy was addicted and rode the waves almost all day. It is necessary to hang onto these boards with everything that you have and hope that the wave doesn't swallow you. It was so much fun, and only one out of 7 people lost their bottoms to the waves that day!

Sara invites us to a fundraising event in the neighboring town of Carillo. The event brings local kids to perform original Guantecaste dances. Funds proceed the continuation of this traveling dance group through the country, as well as to help fund their costumes. The event is very interesting since it was being held at a newly owned resort and very few people attending knew any Spanish. The introduction of performances were delivered in both English and Spanish. At first, the crew was experiencing technical difficulty with the music. It didn't take long for an expat behind me to start shooting off remarks and criticism. At this moment, it struck me who all I was surrounded by. I was surrounded by a lot of Americans and Europeans who have lots of money and they loved to talk about it. We heard stories of how many times they have travelled to Costa Rica, where they have invested in property and their expectations of the places in which they stay.

I couldn't help but to wonder if they had any clue as to how the average Tico lives on a daily basis, besides serving them, of course. All those trips to Costa Rica and no effort to learn Spanish? I heard a couple of guys behind me wish that the locals spoke more English. We are so very spoiled.

The Guanecaste dancers were great, the costumes beautiful but I wasn't sad about leaving the pretentious group we were surrounded by. I noticed how much we identify people by what we do for a living rather than identifying with people because they are people.

We headed off for dinner at El Sueno Tropicale, newly owned by Sara's Cuban friend Jose. It was a great meal with great people. All who tried to convince us to visit Cuba from here. They guarantee we will love it. Great discussions topped off with a few deer in the garden eating scraps left on a daily basis. They were close enough to touch.

Another successful night of cool experiences.

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