Back to Vista Guapa ...Part I

So…I’ve been informed (by a little bird) that it has been over a month since I last posted. It’s not that I haven’t done anything since the last (in fact I’ve done quite a bit) it’s just hasn’t been a top priority (read Carolina’s been lazy). So here we go with Costa Rica 2009 !

This is my 4^th time to return to Vista Guapa Surf Camp in lovely Jaco, Costa Rica. This is the 1^st time that I have brought someone along. I hope Eric (my traveling buddy) enjoys (his first time) surfing as much as I do.

Friday, May 22:

Our adventure began the night before we were supposed to leave. I went see Fiddler on the Roof with Momma and I received a text from Eric asking what time I was coming to pick him up. I told him. He replied “That’s early! Ok.” Well that seemed weird so I called him and said you know I meant 3:15 PM right. He thought I meant AM! So glad I called, or I’m sure he would’ve been waking me up wondering where I was. Lol

Saturday, May 23:

I think Costa Rica knew I was coming. I say this because as the (super full) plane was landing I looked out the window and saw fireworks going off. :)

We got our luggage and got through customs and immediately I spot Edwin (mi amigo/driver) and we were off to Vista Guapa! It was pretty late by the time we arrived at camp, even though Edwin got us there super quick (think Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at DisneyWorld), so we crashed pretty early.

Sunday, May 24^th:

We headed down (the infamous) hill to breakfast where we were greeted by 3 new puppies and DURBY!! At the breakfast table we also met Deanna from Cleveland and Gig from NYC. Both seem very cool.

After an amazing breakfast of blackberry whole-wheat pancakes,

eggs, queso frito,

fresh fruit, etc. we headed to the pool. The water is sooo refreshing...yeah we were already sweating at 10 am.

Alberto arrives and begins to show Eric how to “pop up”.

We have about 2 hours until the first surf lesson/session. I am excited and slightly nervous for Eric…

Woah! So yeah, the first time for Eric was a bit rough (to say the least). At one point I was truly scared for my friend. The wonderful lady we know as Mother Nature can most definitely knock you down when she wants to…and fill your mouth with salt water. But in the end, we both got up on our boards. I call this slightly successful. Eric got a pep talk from Gig that seemed to relax and pump him up at the same time. I’m sure tomorrow will be better…

After the “workout,” I knew we needed food. So I got the guys to drop us off at Taco Bar (oh how I’ve longed for you since last Labor Day). The Freezing Lemonada

and shrimp tacos

(Eric had Tropical Iced Tea and Mahi Mahi tacos) hit the spot.

Mas x Menos (a grocery store) was our next stop, where we picked up some liquid essentials (redbull, Gatorade, water, Imperial and Smirnoff Ice (in a can)).

Taxied back to camp and back for some more poolage with afore mentioned liquid refreshment. :)

A couple hours passed so we headed back up the hill to relax

and get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Tonight we went to the Jungle Surf Café with Durby where the coconut crusted Mahi Mahi, accompanied by mashed potatoes, was absolute goodness!

The dinner conversation centered around the question: “What 3 People would you like to have dinner with?”…interesting to say the least. But the craziest story of the night took place in the van on the way back to camp. Deanna told us her story about her being in the Tsunami the day after Christmas back in 2004. I can’t imagine!

The NBA Playoffs are going on and we tried to go watch Cleveland vs Orlando tonight…but because it’s raining…the satellite at the bar we were going to is knocked out. We decided on Plan B where we sat on the porch of our room and watched the lightening storm.

Good Plan. Good Day. Goodnight.