AnneM, 9 december 2008
Costa Rica , Santa Teresa

A lot to tell...

Hola! Can’t believe it’s already been two months ago that I’ve written to you for the last time! A lot of things happened but were to start?!
The rainy season ended, I’m really sad about that because I loved the rain. But the waves are better though The muddy roads turned into dusty roads and we are forced to wear sunglasses and sometimes even cloths to protect ourselves from the dust… They town up here is a mix of 5 groups of people, Tico’s, Argentineans, Italians, Israelis and tourists. Alena and I we kind of mix with all of them. It’s so much fun when you walk through town. You have to stop every 10 meters because you run into someone you know…
The surf is awesome! Waves went from messy and out of control to clean perfect size, sometimes even barreling, waves. I love surfing out here and I’ve learned a lot Almost everytime when I’m surfing I get complements on the way I surf! Makes me soooo proud! The ambiance in the water is also very good! People cheer you on and give away waves. In the beginning I was practically always the only girl, that was quite nice to be honest. But right now it’s also nice to have some more girls in the water. It get’s more crowed every day and that’s alright, the only bad thing is that there are some really agro guys and they piss me off! And not just me. They other day there was a fight in the water which almost got physical. They guy who started it was really nasty and he was sooo wrong. Completely dropped in on someone’s wave and gave he other guy shit for it! Later when I ran into him he apologized to me for behaving like that, I wonder if he apologized to the guys though…
There is this girl, Noa, who makes pictures and she got some really nice ones of me. Before I leave we will make a cd with the best pic’s. I’m sooo stoked about that!
I stayed at the Funky Monkey when I just got here. During my second week they asked me if I wanted to worktrade there. Nice offer, so I accepted. I worked there for about a month, but I really got fed up with staying in a hostel. I needed some privacy. I talked to some of my friends about it and Selma offered me to come and stay with her and her boyfriend because they had a spear bedroom. How sweet. I met Selma through English class, she is one of my students. Two of the students are close friends of me now, Selma and Marta. They are so sweet and we have a lot of fun. We introduced English day and Spanish day so we both got to learn another language. My Spanish is little, but I do understand a lot And their English gets better every day!
On the 20th of November I moved into my new place. Selma and Gabrie didn’t move in yet because at that point the electricity was funky and there was no water. With the electricity being funky I mean the following: If I turned on the light in my room and the light n the living room my light would get really bright and the fan would start spinning like crazy. The light in the living room would get very dim…in other words: FUNKY! The electricity got fixed a couple of days after I moved in, but the water is still not running… The funny thing is, I love it here! Love the house! Ok, it’s a pain to get water from across the street to flush the toilet, but it has its charms alright. Another pro is that I can get hot showers at Griss (That’s the apartments owned by Selma) Hot showers are very rare here, so it’s like a big treat to get one!
Next to being an English teacher, I work at an Italian restaurant, Otro Lado. They serve very nice food. The only sad thing is, is that there are hardly any people at the moment so they keep telling me to go home because there is no work for me Just a couple of more days and then the high season starts! I’ll be working my ass of during that period, babysitting, surf lessons etc… But there will be enough time to get some surf done myself.
I started running with one of my friends, Kike, up here. He told me that if I really wanted to progress in surfing I should run and stretch aswell, so we made a pact to run every morning… I was pretty amazed by the fact that I could run for about 20min straight. Then we stretched and ran back…whoehoe…
Alena and I went to Nicaragua to get a stamp in our passport so we wouldn’t overstay our welcome here. Damn that was an adventure alright! Especially the boarder in Nicaragua! AAAAAAH! The people up there scare the shit out of me, kids running up to you who want to put a stamp in your passport, taxi’s getting offered, money exchanges on the street…They pull you on your clothes and won’t leave you alone, people everywhere!…Don’t ask me how, but we made it to San Juan del Sur in one piece We stayed there for a couple of days and it was pretty! Sadly the waves were crappy, but I could do with a surfbreak…give my body some rest. The trip back went fluently! We left the hostel very early and we were at 11 am at the ferry( I almost got puked on by a kid in the buss, he missed me by an inch!)…there the shit began. Normaly it takes about 2 hours to get from the ferry to Santa Teresa, but now it took us 7 hours! AAAH! But we made it home…I was sooo happy to be back. Sounds bad but I really missed the town, it’s like my home away from home
We have a lot of bonfires at the beach. Man I love those! The Argentineans really know how to build a good fire and when the fire is burning they start jamming with guitars and other instruments. Those Spanish songs are amazing! Wish I knew them myself
Another club opened in Mal Pais, D&N. It’s a walk alright, but it’s worth it. La Lorra really is a dump, dark, stinky and freaking hot. The D&N is completely the opposite, you party outside and the place looks pretty! The first night we went there was electronic night, not really my thing but I had the time of my life! The second night we went there is was reggae night. The DJ of La Lorra is way better but it was fun. We danced the night away. When we were over it we decided to walk home. After being on the dusty road for a few minutes we saw a naked guy by the bridge. At first we thought it was a drunk guy who got played by his friends or so…but when we got closer we saw that he had a knife! I grabbed Alena by the hand and we turned around, making our way back to the D&N. This quad was coming and I made her stop, she gave us a ride home and told us that that guy was there more often and that he robbed a lot of people already… we got sooo lucky!
Alena, my best friend up here, and I don’t get hassled in La Lorra anymore and believe me that’s a good thing! Maybe it’s because they know us by now and found out that they can’t get freaky with us, or our guy friends intimidate them The best nights in La Lorra are the reggae nights on Thursdays. I’m sure gonna miss those when I’ll leave…
I’m coming home way earlier then expected… I got my job back at the school where I taught last year. It was a hard decision to make, but I think it’s the right one. But we’ll find that out when I’m home, right? I’ll be coming home around the 13th of januari. Think you are kind of up to date now, hasta luego, un beso…

Wil je Annemat in Costa Rica bellen? Bel dan goedkoop via HalloBuitenland.nl