hey! words.
Days 33-35: xxxx
Posted by Erik Frey Mon, 18 Apr 2005 23:17:00 GMT
Escaping La censored, I spent the next three days in censored and the surrounding countryside. Full of new people and new scenery, my days became somehow more relaxing and more hectic at the same time – perhaps I was beginning to follow the pulse I could feel in the land and its people.
Read More...Days 31-32: xxxx
Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 17 Apr 2005 00:28:00 GMT
Days 31-32: xxxx
I do not debauch. I certainly never cavort, save for the occasional quiet, metered cavort. So it was with some measure of surprise that I found myself swept away into censored’s nightlife.
Read More...Days 29-30: xxxx
Posted by Erik Frey Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:42:00 GMT
I could spend a month in censored and still not feel like I had seen everything I wanted, even if most of those days were spent wandering streets and watching life unfold. I had only four days. These are only two:
Read More...Day 28: xxxx
Posted by Erik Frey Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:59:00 GMT
day 28
I was shook awake by the hotel staff, telling me my taxi was here. I was comatose: I stumbled into the car and stared out the window the whole way to the airport. When we arrived, the taxi driver told me the fare was 1000 colones higher than what he’d quoted before. I just stared at him. It was too early and I was too tired for this. We went back and forth for a few minutes before he finally shrugged and slunk away. I tried to avoid thinking about the implications for the human character, that in every country and culture in the world, you can always count on taxi drivers trying to screw you over.
I slept the whole way to La censored. During my connection in Panama City, I withdrew all the money I was going to need for the next two weeks. The only ATM I could find was out in the open, in the middle of a busy mall pavilion in the Panama City Airport. Nothing like trying to stuff a gigantic wad of $20 bills into your money belt (which is incidentally hidden down the front of your pants) in front of crowds of duty-free shoppers. I did a little dance and imagined I was a schizophrenic stripper.
Things got more interesting at censored immigration. I was pretty nervous at that point.
Read More...Days 22-27: Manuel Antonio, Montezuma, San Jose
Posted by Erik Frey Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:33:00 GMT
Yet another week of jungles teeming with life and remote, tranquil beaches. And nary a care in the world!
Read More...Days 17-21: Tamarindo and Jaco
Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 03 Apr 2005 01:34:00 GMT
Out of school and with few actual plans, I spent the next week tracing my way from beach to beach down the Pacific coast. If the previous week had marked my first steps, this one I charged forward into complete abandon. My only concerns were sun, surf, good people, and cheap eats.
They were great times, but in retrospect it makes for sort of boring, aimless Kerouac-y writing.
Read More...Days 10-16: Portrero and Playa Flamingo
Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 27 Mar 2005 04:46:00 GMT
This period of travel is characterized in my head as the first tentative steps off the beaten path. I took a week of Spanish classes, hiked out to a number of remote towns and beaches, and met many more interesting people.
Read More...PROFILES
Posted by Erik Frey Fri, 25 Mar 2005 07:08:00 GMT
During my first few days here I thought I had identified some general categories among the people I had met. While at first the categories held, I found characters of such vast variety that I quickly realized there were more exceptions than rule. Nonetheless, here are a few roles that seem to have some consistency:
Read More...Days 4-9: La Fortuna & Monteverde
Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:22:00 GMT
Outside, the sun is setting across the bay, over the pacific ocean, behind the small town of Flamingo. This is my fourth day on the coast, in an area of Costa Rica called the Peninsula Nicoya. It’s known for the slew of beautiful beaches that dot the coast, each one complete with sleepy town and local bar for the necessary Imperial (or two).
I’m staying in an extra room of the small home of Benito and Liseth Peralta, in the town of Portrero. Cows crisscross the dirt roads here, occasionally walking through the front gate to munch on garden hedges. When Benito sees them, he yells and throws rocks to keep them off his property. In the evenings, Liseth cooks fantastic dinners and always serves me a mountain of food; I can never finish everything. The two are very friendly, and they put up with my awful attempts to speak Spanish with them.
In the morning I wake up early and take the bus to Playa Flamingo. There, I take Spanish classes at Central Panamerica De Idiomas till noon. In the afternoons I find something to do. There are salsa and merengue lessons, cruises to local reefs for snorkeling and watching the sunset, buses to nearby beaches; it’s hard to go wrong.
Read More...DAYS 0 - 3: San Jose & La Fortuna
Posted by Erik Frey Thu, 17 Mar 2005 03:06:00 GMT
The beginning.
Read More...