How many people can say that they have swam in two different oceans all in the same day? Now I can! Let me back up though. The night before Evelyn left, we stayed at Hostel Pangea. It was a nice hostel with a pool and a restaurant in the hostel; our only complaint was that the walls were paper thin and it was difficult to sleep as a result.
After Evelyn left, I took the bus to an outlying city called Cuidad Colon where I followed detailed directions to find the family that was hosting me through couchsurfing.org. They were an older couple of "ex-patriots" who had raised their family in Costa Rica, and we had very interesting discussions, including one about homeschooling. The couple's children had been "un-schooled," meaning homeschool without a curriculum, and the couple firmly believed that this was the best way to educate a child and told me all the reasons that they believe this. They made me realize that I didn't know much about the origins of America's public education system, which they said was bascially Carnegie wanting workers for his companies and tailoring a system which discouraged critical thinking and instead promoted learning in order to work for the system. I have always felt like America's public education system seemed fundamentally flawed, but I still maintain that there are some real benefits to public schooling. I am going to have to take some time to do some research to learn more about the history of education and what has proven to be successful methods of education since I am about to teach in public schools and will one day have to decide how to educate my own children.
In Cuidad Colon, I saw lightning bugs and got to eat fresh eggs and chicken from the couple's farm. I also met another couchsurfer who was also staying at their home, Aime, who was from the southern-most city in Argentina and was traveling alone on a 5month journey through Central and South America. She was full of interesting stories, and I quickly learned that she was right in saying that when you travel alone, you are rarely ever by yourself. You get to meet so many people! Anyway, Aime and I were both unsure of where to go next, and our hosters recommended Puerto Viejo over Monteverde. So, the following morning, we took the bus to Puerto Viejo and felt the climate get more and more humid as we neared the Carribean side of Costa Rica.
Puerto Viejo turned out to be very different from Quepos. The atmosphere was relaxed even though there were more tourists and there was a large Jamaican population there. The hostel, Rockin J's, was certainly different. It was a playground for travelers from all over the world...reggae music blaring, hammocks and tents out in the open, dorm rooms that were very open as well, and mosaics covering all the walls. There was a beach right in front of the hostel, but it was very rocky and dirty. Aime and I said that if all the beaches were like this, we were leaving right away. But they weren't, which we discovered the next day after we rented bikes and rode an hour to Manzanillo, where the beaches were sandy and much more like what we had hoped from the Carribean. We drank matte on the beach and talked in Spanish about Argentina, her journey, and a multitude of other things. On the way back to Puerto Viejo on our bikes, I heard a howl that sounded like a dinosaur, and looked up in the canopy and saw 6 howler monkeys...some mothers with babies and some males! I watched as they hung upside down from brached by their tails and picked off leaves and ate them. Their human-like movements were fascinating...I suddenly understood why Jane Goodall could devote her life to studying such animals. Right after seeing the monkeys, I saw a centipede cross the road. It was a beautiful bike ride, and I was very happy to have gotten to be on a bike! Quepos doesn't really have places to rent bikes, but I guess that is because the roads are so dangerous. I guess they haven't heard of sidewalks in Quepos...
Aime became a good friend quickly, and we went out at night to meet some of the locals and play pool with them, and dance to live reggae music. We had a great time, and even were serenaded by a local on his banjo! Oh, and here is the mystery of Puerto Viejo: crabs cross the road to get AWAY from the ocean at night. So the mystery is: why did the crab cross the road? If anyone knows where these crabs are going, I would be very interested to find out.
The only downside to all of the adventure in Puerto Viejo was the mosquitoes. And what a downside: I woke up after the first night in my tent with legs that looked like they had chicken pox. I had over 100 mosquito bites and got more the next night. So I moved to a hotel with screens for my final night and was very happy with that decision.
I told Aime that I would visit her in Argentina next summer, and I meant it! I am planning out my one month Panama to Argentina 2012 trip in my mind even now. And I plan on learning to speak Spanish much better before then.
Anyway, Aime headed off to Panama and I headed back to Quepos, where I am now. I've decided that Quepos is my favorite place to be in Costa Rica, and I was welcomed back warmly to Hostel Pura Vida, where there are no mosquitoes and there is air conditioning. I felt like a spoiled city girl missing the comforts of life such as screened windows and air conditioning, while I was dying of heat at night in my tent in Puerto Viejo, but I can say now that, after all, I do enjoy some of the luxuries of the United States. Ok there: I admitted it!
More Costa Rica updates tomorrow! Pura Vida!
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