less sheltered pastures

i'm on my second night couchsurfing with a lovely couple, Sarah Joy and Julio, in a 12 acre coffee plantation just out of San Juan. I've met spiders the size of my fist, leaf cutter ants, some sort of mating cicada like things, a squirrel, a toucan like bird, and many many angry dogs, luckily most were behind locked gates, as everything seems to be around here. we've been eating beautiful food, many blended beans and fried platanos or plantains, yum yum yum. but perhaps i've already mentioned them?
We're heading to a spanish school/ volunteering in an organic garden tomorrow. it would have been good to get some more vocabulary in me before the tutoring begins, but i guess i have a few buses on which to cram before i get there.
on the topic of transport, we FINALLY were promised a refund from the airline that made us buy onward tickets at the gate to get into costa rica. despite assurance from the sales person in LA, we weren't able to 'just go into one of our offices', and ended up having to call the states from beside 'one of their offices'. SO should you ever find yourself in a similar situation and need to refund a TACA ticket bought in the US, save yourself many hours and dial 8774284477. probably as fruitless as my plastic bags mission, but we've all got to do our bit, right?
coolio.

then and now

Here are prue and rob in the coral reef off moorea, moments before the creature and cliff incidents.


and here´s rob taming a coco.



LA was wonderful. we spent the day with ben, an san fransiscian who crashed with prue for the first half or so of this year. he took us to a little club that his friend Annie works in just around the corner from her santa monica apartment. we had to catch a plane, so we couldn´t stick around for the live sunday night jam, but managed to sink a few drinks and catch some sweet k7 style soul with the djs, and took part in a blessing before the live act, which involved realising that yes, we all are love, yes, we are all cosmic entities that rarely step into each others orbits, and yes, it´s not just horrid corporate team building exercises that encourage you to reach out and touch the person next to you. for an uncomfortable amount of time. poor rob didn´t have anyone next to him, so his gaze made out with the stage.

made it to costa rica today,after having to buy an ticket from costa rica to mexico at the airport! eek! hopefully the refund works tomorrow- but a certain trap for new travelers. a ticket out of the continent is not enough, it must be out of the country, which brings a necessitates transportation being a little more organised than planned, or perhaps not planned? we spent tonight at a large pirate themed casino drinking cheap wine and beer with Juan, the friend of the father at our hostel in alajuela, watching seattle and whatever GB green bay? play football in the snow, while a meringue covers band with three vocalists and all manner of splash, crash and no doubt mash,rash and hash cymbals beat about on the mezzanine level above the bar. actually above. much twirling and hip clicking on the dancefloor, with the help of cuarto hombres, a sort of party crew for ´ladies night´, jiggling and thrusting, with shirts unbuttoned, as if they ever even had buttons..., to the navel. tengo calando!

p.s. in progress

this blog is in very slow progress... a left over from a linguistics project earlier on, so bare with me and the modems of central america.

tahiti

we spent the last few days on the beautiful island of moorea, meeting young and overly keen locals who showed us the local scenery and specialties. I've never seen a group of people drink drive so readily. Rob was brushed by some blooming fauna, resulting in a spray of welts up his already stung and coral shreded arm. he would have treated it sooner, but for the new VW ute dangling off the beach wall after a local's jelly like reaction time in the face of urgent braking. This guy sweated his whole face into his tshirt waiting for the tow rope to come, though apparently this scenario was on its third rerun.
The music, a facinating blend of ukelele and cellphone synth, with peter andre and paris hilton para postre.