(no subject)
I have been in the small pacific beach village of Manuel Antonio, about 4 hours outside of San Jose for the past couple of days. After about 5 days in San Jose i found it increasingly hard to be optimistic about any kind of future here. In truth the capitol city is not without its charms, some old buildings and cobblestone streets built with coffee plantation money back in the 20's, but the entire capitol has fallen into disrepair and become unsafe for many locals and most tourists. There is a recent climate of anti-North Americanism in San Jose, just before I left for the beach there was a riot not far from my hotel at which there were several North American flags set ablaze in protest to the Costa Rican governments proposed free trade agreement with the north and also a sign of disapproval of North American foreign policies regarding Iraq. I cannot venture any further than a 3 mile radius of my hotel without putting myself in certain danger, the streets smell of rotting tropical fruits mixed with the constant familiar pungent aroma of french fry grease that billows out of the disgustingly pervasive north american fast food joints that seem to flank every corner of every public square at the end of every public street.
I fed Puck a small chunk of Ambien which i crushed up and fed him in peanut butter, and as soon as he passed out I stuffed him in a backpack that i had slashed air holes into and snuck him onto the bus for a 4 hour ride through the jungle mountains to the Pacific coast. Manuel Antonio is hard to describe, it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, it is everything I thought Costa Rica would be. In the couple days that I was there I managed to find and put fist and last down on an amazing guest apartment that is part of a house in the jungle overlooking the jungle, the beach and the islands beyond. The house is not fitted in a modern way, nor is it really decorated per se, but it is amazing. the main part of the house,the first floor, has no walls, just long expansive ceilings that slope down over spanish tile floors letting the banana and mango trees reach inside. my apartment is under the house, built into the mountain side and includes a livingroom, a spacious bedroom, a modest bathroom and a panoramic view of the ocean, the small rocky islands off the coast and part of the jungle. The owners are a Costa Rican couple who dont really speak much english, but they seem very accommodating. They have 6 dogs that stay outside, in part to alert in case of intruders and in part to keep the monkeys from meddling with the garbage and stealing food from the house. She warned me to keep my screens closed at night or monkeys would likely come inside my room and steal anything edible or shiny. she said this with the same nonechelant tone as if she were telling me that the faucet drips, or garbage day is tuesday. she had me at monkeys...
i leave San Jose again on Sunday for my permanent home on the coast. I am moving to a town with one street, no stop lights and wild monkeys... dios mios.
I fed Puck a small chunk of Ambien which i crushed up and fed him in peanut butter, and as soon as he passed out I stuffed him in a backpack that i had slashed air holes into and snuck him onto the bus for a 4 hour ride through the jungle mountains to the Pacific coast. Manuel Antonio is hard to describe, it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, it is everything I thought Costa Rica would be. In the couple days that I was there I managed to find and put fist and last down on an amazing guest apartment that is part of a house in the jungle overlooking the jungle, the beach and the islands beyond. The house is not fitted in a modern way, nor is it really decorated per se, but it is amazing. the main part of the house,the first floor, has no walls, just long expansive ceilings that slope down over spanish tile floors letting the banana and mango trees reach inside. my apartment is under the house, built into the mountain side and includes a livingroom, a spacious bedroom, a modest bathroom and a panoramic view of the ocean, the small rocky islands off the coast and part of the jungle. The owners are a Costa Rican couple who dont really speak much english, but they seem very accommodating. They have 6 dogs that stay outside, in part to alert in case of intruders and in part to keep the monkeys from meddling with the garbage and stealing food from the house. She warned me to keep my screens closed at night or monkeys would likely come inside my room and steal anything edible or shiny. she said this with the same nonechelant tone as if she were telling me that the faucet drips, or garbage day is tuesday. she had me at monkeys...
i leave San Jose again on Sunday for my permanent home on the coast. I am moving to a town with one street, no stop lights and wild monkeys... dios mios.