it is finished

things here are done and now i am off to travel. this whole time is very weird...

anyway, i hope you are well and maybe one day i will actually say things that mean something on here again.
or maybe not.

later.

pensive

hello hello
well, i had a pretty great weekend, including a healthy amount of time to actually think about things and deal with some of what has happened in my time here. i even sort of missed home this weekend. sort of...
i will say more about all of this later, but for now i'm pretty tired from a full day of travel, and we have to get up early early again tomorrow to be at the hospital on time.
hope all is well in your land.

the way it goes

i had the barfs for a few days, but thankfully they're over. however, they made me miss a good trip this weekend, and now i'm trying to figure out how make the most of this long weekend that has become one day shorter. i gotta make it all count, you know? it's tough to have it so good...

hope you're all good and barf-free. the barfs suck.

surprise!

this morning i spent three hours in the pacific ocean with my friend shannon and a lawyer-turned-surf-instructor having a very, very hilarious time. surfing (if that's really what you can call what we did) is a lot of fun and i am so glad we tried it out now--so we can do it again soon.

also, this experience and our excellent instructor redeemed what could have been a mediocre to bad weekend. without getting into it, i will simply say that the world is a very complicated and sometimes frustrating place.
a few good germans also helped improve the time.

if any of you want to hear more i have many entertaining tales to tell from today. let me know.

regardless, enjoy the pics. the first is of shannon and me practicing our awesome form. the second is me out on my longboard. they were taken by our instructor on a tiny waterproof camera that resembled a big watch on his wrist. i guess that maybe sometimes progress can be good.

yippy!

http://www.explodingdog.com/title/anotherawesomeday.html

back home...

in alajuela, that is.
it was a glorious weekend full of many wonderful adventures. i have decided that i could easily be a beach girl. i love the water and i love the sun and waves. i love the feeling of my hair being crusty with the saltwater and my body being crusty with sand. i love the smell of the sea and suntan lotion and the way that i feel after a day at the beach. yesterday we rented bikes and boogie boards and rode a few hours down the coast to the last town before reaching panama. i went for a run friday morning and came back to clean up only to find a crab in the shower with me. (we named him arnie, and then let him go.) we had fruity drinks and fresh fruit smoothies and i ate shark with coconut milk. we met bunches of fellow travelers from all over the world.

















in search of the perfect waves.
















hammocks=bed. we slept here at rockin' j's, and i will tell you that i really liked sleeping in a hammock.























doesn't this look like tropical paradise?

i am already dreading coming home... i am dreading reality, and decisions about my future. i am dreading millions of people asking me millions of questions and wanting me to do millions of things, i am dreading the loss of this perfect freedom, this lifestyle of whims and daydreams. i get to play and explore and have adventures here in ways that i have never experienced anywhere else. in places that aren't home, even the little things are more interesting. i feel like i'm living in a fairy tale. everything is magical.
i know that this probably won't make a whole lot of sense to anyone but me, but
i just find that when i am at my happiest i am also at my saddest, or most pensive, or most sentimental or something.
maybe it's just that i'm as tired as i feel.
i know it sounds ridiculous, but i was kind of sad to come back here today. i know, sad to return to the costa rican countryside. i am so damn spoiled! but the truth is, tomorrow it's back to work. i keep forgetting that i'm here for a reason...

today is done...

and tomorrow, the beach!

we are going to the caribbean. we were told to try a delicious food called "riceandbeans" and to drink something called "toad water." mmmmmm.... i can't wait!

i'm having trouble finding space on my hard drive right now, which is why i haven't been posting more pictures. i'm working on it.
but for now, i'll be away for the next 4 days, lying on the beach and sleeping in hammocks. yes, it's true. we have had either all-day classes or clinical everyday for the past 15 days, so a little break will be very much enjoyed. but i will still study lots of spanish and practice with the people i meet. promise.

hope you're well!