Day 103 – Puntarenas

Dec 8th

Breakfast
Sara, Jonah and Ryan made pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast for everyone. It was much better than boat breakfast, and just felt great to wake up and sit around the table with everyone in the morning. A lot of the conversation surrounded what foolish things people did last night and what things we hope they could remember. Ex: “No, Goldie, Todd’s skuzzy clinger did NOT throw up in your bed last night.” And “Yes, Todd, you were pull dancing around the enormous wooden block that holds the house up.”

Pool Activities
We spent the rest of the morning, goofing around the pool. I convinced everyone to start drinking again with enticing breakfast juices. Falyn tanned herself by the pool. Cassidy, Becca and Torrie slept in very late. Sara and Goldie had hand stand contests, while Todd filmed underwater. Goldie and I raced each other in inner tubes. Sara, Goldie, Todd and I filmed underwater shots with flips and dives. After feeding the parots, Alfronzo cut down a coconut with a machete and gave us the pieces to nibble on. Almost everyone ended up laying out in the sun (except for me since I knew I would get heat rash almost instantly in the heat.) Britney and I took naps in the hammocks with beers in hand. We spent hours just taking pictures of our beautiful little oasis. We couldn’t believe how amazing the place was and how happy we were to spend the time together.

Lunchtime
In the early afternoon, we decided to head into Central Puntarenas to see what the town was like and get some traditional lunch. We hoped into taxis that took us on 20 min tours of the run down buildings, small houses and heat-drenched people of Costa Rica. The scenery was beautiful, but you could see the utter dilapidation of the area. The taxi drivers recommended a wonderful open-air seafood place right in the center of town. We ordered a pitcher of margarita, which ended up being disgustingly sour and waters before diving into orders of ceviche (shrimp cocktail) and this plantain dish. Goldie mis-ordered, but we shared this delicious dish of fried plantains that you cover with bean paste and cheese. Then we passed around tastes of garlic fish, beans and rice and shredded chicken. I was happy to discover some new favorite tastes to take home. After that we split into groups to walk around town for a bit. Britney, Sara, Goldie, Becca and I walked to the pier side of town where we found the Explorer sitting idly along a long and empty pier. There were tons of small tourist shops filled with hammocks, beach hats, embroidered bags and hemp jewelry. We walked along to the supermarket where we found ice cream and “Negroito” candy. The candy actually features a black man with an afro on the cover. That would totally not fly in the US. Regardless, I bought out the display on the counter. Goldie ordered a Fanta that they then poured into a bag that she had to carry around, since you aren’t allowed to carry bottles.

Afternoon
As it got late and the heat was wearing us down, we headed back to Casa de Rector to take naps and rest up for tonight. Eventually, the music started blasting and calling everyone to get up, get dressed and get drinking! Becca V. decided to treat us to dinner for the last night, since we wanted to have a family dinner. Goldie, Jonah and I pulled some tables together to try and fit all 14 of us together. While we set the table, Sara made fresh gucuamole and Becca V. and Falyn made nachos. Ryan and Dan prepared the macaroni and cheese, while the chicken was barbequing on the grill. After we all settled down and made sure everyone had a nice sized drink in their hands, Becca V. made the most moving speech about our time on the trip together. She started to cry almost on command, but we were all seriously touched by it. They we dug in and shared some wonderfully “homemade” food for the first time in a long time.

Fiesta Round Two
Sara, Britney and Falyn started a power hour that I kindly declined the invitation from to stick to my delicious champaign cocktails that I was treating myself to for my birthday. (Side note: my birthday lasted throughout the entire trip to Costa Rica.) The music was blasting as we danced around Todd and Spencer who remained passed out on the living room couches despite the commotion. Goldie took glamour shots of Sara and I with Sprite cans. (We have no idea why.) We went over to the other SAS house, but they only had radio and did not feel like sharing drinks, so we returned to Casa de Rector and brought along those SASers who wanted to have more fun. We had this incredible dance party that we captured in multiple video shots. Specer dancing was the all time best! Unfortunately, Todd did not pull out his pole dancing routine again. He did manage to pull a train of girls out of the kitchen into the living room though. Some of us got back into the pool to swim and splash around. Later, Britney, who is the most innocent and reserved of the bunch, used this idea to purpose skinny dipping in the ocean. So, inevitably all 22 SASers got rallied up at her liberation and charged the ocean naked. If only there had been someone on the beach to capture the moment everyone came thundering down the hill into the water. It would have been priceless.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was sitting around for family dinner. My “low” was falling asleep next to Sara with a boob hanging out.