In a nutshell

My time in Maui (thus far) has included:

-2 trips to the beach (complete with annoying sand everywhere and a sunset)

-8 hikes/activities to various lookouts/cool things. Waterfall pools were swam in, majestic sights were seen, creepy people were avoided, pesky mosquitos were permanently disabled.

Swimming at Twin Falls

At the Nakalele Blowhole

Solo hike on Kapilau Ridge

Watching the sunset on top of Haleakala with Mandy. So cold!

Solo (and very damp) hike in the Redwood Forest

Some redwoods

Kiddos and me in one of the Olinda pine forest hike caves

-16 dinners were enjoyed in the company of those I love. And there are no pictures because who does that??

Those I love...but not the guy in blue shorts...or the gal with the weird skirt...

-4 kiddos were totally awesome troopers.

Caleb's expression cracks me up!

-5 pounds were gained (with the help of Costa Rica), most likely connected to the 16 enjoyed dinners...

-1 awesome idea was hatched involving a tattoo and 5 family members.

-13 episodes of Lie to Me were watched by Paul, Mandy, and myself (actually, Paul only watched 10).

-2 legs were bruised and 1 toenail will most likely fall off in a couple of days... (you don't need to see a picture of that).

-1 squirmy centipede fell from the ceiling onto the pillow on my lap.

You can't squirm when you're dead, mwuhahahaha!

...And 2.5 days are left of my fantastic vacation to visit my brother and his family in Hawaii...

Who knows what numerical greatness they will hold....?

4th of July Tico Style

Costa Ricans call themselves "Ticos", thus the title, because when I booked my flight to Costa Rica, it never crossed my mind that I would be there during the fourth of July. Now my plans for the fourth of July in the most recent years have been incredibly lack luster. I think two years ago I went with Mom and Dad to watch the fireworks at Juanita beach, nothing special, and I can't even remember what I did last year. Maybe Juanita was last year...no, I'm pretty sure Juanita was two years ago... Needless to say (even though I am going to say it), since the happy-go-lucky camping days of my youth, the fourth of July has pretty much been a lame deal for me. And that's speaking purely about the holiday celebration aspect of the day and not about the patriotism that I may or may not feel when I reflect on the independence of our nation.

So this year I was at least relieved to be with friends for the big day (no offence Mom and Dad), and open to whatever plans they had in mind. But honestly, I wasn't expecting much....we're in Costa Rica...what do they care about the USA's holidays? Well, not much, but the Americans in Costa Rica do! :)

Shortly after I arrived, Morgan and Jerred informed me of a party the US embassy in Costa Rica hosts every year for the Fourth of July. Many of their peace corps friends would be attending, and for me it sounded like a great plan, unusual and worthy of a story when back in the States.

We were not disappointed.

Although it ended up not being hosted by the US embassy, but rather an organization called the American Colonials (kind of strange...), it was a party that required a US passport to attend. It ran from 8am till 1pm to avoid the rain which usually comes in the afternoon. Plus, (and this is the best part), after paying 2500 colones, which is roughly 5 US dollars, you are entitled to as many hotdogs, bagels, icecream, potato salad as you want and can drink as much beer as you can hold. Did you catch that? As many hotdogs and as much beer as you can hold!!!

To take full advantage of this, we got into San Jose Saturday night and stayed in a hostel with 5 of their peace corps friends, so that we could get up extra early to be on time for the 8am opening. After some confusion about where to find the entrance to the Costa Rican brewery the event was being held at, we started right into the consumption of all that makes this holiday so great. A short break was required from 10am till 10:30 for the raising of the flag and readings of various patriotic passages, but that was a mere speedbump in our quest to shamelessly take advantage of all that was offered.

Many more peace corps volunteers arrived and gathered at various times to reconnect with friends and relax for a bit. They were very welcoming of me (and still are, as we're staying another night in the hostel :) and more than once I was addressed as a fellow volunteer that just hadn't been met yet.

The sunburn and bloated stomach feeling and fading buzz at four in the afternoon?

Totally worth it.

When in Costa Rica...

...you must post on your blog. There is plenty of interesting stuff I could tell you about my last couple of weeks when I was still at home and working as an event manager for senior graduation parties. There´s plenty I could tell you about finishing up my old job of 2 and a half years and adjusting to life after Ryther. There´s plenty I could tell you about being macked on by this guy who....no, I won´t tell you about that... but there is plenty I could tell you that is not in any way related to being in Costa Rica.


But that wouldn´t be very fun now would it.

Look at the cool new characters I can make with my spanish keyboard: ¨¿Ñ`Ç

And I can say little and sometimes pointless things in Spanish, like siempre...and fuera...

But for my 2nd day here and having no background in Spanish I´m pretty proud of myself. Jerred and Morgan (my peace corps friends whom I am visiting here) and their host mom Matilde and I all played spoons last night. She speaks no english other than ¨oh my god!" but it´s been fun trying to pick up on conversation based on context, and Jerred and Morgan especially are fantastic translators.

In a lot of ways the community feels like a cross between Tepic (the Mexican city my family visited through our church years ago) and Babine (the Canadian first nations village I lived in for two months during college). We are not without conveniences and live only a short busride from a bigger city, but don´t have hot water, paved roads, or cable. Everyone so far has been very friendly and don´t stare too much at the new gringo girl in the neighborhood :)

Let´s end with a story: Yesterday afternoon we decided to take naps since it had been a long day (I flew in at 5am and the bus ride to San Isidro was three hours). I woke up to the sound of small animals under my bed. Too terrified to move or risk putting my feet on the floor where they could be chewed off, I sat paralyzed for what felt like 5min but was probably only 30 seconds. I turned on the light and whatever was under the bed growled and stilled, but gathering my courage I peeked over the side close to the wall and saw the back of the cat with something black under its paws. The door was shut but there´s a window to the kitchen that is only covered by a sheet, so ¨Mi nina¨ (cat in spanish- thought you would like that, Paul) must have snuck in that way.

Feeling calmer now that I knew she had it under control, I waited until all sounds of crunching ceased and she walked calmly out from under the bed, looked at me as if expecting a ¨Way to go!¨ and meowed three times. I let her out of my room then and chanced a peek under the bed to see only a pile of mussed up feathers, the bird carcass now presumably being in the cat´s stomach. I can´t remember the last time I had such an exciting nap.

I love it when my parents are on vacation

The assumption is probably that I love it because I get to host wild and crazy shindigs and abuse the trust my parents have given me by messing with their stuff and shirking all responsibilities. Now before any of you rebels get overly excited, those are not the reasons why I love it when my parents are on vacation. I've never actually hosted a wild and crazy shindig, with or without my parents' attendance, and I am more likely to get upset about my parents' stuff getting messed with then they are.

The real reason why I love it when they are not around for a week or two (as much as I love you guys), is for the control. The house is mine. It's quiet when I want to read; I can cook whatever I want without being asked to make enough for everyone; I don't have to watch ball games with my dad or fill my mom in on the first half of the movie she missed and now is interested in watching. And I get to clean. I get to clean and the things I clean actually stay clean... except when Christina and Eric are around, but that's hit or miss, and they (eventually) clean up after themselves.

I can't wait to have my own house, that's what it comes down to. But for now, the benefits of getting to hang out with my parents as adults (which I will remember far better than knowing them as a kid) and not having to pay rent, far outweigh the trials of having to share.

I could totally live here, so cute!

Deciding to start a blog is not the same as joining facebook.

Now that I've made that clear, I can say "Welcome to my blog!" My main motivation for doing this is to ease my guilt when I fail at keeping in touch with friends and family who are not physically present in my daily life. My thoughts, activities, and projects will be on display for your reading pleasure, and I will be able to sleep better at night not thinking of all the people I have neglected to call or communicate with. Everybody wins! That being said, I have no other thoughts, activities, or projects to write about today :) Peace out yo.