The adventure continues....

We are really starting to relax now.  It's a whole new level of relaxation.  We're two weeks in, more actually, and the days flow by.  Sometimes it seems we don't do much, and other times it seems we've had lots of adventure.  All in all, it works out to a good pace and lots of time to just chill.

Friday morning I went out to surf again and caught a few waves, but spent a lot of time floundering around.  There are so many details one could be thinking about to do it correctly that I realized you really have to ignore most of that and just keep it simple in the beginning.  Afterwards, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that my ears were not clearing properly, despite taking a day off.  So later in the day I paid a visit to the local doctor.  I wanted to take care of any problems before they became a real nuisance as I really want to keep surfing.  Costa Rica has excellent medical care and there is a local medical clinic in Playa Guiones with two doctors.  Without an appointment, I walked in and waited about 10 minutes to see Dr. Alejandro (can't remember his last name).  He was a young man (30's?) wearing grey jeans and sneakers who spoke excellent english.  I really thought I just had too much wax in my ears and hoped he would just clean them out.  However, he took a look and said they looked pretty clear.  So after some questioning and poking (without pain), he concluded that it was possible my middle ear was a little congested.  He drew me a nice diagram to explain how the ear works.  Of course what we are trying to avoid is any sort of ear infection.  So he prescribed me a decongestant (& antihistamine?) and an anti-inflammatory as a precaution, and asked me to come back on Monday.  He also said I should stay out of the water until then.  Booooo!  Oh well.  I guess it was time for a few days off.  The local pharmacy is in Nosara central, and since we didn't have a car, he called the script in for delivery to our house.  Pretty neat!  And the doctors visit was only $50.  Imagine that in the U.S.!  The prescription showed up within the hour courtesy of a man on a motorcycle.  I think it's working as my ears are feeling better now, and I can't wait to get back in the water.

Saturday Michael surfed in the morning and I took a walk on the beach.  We laid low during the heat of the day and in late afternoon went out to make our way to Nosara central for the Fiesta and rodeo.  Our plan was to hitchhike to town and then maybe take a taxi home.  We got a ride fairly easily from a couple that I think were French.  We didn't talk much, but they very kindly dropped us as close to the Fiesta as they could.  People are very friendly here.

Family is very important to Costa Ricans and that was evident at the Fiestas de Nosara.  It is truly a community event where everyone turns out with their kids in tow.  There were young ladies in improbable high heeled boots and almost everyone was wearing jeans, the women very tight ones.  There were caballeros in boots and hats and people on horses wandering through the grounds.  It was a bit like a country fair or carnival mixed with a rodeo.  Think a handful of carnival rides for the kids, some games, greasy food, music, and bull riding.  It was quite a scene and a lot of fun to get a real glimpse of Tico culture.

The music we heard included two bands, one local and one from Mexico. There was a "shake your booty" contest for some handpicked ladies from the audience, as well as one for the men.  They kept promoting the dancing for later that would run until 4am!

Shake your booty!

We bought tickets for the bull ring and sat in the stands.  Many people sat around the edge of the ring on the railing or stood behind it.  Costa Rican bull riding is not like it is in America.  There is no "8 seconds".  A rider comes out on the bull and stays on  as long as he can.  Then when he falls off, others from the ringside (anyone who wants to) run around in the ring trying to entice the bull into chasing them, or try to touch the bull.  Some bulls have horns and some do not, but they are all pretty big.  It seemed that quite a few of them would rather be in their pastures as they literally "lay down" on the job.  In fact, the very first bull refused to come out of the chute and lay down in it.  This should not deceive anyone as to the dangers of the bull ring, however.  Even though at a rodeo in Costa Rica you can wander into the ring if you choose, you are still taking your health, and even life, into your hands when you do.

The bull ring before the action

 There were a few caballeros on horseback who helped corral the bull when it was time to move on.  They have beautiful horses here.  Not big, but fine boned with delicate features, and a lively gate.  The specialty is what I would call a high stepping "dancing" gate.  There was an exhibition of this in the middle of the bull riding event while we were at the Fiesta.  The horses raise their knees very high and do a two step gate sort of like a Saddlebred.  It is literally like a dance and we saw some caballeros practicing to the bands that played earlier.  The horses hold their heads with nose tucked in close and neck arching.  They are prancing with incredible energy and you can see the sweat pour off them.  The caballeros in the ring were skilled with their lassos and helped guide the bull to the exit.

Somewhere in the middle of the horse exhibition we got serenaded by a couple of young girls.  One was about 12 or 14 with an adult set of pipes.  She belted out a song on the microphone and sounded pretty good.  Then there was her little sister (?) who was maybe 5.  She sang a traditional song that the people around us seemed to recognize, and she did a good job!  All part of the fun I guess.

Not a quality pic, but you get the idea.

Our butts got sore from sitting on the wooden stands and we needed to move, so we got up from the bull ring after the horse exhibition and went back out to the fiesta.  There were lots of people, both local and gringo.  Clearly it was a good party.  After wandering around for a bit we decided it was time to head home.  I think it was maybe 9pm.  Early by many people's standards, but we seem to be getting into an early to bed, early to rise rhythm here.  When we left the Fiesta, we didn't see any taxis, so we started walking toward town.  Pretty soon a car came by and we stuck our thumb out.  We got a ride home from a couple of Tico boys (early 20's maybe?) who were out having a good time.  They were friendly and one of them practiced his limited english on us.  We gave them a few colones for gas.  Back in Playa Guiones, we decided to stop at the Gilded Iguana for a drink before heading home and ran into an English couple we'd seen before.  By the time we got to bed it was 11pm, which is late for us here!

This morning we saw the English couple again and they told us that shortly after we left, they met up with others who came back from the Fiesta because one of their friends had been gored by a bull.  Pretty scary.  The man in question was in the ring after a bull rider fell off and the bull circled the ring and he didn't get out of the way fast enough.  They said he was gored in the neck and stomach and required 3 hours of surgery and 22 stitches and was recovering in the hospital in Nicoya.  They say it was close and the bull almost nicked an artery, which might have been fatal.  Yikes!  I'm just as glad we weren't there to see that.  I'm glad the man will recover, but what a way to spend your vacation.  Anyhow, I guess it just goes to show that even if some of the bulls look like "Ferdinand" (remember the children's book?), you shouldn't take their docile nature for granted.  They're still huge, and probably mad!

Michael surfed today and I went for an extra long walk on the beach, since I can't go in the water yet.  We rode over to the other side of town on our bikes and I got some air in my back tire since it was getting low. We also stopped in to see Jessica at Mandala, the jewelry shop.  She is so lovely and gave us some advice on what to see in Monteverde.  We are thinking of going there a little later on our trip and she used to live there.  We also got an ice cream at Robin's.  Yummy!  On the way back we took a little detour and rode down a path through the jungle in another part of town.  After we got back we went to the beach so Michael could surf and for the usual sunset ritual.  Our friend from our night out at Cafe de Paris turned up having completed her Yoga retreat and we had a nice chat.  It's nice to be recognizing people and making friends.

Tomorrow I will see if I can get the go ahead from the doc and start surfing again.  My ears feel good now and I will be more mindful of them in the future.  The weather continues to be perfect: sunshine, not really too humid, and beautiful sunsets.

Pura Vida,

Sarah