Hello!
Happy Valentine’s Day! I have to admit it’s really nice not to be inundated with all the commercialism of the holiday that you experience in the U.S. There has been some mention of it here, but nothing like what we’d get at home. Of course it helps that we’re not watching TV, don’t listen to the radio, and aren’t doing a lot of shopping. For those who choose to celebrate it, have a nice one. We are going out to dinner at La Luna which is a Mediterranean restaurant right on the beach at Playa Pelada.
The big news for our weekend was that we moved. We gave up our house, Casamistad, after 30 nights and moved to Villas Canadiense, just down the road and around the corner. We are now in a one-bedroom condo, which is part of a complex of four. There are beautiful gardens with flowering trees and shrubs, a pretty little pool, and a ranchito, which is a thatched shelter with a peaked roof to provide shade in the common area. There are nice lounge chairs by the pool, as well as a table and chairs under the ranchito. Our condo has high ceilings, a white painted interior, and a covered porch with a table and chairs. All in all, I think we did quite well for a last minute booking. It’s also just a short walk down a jungle path to the beach. What we will miss about the house is the extremely well stocked kitchen, the privacy of the backyard, and the rocking chairs on our porch. Though there are enough knives in the new kitchen, they are all dangerously dull! We are muddling through on the cooking. We also do not have WiFi at the condo, so I will be writing when it’s convenient and then taking the laptop to a café to post and check email etc. There are several options for this so it shouldn’t be a problem, just a new routine.
The move itself was a bit of an adventure. We moved by bicycle! It took several trips for both of us but we managed it. It was definitely better than trying to drag everything down a dusty dirt road! We don’t have that much stuff, but when you factor in two surfboards and a bunch of groceries to move, it adds up.
Sunday we surfed from our new location on the beach. There were some little jellyfish in the water, but we tried not to let them bother us. I stayed on the inside again and practiced in the whitewater. In the afternoon we went over and rented Michael a bicycle since he had to leave his at the house. We also put some air in the rear tire of mine because it keeps getting soft every few days. We went to the French bakery and had a treat and ran into our friend Jessica there. I stopped in at Coconut Harry’s and booked a surf lesson for Monday morning. Then, after some lounging at our pool, we went to the beach for sunset and chatted with three nice young men who are visiting from various parts of the U.S. and are here to surf. We did not see the green flash, though we hope to someday.
In the evening we decided to go over to Casa Tucan for dinner and then go to the Harbor Reef where “Tico Hendrix” was playing. His real name is Navil Garcia and he’s a guitarist that Michael remembered from a previous visit to Nosara. There wasn’t much of a crowd, but he did his best to get everyone involved and it was pleasant to listen to some music. Unfortunately my rear tire went completely flat while we were at dinner, so we left it locked up behind the rental shop for the night. Mike doubled me on his bike down the road a bit which I haven’t done since I was a teenager!
Monday morning I had my surf lesson with Oscar. I wanted to try going to the outside and riding green waves. The waves were supposed to be a little smaller and they were, but it was still a big challenge. Oscar was very patient as I struggled to stand up. One of the hardest parts is getting back outside after you’ve fallen down trying to ride a wave. You can get caught in the wrong spot and spend a lot of time and energy dodging waves. The waves seemed to get bigger as my lesson went on. Probably it was mostly the tide dropping, which makes them appear bigger because they break a little steeper. In any case, I was pretty worn out by the end and it’s clear, I need a lot more practice! Michael met me on the beach and we went up to retrieve my bike, which I had stopped in to explain about before my lesson. They gave me a different bike to use since they weren’t done fixing the other one. Then, the produce truck was in town, so we went and bought some fruits and veggies there. You literally get into the back of the truck and pick out what you want. There was quite a mob when we went. I only found one banana left! After a stop at the bakery for bread, we headed home to jump in the pool and cool off.
This morning Michael went to surf and I enjoyed a peaceful cup of coffee and my book. I was still feeling pretty tired from my surfing adventures of yesterday. At 10:30 we both had massages scheduled. Aaaah! This afternoon we played some cribbage and now we are at the Guilded Iguana using their WiFi. We discovered we had no water at the condo before we left. Apparently the whole town is out. Michael says this happened fairly frequently when he was here before because there is water rationing later in the year, but I think this one came as a surprise to everyone. Oh well, it won't last forever.
Pura Vida,
Sojourner Sarah
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