Back in Jaco

I'm back taking twice a day surf lessons with Ricardo at School of the World. I had the shittiest day of surfing I think I've ever had yesterday. I rode Bamboo's 6'2'' which is riciculously skinny and unstable for my first lesson and stood up once in 2 hours. I switched to the boat, 6'8'' for my 2nd lesson and it was like relearning how to surf. Everything had to be readjusted and retimed and everytime I dropped into a right I lost my balance and fell of the back. Grrahhh!! It was soo frustrating! I have another 2 lessons today and 2 tomorrow and then I think I'll go to Quepos agian with the new group (whom i love by the way). I'll be home Monday! Ciao!

Montezuma's Revenge

So after arenal, we took a fun little road trip to Puntarenas and caught the car ferry to Montezuma. We pulled into the town in POURING rain. My mom was angry because she had been driving for 7 hours and we hit a tree pulling out of the driveway. In the morning, we woke up and I had the best plate of French toast (it actually came reccomended from 2 sources) ever. Alas, two hours later, I was sick, moaning in bed. I stayed in all day and night. Then on sunday morning, I had the exact thing happen to me that happened in Nice, France. I was lucky enough to find a shady wall in the park to sit up agianst before I fainted. It's the strangest thing, and it always happens while I'm souvenier shopping. Everything gets really bright, I feel like air is rushing through my head, everything starts to tingle, and my neck gets really sore. I sat down and collapsed in my mom's arms. It sucked because Montezuma is supposed to be one of the chillest places in Costa Rica and I missed it. Well, maybe next time.

Volcán Arenal

Arenal is beeeaaauutiful. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. The town of Arenal is situated at the foot of a highly active volcano. It was presumed to be an extinct volcano untill 1968 when an earthquake caused it to erupt. The explosion killed 85 people and wiped out fields, forests, and towns. It has been active ever since, shooting out red hot lava rocks every 5-10 minutes. At night, these little ruptures are visiblefrom the north. Oh and what a site it is. After a long day of waterfall repelling in the jungle and skipping rocks with a bunch of immature college guys on a river below a family of lazy howler monkeys, my mom and I took the rental car around the mountain, past tempting five star hot springs, to a little puente in the middle of nowhere to watch the molten piedras fall. Later that night, mi madre y yo met up with the same college dudes from Chicago at a little restaurant in town. I dont think I've ever laughed so hard with someone I had known for that little amount of time. We joked about everything from Absynthe, to a piece of crap 83 minivan one of the guys still has sitting in there front yard, to spooning. It was great. I was like in tears from laughter. Now I really miss my friends.

Today my mom and I are driving down to Jaco to take a ferri to Montezuma, the same town I think I remember the Yandells saying that they stayed in. Our tourbook calls it a hippy town so I should feel right at home :) peace.

Occidental Papa Gayo Resort

Buenos Dias. Monday morning my mom and I took a van to the Occidental Papa Gayo Resort to meet our neighbors Chris, Charles and there daughter Dorsi who were staying in a time share there. The resort was beautiful. The resort itself was situated upon a hill, overlooking a magnificent sparkling bay and their enormous pool. The resort was expensive and loaded with gringos. It was all inclusive, so drinks, meals, and activities were free and limitless. My mom and I rented a room Tuesday night and the next night I stayed with Dorsi and Charles while my mom and Chris rented a car and stayed nearby in Playa Coco. There were a billion British families staying there and tons of kids my age which made my stay a lot more enjoyable. Dorsi and I bonded tons and talked a lot about college etc. On Tuesday I must've played pool volleyball for 3 hours before switching it up to a hardcore game of waterpolo (minus the treading) that we played for about one hour. The goalie on the other team was this old fat football player from Colorado. I played foreward and everytime I shot he was so meaty that he just blocked the ball with his face. And I was throwing hard too. Like so hard that people asked me if I played softball. But he didn't seem to mind. He barely flinched. It was really fun. That night we partied it up at the discoteque with the manager's son, Guille pronounced gui·ay (short for Guillermo) and all the other British folks. Tuesday morning my mom and I got kicked out of the resort for extending our stay and not paying. So off to Arenal we drove in our bright green rental car.

...to be continued... im going waterfall repelling now....

The Past Week

Hello. Sorry its been so long. I havent been up to much. Last weekend I had a three day weekend but I didn't get my plans together fast enough so I was stuck in Jaco without anyone to do anything with or anywhere to go. I also had to be around on Sunday because my family took me up to the mountains agian. These two boys came with us. I think they are my parent's grandsons:

This week I switched to art classes instead of surfing. My teacher had me drawing these intricate textures and doing blind drawings that were not very fun... I would have rather been surfing.

Wedensday, the gang went to ladies night at the Backyard, moved on to the Jungle Bar later, and come morning we migrated to Nacho Daddy's. By far the stupidest move I've made this trip. I woke up the next day curled up like a rolley-poley, holding my stomach. Thus began my first hangover. I was vomiting until 7 thursday night. Estaba NO vale la pena. I learned that lesson like a little kid touching the burner. It's hurts... a lot. I've decided that I won't be drinking on this trip from now on. I'm actually sort of glad it happened. I'm way to young to be drinking like that. This is a picture of my closest friend, Chelsea, from Oregon:

My mom gets in tomorrow morning. I'm really excited to see her. It's been longer than a month! I've sort of hit a low, so I need her here. I REALLY miss Andrew because he hasn't been able to email me or his family. I hope he's safe!!!

etc.

I surfed well agian today. Once you know what you're doing, things get a lot easier. I'm kinda bummed though. Tons of my amigos are leaving this weekend. I have friday and saturday libre and sunday I think I'm going up to the mountains with my family. But that is questionable as well beacuse the really old woman who lived next door that my family was so fond of died . Everyone is sort of in mourning around the house and I feel like I should do something to help. I thought getting flowers would be a thoughtful gesture, but I think they might die/ I dont know who to give them to. I also have this miserable uneven sunburn on my back/shoulders from surfing yesterday and today. I'm bound to get melanoma. whoopee! Also, no one is commenting on my blogs which is really disapointing.

Hey... has anyone been watching Argentina kick culo in futbol lately?!


Much love,
omo

Funboard

Hello. I tried out a shorter board today. A 6'8'' instead of my usual 7'6''. It was hard at first figuring out where to place myself so that i didn't nose dive but I finally got the hang of it and bombed down an amazing wave. The guy I borrowed it from wants to sell it to me but I'm not sure I can use it on the waves at home. Tomorrow I'll post photos that some photography students took of me surfing. I can't wait t see them!!

Currently it's pouring and thunder is booming outside. I wish I hadn't lost my umbrella. I love you guys :)

Not much to report

Ayer, me levante tarde y no fui a surfear. I was way too tired from the weekend. My teacher drove me home at 10:30 that night. I went home that afternoon without a word to my friends and took it easy. I had a brief spanish lesson with Ana and Jeoffery and chatted politics with Oldemar. Before bed I watched parts of Chicken Little and Home on the Range with Jeff in Spanish.

Surfing today was superfun! The waves were small by comparison to the ones I've seen but still steep enough to get a clean ride on. I perfected turning today. I can't wait to display my mad skills at home! I have lab in a couple of hours and then I'll probably head over to Pancho Villa for the Weds. night spaecial. mmm... Pizza Ola!

Funny... The computer moderator internet cafe dude is listening to Green Day. I'm tempted to brag about the Bay Area but he'll have no idea what I'm talking about.

Paz,
Olivia!

Tamarindo

Thursday I was suuuuper tired from the night before. I had one eye open the whole time durring class that day. I surfed considerably well for getting so few hours of sleep.

Friday was my Argentinian friend Leo's last night in Costa Rica so a few of us went out salsa dancing. That was really fun. I got home super late that night as well and was supposed to be at the school at 6 am for a road trip up to Tamarindo. I woke up literally ten minutes before we left, freaked out, stuffed all my crap into a bag and sprinted a good mile to my school wearing no bra, my pijamas, and cradling my bag in my arms.

Saturday and Sunday I spent in and around Tamarindo with my lab teacher, Diego, Sarah, Kristen, Craig, Cory, Nate, and Vincent. It was fun but the waves were diffucult to catch because my rental board was too advanced for me. Saturday we surfed Playa Aviana and Sunday Sarah and I tried surfing Tamarindo (which was patheticly small) and then went to Playa Negra but it was super choppy and way too big for us noobs. Instead I ate a tunafish sandwich and watched the sun set.

Croinky!!

Dig my title? Yeah, me too. Today was field trip day and the school went on a croc tour. I would have liked to stay in Jaco and surf, but everyone really wanted to go. I was right, it was pretty lame, but whatever. They were big and hungry and lazy.Though we witnessed one of them sneak up and prey upon a pelican. I liked seeing the Jesus lizard. What a miracle (haha, pun)? so um...anyways. I plan to go to class, surf, and keep surfing with my Argentinian buddy (who has no idea where Esquina is), then walk along the beach back to the school with our boards.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULIO!!!

free chili dogs at Jaco Taco tonight... Here's to being American, right?

Luv ya,
liv

Lunes

Class doesnt start untill 12:30 every day this week because there are later high tides around 3:30/4. Yesterday I got all of my computing accomplished, cleaned my room, and bought a purse all before school even started. I dig this schedule a lot. Usually I wake up at 7, eat a breakfast consisting of eggs, beans and rice, and bread and a glass of juice. I pack all of my stuff I'll need for the whole day (bikini, boardshorts, my books, my wallet, and a comb) walk a mile to school, go straight to class and pack my brain full of verbs for two hours. We van it out to the beach right after class and surf for about three hours. Someties I'll have an hour to relax or get a bite to eat in town before lab starts at 4, and sometimes I don't. I have lab with a grumpy hombre from Uruguay for two hours, and by the time it lets out, its dinner time. If I want to go out I usually cab it back to my family's house (so I don't have to walk alone at night) and tell them that they dont need to cook for me, and then I'll cab it back. Dinner is always good no matter where we go. If we still have any wind left in us we'll go out to a bar or shop for trinkets at night with a guy to accompany us. Then I come home and crash on my bed.

Surfing yesterday afternoon was fun for longboarding but if I had a shortboard it probably wouldnt've been as fun. There was a random little electrical storm that conjured itself up right next to where we were surfing. It started pouring warm rain and the lightening was brilliant. Rose colored rays that lit up the whole sky complimented the gorgeous horizon. And the thunder was like bombas!!! Lab was boring. I dont like my teacher at all. We learned the body parts which I've learned at least 4 times. Despues de lab mis amigos y yo fuimos a Tsunami Sushi porque it was two for one tuna roll day. I tried sake, which wasnt bad, but still, like all liquor tastes to me, had that acetone-nailpolish remover essence to it. And the sushi wasnt "to die for", just really expensive. But it was a fun little joint nonetheless. After a little shopping I came home and caught a cicaida for Jeffery. We set it free this morning.

Today is just another normal day. Class. Surf. Lab. I think I'm going to go home for dinner tonight. I haven't eaten with my family in a few days (and tomorrow is BBQ special night at Pancho Villa *ayiyi*).

How is the weather at home? Any new news? Did the rock pull an O.J. Simpson, or is that just rumor? Keep me posted guys...

Pura Vida,
Olivia

Ridn' Through the Forest on a Horse with No Name...

The sun shines through my window at 5:30 every day, but i can usually force myself to sleep in another couple of hours. Unfortunately, today I woke up at 5 itching all over. Jellyfish (or medusas) are a big problem among surfers down here. After a week of soid surfing, I'm basically covered from head to toe in red splotchy bumps. I scrambled out of bed, still scratching my stings, eager to find the anti-itch cream and get back to sleep. While I was at it I poped a Benadryl which knocked me right out and I slept in late.

We departed Jaco at 8:30 in the morning. Oldemar, my homestay father drove us waaay out into the boonies, between mountains, over rivers, and through dense forests. We passed hundreds of cows, chickens and bananna plants on the way up. When we reached our family friend's house at the top my "mother" introduced me to the family and showed me around the very small house. The man of the house, Oscar, hooked me up with a horse, told me to get on and walked me around for a little while. I felt like a four year old at a county fair so i had my dad ask if I could ride him on my own. Oscar had no problem with that and swatted the horses rear so he would move. Now I could figure out how to make the thing run! I took him down a path deeper into the rainforest, past cow pastures and exotic flowers, and when I came to flat parts, I leaned foreward, kicked him in the rear or swatted his behind, and we finally started to move. It was thrilling.

I returned to the house within an hour or so an explored their backyard. They had turkeys, chickens, a pigglet, 3 adorable kittens, parakeets, and a strange creature called a tepesquino. I also found an enormous spider the size of a tea cup saucer and photographed it. We had lunch at another house on the mountain and came home around 4. It was a great day!

First Impression (the first week)

First impression of La Escuela Del Mundo... "I can't wait to bring my friends here!"
Saturday was orientatation. Sylvia, one of the managers, explained the jist of the school to me and I met some of the kids staying there. I met Charlotte, an adorable German girl, living in England, but travelling around the world for 8 months, and we immediately became great friends. We went to go meet our homestay families together and it turned out that we live right next to eachother. My family is so sweet. The mother, Anna, is a wonderful cook and is very patient with me and my spanish. Her daughter, Joyce, is nice as well and talks at a snails pace around me so that I can understand her. She is funny and very Tico in the way she acts. The father, Oledemar (or something like that), works for the Red Cross from 7pm to 7am and always comes home in the morning with a story. The other day he explained that a land dispute in Herradura led to 19 people being serriously injured and one dying. Or at least thats what I drew from it.

Anyways, Monday classes began. My teacher, Sergio is this hillarious surfer dude that comes to class barefoot and sandy every day. We have this little ongoing joke about me not being able to drink and going to the local bars to ordering CocaCola. Its pretty funny. Every day after class (or before, depending on the tides) we load up the vans with our boards and drive south to a less crowded streach of Playa Jaco. José, Fish, and the other surf instructors help us noobs out. In the beginning of the week there was a fatty swell that made it diffucult to paddle all the way out to the farthest break so I surfed the white water and perfected turning. Gah! Surfing is so fun! droping down the face of a wave, and then turning...! Sooo amazing! Monday night I went to a bullriding fiesta outside of town with Charlotte and her family. That sport is gnarlly. It wouldnt be so bad if you didnt have to worry about being stomped on after falling off. David, one of my guides from my rafting trip was sitting right next to me so I struck up a conversation. He told me that he bullrode the day before and fell off onto his knee. He was super suppourtive of me learning spanish and told me that his english was so good because he lived with a family in Oregon for a year. He asked me how old I was and when I said 16 he was shocked. "I thought you were older than me!" he said. And then he offered to take me out surfing. I told him that I wasn't really sure what my plans were yet and that I'd probably see him around town in the next few days. And I did. Jaco is so small, everyone knows everyone and it's really easy to run into people. On Wedensday, feild trip day at my school, we went kayaking/snorkling and he was my guide agian. We chatted and he hooked me up with a kayak so I could race one of the other guides back to shore. I got a fatty 8 inch jellyfish tentacle to the thigh snorkling and I had to spray vinegar on it. It was that or having one of the men there pee on me.

Tuesday night a few of my amigos and I went to The Jungle Bar for "Ladie's Night" and played pool, danced and mingled for a couple hours. Thursday was a normal day, and Friday night I went to a man-pageant thing with Joyce. Eight guys strutted their stuff in front of three judges, and there were hip hoppers and break dancers in between acts. Her friend Henry won which was exciting. After the crowning we flooded the stage and broke out in dance. I felt extremely gringoish but shook my culo as best I could.

Saturday, today, I didnt have class so I woke up late and went surfing. Craig and a bunch of my school buddies randomly paddled out in the exact same spot as me and I met a girl from Oakland who I got along with really well. We had a conversation about the Hyphy movement and our stance on just paddling out to sit on your board and chill. Anyways, I'm here now at my little cafe and I'm about to go get some dinner. Tootaloo!

Rafting / Manuel Antonio Natl. Park

Oh God, it has been a really long time since i last posted so I have a lot to say. Last I posted, I really wasnt digging Jaco. It was empty and sketchy and I wasn't sure what I was going to do with myself for 7 weeks! Since I've started school, all of that has changed.

My father and I decided agianst sportfishing. Instead we did a whitewater rafting/Manuel Antonio National Park tour. I'm ususlly not one to do the whole "tour" thing, but this one turned out splendidly! An enourmous van filled with our guides, a few floridians, some virginians, and a woman from L.A. picked us up at our hotel room at 7 o'clock sharp to haul us up to the river rapids. The tour provided us with a scrumptious little breakfast of piña and toast and then it was off agian, up the bumpy dirt road to where we would begin our voyage. A quick intro to rafting was all the prep we needed. Flying down the river, amidst the luscious rainforest was thrilling. I was beaming the whole way down (mostly from laughing at my dad who kept trying to scientifically figure out how the "coxwaine" figure in the stern could get us stuck under a rapid so that the boat would fill with water and get him all wet). Our van was waiting for us at the end of the river to take us to Manuel Antonio around noon. We feasted at the place where they store the boats and then set out agian, through Quepos and into Manuel Antonio National Park. The park was beautiful. White sand beaches with thousands of herimit crabs scurrying about, iguanas basking in patches of sunlight squeezing in through the canopy, and monkeys making love in a tree (Ms. Maxwell's: "saaaaaayy...MONKEY SEX!"). There were sloths and butterflies and bright rainforest lizards as well. We arrived home around 5 because there was a traffic jam on the road back to Jaco. Tractors were working to remove a semi from a gorge next to the road. DONT DRIVE DRUNK!

:)

Hello everyone. I am so sorry I haven't been able to post in the past few days. I just want to let all of you know that I am safe and very sound! I love my homestay family and the people at the school are great! ttyl :)

Playa Herradura

My mom is right. I really shouldnt spend so much time on the computer.

Today my dad and I woke up late and caught a taxi to the nearest beach, Playa Herradura. There wasn't much to do there but walk and talk along the beach. The feisty little crabs and fatty iguanas were entertaining though. We hopped on a bus at 2 and rode it all through the residential area and back to Jaco for some ceviche and a refreshing bottle of agua. The surf right now is pretty bad because the high tides are really early in the morning and late at night and there is a strong wind coming from the west that is blowing the waves down and chopping up the water. The safety around here is questionable. There are a lot of poor people and a few of them have offered my dad and I weed. We've heard from numerous people that after 8pm I shouldnt walk outside alone. That is so different from my experiences in Mexico. People party and socialize into the early morning in Puerto Vallarta and even Isla Mujeres, but here bedtime is around 8:30. Maybe its the culture or just the off season, but it was the same way in San Jose.

Hopefully my dad and I will go sportfishing out on a boat tomorrow. The guys at the tour kiosk said we could catch marlin and mahi-mahi which would be really fun to fight (and we all know (with a little help) I can fight a fish (sting ray)!) But my dad's not sure he wants to get up at 7am to do so.

Peace amigos!

I'm In Jaco!

I am in Jaco. We arrived yesterday afternoon by taxi. The town is tiny and really Americanized. I was expecting a quaint little zocalo and diverse parts of town but this is alright. The beach is nice, huge, and has great waves at high tide. Basically there's one street with a few bars and restaurants and tourist shops on it, but other than that there's not much to do but chill by the pool. I can't really compare it to anything ive seen before. It's neither developed nor rural, but somewhere in between. Construction and signs are everywhere advertising huge condo complexes and hotels. Its kind of sad. But I have to make the best out of it for the 7 weeks I'll be here. I'm pretty sure surfing will keep me occupied for most of the time... It better. There are snorkling tours and sportfishing expeditions that I will probably be able to do as well. I'll know more once I start school.

We visited "La Escuela Del Mundo" today and talked with the owner, Bryan. It seems like everyone there is a lot older than I am. That could've been expected, but I just hope they're as pale and bad at spanish and surfing as I am so I don't feel too young. The campus is beautiful with a pool, hammocks and bikes to ride to the beach. The family I'll be staying with knows I'm here and maybe we'll meet them tomorrow. I'm really excited.

I love you guys!

Cena... mmm... bueno!

Dinner was delicioso! Gallo pinto con carne y arroz. I'm going to bed now. Adios.

Hola de San Jose

Hola mis amigos. I had a safe and completely tolerable voyage from SFO to Dallas to San Jose, Costa Rica today and I'm not tired at all, just hungry. From San Fran to Dallas I sat between a soccer player and his coach. The player, whose name I did not catch was from Palo Alto and the Coach lives in San Francisco. The coach was adorable, Danny, though older than his name suggests, and super friendly. He kept cracking jokes and calling us sardines because we were so squished. He was brushing up on some usefull Portugese phrases for his trip to Brazil and came across "beautiful young girl" and couldnt resist throwing it my way I guess. I figured this was fine. I didn't flirt back. The guy on my left, a senior at Palo Alto High, finally struck up conversation way after things turned awkward. He was nice. We chatted about sports, travel and college before playing a game of cards- crazy eights, which I owned him at. We said goodbye at DFW and I hopped onto another plane finally for San Jose. That ride was an hour longer but I was totally occupied reading "The Golden Compass" and listening to my iPod.

Right now im sitting in a quiet computer room in my hotel with free internet access. I can see, wow, a KFC and 3 cantinas from where I'm sitting. Not exactly my kind of city, but it works. And the spanish is coming along. So far I've said "salud", "buena noche" and "gracias" a few times, but everyone else wants to speak english! I'm about to run out and get some comida with my dad who's waiting for me down the street. I'll try to hop on a computadora manana but if I can't make it, we plan to catch a bus after tooling around here for a while to head out to the coast. I miss all of you and wish you were here.

Much Love

last minute thanks...

I leave in a bit to go catch the Marin Airporter with my dad. But before I left I wanted to thank Carroll and the rest of the Yandell gang for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy and the cute little note left along with it. That was so sweet of you to think of me. I've already read a bunch of "The Golden Compass" in between packing and before bed. I can't wait to continue reading it on my 13 hour plane ride! I need a little daemon to come along with me for company. One in the form of an iguana who speaks fluent Spanish and can test giardia levels in tap water :) yeah... that would be helpful. Thank you so much you guys. That was too nice. Stay in touch, Liv

I'll Be Back

In two days, I will be surfing in warm, perfect waves. No more of this wetsuit business, "My head... is fr-freezing" or my favorite from Jackie: "I feel like I'm going to die, I'm so cold," and Dan: "Well, if I could feel, period, I probably would too." Just beautiful, warm Costa Rican water.

Today I went surfing with a bunch of my best friends: Tobyn, Mikayla, Laura, Jackie and Dan, at Stinson. We all met at Woodlands and Jan rode his bike over from Ross to say goodbye. He will be returning to Spain on Thursday after a year of living in America, but I have a feeling that that wasn't the last time I'll ever see him. We're going to keep in touch. I'm really glad I met him this year. We all drove out to Bolinas, our original destination, scoped out the surf there and decided agianst surfing there. It was cold and the waves were too dinky. We all hopped back in the car and backtracked south to Stinson. The weather there was a little less foggy and the waves looked great for Stinson. We chilled on the beach and ate our sandwiches before hitting the waves. Jackie and I took the surfboards and everyone else had some form of a boogieboard. I paddled out to the furthest break and caught the first wave I paddled into and C-Mo'd it, as Andy would say. The next few waves were as easy to catch as the first one, which was strange, because as of last Tuesday, I was sucking. I kept improving with each wave, and after about five, I was standing up and bringing my feet forward like I was taught :). The best was when Jackie and I caught the party wave together. Haha. That was suuweeet!

The day was great. We left la playa at 2:30, my friends got picked up and I said my goodbyes. Later that day I took my new iPod to Tobyn's house and we loaded her library onto it because my laptop has a virus. I'm listening to the most random African tribal music right now. It's amazing! Tobyn is so eclectic when it comes to her music! I said goodbye to her agian.

One thing I've learned in these past few days is that goobyes and thankyous never last long enough. Droping Andrew off at the airport went by way too quickly. I had been dreading that day for 3 months, but when it actually dawned, and he was walking towards his terminal and away from his family I, I felt like I should've said more than "goodbye, have a fun and safe trip, and stay in touch." I also should've thanked him. But there just wouldnt have been enough time. I would've said something along the lines of, "Thank you for your love, your hospitality, and your cheerfulness. Thank you for being laid-back but driven, finishing high school and teaching me what you've learned so far. Please continue to teach me more throughout college. Thank you for helping me pass my spanish final, teaching me to fly fish, surf, and shoot a gun. Thanks for being that extra arm I needed to reel in that sting ray, and someone to talk to no matter what the occasion. Thank you for being inspirational, cooking, and carpooling, and being and amazing person altogether. I hope you have an idea of how crazy in love i get when I think of you. Have a safe trip, and have fun. I love you." That sounds better, eh? The list goes on forever.

Saying goodbye to Ari, Chris, and William is strange too. We've been through a lot together. And tomorrow I'll be saying goodbye to my mom, and in a few days, my dad. All of my friends have wished me the best and have given me the ole' tata, but I dont want to say goodbye. I guess that's just the person I am. I love my amigos and I want them all to come with me. I'm only leaving for a few weeks everyone. "I'll be back."

Getting Ready

Yesterday, my mom, Sarah, and I ran to Best Buy and the Village Mall in Corte Madera to take care of a few last minute things before my trip. We spent almost an hour in Best Buy complaining to the Geek Squad that I had been promised a new iPod many times in the past, but because of some internal issue, they wouldn't give it to me. Later that day, the old one Best Buy had refurbished got stolen, right out of my moms car. I shouldn't have left it on the middle console, but my mom also forgot to lock the car. Anyways, that kind of blew, but I was too tired to care. After two overnights and staying up untill 2am each night, I crashed on top of my bed and all of my stuff to pack at 6:30pm. I woke up at 10am today. My mother and I set out to finish our errands at the mall agian this morning. I bought some tank tops, a new pair of shorts, a spiral notebook for spanish lessons down there, and deoderant (hence the humid, 90 degree weather). I also bought a new iPod for the trip. My belated birthday present from my dad. I'm back home now and I'm finally going to resume packing. Before I leave, I heard a story about three 20-something surfer brothers, friends of ours, who just had a very unfortunate experience in Costa Rica, only a few minutes away from where I will be staying. They were walking along the beach at night with a couple girls, when four banditos robbed them at knifepoint. They survived, but I overheard that the girl, did not. I do not know how she passed, if it was of shock or she was shot, that I did not catch, all I know is that my mom told me half of this story as a lesson. I have to be extremely cautious while I'm down there. I'm a blonde, attractive, gringo who looks like she has money... i.e. I'm a target, and I need to be smart and safe to stay out of trouble. Anyways, tata for now. Olivia