Frog in my shower

The title says it all.. no matter how nice my apartment is, I still live in the jungle. 

 

 I'd say it was about as big as the palm of my hand.

Thinking you are the only one reading this?

... well so did I.  At some point I suppose every person that writes a blog goes through a moment of being self-conscious and thinking that no one else is reading it.  Well, thanks to blogspot you can actually view "stats" on your blog showing how many views you have in a certain time period, which posts were popular, where people are reading from, etc.  Anyway, I realize this might not interest anyone else but it did me (and kept me from shutting this page down) so I'm sharing it.  Feel free to become a "follower" if you want to get my blog updates automatically!

Blog Stats!

• My total page views are 1,464 (which I have to assume half of which are me making sure my post went though, my aunt, and Amy Lierle).
• My most popular post was: Surprise! my first one
• There were 336 people referred to my blog via Facebook.
• People are reading my blog via: Firefox (24%), Mobile (22%), Safari (19%), Internet Explorer (17%), Other (18%).
• Pageviews by operating Systems: Windows (39%), iPhone (29%), Mac (22%), Android (6%), iPad (1%), iPod (1%).
• And the Coolest stat of all... blog views by country: U.S. (1,164), CR (139), UK (14), Colombia (14), Nicaragua (14), Austria - Thanks Antonia! (11), Australia (11), India (9), Spain - Gracias Yami! (8) , Panama (8)

Well, as long as someone is reading I guess I'll keep writing.
-BP

... a few more of my friends photos that I edited...

 Lifeguard stand in Tamarindo

 

 Health code violation?

 

Deportes en vivo!

Yes, I do love sports and although I made a comment about how, "I was glad to be in a place where I didn't care what my favorite team was doing," but I've been a little caught up in things lately.  Call it too much rain or time around Europeans in the hostel, but with the Rangers in the World Series (Great game tonight by the way), Sooners, and Cowboys all playing right now I find myself still captivated as if I were back home.  Thankfully, I have streaming internet to watch live games ('en vivo'), cable at home to catch football and World Series games, and of course as much soccer as I could ever possibly dream of (sometimes there are literally 10 different games on at the same time being shown!).

What I really need to come clean about though is that I have become addicted to rugby.  Soon the Rugby World Cup Final will feature the All Blacks of New Zealand Vs. France on Sunday.  Now I will always contest that if Americans actually focused on Soccer or Rugby the way we did on Football, Baseball, Basketball, or Hockey, we would wipe the floor with all other countries.  However, I have to admit that Rugby really is an amazing sport and I am quite impressed by it.  I'd say I understand about 80% of the rules now after watching for a few weeks and let me just tell you how passionate Ryan and I are becoming about it.  Putting aside that it is the only sport you can guarantee to be replayed 12 times a day, I've literally watched hours of it in my free time and find myself yelling at the TV (thanks for something I guess rainy season!).  The All Blacks have touched my heart with their grace, power, fluidity, and flare.  Piri Weepu and the boys will surely make their country proud this Sunday!

Here is a profile of my favorite All Blacks player:

Full name	Ma'a Allan Nonu
Date of birth	21 May 1982 (age 29)
Place of birth	Wellington, New Zealand
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Nickname	Skux
School	Rongotai College
Playing career
Position	Centre, Wing
New Zealand No.	1031
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2002–	Wellington
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2003–2011 2012–	Hurricanes Blues	110 0	(215) (0)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2003–	New Zealand	63	(105)

Rain, rain go away...

"One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night..."

This is what I was warned about and this is what I expected.  Coming to Costa Rica, or Central America for that matter, during the rainy season has its pros and cons.  The pros being cheaper places to stay, less crowded beaches, more time to interact with the locals, etc.  The cons are a bit more obvious.. rain, rain, and more rain.  While it has been cloudy and rains several times a day right now, it really isn't that bad.  Rather than the standard 30 minute rain at 4:00PM it just stays cloudy and kinda rains whenever it wants.  The biggest bummer for me is that I'm right in the midst of learning to surf, we have huge swells of 5-8 foot waves consistently for a few weeks and all those storms make for some choppy, unsurfable breaks... guess we'll just wait it out for now!

I've been in Tamarindo living for a little over two weeks now.  I'm on day 12 working at the hostel and for those of you non-backpacker/traveler types: a hostel is simply a cheap hotel for backpackers.  You share a room with other people sometimes, living spaces, kitchens, bathrooms and many times the rooms run about $10 per night (at least they do in Costa Rica anyway).  My job is pretty simple.. I work 3:00-11:00PM everyday and I check in guests, clean up after the place a bit, and do my best to sell tours, shuttles, and other things that make us money here.  It has been really great meeting a lot of people from all over the world staying here and I can totally see why so many people start these things.  While it is work, I still go for a beach run at sunset about 4-5 days a week, make all my meals in the kitchen, and kick back and visit or play ping pong and Foosball with our guests.  Since tonight is Friday night, it is a popular night for most to go out on the town and I finally have some quiet time to sit down and blog. 

Things are starting to become very normal for Ryan and I here.  We have met several friends in town that we hang out with from time to time, go to the gym everyday, surf when the waves are good, are having a big BBQ tomorrow night as our little housewarming and then our much anticipated first soccer game Sunday.  I'm pretty excited to play again and I imagine it will be a lot like the Mexican league back in Tyler seeing as how we will be the only two white guys and English speakers in our league... Oh yeah, and I literally spend money about once every 4 to 5 days now.  If you know me well you know I am cheap, so you better believe I'm happy at that!  My Spanish is getting better, but I'm ready to buckle down and start studying.. fluency is my goal before I leave this place.

Here are some long overdue pictures from Monteverde and Arenal.. I hope you enjoy these as you have all my others!

 Arenal Volcano

 

 

Look closely and you can see a foot.  It was hard to photograph but this tree is actually about 70 feet tall and those brave enough can literally climb up from the inside to the top.

 

 

 Yes, it was as beautiful as it looks...

I love this picture of Ryan coming off the rope swing... he got even higher than this a couple of times but I kept taking the picture too late.

I love my camera, but it is a bit big and cumbersome to trudge around with.  So, I find myself taking pictures from my travel partners and editing them.  Luckily for me, I met this Australian girl named Lisa who was a professional photographer.  Most of these pictures are from her so I definitely don't want to claim credit for them, but just wanted to share my experiences with you.

-BP

A few awesome videos for you to enjoy!

     

Ryan on the Tarzan swing.

 Rhea on the rope swing in La Fortuna. 

 

Derrick back flip into a waterfall at Montezuma.

I hope you enjoy a few videos of some of the crazy things I've gotten to do.  I've been busy working at the hostel lately, but I promise to post a new blog with photos tomorrow.

- BP

Beat it Nerd!

Two months down and still loving life here.  Tomorrow Ryan and I will be moving into a new apartment: click here to see it!  Also, I will be starting my first job working at Pura Vida Hostel tomorrow as well .  It's kind of ironic that I am about to officially be an illegal worker in Costa Rica (as is every foreigner) and those are the very people my refugees used to compete for jobs with in the U.S.  It doesn't pay great but it'll get me by month to month for now and give me plenty of time to find something else and plan my next steps.  Ryan and I were reunited today after 4 days of separation while he was in San Jose dropping and picking up friends and I was hanging on the beach in Jaco.  It was a successful trip for him though as we now have a local cell number which I will get out to you all soon.

I said I was going to post about security and that it would be an awesome entry so here is my attempt at both:  "BEAT. IT. NERD"  This is one of the many phrases I have had to endure Ryan overusing.  As much as I try to keep his worthless babble out of my vernacular this one has made it into my "common sayings" list and is extremely effective down here.  You can say "beat it nerd" to stray dogs, bugs, drug dealers, prozzies (my made up awesome word for prostitutes that's taken this country by storm), unwanted Europeans, and old people.  I've learned that between this phrase, being as tall as the average local, and slightly fit, the majority of Central Americans do not mess with me.  I read in a travel book the other day that Costa Rica has significantly lower crime rates than any other Central American country and this is despite it increasing by over two-thirds since 1998.  Homicide here is almost non-existent and while you do hear of other petty crimes all you really have to worry about is theft.  Sure I was punched in the arm by some crazy Colombian guy three weeks ago as I ran through the city, but Costa Rica is different.  Yes, I have also fallen victim to the town thief a few times (though I attribute this to my own forgetfulness more than anything else), and yes I did witness a girl have all of her valuables stolen out of her hostel room (though she more or less deserved it for not locking things up), but overall safety has been the least of my worries.  I heard before I left that Costa Rica was "The Switzerland of Costa Rica."  Now, I traveled with a Swiss girl for a few days and I don't think one can quite take it that far, but you'd be hard pressed to find many safer places in The States.  Guard your things, stay away from places you don't belong, and you'll find my new home a very safe place to be.

With friends like these, who needs security?

Pictures of waterfalls, ziplining, rope swinging, and more coming soon!  As always, thanks for reading!

-BP