Blissfully Wanderlost

After our final very lazy day on Tamarindo, where we were owners of a hostel for about 6 hours, we were gracefully told that the hostel was closing and that we'd have to find greener pastures.

Who would want to close this view?
So we, as well as the other beach bums who had been living there for the last 6 months, were kicked to the curb!
It was a good time to bid Tamarindo a fond farewell and began our 4 hour journey to Samara!
Because direct roads along the coast are practically non-existent, we took a bus from Tamarindo and then made transfers in Santa Cruz and Nicoya, then finally arrived in Samara. Wandering around small towns in Costa Rica with random tourists is a unique experience!

Well it's time to walk down to Town (population 243?) and check out the local action. We may even find a yoga class here!

PS - written by Liz

Our hostel, Beach House, has two awesome dogs: Skinny and Kung Fu. The names pretty much sum it up because one is skinny and the other does kung fu. Por supuesto. We haven't seen the monkeys yet, but apparently they fight over monkey poop. But they fight over everything so I guess that makes sense.

This nice point is about five kilometers from our door so we were tired in this picture!

Here's how we spent our first morning in Costa Rica: playing hookey from school at the parque, flirting with the public art and wildlife, and doing pull-ups on the jungle gym.

Like this!

I eat rust:

Liz is an athlete.

And Kevin is not.

But he sure can nap.

This represents all of our luggage for the next 6.5 months! I'm not sure how I managed to consolidate down to so very little - I know Kevin has been looking at my pile of clothes, makeup, cross-stitching, books, etc. and shaking his head frequently. After a lot of soul searching and a little crying I reduced it down to the bare minimum (and no, I didn't get rid of all of my makeup! At least not yet...) It's amazing process trying to differentiate between what you feel like you will NOT SURVIVE without (this includes such things as my injections as well as 101 hotel-sized shampoos and lotions) and things that you MIGHT SURVIVE without (including my cross-stitching and my Spanish lesson books). I'm hopeful that leaving my crafts at home doesn't lead to my demise, but it just may, and if so I will point the finger at Kevin!

So here we are on a bus, traveling from Manchester, NH to Boston. The flight leaves later this afternoon, connects through Houston, and then on to San Jose, Costa Rica. We should be arriving around 9pm central time, as long as Continental decides to fly on time.

As this is the last free internet we will have until we return home, I wanted to relay some small insights I have had:

1. Frequently people have said we are "brave," "courageous," "special" (is this a compliment?) and "insane" for doing what we are doing. I think our trip should be the norm! It doesn't take much to dream, be inspired, and then commit to the goal of traveling and exploring. Per Nike, Just do it!
2. This event has had many iterations and was very close to being cancelled. I am so grateful for whatever it took to get everything together, whether it was the stars aligning correctly or our positive energy or perhaps it was the Burger Cookies we had in Maryland... there were so many things that could have gone wrong which didn't, which makes this endeavor even sweeter.
3. I am also so amazed by the outpouring of love we both received from friends and family, who are cheering us on and wishing us luck. Our "So we left our jobs and are leaving the country" party in August will help to remind me not to fall in love and get lost forever in South and Central America; that there are friends and family awaiting our return. Not that I wouldn't come home, of course not Mom and Dad!!! Uncle Sam would be hunting me down through the jungles of Guatemala if we didn't return... and who am I kidding so would my parents

Antes de nuestra salida para vivir en el extranjero, hemos de cumplir una gran meta final. Vamos a participar en la carrera Reach the Beach con el equipo de Chester College of New England...

Oh, sorry. I'm been watching too much Univision and, I suppose like all bilingual people, my brain has started once again to think, speak, write, and even dream in both languages. (And thus the phenomenon of native Spanish speakers who are fluent in English who speak with others like them in both languages, using whichever word or phrase comes to them first. "Mira chica, ayer fui al supermarket para comprar some lobsters y then mi novio me llamo y told me to olvidarlo todo..." But enough of this discussion for now; I'll return to it in another entry.)

But first, let me salivate a little bit.

Que rico!

So, right. Reach the Beach. Reach the Beach is the longest relay race in the country, comprising 36 different sections over the course of more than 200 miles, from Cannon Mountain to Hampton Beach. Hundreds of teams, consisting of usually 12 runners, compete in this physically and mentally exhausting race. This will be my third time running with the Chester College of New England team and Liz's first.

We got "called up from the minors" by Captain Byron, the veteran runner and Dean of Students at Chester, about five weeks ago. Since that day we have trained hard to prepare ourselves for the three legs of 3-9 miles each, which are separated by hours of driving, cheering on our teammates, drinking Gatorade, eating powerbars, and trying to sneak in a few minutes of fitful sleep here and there over the race's 24+ hours.

So that's how we'll be spending our last weekend in New Hampshire: driving and running the state's roads, admiring the early foliage, stinking up the Chester College van, and massaging our crampy calf muscles.

Reach the beach indeed. Can't wait til we reach the other one.

(Not pictured: the beer in my hand.)