Hola Amigos and Amigas!
Apologies for the lax posting on here, but really there isn't much to tell you except that we are enjoying PURA VIDA (pure life, as Costa Ricans say!) in a small town on the pacific coast called Dominical.
We arrived here five days ago, found a great guesthouse at a reasonable price (indeed, this is NOT Asia and Costa Rica is proving to be more expensive than we anticipated - so suffice to say we are taking care of our own meals and seeking out the best deals for our guesthouses).
The guesthouse is right on the beach and so far I have nothing more to report except that it has been sunny and we have been swimming in the ocean every day.
Tomorrow we will probably visit one of the many waterfalls in the area, but you never know what the day will bring...
Missing you all! Lots of love,
Maeve/Jay
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
a HOLA lot of costa rican love...
Well we made it.
And along the way, we made a few choices. They may seem abrupt to some but something was wrong in our guts and we decided that we were going to change course and not teach English under contract this time around. This decision feels great.
We are currently in beautiful Quepos, Costa Rica which is home to one of the biggest and bestest natural parks. We stayed in San Jose for two days and got to know a bit of the Costa Rican culture, all while trying to figure out what we were going to do.
And still, we don't know and we don't care! We are hoping to volunteer along the way down South to help with our budget (so we will still potentially be teaching English, just in places where people can't afford to pay teachers - I have found an orphanage in Peru that I am waiting to hear back from).
Don't envy us too much - it is the rainy season here so it is only sunny and beautiful all morning until it rains around 1 p.m and is overcast into the evening. The temperature never goes over 30 (and never below 17) so we are just having to adjust to it all.
We are looking, potentially, at making our way southwards via Panama overland. From there, there is a cruise (which is very safe and reputable) for five days into Colombia - which, by the way, has a terrible reputation as a bad place and is not if you keep your wits about you, which is true for anyplace.
Not sure when we will be home, but it will certainly be sooner than June (as originally anticipated...) or maybe not! You never know...
Adios amigos!
Maeve and Jay
And along the way, we made a few choices. They may seem abrupt to some but something was wrong in our guts and we decided that we were going to change course and not teach English under contract this time around. This decision feels great.
We are currently in beautiful Quepos, Costa Rica which is home to one of the biggest and bestest natural parks. We stayed in San Jose for two days and got to know a bit of the Costa Rican culture, all while trying to figure out what we were going to do.
And still, we don't know and we don't care! We are hoping to volunteer along the way down South to help with our budget (so we will still potentially be teaching English, just in places where people can't afford to pay teachers - I have found an orphanage in Peru that I am waiting to hear back from).
Don't envy us too much - it is the rainy season here so it is only sunny and beautiful all morning until it rains around 1 p.m and is overcast into the evening. The temperature never goes over 30 (and never below 17) so we are just having to adjust to it all.
We are looking, potentially, at making our way southwards via Panama overland. From there, there is a cruise (which is very safe and reputable) for five days into Colombia - which, by the way, has a terrible reputation as a bad place and is not if you keep your wits about you, which is true for anyplace.
Not sure when we will be home, but it will certainly be sooner than June (as originally anticipated...) or maybe not! You never know...
Adios amigos!
Maeve and Jay
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Charlotte, NC - I spent a month there one night.
Hola everyone!
Well, here we are again at the beginning of another adventure. We decided to shake things up a bit this time. Instead of merely backpacking through South America, we decided to teach English. While teaching is a completely different experience - certainly our mobility will be greatly limited and we see as much as we did in Asia - it offers us the ability to learn and absorb a particular culture a great deal more than passing through. (Not to mention the financial benefits). To increase our potential earning power and placement availability we decided to take a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certification in Manual Antonio, Costa Rica.
Yesterday, we boarded our flight from Toronto (to NYC to Charlotte to San Jose) with starry eyed enthusiasm. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see none other than Bob Rae sitting a few ailes ahead of us on the plane. I said to a nearby steward "Bob Rae is on the plane!" He looked unamused and informed me they saw Mr. Rae often aboard. The flight was every travelers' nightmare. Conditions made it a bumpy, turbulent coaster ride which left both of us reeling for the sick bags. Weather in New York had us circling LaGuardia for 25 minutes which we both knew meant we would be missing our connecting flight. We ran from one terminal building to another - coatless, I might add. Winter is coming to NYC! - to find that our next flight was too delayed and that we had caught a break. We jumped for joy momentarily before realizing this meant our connecting flight from Charlotte to San Jose would be missed. The US airline advised us to get to Charlotte and spend the night, and take a flight the next morning to San Jose.
Arriving in Charlotte, we hunkered down in a local Holiday Inn and listed the reasons why it was best the final leg of our trip take place tomorrow. We arose bright and early, excited to get onward with our trip and made our way off to the airport. Ready to check in, the agent asks whether or not we have a return ticket. As we do not, the agent explains she cannot allow us onward. So begins the saga of the return ticket. After running around trying to find a loophole into the regulation, we finally decide to buy a cheap return ticket and whether or not we use it back, we at least can gain entry into Costa Rica. Unfortunately, by the time we had worked out the return ticket, our flight was long past boarding and we were once again facing another night in good ol' Charlotte.
Sigh - wouldn't be an adventure without some rocky travel starts?
Tomorrow, we are hoping we will make it to San Jose. If not, we are throwing our hands up and coming home. (Just kidding...like THAT would ever happen!)
Keep you posted. We love you and miss you all!
Maeve/Jay
Well, here we are again at the beginning of another adventure. We decided to shake things up a bit this time. Instead of merely backpacking through South America, we decided to teach English. While teaching is a completely different experience - certainly our mobility will be greatly limited and we see as much as we did in Asia - it offers us the ability to learn and absorb a particular culture a great deal more than passing through. (Not to mention the financial benefits). To increase our potential earning power and placement availability we decided to take a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certification in Manual Antonio, Costa Rica.
Yesterday, we boarded our flight from Toronto (to NYC to Charlotte to San Jose) with starry eyed enthusiasm. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to see none other than Bob Rae sitting a few ailes ahead of us on the plane. I said to a nearby steward "Bob Rae is on the plane!" He looked unamused and informed me they saw Mr. Rae often aboard. The flight was every travelers' nightmare. Conditions made it a bumpy, turbulent coaster ride which left both of us reeling for the sick bags. Weather in New York had us circling LaGuardia for 25 minutes which we both knew meant we would be missing our connecting flight. We ran from one terminal building to another - coatless, I might add. Winter is coming to NYC! - to find that our next flight was too delayed and that we had caught a break. We jumped for joy momentarily before realizing this meant our connecting flight from Charlotte to San Jose would be missed. The US airline advised us to get to Charlotte and spend the night, and take a flight the next morning to San Jose.
Arriving in Charlotte, we hunkered down in a local Holiday Inn and listed the reasons why it was best the final leg of our trip take place tomorrow. We arose bright and early, excited to get onward with our trip and made our way off to the airport. Ready to check in, the agent asks whether or not we have a return ticket. As we do not, the agent explains she cannot allow us onward. So begins the saga of the return ticket. After running around trying to find a loophole into the regulation, we finally decide to buy a cheap return ticket and whether or not we use it back, we at least can gain entry into Costa Rica. Unfortunately, by the time we had worked out the return ticket, our flight was long past boarding and we were once again facing another night in good ol' Charlotte.
Sigh - wouldn't be an adventure without some rocky travel starts?
Tomorrow, we are hoping we will make it to San Jose. If not, we are throwing our hands up and coming home. (Just kidding...like THAT would ever happen!)
Keep you posted. We love you and miss you all!
Maeve/Jay
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