if you can be one thing in life, be interesting.: Costa Rica, Days 11 & 12: Sunshine and Water

The last two days have been spent in my favorite place--the water.

Snorkeling is a pretty special experience, especially in salt water where you're almost completely buoyant. There is something about the sound the shells make crackling beneath the surface, the movement of the water, and, once you know how to move within the water, the relationship you have to everything in it. Fish will move with you for protection. Octopus will swim by without noticing you. Eels will leave their rock crevices in search of food. It's almost magical to be an outsider in the underwater world and blend.

Aar is officially a spear fishing super star (and spear HOG, may I add...), he's slaying more fish than the locals, and I must say they're pretty delicious. Still only that one yellowfin though...and he attempted to slay some lobster today as well, but to no avail.

Last night we booked it over to Mal Pais after snorkeling high tide so we could watch the sunset. We didn't exactly make it, but "ish". Ate at a local soda and it was excellent. We've discovered on this trip that Costa Rican's make the best guacamole in the world. How we never knew this before, is beyond me. Just know it's amazing.

The drive back across the Peninsula at dark was surely an experience, to say the least. The road seemed narrower, the jungle was dark. There were strange flying objects (at one point Aaron was SURE he saw a three foot flying grasshopper, it was, in fact, a Night Hawk...). Worth it though :)

Went to Cabano today to get some coffee to bring home and get gas for the trip back up to Carrillo on Thursday. I also decided to get another $50 in colones, just in case. I'm not sure I've explained the Costa Rican banking experience to ya'all, but I'll do it now: Guard at the door with a sawed off shotgun drinking a slurpy and laughing with locals. Show him your passport so he doesn't use shotgun on you. Enter. Crazy freaking metal detector/possibly air puffer machine that talks in ridiculously fast espanol that I cannot understand at all. Another guard with hand gun. Pick a number out of stupid machine as if you're at the DMV or Social Security Administration Building. Sit and wait. Locals look at you as if you're a moron and cut in front of you. Finally get to the window. Attendant pretends to not understand any English and forces you to scrape up your pigeon Spanish. Attendant enters your passport information into some system. Sign fifteen receipts. Get ridiculous amount of money (there are 5,440 colones in $1). Walk through swarms of people who think you're a rich asshole of a tourist. Go back through metal detector contraption. Pass sawed off shot gun guard. Breath sign of relief. And this is not me being ridiculous. It's a tedious process. I will never again bitch about going to the bank in the states....for at least a week. I also have no pictures to document this event. I apologize.

Had the fish Aar speared, pasta, salad, and smoked pork chops for dinner tonight. Pretty delicious. Not sure I'm ready to go back to my bachelor diet of easy mac, diet pepsi, and steam fresh veggies.....

Hasta Manana....