miami seems to have a special place in my recent adventures. i came through here going to both puerto rico and brazil, though both those times i did not stay the night. i'm here tonight in between my costa rica vacation and my israeli business trip. too tired to go out see the city and slightly oversocialized anyway, i decided to stay in the hotel room and write it out...
i just got back from costa rica -- where i fell in love with central america. because of its short length, this trip was really just a taste of the country. we didnt see volcanoes, nor explore beaches. we arrived on sunday, hopped in a rental, played a few hands of costa rican blackjack , and headed off to catch our ferry to malpais. at the bj table, i was down 10Gs! which, in american cash is roughly $20. it took me a few minutes to figure out this exchange rate of 500:1. I suggested to several vendors that the country should consider devaluing the currency like the ruble, but they just looked at me funny.
costa rica is just developed enough , if you follow. dusty roads take you between beach towns but when you get there, you'll find great and cheap food, with some gorgeous beach resorts. we picked something mid tier, meaning the fridge didnt work, i got dripped on by the air conditioning condensation, and the kitchen ran out of BEANS. that last item mortified us the most -- how do you run out of BEANS in COSTA RICA. nonetheless, the trip was great, with wonderful weather (including a ridiculous rainstorm ... "just when you think it cant rain any harder...") and great company.
i tried to get one thing done each day and just chillax the rest of the time. On Monday, Jon, Zach and I drove up the coast to a small port where we arranged to have a couple ticos (thats what the cosa ricans call themselves) take us out fishing for a few hours. We quickly got on board and were shuttled out into the ocean, past a shear-cliffed island, where we saw bait fish dancing on the nearby surface. Douglass, our "captain" said little except "mas cervesa?" when he was thirsty but he was a hell of a tuna spotter. there were times when all three of us had fish on the line and it was wild in that tiny boat.
