I'll Be Home For Christmas...

I should start this post by giving an example of the wonderful infrastructure of Costa Rica (please note the sarcasm). Playa Junquillal, where we were when I last wrote, is near Tamarindo on the pacific coast of Costa Rica and Montezuma is directly south along the coast at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is, however, impossible to go straight there (or even in a round-a-bout way there) without a rental car. I posted a picture to the right of a map of just where we had to go to get there, which included 4 local buses and 1 ferry and took us all the way north to Liberia before heading southeast to Puntarenas to catch the ferry back west across the Gulf of Nicoya and finally another bus to Montezuma. The trip took a total of about 13 hours, the same time it takes me to drive from Tahoe to my brother's house in Montana, over 800 miles away. Playa Junquillal and Montezuma are about 70 miles apart as the pelican flies.

I can't complain though as I am used to long periods of dirty bus travel and the reward this time was so great. My Montezuma, as I sometime call it, is where I spent so much of my second semester in Costa Rica when I lived there 6 years ago. My dear friend Michelle (whom I just saw in London) and I became almost like locals, knew most of the townspeople, and most importantly made lasting friendships that I love coming back to on visits like this. It is literally made up of a street corner, like an "L" running along the beach on one side and inland on the other. Packed with shops, restaurants, and people, it is sometimes hard to believe it is still so small. Montezuma is where Nate and I stayed for the next two weeks, finally winding down from traveling so much and focusing simply on relaxing and not much else. We greatly succeeded in this. Our hotel had a kitchen, so we cooked a lot which not only saved us a lot of money but also quenched our craving to cook after having eaten out so much. Our days were spent going to the beach, hiking the river to the swimming hole and waterfall, going to the beach, taking photos of wildlife, going to the beach, and pretty much going to the beach. We did happen to take a yoga class and an ice-cream making class as well, but mostly we just tried to stay cool and went through a lot of sunscreen. Our nights were spent playing gin rummy, and occasionally we went out to Chico's Bar (the only bar in town) to hang out with my friends. It was almost like old times, except that we've all grown up a lot in the last 6 years (this is a good thing:). I was so happy to learn that I haven't lost a step in my salsa dancing, and spent many many songs being twirled around the dance floor, something that makes me SO SO SO happy that I can't stop smiling. It was amazing to see my friends again, and I'm so glad I've been able to visit a few times before things really change and all my friends eventually leave, which is slowly starting to happen.

Here are a couple of fun stories from Montezuma: one night in the grocery store as Nate and I were picking out vegetables, I was suddenly engulfed in a giant hug from one of my girl friends that I hadn't seen yet, so excited to see her although I think at first Nate's heart skipped a beat thinking something was wrong from all the commotion, girls:) Anyway as we tried to make plans to hang out she insisted we come to breakfast tomorrow (her parents own a hotel) and then suddenly felt so bad and so saddened by the fact that she couldn't tomorrow because she promised she'd go with the hotel workers to Isla Tortuga for their Christmas bonus and acted as if it was such a burden. Let me explain something, Isla Tortuga is a destination island with white sandy beaches where tourists go on nice boats for lunch and snorkeling. Such is the hard life in Montezuma! The very next night in the same exact spot I actually ran into a girl I knew in high school though, and THAT was a small world story! Nate was beginning to wonder what was so magic about that corner of the grocery store. And one morning as we were eating breakfast, flowers were falling from the sky, literally. Our hotel faces the park, full of big trees where monkeys like to visit. They sit high in the trees and pick the flowers, sucking something out of them and then letting them float to the ground. Only in paradise does it rain flowers:)

After our two weeks we headed back to the central valley to Heredia which is where I lived 6 years ago. I showed Nate my university, which hardly looks the same at all they have built many new buildings and repainted some old ones. It actually looks more like a university than a correctional center now, which I think is a step in the right direction! And finally, on our last night in Costa Rica, we went to my house to visit my host family that I lived with for the entire year that I was there. It was a Monday and at their house that means English class night! My dad is a retired English teacher, and gives classes each Monday to all my mom's siblings, plus a few extra relatives, there are about 10 students in all. After catching up with my parents and little brother who turns 14 in March (crazy, he was 7 when I first moved there!) over a Christmas tamale and coffee, the students arrived. We were happy to act as the visiting professors for the night, and engaged in conversation (mostly prepared questions) with all of them for over an hour to practice their English. And when class was over we all ate dinner together and let me tell you it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. I love those people, they loved us, and they are so real. One of the things I love the most about being able to conquer the language barrier is understanding that people are all the same behind their languages! They love to laugh and joke and share with each other and I just love to be part of it. Nate did very well and I think they all really liked him too. Unfortunately the night had to end eventually and my family gave us a ride back to our hotel, bidding us farewell until who knows when, but it left me with such a feeling satisfaction for our whole trip, and I was ready to go back to the US.

Nate left before me, as he was flying home to Minnesota for Christmas, so I had one last breakfast of gallo pinto before heading to the airport. As it turns out, I was sitting next to a blind man on my flight. His name was Brad and he was from the States, a very nice guy whom I chatted with for a bit. He has friends in Costa Rica that he visits often, and by himself. It broke my heart when he said he had visited Jaco and San Ramon and that "San Ramon is so beautiful..." I didn't know what to say but to agree with him, who sat there staring blankly at nothing with a big smile on his face. I suddenly was hit with such a deep gratitude for my healthy eyesight, I couldn't even imagine being in a place as beautiful and lush as Costa Rica (or any place for that matter) and not being able to enjoy it with my eyes, and my camera, as I do so absent-mindedly. I am so thankful for the freedom that I have to travel and my healthy body that enables me to do so. Today is Christmas and I am spending it at home with my brother and parents (and the dogs, of course:) and am feeling very blessed!

I won't be staying in Tahoe for long, but we don't have a plan yet for where we are going next (not abroad, just moving somewhere) so I may be posting again soon, but for now, Merry Christmas everybody!

With love,
J

A Very Happy Thanksgiving AND Birthday!

I have never seen Puerto Viejo without rain, and this is still true even after the sun we've had recently. We somehow made the most of it, eating scrumptious gallo pinto again and enjoying being back in Costa Rica. We rented bikes and ventured down the road through the jungle to a little town/beach called Manzanillo. The exciting part about this trip is not Manzanillo, however, it is the wildife spotting on the way! We kept stopping for sloths, got some great pictures (I LOVE my zoom lens), we saw monkeys, giant spiders, and even several toucans! It was like being on a guided tour, only we were our own guides, and even served as guides for the gringos that kept catching up to us and stopping to see what we found this time. It was a fun and cheap way to get to see a lot, and luckily we only got caught in one bad shower on the way. We stayed 3 days in Puerto Viejo which is on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and then needed to figure out how we were going to make it to La Fortuna (Volcan Arenal) in hopefully one day (it's a LONG day to get anywhere far away in CR). We came across a tour operator that we thought might do a private shuttle to where we needed to go, asked about it, gagged when he said $250, and then left while he was trying to sell us a rafting trip that would then have continuing transport to La Fortuna blah blah blah. Well at least I thought it was blah blah blah, but apparently the boys thought otherwise, and after dinner we went back to inquire, and suddenly found ourselves signing up to go rafting! This would be a day of getting picked up from our hotel, brought to raft place, breakfast included, then rafting for a few hours, then lunch included, and THEN another private shuttle straight to La Fortuna. All for $99 per person! We thought that was worth it. So we got to raft the Rio Pacuare, the river rated #5 in the WORLD by National Geographic for best rivers to raft. The scenery was UNbelievable, like a movie. We rafted literally through waterfalls, canyons, the thick jungle, oh and not to mention the Class IV rapids. That part was a bit unnerving for me, I have a problem with water and hyperventilation, not a good combo. Luckily non of us fell out of the raft unless on purpose, they made me do it once to "practice" a rescue, NOT exciting for me even a little bit. The other raft, however, did manage to lose everyone but the guide on one of the big rapids, that was pretty scary. Nate and Daryl were in heaven the whole time, and I was just trying to survive and enjoy the scenery, which I did, so in the end it was a huge success and a really amazing thing to have done. AND we ended up right where we needed to go!

The next few days in La Fortuna were unfortunately a bit cloudy. I've been there 4 times and only seen the volcano ONCE. Unlucky. But we did find an awesome swimming hole with a rope swing that the guys played on for a while, and went on a volcano hike that pretty much ended up being sort of a guided tour through the jungle, not entirely worth it but still a good activity to pass the time. Thanksgiving Day was the best day we spent there. We found out that the Patriots were playing, and we could watch the game on the tv at our hotel! So we watched a bit of the Macy's Parade and then the Pats game, and then went to Baldi Hotsprings for the rest of the day. This place is awesome, it has 25 pools of different temperatures and designs to go and just soak all day. There were water slides and swim up bars and lounge chair pools as well, and we didn't have any problem enjoying ourselves. Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a buffet at the hotsprings, a delicious spread of Costa Rican cuisine, followed by another round of soaking in the lounge pool (see photos). Thanksgiving was definitely a success.

With 2 days left before Daryl had to leave we decided to make the most of it and headed to Monteverde on what they call a "Jeep Boat Jeep" transfer, but it's more like bus boat bus, not as exciting. A couple bumpy hours later we arrived to Monteverde, and signed up to do the zipline that very day. It's a good thing I didn't look at the photos, because this zipline has CHANGED since I last did it, and it's not just an ordinary zipline anymore, this zipline includes a Tarzan swing, it's 200ft, starting with about a 10 ft freefall, HOLY CRAP. I have a hilarious video of Daryl doing it, it's the scariest man scream I've ever heard, which really didn't make me want to do it any more. But seriously everyone in the whole group did it, I was the last one, so I went. I WENT ON A TARZAN SWING. It's like those giants swings they do in the States where they hoist you up and then drop you, ya those ones that I said I'd never do. Well I did. In the jungle. Unfortunately Daryl didn't think to video me, so sad, but we have some photos. It was pretty terrifying and that free fall thing, no thanks. But that wasn't all! The very last zipline is 1 KM long, takes about a minute to complete, and this one of called Superman! They change the harness so you are attached from the back, and they attach your feet too, so you are literally face down, flying 1KM through the mountains, and this is WAY high, not sure how many hundred feet in the air we were, but it was UP there. That was scarier for me than the Tarzan, because there was nothing I could do to get out of that position, and I felt really helpless! Most people loved the exhilaration, but being afraid of heights, I sort of just looked at the end and prayed I'd get there before the cable snapped. Anyway though we all made it without any problems, thank GOD. The next day we went on a tour of a coffee plantation, and I was happy to be grounded and not risking my life to have fun that day. I think that's where the photos stop for now. The next day we sent Daryl on a bus back to San Jose to get his flight out, and managed to catch a ride to Playa Brasilito in Guanacaste where we would spend my birthday! I guess I should mention the reason we got a ride, but I'm gonna make it a long crazy story very short- there was another American guy who got hurt and needed to get x rays and see doctors and he was living in a beach town near where we needed to go, so we went with him and I acted as his translator for the day in return for a ride to Brasilito. He was very thankful to me, and I knew that I really helped him a lot, it was a good feeling, I really love translating (SPANISH!:) and I was so glad to be able to help even though it took all day..

Anyway, Playa Brasilito is right next to Playa Conchal, which is supposed to be (and it is) one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. This is where I spent my birthday! They even had massage tables right on the beach! So of course we got massages, and we ate that night at an Italian place (yum!) in town, delicious food, and even got some chocolate ice cream for dessert. I can't believe I'm 26 now, yikes.. but each year seems to be better than the last so it can only get more exciting, right? After a few lazy days there we made our way to where we are now, a beach called Playa Junquillal, try pronouncing that! It's hoonk-ee-YALL. There is NOTHING here, just a beach, I'm surprised this hotel even has internet for me to use, but glad just the same. There is a nice pool, and this place happens to be owned by an Italian from Milano, we've been chatting in Italian and it's nice to get to do that every now and then! The Italian restaurant here opens tonight for the summer season so I'm excited, because in a town this small there aren't other options, and last night's dinner consisted of 20 oz of ice cream (between the 2 of us) and chips and cheese. YUM. But can't eat like that all the time:) We are thinking after this that we will just head down to Montezuma and stay there for a while, maybe a week or two. For now, the beach is calling...

Cacomistles, Olingos, Kinkajous, oh my!

This is precisely why it is a good thing to update this blog more often: so many stories to tell! Our adventure out of Costa Rica into dryer Panama took us to a place called La Fortuna Forest Reserve, in the highlands of western Panama. We stayed at Panama´s only Eco Lodge which was nestled awesomely in the jungle, with a 15 minute hike to the road (yes, when it was built they hauled in all the building materials on their sweaty backs). We didn´t even need to leave the hostel to see wildlife- including hundreds of hummingbirds, a Capuchin (white-faced) monkey, Cacomistles (like little racoons), Olingos (just a bit bigger then cacomistles), and my favorite: a Kinkajou! Apparently the English translation for Kinkajou is a honey bear, so we met Winnie the Pooh! But he looked nothing like he does on TV. He is domestic, because some family had kept him as a baby and then didn´t really know how to take care of him, so the owners of the hostel took him in, built him a cage, and feed and play with him every night (he is nocturnal). I have a great video, I can´t wait to upload my photos but can´t do it yet. I played with him every night and wanted to bring him home, he´s adorable. Anyway, we didn´t just stay in the hostel, we went on a couple hikes into the jungle, like climbing a stairmaster on very steep for a few hours, tiring! But beautiful, we found a swimming hole at the river and saw big Blue Morpho butterflies. Maybe one of the highlights of the trip though was what we found in our room one night. There was a big spider high on one of the walls, so I went up to kill it, which I did successfully (we decided we didn´t want it running around while we were sleeping), and then upon turning around, I actually started laughing at the sight of this and told Nate not to look... there was a tarantula on his shoe! Lucky for us one of the staff is there researching spiders and has a love for tarantulas, so I ran to grab him and he was like a little boy on Christmas with his new pet. And somehow after all of that, we were able to sleep without any spider nightmares:) During our stay in the jungle we also won a fooseball tournament and learned to dance Lindy Hop, good times!

After 3 days in the jungle we hopped a bus to Panama City to go meet Daryl. We walked the city, toured the ruins of old Panama City, sat while Daryl sketched, ate lots of yummy food (el sabor del barrio- the flavor of the neighborhood- street food!), and of course went to see the Miraflores locks at the Panama Canal. We even caught a Patriots game at a local restaurant! But after a couple days we were ready to get on the road again, actually in the air, we flew to Bocas del Toro, one of my favorite places. Bocas is an archipelago of islands on the caribbean side of Panama very close to Costa Rica. The main town is basically one street of shops, hotels, bars and restaurants, and it stretches all along the water so every meal is taken on what feels like a dock with a great view. We lucked out with the weather, it´s been beautiful the last few days which means we have taken advantage of the sun! The first day we went to a beach on the next island, got eaten by sand fleas, and had dinner in a gazebo over the water nearby, the food was good but in the end it probably wasn´t worth all the bites. Poor Daryl looks diseased. The second day we went on an island-hopping tour, starting with going to see the dolphins in Dolphin Bay, then snorkeling and lunch over the water, on to Red Frog beach which has developed SO much since I was first there 7 years ago, and finally to Punta Hospital, some of the best snorkeling in the area. We managed not to get stung by any jellyfish, something I failed to do in the past. On the third day we went deep sea fishing! I was a little put off when the guide suggested I go sit on the beach while the boys fish, just two fishing poles, right? WRONG, 3 please, he didn´t know who he was talking to, but I quickly corrected him. We (well, Nate) ended up catching about 8 lbs worth of fish- a nice yellowfin tuna and a mackerel as well! I caught a grocery bag, was hilarious but pretty bummed about that one, Daryl came up with an empty hand. But in the end we all feasted that night on our fresh catch, one of the guys at the tour company cooked it up for us with some rice and vegetables, it was delicious! On the fourth day we took a bus to the other end of the island, a beach called Boca del Drago, this was my favorite beach so far, SO beautiful and peaceful, no sand fleas, warm water, and not overpopulated at all. It was a perfect way to spend our last day on the islands. That was yesterday, and today we are heading back to Costa Rica, to Puerto Viejo not far from here, a laid back little town on the Caribbean. Hopefully the weather will hold out, as it is a bit rainy today, and hopefully Costa Rica will have cleaned itself up a bit by now, we look forward to some beaching, biking, and then volcano-ing in the near future!

Hello Costa Rica, I mean Hello Hurricane Thomas

Apparently, and I say apparently because if I had known of this before hand there is a strong chance I wouldn't have even gotten on the plane, we came to Costa Rica in the middle of a national state of emergency, also known as a hurricane. Hurricane Thomas to be exact, which has really wreaked havoc on much of Costa Rica and the Caribbean (poor Haiti). We purposely did not make a plan for where we would go on the first day, but leave it up to bus times, etc. Well it's a good thing, because there were NO buses. The roads were closed because of many many many landslides, all over the country. There was one option for us, that was to go by taxi to the nearest beach, Jaco. The reason we could go by taxi and not bus is because there has been a new highway (yes, unbelievable, but believe it) built that was passable, but not by bus, only by car. We teamed up with 2 others who needed to get to Jaco, and in 2 hours we were there. This was great for two reasons: one, we didn't have to stay in San Jose for any length of time, and two, we met Floribel, a Colombian woman living in Jaco who offered us a place to sleep for the night, perfect! The road, I admit, was very sketchy and the rain heavy, but since it's after the fact and we made it safely I'm allowed to say that without my mom freaking out too much. I have some photos of some nasty landslides right over the road. We really had no idea what was going on around us, because upon arriving in Jaco, we learned of the damage Hurricane Thomas had done. Hundreds of people lost everything, including family members, I'm not sure what the death toll was, but all the news talked about for 3 days straight were the villages that were wiped out, roads that closed, communities that were completely isolated, and of the many people that died and are still missing. It was a somber mood, and the heavy rain didn't help at all.

Nate and I began to wonder if we would make it to Panama where Daryl will be flying in on the 13th. All the roads in every direction were closed from landslides or broken bridges. We decided not to dwell on it and to make the most of our time in Jaco where we were now "stuck" (darn). This was not a hard task. After spending the first night with our new friend Floribel, we moved to an apartment right on the river. Mind you, this river looked like it was straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was rushing harder than ever, carrying trees and debris with it to the ocean, which at high tide completely devoured the beach and there was no real distinction between ocean and river. It was actually a good time to be in Jaco, because since everyone was stuck, there were no tourists coming in or going out, so many things were cheaper, hence the apartment rather than a hostel. The back deck facing the river was like a wildlife sanctuary lookout. From there we saw red macaws, toucans, iguanas, lizards, and many different colored birds and butterflies, so awesome! I've never seen a toucan in flight before! When there was a break in the rain we went 4 wheeling, through a river and some sketchy roads, and up to a lookout point where we saw a white-faced monkey. When the sun came out, which it finally did, we went to the beach, even got a little sunburned, oops. We got massages, watched Sunday football, and enjoyed some really delicious Costa Rican food. I'm so proud of myself, I like gallo pinto now! Pinto is the typical breakfast of rice and beans and fried eggs, I never touched it when I lived here before. We were really happy with our non-planned vacation in Jaco, and this morning we were finally able to talk to someone who had answers about buses and roads! So after some deliberation, we have decided to go to Panama tomorrow quickly while the roads are reopened and before they might close again. In Panama the roads are fine, and we now know that we will be able to make it to the city by Saturday night. We were able to get a bus back to San Jose today where we are staying the night so we can get a bus out to Panama tomorrow. We're either going to David or Santiago, not sure yet, but at least we won't be stuck anywhere! And we won't have to fly, which would have been plan b.

On a lighter note, somehow I forget how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this country. It smells SO good, it's SO beautiful, the food is delicious, and I don't even need my iPod because the music on the radio is actually what I want to hear! I feel so at home here, today I actually asked Nate how he likes my country :) My Spanish is such a relief after struggling with German and French in Europe, and Nate is picking it up quickly too. Even in the rain I was smiling just because we are here. I am so excited to spend so much time in my favorite country, where traveling really began for me.

For now it's on to Panama! Hope that Costa Rica will be in better shape when we return in a week and a half or so...

From VIP to VUP, Ignorance WAS bliss

My idea of tea and crumpets didn't pan out exactly the way that I thought it would, let me explain. Crumpets, apparently, are a morning food, meaning you have to actually wake up during breakfast hours to expect to find them available at restaurants, which we failed to do. However, in our search for a good Sunday brunch, we found ourselves at The Wolseley, a very high class place that changes menus 4 times a day, for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. With a 3 course meal, it was easily the most formal brunch I've ever partaken in, I even felt a bit underdressed (for brunch!). I did order tea and it came in a real silver pot with a strainer and everything, I almost didn't even know how to use it. We ordered a strange combination of foods, not including crumpets, but it was a very nice experience that lasted about 2 1/2 hours. For two foodies like me and Rob, it was a great use of time! The last day in the UK Michelle and I went to Southend on Sea, a nice little town on the coast (only about an hour from London). This town boasts the longest pier in the world, which actually has a train on it for those who don't feel like walking, but we didn't go on the pier because we didn't feel like paying. Instead we ate fish & chips (well I did) on the beach, and enjoyed our last sunset in Europe.

Rob and I changed our tickets to go back to the States a few days early, because we had accomplished a lot and had come to a good stopping point, for lack of better words. I had only gotten about an hour of sleep by the time we had to leave in the early morning for our flights, Michelle's flight was also that morning, so we said our goodbyes at the airport. Luckily we had again managed to get business class, this time the plane had JUST been upgraded, and we were literally the first flight with the new gear. Brand new lay flat seat, flat screen TV, my own aisle etc. it was the same as first class and I was even able to get a bit of much needed sleep in between episodes of Two and a Half Men. How am I ever going to go back to coach and hostels after this trip? The wind in Chicago was ridiculous, remember the tornados and news stories about the raging wind this last week? Well luckily but very very shakily we were able to land amidst that wind. Rob and I parted ways and that's when the bliss of being VIP disappeared and everything went back to being a normal peon traveler. My flight through Phoenix was cancelled because of the wind, but for some reason I was allowed to go through Dallas, had to "rush" to get to that flight after waiting in the only security line with working computers with a bunch of rookies who didn't know to take of shoes, belts, etc. COME ON PEOPLE. I watched sadly as the business classers went straight to the front, my turn was over. I made my flight, and luckily it made it up through the violent wind, although I'm sure there were some people on the plane that thought it was going to crash. I've never experienced that much windy turbulence. The only two people in my row both had to literally climb over me to get out and use the loo, the food-that-you-have-to-pay-for-cart slammed my elbow on the way down the aisle, and no way was I getting any sleep. My three hour layover in Dallas luckily went by smoothly, and I enjoyed my last meal on the company: Taco Bell and smoothie, I always seem to run for the border as soon as I get Stateside. Coincidence? Anyway 24 hours after we left our apartment in London, I FINALLY got to Reno and got to see Nate at the gate and I felt SO much better. That lasted until my suitcase didn't show up on the baggage claim. Nope, no more priority tag, which means my suitcase somehow got left in Texas. The airline offered me a toothbrush, thank you. Do you have underwear back there too? I had nothing. That was a LOOOOONG day.

As you may or may not be aware, United lost my bags last year on my way over to Europe, for FIVE DAYS. This time, oh so luckily, it only took 24 hours to be delivered to me. Now I'm enjoying my one week in the US before departing to Costa Rica on Wednesday, soaking up the fall, the World Series, seeing friends, and looking forward to laying on a beach. After traveling for a month on someone else's budget, taste in hotels, and expectance of priority, I only hope I can cope with returning to my normal way of travel. It's crazy how different it is from what I've just been through. I'm definitely lucky to have had this opportunity, I learned a lot. And I might just be done with hostel dorms...

One more thing, as I said, my goal sort of failed to have crumpets. But I had a backup plan, I went to the grocery store late the night before we left, and guess what I brought home...   :) Delicious!

First trip to the Motherland!

After spending a few dull days in the Netherlands (aside from my first trip to the North Sea!) I have finally made it to the UK for the first time! First impression was awesome- it's beautiful here and everyone speaks English with a fabulous accent! I haven't traveled much at all in foreign English-speaking countries, so it's still surprising to me that everyone speaks English. The first thing we did was get our rental car (naturally) and literally laughed (pretty hard- the guy had warned us it was small, we kinda just brushed him off) when we saw it in the parking lot. It's a Fiat 500, and if you don't know what that is, just think of a mini, but maybe a bit smaller? It's been upgraded by Abarth, so it carries that name and a turbo engine. It's bright red with white checker print on top, I wish I could pack it in my suitcase and bring it home! This is certainly the cutest car I've ever driven. I haven't driven at all these last couple weeks, so it is my turn, I'm now the chauffeur and this car is entirely the opposite of my lovely truck at home. It's fast, totally impractical, bright red, and not to mention the steering wheel is on the right. Shifting with my left hand has been alright, driving on the left side of the road has been fun! Since I'm not needed to translate here in the UK, I'm just driving Rob to his appointments. I've also been doing more research on companies in Spain and Italy, we have all of next week with no plans really, so if we can get a meeting in either of those countries, we will go, if not, I think we will go home a few days early.

In the meantime, we have been entertaining ourselves in a number of ways. Rob has an Aussie friend who is a die-hard Manchester United fan, and when he heard that we were in Manchester, he bought 3 tickets to the game that Saturday and hopped on a plane from New York- no kidding. So the three of us went to Old Trafford, the stadium of Man U, which has a reputation quite like Fenway or Wrigley Field, except way bigger, seating 76,000 people. It sells out every time and tickets are apparently really difficult to get, which might explain why we got VIP tickets! It included a 3 course meal before the game, and a chance to have a photo taken with the FA Cup, which is basically the championship of England. Pero (the Aussie) was out of his mind that day because going to Old Trafford for a Man U game was the number one thing on his bucket list. It was an exciting game, but I must say it still doesn't hold a candle excitement-wise to our city games in Costa Rica. It's too proper, darn the English. I've always thought that if you want to watch a clean (more or less) soccer game, watch an English Premier League game, because it seems the Brits just want to play, rather than whine and be dramatic (of course this is relative, they do it, but MUCH less than Latinos or Italians..). Well it turns out the fans are very similar, if they think they just saw a good play, they stand and clap and then quickly take their seats again. Even after goals they get rowdy and then they quickly sit down again, WHAT!? 

Anyway, our first full day in Manchester was actually spent driving around to meetings. We found ourselves eating lunch in a lovely little bistro in a really lovely little town in northern England called Whalley, and I kept noticing the word "Lancashire" on the menu referring to Lancashire cheese and what not, I didn't even realize we were in that area, but it just so happens that Lancashire is where my mother's side of the family is from! I tried calling my mom to no avail and ended up emailing my Granny to ask about the specific towns. I was right around the corner from Nelson, where she was born, and Burnley, where my great-grandmother was born, and believe it or not, she still keeps in touch with some sort-of relatives in Whalley! She gave me the phone number of these people and I called them and was able to set up a day to go for a visit. They are David and Brenda Hill, David is about my grandmother's age, they grew up together because their mothers were very close friends. So they are like cousins. So I guess David and Brenda would be my "3rd cousins never attached." How do you like that for a relation? :) I love it. I always wanted to still have family in England. So I went back to Whalley for a nice lunch and tea at their house and they took me for a drive to see these towns that I mentioned, they showed me Pendle Hill where the witches were executed (so I could have witches on both sides of my family? haha) and we went for tea and biscuits in a lovely park in Burnley. They were so sweet and such a crack up, I don't get to visit my grandparents as much as I would like, but this was what that felt like, visiting an extra set of grandparents, I loved it! So that was a special bonus day for me, getting to know the locals is the best part of traveling!

Although I really liked Manchester and the north of England, we couldn't stay for long, so we were off to Birmingham for a couple days. By the way, I drove to Birmingham by myself that night after visiting David and Brenda, it was a little strange to be driving a backwards car on my own through England, and having to navigate as well! It was quite a challenge, but I made it fine. Pero is 6'6" and we weren't sure if or how he would fit in the car, so the guys took the train. Birmingham was nothing special, one of the days Pero and I went to "Britain's Ultimate Castle." It was called Warwick Castle, and we didn't really know what we were getting into, we didn't know until we got there that it was like a theme park. So we went in, did the "Dungeon Experience" through dark narrow passageways where they try and scare you and show you how they used to torture and treat people. We saw a HUGE fireball get catapulted from the HUGE catapult, that was really cool. We at least have some good photos, I suppose that was the highlight of Birmingham. The next day we drove Rob to his meeting and then went bowling for an hour while we waited for him to finish. I'm basically done with work by now. I'm just hanging out because I can, and for the chance that we might still go to Spain, which I actually highly doubt. Somehow we were able to fit all three of us in that tiny car, with Rob pretty much under the luggage, and we drove to London, where we reluctantly had to say goodbye to Chile (I named the car). 

As a REALLY fun bonus, my friend Michelle (from Costa Rica, Ohio, Florida, Turkey, etc..) came to visit in London! She arrived our first morning and has been sightseeing with us, Pero left to go back to NY, and since Rob has had meetings it's been really good timing. We have seen most of the sights by now, and Michelle and I actually went out salsa dancing at a Latin Dance festival last night, I really want to get back into it. Plus I discovered Zouk, a different (new to me) style of dance, FUN! It was out by the airport and the tube stopped running at midnight, so we ended up taking a double decker bus (that was the good part:) back to London at 3am, oh the joys of travel. Anyway we have just a couple more days to enjoy London, I have two goals- to have "tea and crumpets" and fish & chips from "a real Chippy," and then I think it's back to the States, which will be nice, I'll have an entire week before taking off to Costa Rica on Nov 3rd…  :)

PS more photos are coming, they will be posted to the same album --->

Bonjour Belgium! Aufwiedersehen, Deutschland...

Here is my disclaimer: I am here on a work trip, but the work we are doing is not fun and exciting. As a result of that I do not have any photos of work, okay actually there IS one picture of a parking lot at the show- enough said. Robert told me before we came on this trip that he is a work hard play hard type of guy. That being said, I have posted pictures from the trip thus far, see the link in the right column labeled "Europe on Business" and just believe me when I say that we really are working in between doing all the fun things you see in the pictures and read about in the blog. There, got that off my chest.

After Dusseldorf, which actually was just where the show was (we stayed in a small town called Ratingen which turned out to be a really lovely little German town), we headed to Köln, or Cologne, for the weekend. It felt good to be a tourist again (it's been a year, too long!), I even went inside the Cathedral, though I sort of think they all look the same and they all make me feel funny because I'm not Catholic. Anyway we toured the H&M's-- err uh, the city, and met a friend of Robert's for dinner at a traditional Kölsch brewpub for some meat and brews. Cologne has a very unique culture and serves its beers in very small glasses in these old brewpubs that if they were any larger would really resemble Oktoberfest. I recommend the experience! Cologne definitely has a good vibe. It also has the "most visited museum in Europe" the Lindt Chocolate Museum! So of course we had to go to that, learn all about how chocolate is made, and then consume some ourselves, yum! I might have to say though that the highlight of our stay in Cologne was our last dinner, at an Italian restaurant, where the staff only spoke German and Italian! It felt SO good to open my mouth and have words just come spilling out, and such pretty words that don't hurt my throat to pronounce! And of course the food and wine was good, and the tiramisu was excellent!

The REAL fun of the weekend, however, started when we got to Oktoberfest!!!! We couldn't possibly be in Germany while the fest was going on and not go, so we took a special trip down to Munich just for one day. I was surprised to see no lines at the tents at midday on the last Sunday, but very happy about it! We ate platefuls of food in Paulaner tent, and then went to Hofbrau tent (the best one) to meet new friends and drink more beer, both of which we succeeded in. We met awesome people from Switzerland and hung out with them in the tent until 9pm or so before venturing outside to go on the roller coaster, the drop ride, the zipper, and the beanbag slides! Oktoberfest really is a different experience every time, this was my third year in a row (I still can't believe that) and seriously I love it.

After Munich Robert had some appointments he didn't need me for, so I skipped up to Berlin for a couple days to visit my German sister Lydia who just had a baby in April. So I met my little nephew Joni (Jonathan) and Lydia's boyfriend Jens for the first time, they are all doing so well! It was such a bonus to be able to see her again so soon (after last year's Europe trip). I have been to Berlin a few times, which made it easy to just spend time with them instead of wanting to go sightseeing, although I did have a few hours one of the days so I went on my favorite walking tour again, SO GOOD every time! I was lucky enough to get to go to a concert with them too- The Cat Empire! They are an Aussie band, and thanks to Nate I love those guys. It was strange to suddenly feel like I was traveling on my own again, and after those couple days I was ready to go "back to work" so I met back up with Robert in Frankfurt.

We left Germany this morning and are now in Brussels, Belgium, where they speak French! I had struggled with French before I came here, German was much more fun to learn, but after a week and a half in Germany I was finally starting to understand a lot more German, and now here we are in Belgium, and I understand a LOT more French. It's relieving in a way, and I sort of saw that coming. We had a meeting today, actually it was at the American Embassy, I've never been in one before.. but tomorrow is Saturday so it's back to being tourists! We will stay in Brussels until Monday when we leave for the Netherlands, until then we plan to do some sightseeing (go to Brugge) and eat a lot of French cuisine, yum!

The sun is setting over Brussels outside my hotel window, and it's time to go to dinner, au revoir!
J

Dusseldorf!

I often find myself thinking this when I travel alone, "I wish they could see me now," just referring to my friends and family, because I do the most 'out of my comfort zone' things when I'm abroad, and I feel like they would be proud of me. For example, when I was stuck in Brazil and was rattling off in Portuguese trying to get out of that sticky situation (that story is somewhere in this blog) I was beside myself listening to me speak all that Portuguese. Well yesterday it was more of a comical scene: me all dressed up walking through a trade show seeking out prospective distributors for our product, in Germany... "I wish they could see me now" hahaha.

Business class was nice, and being priority is luxury. I met Robert at Chicago O'Hare and we went directly to the United lounge, you know, behind the frosted doors where you never get to go but always wonder what's back there. We got complimentary beers and sat in comfy lounge chairs. I found it somewhat ironic that just 10 minutes prior I was happily ignorant of this place, seated at a table in the food court amongst the other peons surrounded by LOUD NOISES. What a difference! This is a life I truly don't know about! The filet mignon, grilled shrimp, endless German riesling, and far-reclining seats made for the most comfortable flights to Europe I've ever had. Now that I've had a taste of it and may never get to again, I should say, "Ignorance is bliss."

Back to the point. There is a trade show featuring everything having to do with glass in Dusseldorf, this is why we came here first (to meet other companies who deal with railings, etc). We are trying to find out what kind of market there is for cable railing, and I am there to help translate. We only talked to about 5-6 companies, two of which were Italian and Spanish (yay!), and I didn't have to interpret for any of them (boo). I am not going to be doing much interpreting when it comes to language (which is actually good because it's a lot of technical lingo), everyone speaks English (which is what I figured). What I will be doing the most with my languages is researching from a list of websites (from all over Europe and several languages) that Robert has found but can't read, figuring out which ones are interesting to us and then sending them e-mails, in English, because ultimately we want to be doing business in English. I'm also helping us get by on the streets, which is what I like to do most. It's been challenging so far though, I tend to be afraid to say anything if I think it's not going to come out right, (especially with German which I've never spoken before) and it's really something I don't have time for and need to get over. Easier said than done. I found myself staring at the guy at the phone store as if I were talking, but no words were coming out, he was confused. So now I need to start making a fool of myself speaking and stop making a fool of myself not speaking. This is, after all, why I'm here! Ich kann es machen!

One thing I observed yesterday: there are 3 kinds of people at trade shows- those business people who actually know something about said trade and are there to learn, teach, or share about it, then there are those who are goodiebaggers- just walking from booth to booth collecting all the little free trinkets they can, and then I suppose there are people like me: look the part, but don't know much about said trade. I must say that the majority of business people were men, lots of men, the majority of goodiebaggers were men, and the majority of the somewhere in-betweeners like me were women. I don't think that necessarily means anything, it's just something I definitely noticed. I hope I didn't stand out like some of the obvious ones that I saw. And don't get the wrong picture of the businessmen either, when you're not looking they just play with the trinkets too and talk about where they're going to go out that night. Other than the show, our work has consisted of finding (via internet) potential contacts and emailing them, trying to set up meetings that will then fill up our itinerary for the rest of the month. I do know that we will be going to England for a week or so around the 14th for another show and several meetings, which actually excites me because I've never been to the Motherland! We will probably stay in Germany until then, unless I can convince Robert to go to lunch in Belgium, it's just next door to Dusseldorf! And he really wants an excuse to go to Vienna, that would be a bonus! At this point it seems like the amount of work we could do here is endless, so I think we will be pretty busy and be covering a LOT of ground.

We have adjusted well to the time here, although I think he left his appetite back in the States because he is never hungry! On the other hand I'm always thinking about the next meal, especially in a foreign country, so hopefully that will change soon or I will always have to be the one to suggest we eat (not that I'm afraid). But we must look like we're fitting in just fine, because we have both been stopped (separately) by people on the street asking for directions. This seems to happen to me quite often, and I like to pretend I'm from there and help people, but this time I sadly couldn't. When the 3 Americans asked me to help them find their hotel, I glanced at their map and couldn't even tell them were WE were. We need to work on our senses of direction, we have gotten lost almost every time we've left the hotel, and it took us over and hour just to find our hotel the other day. (Robert is the king of not planning, apparently things just work out for him, if I were in charge I would've written down the directions!) It's really too bad Hertz ran out of cars with GPS. We did, however, discover that our little 2-door Puegot is a convertible:)

Anyway, with exciting plans coming up for the weekend, I'm sure I'll have fun stories to tell next week! After all, we can't just work the WHOLE time we're in Europe, right...?

J

I'm shooting for the stars, might be more comfortable on a cloud, but what is life if not a challenge?

Jackie, the businesswoman! Yes, I meant to say that, although I don't think my name and that word have ever been in the same sentence before. It looks like all my hard work in the foreign language department is starting to pay off- literally! This year I've been actively trying to get my foot in the door of the translation/interpretation world, went to an interview, started an internship, you know.. baby steps. Well apparently I wasn't cut out for baby steps because I'm about to go to EUROPE as a translator/interpreter, and the best part (or the worst part?) is that it's not for Spanish... or Italian... it's not even for Portuguese, nope it's for German AND French. Wait, WHAT!? I don't even speak those languages except for a semester each in college, well at least that's what I was saying a month and a half ago when I first got the job offer. So apparently they saw me as the best candidate for a) being available for a month in October, b) having a valid passport, and c) speaking a bunch of foreign languages. It didn't really matter that I didn't speak the ones they needed, I could learn in a month, right? They honored my request to send me Rosetta Stone ASAP and I got started studying ASAP. It has been exciting and frustrating, I'm doing surprisingly better with German than French (pronunciation- ick) and I figured, if anyone can possibly do this, then it's me, I can do it. Well I've sort of come to the conclusion that no, it's not really possible to learn TWO languages in ONE month with just Rosetta Stone (not to knock Rosetta Stone, I'm very impressed with it). BUT I have come very far and learned a lot, and comfortably feel like I can at least put up a valiant effort over there. Wish me luck on that one.
The company: The Cable Connection is based out of Carson City, NV (actually Moundhouse but who knows where that is) and they manufacture, sell, and distribute cable railing parts. Or something along those lines, and they are looking to expand to Europe, hence, the business trip. I will be going along with their traveling Sales Rep on a "fact-finding mission" to various locations throughout Germany, France, and the Netherlands (I hope they realize the Dutch speak Dutch and I don't, that never came up..) in hopes to build contacts and establish business relationships and hopefully some sales. I'm just there to translate, or so they say. We are starting with a trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany this Tuesday for the first few days and plan to return to the States on Oct 29, and that's all I know for now. My dad works for this company, I assume he's the reason I'm going, so THANKS DAD!!!! Wish you could come..
I'm excited to experience a new kind of traveling, business class! With a laptop, suitcase, business attire (I had to purchase a few items, strangely enough my wardrobe didn't consist of any). Although I'm sure I will feel like a poser at first, I'm hoping I'll get used to it, if I can figure out how to make this a career I'd be set! I'm really looking forward to a taste of Europe, a doner (a German kebab), scarves and pea coats, French crépes, cappuccini, oh and of course German beer. I love Europe in the fall, I've spent the last two there, I like this pattern:)
And God-willing I will find some delicious Italian restaurant where I can get my fix of great pizza/pasta and fizzy wine, maybe even some Italiano? I'm also planning to visit my sister Lydia in Berlin, she just had a baby boy in April, it will be my first time meeting my little nephew! Unlike other trips I've done, I will be staying in hotels, with internet (and free towels!) (apparently this is normal), so I won't fall off the face of the earth, and I plan to keep updating my blog as I go. And of course, my favorite, photos!
So here I go, wish me luck, I'm going to need it!!!!!
Ich glaube dass ich werde mir Spass machen und bevor ich es weiss, werde ich in Costa Rica sein! Je n'aime pas parler Francais, mais j'aime manger la cuisine francaise (et boire le vin)!