Day 1 - Pura Vida!

***OK, I'm a couple of days behind on the blogging, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up once I can find somewhere with internet access that's worth a shit.  Many pictures to come.***

Well, I made it!  Umm…WOW.  All I have to say is….to everyone who told me “don’t worry!  most everyone speaks English out there.”  You’re a liar.  A big fat f’n liar.  HAHA!  I have learned quickly, though, that when you have no idea what they’re saying to you, simply reply “pura vida!”.  

I wish I had more energy to recount all of today’s events, but I’ll at least give some highlights. 

-Thought I was going to miss my flight because I didn’t take into account the horrendous base traffic at 0530.  I made it with plenty of time to spare, though. 

-Arrive in Liberia and am amazed at that fact that airport consists of a roof and nothing more…

-Exit the airport and there are people lining the walkway with taxi & rental car signs haggling you to ride with them.  I got scared because I knew I needed to get to the city in order to catch a bus to Curubande….and the only way to do that would be to take a taxi…so of course I told the guy where I needed to go and eventually, somehow, got suckered into a cab ride to Curubande instead of Liberia, which was probably for the best anyway because we drove through Liberia and it’s scary and I was going to have to wait 4 hours for the bus…how’s that for a run on sentence?

-In the 40 min cab ride the guy was trying so hard to have a conversation with me, but mi espanol is no bueno.  Me llamo es Laura.  Pura vida! 

-Arrived at el Sol Verde and Ingrid came out to meet me right away.  We sat down in the covered veranda/breakfast area and she thoroughly went over a map of the “town”, a map of Rincon de la Vieja park (where I’ll hopefully be exploring tomorrow) and gave me the rundown on what to do, where to go, etc.  Super helpful! 

-Checked out my room real quick then walked down to Rio Blanco (Ingrid’s suggestion).  Awesome.  The water felt awesome.  I just plopped my ass on a boulder, stuck my feet in the water and chilled for a while.  So relaxing. 

-I had the (hand drawn) map of the “town” with me, but still managed to get lost on the walk back and somehow ended up heading to the park.  Once I realized I effed up, I turned around and….of course it started raining.  Hard.  And I had my camera with me.  That’s when Miguel pulled up.  Miguel is a park ranger who had just left work.  I asked him how to get back to el Sol Verde and he said he’d give me a lift.  It’s my first day in Costa Rica and already I’m making wise decisions!!!  Seriously though, Ingrid informed me that people hitchhike to and from the volcano all the time.  It’s the easiest way to get from “town” to the park…so I wasn’t that scared. 

-So here I sit, the rain just stopped and that makes me happy because ‘tengo mucho hambre’ and I’m going to have to walk back to town for some comida y una cerveza.  (A lil’ Spanglish for ya.)  Tomorrow the plan is to wake up early (shouldn’t be a problem, because I’ll probably be asleep by 8!), somehow get to the park and explore the volcano.  You MUST check in at the ranger station and check out, so no need to worry!