The 3 month hiatus

Dear blog followers,

I feel like the last 2 1/2-3 months have been the busiest in possibly my entire life. Except perhaps my last semester of my Bachelors in Saskatoon while I was taking full-time classes, working at La Fédération Part-time, running Le Cercle Français, and balancing a relationship, all at the same time.

In fact, when I counted, I couldn't believe that March was just 3 months ago. An unbelievable amount has happened since then, none of which I have had time to write about. It is very difficult to explore, live in, and take in a new country when you are locked in to a 40 hour a week contract where most of your free time is spent running errands, procuring food, and unwinding. So we basically did it all in one shot at the same time that friends and family were visiting, all while continuing to work 8+ hour days the moment we were back in Sarapiqui. As you can imagine, this made for an absolutely wonderful albeit very packed and exhausting time.

It all started back in March. March was the beginning of the stress that would lead to the proverbial shit hitting the fan at the end of May. End of March however, we had to take our 3 months border run and leave the country for a minimum 3 days. We took advantage of this to de-stress and go to a place a friend of ours had recommended, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. This also happened to line up with Semana Santa (Holy Week - Easter) and Cena's birthday. Blog post on this to come. When we got back, it was straight back to work, finalising unfinished work from the days we were gone and preparing for when Jasmin would arrive the 17 of April. She finally arrived on a Thursday, I believe. The first days of the weekend with her were spent relaxing and catching up. Then when Amanda arrived on Monday or Tuesday, the tempo started to pick up. In fact, the tempo picked up, and didn't drop back down until about a day or two ago.

That month and a half was filled with 3-4 day speed weekend trips followed immediately by 8+ hour work days back in Sarapiqui, followed immediately by more trips. Blog posts to come. We went to La Fortuna and the volcano Arenal, then Monteverde the coffee growing region in the rainforest, then Jasmin and Amanda continued on while we went back to Sarapiqui for 2 days. Then to Tortuguero, a coastal town accessible only by boat whose 'raison d'être' is sea turtle protection, then to Cahuita, an beach town with afro-Caribbean vibes right next to a national park and coral reef, then back to Sarapiqui while they continued on down the coast. Photos to be posted. Garry and Saul (Cena's dad and brother) then arrived, with Jasmin arriving for her final stay back in Sarapiqui shortly after. That weekend was then filled with celebrations, touring our area, hiking and swimming up the river, night walk through the jungle, a day-long tour of Finca Sura, followed by more hiking/swimming in the river. Monday morning we were back at work, and Tuesday night we had an epic going away party for Jasmin. Wednesday morning the guys left for a two day trip to the Caribbean while we worked, then Friday we all left together and spent the morning at La Paz Waterfall Garden and Animal Reserve and the afternoon walking on Poas volcano. We then drove and navigated down to Manuel Antonio, and the next day farther down to Uvita. After 2 nights there it was back to Sarapiqui for work. Garry and Saul left Monday evening and the shit hit the fan Tuesday evening. Blog post to come.

So Tuesday evening was spent in tense discussions with the other EFL teacher Cait and Jenny the Director. Wednesday morning was a continuation of these and discussion of our plans, then we went in to Puerto Viejo to pick up Cena's friend Katie Jasper from the bus station and finished things up that night. Thursday we packed and Friday morning we (us, Katie, and Cait) left first for San Jose for Cena's appointment, then 6 hours North to Playa Hermosa, 2 hours from the Nicaraguan/Costa Rican border where we stopped, caught our breath for a couple days, and tried to process what had just happened before continuing on in to Nicaragua to return to San Juan del Sur where we are now.

Here we arrived Monday afternoon after leaving Playa Hermosa bright and early, checked in to a hostel, ate lunch at about 2pm, then Cena and I spent the next 3 hours wandering town answering signs and looking at apartments. At about 5pm I started feeling ill. This was the beginning of the flu for the next 2 days for me. Nevertheless the next morning we packed and changed hostels to something cosier. Thursday I finally felt better and we resumed the search hiking outside of town and all around, and finally celebrated being here with some 2X1 mojitos. Friday morning Cena and I packed all of our things, checked out of the hostel, and waited patiently for a contact to get back to us to confirm a room or not. Finally by 3-4pm we had dropped our bags off and paid for our room at our new home for June, Javier's House. A nice big 2 story house with beautiful hardwood floors and tile, kitchen, living room, terrace with hammocks, and 6 bedrooms, each of which Javier rents out through Luis, a Surfing Guide living here as well.

Then, after all that, we basically collapsed. Right now, it's Monday morning and I'm finally feeling a touch more rested. Enough to write this little update to all you beautiful people and let you know that I/we are alive and, well, I wouldn't say well, not quite yet, but getting there. Breathing easier. This next week will STILL have some activities as Katie and Cait are still here with us until Thursday/Friday. So all of these posts and photos will come within the next couple weeks. We are here (thank the universe) until the end of June, where we'll take a quick trip back to Sarapiqui to pick up our large suitcase, then off to the airport in San Jose for July 4th to start our 2 months trip back to Canada. Oh my.. We'd better get well rested this next month.