Pura vida

Next stop was Costa Rica, I was few days in Panamá but I will visit more on the way back. First stop was Puerto Viejo, on the border I met a Portuguese (he said “ oohh finally  a Portuguese!”).

In Puerto Viejo, a "Jamaican" town full of reggae, we (still travelling with Mathias) got the opportunity to do a really good snorkeling just 3m from the hostel. The following day we rented a bike, drove for 30m and in Punta Uva we snorkeled again. This time was really really good and we fished the first thing we saw. A lobster.  When we started the snorkling we saw it and commented “hm.. lobster for lunch would be so good” Later we saw a local with an harpoon and asked if we could use it. We fished what would be our lunch! The guy told us “there you have  a plate of 22usd”. 

On the last day, I went to a national park in Cahuita.

In Panamá and Costa Rica local people in turistic places see you as a product of making money and  in the end they are not as nice as in South America. One night we were cooking and we forgot to buy salt and oil. We asked in the hostel if they could give us something to what they replied "you can use the kitchen but nothing else is included".. (this one of many examples)

The currency in Costa Rica is Colón but they accept dollars everywhere. Additionally, they often speak English. On the last day I was listening/seeing a African concert  in the village´s cultural space (really really nice) and the guy use to speak in English to thank the crowd. Unbelievable how they express in English. I often say “porque no me hablas en español!”

There was a football match between USA- Costa Rica while I was in the country. The conditions they played were extreme. They played in Denver, Colorado with a lot of snow, could barely see and high levels of snow. The referee didn't stop the match and the next day it was front page in every newspaper. The second match of the group stage (qualifying for Brazil 2014) everybody on the stadium was protesting against Fifa, all kind of protest. A good one was “ Blater are we going to play football today or to do business?)

The next stop was Jacó, a surf town but not nice. This city is full of prostitutes and you often see old men (foreigners) with young girls. Full of tourists, but it is like "Quarteira in Portugal". But I went there, stayed in a friend´s house (that I met while looking for a surfboard) and bought a board to surf the following days in this country, which is the paradise for surfers! I stayed 2 nights and then went to Santa Teresa in peninsula Nicoya.

Another episode of how diferent is this country to latin america was the guy I met in Jacó. He was nice to show me where was the camping. But since it was a bit expensive for a camping he said " you can stay in my apartment for half price". I dont judge but there is a huge difference, when it happened it south america, people did not ask us money, they simply give us a space in their apartment and we buy them a beer or cook dinner.

 The sunset in Mal Pais/Santa Teresa is amazing! And the surf conditions really good! "Air 28°c Sea 29°c" with constant swell and no wind.

During these days I met a really nice group, 3 Israelite that are travelling around and a group of Aisec that teach languages in San Jose. Was nice to enjoy eastern with them and actually I felt close to home because there were 2 Brazilians, one from Rio de Janeiro and the other from Rio Grande do Sul. Nice guys and typical Brazilians ahaha. The days here were all about surfing. wake up really early, around 6am (I must recognize that this day-to-day routine is an influence of my good friend Duarte - surf, eat, rest, surf, eat, sleep).

"Pura vida" is what people say to each other while saying goodbye. It is like "take care", "fica bem" (in Portuguese). It is really nice, everybody use it and it really transmits good vibes.

After a week of really nice waves and a lot of surf, I had to rest - I had something in my elbow and needed a rest (a old men told me "if it really hurts stop sports for 5-7 days". So I went 2 days to San José (where I stayed with my Brazilian friends) and then Nicaragua.

In San José, I went with Philipe to his Portuguese class (he teaches there) and I spoke a bit of Portuguese from Portugal. Very very different, I had to speak with Brazilian accent, was nice!