Costa Rica Day #5

Friday! My trip is halfway over at this point :(

Friday was a LONG day! (Hence not getting day #4's post up...)

Brooke, Megan, Gabrielle, and I got up super early to get ready and go to the beach. We left our apartment around 7 or so, walked all the way past downtown to the bus station, took a 2 hour bus to Jaco, walked into town and took a taxi to Playa Hermosa. So we finally got to the beach around 11:30 or so. The beach was really cool looking because it was a black sand beach (I got some sand, don't worry). After we ate our packed lunches, Brooke and I got up and walked a while down the beach and climbed up some rocks. By the time we got to the top we were really wishing we had 2 things: shoes and a camera! Although Playa Hermosa isn't known for being the most beautiful beach in Costa Rica, God definitely didn't slack off on his handiwork there. It was a beautiful atmosphere, the water felt great, and instead of looking at the beach and seeing buildings everywhere, there was jungle behind us.

While Brooke and Gabrielle were out walking, Megan and I were with laying out with out stuff. I looked out at the ocean and saw the tail of a whale! I got Megan's attention because I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy, and sure enough, it flashed its tail again. The whale kept showing its tail for a good 10-15 minutes before it finally went back under. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Such a huge creature looking like it was having a good 'ole time just swimming around! So after the whale went away, we had an encounter with another creature. One of the families that I think had a house on the beach were out and apparently had dogs. This dog that looks like Wishbone walks up to me with a stick in its mouth and just sits right in front of me, like we had been playing fetch all afternoon. So, without thinking, I grabbed the stick and threw it. Next thing I know, TWO dogs come back with the stick. I realize I am about to create a monster so I try to get the dogs away and walk over to the family next to us to return their dogs. But just a few minutes later 'ole Wishbone comes trotting back with the stick. So I gave in and played fetch with the dog for a while until Brooke and Gabrielle came back.

So after an eventful afternoon with black sand, giant rocks, a whale's tail, and Wishbone, we decided to pack up, catch a taxi and head back. The waiter at the restaurant by the road called a taxi for us and we were a little surprised when it arrived. It was a yellow car (most taxis here are red), with no light on the top, and no meter inside. But, whatever, the waiter called a taxi for the team last week when they were there and they survived. So we got in, got back to Jaco alive, and payed the same price as we did to get to the beach. So, who knows whether the guy is actually a taxi driver or not, but that's not our problem anymore. We get on the 5 o'clock bus back to San Jose and about halfway through the trip when it gets dark, this creepy tico comes up and stands not behind my seat, not just in the aisle next to my seat, but literally right beside my seat, leaning over and holding on the cubby above my seat. Just a little inside my personal bubble. So this man stands there, hovering like a major creeper, for a good 10 minutes while me and Gabrielle are exchanging looks and both praying to ourselves that the Lord would move this man away from us. So finally, the man moves, but just up one seat to where Megan and Brooke are sitting. He does the same creepy hover thing for several minutes while we are all, again, exchanging looks, and praying to ourselves that the Lord would again move this creepy man away from us. So then, the man walks up to the front of the bus, grabs a bookbag from the overhead cubby, pulls the cord to get off and goes to the back of the bus to exit. So while we are thankful that the Lord moved this man away from us, he happened to steal someone's backpack in the process. On a bus that is mostly full of ticos and ticas that don't speak English, coming from Jaco, a sketchy town known for sex tourism, we do not want to attract attention to ourselves, so we do not say anything about the man stealing the bag. When we get to the bus station, however, we see a gringa and a tico at the front of the bus looking for a bag. So when we got off, we told them that it had gotten stolen. Thankfully, since she was gringa, she understood us not saying anything at the time and was thankful for us telling her. The tico had his bag and they had money so we left to go catch a cab back to our apartment, thankfully, with all of our belongings.

We got back, ate dinner, said goodbye to Patty since she was leaving the next morning for the weekend, and then went to bed exhausted. The rest of my trip looks like this: Sat AM sports ministry, Sat PM birthday party, Sun AM Coronado church, Sun PM Casa Agape church, Mon AM breakfast with team, Mon PM fly home!