Happenings

Last Sunday was Guanacaste Day, the celebration of the annexation of the province of Guanacaste to Costa Rica from Nicaragua.  We set off on a bus to Liberia to go to the big local celebration.  When we got there it must have been in between performances because besides carnival games, rides and dance floors, the only celebratory event happening was a polo match.  We were surprised to find polo in Costa Rica but it was fun to watch.  On the way home our bus from Flamingo to Potrero (the third bus on the return trip) never came which is why we ended up hitching a ride home.  Our good samaritan was a very nice gringa named Julie and she got us back here safe and sound.

Costa Rican Polo

Todd and I were planning on leaving Potrero on Thursday to head to the Caribbean for the rest of our time in Costa Rica.  After thinking about it some more, we decided that making a 10 hour drive just to spend more time at the beach wasn’t worth it so here we are, still in Potrero.  In order to keep busy over the past week, we’ve spent a lot of time at the beach.  Our current favorite of the local beaches is Playa Penca which is a five minute walk from our place.  It’s a beautiful beach with nice warm water and plenty of waves to keep it interesting.  Here’s a panoramic view of Penca:

Penca Panoramic

You can see why we like it so much!

In addition to beach-going, one thing that’s really common here is housesitting.  Since many of the nicer homes are often only used as vacation homes, the year-round gringos often housesit for their friends when they’re not around.  Fortunately for us, Drew and Meradith are housesitting right now for a family with a beautiful home.  Compared to our current apartment it’s a palace.  Not only do they have air conditioning, a well-stocked pantry, a washer and dryer, an oven, dishwasher and a real stove, they also have extremely comfortable patio furniture, a grill, an infinity pool, two dogs – one of which is a very sweet puppy and an amazing view of all of Potrero Bay.  Meradith and Drew have been nice enough to let us lounge about at their pool, do a load of laundry and share a few dinners with them and it’s been so great to escape and have some of the comforts of home here.

Last Night's Spread

We’re both feeling ready to be home but Potrero is a great place to be if you’re waiting for something.  We’re really going to miss it here.

Sunset Overlooking Bahía Potreo

Coco Taking a Nap

The Latest and Greatest

I’m afraid that every blog post from now on will be a letdown since the last two were so exciting. It’s been a week since our engagement so far and it has been a pretty crazy and fun week. Here’s what we’ve been up to.

• Wedding Planning – Oh my goodness, there is A LOT to think about. There are so many options and I could definitely make it my full-time job to sift through all of the information that’s out there. Just putting together a guest list seems like an enormous task! At least it’s an exciting “job” to have to do; I’m enjoying every minute of it.
• Painting – On Thursday we helped paint the Salon Comunal. A group of volunteers came to Potrero to help Abriendo Mentes spruce up the Salon. When I commented to one volunteer that the rain poncho she was wearing was a great idea, she told me that she hadn’t brought painting clothes. I thought to myself, “Well, isn’t that silly.” But then she went on to tell me that she had assumed that painting meant painting pictures with the children. Turns out she wasn’t the only one, somewhere in the long line of middle men between Abriendo Mentes and the volunteers, someone forgot to mention that they were painting a large community room with an organization that teaches children. Even though it was a surprise they were great sports and we got the job done quite quickly.
• Pam and Kevin – Perhaps the most fun and exciting news of the week is that Pam and Kevin have arrived! They got to Potrero on Wednesday afternoon and we’ve been having a great time showing them around town. They rented a car which has been great, we can easily go to the surrounding towns and beaches without having to plan ahead for the bus or taking an hour to walk there. We’ve been to Playa Penca, Playa Conchal, enjoyed some great meals around the area and tried to improve our Spades, Euchre and Hearts skills. It’s been so nice to have friends from back home in Potrero with us, we’re so glad they’re here!

We’re getting ready now to go to Rincon de la Vieja National Park for the weekend. We’re hoping to get some tubing, rappelling and hiking in and spend some time in the hot springs there. It should be a great time, we’re really looking forward to it.

The other thing filling up our time has been reading all of the congratulatory notes, emails and wall posts (We’re so modern!) that we’ve been getting. There has been such an outpouring and it’s great to know that we have such supportive friends and family. Even though we’re in Costa Rica, it’s felt like everyone is much closer and that in a way, we’ve already been celebrating with you all. It’s been really, really great so THANK YOU! We appreciate all of it, very much.