A Running Commentary

Costa Rica - San Jose

2010-07-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today Mel and I arrived in Costa Rica. It's already been a pretty big day. We are staying at the Best Western in San Jose, despite everyone warning us that San Jose is a dirty and dangerous city.

While we ate lunch at the hotel, it was raining and thunder storming a LOT, but it got sunny out again after a couple of hours. When we were done eating, we went over to the tour desk in our hotel to book our tours. Originally we wanted to go to Manuel Antonio for a couple of days, but the hostels there were either all booked up, or too expensive, so we decided to book a tour every day instead. Pablo, the guy who booked all our tours, pretty much loved Mel and me and I don't think it's just cause we spent a lot of money with him. He complimented Mel's spanish and said that her pronunciations were really good while she read phrases out of our Fodor book and tried to teach us a few useful words.

After booking our tours, we walked around San Jose in search of an ATM. We went into the bank, but we didn't see any ATMs. So Mel saved the day with her mime act by going up to the security guard with my ATM card. She acted like she was putting the card into an ATM and getting money out and saying, "machine-a". She was so good that he knew what she was doing and directed us to the ATMs behind the bank. The lady next to me was laughing, but started nodding and saying "si, si" when the guard started motioning where the ATMs were. After we got some money, we went to buy some bug spray, sun block and deodrant (cause I forgot mine...). We were able to find the deodorant and sun block easily, but we didn't see any bug spray. Once again Mel pulled out all the stops. She pretended she was spraying bug spray on her arm while making, "chhh, chhh noises" and then waving her arms in front of her face like there were bugs all over the place. The cashier's face lit up and she turned around and went straight towards the bug spray. After that it was time to go back to the hotel.

Walking around San Jose was kind of scary. The guys kept 'psst'-ing at us, and calling us beautiful gringas and just trying to get our attention in general. We passed Pablo on our way back to the hotel and Mel offered him 800 colones to be our body guard next time we went into the city, but for some reason he just smiled and laughed. For those of you who don't know, 800 colones is approximately $1.50, so I think it was a good deal for Pablo...

For our first night in Costa Rica, we took a San Jose night tour of the city. We were shown all the major attractions in the city. Museums, parks, churches, market areas and other places we might want to site-see. The tour's highlights were when we saw a guy juggling fire AND kitty corner to that guy was a TRANSVESTITE (working the corner a little bit early)!!! Our guide taught us out to say transvestite in spanish, which pretty much made Mel's day. The tour ended at a restaurant in Escazu (a town near San Jose). The restaurant was called Tiquicia, and it was absolutely fantastical. Everything that we ate was delicious. EVERYTHING. There was also a show that the restaurant does every night, and we were able to catch it. A bunch of young (probably teenage - early 20s) ticans did some traditional Costa Rican dancing. Unfortunately for me, they also came out into the audience and tried to get other people to come dance too...I was one of the lucky ones, much to Mel's delight. They clearly didn't realize that I have no rhythm and dance like a white girl...oh well!!!

Side story #1 - When Mel and I were walking around San Jose a police van passed us. It was so full of cops that they were sitting on each other's laps. There had to be at least 12 guys in the mini-van. hi-larious

Side story #2 - Yesterday I went online to check Mel and myself in with American Airlines early. Because we were going out of the country, I needed to enter our passport numbers. I called Mel at 8:30 (not really realizing what time it was because I had already been at work for over an hour). Mel was not awake yet... So after I asked her for the number she said, "aaarrrghhh...seven" It's kind of an inside joke that only a few people would understand, but it's something I have to mention because I was impressed that she was witty enough to say it first thing after waking up. BTW, the number 7 is not in her passport number at all.

At Sea

2010-01-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

Our last day was spent at sea. Nothing to tell about here, however, I wanted to post a picture of some pictures that were on the boat because I thought they were a bit creepy.

Barbados

2010-01-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to go on a hike and cave tour on Barbados, but unfortunately, due to rain, we were unable to do our excursion this day. Instead we went to a beach called Payne's Bay. It was nice, and both Matt and I got sunburned. The water was incredibly warm and I liked just laying back and floating in the water. Matt was jealous of my superior floating abilities. I told him if he had less muscle, and more fat like me, he'd be able to float better.

Anyway, while we were on the beach we met a couple of guys from Texas who wanted to go snorkeling. They were talking to some local guy who had a boat and snorkel gear and they struck up a deal for us to all go snorkeling for $25/person. Not too shabby since the boat offered the same excursion for $75/person. So Matt and I went with the Texans and we saw TONS of turtles! Matt even touched some of them. Not me though. I didn't think the turtles wanted any one in their personal space bubbles, and no one understands that better than me. One turtle did surface right in front of me, and it was SO close that I could have reached out and touched it! (but, you know, personal space bubbles...) After the turtles we went snorkeling by a sunken boat. Matt dove down and touched the boat. I just stayed on the surface with all the fish (and there were a lot of fish cause the guy who took us out snorkeling was throwing bread crumbs into the water for the fish to eat.

Dominica

2010-01-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

"Domineek-ah" is one of the most beautiful islands I've ever been on, and that's saying something since I'm in love with Caye Caulker in Belize. It is an amazing island that has 9 volcanoes, the 2nd biggest boiling lake in the world and incredibly nice locals.

Our day started with us going to one of the locations where they filmed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (the second movie), Titou Gorge. The water here was "refreshing" which in my language means FREEZING. It actually wasn't that bad after you got in and started swimming. One of the guides thought it'd be funny to grab my ankle and say that a boa constrictor got me, but like a little girl, I screamed and said, "don't say stuff like that" after I realized it was just some guy grabbing my ankle...

After Titou Gorge, we went to some sulfur hot springs. It was nice and relaxing, and even though the water was yellow from pee (just kidding! it was yellow from sulfur!) it was a really beautiful place and there were signs posted that made me laugh (The name of the hot springs was "Screw"). See below:

Don't worry, sulfur is orange, NOT DIRTY!

Don't do your nails while in the hot springs!

Me leaving my favorite island.

Two more pictures of my favorite island:

St. Kitts

2010-01-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Our day on St. Kitts was another free day. By free day I mean we didn't plan any shore excursions. We did a little walking around looking for souvenirs. While we were walking around the port we got to hold a monkey named Suzette. She was the cutest little monkey EVER. It was pretty much the most exciting thing that happened on St. Kitts, so this post is extra short...

St. Croix

2010-01-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

St. Croix was our free day so we did some shopping and walking around. I bought my first "nice" watch. It makes my hand look rich, or at least that's what the sales lady told me... After we got my watch we went to check out the fort near the port that we were at. There were lots of pictures and plaques that told stories about the fort. There were also a lot of chickens outside the fort. I don't know what that was about, but I liked it.

Chickens = Awesome!

The fort was pretty cool and a little creepy. There were holding cells where they kept slaves before they auctioned them off, and there was a dungeon. I really wanted to go all the way into the dungeon cause there was another little room in the back of it, but I was a wuss and didn't even get halfway into the room before I scurried back up and out of the dungeon. I think I watch too much Ghost Hunters...

Below are some more pictures from the fort:

St. Thomas

2010-01-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

Our first port was St. Thomas. We got off the boat fairly early in the morning (10ish) and did a little bit of shopping and walking around town.

Around 11 we went back to the boat so that we could grab some lunch before our afternoon excursion. Our excursion was something called B.O.S.S. (breathing observation submersible scooter). It is basically an underwater scooter with a bubble head that has O2 fed into it. This is not an activity I recommend to anyone who has issues with water, or claustrophobia. I have a little bit of both of these so it took 3 attempts before I actually stayed in the scooter.

Before we did the scooters, we got to do some snorkling in Turtle Cove. It was pretty cool. We got to see a few turtles and some fish.

I look pretty awesome snorkling. Try not to hate on me too much.

Back to the B.O.S.S.'s...The first time I got into the scooter I gave the guy the thumbs up, but as soon as they started lowering me, I freaked out and got out of the scooter. The second time I tried to get in was about 5 minutes later and I had thought that I was collected enough to handle it this time. Turns out it seemed worse the second time around caused I started to hyperventillate the instant I got my head in the helmet. So I got out of the scooter again and swam back to the boat. Once on the boat the captain convinced to give it one more try. This time I actually stayed in the scooter and I'm glad that I did. We took the scooters over by the coral and I got to see a bunch of little fish swimming around.

Day 2 - Puerto Rico continued

2010-01-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Day two of our vacation...we got to get on the boat. The song "I'm on a boat" kept playing on my head. What a great song. If you don't know what song I'm talking about...check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

I'm sure if I were a little more techno-saavy I'd be able to actually put the video on my blog, but I don't know how, and I don't feel like figuring it out. Call me lazy, but I have a week worth of memories that I need to get on here. Mom - if you are reading this blog, you probably shouldn't watch that video. You won't find it funny, so don't waste your time.

Okay, back to the vacation! So now we are on the boat. We were able to board early which was good cause we were really hungry and the lunch buffet was open.

That's what I ate after my lunch. It is a toffee cookie, a fruit tart and a coconut cake. mmmmm...sugar...

We got to play some mini-golf on the boat (it was better mini-golf than what was on the last cruise we were on) and explore the different floors. The sun set before we ate dinner, and that was really the only sunset we got to see.

Vacation - Puerto Rico!!!!

2010-01-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

I have decided to blog about my vacations. I figure this way I'll be able to remember all the fun stuff I've done, and it'll be easier to share my memories with my friends!

Matt and I went on a cruise in the Southern Caribbean, and since weather in Chicago is so unpredictable, we decided to leave a day early. This turned out to be a very good thing because after our flight left O'Hare on Friday morning, they stopped letting planes land due to a snow storm that was going on. As it was, our flight left about 45 minutes late, which made me nervous cause our connecting flight was supposed to leave an hour after we were scheduled to land. It all turned out to be okay though because our next plane was delayed as well. (I have much better luck than Mel).

Any way, after we landed we went to our hotel to drop off our bags. We then went for a walk to find some food, beer and scenery. We walked a LOT before we found a place to eat. The food wasn't exactly fantastic, but the restaurant was right off the beach so we got to see some people surfing (which Matt says isn't possible and is an illusion) and we also drank some beer. After we were done eating we decided to try to walk to Old San Juan. Turns out Old San Juan considerably further than what the hotel people told us, so mostly we just walked around...

That's us before eating our lunch. I'm not the best self-picture taker, but I still try!

Goodbye 2009

2010-01-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

2009 was a tough year and 2010 isn't starting out much better. I would just like to take a moment to let my friends know that I wish the best for all of them. I wish them happiness and health. To the ones going through difficult times (and there are way too many of you) you are in my thoughts and prayers every day.

Ode to Bragado written by MelPar

2009-08-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Ode to Bragado

I miss the way you wrote reports
as you ate some Laffy Taffy.
Now there's just an empty desk
over near Nathan and Kathi.

I miss how everyone would get us confused
because "all asians look the alike"
but now I'm wishing someone would mistake me for "Marissa"
before I get so sad I jump off my bike.

So if you pass by her desk, smile and wave
even though there's no one there to bug
it doesn't matter, because we still remember her
and so just go ahead and give her old chair a hug.

Kyla's MARRIED!!!

2009-06-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

I just got home from Kyla and Mark's wedding, so this will be a fairly short blog.

First of all, let me just say, I LOVE THOSE GUYS! It was so beautiful and amazing. I'm very proud of myself for not crying. Although, it looked like Mark's eyes' were a little sweaty or something (Flight of the Concords reference). The food was good, the dessert was awesome, and the bonfire was FUN.

Things I learned/appreciated at the wedding:

Mel can quack really loud
Drunk Liz is very silly
Pregnant Shanda has crazy mood swings (look out)
Tom is trying to steal my boyfriend
Mel sings amazingly, why won't she karaoke???
While beach weddings are beautiful...I don't like sand, it gets EVERYWHERE!
NEVER give Mel a room key and expect your room to be the way you left it (she does a pretty good job of ransacking rooms)
Mike Eaton gets more intelligent the more he drinks, too bad he could only be with us via text messages
I love being silly with friends I've had since 4th grade (some of them 1st grade)

All in all, it was a super fantastic time. I can't wait to get the pictures from Josh...Mel and I attempted to make some scary pirate faces. I'm not sure we succeeded, but we tried anyway. I'll post the pics on facebook after I get them :-)

Family Vacations

2009-06-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

So, I just got back from Florida from a family vacation and I learned several things. One of the thing I learned is that people are incredibly lazy. We did the Disney thing, and let me tell you, fat people (and just plain lazy people) are abundant there. There were motorized scooters galore and I would say that only about 10% actually needed them. Actually, let me change that to 20%, cause of that 20%, half were too fat to be able to walk around for long periods of time. What happened America?? To those people's defense, I did manage to gain about 10 lbs eating around the "world" at Epcot. YUM.

One of the more positive things I learned are that Disney is still fun at 27, even if it is a bit cheesy. I loved it and had a great time. We watched the night parade at Magic Kingdom and there was this little girl sitting on the curb next to me. The second she saw Minnie Mouse she jumped up, started pointing and hitting her dad at the same time while yelling, "It's Minnie! It's Minnie!" and that was nothing compared to when she saw Pluto and was speechless. All she could do was jump up and down while flailing her arms. It almost made me want a kid, right up until the bus ride back to the resort, where there was a screaming toddler the whole 15 minutes back.

Enough with life's lessons learned in Orlando...I'm happy to be back, even if I always feel like I need another vacation after I get back from a vacation...

Beginnings

2009-06-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go...my first blog entry! How exciting! Today my "little" brothers graduated high school. I can NOT believe it. I was so proud of them that I think I got a little choked up. I'm not really that sentimental though, so maybe I just imagined that. Let me just say this, the graduation was awesome. Zion Benton's graduation brings a much different crowd than St. Joes. I saw, quite possibly, the most awesomest outfit I have ever seen in my entire life. There was this old man (probably in his late 60s) wearing an orange tuxedo. And it wasn't just made of normal material. It was a satin-ish material with a paisley pattern on it. The paisley was the same color as the suit, so you had to be close up to get the full effect (or is it affect?). To top it all off, he also had on an orange cumberbun. Incredible. Another thing I noticed was the how creative the names were. Not a whole lot of Sarahs or Jennifers. And not ONE Marissa. What's that about? Anyway, now it's off to college for them. *sniff* they are all grown up...