2 Wheels are better than 2 feet

... as far as I am concerned! As a biker and not a walker it has been paining me to watch all these people flying around on bikes and us on foot, so we finally hired a couple of mountain bikes for some two wheeled adventures! We got a couple of battered Trek's, lacking in suspension that our comfy ride's at home offer, but for £10 for both no complaints! After a scantily clad ride along the beach (it's the norm here!) and then 9k of hilly road riding we found a lovely hotel with a pool and beautiful gardens to eat and rest in before a rainy but cool ride home! Cycling in the rain here is actually a joy as it keeps you cool! Today we are suffering from battered buttock syndrome but we are hiring a comfy 4 X 4 to take us further afield and that does not require any peddaling, we hope! xx

Animaltastica at Carillo

Oh it's been a fun packed week already, starting with Saturday - trip to the refuge/zoo in Carillo, saw the loveliest raccoon and anteater and mini leopard species. They are all there for a good reason, to be rehabilitated for their return to the wild.

On Sunday we had a music jam with a Costa rican drummer in his family home, and some cocktails after in a beach bar. On Monday we walked a long way, crossed a river by foot, and found a deserted beach. Today, we nearly went kayaking, but the waves to high, so we opted for boogie boarding instead but the waves were too high!! Getting the idea of the waves here?? We lasted 3 mins each and then gracefully gave the boards back to the hire shop, and sat and watched the local guys doing the full standing surfing with ease. Okay so we need a bit of time and practice! Tomorrow we have decided to hire bikes and explore. I haven't not had a bike to ride since I was 4 years old, it's killing me as everyone has bikes here. Ours are in storage at home! Then if we are not too exhausted, by Friday, we will opt for 4 wheels and head a bit further out, and try not to get lost or lose a wheel in the pot holed roads. The roads are made up largely of holes and the occasional patch of tarmac so you have to drive slow, but no one is in a hurry here so that's fine. Right, on with the vodka cocktails before we stretch our legs to our favourite eaterie. It's full of colourful Tico characters who all seem to have a story to tell, and think Rene is a Tico as he is the same colour as them now! My Spanish is coming on, I can ask for the bill and the toilets and buy beer, what more do I need? Bye for now homies xx

Oh lordy we did it!

Hi all, sorry long time no blog, it's been a whirlwind of a month with the course. We both graduated on Friday... yesterday, with a pass A after a gruelling 3 hour written exam and teaching assessments all week. So we are pretty chuffed. It was an amazing course and experience in general and we have learnt so much. We had a graduation party last night were our teachers plied with champagne and then copious Guapo shots - the local spirit which tastes similar to petrol. So we danced the night away, see photo's of our fellow graduates and teachers, before we had done too much damage.

Today started with a heavy head, but not wanting to waste our first day of freedom for a month, we headed to a neighbouring beach town and found ourselves at a Zoo and Refuge centre in the town, it was amazing, more of that in the next blog though.

What next...well we are going to stay in Playa Samara for a further two weeks and wind down a bit, take some day trips and see a bit more of the coast, then we are heading to the mountains inland in Costa Rica, first to a place called Monteverde. http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/. It looks stunning. After than who knows. We are quite keen to visit Nicaragua and Belize also, and somehow will come up with a bit of a plan once we get over the course. For now though we will enjoy the pura vida with a sense of acheivement and a bit more confidence that we can get a job as English teachers here or elsewhere...when we have had enough of having fun!

Brain Overload

We have completed our first week on the TEFL course and found that learning to be English teachers isn't quite as easy as we thought! However, after the initial shock of how hard the course is (long hours, homework, and very tight deadlines), we are really enjoying the work and have learned an incredible amount in just one week! The teachers are great, they are making us think in a totally different way and we have taught our very own local English classes this week already. The Tico's (local's) Costa Rican's are wonderful warm and charismatic people, and it's been so much fun working with them.

The people on the course are great and we all had a party last night to celebrate the end of a gruelling first week. We found some amazing beach bars and a beach disco even where Tico's and tourists alike mix and ended up partying with our teachers and our students!

Today the sun shone so we have been sweating out the hangovers on the beach, and had some swims and really nice long walks. We are feeling much more at home here now. The new purpose we have, the climate, and knowing a few faces around town are all contributing to making us feel more settled. The pace of life here is perfect. It's not so slow that it's annoying, yet it's a far cry from the hurried pace back home. We have heard of very very little crime here also, and it feels safe and not at all threatening. We have yet to meet a grumpy or rude local, they are just so chilled and smiley, maybe it's the drugs, We will investigate that in the next chapter (!).

Adios for now Amigo's.

The New Pad and School's Started!

On Saturday we found ourselves a pretty cool apartment for the month, up on the top floor of Casa Tortuga (House of turtles). It's pretty open air apart from the bedroom and bathroom and in a lovely location on the edge of the town and a stones throw from the beach. It's a five minute walk from the school, and yesterday was our first day there. We are on the TEFL course, 11 of us in total, and the first day was intense to say the least. It was a long day from 10am until 7.30pm and from day one we were planning our own lessons to teach to real live Tico students this week. The teachers are pretty dynamic and there are people from all walks of life on the course to get to know. Got to do some study now before school starts, over and out all. x

T'is the Rainy Season For Sure

We knew it would be wet, but not this wet... so have chatted to some local Tico's and they have confirmed that it's the worse case of what they call winter (wet but still warm) for many years! However, the country is so green because of it, the beautiful colourful flowers, shrubs and trees everywhere, almost overwhelm the senses. This contrasting with the backdrop of tropical sounds, and sightings of tropical birds of paradise more than compensate for the inconvenience of the heavy and relentless rainfall. And after all, it's only water!

From our balcony we watch how the locals operate a bicycle whilst holding an umbrella and their shopping simultaneously! It's a skill that we are hoping to acquire if we stay here long enough to get our hands on some push bikes. So far our enquiries have only made it as far as local hire shops that are asking crazy money for a months hire but we are hoping to ask around and see where they sell old bikes, I for one am missing two wheels!

We have had some homesick moments of course, how could you make a giant leap like this and not? It's been quite strange because it takes the mind and body a while to realise that it is 'okay' to relax, and that this is what it is all about. We have had good contact via the internet and today we are moving to a house without but will have it in the school that we start in on Monday.

We have had the pleasure of meeting the village Dr already and what a pleasurable experience that was, seriously, a lovely guy, okay so he was charging us, but nice to know he is there and has a heart. Rene had an ear infection, and is on the mend now. He asked him to stop by on Monday just to see that he is better, as he said that he would worry otherwise! All the locals are lovely in fact, pretty laid back and are particularly helpful, possibly in part because of Rene's fluent Spanish abilities. Most of them have a go at English with me though when Rene is not by my side and I have to try and converse, but I am trying to learn Spanish albeit slowly.

Okay time to pack up and move on again now, will blog again as soon as we can. The photo is of the view towards the beach nearest to us.

Monkeys

A few more days of Costa Rican living and we have experienced some of the local Monkeys, just happened to be walking past the bus stop and saw a load of them hanging out there, waiting for scraps. video on facebook as probs uploading on the blog. Other than that, enjoying chilling at our lodge and off to see see some waterfalls this afternoon. It's expensive here, one of the down sides, it's not as cheap as they say which is a bit worrying. However we are in a tourist trap town currently. So tomorrow we are off to Playa Samara which is 4 hours away by coach (only 52 miles away) the town where we will be studying the TEFL course next week, to settle in and see what it's like to live there. the roads are bumpy and slow! Also it rains a lot, September is the wettest month though, so just riding it out! In between the showers it's sunny so catching a few rays when we can. Rene has written a lovely song on our terrace already, the guitars are an asset to our trip, we will always have music wherever we go. The local people - Tico's are lovely, relaxed smiley people. Adios for now xx