The Old Acalanes Crowd

To my pleasant surprise, I got to meet up with a bunch of old friends from High School Saturday. It was great seeing them all. We met up for beers in Berkeley, then Mike, Joe, and I headed over to Kelly's parent's house. It was just like old times, only now there is a hot tub. woo hoo hot tub.

Aptos, CA

Down to the cousin's house for Thanksgiving, round 2. (more quality family time and holiday gnome cookies). Here are 2 of my cousins, Olivia and Nicole, and their dog Inca. All three of them are infuriatingly photogenic. I love ya, cousins!

Las Vegas

scripps pier

So, Emiley, a good friend I met through EAP in Australia convinced me to visit her in San Diego and go to Vegas with her and her 2 Italian friends. It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately I kept forgetting I had a digital camera with me and took almost no pictures. I didnt lose (or win) huge amounts of money. Didnt win the harley either. Her friends Federico and Nicola were hilarious.

Trinidad, CA

After being back less than a week, I took off to visit my older sister Amber, who lives north of Eureka, CA. (Pacific Northwest CA). I got to dog sit for her over the weekend, taking the dog out for nice walks along the beach. It is beautiful up there, if a little foggy. Here are a few pictures of Trinidad, north of Arcata.

Aventuras de "Rica" y "Flaca"--Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo

Finally, Kelly and I got our much desired sun and snorkeling on the Carribbean, by far one of my FAVORITE places in Costa Rica. We took off for Puetro Veijo de Talamanca from San Jose and were met with hot sun, reggae music, and batidos de mango. We spent a fun night enjoying amature's night at a new bar in Puerto (Bambu, which i had gone to with Mo had burned down. apparently it burns down periodically, is rebuildt and littered with lit candles inside and out to create 'atmosphere,' only to burn down again). That night, we got locked out of our $3 bunk beds, and had to hop a fence and gate to get in. I guess you get what you pay for. We headed south to Manzanillo the next morning where we met two women from Israel in their 40's on vacation. We recommended the snorkeling down there (Which was FANTASTIC) and met them for drinks and dinner that night. Turns out they have known each other since age 8 (like KElly and I) and have been close friends ever since. We had a great time talking and sharing stories. It was like seeing ourselves 25 years down the line, I can only hope I'm still traveling around when I'm in my 40s.

There isnt much snorkeling or good swimming beaches in Puerto Viejo, but just south is beatuiful. Manzanillo is south of Punta Uva, where I had been before with girls from La Selva. Kelly and I had amazing snorkeling both days we stayed in Manzanillo. The coral reef stretched out for at least 300m from the shore. We got out really far and coral was still breaking the surface. There were more fish, more species, than I had seen anywhere else in Costa Rica. We saw a numbe of REALLY REALLY big fish as well. I'm not sure what they were, but I know they well out-weighed me. (OK, out weighing me doesnt exactly mean much, but they were HUGE). We swam for hours all around the coral. There were also tons of little jellyfish that didnt seem to sting. It was fascinating watching them swim around. I will definitely be going back to Manzanillo if I get the chance.

Volcan Poas

Yes, another trip to Volcan Poas.

Pacific Pictures

Aventuras de "Rica" y "Flaca"-- el pacifico

The morning after our descent from Chirripo, Kelly and I stumbled out of bed to catch the 7 am bus to San Isidro. From here, we decided to hit up the central-southern Pacific coast. We had poor timing, though, as a hurricane had hit the weekend we came down Chirripo and one would follow shortly. Well, perhaps it was lucky. We went to the Parque Marino Ballena, which has renouned snorkeling, but the water was so choppy, with debris strewn everywhere on the beach, we opted for some hammock time, rather than swimming. I did get some nice walks along the beach in, between rain storms. The place we stayed at was very nice, and the owner made me something to cure my stomach ailments (it had been acting up since before I left La Selva). I'm not sure if it was finally the rest, her tea, or something else, but something worked. After some nice relaxation, we were ready to try our luck a little father north on the coast, and drove to the next largest town Dominical. It was an American-ized surf town. It had been flooded during this past hurricane, and they had just finally cleaned everything up a few days prior to our arrival (so our luck wasnt much better). Still, we got some relaxation, walks along the beach, and more rain. I would have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the American surf towns, though. The gringos didnt make much of an effort to interact with the ticos. There were american surf brands plastered everywhere. Too much english speaking.

Chirripo Pictures

I just have to quickly say that I LOVE YOU KELLY! you are the ONLY one of my friends who was crazy enough to let me drag her up a 3820 meter mountain in Costa Rica, when you could have spent all your time on a beautiful tropical beach. (not to mention it was right after your bout with the amoebas.) you are a stud muffin.