My First Business Trip

Well here I am in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica (near Mal Pais) eating watermelon, watching the rain fall, and listening to Howler monkeys in a tree close by. I am at Latitude 10 (a small hotel soon to be managed by Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality) rewriting the website.  There are just 5 bungalows and its so peaceful here. Its just me, the manager, and a lady from corporate named Maria Jose. Maybe a little too quiet for my liking, but its a great place to be for a few days. 

Yesterday Harmony's driver picked me up at 6am and 5 hours later I was here. I have been writing lots since I arrived and learning about the hotel. Friday morning I take a 20 minute flight back to Harmony.

I am staying in a gorgeous bungalow - completely open air. No windows, no A/C, no nothin'.  Not even a lock.  Its like the pimpest tent you can imagine.  The website is www.latitude10resort.com -- though it has yet to be outfitted with the new text I am working on. 

So yes, this is my first ever business trip. So far its setting a good precedence! Here are lots of pictures........

Some photos from the drive.

Just a little trash burning, no biggie.

We passed so many grazing animals and I loved it. Especially all the different kinds of cows.
We stopped here to get gas. Costa Rica offen feels super Western, but here it felt like Central America.  Notice I said Western? I was going to delete that... but I will leave it to make a point. Definitely messed up if you think about that. 
Here is my room. Notice there are no windows, just shades.

It is a really cool, beautiful design. Made of almond wood. I could really hear the rain coming down on that roof.

The bathroom is outside!

So nice to have a hot shower under the blue sky! I climbed up that ladder.

My freaktoe made it to the beach!

Yours truly hanging out on Playa Santa Teresa.
I will leave you with some beautiful beach views.

Ah yes, and here is what I wrote for the homepage!

Ten degrees north of the equator, the Pacific Ocean merges with a spectacular beach and the landmark of private resorts exists in the sleepy and whimsical surf town of Santa Teresa. 

Latitude 10 is more than a resort, it is a concept conceived by a few friends who desired a secret, hidden summer hangout.  It is now open to the public, but the original ideas and intentions still form the essence of Latitude 10.

Latitude 10 is a magical beachfront estate, surrounded by jungle, that fuses splendid class with a peaceful nature retreat.  Our 5 casitas are as unique as the clientele we attract. Staying at Latitude 10 is like spending time with good friends at their luxury beach house; it is both an exclusive houseparty and an intimate hideaway.

We invite you to be part of it. 

An Update & Pictures from the Fiesta!

What a great few days I have had. Catherine and I took a swim and walk on the beach this evening. Now we are sitting in the restaurant having a computer date (she is working and I am pretending) and getting dessert. We ordered a chocolate tart and angel food cake. For dinner, we chopped up some veggies cause it was just this beef and potatoes thing, and so we're pretty hungry now (well, at least I am).

I had a curveball thrown into my plans and I am off to Latitude 10 TOMORROW to help write their website. A driver is picking me up at 6am, we are making the 5 hour trek to Santa Teresa, and then I will be staying in a beautiful bungalow and writing, writing, writing.  There is a kitchen there so I will also be cooking for myself and I am psyched about that. It is a quiet beach town (even quieter than Nosara) and should be a nice few days of letting the creative juices flow. Sadly, I will be missing the end of Catherine's stay and most of Erica's.  Should be a fun adventure!

Here are some pictures from Saturday's party:

Here's me and Tony! He made Catherine and I passion fruit daiquiris. 

Two of my friends who are chefs. Chengo (left) and Ferenk! We've got some blue steel poses going on here. 
The restaurant filled up with people enjoying Costa Rican food and music.
The staff toasted to a job well done.  They are toasting with shots of a traditional corn soup. They did a really awesome job!
There was some great dancing by Gaby & Chepe.  Gaby is a yoga instructor and Chepe works in the garden. I loved their performance.
Gaby and Jose (the Front Desk manager) looking good.

A Sunday Morning Beach Cleanup

So it is 10:00am on a Sunday morning. Usually if I am out of bed by this time, that is a major accomplishment. However, I have already cleaned a long stretch of beach, showered, and put some time into my Fulbright application. Not bad!

This morning there was a beach cleanup, so Catherine and I begrudgingly got up at 6:30am to help out. Here are the beach cleaners!  Sean (an intern from Miami), David (a gardener -- super nice), Catherine (!!), and Gerarrdo (the sustainability coordinator).  

During the cleanup I found a shirt and shoes. They were really sandy and looked abandoned but I didn't want to throw them away. Then I saw a guy selling little pots so I asked him if he would like the things. I was pretty psyched about helping out this guy and reusing the things I found. However, 1o minutes later some guy from Tennessee was looking through those same bushes and I realized I had given his things away! I felt like an idiot and spent 1/2 an hour running up and down the beach looing for the guy selling the pots. I finally found him - explained the situation in my broken Spanish - and returned the stuff to the disgruntled Southerner. All in a days work...

Here are a couple more pictures from this morning's cleanup:

Catherine and I at the end of the cleanup. Please notice our awesome Harmony Hotel soccer jerseys that we bought yesterday at the yard sale for less than $1 each. We wore them to be spirited for the trash pickin up.

David, Gerarrdo & Catherine!  She really knows how to have fun.
THIS WAS THE CRAZIEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. That hermit crab is living in a piece of trash. POLLUTION! Gerarrdo made the point that hermit crabs can get into your house but you can never get into theirs... kind of interesting. I guess they are the least hospitable creatures.
Guiones Beach! Catherine & Co are in the top left corner. Not a bad place of work.

Feliz Dia de Anexion de Guanacaste

In 1824 Guanacaste was a province being claimed by both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In a very non-central american kind of way, the Guanacasteans peacefully voted and became part of Costa Rica. They are a very patriotic bunch so its exciting to be here for this national holiday.

Tonight there is music and a feast. I'm pretty excited! Lots of traditional food and some musicians playing xylophone type instruments. 

Ah yeah, Catherine is here. She hopped up the van yesterday with her little suitcase and new short haircut and I was elated. We've spent the last couple days hanging out and catching up.  This morning we got up at 6:00am to help Gerrardo, the sustainability director, set up a yard sale. It was awesome and we made some stellar purchases (including the most awesome jerseys ever - picture to come later).  We stopped at a little market on the way back and had tamales. Yum! I took today off so I mostly read, practiced Spanish, chilled on the beach, and lazed away the hours in anticipation for this feast.

Catherine and I also took a walk to day to the Harmony House. The GM lives there and it is gorgeous! Her sister makes clothes and we were stopping buy to check it out. I bought some yoga/lounge pants and Catherine got a dress. Its so cool to buy something directly from the person who made it, or grew it, or wrote it, or photographed it, etc....

Alright I'm off to get this party started. Enjoy the pictures!

~~~~~

The entrance to the yard sale. 

(I made that blue and green sign!)

The sale hadn't officially started yet and people were swarming.

This sign for the little market.

Here are the ladies we bought the tamales from!

Battle wounds.

I have a surfing injury.

Except it should be called a floating on the surfboard injury. Because I don't actually surf (yet). I just enjoy the rush of paddling out there and sitting on the board rising and falling with the waves and watching the other surfers. It's a really beautiful view looking back at the beach or out to the ocean and so exhillerating. Except when a giant wave comes crashing at you.

As it did yesterday.

My board flipped and the fin nailed me in the arm. It all happened in slo-mo as I was getting somersaulted under the wave.  I floated up to the surface and had a dead arm. Ouch! I couldn't paddle so I just started whimpering and hoisted myself up onto the board. Fortunately my friend wasn't too far away so he came over and consoled me. Then I rode a wave back (not standing, mind you..... but still exciting) and tried to get some blood flowing in my gimp arm. Now I just have a bruise and wrecked bicep (at least for the time being). At least it didn't hit me in the head.

I'm starting to think boogie-boarding might be a better hobby. Or I should take up beading again.

My new friend!

So last week I was eating dinner when something furry brushed against my leg. You never know in Costa Rica, but thankfully it was just a little kitten. I have since adopted this cat (always asking everyone... Donde esta mi gato?) and she has taken a liking to me. Last night she snuck into my room and fell asleep on my bed. I feed her milk because she is very skinny.

I might bring this kitten home with me... I am currently investigating the possibilities. If she lives in Nosara I do not think she will find a home but I bet there is a lot of love waiting for her at the Lodge.

Oh yes, her name is Olita which means little wave.  

Finally -- I found my breath!!!

So this morning I had a major life breakthrough. I have always loved yoga and I have been practicing very regularly since arriving in Nosara.  The hotel has a healing centre attached to it with a yoga studio so I take a 1 1/2 hour class each morning.  So in yoga class they always mention your breathing. Movement should come from the breath. I never could get it and I'd hear people breathing and wonder how they did it.

Well today, I was in Warrier 2 and suddenly I got it. It was like a lightbulb going off in my lungs (or something like that). It was such an awesome feeling to finally understand. It was so awesome that I had to dedicate a blog entry to my successful breathing.

To counter that I also was pretty frustrated tonight. I am writing a Restaurant Training Manual and Pablo (the F&B Manager) was showing me job descriptions and lots of other documents he already has typed. He said, "Well the problem is that all these documents are in Spanish" and I said "No, the problem is that I don't speak Spanish!" Pablo agreed with me but assured me that I would. It is so frustrating to want to speak a language so badly... to connect with people and do my job better, but I just can't. I've already studied for a couple hours today and I am learning. The chef just asked me if I want to go dancing tonight because he is looking for a girlfriend, unfortunately I understood that! 

Well I better get back to work... I am excited for more yoga tomorrow and more hours of studying Spanish. :-)