This weekend we went to the beach of Tamarindo. It is
northwest of San Jose, on el Óceano Pacífico. The bus ride was rather long,
topping somewhere near 8 hours. Good thing we were able to watch Here Comes the
Boom and a couple of other movies. Moreover, my lovely friends and I spend a
good amount of the time just dropping pick up lines and planning the next seven
weekends that we have together. After the painfully long ride, we finally made
it around 8 or 9. I was too tired and car sick to even look at my watch. Our
hotel was across the way from the beach. You walked across the street and
through a restaurant and bam, there was the Pacific Ocean. So, what did we do? After
an amazing sushi dinner with my friend, we threw our stuff down and ran to the
beach. It was amazing. We sat and walked and even had a bonfire on the beach.
The waves and the stars seemed a little too similar to the postcards that I
have seen to believe it.
The next day, we went as a group to get breakfast at a beach
front café. Yes, my breakfast of gallopinto (a common dish of rice mixed with
beans), eggs, and tortillas was on the beach, with my chair slowly sinking into
the wonderfully warm white sand. To make it even more special, my friend
Chelsey and I took our mugs of coffee and sat under a nearby palm tree and
watched the waves. Needless to say, the waiters made fun of us by asking if we
just wanted a straw in the coffee pot. Not going to lie, I was considering it. After
we had our fill, we grabbed our suits and walked down to the beach. My mamatica
was sweet enough to lend me a bamboo mat to use on the sand since the sand in
my towel almost broke the washer last time I was at the beach. We set up out
things and walked straight into the water. They weren’t kidding when they said
that waves are a little strong. My first wave tossed me into a rock that left a
shiner on my left shin. Already winning. We spent about two hours just letting
the waves toss us around. There were surfers that we watched and the view was
spectacular. I could have spent forever there. I was, however, interrupted by a
new challenge: surfing. Some people in our group rented surf boards. One of the
friends was tired and offered to let me and a couple of girls to borrow it for
a little while. It was so hard. There was no way I was going to get up on my
feet, but I did manage to get into a kneeling position. My poor knees were raw
after trying that, but I’ll take kneeling on a surf board any day.
After a quick lunch of peanut butter and banana tortillas,
we spent some more time on the beach. I borrowed my friend Ale’s boogie board
and had a blast. Sure, I’m not really built to be a surfer or boogie boarder,
but I loved it. I caught one wave that sent me almost all the way up to the
beach. Shining moment for me. We went in and spent time at the pool. It became
increasingly evident at this point that none of my sunscreen took to my skin
and that I was extremely burnt. Again. So, I threw on my cubs hat and sat in
the pool like a good sun burnt water baby. We had a couple of chicken fights
and mainly threw around a soccer ball and Frisbee.
After a much needed shower, we went to watch the sunset from
a look out point. We walked about 20 minutes up the beach and then climbed up a
hill. Suddenly, we were upon the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
Seriously, this view put The Little Mermaid, Hercules, and every other Disney
perfect sunset to shame. We spent the time taking pictures and just watching as
the sun slowly set. It was gorgeous. We walked along the beach back to our
hotel and then a group of my friends and I went searching for dinner. After receiving
terrible service at the first restaurant and having to change to another one,
we found a pizza place that cooked it in front of you. There are pictures that
claim I ate an entire pizza. I just want to confirm this. Surfing, sun, boogie
boarding, and more sun can really take it out of you.
That night, we had a party on the beach. It was so much fun.
Oddly enough, two guys from Texas walked up and made friends with our group. We
went dancing with them at the local club. I learned the Bachata, Meringue, and
Salsa from one of them. It was some of the most fun I had all month. I love to
dance. I even made a friend from Canada to top it off! Once we decided that we were over the club
scene, we went and changed to go swimming once again. I refused to put my
swimsuit on again and just claimed that I wasn’t going to swim. You can imagine
how that turned out. I ended up in the water, of course. It started, though,
through a quick Salsa dance lesson while wading in the water, which I think it
pretty cool. I learned how to dance a few new moves while standing, or at least
trying to stand, in the Pacific Ocean. How many people can say that? We ended up staying up until about 3 in the
morning just hanging around the pool and talking.
The next day, I had breakfast on the beach again. It really
didn’t get old. Then, I spent the day by the pool hanging out and reading a
book in Spanish that my papatico lent me. We had to check out of the hotel at
12 and didn’t have to get on the bus until 2 so I went and spent time with my
friends. I had a little taste of home at Subway for lunch and went on a “baby
adventure” to find t shirts and postcards with my friend Chris. We left at 2
and did not get home until 9. We spent about an hour in stop and go traffic. It
was like I was back home in Chicago!
Tamarindo was a blast. I really did enjoy it. My only
negative thoughts were that it was so touristy. Everyone spoke English and didn’t
even try to speak Spanish to you. There were more gringos than there were locals.
Everything was geared to cater to the gringos too. There was even a Subway. Good
thing the beach was to die for. I could look past the fact that I used my Spanish
only four times because I was able to swim in a beach that came right out of a
movie. I loved that beach. The sand was soft and the waves were high. I’m so
grateful to have this experience and to spend it with some amazing people. It
is still hard to believe that I am even here, living a dream of mine. I hope I
never wake up.
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