No, I just learned my Spanish for fun.

Day 20, Thursday, July 26

So. Last night I got to know the people in our dorm room. There are a couple of guys from Texas, one of which asked me to charge his iPod. This isn’t a big deal... except that it was the closest I came to mingling with my fellow travelers. Go me. Anywho, it’s a little weird that most of the people in our dorm are guys, but this doesn’t really bother me. It’s just one of the guys. The one that is sick... and smells of alcohol... and spends all night coughing and running in and out of the room... and I have to get up at 4:55. Needless to say, I’m in a pretty foul mood come morning. Thankfully, I can pack very quickly if I need to, so we are out of the room and the hostel by 5:30. Goodbye Tranquilo, hello Tortuguero.

We walk to the CocaCola station (grr... suitcase... grr) and buy our tickets to Cariari. The bus there isn’t all that long (about two hours), so I just read. Then we take another bus to Pavona, where we catch a boat to the coast. The boat trip lasts FOREVER... and it’s hot... really hot... and the river is brown. It’s interesting, and I would enjoy it a lot if this was our first week here, but now... I’m just tired. Finally we pull up to Tortuguero (after making a dozen stops), and I am actually pretty surprised. I was expecting something a little more like Bocas – a small town spread around a center street. Instead, Torteguero is smaaaaaaall town America. The “roads” are dirt paths just wide enough to walk, a reality I love despite the fact that I have to carry my suitcase down them. Our hotel isn’t too far from the dock though, and soon we are dropping our stuff in a small room at the Hotel Aracari. And the room is small... and hot. Actually, it’s just really hot here. I know we’ve been spoiled with our San Jose weather, but now we realize: this is what it will be like in Arkansas. But in AR we have air conditioning. :)

We’re a bit hungry, so we walk down the path to a little soda/bar and order some gallo pinto. Oh gallo pinto. How I’ll miss thee. Beth swears she’s going to learn to make it, so perhaps I won’t have to miss it too much. :) The owner keeps talking to us in English, which is the same problem we had in Panama. They’re so overpopulated with tourists that they just assume we won’t know Spanish. I try to speak Spanish back, but when they talk to me in English, it catches me off guard, and I end up sounding rather ridiculous.

After lunch we decide to take care of this tiredness issue. Only I’m not a good napper. So I sleep for like three hours, and when I wake up, I’m more tired than before. We want to pay for the room but can’t find our dueña, so we wander into town to have a look-see. We find a grocery store and get some water and some more bread. Then we browse some souvenir shops. Beth hasn’t bought many gifts yet, and I have a few more I need, so we plan to come back tomorrow. I talk to a nice lady (who is so thankful we speak Spanish!) at a souvenir stand and make a note to come back tomorrow.

A little further down the path through town we find an area that is slightly developed. Hay muchas turistas aqui as well as some rather creepy giant birds on poles. The whole area reminds me of a colorful playground, but it is a lovely place to watch the sunset, which Beth and I do. We talk for awhile, and I pleasantly reflect on the fact that Beth and I haven’t killed each other yet. In the words of Beth: that’s always good. :)

Back in the room – I eat some dinner (can you guess what?) and we watch an episode of Ugly Betty. The episode we watch ends up being a bit depressing, but it does excite me about the coming season. Then I take a shower. Our bathroom light doesn’t work, so I have to leave the door open, and it still creeps the hell out of me. The shower is big, and I don’t like water and dark. They do not mix. Thankfully the light comes on just as I start shaving – I didn’t really want to attempt that one in the dark.

I can’t really dry off, so I sit around in my towel and type while Beth takes her shower. I put my pictures from Panama on my computer and bind off my headband (a technique I looked up on the internet last night – I need a crochet hook or needle to finish it off, so I have to leave the last two loops open for now). There is this crazy dog outside that is really loud and yipping in a high pitched bark. Think I could shoot it without getting caught? Because I’m considering it.

Even with the annoying perro, I am able to sleep after reading for awhile. And it is blessed. Now bring on the turtles.