Happy New Year!

hey y'all! i hope you had a wonderful new years eve last night, and are having an equally great first day today. well, i got in to san jose a few days ago and have been travelling with quang, alex, robert, and their friend stephanie since then. she's from here so the first night we went back to her family's place and hung out and they told me all about their trip thus far and showed pictures and stuff. then the next morning we got up early and headed out in our rental car up into the mountains toward some hot springs near a volcano, arenal. all the springs we had seen on the internet were really expensive, but they were beautiful- a little flowing hot river in the middle of the jungle- we decided to go anyway and try to find a free spot to jump in. and we did find that spot. we went to the very nicest resort on the river, which costs about 75$ to enter, and parked on the road with everyone else. then instead of walking in through the hotel gates we just walked down the road a bit and found the free local access. it was so nice- i'll try and attach photos.
we bathed there for a while and went exploring and even at one point got kicked out of the fancy hotel part of the stream- which was not any nicer, by the by. then we hopped back into the car and went all the way to puntarenas, a small port town that had the ferry we wanted to get on to go to a beach town called monteZuma, which we had heard was a fun little hippy town and beach to hang out in.
we thought we might stay the night in puntarenas for the night but it was just a dingy funky town so we said, let's head straight for the ferry. we got there and there was already a huge line of cars waiting to get on so we got in line, as it turned out, two cars after the cutoff line for the last ferry. we waited it out because they said they were trying to call another ferry to accommodate the many more cars still in line- this was a really busy time because costa ricans had off from christmas to new years and everyone was going to the beach to celebrate and vacation on the beach.
so, after much waiting around drinking a few beers outside the car, and an ill fated chicken run which produced a bag of cold, old, yellow port-town chicken, the line started to move and we actually made it in by our skins onto that ferry- i think someone's car had broken down or something and everyone jumped in front of them like mad.
it was the night ferry, leaving at about eight, and was full of rowdy young costa ricans playing music and dancing and drinking, getting ready to party at the beach. after that we all piled in our cars and headed down to monteZuma to find some food and a place to stay.
we got in at about 10:30 and every hostel or hotel we asked was full for the night. also, no restaurants were open, though we eventually did find some piZZa to eat. for the housing problem, we decided to build a fire and sleep on the beach. it occurs to me now that we couldn't just do that in the states, but there it was no problem. the worst part about it was that i awoke at 3am with excruciating cramps and started my period. so far, i've lived my life until now, even making it through high school without having started at a more inconvenient time. so i spent a couple hours in agony by the fire until the advil kicked in.
then the next morning we got up early and went back to this cute little hostel we had seen on the internet and tried the night before. by a stroke of luck for us someone had checked out early just that morning so they had a room for us, but even 15 mins later i saw them turning people away because it was that packed.
so i had an awesome shower and went down to the beach for the day. it was gorgeous and relaxing. in the afternoon, the guys went back to the room for a nap and stephanie and i went hiking around to some other beaches. we found a fresh stream that led up to some more waterfalls and pools in the rainforest. it was great- lush, cool, clean and green. and we were the only people around. on our way back we saw a family of howler monkeys in the trees above us. the baby was so little and cute, but the dad was so big and, though he was cute, too, he started making this barking sound to scare us off. it starts as a low drumming sound and progresses to a sound that conjures images of the biggest baddest police german shepard- slash- wolf-boar. it's intimidating, for sure. and a great acting turn for them cause they're really not that big.
then the next day we caught the ferry back- almost missed it like the first one because we got lost and had a flat tire. but somehow we made it and i bought a fresh coconut as we got out of the car. then we ate lunch at a little restaurant connected to a fisherman's association. we ate the best ceviche i've ever had.
then we drove back to san jose and ended up here at our friend chris's parents' house up on the hill overlooking the city. chris is a norwegian who was raised in the states and costa rica, and lived with quang in austin last year. he's here visiting for a few months and i am planning on staying here in february and march while i take spanish classes at the university.
but now i'm off to meet up with a friend named autumn who was born on the same commune as me and has been living here for a few years. she lives more in the country and i wil stay out there with her for a month or so.
ok. that's the trip so far. i'm being safe. having fun. thinking about the now and the future, sometimes the past.
love,
me