This seems to be turning into a 10 year tradition...

I buzzed my head today. I needed a haircut, and after visiting several local salons (I couldn't find a barber), I decided not to pay $20 for something I could probably do myself. So I simply bought some clippers and learned how. This is the first time I've cut my own hair, or anyone's for that matter.

It has been 10 years since I've buzzed my head. The last time was in Catalina with Jerod & Curtis when we were 21. Here I am at 31, and again have a buzzed head. When I was 9, I had to have my head shaved because of my bike accident, so that's why I'm calling it a 10 year tradition.

I have been cooking dinner every night for the past week. Last night was spaghettini & chopped vegetables, lightly sprinkled with olive oil. The first batch I made fell into the sink when I was trying to drain it. Oopps, try again.

Good thing that happened though, because it brought up some stories from my Dad & brother about pouring random things down the drain, and it getting clogged. I honestly would have poured the noodles, and today my hair, down the drain had that not happened last night.

I don't think I've mentioned the sidewalks here. Basically, they don't exist. You walk in the streets, and try not to get hit by cars, trucks or buses. Some sidewalks are available, or at least there is gravel on the side of the road, but most times it is cleaner to just walk on the side of the street.

Don't forget though, that it rains a lot here. Not heavily, but very consistently. This means there are usually puddles on the sides of the roads in certain spots. The first time you have to avoid a puddle, just when you hear traffic approaching from behind, and must step into the street to avoid getting wet... trust me, its a little unnerving. The whole experience takes some getting used to, something that I am still working on.

Over the past week I have meet three new neighbors. Two of which live here year-round, and another who visits for one week a year. Mark, who is the visitor, stays in one of his cousin's five apartments when he visits. That seems to be how it goes here, a few own many. I know of one lady who owns exactly 100 apartments on the north side of Coco, the area where I live.

What happened was about 10 to 12 years ago, the entire city of Coco had its roads planned and dug out. Not all roads were paved, but the overall layout was finished within a few years. Then, when the market was booming in 2003 to early 2006, developers came in and built the residential parts of town almost overnight. Most properties were sold pre-construction, and those with the means bought everything they could. Some flipped, some kept.

As a side note, the city of Coco has existed for nearly 50 years. Several of the older ticos (locals) have lived here for 40+ years. However, some built their homes inside the beach border, which is 50 meters from the water, and is technically owned by the government. About three years ago, the government came in and leveled any house, or any part thereof, that was within the 50 meter line.

One house I know of built a beautiful in-ground pool in their backyard about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, they had built their house within the 50 meter line, and the government leveled their house, but not the pool. Their neighbors bought the property, and picked up a nice, cheap pool to go with their beach front home.

For those following, sorry, no monkeys yet... Lo siento...

I visited Tamarindo (aka: Tamagringo) for the first time today. Honestly, it's reputation may be a little over hyped. The beach certainly looked nice, and there were plenty of people on it. I'm sure that if I surfed, I may feel a little differently.

There were many local thugs hanging about, eyeballing each passerby as a mark. At least that's what it felt like. If it wasn't a thug, it was an American, and that's not really what I'm looking for. The roads are not really roads at all, but more like well traveled cuts of dirt. I didn't even take time to get a picture, but I'm sure I'll visit again before too long.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, since I was only in town for a half hour at most. I had a few errands to run, then turned straight around and headed back for Coco. It was good to be back home, but I didn't stay long.

A friend of mine had to run out to Papagayo, and I tagged along. The video above was shot from the backyard of the Four Seasons Resort. I had a chance to meet "el gran jefe" (the big boss) of the Four Seasons, and his office is just incredible, as you can imagine. I wish I had snapped a picture of his view, it was breathtaking.

This is the third time I have seen this tiny lizard in my place. Once in my bedroom, and twice now in the downstairs bathroom. It seems he is my first house guest, bienvenida. He is missing the end of his tale, so I'm sure it is the same lizard which I keep seeing. Of course, it was a little strange to get used to at first, but when in Rome...

I still have not spotted any monkeys, although I hear reports of them all around town. Howlers, which are the most common, live here all year round. They are not as big as the sound they make, which is probably a defense mechanism.

On the other hand, White Faces, which are far more rare in these parts, have not been seen here for about a month. I heard a story today about a White Face that was helping raise a Howler, an event that is locally considered unheard of, since they are natural enemies. If I can secure video of that, I'll be sure to post it here, an adaleeben exclusive :)

Fun day today...

Week 1 down, 51 more weeks to go...

Its not all that uncommon to find the beach empty like this. I've been down to the beach everyday since I got here a little over a week ago. Strange, but I've lived on the beach before, with sand literally underneath my house, and even then I didn't visit the beach this much.

The heat is getting to be pretty pleasant. Even though its humid, the dishes dry quickly, shirts air out fast, sweat evaporates, its really not that big of deal. Its weird, but I'm starting to drink my coffee without ice in it now, which I would never do at home. Maybe for the same reason that I run hot water in the sink & shower, because it makes the air around you feel cooler... lol.

So what a Laker's game last night!! I called my little sis just before the game (she's a huge Laker fan), and it was so good to hear her voice. I hope she gets on Skype so we can do a video walk through of my place. Spoiler alert, it was a 2 point game with 11 seconds to go in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the season finals... Awesome...

I made friends with a local taxi driver today, Juan Carlos, cool name. That really is the way to go if you're ever relegated to relying on taxis for transportation. Calling into the main switch board on a regular basis is a total pain. This way you get to know your driver, and can simply call up and say, "hay, I need a ride"... no address needed, and they usually cut you a better deal since you're one of their regulars.

Life has certainly slowed down lately. The past 6 months have been a whirlwind of emotion, effort, planning and preparation. My walk has slowed to a saunter, I'm sleeping at least 8 hours every night, my mind is relaxed and I'm sure my blood pressure is down. The small amount of actual work I have done has been fun again. I'm actually starting to consider hobby projects again, much like I used to many, many years ago. I forgot what it was like to enjoy what you do, without the overbearing need for money.

Thank goodness, I found the ice cube trays... I expected them to be in the freezer, but found them tucked away in the cupboard. Seems like a silly place for them.

My iPhone died again last night, such a pain. I'm using the beta software for the next version of the iPhone, and it keeps expiring on me. This is the second time this has happened in the last 20 days. I'm getting quicker at restoring though, hope this doesn't keep happening.

I went for my first run here this morning, up & down the beach. The humidity is deadly, and it felt like I was dragging sandbags tied to my ankles. I suppose I'll get used to that, but for the time being its going to be tough.

There was a pack of dogs on the beach this morning, harassing some lady's puppy. She was running in front of me about 100 feet, and had to pick up her dog to keep it safe. I cannot believe how many wild dogs & cats there are here. I'm trying to make friends with one cat that keeps coming to my front door. Do they make a rabies vaccine for humans?

My parents got the nickel tour today of my town-house. We used Skype to do a video call, and it was just like they were here... well, almost. They got to see the grand view from my rooftop patio, and the pool area. It didn't take that long to cover the whole house, my place is not that big. I'll post pictures soon.

I got to see Leena on the video call. She looked a bit confused and couldn't tell where my voice was coming from. She tried to figure it out for just a second, then trotted off to go play with the other dogs... Gotta love it...

For those of you thinking about a visit... leave the pants & long sleeve shirts at home. I've seen some locals wearing pants, but can't imagine putting on a pair myself. I'm not even going to hang up my dress shirts. This is a pure beach community; shorts & loose shirts only, preferably quick dry material, or something you don't mind sweating in.

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

It took three sleepless flights, and nearly twelve hours to get here, but I'm here, and everything went smoothly... well, almost everything.

The first thing I noticed was the heat, and humidity. When I stepped out of the airport in San Jose to catch my connector to Liberia, I immediately started pouring sweat. Flights typically dehydrate you anyways, so it was very important to continually drink water while traveling.

The plane from San Jose to Liberia must have been the second smallest airplane I've ever been in, with only 12 seats, and 5 passengers, including the pilot and co-pilot. The smallest plane I've been in, I jumped out of with a parachute on my back.

I met my new friend Anthony at the airport, who picked me up and gave me a quick tour around Coco & the neighboring villages. It was door-to-door service, and very welcomed. The only address I have to this town-house I rented reads "500 meters North of the Lizard Lounge"... Seriously! That's how they do addresses here. There are very few street names, and even less house numbers. You just kind of have to know where you're going, which I did not.

Once at my new home, I tried to unpack. However, and this was the only thing that went wrong during my trip down here... The airline bag-handlers had broken my TSA approved travel lock on my big red bag. Its a combination lock, and the numbers wouldn't turn, so I couldn't open it. I so badly wanted to shower and change my clothes, but that wasn't going to happen for a while. However, I did eventually found a wedge that I pried the lock open with, thank goodness.

My place is literally across from the beach. You can see it from the pool! Here is a picture of the walkway, and you can see the barriers at the end of the street. On the other side of that, sand!

I stuck my feet in the water which has to be at least 80 degrees. Its just perfect, and beautiful here. On the south side of the beach, is a reef that you can walk across to get out to a little party island. On the north side, its deeper, with great snorkeling and more secluded areas of beach.

The beaches don't seem to get crowded, but I hear that this is the slow time of year. Probably because of the heat, but I don't mind. I kind of have the whole place to myself, perfect!

One thing about living so close to a rain forest are the animals. So far, I've seen wild dogs, wild cats, a strange all white squirrel, some kind of a meerkat looking thing that popped out of a rain drain, rainbow colored lizards, tons of bright butterflies, jumping fish in the ocean, and too many birds to count.

I've made a few friends already, and even meet some people from Long Beach... small world. They stopped me to ask for directions. Sorry guys, I only got here a few hours ago, but I'll walk around with ya! They were looking for something called the Bumble Bee... Good luck :)

Some things are immediately different here. Google goes to its Costa Rican version, which is all in Spanish. Netflix, Hulu, and even Pandora are not available. I have not been able to get my VPN working yet, which will give me access to those services. The bread here is cut into really thick slices, and takes some getting used to. All the eggs are of the brown variety, and they only sell 2% milk... Delicious, but I think I'll stay away for the time being.

I did happen to forget a few things, like soap, shampoo & conditioner. I'm used to traveling in hotels, and it didn't even cross my mind that those wouldn't be waiting for me. I left my mouse charger at home, total disaster! The sunscreen is not cheep here, so I should have brought more from home, along with some aloe. I managed to get sun burnt my first day, but not that bad though.

All-in-all, I am settling into my new life just as happy as can be. People move much slower here, and for good reason, its so Hot! I am trying not to run the A/C, but at night I just can't help it. I figure, the quicker I get acclimated to this climate, the better off I'll be. I give myself a week or so... But we'll just have to wait and see...

Well I can’t believe I haven’t posted on my blog for a month, especially the last month before I leave for Costa Rica. It’s been amazing how many lose ends needed tying up, but at least that whole process is now officially over!

Wow, so what all has happened in the past month? Mother’s day was a blast. We met up with my brother & his wife for some Mexican food in San Diego, which is always a good time. After that we stopped by the San Diego Botanicals, and my Mom absolutely loved it. They had a lot of cool bamboo & palm trees I had never seen before. It turns out that they grow bamboo there to feed to the pandas at the San Diego Zoo.

After the garage sale, with a bit of money in my pocket, I started purchasing items for the trip. Specifically, I bought a new backpack by Eagle Creek, my favorite backpack maker for these kinds of trips. Its huge, 9600cm. It has a zip-on daypack, which I’ve found essential while traveling.

I had planned on only taking the one backpack, but after packing it to nearly its breaking point, it weighted exactly 50.0 pounds, the airline’s weight limit for a single bag. At the very last minute, I decided to take another bag big bag that rolls, also with a zip-on daypack, and simply check them both at the airport. Glad I did, because I took another 35 pounds of clothes in the second bag… I also ended up taking my laptop case, and stuff it as full as it could go.

I completely moved out of my house about a week after the garage sale, and why not, there was nothing left. My parents offered to put me up in my old room until my departure. When I moved out at age 18, my little brother Matt took over my room. It just so happens, that about 2 months ago, he found his first apartment and moved out… Perfect timing. I can’t wait to play the guitar with my little brother again.

My temporary room is right next door to my little sister, where my older brother lived when we were kids. She is dating a great guy named Peter, and the two of them are so good together. Peter is a fantastic cook, and I think they BBQ almost every night, on my BBQ! Rachel & I had lunch together recently, and I will count the days until we can do that again.

My brother Jerod was thrilled to have me back on the block again. We got to hang out a couple of times, reminisce, and say good-bye. I’ll miss him, along with everyone else, but hopefully he & his wife will get a chance to come down to Costa Rica and visit.

Scott & I went to Catalina for a weekend. The house is looking great, but the spa was in pretty bad shape. As soon as we got there, I turned the heater on in the spa, and didn’t notice anything out-of-place. It wasn’t until we got in that evening, and had our noses about 4 inches away from the water, that we smelled it… dead, rotten, stinking fish. Somehow, someway, a foot long fish had been dropped into the water, and was disintegrating in the filters.

We spent most of the next day draining, rinsing, wiping, scrubbing, and refilling the spa. I didn’t even think about the drought in Catalina, and let the scummy, fishy water drain out onto the street. I hope we don’t get cited for it, and a ticket shows up in the mail next month. When we were done though, the spa was pristine. Scott & I had a great rest of our trip, and I will miss the Catalina house, as well as Scott, very much.

For Memorial Day weekend, my parents and I went up to the lake house in Almanor. Talk about a fun weekend! We had a nice drive to and from. My Dad & I spent an evening fishing on a local inlet to the lake. I went for a sunrise run down to the end of the peninsula and back, which took me through a pack of deer feeding on early morning grass. I wasn’t sure where the pack’s buck was, which was a little unnerving. Mom, Dad & I spent a morning at the crest of the peninsula. With smoke on the water, and snow in the hills, they sat in peace, watched me fish, and got some beautiful pictures. I didn’t catch any fish throughout the whole trip, but that’s why they call it fishing, not catching.

The community in Almanor was having a rummage sale, much the same way my community had a collective garage sale. Back at home, we rented a trailer and took a bunch of stuff up to the house, then took a bunch of the stuff from the house down to the rummage sale. I made a point to stop by the sale before we left, and purchased a bunch of shoes for my friend’s charity. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet up with said friend before I left. The shoes I bought, along with shoes from my closet, and my parent’s closet, were still sitting in the back of my Mom’s van last time I saw them. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all…

Unfortunately, that trip conflicted with a previous engagement I had planned. Jerod’s cousin Blair came into town, and we were all supposed to go to a baseball game together that weekend. However, after all the hard work my parents had put into my garage sale, I couldn’t bring myself to pass up the trip with them. Blair ended up staying a few extra days though, so we eventually got to hang out for a short while, which was very nice.

I had coffee with my ex a week ago, which was wonderful. I had a chance to see her new apartment… it’s a cute place. I had a box of her stuff to return to her, along with a few coats she had left at the house. It truly was fun to hang out with her again, catch up, and tell her all about Costa Rica. She seems very happy, which always make me happy. She will be missed.

Last weekend my parents threw me a bon voyage BBQ. We had Jerod & the family come over, and my Grandma June was there. My brother Jason & his wife came up from Escondido, and it was terribly difficult to say good-bye to him for the last time. They might move to New Zealand in a few years, and I can’t wait to visit them there.

Mr. Wayne & I got to hang out one last time, and met up for some Mexican food along with our friend Peru. He just got back from the Philippines, and the pictures are amazing. Ethan & I had a chance to see each other, which was a ton of fun. He might be in Brazil for Christmas, so hopefully we will have a chance to hang out in December.

I didn’t get to see everyone before I left, like Vinny, Hugo, Rachael, Abby… I never did get a chance to see Ilza, which was a total bummer. I did have plenty of time to say good-bye to Leena, again. As it got closer and closer to my jump off date, she was sleeping with me less and less. I think she knew, but that’s just my personification of her. I’m not sure what my parents will do with her, so I was saying good-bye for good this time. If I do happen to see her again, that will simply be icing on the cake.

As I rode the escalator to the security checkpoint at the airport, I received what I think will be my best memory of this whole process. My Mom was snapping photos, and both she and Dad were waving good-bye. What I will never forget is my Dad standing behind my Mom, giving her a hug, as they watched their son leave the country, unsure of when he will return.

Bon voyage indeed… or should I say viaje seguro…

Pura vida!