Super Gringos

Hello,

So we safely made it to Montezuma, the location of our first 2 week language program, and we are making dinner while waiting for orientation to start (with all 3 of us this session-WHAT?!). The adventure thus far has been interesting, to say the least.

We met up in the airport in San Jose Friday night (with way too much luggage-we look like such noobies among the hardcore travelers and backpackers) and were safely shuttled to our hostel. The night and next morning before heading out were ok, but we would not recommend that anyone visit San Jose for fun. From there we traveled by bus to Jaco, and arrived midday to the touristy but enjoyable beach town on the Pacific. We took a taxi the short way to our hostel to avoid walking past the dangerous Beatle and Monkey bars, two known gang hangouts. It rained most of the day and night, so we bummed around a bunch and caught up on our napping and reading. Ju went to bed early, but our hostel sure didn't, enjoying late night drinking and karaoke.

This morning we bought breakfast at the local supermarket (Mas X Menos-owned by Walmart) and walked around town/the beach to soak in the true feel of Jaco and watch the surf.  From there we headed to a nearby town where we caught the water taxi to Montezuma. We saw the hump of a humpback whale and lots of random trees and trash in the water on the 1.5-2 hr ride. Oh and by the way, we got destroyed by the sun on the way over, although we were under the canopy the whole time on the boat? Ju now has a brand new, permanent pair of pasty sunglasses.

Montezuma is a very lush, small, hippie town.  As soon our boat landed on the beach, we encountered three old dreadlocked farts smoking some reef, and not the type in the water.  Many of the locals are this type-and spend their time playing music, making crafts, surfing, and toking all day.  One local immediately insisted on helping with our heaps of luggage, so he and Ju rode an ATV the short distance to our school/hotel while holding onto all of our bags.

Our school is located in a great spot just down the road from town and the main beach. It is a school and hotel combination (La escuela del Sol and Hotel la Cascada), so the rules are a bit different here. We will end up cooking a bunch of meals though, as there is a kitchen here and the food is certainly not cheap in Montezuma. To give some perspective, all costs are either the same or more expensive than in the US, which is hard to accept as budget travelers.

Class begins tomorrow morning, so there will be much more to fill  y'all in on soon.  However, we wanted to document the first weekend and let everyone know that we made it safe and are having a great time. We would like to thank all of our followers (currently 4) of the blog, it is great to know who specifically is watching, or at least wants to be considered a follower. In addition, we received our first comment from the one and only Kami Krantz, so thanks a bunch for that Kams, kudos!

This is Ty and Ju, signing out from beautiful Montezuma, Costa Rica. We love and miss you all dearly. Chau for now,