Giving Thanks

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So this year we will not be doing a traditional thanksgiving here in Puerto Viejo, but we wanted to express some thanks to you all.

We feel incredibly blessed to have friends and family like you.  We wish we could be there share this day of love and thanks, but we are very happy to be on the beach :)

Thank you all for supporting and encouraging us on our decision to come to Costa Rica, even without plans for jobs or a place to live.  It has made it easier knowing we have people rooting for us at home.  We are thankful to have roof over our heads and to have avoided the weather here that has swept so many homes away.  We are also so incredibly thankful, that thus far, we have enjoyed a safe and peaceful adventure.

We hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving wherever you may be this year and that you all have safe travels at the end of the holiday.

We love you and miss you, especially today.  Enjoy some turkey and stuffing for us :)

Ty and Ju

Vacay in Bocas

Hello,

Well we cannot believe we have been here for just about 90 days and that we are already half way through November!  This means that we have had to renew our visa, which is why we were in the beautiful Bocas del Toro in Panama for about three days.  Most people who are doing what we are doing are annoyed every time their visa is up and they have to leave for 72 hours.  We see it, however, as a vacation that we have no choice BUT to take.  I mean, doesn't that sound pretty awesome?

So, to get to Panama from where we live is actually pretty easy.  You take a 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the border, walk across a rickety old bridge (which is actually pretty scary), and then check in at customs in Panama.  From there we took a shuttle to a water taxi (also pretty scary because of the large amount of people on a tiny looking boat) to Bocas del Toro.  Bocas del Toro is an archipelago of a number of islands.  We stayed on the main island, Isla Colon, in the main town, Bocas town.

So as we mentioned earlier, Bocas is beautiful! We thought the water here was clear, but wow, the water is as clear as glass in Bocas.  The town also has a number of old colonial looking houses, and all waterfront houses and businesses sit on stilts over the water.  We decided that, since we will have to make this trip again, that this time we'd have a little bit more of relaxed trip, and not travel to a new island every night.  So we slept in Tuesday morning, slowly got up and had breakfast, and then watched the parade that was taking place for Bocas Founding Day (somehow we happen to be in the right places at the right time to watch parades).  Afterwards we rented bikes, and rode the 8 kilometers to Playa Bluff, a beautiful beach with golden sand and blue-green water.  When we returned, we expected that the parade would have died down, but the parade ended up going on all 24 hours of the day!

Foundation Day Parade in Bocas del Toro

Headed to Playa Bluff

Great swimming and beautiful clear water

The next morning we woke up fairly early to make it to our tour for the day.  Our tour was a great deal, $20 dollars per person to watch dolphins, snorkel (equipment included), go to a beach, and then go snorkeling one more time (if we wanted to).  Unfortunately we only saw one dolphin, but we did get it to play in our boat wake, which was a really fun experience.  After snorkeling and lunch we visited Red Frog Beach which is an absolutely gorgeous beach.  We spent most of the 2 1/2 hours we had there in the water.  We had a relaxing evening and prepared for our return trip to our little home in Puerto Viejo.

Delfines

Lunch at the isolated Coral Cay

Coral Cay is located in the middle of the sea , all by itself.

Red Frog Beach was large and spectacular

So here we are, back in Puerto Viejo, a little bit sunburned, and covered in chitra bites (nastly little buggers).  Even though Bocas was beautiful, it feels good to be home :)  And we have good news... Ju got a new job!  It is in town at a nice restaurant and she will actually be waitressing!  No more cleaning poop for Ju!  The job is awesome and Ju's coworkers are a bunch of characters (in a good way) which is always fun.  The pay is about normal but the tips have been really good so far, and we expect them to get better since we are coming up on high season.

In other news, Ju's mom, Ty's mom, and Koji have already booked flights down to visit us, and we are so excited to host them and show them around our little slice of paradise :)  Again, we would love love love to have anybody who can come and visit us.  We know November has totally crept up on us and imagine it probably has on you guys as well, but anyone who wants to come visit should start to think about it.  Not only so we have time to prepare and make sure nobody is overlapping, but also because once high season is here it will be much harder to find a place to stay.  

We hope to hear from you guys soon, we love and miss you!  Happy Thanksgiving everybody, we wish we could be there.  We know that we have so much to be thankful for this year.

Pura Vida,

Ty and Ju

Seafood Fricase and Filet Mignon

Hello Hello!

So here's the latest on the job front: Ty finished training for his job on Wednesday and is now an official employee at his restaurant!  And Ju, has moved to part time until she will be a waitress at the restaurant she was initially hired to work for.  This makes her so much happier since, instead of getting home at 5:30 (after dark here on the equator), she gets home at about 1:15, in perfect time for some beach if it is sunny outside :)

Halloween here was pretty much non-existent.  If anything, it was maybe a bit more crowded at one of the bars on the main street, not that we'd know though since we rarely get to go out.  There was supposed to be some costume contest, but it is very possible we missed it, because we didn't end up heading out until close to 11 since Ty didn't finish work until 10 that evening.  So we really didn't get much of a Halloween.  We'd love to hear about what you all were and see some pictures!

November 2nd was a special day for us as we celebrated 3 years of being together :)  We both had work in the morning, but celebrated by heading to the beach, watching Grey's Anatomy (this season is SO good!) and eating a phenomenal dinner.  Ty surprised Ju with some flowers he picked from the garden at the restaurant he works at in the afternoon, bought her this dress she was eyeing from a local designer, and fed her cravings for milanos, which he picked up for her from the local grocery store.  We don't usually get to treat ourselves with American brand cookies since they are a tad expensive here.  In return, Ju treated Ty to the best meal we have had since arriving in Costa Rica at this place called The Beach Hut.  We intended to take a picture of our meal, but after trying one bite, got so distracted by how good it was, forgot all about taking a photo.  In fact, we forgot about everything else, and literally spent the entire dinner discussing the food.  We wish we were kidding.  The food was amazing and the staff was very accommodating.  Afterwards, we headed back to re-watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy and munch on those delicious milanos.  It was a wonderful day.

Ju's new dress and beautiful handpicked flowers

Ju got crafty and made Ty a pop-up card, which he totally wasn't expecting here in Costa Rica without my supplies

At dinner

Demonstrating how delicious Ju finds Milanos

Oh, by the way, you might note that Ty's beard is a little out of control (at least according to Ju).  Well, and this is for you Kellen, Ty participated in Beardtober this October (an old college tradition).  Thankfully, it is now gone.

The weather here has become a bit overcast, and we've been told that November usually brings a fair amount of rain, although it rains mainly during the night.  The weather all over Costa Rica has been a bit rainy and a state of national emergency was declared in Costa Rica.  There have been a couple of landslides, particularly near San Jose, as a result of the heavy rains.  Some major highways and bridges were also destroyed last week.  We hope the weather clears up soon!

We are starting to get a bit more clever with our meals and are experimenting a bit more.  It is a little bit difficult to be super adventurous since we are limited without an oven and with fewer ingredients that we are accustomed to having in the US...

One of our more recent creations, using left over arroz con pollo to make mini burritos/tacos

  We also try to treat ourselves every once in a while for being so good at not spending tons of money since we've been here.  Last night, for example, we found a wine on sale and rented a movie from a movie rental place we found in town. We tried to find a funny, light-hearted movie, and ended up with a kind of weird and disturbing one.  It was still a nice evening though :)

Ty, beardless, with wine and our movie

We really appreciate the comments we got last week, it was so great to hear a little bit from all of you and to hear that you like our house!  We also want to say welcome to our new followers, P-Nasty and Su! We love and miss you guys...

Pura Vida
Ty and Ju

p.s- the title of our blog is what we ordered for dinner :)

A Photolicious Update

Hello Everybody,

So we have some very exciting news...TY GOT A JOB!!!! WOOT WOOT! So we guess this means that we are just further settling in to life over here in Puerto Viejo.

Since we last wrote, we had mainly just been following our usual routine, with Ju waking up early to get to work, and Ty running errands and trying to find a job.  Ju found out, unfortunately, that her boss for the restaurant she is supposed to be working at, will not be returning until mid-November or December! So that was disappointing.  There really hasn't been much to do at the hotel, so she's been doing pretty odd and ridiculous jobs, like waxing window panes, and cleaning mold off pool chairs (while being bitten by ants and mosquitos).  At least it's not poop though, right?  The nice thing about her job is that she has met quite a few locals and even attended the birthday party of the daughter of a woman who periodically works at the hotel.  Costa Rican's sure do know how to throw a birthday party.

So anyway, while Ju was cleaning away, Ty decided to write a letter and mini resume to send out to different hotels and restaurants around Puerto Viejo.  He sent it out, and within 6 or so hours, he got not 1, but 2 responses!  So Ty starts training today at a fancy Japanese restaurant here.

Ju, a little sweaty after work, with money from her first payday!  We are looking forward to taking a picture of Ty with his first wad o' cash

We have also begun to make some real improvements to our house! There is still a fair amount that we want to do, but we are very happy with the beginnings.  The Jamaican couple that we live with has been just absolutely wonderful.  In the beginning of the week, Ty decided to ask where he would be able to pick up some wood to make us a table to eat at (we'd been eating on the floor or on an extra twin bed we had in the front of our house) and a bookshelf so we would have more room to put our stuff away and take it out of our suitcases.  However, our wonderful Jamaican landlords turned the twin bed into a dresser, had an extra table that they painted for us, and made us stools so we would have something to sit on at our table!  The best part is that they built the stools so that Ju's stool is a little taller, allowing us to be the same height when we sit at the table.  It is pretty awesome :)  We still want to add some things to our house but things are pretty expensive here in Costa Rica because taxes are so high.  Just to give you an idea of how high taxes are, Ju's boss was explaining that there is a 100% tax on cars!  Also, phones that would cost $20 in the US cost about $50-$100 over here.  Fortunately, Puerto Viejo is only about an hour from the Panamanian border, and right across the border is this giant walmart-type place with super cheap, Panamanian prices.  We are thinking about heading over there next time Ju has a day off.

Here's a tour of our house:

Our porch

This is our house from the front door.  Where Ty's camera bag is hanging is where you find....

The "entrance" room, if you will.  There is the bed that has been converted into an extra dresser, but we still need to buy hangers.  

The second turn off is into the bedroom, where you can see our very necessary mosquito net hanging above our bed.  It is a surprisingly complicated process to make the net work effectively.

A shelf in our bedroom, by the foot of the bed.

Our kitchen at the end of the hallway.  Ju is doing the dishes, and to her left is the little propane stove we cook on.

Our bathroom is connected to the kitchen, separated by a curtain.  Our toilet and sink is behind the shower, but it is a pretty big bathroom.

Each on our respective stools :) 

And we are starting to figure out how to cook some local dishes:

Our take on arroz con pollo... we are actually starting to get the hang of it.  And Ju is obsessed with the glass bottle system here.  If you buy a soda in a glass bottle, and return the glass bottle next time you buy a soda, there is a reduced price.  Much better for the environment, and at least Ju enjoys how it makes the world seem a little smaller.

Pretty legit and delicious patacones.  Patacones are fried, smashed plantains that Ju learned how to make at work.

We are still loving Puerto Viejo and are looking forward to having visitors to show around.  We are also getting to know some of the locals and expats around town, so it has been really nice to be able to say hello to a couple people and have a few spots to hang out in.  Here are a couple more photos of where we live, hopefully encourage some visitors...

Check the clear water and jungle right up to the beach

Ahhhh....

Sorry this blog was full of pictures but we hope you enjoy them!  We miss you guys a lot!  We feel so blessed to be able to be here in such a beautiful place, and to have such wonderful friends and family, both here and in the United States.  We hope you have a fun and safe halloween and are looking forward to seeing the pictures of Facebook!

Settling in to Being Settled

Hola Amigos -

So life is feeling good, and we have more of a routine these days. It's an early alarm for both of us at 6:00 each morning. However, we wake up together at the same time; Tyler makes breakfast while Ju gets ready for the day. Then at 7:00 we head out to the bus stop, and Ty gives Ju a nice send-off to work.

Since starting work, Julianna has been doing two jobs: one as a cleaning lady and one as a waitress. There is a shift of employees going on right now, and the restaurant's owner and manager Jammin' Joe is out of town visiting family. When he returns, Ju will turn into a full-time waitress, making better pay and working more comfortable hours. The work now is from 8 am to 4 pm, making $1.80/hr cleaning and $2.40 serving, both before tips. These wages are actually pretty good for low end jobs in Costa Rica, and are above minimum wage. Once Joe comes back, Julianna will work a regular schedule of noon to 8 pm, Thursday through Monday.

Last weekend  was a tough first days for Ju at work. Her respect for cleaning ladies has changed entirely, and she wants to let everyone know to leave a tip from now on if you appreciate the cleanliness of a hotel. People tend to be dirty, and on just the third day of work, Ju got to clean poop off the walls of the bathroom. She felt like quitting and vomiting at the same time, but hung in there and got through it during the busy holiday weekend.

While Ju slaves away, Tyler sits at home and lives life as a kept man. Not really, but kind of :) Ty has been not only helping to move us in, but also to make a home for us. He has been doing all of the shopping and making the best of the space in the house. Regular cleaning around the house, preparations for dinner, trips to the beach, and the continued job search are what Ty's days are like. He has also made a routine to have breakfast at one of the two favorite spots in town (Cafe Rico and Pan Pay). Cafe Rico is a home away from home - the place where we do laundry, use the internet, get a morning coffee, and also a place where anyone can spend the night, rent bikes or snorkel stuff or surfboards, and eat breakfast and lunch.

On Ju's first day(s) off work, we spent this past Wednesday and Thursday riding the bus to Quepos and back. In Quepos, we stayed with Ty's host family - Mirna, Carlos, and Jimmy for one night. There, we picked up our bags and said hello/goodbye to our friends there. We brought up the rest of our clothes and suitcases, which is way too much. Tyler will have to build some sort of dresser, in addition to a dinner table for us to sit at!

There is much to do, and we better get off to doing it. We hope everything is good and well at home. Thanks for reading, and commenting too! Nos vemos amigos,

-Ty & Ju

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures this post. It's just that we haven't spend much time together during daylight, and the house needs to be cleaned a little before good pictures can be taken. Don't worry though, you'll see soon enough how we're living. Keep it real guys, and have a good one. Pura Vida.

Finally Settled - Puerto Viejo

This week we post good news! Puerto Viejo will be our home here in Costa Rica, at least for the next month. Before we expose any more though, let’s catch up. The past week has been much more than we expected or hoped. The first couple of days, we treated Puerto Viejo like the past few towns we had visited. But after a few days, we found ourselves not wanting to leave, not ready to move on. The weather has been perfect: no rain besides last night, and not unbearably hot (particularly because the beach is a hop and a skip away). The Caribbean side is much different from the rest of Costa Rica. It is much more diverse here, and the vibes are a bit more relaxed. While it is touristy (making it expensive), we are very comfortable and feel like we are living the dream more than ever.  Imagine being a minute walk from a screensaver quality beach.  Yeah, that’s right, the beige sand, clear then green then blue faded water kind of screensaver.  That is where we are.

Save that screen

North side of Puerto Viejo

Besides walking, people here generally get around by riding bikes with baskets in front.  We have rented bikes twice now.  Once on the second day to ride around town a bit, and then again 2 days ago to ride the 15 km (about 10 miles) south to Manzanillo.  The ride is on an easy paved road for the most part, but along the way there are three other beaches to check out: Playa Cocles, Playa Chiquita, and Punta Uva.  Both Punta Uva and Manzanillo are ranked among the top beaches in Costa Rica.

Bikes on the beach in Puerto Viejo

Punta Uva beach

It has been pretty easy here to lose track of time on the beaches and in the water.  For example, a couple Austrian guys staying in our hostel sadly realized the date today, and that they would need to move on soon. We have been pretty lazy, and intimidated to seriously start the job hunt.

Yesterday, however, we decided it was time. We walked around looking and asking for a while, but were out of luck. Everyone says what we would expect: that it is the low season, and no jobs will be available for at least a month or two. Discouraged, we gave up somewhat early, and decided that another day we would give it a shot. Last night before dinner, Ju randomly chose to call a couple more places and ask about jobs. The first hotel/restaurant/resort she called was interested in interviewing her! After Ju’s interview, we were invited to stay for drinks (ladies night too). As it turns out, that was as much a part of the interview, to see how we (especially Ju) got along with the staff on location. At the end of the night the boss said he would call the next day. This morning, we woke up to a glorious phone call, inviting Julianna to work immediately (aka tomorrow), and full time! In addition, we officially paid rent for 1 month at a cute house around the corner from our hostel. We will be living in a guest house, more or less, of an old Jamaican couple. They are very warm, and we are excited to develop a friendship with them. We also LOVE their accents.

So yeah, our home is beginning to take shape, and we are much more optimistic about the whole experience abroad now. We will of course need to stay disciplined with Spanish, spending, and safety, and Tyler needs to find a job. For now, Ju will be Ty’s sugar mama.

Our own twist on Tacos al Pastor

Thanks for stopping by, we will continue to keep you updated. We love you and miss you. Not to rub it in…but we’re off to the beach. Hasta luego amigos. Peace and love,

MaeTy and Durazna

Green, Yellow, Red and Beach

Hello hello,

So...we like the Caribbean side a lot.  Minus the vicious mosquitos, making deet a necessity unfortunately.  Let's hope those anti-malaria pills are working!

Sunday morning we ended up staying a little bit later than initially planned in San Jose because there was some great sun in the morning and we wanted to bask in it.  We've been a bit sun deprived and, although we heard that the Caribbean side is sunny in the rainy season, we were worried it might not be.  We timed in perfectly, though, and just as the rain began we were on a bus headed to Cahuita.

As it turns out, the Carribean side is sunny :)  After our 4 hour bus ride, we spent the afternoon exploring town.  Cahuita is one of the bigger places we've been to with the exception of Quepos and Puerto Viejo (which will come soon).  It has a few main streets, two big beaches, and a national park.  It is also decently populated despite the low season, which is a welcome break from the emptiness that has characterized the rest of the places we have visited.  Sunday night we ate at a local restaurant to get a taste of the Carribean flavors.  It was refreshing, as the dishes have a wider variety of spices and ingredients, including coconut milk.

Monday morning we ate breakfast out (Ju wants to mention here that the gallo pinto she ate was subpar) and after failing to rent bicycles to go to Playa Negra, we decided to go to the national park.  Some clouds started to roll in and we were worried it might start to rain before we were able to reach the beach by foot.  Inside the national park, we saw the Costa Rican howler monkeys for the first time up close as well as numerous species of butterflies, birds, and more white faced capuchins.  The beach inside the park is lovely.  We feel as though we keep saying that everything we see is so beautiful but it just is!  Monday night we decided to stay the night in more luxurious accommodations.  As a result, we had a romantic homemade dinner and caught up with the latest Grey's Anatomy (so freaking good!).

The national park's beach

Howler Monkeys

A picture of our more luxurious hotel/hostel



Tuesday we woke up early to try again to find bikes.  Again we failed and ended up walking to Playa Negra.  In the high season it is probably a beautiful beach.  However, since the hotels lining the beach  aren't full, the beach has been sort of neglected and needed to be cleared of washed up branches and other vegetation.  In the afternoon Julianna worked on her Spanish while Tyler became acquainted with Puerto Viejo via Lonely Planet.  Earlier in the morning, we had moved to a much cheaper hostel, probably the best deal we have come across to date, and so treated ourselves to a night out.  We went out for happy hour before dinner at the most popular place in town.  We had a delicious meal of chicken fajitas.  Instead of giving us tortillas, they gave us patacones (large, smashed, fried rounds of plantains) which made the meal different and maybe even more delicious.  We washed down dinner with each of our favorite national beers.



At Coco's with our huge platter of fajitas!

Yesterday, after seeing a poster advertising an apartment for rent, we went ahead and took (a very informal) tour.  Our first serious attempt at living somewhere!  We obviously need to be set up with a job before we settle in somewhere, but it shows how much we like it here.  After that, and a relaxed last morning in Cahuita, we headed to the bus station and caught a bus to Puerto Viejo.  Our first impressions have been favorable, but we'll let you know what we think after we have truly experienced it.  So keep tuned in.....
Keep posting comments!  We've been missing those recently...

Pura Vida, or, as they say on the Caribbean side, peace love and surf!

Ty and Ju