I've made it all the way down now to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, a beach town on the Pacific. After sleepy San Juan, I feel like I'm in Waikiki. There is a clear disparity of wealth between the two neighboring countries, which was maybe more obvious doing the border crossing with local buses and on foot as opposed to an international bus that shuffles you across. On the ride down to the Nicaraguan border we took the beat up old school buses, and as soon as we crossed into Costa there were more luxury buses, car dealerships everywhere, and prices of pretty much everything had doubled if not tripled.
I'm actually taking a little break from hostel life and staying with a friend I met in San Juan who is from Argentina but lives here in Tamarindo. It actually feels like a mini Argentina here- she has a big group of Argentinian friends who are very sweet and remind me that my Spanish still has a long way to go when I'm in a group of 5 girls gossiping and joking and speaking extremely quickly!
The only downside to Tamarindo is that it is undoubtedly rainy season here. On my first full day it rained heavily and constantly and that night was practically a monsoon! Roads were waist deep with water, the hostel my friend worked at flooded, and all the clubs and bars were shut for fear of electricity in all that water. Somewhat ironically yesterday, when it wasn't raining during the day, all the city water was turned off for about 10 hours. It foiled our plans of showering, cooking, and doing laundry. Once it started raining again in the evening and the water started trickling I took a gamble and went for a shower. Unfortunately it all stopped running in the shower once my hair was full of shampoo and I had to rinse it in the trickle of the kitchen sink. Thank goodness that was still even semi-working! Everyday has been an adventure, and in a few days I will set off again for the jungle and hopefully the Caribbean coast where I will get to see sea turtles laying their eggs on the beach!
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