Despite the title, this
entry is not all bad. Following up on my last entry, the bus from Santa
Elena to Alajuela was so much better than I expected (and was told). The
6:30am departure time was definitely rough, along with the fact that I found
myself locked inside the hostel at 6:15am when I tried to leave. Staff doesn´t
come in to open until 7am, so I scrambled around checking every single door
until I finally decided to jump behind the welcome desk, snatch a pair of spare
keys and unlock the front door myself. I returned the keys, but couldn´t relock
the door, so hopefully all is okay there. I barely made the bus with mere
minutes to spare. In any case, the bus turned out to be a nice coach with
reclining seats and somehow one of the front seats was still vacant, which
meant that not only did I have a great view out the huge front window, but I
also avoided any motion sickness! We arrived in Alajuela around 10am,
only 3 1/2 hours later because the bus was an express. I took a $5 cab
from the airport bus station to Alajuela Backpackers (recommended to me by
friends) and couldn´t believe it was classified as a hostel. The
architecture was beautiful, had hot water AND air conditioning along with free
internet, a TV room with a huge flat screen TV and fun hangout spaces including
a bar with a pool table. All of this for $15/night - AMAZING! Since
it was still morning, I decided to treat myself and watch TV for the first time
in over a month. There were plenty of English channels and I was able to
watch my beloved Food Network! I felt like an American again! About
20 minutes later, a guy named Danny from Portland,
OR joined me in the TV room and
we clicked right away. We explored Alajuela together for the rest of the
day, eating at a food stand in the local market and heading to a coffee shop
after much meandering. It was at the coffee shop at about 4:30pm or so
when the earth began to move beneath us. It was the scariest thing I have
ever experienced in my entire life. Instantly I knew what was happening
and I grabbed for Danny´s hand and held tightly as we sat there starring at
each other unsure of what to do. Local Ticos (Costa Rican people) sitting
at tables around us made the sign of the cross, and mumbled prayers. It
was the first time in my life I actually thought, "this could be it"
and I certainly wasn´t ready. The glass counter that held the pastries
was moving as were the buildings right outside the open windows. I was
squeezing Danny´s hand so tightly and was saying "HOLY SHIT" over and
over again. I´m not sure how long the moving lasted, maybe a minute or 2, but
the scariest thing was that we didn´t know if it would continue to get
worse. No damage was done and we found out later that the epicenter was 40 miles southeast of
where we were, just off the coast. It was rated as a 6.3, then was brought
down to a 5.9. I was definitely shaken the rest of the day and still feel
quite uneasy about being on a fault line. Maybe I won´t go to San Diego to live, after
all.
In my dorm room that night
was a mother-daughter pair who have been traveling most of their lives. Such
nice women with very interesting stories. The mother is originally from Australia and
is probably about 50 years old. Her daughter is late 20´s and grew up in Central America. They have traveled seemingly
everywhere and were great to hang out with. I left for Quito
Friday morning and sat next to a beautiful and very nice woman in her late 30´s
from El Salvador.
She and her family are relocating from Costa Rica
to Ecuador
as her husband was transferred. He works for Philip Morris and has worked
all over the world for the company. Judging from her clothes and jewelry,
they are very well off and her English was perfect without an accent. I
don´t think I´ve every met anyone who worked for a cigarrette company and
instantly I thought of the movie "Thank You For Smoking". It
was interesting how without prying, she happily volunteered that
information. In any case, she was very sweet and wrote down a number of
"must see" places for me and tips on what to eat.
Samara´s friend Markos was at
the airport to pick me up - so nice to meet a friend of a friend after a month
of traveling solo. He brought me back to his house where I met and
instantly adored his elderly mother, Martha. She is so sweet and warm and
treats me like family. I have my own bedroom in her 3 bedroom house,
Markos lives in the apartment above. I feel so spoiled having my own
bedroom with a full bed and cozy quilts. Their house reminds me of Aunt
Hazel and Uncle Sal´s house and it´s so wonderful spending a few days here.
Martha speaks only Spanish, but she articulates well and speaks slowly, so I
understand almost everything she says. She patiently waits while I slowly
form sentences in Spanish and encourages me to practice with her.
Today I explored the city of Quito. This morning I set off to TelefériQo,
a multimillion-dollar sky tram that goes up 2.5km to the peak of one of
the highest mountains in Ecuador (4100m). The views were
breathtaking (literally and figuratively). There were signs all over
saying how high it was and to walk slowly. Walking up a few stairs
made my heart feel like it was beating out of my chest, but it was
entirely worth it for the view. Will post more photos soon. After
descending, I wandered around Centro Histórico (Old Town), a beautiful
part of Quito complete with a church on every corner. It´s been a great
day and I look forward to heading to Baños tomorrow, where I´ll stay
for the next 4 weeks. Hope all is good at home and please email me
updates if you have time! Miss you all!
