Thursday, July 21, 2005
Well, that’s just great.
So we’re off to the beach tomorrow for two nights. Playa Jaco on the Pacific coast. And we’re in robo class this morning and start talking about it. There are two Costa Ricans that have been taking the class with us, Aldo and Camilla, a boyfriend and girlfriend. When we tell them where we’re going their faces change and they get this, “Oh, that really sucks,” look. Oh shit, I’m thinking, here we go. They proceed to tell us that Jaco is “muy sucio” or “very dirty” and that we need to very, very careful of the “thieves and men.” And that the waves are really strong and there’s a bad undertow. They said about ten times that we need to go a half hour farther to this really nice beach that’s in a federally funded park with white sand and a beautiful coastline.
So, I guess this whole trip just gets to be a total disappointment for me. There is a minute part of me that is hoping we’re not in the dirty area of Jaco, but considering how the rest of this place has been I’m not betting on it. Amarante sucks as a tour guide. Jaco is where this group always goes, and there’s even three previous students flying in JUST to go with us to Jaco. So, either their super young kids who have never seen anything beautiful in the world before and think this is fancy, OR they’ve never seen any other beaches in their lives. OR, the ultimate or, Aldo and Camille are wrong. I feel a beach blog coming on…
So last night I was awoken really violently by what seemed to be a rifle shot. I’m assuming it wasn’t really a rifle, but some sort of a gun. Dogs starting going nuts. No one in the house got up, that I know of, so I just sort of waited for something to happen. A siren, someone yelling. But I never heard anything else. So either someone next door off-ed themselves, or it’s just normal sometimes to hear loud guns being fired.
Several nights ago I heard walking on the roof. Since all roofs are tin with no attic or insulation, it’s easy to here stuff up there. It was really heavy walking, and again the dogs starting going nuts, and all I could think of was that it was a person. It was just too heavy for a cat or dog. That night, too, I figured someone else in the house would hear and get up if it was an issue. But no one did. So, I ignored it.
This morning my housemate said that she heard the walking last night and also thought it was a person. Then she goes on to say that she’s been told of robberies where men get on the roofs and pull open the tin siding and jump into the houses. Unbelievable. And then I get on the bus and Scott says that his Tico mom just figured out this morning that he’s carrying his laptop in his backpack every day. “And you’re not taking a taxi?!” she asked. I just looooooooooove this “secure” environment that we’re in. Just LOVE IT.
V
So, I guess this whole trip just gets to be a total disappointment for me. There is a minute part of me that is hoping we’re not in the dirty area of Jaco, but considering how the rest of this place has been I’m not betting on it. Amarante sucks as a tour guide. Jaco is where this group always goes, and there’s even three previous students flying in JUST to go with us to Jaco. So, either their super young kids who have never seen anything beautiful in the world before and think this is fancy, OR they’ve never seen any other beaches in their lives. OR, the ultimate or, Aldo and Camille are wrong. I feel a beach blog coming on…
So last night I was awoken really violently by what seemed to be a rifle shot. I’m assuming it wasn’t really a rifle, but some sort of a gun. Dogs starting going nuts. No one in the house got up, that I know of, so I just sort of waited for something to happen. A siren, someone yelling. But I never heard anything else. So either someone next door off-ed themselves, or it’s just normal sometimes to hear loud guns being fired.
Several nights ago I heard walking on the roof. Since all roofs are tin with no attic or insulation, it’s easy to here stuff up there. It was really heavy walking, and again the dogs starting going nuts, and all I could think of was that it was a person. It was just too heavy for a cat or dog. That night, too, I figured someone else in the house would hear and get up if it was an issue. But no one did. So, I ignored it.
This morning my housemate said that she heard the walking last night and also thought it was a person. Then she goes on to say that she’s been told of robberies where men get on the roofs and pull open the tin siding and jump into the houses. Unbelievable. And then I get on the bus and Scott says that his Tico mom just figured out this morning that he’s carrying his laptop in his backpack every day. “And you’re not taking a taxi?!” she asked. I just looooooooooove this “secure” environment that we’re in. Just LOVE IT.
V
