Playa Sámara

Yesterday was just unbelievable all around. I woke up at 7:30, had breakfast (which is always gallo pinto, I realized; gallo pinto is rice and beans fried together, it´s not as bad as it sounds), and walked to school. I had the morning class, which I now find to be much better than afternoon class even if most of the sun is out in the morning, because that way I have all afternoon to do whatever I want. Class let out at 12, so after I went with Matt, his girlfriend Roxy (the guys from Hawaii), Elizabeth, and Irwin (another guy from Switzerland) to lunch. We then decided to meet back up around 4ish when high tide is in so we could all surf. Elizabeth and I hung around and decided to go for a swim and walk along the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. There were very few clouds, it had rained a bit earlier during our lunch, and the weather looked very promising for the afternoon/night. The waves looked great from the shore, and around 3:30, when I was in the water, I decided to just go and rent a surfboard. I started talking to the guys, who were all really helpful and fun, and picked out a board. Even though I hadn´t surfed in 2 years, I had no trouble getting up and riding waves all the way in. The waves weren´t that great for the Hawaiians, becaused they closed out really fast and didn´t last that long, but it was still super fun. I met a lot of people out on the water who were also surfing: another guy from Switzerland, a girl who´s in Sámara for 6 months working, and an older guy who has a house here but says he´s from California. Around 5:30, Matt, Roxy, and I made our way back to the school for a free salsa dance class. It was fun, nothing special, just learned a few basic salsa dance moves.

We all then agreed to meet up at a local bar after dinner and showering. That was really an experience. The bar, called El Gondola, is basically a hole in the wall looking from the outside, but once inside, wooden tables and chairs line against the walls and a pretty nice bar appears out of nowhere, serving cold beers for 800 colónes (a little over a dollar). Once a lot of the gringos left, and I downed a couple beers, I was excited to meet and talk with some of the local Sámarans. My Spanish is clearly improving, illustrated by my ability to have conversations with a few people in Spanish understanding almost everything. One girl in the language school with me named Brittney met a bunch of locals already so she introduced me to some cool people. One guy named Davyson (or Davidson, I can´t really tell from his accent) is a cook at a restaurant and all he does is work for half a day, go out and surf in the afternoon, and party at night. He´s absolutely insane. After a late night of playing foosball and ping pong, I thought it was time to head home. Passing out never felt so good. Playa Sámara awaits me now.