1 Tequila 2 Tequila 3 Tequila....Suicides!!!

I apologize deeply for being so god damn lazy. I was in San José about a week and a half ago and had written up a whole blog, but the internet crashed right when I finished so I couldn´t post anything. Right now, I will attempt to lay out my trip and just a few really amazing stories.

From León I went to Masaya. Did more volcano stuff. Hitch hiked my way into town and got picked up by a group of 10 Spaniards. They were amazing, really helped out my Spanish. Gave me a ride to Granada where I spent the night.

Then went to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, a town on the Pacific known for great surfing. Met up with Zach. Lots of fun. Spent 2 entire days on the beautiful Playa Maderas surfing incredible waves, seriously improving, just having a complete blast on the beautiful beach. Did some serious partying both nights. My last night the guy I rented my board from bought me a ton of beers and we got into great conversations in Spanish about how great the town is and how everyone is like family. Definitely a place I would recommend to people.

A few days later, Zach and I crossed the border back into Costa Rica and decided to skip hiking Cerro Chirripó because we didn´t think we´d have enough time to do it and get Zach back to San José in time for his flight. Instead we made our way to the Caribbean side and went to a town called Puerto Viejo. The town is basically a reggae-style place surrounded by palm trees and sandy beaches. We spent Zach´s last day at the beach doing some surfing, but the waves were not nearly as good as they were in San Juan. It was still a good time.

The next day, Zach left and I hooked up with a group heading to Bocas del Toro, Panamá. The area is basically a collection of islands on the Caribbean but the main center where it all goes down is on Isla Colón, in the town called Bocas del Toro. We arrived at the hostel everyone told us about called Mondo Taitu. Really amazing story right now: When we got there and checked in, and made our way into the town to get a bite to eat, I passed a guy who stopped and pulled me over, stared at me, asked me to take off my sunglasses, asked my name, and after about 20 seconds, realized how he knew me....he was one of the soldiers on my bus on my Taglit Birthright trip to Israel - A YEAR AND A HALF AGO!!!! What a small world we live in. I hadn´t spoken to him in a year and a half, and now we are at the same hostel in the middle of the Caribbean in Panamá. Unbelievable. Anyways, I´m still here now, and this place is pretty much a party place. Of the group here, I am the only person who has been to a beach every day, taking full advantage of the shining sun that isn´t known for showing its face but for some reason has blessed us with its presence every day so far. Only today has it rained in the morning, and the entire afternoon it was gorgeous. Today I actually went on a 9 mile run out to a beach. It was really really awesome. This hostel is absolutely unbelievable. They attract a crowd every night for drinking before going out, and have some great weekly drinking traditions. For example, every Friday they put on a costume party until like 1 or 2 in the morning, with a different theme every week. Last week the theme was Punk, Goth, Rock, and Hip-Hop or something like that, and the week before it was Super Heroes. This past Friday´s theme: Cartoons, Clowns, and Queens. I dressed up as Aladdin. Pictures are to come, not to worry. Lots of people dressed up as Drag Queens. In fact, all the guys I traveled with did that, and I sort of felt left out, then looked at them and realized they were wearing a dress and make-up. That made me feel not so left out. There were some great costumes though, such as Duffman, Sponge Bob, Pinnochio, and a group of Aussies all dressed up as Transformers. It was a really fun night.

Another story: Our first night in, all the people I traveled with was just so happy to be at this beautiful island that we were just ready to get hammered. Before coming, all the way in Granada, I talked to some people who had been there and stayed at this hostel and said that whatever I did, one thing I absolutely had to do was a tequila suicide (also known in other countries as a stuntman or red-eye). So after throwing back some beers, I checked out the drink menu. The prices went from $5, $4, a couple 3s, some 2s, and finally: Free/Gratis. The drink: Tequila Suicide. The explanation: Snort a line of salt, squirt some lime in the eye, followed by a shot of the worst tequila we could get our hands on, leaving you wondering why you didn´t just spend a couple of bucks on a drink. How could I turn this down, a free shot of tequila! So after finding some Dutch guys who stayed in the same room as me, I convinced them to do it with me. For some reason, we decided to do another one right after - other nostril and other eye. Obviously, we can all agree that the best part of this trifecta is the shot of tequila. On the other hand, the worst: the salt up the nose. The reason is that the line of salt the bartenders give is not grainy, but chunky. So you´re literally snorting fairly big chunks of salt at a time, and this burning sensation just explodes all over. A farmer´s blow right after never looked so graceful. The lime in the eye was really bad, don´t get me wrong. The bartenders pull your lid, squeeze the juice, and just for kicks, just scrub the lime all over while you hurriedly try to close your eye and pull away. Finally, you´re rewarded with the tequila. Needless to say, the pictures are priceless (basically, I look like a friggin coke addict needing my fix on a crowded bar) and the experience is unforgettable. Finally, as a side note, 2 nights ago, a guy did 11 of those. I´m sure he´ll be very successful with the ladies using that as a pick-up line. "So, I snorted salt up my nose 11 times. What´s your name?"

Another small-world-story: After speaking with several of the people who work at this hostel, I discovered that the owners of Mondo are originally from San Francisco. Before my trip, I talked to my cousin Eric about where to go, and he mentioned that some people he went to high school with started up a hostel in Bocas. A few nights ago, I went out on a search for the owners and, amazingly, they and my cousins went to the same high school. One of them, Dave, even went to Israel with one of my cousins, Casey. This was a great conversation-starter and a perfect segway that led to several free drinks.

Tonight is Smokin´ Sundays at Mondo, which means they give out free Hookahs. Tomorrow is Power Hour. The hostel has a video of 60 1-minute clips of music videos from the 80s, so everyone just gets absolutely hammered singing classic songs that nobody really listens to but everybody knows. Tuesday morning I will go back to Puerto Viejo, do some more surfing, relaxing, and finish up with the best river rafting in Costa Rica, on the Rio Pacuaré. ¡¡¡Salud!!!