Planets, HVs, and Helmets, Oh My!

I'm happy to report that no t-shirt contests were had on Friday. I was lucky enough to walk with my new friend Brian (19 y.o.) to the local bar and have several beers. Since it is legal here, I figure I shouldn't feel bad. Very funny guy, who uses odd Spanish phrases in the middle of English conversations. "Por ejemplo" was a favorite of his and has become one of mine now. We met up with my brother Phil/Felipe, Coast Guard Brett, and German Martin. I was the only female, so you know I was loving it. We had several drinks, and due to the early hour of our departure the next day, I returned around 7 to my house.

Once there, Andre and I had another little happy hour and we all sat down to quite a fun dinner. It was spaghetti of some sort and quite good. After dinner Fernando (the new guy living with us who is Columbian) and I walked to the store and he was kind enough to buy more beer, although he doesn't drink. I think he found me entertaining, which is good. I also showed him (in Spanish mind you) how to play backgammon--strategy and everything! Really fun night. And Andre is letting me bungee for free on Thursday, so I'm pretty happy about that!

Saturday we got up at the butt crack--5:30!! I haven't slept in a single day since I've been here. We caught the bus to downtown at 6, and we were promptly picked up at 6:35. Rose for about 2.5 hours to the rafting center. This ride was quite uncomfortable as my legs seem to be longer than the overall height of most people. This did force me to stay awake and see the differences in the country between the Eastern and Western sides. In a nutshell, they are both very green, but the leaves are broader in the East due to the elevation. Lots of waterfalls, and rivers--including one that is shaped like a Y--has a volcanic arm and a fresh water stream. Quite a sight.
We had a really good breakfast there, and got into another bus where we met our new best friend Matthew from England. Kinda quiet at first, but he turned out to be fantastically funny and was tremendous fun. Not much of a card player, but then again, that worked out well for me, so that was good. Drove for about 1.5 hours upstream and over unpaved roads (read as--no sleep) to the launching point of the boat. He had two rafts with passengers, a raft with our provisions, and a kayaker to save anyone who got in trouble. Our guide's name was Henry (28) and a guy who was training to be one, Christian (18). Henry spoke good English and was very funny.

Fernando was the kayaker, and he was just tremendous. The kayak was quite small, and he was flipping and rolling that thing repeatedly. He looked like Debbie and I in Aruba except that he was trying to roll and could right himself without flooding the boat. At one point, Sara said, "he must really like water", and this struck us as tremendously funny. The whole day was full of funny sayings, that just killed us. Totally tremendous good time.

Over the course of the two days, we went through about 50 sets of rapids. Class III and IV. The water was kind of high too since this is the wet season. I am quite happy to report however that at this time, I have lost my fear of the white water. (As I child of 10 y.o, my parents thought it would be a good idea to try to drown Brad and I on the American River). I rode in the front, and honestly didn't scream out of outright fear at all. I did scream quite a bit though, and I think I was giving Fernando whiplash as he kept checking to see if we were all still in the boat. We stopped and hiked to a waterfall where we swam in an incredibly beautiful pool.

We rafted til about 2:00 when we arrived at our campsite. Absolutely beautiful. No roads lead to it, only access by river. There is running water but no electricity, so at night, the guides set up candles in wine and beer bottles to light the tables and the paths. The bathroom was even super cool with 3 walls and the fourth one looking out into the jungle. The guides (all men by the way) made us incredibly good food for lunch and dinner. Artfully displayed--it was fantastic. In between meals, we hung out in hammocks, read and napped.

The price of the trip included beer and wine, and of course that is when the fun really started. (In fact, en route, Fernando asked if we liked beer, and after our hardy response, we stopped to pick up more). We laughed ourselves to belly aching status. More silly talk abounded involving:

• Heidi's planets,
• My inability to knit anything other than rectangles,
• What "watchout" means in River Guide Speak,
• The need for multiple helmets to protect one's ears from incoming bugs,
• If in fact one needed to wear helmets and lifejackets into bathrooms,
• How Heidi could tell our fine wine was regularly served at the Olive Garden,
• Who/what the large mass coming at Sara actually was,
• Whether or not an H.V. really exists (Kelly said no, and Matt seemed to be a big fan--of the planets too actually).

After dinner, Michael, who was a guide and the head cook, made us cocktails (ok, shots) and wouldn't say what they were. Kinda looked like a qhite Russian, so I was brave and took the first one. Quite tasty, it was a combination of condensed milk and guave--(the local liquor). We played speed with my cards that Debbie gave me (everyone was quite impressed with the fancy case). Some people toddled off to sleep and the die harders (myself included) played asshole for a bit. I then taught them the fine game of Indian, which is great to play by candle light. We had tremendous fun betting, and I am happy to report that I left with their shirts. I'll leave it at that. :)

The next day we were awoken by rooster sounds and banging pots heralding us to breakfast at 8:30. Another great meal, and back to the boats. On Sunday it actaully rained just about the entire time. It was odd though, because we did all actually get a little sunburnt. This was rain that makes you understand why it is called a "rainforest". Buckets, baby. Buckets. We rafted 2 more hours, with a brief stop to "hike" through mud that went up to your knees and sucked the shoes right off your feet. The guides were kind enough to help the chicks, but left the men to their own devices. Martin in particular was left to crawl out on his hands and knees. I felt bad laughing, but I don't think he noticed due to the amount he was struggling. hee, hee.

Stopped to try jumping off about a 25 ft. cliff. Those of you from the houseboat know my stuggle with diving off the top. This was harder due to the height and the fact that everyone was waiting for me to go. They were cool and very encouraging. The 7th time someone said, "uno, dos, tres" I took the plunge. Then went up and did it again. Had another incredible meal riverside shortly thereafter, and wrapped up the trip. Hopped into a van that had more room--for me anyway, I got the front seat, and headed back to SJ.

That catches you up to day. Tonight we are headed to THE place to be on Mondays. In fact, our river guides are going to be there too. Henry had asked us if we liked gasolina. Heidi had a puzzled look and said, "yeah, I like caffeine." Gasolina is a type of dance, and he has promised to teach us. I think its pretty basic, but if a guy can lead, I'm going to follow. (Now who thought they'd ever hear Me say THAT?)