Last night just about everyone in the group except for Abs and I got to see Arenal in action. Apparently we were going about it the wrong way. While we were just checking outside our door every so often to see if the clouds had moved on, everyone else was sitting patiently on a porch and seeing rocks fly every 15 minutes or so. What the crap. Thanks for telling us, guys.
We had another buffet this morning for breakfast. Be jealous. That makes THREE mornings of panqueque consumption for LLC this week. We deserve it. I also had cereal this morning. Ah! It was incredible. Well, I don't know if the actual cereal was so incredible, but the concept of cereal in itself was really pretty fantastic. And of course there were pinas and bananas involved, and wonderful coffee. And the cherry on top: I did not eat gallo pinto this morning. Sacrilege, I know. Pray for my soul.
After breakfast I went to reception to return my key. I exchanged a few words with the guy behind the counter, and he was just floored by my Spanish for some reason. He wanted to know where I had learned to speak Spanish and kept fawning over me. It was so great. I seriously did not even say anything impressive. I don't think I even stepped outside of the present tense, but whatever I am not opposed to random ego trips.
As we were packing all of our disgusting belongings into the taxi, Cayman and Ann found that they had ant infestations in their bags. I wasn't all that surprised, honestly. I mean it had to happen sometime. Our stuff is just too gross to go unnoticed by some insect or another. Scott got most of them out, but not before picking a few up to inspect just what species he was dealing with. He would.
We drove down to the front of the park for our morning hike. It was easily the weakest hike of the week. The trail was just crawling with touristas. We got stuck behind the denture appreciation club from the US and passed by a fat crew of European somethings all decked out in metallic rain gear. There was also the large man who spoke no language, but instead reverted to making wild hand gestures and some noise a lot like quacking to indicate that we were in his way. The trail was super short and had railings and markings all along it in case you happened to miss the heavily beaten path wide enough for three people beneath your feet.. It did take us to a pretty view of Arenal and this giant man-made lake that spurred a discussion of hydropower. We also found out that Fabricio hiked from Monteverde to Arenal a couple of years back. Beyond ridiculous.
After our walk we all piled back into our precious TURISMO taxi for the drive home. It was the worst drive we have had in our two months here. I kid you not. And I am including Wilbur's wild ride from the other day in this. Oh my gosh I seriously almost had an anxiety attack. For some reason all of a sudden the back seat was not big enough for both Abby and I. So I folded out the third seat to sit on, but that left me ramming my body into the window for the rest of the ride. I tried sitting every which way, but nothing helped. I swear I will be covered in bruises tomorrow all along the right side of my body. It was miserable. And it wasn't just me, we were all in agreement that the ride was extra horrible today. Don't ask me why because I have no earthly idea, but it sucked. Straight up.
We were all getting really impatient when 12, then 1, then 2 rolled around and we had still not been fed. We do not deal with hunger well. But then we pulled up to Tramonti and all was right in the world. Tramonti is the delicious pizza place in Santa Elena that we went to a while ago on one of our Bar Amigo outings. So we feasted on rolls, caprese saladas, and pizza. I have a garlic burn on the roof of my mouth now. I didn't know that was a thing, but it definitely is. Tess thinks my mouth hurts because of grease, but that's false.
Sadly, we had to get back into the taxi and endure another hour of body slamming before we actually made it home. Misery in the worse sense of the word. But now we are finally back at the Ecolodge. Home sweet home.
Geovanny almost cried when he saw us I swear. He gave us all huge hugs and told us how much he missed us. While we were gone, apparently a new rule was put into effect because Geovanny was rocking a hair net. It suits him.
Ecology is gone now. It's really sad. Instead we have a bunch of middle-aged tourists hanging around. They are all very prissy-looking and eat fruit instead of dessert. Weirdos.
Our homecoming feast consisted of yuca french fries, chicken fried rice, pureed refried beans, and other such deliciousness. Then banana bread for dessert. They know us entirely too well.
Oh and most important of all was our homecoming gift--we now have wireless in the bungalows!! Ahh!!! It's the most amazing thing of my life. I skyped with Victoria from my bed. It was so great.
It's good to be home.
peace love and bungalow d wifi
