Permagrin

The last 2 days have been a whirlwind of exciting new developments, and I've got about 15 minutes before it starts to pour, so I'll try to type quickly in an effort to capture as much as possible.

The Title of today's post refers to the state of my face after I caught the sweetest wave this morning. The conditions were perfect and the line up was filled with energy -- especially after this rogue wave came through and kicked my ass (cover your ears, mom). I ditched my board (a big surfing no-no) and dug sand for this badboy -- it basically broke right on top of me and tossed me up, down, and sideways. Nothing like a little spin cycle to get the adrenaline going! After I recovered, I decided to take one last wave in and get the rest of my day started. That was when my perfect wave came along and I rode it in to the beach. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! :-D

After my previous post I am delighted to let you know that a) I've figured out that it was user-error that was causing my quad to malfunction and b) I discovered I can take my bike 

through a short cut from my casita to the free Internet that involves no hills, other vehicles and even has two little exposed pipes that I can do a little jump over. It's pretty much the best discovery ever! (Chris, it beats the paths in Alley Pond hands down!)

I also received a cooking lesson from my neighbor Enrique, and in theory, I now know how to cook arroz (rice) and pintos (beans) properly. The secret is that basically every recipe calls for peppers, onions, garlic and salt. Enrique also told me about a weekly organic market up the block and a vegetable truck that drives through our neighborhood where I can buy my fresh fruits and veggies for much cheaper than at the mini-super (who ought to hold a gun up when they tell me my total grocery bill). 

But wait, there's more! I also now know where the carneria (meat shop) is AND even made it to the Post Office to set up a PO Box so that I can officially receive mail! For those of you interested in writing, sending care packages or forwarding your junkmail, my address is: 

Apdo 155 - 5233

50206 - Costa Rica

No, really. That's my entire address. You should also know that mail takes about 12 days to arrive from the states, so perishables are probably not a good idea. The other interesting tidbit I learned is that the mail sometimes goes to Puerto Rico and/or Sri Lanka first. I have no idea why, and have learned not to bother asking -- pura vida! :)

My friend and co-English teacher Tasha and I also decided to take a yoga class yesterday morning at the Nosara Institute. The class is held in an open pavillion in the tree tops at the Nosara Institute.  

I'm off to check the conditions, now that it appears that the rain is going to hold off for a while....Pura vida!

PS - A fresh coconut to the first person to teach me how to format hard returns in the body copy!??