Costa Rica is awesome

We are having a great time. The house that we are staying in is absolutely amazing. Its like something off of MTV cribs, and i wouldn't mind making it a regular thing to keep coming back to it. We are in Jaco Beach, about a block from the beach.

Yesterday we went white water rafting, and it was pretty intense at times, then on to Manuel Antonio beach.

In a few minutes we are getting picked up for a horseback riding tour.

Lots of fun stories to share when i get home and see everyone.

Top 5 day of my life

This was a fantastic day. We got picked up at 8 am and taken to the arenal volcano which is about a 3 hour drive from the hostel.

We were really lucky to have an awesome driver, Miza, who has to be one of the best tour guides in the country. We saw lots of animals including toucans, went to a tiny cigar factory where Travis got to hand roll a cigar while i pet the goats in the yard, and see lots of other cool stuff on the mountainous drive to the volcano.

The coolest thing we got to do was go to was go to the Baldi hot springs resort near the volcano. i went to a hot springs pool near Napa last time i was in California, but this was on a whole new level than that experience. Besides the many different hot springs pools they had, they had an awesome hot waterslide where you went so fast it was scary. In fact, the last time i went down, i was going so fast that i lost control and knocked my head and lost conciousness for a brief second. Glad i woke up quick, because the lifeguards watching over the slide exit area looked in no hurry to jump in and save my ass.

Besides all of the cool stuff we got to do, i think the best part might have been the time i spent talking with our guide. I sat in the front of the van the whole time and picked the drivers brain, learning lots of spanish, and all sorts of other cool stuff about central america. I think if i could spend another few months with him, i could be pretty fluent really quickly. He was a great guy, and a great teacher. When we left him today, we all had this weird feeling becasue he really made us feel like we were part of his family. At the end he said that he felt he like he had some new sons, but said he especially felt like he made one son in particular, referring to me.

Tomorrow we leave for Jaco beach after lunch.

Pura Vida

costa rica

made it safely to costa rica. at the hostel now, just had a great lunch.

i will post more tomorrow or tuesday after our trip to the volcano tomorrow..

Back in DC

Back in DC yesterday safe and sound. Was a long flight but glad it all went smoothly, and I only got searched like 5 times at 2 airports. Getting out of the Tel Aviv airport is no joke.

I look forward to catching up with everybody, and now that i have some time I'll work on getting the pics from Israel up on Picassa and post a link here when its completed.

Jerusalem

Went to Jerusalem today. Reuvi was sick so Dayna and i took a small van thing that sits about 12 people. Its only about a 50 minute ride from Tel Aviv.

It's certainly a lot different in Jerusalem than in Tel Aviv. Its extremely religious, very crowded, and very old looking. It was cool to get to see all the structures that were many thousand years old, and they have a distinct look because they are all built with a white stone. Some of the stone actually still has bullet holes and other remnants of past battles still on display.

We went to the old city today where its divided into 4 quarters. Arab, Jewish, Armenian, and Christian. Women have to cover up there, and you can't wear something like shorts and a tank top. Unless of course you're a guy, you can wear whatever you like, and u spit on the women who violate the rules. What a bunch of fucking idiots....no wonder all the groups who don't have any respect for women live in such awful conditions with little advancement opportunities. They god they are out-breeding all of the "other" people in the world at such an alarming rate.

We first went through the Damascus Gate into the Arab quarter. There were a bunch of stores, basically a giant market. The passageways are narrow, and everyone is trying to sell you a rug, souvenir, candy, or maybe even a small child if you are a skilled negotiator. Then we went to the Joffa gate which is the entrance to the Jewish quarter. Being with an Israeli Jew, i certainly felt a little more comfortable there. We went to the Western Wall, which is a very special place for the Jews. Its a giant wall where you can write something in a piece of paper and stuff it in between the cracks so god can read it. It was kind of cool to see everyone kissing the wall and crying while they prayed.

While we were at the wall they just happened to have a graduation ceremony for the Israeli army. It was really interesting to see so many soldiers gathered in one place, most being between the ages of 18-20. Many of them were playing little games with each other before the ceremony, laughing, cracking jokes, and looked to be having a good time. Its a bit strange to know that these are the kind of innocent kids sent to war because of decisions generally made by out of touch older folks. Sometimes i think we (definitely I) forget how much just like us those people are out there fighting and they would much rather be at home goofing off with their buddies just like the rest of us.

As their graduation ceremony was going on the famous Dome of the Rock mosque (big golden dome) started one of its daily call to prayer times over the loudspeaker. It was like a scene from a movie with the Army chanting its loyalties to Israel right in front of us with the Mosque echoing its prayers in the background.

Jerusalem was definitely an interesting place to visit. Its cool to say i've been to the birthplace of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism....for the history part of it anyway :)

Not much to post

Haven't posted anything the last couple days because i got really sick. Had to have a Dr. come on Friday because my cough was so bad and he said i have bronchitis. I slept most of the last two days and didn't do anything exciting.

Feeling a little better today though, so might be able to go to the beach or something. I think we are gonna do Jerusalem and the dead sea on Monday and Tuesday now instead.