some pics from this week

so this pub is the best bar ive been to in costa rica. they have like 30 different types of beer and i was able to catch an american football game. im not sure whats up with stans face, haha

these are chicharones, its various parts of a pig cooked for hours in its own juices. probably some of the best food ive ever had.

this is how they cook chicharones! sooo goood!!!!

platano maduro con queso. basically a plantain covered in cheese and then cooked. amazing

cas. best fruit drink ever behind orange juice. its native to costa rica.

mamones chinos. another local costa rican fruit. you break open the shell and eat the fruit on the inside. inside of the fruit is the seed so you have to be careful eating it.

this is the mamon chino

this dog and a homeless guy are always sleeping right here outside of kasasana everyday

so they deliver mcdonalds here, actually they deliver all food. i had to have annette take this pic for me cause the delivery guy was giving me the stink eye

annette contemplating this restaurants choice of lighting

so this is the sink in the bathroom at a bar. it just drains into the pee trough

me eating my first soy burger

my first soy burger

another great example of cost rican parking

i know grocery stores give out samples. this is just plain awesome though, you can even choose what you want to mix it with. this is in a wal mart BTW

and lastly, if you order a soda here, this is how it comes to you. pretty cool!

So ive been extremely busy lately and i dont think ill be updating every day anymore. but i will try to get a post on here once or twice a week. ive started exploring on my mountain bike so stay tuned for some riding pics!!! Buenos noches!

some more pictures for you guys

so last night we went to annettes friend oscars house for pizza and sangria. oscar made the pizza himself and it was one of the best i think ive ever had. overall it was a ton of fun and im glad i finally got to meet annettes friends.

the first couple pictures are from the other night at the bar

this is what 10 bucks bought us. 6 beers and 6 tequila shots

the urinal at the bar, yes you turn the water on and off to flush. it cracked me up

what the hell is smirnoft and stolichaya??

what we were drinking our sangria out of last night. using a 2 foot tall glass does not work well when sitting at a table.

Too much rain!

sorry i havent posted for a couple days. ive been really busy. on monday we went to the phone company to see if we could get set up with phones for annette and i. the company is run by the government so getting a cellphone is just like going to the DMV. we were there for three house and we still werent able to get phones. it was definately a surreaeal experiece for me. Later on that evening Annette and i finally got to spend some time alone together and went out to dinner. We went to this place called Olio which is a nice restaurant with all sorts of food. we got a falafel platter that had croquetas(kind of like cheese sticks) after dinner we stopped by the cheesecake house and got a Smurf cheesecake, it was raspberry flavored. so good! on the way home i finally got to see how smart the street dogs are here, we saw one that was crossing a street and he stood on the edge of the sidewalk looking in all directions until it was clear for him to cross the street. im going to try and get a video next time i see it because i was amazed.  

so tuesday was the rainiest day ive seen here so far, it was pouring with thunder and lightning all day,  we actually had to run through it because annette wanted me to  "experience costa rica". we ran from kasasana to mimas house (3blocks) and got so wet that we had to use a blow dryer to dry our clothes.pretty nuts! i also got to try out taco bell and mcdonalds here, mcdonalds is actually way better than in the states, i was stoked because i got some of their soft serve. SOOO GOOD! from there we hung out with annettes cousin and drove around san jose looking at some of the places annette used to live and seeing her old university before she came to FIDM. we also saw this restaurant called friday, its an exact replica of the ones in the US. i guess TGIF is actually sueing them right now about it. we also hit up taco bell, i was severly disapointed by the chalupas because they tasted old and stale but they have a thing here called fiesta fries and those were awesome. 

on wednesay i stayed home all day and just read and slept. that evening Dani and some of her friends took me out to go drinking! the bar we went to was pretty chill and right next to where are staying. we got three beers for two bucks and three shots for the same. all in all it was a really chill night and a lot of fun. 

yesterday we went to annettes aunts for lunch and had chicken and potatos. i am absolutely in love with the food here! i had this juice called Cas. it tastes like sweet grapefruit juice, so good!

annette taking video of me at the cell phone place

bavaria dark is a life saver for me here

our dinner!

the smurf cheesecake

our condition after walking in the rain for three blocks

so yesterday we went to the mountains to visit danis dog. that was a whole new experience. the road going up there reminds me of the road to big bear only more windy, narrower, and with more trucks. its always raining up there but the views are amazing. unfortunately i wasnt able to get any good pics.

 i did get to experience the famed costa rican rain. it was insane. it was probably raining harder than anything we ever had in san diego. it was crazy though because it would rain for like five minutes and then be sunny again. it was nuts, and they were telling me its regular here.  i also found a restaurant that carries a good selection of beers from around the world. so stoked! im going to go check that out ASAP. today annette and i are mostly going to be lounging and walking around the city. toodles!

our friends ´´street´´

aparently this is regular here haha

pictures!

So yesterday we went to escazu. its crazy how they just build towns on the side of mountains! we also drove by the new soccer stadium. so nice! later in the evening we went to the VIP movie theatre, which is a theatre where they have reclining lazyboys and they bring you in a menu and you order food and drinks before your movie. i sat in a movie theatre and watched planet of the apes while eating sushi and drinking a beer! it was nuts. especially since the tickets for it are only like ten bucks.

 i got to try a bunch of new foods, like chancletas, so delicious! chancletas are two slices of this vegetable called chayote, they put cheese in between then dip them in egg and cook it. MUY delicioso! i love the food here. i want to keep  trying a new dish everyday. its really cool how there is no grease at all. by the way, the coffee here is AMAZING! i cant get over it. so good!

Driving here is insane! i guess there are laws of the road but no one follows them. traffic lights, stop signs, and lines on the road are ignored and everyone is always honking about something! i thought we were going to crash constantly yesterday. i guess thats something ill just get used to haha. its chaos but it works, its crazy.

and finally, here are the pictures i promised!

My first stamp!!!!

Annette and i at soda tapia after we got off the plane

lorenzo sandwich

the view from my bedroom

we found some grafiti that looks just like annette

mima with her puppy!

 some random kid chillin on a roof?

 annettes cousins doing some modeling in a dress store!

 the new soccer stadium, its huge!

gotta get this owl for moms garden

 gotta love costa rican parking

 in the VIP movie theatre

 Annettes attempt at taking a covert picture of my food during  the movie

annette wants to get some of these for when we get our own place

Re-building my bike

Finally in Costa Rica

So we made it to costa rica at about 9pm local time last night. everything went so smoothly i was super stoked. customs barely took 20 minutes to go through. we stopped and at at a place called Soda Tapia. i got to try out the costa rican sandwich called lorenzo. food here is delicious! the fruit puts the fruit in the US to shame. SO fresh!

Annettes moms condo is awesome. its so big, and annette and i have our own private area at the back of the house with a bathroom. its like our own little apartment. the view from our bedroom is awesome.

this morning we went on a walk around town to kind of familiarize me a little bit. i am definately overwhelmed haha. completely different from san diego, so hectic. i did find a mountain bike shop though. i think im going to go in there later in the week and check it out, maybe try to get a job.

I also got to see where annette is going to have her store. its going to be great! overall things are looking good here. i definately need to brush up my spanish too, haha.

i have a bunch of pictures and videos to upload. ill try to get those up tonight!

Getting ready for costa rica

So we're sitting here in the hotel waiting for our flight tomorrow at nine AM. Heres to waking up at 4oclock!

The view from our hotel room

Too many bags!