WOW BANANA

So today is kim and my two year anniversary. its magical. I had planned a nice dinner out to the fanciest restaurant in town, but unfortunatly during the night Derek got drunk, flew 7 hours down here, broke into our appartment and then confused the closet with the bathroom, ruining all of kim's lovely evening gowns. She was devistated. So now we have to have a special dinner of kfc take out and Closs 3$ a liter wine (which when you mix 50/50 with water is damn near drinkable). thanks derek. thanks a lot.

Acutally... Kims parents arrived in San Jose on Saturday so yesterday today and tomorow we are hanging out with them (saved from kim out to another fancy dinner.... besides anniversaries are just hallmark holidays anyway.) This week will be fun. We have to prepare exams.... its funny when you realize that what you teach is actually a university course and if people fail its not your fault...

kim want to to go

so until next time.... jim there are communists here... infact they are now on like day 20 of countin the ballots from the last election and a pretty left wing guy might win... but we eat rice out of banana leaves...

one love

Olympic Fever at last

well.. the rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed... mostly because i was feeling sick. i blame the olympic fever i've been catching, which was only worsened on sunday by CNBC finally carrying a canadian mens hockey game. it was a terrible game. even worse was the fact that although the picture showed hockey the audio was still talking all about wallmart and ebay stock prices. so we had to watch the game with no sound, which was nice because at the exact time we muted the TV, our neighbour decided it was a good time to get another tattoo. nothing better when you're feeling sick than a crappy hockey game and the sound of a tattoo needle for two hours.

we also went out and saw syriana on saturday. i want to see a lot of movies here becuase they are 2$ each, so long as you dont mind seeing spanish subtitles underneath and hearing people talk, becuse its ok to talk in a movie that you dont need to listen to i guess. anyways, syriana. was really looking forward to this movie, but little did i know that the movie was half english and half farsi/arabic, all with spanish subtitles. now... i'll be honest i dont know why a lot of stuff happened in that movie with the no speaking farsi/spanish... but i would still give it a good 3.5 stars. and the guy from deep space 9... i'd go as far to say he should be nominated for a golden globe for that role.

today we teach. this weekend kim's parents come into town. kim says we will have to clean the house. fortunatly i will be feeling sick all week.

one love
dave

OXCARTS.... and more.....

Hello
So we're just staying in town this weekend. Kim is busy writing exams for her class and I'm busy waiting for her to write her exams for my class. Just kidding. I'm actually giving my class a pop quiz. They've been asking for it lately by saying things to eachother in spanish and then laughing. I dont know for sure they're talking about me but if they weren't why would they be talking in spanish. Oh, and dont give me that "because they dont speak english" excuse. they could translate through body language. 90% of communication is non verbal... and if i have to fail everyone of them they are going to remember that!

So yesterday we went to SARCHI... "the woodworking capital of Costa Rica." Kim couldn´t wait because they had everything from armours to beds to rocking chairs. Ahh the magic. We left fairly early to get there, but of course kim needs to stop and get food, and of course i read the guide book incorrectly and of course Kim doesn´t want to appear lost cause we were in a really bad part of town (WOMEN!) but eventually we found a bus that would sort of take us there. So the guide book (which i read incorrectly for a second time) seemed to indicate that there was a big beautiful bus terminal in Sarchi, but one didnt actually exist. And also the only things less well marked than streets in Costa Rica are the cities. So we coasted through Sarchi thinking we were on the outskits, looking for the beautiful terminal only to have the bus stop in a town about 40 mins away which was the end of the line. To celebrate our first big getting lost we drank a coke. i had the last sip. kim was mad at me because of this the rest of the day.
So we took the bus back and ended up getting to Sarchi at around 5 (after leaving San Jose at 1), just in time to see most of the shops closing. But all wasn't lost. We did find a few shops that were open so Kim could get her woodwork shopping on. The shops also had one of the famous painted Sarchi oxcarts. YUP YOU HEARD ME... OXCARTS!!! We took some pictures beside it but they didnt really work because it was sunset. I will forever curse our bad luck.

After a good 40 mins in the town we hopped on a bus back to San Jose and then got home. We celebrated getting home by cooking a chicken. It took about 3 hours to cook. The chickens here are really fatty too. Dont they know that factory farms make them nice and lean. When in the developing world i guess....

My prayers and wishes are with everyone of you.
david (kim is beside me and i think she approves this message too)

ps. because kim is the woodworking nut i encouraged her to write in the blog today, but she though her job was more important. So dont people start cutting me up for being the only one who writes on this thing. Blame her and her mixed up priorities.

Hanging out on a Sunday night with the Simpsons and my tattoo artist

Well... another weekend passed. I ate a lot of bread and salami. I don't know what it is about kim but she LOVES to eat salami whenever we're traveling. Like... LOVES.

Anyways we left at 630 am on Friday and went to Monteverde, which has two huge cloud forrest reserves. Its kind of the touristy place to go see monkeys... so we decided to go. We saw monkeys.
The bus ride was like 5 hours on crazy dangerous roads, which Kim snored through the whole time. We arrived in the town of St. Elena at like 1130, checked into our 12$ a night hotel (which had a lock similar to one on a bathroom door, except missing those two screws that hold the whole thing together, and went to take a canopy tour. The tour was essentially just going up for a long time to high places and then going down a series of ziplines through the rainforrest. It was amazing. From the highest point you could see both the ocean on one side and this majorly active volcano on the other. The ziplines were also really really high up which made parts really scary. It was fun. The couple ahead of us was from Athens Georgia. I remarked that that was the hometown of David Cross. They said ok, and that it was also the home to some football team. Then the wife said "WERE ALL HUGE BULLDOG FANS!" I'm not sure if they knew who David Cross is.

The next day we got up really early and went to Monteverde reserve. We heard it was a 'crowd-forest' so we got there early to avoid the clouds.... i mean crowds. (man wasn't that first joke hillarious!) So we saw lots of big trees and vines and orchids and stuff. It was cool. We didn't see the crazy amount of animals we were expecting, but we did see 3 different families of howler monkeys and some other little rodent thing.
Oh.... and those weesel like things that eat trash. There were lots of them near the entrance. Eating trash. Oh the majesty.
At one point we were standing on the continental divide... where on one side all rivers go east and the other they all go west. We celebrated by eating bananas. They were mushy from being in the bottom of the pack. So was Kim. Amazing geography just gets to her. WOMEN!!

Our final day we wandered around eating ice cream and Salami (leave it to kim) until 230 when we took our bus home. As we came into our compound at 830 at night we heard a strange buzzing, and saw our kookey neighbours had invited over their friend the tattoo artist and he was getting a giant eagle tattoo in his living room while watching Simpsons. Thats so like him.

As the sound of the electric needle rocked us slowly to sleep we both leaned back and thought, it's great to be home. Well not really home... but in our pink appartment.

Be well.

Getting out of town.

So not too much has gone on lately. We've had a few laid back nights mostly. Last night we both sat back, drank a few "Cuba Libras" (the Costa Rican name for Rum and coke... genius) and watched the grammys. It was strange because we could see either the US or Costa Rican feed. We decided to watch the Costa Rican one because everything was about 5 seconds ahead. When Kanye West said that "George Bush hates the Grammys" we knew we made the right decision. When we checked CBS they had cut to commercial.

Well we're bored of San Jose once more and this weekend we're going to Monteverde, a really famous cloud forrest reserve. We leave tomorow at 630 am and when we get there we'll check out the reserve. The second day we're going to go on a zipline tour of the canopy and then on suspension bridges. We're kind of excited because we haven't done anything downright touristy for a while. I feel a lot more comfortable in my raggy clothes when i have the excuse of being a tourist. When i say i'm a professor people just look at me funny.

Today we're going to eat marlin. I can't wait.
love dave and kim

also good luck Tom in your rectorship bid...

0 stars out of 200

Well... that was some superbowl wasn't it. How about those commercials. I don't know about you but i think that those guys who are running for president of mexico went all out on their ads that night. Also that ad for the auto dealership featuring cast members of that popular spanish soap opera was amazing. I mean I knew P-diddy was doing one but the guy who plays Fernando... the sherif from the colnial mexico soap. You know... sometimes it makes me wonder if the game has become too comercial.

Acutally the superbowl was fun. We played a game of american football with some teachers and students at the schools field which was fun cause most of the people only about 1/2 understood how to play. The coolest part though was that there was a rally for team Yellow and Red going on on the street beside the field. The way costa ricans react in elections is insane. From the early morning until well into the night there were people honking their horns to the set rythms of their team, and waving flags. WOW... if there is one thing costa ricans love to do... it's wave flags. There would be cars with like 9 flags of different teams... but they were still waving them and honking their horn. So this rally was blasting music and screaming like crazy every time a car with their flag drove by... and screaming even louder when a car of the other team drove by. it was nuts.

The result was that nobel peace prize winner got 40.6% and glasses got 40.3%... so they're recounting. these are tense days. As nobel peace prize said on the news... costa rica is a 'house divided.' Speaking of disapointments i found out that ULatina actually does have a team name. They're the dolphins. I'm so disapointed... although in some ways it does suit. I mean what better to name a school whos power house sport is cheerleading (seriously they're going to florida for the world championships or something.). Buzzards would have been way cooler.

Also the superbowl gave me the chance to try the hands down worst beer i've ever tasted.Most of the beer here is average. The big two, imperial and pilsen, taste like a typical molson or labatt. They also only come in cans. It made me wonder because in mexico, it doesn't matter what the beer is, they all come in bottles and you get limes. So at the party kim decided to try ROCK ICE LEMON. Imagine somebody took an aveage beer... poured in about two tablespoons of limejuice (from concentrate so its real sour) and then topped it off with a few table spoons of salt. It tasted like lime flavoured salt water. Words can not even express how disgusting this drink was. But the weird thing is i see people drinking this all the time down here.
Kim gives it two stars, but i don´t know if her ratings count when it comes to beer.

So if you ever see it in the lcbo give it a whirl... that way if anyone bitches to you about how Canadian is the worst beer in the words you can top it. Or at least equal it.

Democracy vs the Superbowl... the eternal struggle

Well its election day here in Costa Rica and if you didn't know from reading the papers you will certainly know by the cars. For weeks almost every car in San Jose has a flag sticking out its window to support its 'team.' I know this might seem strange comared to Canada's signs but it sort of cool when you find out that the public bus you're taking supports a particular team. On election day, however, all this changes. Everyone is out honking thier horns, trying to convince those last few undecideds that because they honk more, their guy is the best. At first i thought a few of the cars were hitting on me, but sadly... democracy defeats my good looks once again.

So yesterday we went shopping to pick up some chili supplies because the school is holding a football game and superbowl party today, and we want to have some good food afterwards. We also needed some beers. So we go to the grocery store only to discover that it is illegal for stores to sell alcohol not only on election day but also on both the preceding day and the day after the election. So in short, Costa Rican democracy is going to make this the lamest superbowl party ever.

Who the hell schedules an election on the superbowl. Personally I blame the football (or as i like to calls it SOCCER) union.

VIRTUAL TOUR OF DAVE AND KIMS SEXY TROPICAL PAD

Oh... Hi there. Didn't see you come in. What are the odds you'd be walking down Avenida de Cultura in beautiful San Pedro. Well... since you're in the neighbourhood, why not come inside my walled community and have a delicious cup of Costa Rican coffee. We have so much to catch up about!!!
Well.... Here it is. I know the windows are kind of blocked by staircases, but we like darkness. Also Dave, my charming boyfriend, loves being on the first floor because theres a coconut tree outside the front door that has some small buds on it that he's convinced will turn into coconuts, which he wants to pick and give out to the city's less fortunate. I always ask him why he cares so much about other people, and he always replies, becuase I'm a great guy, and thats what great guys do. I'm so luckey.
This is our lovely living room. The walls are pink and stucco. DONT YOU JUST LOVE IT. Have a seat in one of our many peices of wicker furniture. I know its not too comfortable, but isn't it rustic and tropical. I'll make us a cup of coffee.
MMMMMMMMMM..... Fresh Costa Rican Coffee, made the old fashioned way, by pouring water through a dirty old canvas bag into an old tin cup. I feel so authentic! Lets go enjoy our coffee in the living room, shall we.
Do you have enough sugar... or as we say here... AZUCA!!!! This is our library, which features our amazing entertainment unit. Dave also uses this room to store and play his cheap guitar he bought at a market, and hopes to pawn off on somebody at a hostel before we leave. This is also the wall through which we can hear such favourites as 'my humps' any time of the day or night... esspecially night. Oh that neighbour Bryan. He doesn't speak any English, but he is a character. Speaking of Dave, lets go see what he's up to.
Here's Dave, toiling away in the study writing post cards. Boy, he sure never stops thinking about folks back home. This is the one non-pink place in our house, so i thought it was a good place to put the calander i found in a case of Dave's beer.
While you're in the neighbourhood, I might as well show you where we work. Its just about 10 minutes down the railroad tracks from our house.This is Universidad Latina, our new place of professorship. The main campus has two huge buildings, with several smaller buildings nearby. This is the medical and science building you're looking at now. Actually today is a big day because the Med school is having its graduation right now in the next room. Neat... huh? You might notice the proud motto: Compromiso Serio. We're both pretty sure that that translates to
'A SERIOUS COMPROMISE'... which we think means something good in spanish. All i know is that if i had a doctor who had to comprimise on their education, I would prefer one who took that compromise seriously.
Anyways, I should get back home. I'm sure Dave has cooked something great by now. I really hope its beans tonight. Thanks for coming by!!!