The Trip to Here: Clare’s Big Post

Hello Dear Ones!
Or
Hola mis amigos!

Just a quick update on our adventures so far while I can get my hands on the laptop, and before I have to cram for Spanish class starting in 1.5 hours. Crikey!

We arrived in Orosi, Costa Rica last Sunday at 9pm after a fabtastic time in Japan and Honkers (as our Aussie mate, Ali, calls Hong Kong). We started off in chilly Kyoto – I know, I’m a tough Alaskan but the damp will get ya to yer bones, mate. Brrrr!!! This was Joe’s first trip to Kyoto so he had the lead on the agenda. The whole experience was amazing! Unfortunately, we’re still bloody awful at communicating in Japanese but the people were gentle and as patient as ever. We have some great stories: Rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The sushi that moved. The funky Japanese diner with the American music from the 50′s, crazy weird decor, eating
pancakes with chopsticks, and the sweet lady owner who shows us a letter from her Japanese friend living in Anchorage on W. 26th. Small world! The seven course AUTHENTIC Japanese meal that was a test of our culinary limits – octopus, pondsmelt, fish liver, jellied fish, eel, to name but a few, all very artistically plated with unknown accompaniments, but we ate it all and left the chef impressed.

We broke up our stay in Japan with 4 nights in Honkers visiting with our mate, Ali, and her family – hubby, Tez and 14 month old, Zara. Awesome! Honkers felt very polluted. It was also very foggy, cloudy, and rainy. However, you can’t pick the weather and it certainly didn’t stop us from getting around. We were so grateful to Ali, Tez and Zara for showing us around because it’s quite the maze. We ate amazing food, again thanks to Ali and Tez for hanging out with us.

We went back to Japan for four days in Tokyo. We visited our Japanese Mum, Noriko, and had just a lovely time. She’s just the sweetest. It was fun for Joe and I to visit our old stomping ground – the karaoke pub, our
apartment building, the local supermarket, our workplace. We also caught up with an old buddy, Steve, (he’ll be 40 this year, but he hasn’t changed a bit). We had a great night at a restaurant in Roppongi called Gonpachi. A bit of useless trivia: The set of the fighting scene in the movie Kill Bill is almost identical to the layout of this restaurant we were at. It was really quite romantic to be back in Japan together after 10 years and we were really happy we went.

We had a bruiser of a journey to Costa Rica! We left Japan at 10 a.m. on Saturday 13th Feb. and arrived, after a 7 hour flight, in Honolulu at 10 a.m. Saturday 13th Feb. Este loco! Verdad? Crazy, right? The whole
crossing the dateline thing really messed with our body clock. We left the airport for a lovely lunch by the ocean before our next flight at 2 p.m. that afternoon, which took us to L.A. We spent the night in a crazy, weird, party hotel near the airport that played disco/dance music in the reception and Willy Wonka Umpa-Lumpa music in the lift. Scary, but true. Needless to say the freaky aspect of the place, the party-goers coming and going, and the jet-lag, kept us awake all except for 2 hours. The next day we felt like we’d been hit by a truck. We flew to Phoenix where we had to run for our connection to San Jose. Finally, after an hour and a half roller-coaster taxi ride we arrived in Orosi on Sunday 14th Feb. to be welcomed by the monster cockroach in the bathroom of our guest house.

Fabuloso! Welcome to the jungle, Alaskans!

That was one of two monster cucaracha encounters in the same bathroom, and while we also spent the first week in the same guest house taking cold showers with mini-Charlotte in her web in the corner of the shower and many other creepy crawlies, we thought very seriously about where we would stay and what we would do our second week in Costa Rica. We decided to continue with our Spanish classes because we’re really enjoying them and we’ve become friends with a few folk here who are also taking classes. Orosi is a lovely village in a beautiful, very green valley where there are lots of hikes to do and other small villages to see. However, we do spend 3 hours in class Monday through Friday and an additional 2+ hours of studying daily. We’re
both determined and dedicated to getting a good foundation in Spanish, however, we do find time for hikes, a few beers, and afternoon tea and cake. The afternoon treat has become an addition to our schedule due to the upgrade in accommodation we made on Sunday night.

So, we decided to stay in Orosi but the deal was that we needed to find other accommodation. We followed the sign to the Orosi Lodge, had a chat with the German owners and ended up paying 30 dollars extra to live in a monster-bug free environment with hot showers, a small kitchenette with a coffee maker and fridge. Most important of all, it’s clean, a big deal to this Domesticated-Dolly who keeps a pretty much spotless home! We were paying just 30 dollars in the guest house and the price upgrade for an additional 30 is truly worth it, especially for me. I can do the jungle Crocodile Dundee cold shower cobweb dusty thing for a week before it simply exhausts me. Getting up to use the loo in the middle of the night and having to turn on all the lights and look for what moves first – exhausting! More than once did I have to stifle a scream at o’dark early. Anyways, the lodge is great and we’re feeling very spoiled, especially while partaking in
the afternoon tradition of delicious german chocolate cake. The sugar helps us study.

Over the weekend we hiked 7 miles, hung out at the village festival and went rafting on one of the world’s top five rapids – El Rio Pecuare. Loved the hike. Great and iffy food at the festival, however, we had fun hanging out with the locals and our buddies. We will not raft for a very long time or perhaps ever again. A near death experience in rapids through a jungle will do that to ya! We’re alive to tell the tale so no worries. Pura vida, as the Ticos like to say. The saying is like the Hawaiian, “hang loose” or the Jamaican, “eire.” I’m pretty beat up with bruises but Joe will tell you, I am one tough chica! I didn’t cry (well I did when we finally got to our
room and the shock hit me). It’s a long story, and great over a few bevvies, so it’ll have to wait until we can catch up. Since then, we’ve played it very safe this week.

We were going to take off this weekend and spend our last 2 nights exploring another part of Costa Rica, but why bother with the hassle: Hours on a sweaty bus lugging heavy backpacks for a half a day sightseeing at best. No, gracias! We’re now taking an extra Spanish class on Saturday and hanging out in Orosi until Sunday morning before we fly to Orlando, Florida.

Well, it’s back to work for us, we’ve both got homework and a Scrabble game to finish. Keep checking out the blog: joeandclare.wordpress.com

In the meantime: Pura vida! Hope all is well with you and yours. Look forward to hearing from you and/or seeing you soon!

Lots of love and hugs,
Clare and Joe xxx

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