Recent Eventings / Costa Rica Trip '08, Part III

Housewarming party last night!  And it was a good one, in my opinion.  As inconsequential as it may sound, my expectations for the event were changed twice over the course of the day: once in the grocery store as we were making preparations, and once again when the party had gotten underway.  Initially, I thought this was going to be a pretty tame, family-and-friends affair.  I then came to find that no family was invited!  Shock!  Then I began to mentally prep myself for something of a wild night, which exacts a certain mental toll when its beginning is mere hours away.  Once the guests started to arrive, with the relaxing tones of AC/DC in the background, I began to steel myself against the ensuing flood of loud music and tons of people.  This, too, causes some brain stress, especially when you're surprised that none of that happens.  Long story short: it was a quiet and enjoyable evening in with some pretty cool people.

Through the inevitable course of the introductory talk, I was reminded yet again of the stark contrast between my life and a "normal" life - a stigma which reverberates through the last four years of my life as I often and fervently wished for a "normal" college experience.  I love my life.  I'm not sure there's a cooler way for a young, single guy to live.  But it can bear down unfavorably on conversations with nine-to-fivers, and I guess I can understand why.  Stories tend to monopolize the discourse, sometimes salary comparisons arise...  Meh.  I had fun last night, and I think our guests did, too, but sometimes things just weigh on you, y'know?

6 April

--Into the Wild--

We started our rainforest trek today.  We got warmed up in the forest surrounding Danta.  A nice couple of hours, and we saw so much: a monkey (!!), a toucan, all sorts of lizards (including the aptly-named Jesus lizard, which I've just learned is actually a basilisk), frogs, birds and of course a whole mess of trees.  Wouldn't be much of a forest without them, after all.  We got some awful directions from a woman from Minnesota and lost an hour of time with wrong turns.  One of these was basically straight uphill and 100% mud.  So we wore ourselves out on that and were tired and sore for the rest of the day.  The walk, once we found the road, was just gorgeous.  Huge trees practically bursting with vitality.  We saw some scarlet maccaws and more toucans.  The pictures really say more than I can.  There was one tree that stuck me as particularly beautiful.  It was white, with no bark, and a very smooth trunk.  There were no leaves until the top, when it spread out like an umbrella.  I don't know why it struck me so deeply.  I wanted very badly to touch the trunk, but the base was very overgrown.  More's the pity.

The hike from the trailhead to Los Patos was just a grueling as our unintentional detour earlier.  So even now, hours after the hike's end, my feet and back are screaming at me and I am chafed like I've never been chafed before.  I really hope I'm up for tomorrow.  We met a very nice couple from Gatlinburg whose itinerary is identical to ours.  They invited us to hike with them, but I think we'll be going ahead on our own.  I hate to turn down such a generous offer - they're paying for a guide - but it would spoil what we came here for.

And now, I think I'll stop writing.  The tent is very hot, as is the flashlight I'm holding.  Tomorrow's hike will be twice as long; hopefully there will be twice as much to write.  (1955, 6 April)