The Chill Flute
Costa Rica Day 4

hello!

I had a thought this afternoon - and to be honest, may have first thought of it yesterday, and if so then i recalled it today - which only furthers my original thought: may sound silly but it feels almost like you lose track of time here and in the best way. like the guy in the first Avatar movie when he's doing his video recordings and says he doesn't know what day it is and that he's come to understand the people and their customs and what she's taught him - that's the scene i was reminded of. and in no way do i mean to come across as cliche- it's just how i feel. i've spoken to more new people and learned new things through conversations here than i've had in months in Boston. it's not apples to apples of course but you know what i mean (hopefully, or at least i do).

anyways. needed to recall that as it's day 4 in Tamarindo (Jan 4th) and early on by # of days spent of the 31 that i'll be here but i feel super comfortable and at ease navigating the town. not that i had expectations (i really didn't think out beyond getting here itself) but the fact that this is not my home country, it's wild how relaxed i feel here. Tamarindo is extremely safe and i highly recommend it to anyone even remotely curious about seeing Costa Rica. I'm going to explore outside of Tamarindo this weekend - beaches just not sure whether north or south of here yet.

The Chill Flute. this morning i went to the kitchen to fill my water bottle(?) before leaving villas macondo i think slash was just curious who was in the kitchen and it was Sebastian making breakfast. I asked what he's having bacon, plantains, avocado and osmething else. his dog was in there hanging patiently and i wanted to say hello as i'd seen the dog following him yesterday. Frankie is his pup. He's black and has smooth fur, smoother than i'd think from looking at him! i complimented him on this and Sebastian said he's gotten that from other people too. Sebastian goes on to share a story of how he adopted the dog - he was surprised bc the dog was available for like a week with no takers - and Sebastian was supposed to change housing the next day but didn't have a new place to stay yet. so he adopts the dog, Frankie, and posts that he needs housing that can accommodate a dog. he gets a response from a woman who raves how she loves dogs and that he's welcome there - after not having any luck trying to find a place to stay prior to that! so, Sebastian says how he found Frankie a home, and Frankie found him a home. dogs are magic, people!

right - and Sarah comes in to do something and they're both asking about my plans for the day - i say how i'm heading out to go do some work from ones of the coffee shops for a bit. Sarah recommends Pico Bistro when i'd already had Oveja Surf House in mind, but i remember that Jairo also recommended Pico Bistro the other day and said how lots of people go work from there. so i go to Pico Bistro. right decision! this place is on the beach - has both indoor and outdoor seating - and is just so cool that you're looking out on the water (from both outdoors and indoors via glass walls) and surfers yet it's work- friendly. aka not weird to have your laptop out (even tho i was the only one who did of those sitting outside). i waited maybe 10 mins indoors bc i wanted to sit outside and, another right decision. even tho there's AC and tunes on inside, outside, there's shaded tables that keeps it cool and - i only notice this a while after i'm sitting down bc it's so not in-your-face - a DJ playing. ergo The Chill Flute. this dude is playing the most peaceful tunes that i'd truly never think there was a live DJ doing it up. i guess that's bc i'm associating dj with clubs, bars, restaurants at night or at the very least afternoons and not morning. but he really was good. reminded me of another Aussie trip experience with my sisters and parents where there was a sweet dj and i remember i was drinking a 'sex on the beach' cocktail to tell Rachel (Bergeron at the time) Orenstein the tale. but for my experience today, this guy's got a keyboard he's nonchalantly playing, a small pup laying at him feet and there's a flute that he hadn't touched yet. later, as i'm eating my croissandwich probably, i hear the flute and yup he's playing it a wow, crushing it. 

he wraps up and as he's passing my table carrying one of his speakers i look up and let him know he was great and hope he didn't mind me snapping a few photos of him while playing. i'd ask but didn't want to interrupt his flow. he was super chill and did not mind in the slightest, also saying that he'd love to see them. he says he'll be back as the speaker is heavy. i go over to him once he's back at his stand to show a few photos and we chat and he asks if i'll be around longer, and i said yeah i'm hanging come on over. once he's wrapped up his dj station, he comes over and sits down at the table. he grabs a drink and has an octopus meal on the way. Pablo is from Argentina but has lived in CR for six years. he used to live in Tamarindo but now it's too expensive so he's moved. he's got lots of tats and explains how he used to teach music - was a music professor - but that he stopped doing that and went full time into performing his music. he was a drummer at first and then bought more equipment along the way - a piano keyboard, flute and so on and that he had to do it over time as not all of this equipment was available in Costa Rica. he'd ask friends who were traveling if they could get stuff! he likes playing better than teaching and makes more money compared to teaching. his dog is Bombo and Bombo is from Ecuador. Pablo plays Wednesday mornings at Pico Bistro and says if i bring my uke that he'll push the mic over my way for a sec. ha!