The World Is For Everyone
Costa Rica Day 18

hola!

glad to have set my alarm two hours before my call this morning for work- as it turns out the call was at 7a my time and not 8a EST. hehe  woops! first time leading the global data and measurement community monthly meeting which is why i joined even tho my vacation started on Friday (the 13th). i think i did pretty good for the late realization re: timing and for being out on vaca mode! but more importantly, now that that's overwith and not hanging over my head, i really feel like i'm on vacation!

well, i was already up! so dropped my things off at the room and caught up with sarah for a while as she was passing by as i dropped my things -- i wanted to hear how their day at the land went and she re-shared some ideas on potential plans for the land and how she wants them to make a decision about what they're going to do with land. she wants to create a project plan! i am so impressed. she is so well-thought and organized on their approach to building their project and future. it's inspiring! makes me think about where i want to be // have a place of my own. tho i don't want to live in the city forever, renting provides the flexibility i want for now.

i go to Breaking Bad for sit down breakfast after such a delight there yesterday!! the same gal is working there as a server today and we chitchat quick and when i said i know someone else who is from Argentina and here working on summer break and then will go back to university after these four months (Enzo), she is like Enzo is my friend and i live with him!! funny. ((i say i go to el seguario way too much))

i order the 'kickstarter's breakfast' -- fresh baked challah bread + three dips (homemade pesto, cream cheese, guacamole), a couple eggs over easy and fresh fruit (papaya, pineapple and i think melon must've been the third?). wowwwww it was good. i got a natural, fresh juice made of beets and hibiscus. 

i'm glad i went with the kickstart's breakfast bc i check my whatsapp messages and Eric said they're going surfign at 10a! it was ~9:15a ish when i saw this message and at first didn't think i'd be able to make it after just eating (Sebastian had said the other week that he doesn't eat for a couple hours before surfing) but then i saw ashwin messaged me about it too and i got jealous and was like okay maybe i'll be fine to come and yup just needed one message of convincing to commit!! finished up and was on my way to go get ready.

woah just got a little sleepy writing this while watching tv (american movies in spanish). okay wrapping it up, made it to Salty Sols at just five after 10a and Ashwin was right after me. i like to be there early but i remember that, while we're not an island, everything here in Costa Rica is a chiller and there's no one that's going to be tapping their foot waiting for you when it comes to plans (or at least not the ones i've had). we hop in Eric's back-up car (his other is in the shop) and we drive the direction we headed yesterday -- but stop for a monkey to cross the street on the way! -- and Eric honks and calls out to folks he knows on the way. cool to see. reminds me of visiting jackie in leucadia and how everybody recognized seemingly everybody when it came to peeps going to check out the surf. such a fun culture. 

we get to where we're parked and realize it's just the three of us surfing today! eric says there's a third joining us and that they're great- a girl, her dad and grandpa and they're literally walking up right as Eric tells us this. they are from Nashville and have the accents to prove it. nice people, and the girl is named Sammi. we head down and everyone who's headed off the beach seems to be in all smiles, and someone else who says a what's up to Eric calls out a 'have fun' to the rest of us. it's gorgeous down there again! and waves a slightly smaller than yesterday's as eric gave a heads up they would probably be. we head in and it's a great spot and plenty of room for our small group. i love being in a small group with eric as there's less of us to navigate between and i hear more feedback from eric - mostly about my form (not hunching over vs back straight) and moving slightly up or down on my board before getting going. anyways it was a super fun sesh and the girl Sammi was pretty good! especially for surfing just once before (with eric). she tells me in the water that she snowboards - out in breck and somewhere else in CO - and so that helps her here! 

caught lots of waves and have gotten so much better since lesson 1. i'm excited for when i get to surf with jackie next!

to show her. 

when we get out of the water, Sammi's grandpa exclaims how well we did and it's fun to hear someone with so much enthusiasm for us!! so sweet. he calls me 'old dog paddlin' Kaela' and eric and i die laughing at this. you had to be there. in the car ride back eric says to me something like and you're here for a while longer right? and i'm like oh yeah, you're not getting rid of old dog paddlin' kaela yet!! i ssay how the grandpa's (southern) accent just makes it even better and eric goes 'it's too good'. yes, it's too good.

please enjoy one of the many videos that King of the Hill aka Sammi's grandpa shared with me that has absolutely made my day - you're welcome for the laughs (and if you're not, you should be)

surf again tomorrow at noon!

ciaooo

11:51p (or ten ish+ mins before bc i forgot to note the time i stopped writing with the movie on :) ), 18 January

today's title is named after Sebastian's tattoo written in Arabic, as i stopped in to chat before heading out to dinner and we talked languages for a bit. i love this expression!