Our New Office

Or wait, maybe life in Costa Rica is like a day at the beach.

A couple of weeks ago we visited Tamarindo with our friends Ben and Cathie (where Jason was able to catch this killer wave). Before driving the distance to Costa Rica’s famous surf beach we stopped at the local Do-It-Center for some supplies — beach towels and a cooler. Much to our dismay we learned that coolers were $50 and cheap beach towels were $15. No thank you.

Instead, we bought a couple of buckets for a much better price and decided to just make do. And thank goodness we did, because one of those buckets allowed me to make my first sand sculpture.

I call it my Costa Rican Tribute. That is a volcano and a series of orbs in case you can’t tell:)

Since our time here we’ve also managed to get off the beach and onto the water. First was a party boat/snorkeling tour that we took with all the people staying in our community.

Here’s my dad (Dale) enjoying the water and a good story

We would have spent more time in the water had we not gotten stung by tiny little jelly fish. We couldn’t see them, but boy could we feel them.

Next was a sunset boat cruise. This was a smaller boat just big enough for Jason, me, my parents, and Aunt Betty and Uncle Ralph.

We were fortunate enough to see schools of tuna follow behind our boat and, of course, a beautiful sunset.

August 23, 2008. The snorkeling today was very solid. We visited DePalm Island, a small bar of sand with a nice reef that’s been converted into a mini-resort. They have a few different restaurants, a good beach, a small water park for the kids, and a few other little attractions.

While the reviews on TripAdvisor are a mixed bag, I would say this is a solid attraction for anyone visiting Aruba. Sara and I learned from our jet skiing experience and opted for only a 1/2 day on the Island, and I think we hit it perfectly. We got to enjoy everything the island had to offer without spending so much time there to get sick of it.

The laminated card of Aruba reef creatures that we took snorkeling.

The highlight for me was the snorkeling. I snuck out past the official “snorkeling area” and I’m quite happy that I did so. While the official area was good – the parrot fish were amazing – the area beyond the buoys was better. Coral as far as you can see, lots of wildlife, crystal clear water, and a very noticeable “thermal” layer at about 10 feet down. On top, the water feels nice and warm. Go down a few feet and the water gets noticeably cooler. Very refreshing and a good incentive to dive as deep as you can stand.

I bought a handy laminated card that shows the wildlife you’re likely to see while snorkeling in Aruba (I know, I’m a geek). I didn’t see everything, but I’d say I saw about half of the fish on the card. The parrot fish were amazing – beautiful bright blue, rainbow colored, and even black and white, these fish had beaks that they used to scrape food off of coral. I had an underwater camera with me, so hopefully I’ll be able to post some photos later.

Sara did not enjoy the parrot fish as much as I did. While I thought it was exciting to swim within a few inches of hungry beaked parrot fish the size of a small child, Sara was a little freaked out.

A Blue Parrot Fish with a nice sharp beak.

The fish swim right by your face, your hands, etc., and it was clear that they were looking for a handout. Evidently, someone has been feeding these fish – supposedly a big no-no. Admittedly, parrot fish beaks can look a little intimidating when they swim by your face, but I was really excited about the close quarters. Twice I tried to reach out and touch one, but they were always able to move just out of my reach.

Sara’s DePalm Island highlight was the beach. While not terribly big, it was clean and semi-private. The kids were all playing in the waterpark, so we were able to enjoy the stereotypical “quiet tropical beach” experience. The only negatives to going to DePalm – it’s a little pricey. You need to eat and drink quite a bit to get your money’s worth, and the food isn’t that great. Not bad, but not really good either. We enjoyed the food from the little beach hut next to the waterpark (the one for the kids that serves hotdogs and chicken nuggets) more than we enjoyed the restaurants.

If you’re looking for a magical, wonderful, “paradise” experience, you should look elsewhere. However, if you want to swim with some aggressive panhandling parrot fish, drink as many Balashi beers as you can, play in a little waterpark, and eat some kid food, you’ll have a good time. It was a really nice way to top off our Aruba trip.

Dinner was a highlight too – we ate at Tango (an Argentine style steakhouse) and it was quite good. We got a ton of food, the sweet corn was really sweet, and the desert was awesome. The dulce de leche crepe was decadent – we split the desert and fought over the last bites.

As our trip in Aruba is coming to a close, it’s time to plan for our next destinations. We’ve arranged our itinerary and flights for Asia, which we’ll refine in the coming weeks. At this point, I can say that we’ve managed to balance work and play quite well. Living and working in a new place is fun, especially when you know it’s only for a short time. Sara and I can’t afford to put any activities or attractions off until “next weekend,” so we tend to be a lot more active (me especially). All in all, today was one of the better days in Aruba. Top 3 for sure, maybe even top 2. The only day that can top it would be the day we visited Cuba’s Cookin’.

August 11th, 2008. Since I was feeling much better today (Sunday was a sick day), Sara and I decided we would make the most of our last full day with the rental car. We got up early, got quite a bit of work done, bought groceries for the rest of the week at the Ling & Sons, and then spent a little time at our local McDonalds working online.

I realize that I have yet to fully discuss the wi-fi situation. Here are the top 7 things you need to know about finding wi-fi in Aruba:

1. There is no such thing as a “normal” coffee shop in Aruba (normal isn’t the right word, but you know what I mean). You can’t find a latte-mocha-frappa-soy-chino here, and that’s OK.
2. Because they don’t have coffee shops in Aruba, no one is familiar with the concept of working/reading/loitering in a relatively quiet place that offers coffee, tea, free books, old magazines, climate-control, hobos, places to plug-in a laptop, and of course free wi-fi (most important characteristics in bold). Reasonably clean surroundings and a decent bathroom are nice too.
3. Free wi-fi can be found at a variety of restaurants, but they lack in one or more of the aforementioned important characteristics.
4. The best locations to “wi-fi it” in Aruba that I have found are, in order, McDonalds, HuChada before 11:30am, and Dunkin’ Donuts by the marina between the hours of 7am and 11am and then 7pm to 10pm. Dunkin’ Donuts must be avoided in the afternoon because the only booths with power outlets sit in a glass enclosure, meaning you’ll get quite hot.
5. McDonalds is like a freakin’ zoo for human children. Screaming, yelling, throwing, hiding, peaking, crying, and feigned attacks are all common. Working at McDonalds feels like an afternoon with 10 Will Farrell wannabes competing to see who can be most over the top.
6. HuChada is awesome. They have great coffee (strong stuff), pastechis (like hot pockets but they’re filled mostly with air – just a tiny amount of meat and cheese), and everything I need from a coffee shop. Yet, for some strange and inexplicable reason, the internet connection slows to a crawl right around 11:30am.
7. Dunkin’ Donuts downtown is nice – the only problem is that they keep the inside a little colder than a refrigerator. It’s downright cold in this place. Seriously. I know that I’m complaining about strong A/C in the tropics, but Santa would say this place is cold.

Working at the downtown Oranjestad Dunkin’ Donuts. It would be a perfect office for us if it wasn’t so darn cold.

Now that we’ve settled that business, we can get on with the story.

Sara and I were rested and energized about snorkeling. We were going to find the famous Antilles wreck and visit it. We were going to see lots of fish. We were going to snorkel for at least an hour. We were going to enjoy ourselves.

We had a little difficulty with our masks fogging up, but we started to figure it out. I saw a fairly large snake-looking-thing about 3′ feet long (probably was an eel, but it sure moved like a snake). Sara and I swam with a big school of yellow and white fish (they were small – 2-4 inches long – but there were at least a 1000 of them). We saw some starfish, lots of different corals, etc. It was a good snorkel.

On the way back to the beach, Sara and I steer ourselves into an exceptionally shallow area of coral. Shallow water is a little scary because your chances of touching something (and getting hurt) are greatly enhanced. Panicking, I do the best I can to turn around and get out of the shallow water. Unfortunately, I don’t turn around and find Sara – I just buzz off as fast as I can. Realizing that she’s still in the shallows (and probably freaked out) I turn back and charge in just in time to see her hit her back on a rock. I help her get out of the shallows, but it’s too late – her finger is bleeding and she looks scared.

I could see blood in the water from her finger, and I could see barbs and/or quills in her fingertip. We were both worried (and a little shocked), but the only thing to do was get to shore. We got back to the beach and Sara tells me her finger is starting to go numb. Uh oh. I don’t say it, but I know that means there was some venom.

Let me just pause right here and say that everything was fine. I’m not trying to be dramatic – it’s just a better story if you understand our state of mind. After all, we don’t know anything about this stuff. I’ve snorkeled half a dozen times in my life, Sara just twice. We’re like two cave people who just realized that fire can burn your fingers…

Realizing that Sara was stung by something, I get us in the car ASAP and we’re either headed to the condo or the hospital. After a few minutes pass (it takes about 5 minutes to get back to “town”), it’s clear that the worst part is over. Sara is going to be OK. The numbness is staying in her finger which means the venom is minor (like a bee sting). Still, I’m going to look online for more info.

After a tedious internet search and a phone call to the Diver’s Alert Network emergency dive doctor phone line, we reach the following conclusion:

Most likely, Sara’s finger was stung by some sort of fish. The dive doctor seemed to think it was a type of rockfish/lionfish/stonefish. He says that medically speaking it’s no big deal – happens all the time. It just hurts. Still, it was a little scary.

We spent the rest of the night working. It was an exciting day and work seemed to be the best way to relax.

While snorkeling yesterday we made a rookie mistake and got caught up in really shallow rocky water. We were very close to the beach so I thought I could just paddle my way through it, but realized too late that I couldn’t. Anyway, long story short I put my left hand on a rock to balance myself and ended up touching something very sharp and painful. Reeling in pain I flipped over and then managed to scrape my back on that same sharp and pointy “thing.”

Just short of having a full on panic attack, Jason appeared and directed me out of the water while I swam on my back (my back didn’t hurt near as bad as my hand) and held my throbbing hand above the water. After we finally made it to shore we inspected my hand to see that I had what looked like four black slivers in my forefinger. Then my finger went numb and I couldn’t bend it…

After some internet research and a call to a diver’s hotline, Jason found out that it wasn’t coral on the rock, but rather some kind of fish or sea urchin that I touched. It just looked like a rock to me, but then again my snorkel goggles were fogged up and filled with water so I was obviously totally wrong.

The feeling still has not come back to my finger 100%, but my guess is that by the end of the day it’ll be like nothing happened.

So Alex, I touched a fish. Jealous?

August 7th, 2008. Today was nothing short of kick-ass. After yesterday’s meltdown (and subsequent “check-up from the neck-up”, I’m a brand new man.

We FOUND A COFFEE SHOP!!! It’s called HuChada – not sure what it means, but it’s on the north end of the downtown Oranjestad area, next to “supermarket city.” It’s inside a mall, but don’t let that fool you. They serve coffee, the free wifi connection is fast, and they have lots of room to setup laptops and plugin. It’s awesome. Here’s a picture of Sara enjoying her coffee at HuChada:

So cute.

After scoring a great place to work for most of the day, we headed back to the condo, ditched our work stuff and grabbed our snorkeling gear.

Today’s snorkeling was tougher. The masks weren’t fitting the same, they kept flooding or fogging, and we had some trouble getting going. Sara decided she’d rather lounge on the beach, so I headed out by myself to find fishes. I swam about 100 yards off-shore and found a lot of fish. I have no idea WHAT I saw, but I saw a lot of it.

The highlight – I was drifting with the current when I saw a big black and blue mass coming my way. It was a school of fish! They were swimming from coral formation to coral formation, stopping to snack along the way. Just like me, they were sort of drifting with the current. I followed them for about 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, someone has been feeding some of these fish. Evidently it’s bad for the reefs. In any case, a small group of black and yellow fish (no pictures…yet) followed me around, staying just out of arm’s reach for pretty much the whole time I was in the water. They were like little yellow, white, and blue puppy dogs.

I can’t read fish minds, but I’m fairly certain they were looking for a handout.

Dinner was awesome today too. We drove around for about an hour trying to find a restaurant called “Cuba’s Cookin’.” Since there are no street signs in Aruba, it was really hard to find what we were looking for. Sara gets credit for navigating success, but I think she got lucky.

Sara always looks great.

Everyone in the restaurant was handed an instrument and told to play along to “La Bamba.”

Cuba’s Cookin’ had a live singer and the walls were adorned with lots of contemporary art – some of which was quite good (IMHO).

I had vieja ropa, known in Cuba as “old clothes.” It’s braised shredded skirt steak. Quite good. Sara had some skewered meats, and for desert we enjoyed tres leches cake. That’s right, three milk cake. I mistakenly ordered a Cuba’s Coffee with the desert. It had whiskey in it, so I had to set it aside. But the little taste I had was awesome.

A great day in Aruba – probably the best yet.

August 5th, 2008. Despite an allergic reaction, an infestation of roaches, and what seems like an endless search for a WiFi connection, we are having a great time in Aruba. We arrived on Monday and are already feeling like locals having mastered the local grocery store and even seeing someone we know randomly.

It’s hot. It’s real hot. We have found refuge at the beach, which is amazing. The water is the warmest I’ve ever felt and it is perfect for snorkeling. On day two we got us some snorkeling gear and headed to the Northern end of the island. Despite being freaked out by an eel, there were a lot of pretty critters to inspect including a starfish and rock fish to name just a couple. Aruba is known for its abundance of coral and the dozen or so wrecked ships and planes that make for good scuba and snorkeling.

August 5th, 2008. Today was pretty awesome. We got some work done, rented a car, bought groceries for the next 3 weeks, snorkeled, and ate in. Nice.

Renting the car was an experience. First of all, I wanted the cheapest one they had. That turned out to be a Suzuki Alto.

The joke – “It’s like a car, only smaller.”

Driving this thing is like driving a go cart. The first dirt road I found I did a donut – just for the thrill. The engine screams at about 50mph, and when you drive the whole car feels like it’s really working. It’s nice – the A/C works well, and it corners pretty nicely. It’s a lot like a new toy.

Grocery shopping isn’t usually fun, but it was interesting today. Lots of strange brands and labels, and lots of mysterious fish, poultry, and pork products. Ever seen the whole forearm of a pig wrapped in plastic wrap? Me neither until today.

After groceries, it was time to have fun. We bought some snorkeling gear and hit the water. We found a popular snorkeling spot (Malmok beach we think) and Sara and I took a bunch of pictures with an underwater disposable camera. Can’t wait to post them.

I’m still on Denver time, so I was up pretty late – about 1am EDT. As I’m getting ready for bed, I decide I want a cold glass of water. For some reason, the water that comes out of the kitchen sink isn’t cold. It isn’t hot either – it’s lukewarm. It doesn’t matter which faucet you turn – it’s lukewarm. The only place to get cold water is in the bathroom sink. As I’m leaving the bathroom, something in the tub catches my eye.

ROACHES! Two of them – and they’re pretty big.

I decide to kill them the old fashioned way (with a giant wad of toilet paper). I reach down to snag one and it takes off like a racehorse. “These #$%^ are fast!” I say to myself. I track them both down and kill them. The next question: Where did they come from? I scan the ceiling, the walls, inspect the bathroom window, and find nothing. Then, I notice a couple of antenna peaking out from underneath the bathtub’s shutoff valve.

After unsuccessfully trying to burn the roach(es) out of this fixture with a barbecue lighter, I decide the only thing to do is to go buy some bug spray. Knowing Sara as I do (who is asleep in the next room this whole time, by the way), I’m fairly confident finding a roach in the bathtub tomorrow will ruin her morning. The only way to be safe is to buy some industrial bug spray and kill them with extreme prejudice.

The local gas station is open at 1am and they sell me bug spray. I return, enter the bathroom, and find one more roach in the tub. Time to die. I blast it, and in the chaos of this chemical attack two more roaches scurry out of the drain – they’re everywhere! I kill these two, but I’m a little worried about tomorrow. That’s five dead roaches total, and where there’s five, there’s fifty. Because of the late hour (and my tired brain) I decide that leaving two dead roaches in plain sight will act as a warning to the rest.

So I leave a note on the bathroom door for Sara. It reads“Roaches! Bug spray on bathroom counter, two dead guys in tub. Gross.”