tarzan swing, high roller, settling down

Spent a few days in Monteverde and I´m glad I made it up there.  Totally different scene than the beaches I´d been plopping myself on for the majority of the trip.  Took a couple hikes through the cloud forests which was breathtakingly beautiful.  Saw a ton of fauna, most of which are on my "omg i´m pissing myself" list like a 4 foot snake, tarantulas and a green viper.  Also took a night hike where I got to see some sloths among other, less sexier, animals.

I did the adventure thing too which was fun but I donno if I need to do it again.  A whole bunch of ziplining over the forest with a giant 150ft Tarzan swing at the end.  Kinda like bungee jumping except you´re sitting.  Actually, yeah, pretty much just as scary as bungee jumping without the hellish headrush at the end when you´re dangling upside down.

I really enjoyed Costa Rica but I was glad to leave yesterday.  I was just getting sick of meeting kids in hostels that had just graduated, had never been out of the country, and were in awe of "how crazy it is that they call burgers hamburguesas here" and stuff like that.  Of course, it´s not their fault, but I´m just excited to settle down with more long-term folks.  I´ll be back to Costa Rica of course.  It´s probably the best place to have a beach rave anyway.  Walouuuuuu!!

I got to the airport yesterday and they informed me that I had a first class ticket that granted me access to the VIP lounge.  Now, I had just bought the cheapest ticket so I really don´t know how that happened.  And I´ve never flown first class.  As those of you that know me can attest, I usually prefer eating grilled meat sitting on a curb, and I think the best AC on a bus is just opening the window and taking off your shirt.  But anywho, I went to the lounge and was treated like a king.  Pretty uncomfortable.  Same on the plane.  Holy Turd!  It was like a 5-star meal with Steven Starr-esque presentation and such as the peasants in coach wallowed in their hunger.

I got into Xela, Guatemala around 7pm and walked into my school where everyone (8 students and 5 teachers) were having fam dinner.  Gah I miss the ole days, and it was a great welcome for me.  BTW you turdheads in SF really should get that going again.

Then I moved in to my homestay and met the family - husband and wife with two daughters (13 and 5).  I can already tell the 5 year old´s gonna be a handful, in a good way.  Anyway I have a pretty sweet bachelor setup and gawwwwwd it feels good to settle down.  After 3 months of living outta a suitcase it feels so nice to have a dresser and long-term bed again.

School starts on Monday and tonight´s the soccer championship for the Guatemalan league and Xela´s in it.  Things could get thuper weird.  Yeah boi!