la cucaracha

just survived a nite of cochroach infested rooms.
we had found a place here in placencia, belize with 3 beds for simon, shani and i... although we kinda lost shani y.day cos she has an israeli passport and no visa. hopefully she will be reunited with us tonite!
all in the fun and spirit of cheap independent travel.

we are now staying in a room with cable tv, clean rooms, air conditioning and a fridge.

life is good again! ♥ ♥ ♥

Scuba Diving, 7 bus trips + 2 boat rides in 24 hours.

Ola Chicos,I am here in Placencia, Belize... a very sleepy seaside town... Have just had the most intense couple of weeks, but fun weeks of my life in Utila, Honduras, where I am now an Advanced Scuba Diver... and I had 11 dives in 5 days... yes. I am crazy.Have met some very special ppl along the way and Simon aka "See-Mon" as the locals call him... and i have had fun hanging out wiith an Israeli girl, Shani, who we have grown very fond of... and Julia from Adelaide.I could go on and on about what has happened, but essentially... its so fun here!!In the past 24 hours we have caught 7 buses, from Honduras via Guatemala through here to Belize and taken 2 boats... a little shonky as the lifejackets were attached to a trolley at the front of the "tug" boat and well... i think we would be screwed if we really did capsize. All is good however... all limbs, brains and personal belongings are intact.Love to all and hope you are well, wherever in the world you are!!

meeting locals....

so im in Granada, Nicaragua. I love it.

I also love eating local food and am enjoying trying all sorts of things that are special to the area that i am visiting.

from the Ceviche in Costa Rica (CR) which is basically lemon juice salsa thing with raw fish in it... its DELICIOUS.

anyhooo... just had a local homeless kid come and eat the dregs of my pollo (chicken) meal, plus i paid him for his reed woven cricket thing he made me. i paid the equivalent of about a $1 to this kid.. to eat the rest of my fried banana (the best fried banana chips ive had!) and gave him half of my water.

the meal was delicious too... fritas de pollo mixto.... it was on a bed of fried banana chips, banana chunks fried as well as fried chicken (they like things fried here, and frankly, so do i)... then on top a kind of salad.. more like coleslaw... and a poco (little) bag of a spicey vinegar thing with more cabbagey thing in it too-- i think its like dressing or something. I liked it. It was spicey.

Ok.... my spanish is getting better because i could manage to just order food and i went and caught the local chicken bus-- not kidding, its basically an old canadian school bus, the yellow ones... from the Masaya market today.... the locals are funny, they do make a bit of a fuss about selling to you, but generally theyre not as aggressive as the chinese, so i could handle it... i guess money talks, but i did bargan down with "precio finale" final price-- pretty much between dollar here and a dollar there, but i got excited with this crocodile leather hairclips, and i almost bought a bag... which was about $40 which wasnt that much, but being cheap, didnt buy it.

it was fun though. i love local mercados!!

i am really enjoying learning spanish... loaded with my little lonely planet phrase book (thanks mum!) its helped alot. believe it or not, i know how to say "where is" = ¿dande esta? to start pretty much every sentence.

i just have to make sure i dont say that when im asking for someones name... but i did ask the little boys name who i gave my food to at the street stall... como te llamos? "Rodrigue" he would have only been about 7 or 8. cheeky bugger.

am back at the hostel now after an eventful day and meeting other locals in nice shops.
ive found a mosaic class that will only cost me about $5. or 100 Cordobas. AM VERY excited about cheap craft class!!!!!!

i think i might jig that $25 kayak over the Islets.

Pah! Craft comes first! Priorities!!

xoxo

reflections on random encounters

Highlight of yesterday. A local lady in her shop turning up a spanish version and singing her heart out to ´Total Eclipse of the Heart´aka *eclipse total del corazón*... amongst the surf, sun and beautiful beach in Santa Teresa (im still in Costa Rica... but not for long!)...

Long journey on a bus tomo to Nicaragua.... Hope i arrive alive!! Pls pray for me!!!

Bad Country== Malpais

Im living in tent folks! for $8bucks a nite = aprox 4500Colones.
I have a hammock and the best view in the world of the beach. Santa Teresa. CR.

Loving it.

it is absolutely amazing and the surf is beautiful.

I wanted to stay, but now that i am here at the internet cafe and I have already booked my bus ticket to Nicaragua tomorrow, I will go...

BUT! I want to come back. I have met many canadians and others that have lived here for about 5 years.

Life is simple. Live, Eat, Surf.

Ha. I should write slogans.

if all goes well =0) my bus will arrive somewhere near here:

http://www.thebeardedmonkey.com

Aye Carumba!

Ola Amigos :)

I am loving Costa Rica. Surfing has been great, although the surf has been way too massive...
Anyhoo...
Thought I would update my Blog as i have a pokito tiempo (little time) to kill as I am waiting for my boat from Jaco to Montezuma... then Mal Pais / Santa Teresa...

I have met some really great people while surfing and travelling, in particular the past few days have been hanging out with 2 really lovely ladies from LA and Seattle- both flight attendents-- (the job of my dreams when i was 5 years old). While heading on the local 'Tico' (Costa Rican) bus to Manuel Antonio ( a beautiful town about an hour south of Jaco) met some Argentinian guys who have been fun to hang out with. We all got lost in the National Park together and Im figuring quite quickly that although everyone in Central and South American speak Espanol, that all their accents are quite different.

Heading to a lovely other part of Costa Rica by boat where there will be good surf and waterfalls and probably more monkeys and sloths to see :)

It is so beautiful... and HOT here, and im now back on my own again so... will hopefully meet some lovely people this week...

Also-- just in case i go missing (dont worry mum)... im catching a bus to Nicaragua on Thursday in case you guys are wondering where I am... its cheapt to travel by bus, but it will be a long bus ride... Am I Loco?

Si (yes)!

xoxo

one eleven

Remember ive been noticing 1:11?

ITS A SIGN! ha!

The room number my friends were staying in Hermosa was 111. My room number here at Poseidon is 1.

Ive been checking the time and yes, its at 1:11.

I like seeing consistency in this.

Is God trying to tell me something? Or is it just one of those "Qwinky dinks?!" (coincidences)

costa rica. tica

first day of surfing today. FUN. im on a 9foot board! its a little massive, but hey, its good fun. jaco beach and hermosa is amazing.

i can stand up!! apparently im a natural.

not complaining- yet. (im waiting for the stiff/sore muscles....)

also had a yoga class this afternoon. aside from getting bitten by mozzies-- it was a reaaaaaly good stretch.

will see how the rest of the week goes, but its started great and looking up! YAY!

oh, and got a free papaya. good times :D

the only thing about the hotel im staying in that i dont like is that there is no hammocks.

the place i stayed with jo on the weekend had one out the front and we had a view of the beach from our room/ balcony. bliss.

too good to be true. free macbook

it is....

loving live MTV

'hows your news'. this is a great new show on MTV.

read a blog review here:

official website here:

MTV site here:

Since i used to work for the Dont-Dis campaign, i think this show is pretty cool :D

Let me know what you think!!

crystal cathedral

just went to the crystal cathedral. interesting.

i took a picture with moses! ha!

this is where i am headed! woooooohooooooo!!!

confirmed- varicella

not to be confused with vermicelli.

i have chickenpox.

wooooooooopeeeeeeeeeeee

Happy 2009.

First post!

So much has happened in the last few weeks leading up to and after NYE...

• I worked NYE with COS. I have not worked with the general public before around Macquarie street... but after my 14 hour shift... things were lookin a little hazy... got to see the fireworks in full swing without battling the crowds down at the opera house. cant argue with that!
• Jo & Victor got officially engaged! YAY!
  
• Witnessed Kath get married to her new husband Kristan. Such a beautiful wedding! I got to pray for them as well, which was an absolute priveledge.
• Saw my sister Mich and Percy storm Sydney and have a massive family wedding party for those (99.9%) who could not make it to their celebrations in Nederlands. FUN! (unofficial photographer duties were a little taxing in 40degree heat for an afternoon tea)
• Spent ALOT of time at Balmoral swimming laps everyday. I havent been this tan since school finished in year 12.
• Keeping busy just cleaning up-- had another shop set up at Rozelle last weekend... made some decent cash, but will likely do it once again before jan ends.
• New friendships growing and Old friendships re-visited... weddings, parties... anything.
• Plus JD & Claire are now engaged too after their trip to Laos!
  
• Whats in the water?!! Love in the air?! (... puke...)
  
• Booked my flight to LA on the 5th of February for Asha's wedding on the 7th.
• Planning to spend some travel time for a few months in CENTRAL AMERICA! WAHOOO!!
• Had a mole removed with local anesthetic and scalpel this week too. Looks malignant. Yes. thats what i want to hear.
  
• Unofficially will find out today whether these itchy bites are really chicken pox. yes siree bob. i think they are.
• Subsequently due to unofficialy Pox, I am missing out on the 'Holiday of Fun' up the coast... and now even more determined to make it to my Melbourne trip next week-- despite Doctor's warnings. Ahhhh.... stuff it! Im GOING!

Lord, make
us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen

by St. Francis of Assisi

Merry Christmas... Disney Style :)

HEY!!

now that i feel that fluck is socially acceptable...

FLUCK!!!

i lost my job yesterday. thanks. i dont feel too good.

fluck this is good.

Fluck

An Asian woman goes in to her local NAB Branch and begins exchanging her money.

After the transaction is complete she asks the teller 'Why it change, yesterday I get two hunat dollar for my money, today I only get hunat eighty?'

The teller looked over his glasses and says very slowly....'fluctuations'.

The Asian woman narrows her eyes and says, 'fluck you Aussies too'.

dream it list it do it

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a Self-Knowing Traveling Self-Improver 0% of the 2087 people who have taken this quiz are like you. Great. Im a freak too. 0%? Up the anti people... click above and tell me what this silly website is telling you!