Weekend in Playa Dominical

This weekend was one I definitely won’t forget. I know I mentioned her in my last blog, but I’m going to brag a bit on one of my good friends I’ve made here in Costa Rica. On one of my first days here in Costa Rica, I went to Chicago where Conny was having her first day of work as a server. She just clicked really well with our group and myself and we’ve been friends ever since. She’s from France/Germany but is in Costa Rica getting her masters. She’s fluent in 4 languages and has been all over the world. She’s definitely one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. This weekend, we decided to go on a weekend trip together and went to Playa Dominical on the Pacific side, which is about 3 hours or so from San Jose. Conny had been to Playa Dominical several times so she already knew the ropes. The bus took us to Perez Zeledon which is one of the biggest cities in Costa Rica behind San Jose. Playa Dominical was only about a 40-minute drive after that. Playa Dominical is realllly tiny. It’s exactly what I picture a sleepy little surfer town looking like. It also didn’t seem very touristy at all. The main road wasn’t even paved! I did notice a lot of Americans who seemed to be living there, probably for the surf. 

When we got there, we went to a hostel that Conny had stayed in before but when we arrived she talked to the owner (who was actually French) and they didn’t have anything available. We walked down the main road and stopped at 2 more hostels and no luck. Turns out, there was a surf competition that had happened that day so the whole town was pretty booked up. We finally found this one place and took whatever we could get which ended up being the dormitory style room. I’ve stayed in several hostels down here and I’ve always had really good luck…but this one, not so much. This was definitely a dump. I didn’t even take any pictures of the outside but I did take one of the room. Nice, huh? 

Conny and I didn’t really care though and made do with the situation just fine. We hung out in the hostel for a while and then decided to go check out the one and only bar in the area and grab some dinner. We ate at a really good pizza place by our hostel that was owned by an Argentinean and a local Tico. It was so laid back that when Conny and I ordered a beer and they didn’t have any, the guy just said "be right back" and hopped on his moped and went down to the convenient store and got them for us. That would never happen in the states! It also might have to do that we were the only ones there. 

After we ate and talked with the workers for a bit, we walked down to the bar to check it out. Until this trip, I’ve never really been around “serious” surfers. I have come to the conclusion that for the most part, they are a strange breed. Again, nothing against all surfers, but the majority of the ones I’ve met here are obviously pretty heavily into drugs (mainly weed and cocaine from the context clues I’ve gathered). And no mom and dad, I have not been offered drugs or been around them. It’s just pretty easy to tell. 

Since there was a surf competition, this bar was filled with pretty much nothing but surfers who were high. Talk about a place to people watch! Conny and I were actually enjoying watching them awkwardly dance and stumble around but after about an hour or so we called it a night. The next morning, we slept in, got some breakfast then headed to the beach. We lucked up and had absolutely perfect weather. The waves were also some of the biggest I’ve ever seen (which I’m guessing is why they had the competition). We just relaxed on the beach and talked until we had to get back to town to catch our bus. 

A little back story before I get to the next part: Conny actually came to Costa Rica several years ago because she was volunteering with a circus program for kids. The program is geared for kids who might not have the best home life and the circus trains them in order to give them something to do and to keep them off the streets. The ones who end up being really good make a team that travels around Europe to do circus shows. Conny wasn’t in the circus, but was volunteering as kind of like a programs coordinator for the kids activities when they weren’t training. The city we were in was where their training facility was and the house where all the volunteers lived (mostly Germans). We had about an hour to kill so Conny took me over to the house to show me and meet some of the trainers. It was so cool! I would have never guessed anything like that existed. 

I know I’ve said it already, but being here makes me really want to find something like that I could volunteer with after I graduate. Obviously I’m not in the circus, but something I could possibly volunteer my video making skills to. I’m realizing more and more I really only have a few years to do things like this while I’m not tied down to a job or a family of my own.

It was definitely another successful weekend trip. I really liked seeing an area that wasn’t so touristy/really developed. 

 

River we passed coming back into the city 

This week started week 2 of my new class and I’m starting to get the hang of what I need to do to stay ahead. I’ve also been very luck with some helpful friends who are willing to go above and beyond to help (shout out to my girl Dayna!). I can’t believe week 2 of this new session is almost over. Time is going by so fast. I need it so slow down! This weekend, I’m headed back to Jaco with some of my new friends from this session. I really liked Jaco so I’m excited about spending longer than just one night there. Adios!