After my Saturday morning class, Yvanni and I drove to UCR to pick up Arlethe from her Saturday morning classes. She was late in coming to the car and so we found a shady spot to wait. When she finally showed (after her mother saying “ay Arlethe!” no less than three times) she brought her boyfriend Dave and his roommate along, because, surprise!, can you take Dave to see a new apartment near the school?
Sure, why not! Everything here is lazy and calm, and spontaneity is a way of life. So three blocks from the university we turned onto a pocked dirt road behind a mechanic shop and headed up a hill until Yvanni decided we’d gone far enough on the fast degrading grade for her Toyota. We let the kids out to see the apartment while we found a shady parking spot to wait. It didn’t take long because the apartment, while sooo close to the university, had no other redeeming qualities. This I gathered from listening intently, picking up words that are similar to English, mashing these with words that are similar to Italian that I’ve quickly but by no means competently translated into English, and mixing in tone and facial expressions.
We headed home, had a quick lunch (delicious as always! God, I’m gonna get so fat living with these people!!!) and got ready for the beach.
Limon is a port city, and the touristy beaches I’ve hit so far have been 40+ kilometers south of the city. But we were getting a late start (made even later by Arlethe primping at the mirror) so today we headed to Playa Bonita.
This beach is north of the city center and probably actually still in the city proper. It’s a small crescent of deep white sand, surrounded with bars and restaurants. Yvanni says it’s poquito e linda, small and pretty, and it is - Arlethe says it’s her favorite beach - which is saying a lot from what I’ve seen.
Walking into the water l found two separate sandbars parallel to the shore where the water is less than knee deep, keeping the waves (olas) shallow and gentle. The sun was perfect. I strolled up to a bar for a beer - cold and perfect - which I drank under our umbrella. A terrific day at the beach!
We stayed until 5:15 and by the time we got our shit loaded back into the car it was dark outside… 15 minutes and we were home!