Boat man: " So, where are you all from?"
CI Jane: " Oh, the $5 Taco Bar just down the street.
So there's the punch line but let me give you the set-up.
With a quick but winding trip in El Van, we arrived in the gorgeous seaside town of San Juan del Sur on Saturday morning.
After Alicia got the crick out of her neck from sleeping awkwardly en El Van, the authors of this blog went out for an athletic adventure into the town. In the true spirit of immersion Sarah got up close and personal with the streets of San Juan. We learned that if you're planning on having a mega wipeout in the streets, being with a group of 9 other nursing students and a Nurse Practitioner are the kind of people to be with. Post-emergency make-shift bandaging of her heridas (wounds) we spent our day lounging on the fine dark sand of the beach, slurpin' up baratas frescas, haggling in the small, sweaty merchant shops, and enjoying the symphony of the heavy tropical rain tormentas (and periodically being soaked by it). The scent of the epic mar pacífico saturated our senses...when the fumo from the diesel delivery trucks wasn't challenging our lungs. A beautiful day in this seaside town indeed.
Last night, after hours of exhaustive searching for hopefully not-too useless souvenirs for those back home, we all stumbled back to our rooms for a much-desired nap. Our hotel vecinos and the raucous soundtrack of the $5 Party Taco Bar across the street conspired to keep us from deep sleep. Thus we donned new skirts (and in Sarah's case, road rash) to sweat in and ventured out once more into the jovial beach-side streets for dinner and Saturday night adventures. After a short-lived attempt at Karaoke and feeding the mangy but sweet mutts of the town we braved a torrential downpour. We experienced why they call a rainstorm a tormenta for a reason.
We awning-hopped until we arrived at the infamous $5 Taco Bar. there we joined the two elderly ladies dancing in front of the live band. Our Gringa moves wowed the crowd . Among us we boasted a sassy salsa señorita and traditional Bavarian folk clogger. Both had the crowd on their feet.
We met/danced with a sailor from up north, a local high school history/geography teacher and an international lover of salsa. Additionally, CI Jane assassinated any doubts about her ability to shimmy through the night like a Latin princess. Indeed by the end of the night one might have thought we were from the $5 taco bar--we closed the place down! My carriage was long-since a pumpkin by the time we left.
So there's the punch line but let me give you the set-up.
With a quick but winding trip in El Van, we arrived in the gorgeous seaside town of San Juan del Sur on Saturday morning.
After Alicia got the crick out of her neck from sleeping awkwardly en El Van, the authors of this blog went out for an athletic adventure into the town. In the true spirit of immersion Sarah got up close and personal with the streets of San Juan. We learned that if you're planning on having a mega wipeout in the streets, being with a group of 9 other nursing students and a Nurse Practitioner are the kind of people to be with. Post-emergency make-shift bandaging of her heridas (wounds) we spent our day lounging on the fine dark sand of the beach, slurpin' up baratas frescas, haggling in the small, sweaty merchant shops, and enjoying the symphony of the heavy tropical rain tormentas (and periodically being soaked by it). The scent of the epic mar pacífico saturated our senses...when the fumo from the diesel delivery trucks wasn't challenging our lungs. A beautiful day in this seaside town indeed.
Last night, after hours of exhaustive searching for hopefully not-too useless souvenirs for those back home, we all stumbled back to our rooms for a much-desired nap. Our hotel vecinos and the raucous soundtrack of the $5 Party Taco Bar across the street conspired to keep us from deep sleep. Thus we donned new skirts (and in Sarah's case, road rash) to sweat in and ventured out once more into the jovial beach-side streets for dinner and Saturday night adventures. After a short-lived attempt at Karaoke and feeding the mangy but sweet mutts of the town we braved a torrential downpour. We experienced why they call a rainstorm a tormenta for a reason.
We awning-hopped until we arrived at the infamous $5 Taco Bar. there we joined the two elderly ladies dancing in front of the live band. Our Gringa moves wowed the crowd . Among us we boasted a sassy salsa señorita and traditional Bavarian folk clogger. Both had the crowd on their feet.
We met/danced with a sailor from up north, a local high school history/geography teacher and an international lover of salsa. Additionally, CI Jane assassinated any doubts about her ability to shimmy through the night like a Latin princess. Indeed by the end of the night one might have thought we were from the $5 taco bar--we closed the place down! My carriage was long-since a pumpkin by the time we left.
This morning, after a delicious meal of huevos fritos, fresh fruit and perhaps one too many butter packets, Sarah and Alicia hit the beach with their classmates. After the beach, we had our last meal in San Juan at the $5 taco bar (some may call it home) and wandered the markets attempting to bargain with local vendors.
Although for us this was a weekend escape, we were reminded in small ways that it is a rural town where families live and work--we'll always remember the sweet little girl with her chicks on the front door step.
Back to el Centro in the morning -- more posts to come!
--Alicia y Sarah
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