DeMark's post

Hey everyone, it's DeMark.

Just thought I'd add my own two cents since this blog frequently mentions "we" and "us" and just to prove Colleen isn't crazy ("She's got 200 multiple personalities, unfortunately, they're all Abraham Lincoln." "I was born in 200 log cabins!").

The gambling posts aside, this trip has been extraordinarily exciting, especially for 2 biologists. We've seen howler, capuchin, squirrel and spider monkies, as well as peccaries (like warthogs), poison dart frogs (my favorite!), orb spiders and others types of spiders, collared anteaters, dozens of different bird, fish, crab, and insect types (including the really cool leafcutter ants). It's been a great trip through many habitats, including cloud forests, dry forests, rain forests, beaches, volcanoes, and everything in between. Beyond that, we've been so lucky thanks to the generosity of so many family and friends to have been whitewater rafting, canopying touring (think ziplining from mountain top to mountain top through the trees), hiking, surfing, scuba diving (my first time- it's awesome!), snorkeling, and even some plain old lounging on the beach.

It's going to be weird for me in a couple of days when Colleen leaves for Chicago and back to her life there while I stay here and study for the rest of the summer. It'll be weird because Colleen and I have spent practically every minute together for a month and also because all of a sudden I'll be working hard in a country where all I've done up to date has been anything but. Bittersweet for sure, but I am excited. When it's all said and done, though, I'll have so many memories to look back on. Truly both a wonderful way to start a new life with such a wonderful woman and to really kick off my international human rights law study (with a nice side of the biology I miss so much).

Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know how I was feeling. Also, the Reds haven't fallen apart in my abscence, which is really important. The last two times I left the country, they didn't win a game until I checked in on their progress (which, unfortunately, was 17 days later the last time).

Enough from me. Rock on.

Now we're even

Tonight is our last night in Cahuita. Our Cahuita hotel has a garden between our bungalo and the reception where poison dart frogs jump onto the path around dawn and dusk. They are so cool. The trip out to this little stretch of Carribean coast wasn't incredibly eventful until we decided to stop in that casino in San Jose where we lost the big ones on our first day. We figured Costa Rica owed us some money and we were entitled to it. So we found ourselves in that casino again, this time with a smaller bundle but a little more determination. We put our money on black again and crossed our fingers. When that number cage topples over and over, the most unsettling feeling comes over me. I'm not quite sure if I want it to stop right away, but it always seems to take way way too long. Eventually the spinning came to an end and the ball settled into the hole to be read. BLACK! yes!! We were smart about it this time and took half of our winnings away and bet the rest on "the last 3rd." Sure enough, as fate would have it, we won again! That made us even, nothing lost, nothing gained. DeMark and I figure that Costa Rica gave us what it owes us. Not a bad feeling to have at the tail end of a trip.

Cool Creatures

We are now in Cahuita. Very interesting place. It took all day to drive across the country. We arrived at our hotel after 10pm. Luckily it had a security guard who helped us find a room with the promise that we would check in at the registration counter in the morning. We are looking forward to relaxing a little here and then it's off to Heredia where DeMark will spend the next month studying internaitonal human rights law. We were previously in Montezuma, which was both DeMark's and my favorite place so far. We saw lots of cool things in the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve, including spider and capuchin monkeys. We didn't see howlers here, but we could definitely hear them.

Our intent was to publish a post each day about all the awesome things we've seen and done in Costa Rica. But we've inevitably fallen behind. However, we don't want you to be without a few images that hopefully will capture at least a little bit of how much fun we're having. We want to thank you all so much for all of your gifts that have made this trip possible! Take a look at some of our pictures.

Costa Rica - A rich coast

Hey all,

Costa Rica! What a rich coast! The day we landed it got much richer. I'll explain. Day 1 - After landing and working our way through customs, we took a shuttle to the car rental place. This is where I found that my credit card, my only access to money, save a few hundred in American cash dollars, was not working. We were shy about $200 of the rental fee. If you've been in this situation before you know the type of desperation that soon followed. The car rental place so kindly let me dial my bank long distance. They told me there was nothing they could do since their system had been struck by lightning (What are the chances!) and was now down for an indeterminable amount of time...probably the reason why my card would not work. In the meantime, the rental place told us they would take us to an ATM nearby just to try. This just so happened to be inside of a casino. When the ATM wouldn't work for either of our cards, desperation manifested itself in a $200 bet on black. This definitely seemed to be our best option. In Costa Rica the roulette wheels are less "wheels" and more like a cage filled with lotto style numbers. This has a disconcerting effect, especially when there looks to be way more red numbers in there than black. DeMark and I held our breath as the cage spun around and around. The fateful number finally rolled down into its slot. When we caught a glimpse of that unholy red ball, our hearts sank. We ended up using our Chicago bank card, hoping that our rent check had not yet been cashed. In retrospect this was a much safer bet. Costa Rica - 1, DeMark & Colleen - 0. Future travelers, do not find yourself in this situation.