I made it!!! It was a bit of a trip, and a ride through the mountains but I made it! I got some ca$h from the ATM and some dinner and some stuff for the fridge (coke, gaterade, water and OJ) and I think I might be hitting the sack soon….
Here’s the view if you walk outside (about 50 meters) the hotel, I took it right after I checked in. I’ll try to take more pictures and post more tomorrow…
Posted in Costa Rica 2007, holidays + events
Tagged Costa Rica, Jaco, Jaco Beach, Pacific Ocean, tour
So while I’m never thrilled to get up at 4 am, it’ll be nice to arrive at my destination in the early afternoon. But the best part is that right now we’re up above the clouds and the sky is all orange in the distance.
I used to love looking at the clouds when I flew and thought I’d never tire of them. These days of bringing all my stuff on the flight to entertain myself, getting an aisle seat generally outweighs the window option.
So the clouds all look like now or water out thee, i’d love to skydive through it sometime to just see how it feels, it all looks so solid. It’s such a bright orange and red and pink off in the distance and the lights kinda coming from below it almost looks as if the slow in the distance is on fire.
Later – It’s mostly up now, but there’s still this burning orange in the distance and the color of the clouds has this icy blue look to it in the light. Out the opposite side of the plane it still looks dark and you can see the cities lit up.
More later – Now it’s got that normal icy/snowy look to it that I’m used to seeing when I fly at a reasonable hour :)
Posted in Costa Rica 2007, general
Tagged airplane, beautiful, clouds, Costa Rica, Sunrise
I’ve got my Christmas tree up! It always makes me very happy to get it up, I was even happy when I got it up last night and didn’t even have ornaments on it, just the lit tree makes me happy. I always dread putting up of it and the decorating, this year I got Mom to come help with the decorating. We got it and the house done. We ate out at the Seahorse Grill (review later). We computed a little bit on her laptop. And we returned my copy of of Living Abroad in Costa Rica which it turns out I had a copy of already by a different publisher (same author) and I purchased a copy of Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs and etiquette in Costa Rica. And of course, we listened to Christmas songs…
So I’ve always liked Skype it’s a great backup for my phone and it’s great for calling home when I’m on vacation. At 2.1 cents per minute, it’s hard to beat the price as long as you’ve got a semi-decent internet connection. Not that I talk a lot when I travel but I always feel like I’m being initiated when trying to figure out long distance calling when in a foreign country. They 2.1 cents is just for calls to the US, other countries have different rates.
The goofy* thing is that it’s 2.1 cents to call the US wherever I am, from next door, Egypt or Costa Rica it’s all 2.1 cents! But with the same reasoning it’s 6.4 cents to call Costa Rica, that’s if I’m here in Michigan or down there. Of course if I’m calling someone else’s Skype computer it’s free from anywhere to anywhere.
I just upgraded to the new Mac version, I was 1.1 versions behind. I think the call quality is significantly better and I noticed the touch tones work better, so now I can call my (misplaced) cell phone and listen to my messages. Continue reading
So I caved and ordered my $200 laptop, actually I had to order two . The only way to get one is to donate one, so you actually get one for yourself and a tax deductible laptop that is donated to a developing nation (total = $400). The Get 1 Give 1 (G1G1) program only lasts 5 more days (ends November 26) so order now.
As a “Give One Get One” donor, you will receive one of the first XO laptops to be distributed in North America. Laptops will be delivered on a first come, first served basis.
In addition, T-Mobile gives you one-year complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpots (I think you can use any laptop there, not just the XO). So that’s an extra bonus too. The tax write off for part of it and a year of free hotspots (granted I wouldn’t have purchased it, but I will use it) give even more value to it. And I’ll probably spend a little more time at Starbucks and Borders now.
Here’s some more details from when I had mentioned this $100 laptop before and some reviews on the laptop and the program. I’m not sure why they’re limiting the window for when you can buy it or why it’s limited to the US and Canada. I just wish I had it for my next trip to Costa Rica….
Tagged $100 laptop, computing, Costa Rica, Get 1 Give 1, Get one Give one, kids, MIT, OLPC, one laptop per child, portable, Wireless, XO, XO laptop
So the exchange rates are pretty good for people from the US traveling to Costa Rica these days. You can see from the graph it’s been going up ever since my first trip in 1999, prices have gone up there too, especially costs for tourist type things, but it’s still been a decent value. Especially when you compare it to Britain or Canadian exchange rates, where the dollar has considerably dropped in value lately. It hasn’t really changed much since my last trip but it should be pretty good for my next one, it’s about 520 to $1.00 today.
1000 CRC = $ USD Currency data courtesy coinmill.com |
More info on The exchange rate, some from Wikipedia (currency photos) and from Vacation City (currency photos).
I can’t even tell you how badly that I needed that! It was more like 6 hours and I was up for a few and then 6 hours more, it was wonderful…
I haven’t gotten anywhere near enough sleep lately (even when I’ve been sick). I’ve been shortchanged on sleep too much lately, way too many 5 hour nights; I’ve been pretty happy with the few 7 hours nights and those just aren’t enough to catch up. Work and life has been a little extra cRaZy and stressful lately and I’m sure this will help a little bit. I’m sure a few more days like this every week would really help…
Now if only there was some sunshine outside!
Another photo-meme. Today the Thursday Photo Challenge is Wildlife so I’m using this White-Faced Monkey photo from Montezuma, Costa Rica.
If you look very close (just below/by the neck) you can see there is a (very tiny) baby on the back of the monkey!
Speaking of Costa Rica, here’s a information page from Time for Kids about Costa Rica…
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