7-27-07
i woke up around 5:30 this morning and pulled the laptop under the mosquito net to do some reading. so far i don’t mind the lack of internet at the house, it’s a nice distraction free environment. my attention bounces around a lot less often when i don’t have constant twitter and pownce updates streaming in, friends going on and offline or changing status in my buddy list, email arriving, etc. i am fairly aware of and disciplined about managing notifications and minimizing windows that are constantly updating, but without a connection i can’t help but be. getting broadband up to the house isn’t impossible, but it might be an effort, and i am not sure how motivated i am to change the peace and quiet here.
so far, i love playa cocles and the surrounding areas. the people are relaxed and friendly, the food is terrific, and being in the middle of tropical rain forest next to the beach pretty much fits the definition of living in paradise. yesterday i stopped by landlord juan’s place as i rode to town, and we hung out for a while as he showed me the pizzeria he is building. he’s originally an architect from argentina, as a point of pride and with a good sense of humor about it, refuses to learn english. his wife is a tica and speaks perfect english, and his kids laughed at him as we struggled to communicate . luckily, we were both highly motivated in our desire to shoot the shit, and hammered out a pretty decent conversation. he’s an interesting guy who has built a lot of cool stuff here, including the house we are renting, a bunch of buildings around his residence, and a successful bar/restaurant downtown that he just sold. on my way back from town i stopped back in and he gave me a tour of his incredibly diverse collection of trees, including lychee fruit, all sorts of citrus, star fruit, several amazonian trees with names i don’t remember, and a couple of the tallest avocado trees i have ever seen. he told me he would never go back to the suit and tie architect job he had in argentina and i don’t blame him. he has a great life going, la pura vida.
i am still yet to get some bodysurfing in. that is on the agenda for today. i just glanced at the clock on the computer, and realized that the stock market is opening in ten minutes, seven-thirty local time here, and i have already been up for a couple hours. not bad, but i am still figuring out where to go for internet in the morning. marlena’s place at the end of the road doesn’t open until 10. i should talk to her about grabbing signal before she officially opens.
it’s somewhat later, and i am sitting on the patio at cabinas el tesoro, where the proprietor told me he is putting in an antenna that will blanket the hotel and beach with wifi. it’s not here yet though, so i am having a coffee and reading yesterday’s news before i head back up to cafe rio negro at ten.