Sunday, February 13th - The Bus Stop Gang

at Ariba's with Emma :)

The random bus stop kids...and our 1st bonfire!

Today we woke up ready for a full day at the beach. Emma, who stuck with TEFL has been dying for a day to herself after a week of being in school from morning until night. We packed up our beach bag and had some great philosophical chats while enjoying the sun and doing some swimming. Emma went to skype her family and we enjoyed a nice walk down the beach hunting for shells. We headed home at around 4 to shower and get ready for happy hour with Emma. Jenny made vegetable quesadillas, which turned out to be a delicious dinner. If only we had the skills to make chips and guac like Kala. We went out with laptops in tow to do some skyping after our cocktails. We headed to Arriba, where we met quite an eclectic group of friends. The ringleader was Madison, a 20-year old surfer boy and self-proclaimed “free spirit” sporting a Justin Beiber haircut. We immediately decided he was a perfect match for Jenny’s loco younger sister, Brittany (pics to come Britt). Madison’s group of “friends” were really a bunch of solo travelers he had met at bus stops during his time hopping around Central America. Travis from Oregon (Emma couldn’t stop obsessing over what she referred to as his “midget-like” hands); a tall Italian guy sporting a t-shirt about “wankers”; a Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite look-a-like; and Brian, a cheerful bearded guy who showed up and joined the crew. Madison suggested a bonfire on the beach so we left Arriba and weaved our way to the beach, beers in hand. Once there, Madison took on full eagle scout role directing us to gather wood for the fire. We were not very helpful but luckily Emma was able to gather a few flammable palms in her bike basket. Beach bonfire was a great time with lots of random conversation - but mostly just us and Emma cracking up about our current surroundings and how wonderful this little cocktail excursion had turned out to be. We walked home, Emma wheeling her bike, and were ready for a great sleep….until the power went out taking our fan with it. Holy hotness, far from a great sleep or even a good sleep. Prepare for tomorrow, “holy grogginess, I need a siesta!”