Tribute: Michael Jackson

Following the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, I felt it was fitting to write up a tribute to one of the world's Great Revolutionaries in the art of music... He died yesterday of a cardiac arrest, or at least that's all we know so far... He was 50 years old... There's no doubt in my mind, that Michael had a comeback in the works, and some successful years ahead of him... He had a 3-year tour booked for Europe, and was working on a new groundbreaking album... What a shocking thing, that he is no longer alive... When I heard the news, I was instantly in denial... Then I turned on the TV, to watch as they made it official. When I told my dad, I almost began to choke up... Just to say the words out loud was chilling... "Michael Jackson is dead"...

I mean the guy was an icon to me... Number 6, on my 50 Greatest Musicians... Growing up as a kid, he was everything... From his music, his dancing, his videos, the works! Me, Philip, and Jhormy especially idolized Michael Jackson. He was probably the first musician I ever really liked... And I continued to like him through high school, with Serg and other friends... Always trying to dance like him at the school-dances... Sure he went through some controversial times, yet I never was mad at him... Every artist is a little different, perhaps crazy, yet that's what makes them so unique... Michael Jackson was truly a unique artist... and I don't think his personal life affects his legacy whatsoever! His music will impact people for many, many years to come. His death is a very sad loss to the musical world!

Some noteworthy songs from the King of Pop;

"Smooth Criminal"
"I wanna Rock with You"
"Beat it"
"Bad"
"Man in the Mirror"
"Black or White"
"Billie Jean"
-and many, many, more!

Back in the States

So after 3 months of living in an entirely different country I have finally returned back to the states, home here at Keikionga... Kind of unsure what to think so far, but I am very happy to see dad, Gabriel & Andres once again... The place is about the same, except for the immense heat, yellow paint, and my room that seems to have turned into a giant messy closet over the past 3 months... I'm honestly not sure what's next... Whatever it is, I hope it happens fast!


The last week in Costa Rica was good.. Madre & Jackie came to visit, and we saw some things... I took them to La Fortuna, on a 5 hour bus ride through the mountains... I don't think they enjoyed the ride as much as I did... we got there late, and unfortanetly Arenal was quite cloudy... yet we got to a resort deep in the forest called, "Linda Vista del Norte" which was simply breath-taking... On one side was Lake Arenal and the other was the mountain range... we had a very fancy dinner at night, with some good cocktails... the pina colada hit madre a little too hard, and she had to wipe out around 7... me and Jack hit up the pool, swam up to the bar, and had some beers, while we watched the lava flowing down from the volcano... It was quite incredible and I'm very happy I finally got to see lava... The next morning we had some good gallo pinto, took a dip, and then left the hotel...

Later that day I took them to the Catarata, but it became more of a headache than anything... We were quite short on time to begin with, and the place was extremely packed with people... when me and jack went to take a dip in the cold water, a group of tourists accidentally grabbed my bag... talk about panic! This bag had everything in it, my life! (passport, wallet, camera, etc..) So we had to chase the group up the long stairway to retrieve the bag... after all this chaos, we hopped on a bus to San Carlos to visit Dona Janette... she cooked us a good lunch, and I said goodbye to her... I'll miss that old lady, she was like a grandma... I think Madre, Jack, and Grill are going to visit her this weekend though, so thats good!

That night we went to a Venezuelan party, at Daisy's house, which had some good mariachis performing... we had several drinks, some good appetizers, and spaghetti paella for dinner... the next day Humberto took us to see Volcan Poaz, yet we had terrible luck, and the entire thing was clouded... we didn't get to see the crater... though we did get to see the famous ox-cart, coffee plantations, and had an incredible lunch! Later that night, we went to a party at Don Humberto's house... the entire family was there, and I said my goodbyes to the family...

On Sunday we went to church with Don Humberto & Dona Nurria, and then went over to their house to have some juice... Nurria showed us her incredible crafts collection... after this we had a good soup that Queta made, then took Humberto to the airport... We spent the evening at home that night... The next day I took madre & Jack to San Jose to do some shopping and see Avenida Central... We spent several hours walking up and down the avenue getting souvenirs, presents, and what-not... that night we made hot-dogs for dinner, and then went out for a final bash in Costa Rica with Queta and Daisy... We were a group of only Venezuelans, and not a single Tico... It was an all out "Rumbia"... lots of drinks, dance, and craziness... a very fun night! I've definetly come to the conclusion that Venezuelans just know how to have a better time than Ticos...

Though in the end I have no regrets... it was an incredible experience that has shown me so much... it was exactly what I needed in my life, and has opened my eyes to a side of me I often forget... a side of me, that I want to continue to discover and partake in... Latin culture, is just too much fun to let go, and one day I intend to make it out to Venezuela, Panama, Columbia, Argentina, Brasil, Chile, and so forth to experience every aspect of Latin-America... Costa Rica will always have a place in my heart... the biggest lesson I learned here was that life is more important than possessions! That life shouldn't be taken so serious... to be grateful and happy for what you have... their motto says it all... "Pura-Vida!"

Volcan Irazu

On Sunday I woke up early to join Queta and Humberto at the Ferria, the morning marketplace of fresh produce... We loaded up many bags of fruits & vegetables... Afterwards we drove out to Cartago to visit the Irazu Volcano National Park... The drive was quite incredible, as we journeyed up a winding mountainside road, and could see the entire cities of Cartago and San Jose... We stopped at a restaurant in a pueblo near the summit, to have some good Gallo Pinto... The owner noticed that me & Humberto were quite the "Chileros" and gave us a free bottle of his custom Mayan recipe... Afterwards we continued to drive further up the mountain until finally we reached the entrance of the park...

When we got to the park, we had to suit up, since it was pretty windy and chilly... We did a little bit of walking, but it was not long until we reached the summit and were looking down and into the amazing crater of the Irazu... The volcano's crater has an unreal greenish lake that makes for quite a mesmerizing sight. We walked along the railway taking many pictures... Afterwards we stopped in on the souvenir shop, yet did not buy anything... Looking back at the whole thing, it took us an hour to get to the top, and an hour to get back, and we weren't even in the actual park for more than 30 minutes... Yet it was still worth the sight...

Afterwards Humerto took us to through the amazing landscape of Paraiso, to see the Cachi reservoir and dam, where we had some good corn and sugar cane... and then to the Valley of Orosi, where we crossed an old hanging bridge, and had an amazing close view of a riverside... We stopped in on a nearby restaurant to have a round of Imperials... Afterwards we drove back to San Jose to drop in on Oscar & Gabi's house. They were having a birthday party for Laura... So we had coffee, ate some good sandwiches, some good caramel cake, and sang happy birthday to Laura...

Alajuela and La Fortuna

I went to Alajuela on Thursday to meet up with Dona Janette, yet my phone was dead, and I wasn't able to get a hold of her... So i had a horrible day there... There really isn't much to see in the city.... The heat was extreme, I had terrible Chinese for lunch, spent way too much for a milk shake, walked for many hours, got lost several times, and to top the day off got rained on without my umbrella. I was happy to get out of Alajuela...

The next day I caught a bus to San Carlos to visit everyone... It felt good to be back in Ciudad Quesada, and although it had only been a week since I was gone, it felt like I was returning home again! I went straight to the Bariro of Coocqiue, with Dona Janette, and had lunch with the neighbors, Bridget and her family... I was unable to get a hold of Sedy or Yogi, so I had a spontaneous idea to catch a bus to La Fortuna... Of course Dona Janette wanted to join me, yet this worked out nicely because we stayed at her brother Orlando's house for the night... The following day I woke up around 6am after a great sleep and could finally see the peak of Volcan Arenal... It was a glorious sight! Just what I had been longing to see, and I sat out there on the patio for almost an hour just watching the volcano shoot smoke into the air... We had breakfast at Orlando's house and after that, Janette's niece, Ali, a very friendly English teacher, took me out to the Hot Springs... The water was extremely refreshing, and we had an incredible clear view of the volcano... After this I decided to treat Ali and Dona Janette to lunch, for showing me such a good day! I left back to San Jose around 3ish...

Heredia and UCR Futbol

After nearly a week I finally have internet once again... I've been staying here at Queta's, yet have visisted many places throughout the past week; Cartago, Heredia, Alajuela, San Carlos, La Fortuna, and Volcan Irazu... Since I'm on a serious time crunch here, I"ll have to condense these experiences into quick brief entries... this first one is about Heredia...

The city is about a good 30 minutes away from San Jose, known for its National University (2nd biggest in Costa Rica) and its Coffee plantations... I started the day at the central park, to see the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception along with the historic building, El Fortin... This fortress built in 1917 is infamous for it's terrible design, that allowed bullets in and made it impossible for soldiers to shoot out... I did lots of walking that day and later made it to a Coffee Plantation called Cafe Brit, and had some very rich Fair Trade coffee there! I don't think I've ever drank better coffee better...


I got back to San Jose around 3ish, to get a call from Oscar about a "mehenge" at the University of Costa Rica... So I caught a bus, and took part in the 4v4 indoor futbol match... The game was very fast paced, and I played some of my best futbol yet! I lost count of how many goals I scored, and our team won 12 to 11... I intend to play again this Wednesday... After the game Oscar took me on a tour around the University of Costa Rica... It is the biggest university of Costa Rica, with over 30,000 students... It has dorms, many buildings, a strip of bars, and offers practically every major... it reminds me of one of the Big Ten schools back at home... yet nothing compared to good ole IU!

Nuestra Senora de los Angeles Basilica

I decided to take a pilgrimage to the city of Cartago today, about 25 km away from San Jose... It's a holy city, best known for it's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which shelters the sacred stone statute of "La Negrita"... Dad said he visited this city with the army back in 1981... Also, the older ladies of San Carlos all recommended that I go see the basilica... So I got to Cartago without much problem, yet had no clue where to find this basilica... After a little bit of asking, I finally found it... It was an older cathedral, yet still quite extravagant! Built in 1905 and restored twice after. Inside was even more incredible, with high ceilings, statues, lights, paintings, and so forth... the place was full of people praying, yet more interesting were people who would walk the center isle on their knees... talk about painful! This was a hard-tile floor, and they would start from the back all the way to the front alter, moving little by little with their knees...


Outside and under the church, is the shrine of "La Negrita" the patron saint of Costa Rica... Here's the story;

In the year 1635 before Cartago was even a city, there was an Indian woman named Juana Pereira who was walking through the forest, when she saw a strange light coming from between the trees... So she followed the light and found a small black stone in the shape of the Virgin nestled inside a much bigger rock. She took the statue home with her, yet by some mysterious act, the stone vanished from Juana and returned twice to it's spot in the forest. Juana then gave the statue to the town priest for safekeeping, and still the Virgin mysteriously returned to its spot in the forest. Therefore the priests decided that this spot in the forest was a sacred place, and built the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles to honor "La Negrita"...
People here in Costa Rica are extremely religious, and they especially adore the Virgin Mary... Almost any house I walk into has some sort of painting, statue, or shrine of Mother Mary... I definetly got my dose of her in the month of May with Dona Janette and Rosario, and I've gained a greater appreciation for her... Yet even more importantly is a stronger faith in general, after being here in this country for almost three months... Ticos are very proud of their faith and they don't hide it... From the kids to the older people... They speak with constant references to God... "Si dios quiere!", "Gracias a dios", "Dios mio", etc... and everywhere you go you see people showing off their crosses; on necklaces, wristbands, shirts, hanging in car mirrors, etc... and every city has an incredible cathedral at its center, with a park full of people... It's awesome to see such passion... I've always been happy with my Catholic faith, Catholic family, my hardcore Catholic dad, Catholic friends, and a Catholic education... yet I think I'm even prouder now after experiencing the devotion of the Ticos...

Costa Rica vs USA

I went to the big World Cup Qualifying game this past Wednesday with Humberto & Don Humberto... We had been talking about this for the past 2 months now, and the evening had finally arrived... So we got there early to get some good seats, and the place was already packed with loud and proud Ticos... I myself was undecided who to cheer for, more interested in watching a good game... By about 7:30pm, the stadium was packed full of Ticos in red... the place was literally shaking, with 23,000 fans singing in unison; "Vamos... Vamos, Ticos... Esta Noche... Vamos a Ganar!" it was pretty cool and quite an incredible sight... Yet once the game kicked off, Costa Rica scored 2 minutes into the match, and the place went berserk... and I'm not sure what happened, but after that goal, I felt a sudden strong desire to root for my home country... Maybe it was the constant heckling of the Tico fans, calling our players "Hijos de Putas" ... not sure what it was, but for the first time in a long while, I was cheering for something to do with America! Yet as things would go, USA never had control in the game... they played timidly, afraid of the shaking stadium... We loss 3-1... Yet although I was disappointed with the outcome, it was still an unforgettable experience; to see such a passionate stadium and witness such high caliber players...
-More pictures to come on this one; The stadium wouldn't allow me to bring batteries?.. So I had to pull 'em out of my camera and couldn't take any pictures, but Humberto took lots...

Nicaragua

I knew I would be very angry at myself, if I didn't set foot into another country in Central America... So I decided to travel to Nicaragua, since it was much closer... I tried to recruit people for about a week, yet no one was quite up for the journey, so I had to venture out alone... Talk about extreme! My lease had just ended with Dona Janette, and I was defenitly ready to get away ... So I left early Sunday morning on a 6 hour bus to Penas Blancas... Sure the trip took long, but at least I was comfortable, with my headphones, plenty space, and sitting right by the window looking out into the western countryside of Costa Rica... This would be my one and only comfortable ride on this experience... I got to Penas Blancas, the frontier of Costa Rica & Nicaragua, around 2ish, and as I figured it was a total headache going through customs... The first thing I noticed right away as I stepped out of the bus, was that the place was extremely dirty! Garbage everywhere! I kind of just went with the flow of people, and waited in line for a good 30 minutes to get my passport stamped... All during this time, there were people hassling me for help and money... I also realized that I didn't have any Cordobas, the Nicaraguan currency, yet wasn't too worried about it yet... After I was cleared to leave Costa Rica, I stepped into Nicaragua, and once again had to wait in a line for customs... Yet they didn't check my bag or anything which was rather peculiar...

So once I had my documents all taken care of, I had to decide which bus to take... To be honest, I had no plan whatsoever!! All I knew was that I wanted to see Granada and Managua, the two biggest cities in the country... Yet I had no clue how to get there, and what's even funnier is I had no clue about the map of Nicaragua... I won't lie, for that first hour in Nicaragua I felt very lost, trying to figure out which bus to take... And I got to say the Nicos were definetly not very helpful either, so of course my first impression was that they were just flat out unfriendly people... but thats an inaccurate assumption since I think any body around Customs is naturally grumpy and stressed out... So finally I found a bus to Rivas, which would connect me to Granada... This bus ride was my first taste of Nico travel, uncomfortable seats, packed to the brim, and extremely bumpy roads... Yet luckily it took less than an hour to get to Rivas...

In Rivas, I got my first real glimpse of a Nicaraguan city... Poor and extremely Dirty! I first walked to find a restaurant so i could use the bathroom... There I ordered my first Tona, the Nicaraguan beer of choice... Afterwards, I returned to the bus terminal and climbed (quite literally) onto a bus to Granada... There were no seats of course, so I had to stand in the isle way of the bus, observing the Nico people... "Dirty" is the only word that comes to mind... They liter as if the world was a giant dumpster... Drink a bottle of pop and through it out the window, eat a bag of chips and throw the bag out the window... It's quite annoying but whatever, I guess thats their way of life... So anyway, the bus ride was pretty much shoulder to shoulder for a good hour, and when I finally got to Granada in the evening, I was dead tired! So I quickly found a cheap hotel, had some Gallo Pinto for dinner, a Tona, and hit the hay early!

The next morning I awoke early, to take on the full day. I began by venturing through the streets of Granada... It's a pretty cool city! It's got an old school Spanish-style colonial vibe to it, with extremely colorful buildings, horses in the streets, a lack of electricity, and so forth... I hung out in the central park for a while, very close to the amazing yellow Cathedral of Granada, trying to figure out my barrings... Shortly after I had some Gallo Pinto for breakfast, and then walked out to the Lake of Nicaragua... This water was an extremely dirty, brownish-blue color... this came as no surprise after seeing how dirty these people live... yet my experience at the lake was good... There I meet some young Nica girls, named Winnie Pamela and Carina... Me & Winnie hung out together for several hours just talking on the beach, listening to music, and so forth... Her key word was "Tuanis"... Meaning everything was good! We also went swimming, yet only for a while.


At around 1-ish, I had to bid the girls farewell to journey onward... My next sight to see was the Volcano of Masaya, in a city about an hour north of Granada. I easily caught a bus and got to the park without much of a problem... And instead of paying to take a ride to the top of the volcano, I decided to hike up that volcano... It was an hour walk uphill along a road... The weather was humid, and after a good 5 minutes I was drenched in sweat... A girl at the visitors center, tried to convince me to pay for the ride, yet I said nonsense, and became more determined to make it to the top... I had my headphones with me, some good Classic Rock and pressed onward and upward... As I got higher, the sight only got better, especially when I turned back to look how high I had climbed... Soon I was walking through clouds, and could see the glorious crater of Masaya, with erupting smoke... Yet I wanted a better view, so I journeyed up the stairway to heaven, to see the world from the highest peak! And that might have been one of the most incredible sights I had ever seen! It was as if I could see all of Nicaragua right then and there... It was especially more gratifying knowing that I had climbed it! I spent a good hour up in that peak taking pictures, and trying to get as many different views as I could... Along with the amazing downward view into the Crater, and the infinite land range of Nicaragua, there were also winding trails, a great green gorge, several snakes, and an incredible view of a lake. Yet before I knew it, it was 5pm, and the park ranger was flagging me down. So I had to go, yet was able to hitch a free ride back with the rangers... That hike was definetely the "peak" of my Nicaraguan experience...

Journeying back to Masaya was another experience, consisting of ALOT of walking along a highway... When I finally got on the bus back to Granada I was pretty tired, yet of course no surprise I had to stand the whole time, in a very awkward position! Typical Nicaragua! That night I was happy to find a cheap Hostel... I took a quick shower, and then stepped back out to take in some late night Granada... Nothing more scarier than Granada at night... there are no street lights whatsoever, with Nicos all hanging outside their doors, watching and staring at you! I know by experience, because sure enough I took several bad turns that night... Yet I walk fast and always try to look confident as if I know where I'm going, and never pull a U-turn... so I pressed forward through dark streets, full of young hoodlum Nicos, kids playing futbol in the streets, and late night parties... and I was able to achieve my goal of finding a cheap Nico restauraunt, some souvenirs, and some Tona and Victoria beers... and yes Pablo, Victorias are definetly better than Tonas! anyway I was extremely happy when I was finally safe back in my room...

Although I really wanted to see Managua, and had come so close, I had simply run out of time... I knew the trip back to Costa Rica would take all day, so I awoke around 7 to get an early start... and things worked out beautifully that day... caught a bus to Rivas and had some good breakfast there... then caught a bus to Penas Blancas, prepared for the headache to come! and sure enough it was a typical chaotic mess, much harder to get into Costa Rica than Nicaragua, obviously, yet it wasn't too big of a deal to me, because I had already expected all of this... yet my biggest concern was catching a bus to San Carlos, where all my stuff was... I knew that only 2 buses a day went from Penas Blancas to San Carlos, yet no idea whatsoever of the schedule... After about an hour of waiting in line , I figured I had no other choice but to catch a bus to San Jose, and drop in late on Queta & Humberto. Once my passport was cleared, I went to buy my ticket for San Jose, and at that moment, came a miracle! The bus for San Carlos pulled up right behind me, and the chauffeur literally came up to me, and asked if I was looking for a ride to San Carlos. I asked with great disbelief, "San Carlos, Costa Rica?"... and he said, "Si! Si!... a Ciudad Quesada!" and I said with a big smile on my face "Que Bueno!!"... man was I happy! It was definetly an act of God!

So the bus ride back took a good 6 hours, but I didn't care... I was so grateful to be on that bus, and out of Nicaragua... I gotta say that I am very happy and proud of myself for going on this excursion... I learned quite alot, and got a better understanding of some things... One is that the majority of Nicaragua, are an indigenous people overrun by poverty... for that reason things are very cheap here! The Nicos are good people for the most part, as long as you can get over the garbage and the constant haggling for money... There is lots of culture here, which I did enjoy... and the countryside really is beautiful, if only they could clean it up... yet I think for the most part I was happy enough with 3 days and 3 cities in Nicaragua, and don't intend to return again...

I got back to Ciudad Quesada around 8ish, and walked into Dona Janette's house like the conquering Francisco Cordoba himself... They had not heard from me in the past three days, and were having a farewell dinner in my name... I was welcomed back with embraces and kisses, two Imperials, and a good spaghetti dinner... It was nice to finally have something other than Gallo Pinto... It was a fitting farewell to Dona Janette, the Barrio of Cocique, the neighbors, Miguel, and just San Carlos in general... So now I'm back here with Queta and Humberto in San Jose... Phase 3 of my Costa Rican Experience has begun, and I really have no idea whats next...

Greetings from Granada

Here I am once again in a Hostel, yet no longer in Costa Rica... I decided to take a solo excursion to Nicaragua... It has already been quite the adventure, good sides and bad sides, with lots of stories to tell and pictures to show...Im in Granada right now, in a Hostel called Mochila... Granda is an old school colonial city, with lots of culture, and extremely colorful... I think I like it for the most part, yet still havent quite set my mind... I still have lots to do tonight; Souveniers, Bank, Food, a bar, and a couple of Toñas, the Nicaraguan Beer of choice, oh and most importantly is trying not to get lost tonight... Nothing is scarier than getting lost in Nicaragua... (more on this later) I plan on leaving early tomorrow back to Costa Rica and hope I can get there smoothly... the bus rides here have been another part of the experience... hopefully I can make it to San Carlos, yet it will most likely end up being San Jose... All i know is I have to make it to San Jose in time for the big game on Wednesday... In a few days Ill be making a very detailed post about this adventure and about my overall attitude about Nicaragua... Yet for now all I can say is that things are way different here and I definetly perfer Costa Rica... So Adios for now! Or as the Nicos says around here, "Tuanis"...