sun, sand, and relaxation [week 6]

Hi Friends and Family,


Greetings from beautiful sunny Costa Rica!  Sorry to rub it in after last week's ice storm, but its gorgeous here.  Its consistently been 75 every day and lovely.


We had some wonderful adventures this weekend!  I think we're finally learning that the best parts of Costa Rica are far outside of San Jose.  Yesterday we headed to Playa Herradura, a beach about an hour and a half outside of the city.  Though we've had plans to go to the beach for the past few weeks, we've had some trouble making the early bus.  I'm so happy that we finally did!  









Playa Herradura is a small beach town close to the large Marriott Los Suenos Resort.  We found this beach--- perfect for swimming, relaxing under a palm tree, and enjoying the day.  Around 5pm we headed back to Jaco, a larger beach town, to find a gorgeous sunset.  It was kind of like this: 

After yesterday's relaxation, we went to my work retreat today in Ciudad Colon, a suburb about 30 minutes outside of San Jose.  Maybe "work retreat" isn't the best phrase to describe today's festivities; it was more of a Sunday celebration.  Just imagine Latinos from nearly every country in the Americas--- Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia--- enjoying their Sunday's together.  We ate, we drank (a little), and played soccer, or futbol as its known here.  As I am amazingly un-athletic, playing was a challenge-- especially with the very competitive Brazilian and Mexican on my team!  I think I heard the phrase, "Jill, what are you doing?? Kick the ball!" multiple times.  By the end of the game, a couple neighborhood kids joined in to play.  As they were totally without fear, they dove and grabbed the ball as if we were playing on nice grass (when in fact we were playing on very rough cement).  

It was an absolutely wonderful day!  Now, we have our upcoming visits to look forward to!  Yay!  In the next months we have much awaited visitors every few weeks starting with Greg and Leah at the end of February.  Can't wait!  Many more photos to come!

Saludos!  

Jill ( y Dan)

PS.  Dan would like to add that, despite our full calendar, we would LOVE to have more visitors!  Take a look outside at the grey and the snow.  Then, look at plane fares.  Then, let us know when we'll you be heading down.