i'm back in sámara, and have been greeted by the most momentous torenta (STORM) i have ever slept through in my life. one of my friends was ACTALLY hit by lightning. don't worry, he's okay.

so. ziplining. well for starters, it kicks ass. primero, our zipline tour guides jump on the zip line, upside down, and zip across the canopy like howler monkeys. it was an amazing start to an amazing time. to describe the get6up, you wear a harness that's basically the same that you'd use rapelling in rockclimbing, with and extra carabiner to connect you to a contraption that lets you slide along the zip wire, and a pair of thick work gloves that have huge reinforcements across the palms. these zip wires are big mental cables that are strung across valleys, the ground rolling probably about 300 feet below you. i might be exaggerating, but I don't really know becauser the brochure is at home. suffice it to say that the trees are veeeery very small, and that you fly across the valley, feet dangling in the air, with one hand on the cabler attaching you to the zipline, and the other our behind you on the cable, keeping you upright, or breaking as the case may be. you climb up the mountain this way, one zipline to a set of stars to the next zipline, traversing the valley about four times in total, with several shorter zig zags through the canopy of the forest. then (drumroll) you get to the tarzan swing. and ho0ly god, is that ever fun. you stand on a platform, while they secure you to a long cable, you take a deep breath, and jump off. yes that's what i said. you free fall into the heights of the rainforest, until the cables pulls taught and swings you in a huge arc over the forest floor.....actually....quite a bit above the forest floor. it is such an incredible rush, it is flying pure and simple. you swing back and forth, hooting wildly in wide arcs and you friends on the platform above you laugh and cheer. the tour guides on a lower platform then throw what looks like a chain of deflated innertubes around you waist as you lose momentum, and haul you back onto the platform. after this, if you're an intrepid madowman, like yours truly, you take the very last zipline across the entire valley upside down, so you're weightless, and free, and the entire valley is floowing beneath you (while the guide holds your feet, they need to make it safe) it was...just amazing. my words are actually running out, impossible. actually i think thats because i'm a bit sleep deprived, but anyways. ziplining, is awesome.

I have TONS of picures, and several videos, which i'll post when i get home and can load it all on my computer.

next, random thought/rant. it is incredibly frustrating, traveling with an ugly american. when you are stuck, in a van, with someone who is bigoted and ignorant, and insecure on top of it, who thinks that saying "i dont mean to offend you" before saying something offensive is okay. very very frustrating. as an interesting counterpoint to this frustration i was reading How to practice by the dalai lama on this trip. there was lots of centering, and trying to bring compassion and subtle edification on how to be a good person, and trying to let me own anger at his behavior go. it was a fascinating dichotomy, and a good learning experiance.
it was also interesting to look around, and to realize that i have become/am becoming one of the people who thinks before he/she speaks, who dosnt prattle or insist that all eyes are turned to them at all times, and has the presence of mind to respect others opinions, instead of unconciously trying to make everyone agree with me with no regard to their feelings. stating all of this is not very enlightened of me, but it was interesting for me to watch, as it helped me realize how far i have come, and how glad i am that this is the progress that I have made.
these observations made it especially awesome to find a couple of other people with whom to share the wonder of this trip with, and to silently commiserate with over the frustration of wailing through a rainforest wonderland with someone who is filling the air with obcenities, racial slurs, and his anger.
maybe a good experiance to appreciate good traveling mates even more.


anyhoo, on arriving home, i finally got a tico family! gladys and daniel are funny, and kind. thei home is small but very pretty. we watched bridge over saigon, and lord of the rings (two towers) in spanish last night (it made me think of you em :P) while my tica mama tried to stuff my to the brim with fantastic food. god how i love being fed! it also seems, that my family actually likes spices! they have jars full of chilis that would do you proud seanny, and this awesome stuff called machuzca ( i think? i'll ask again tonight) that tasted like this crazy vinegar curry with carrots and potatoes in it that dad would LOVE. p.s. watching american movies dubbed in spanish helps you pick up the language so quickly! as does living with ticos, as the only way to communicate and enjoy yourslef is to talktalktalk.

anyways, there is a nicve old man waiting for the computer, and i've chattered long enough. time to find a hammock out of the rain to nap in.

pura vida