There was no margherita in my marhgerritttt....

Yes, I'm a drittle but lunk. Yo creo que no hay margherita miz en mi margerita ... so be it.

Okay, so vacation only gets better. I hate to rub it in, but tropical paradises ... you just can't beat them.

Last night, I met John and Thomas and Guy and Molly. Ahhh. Thomas and John were Canadian, I don't know where Guy was from and Molly was from about 10 blocks from me in San Francisco. All great people though. Of note: Molly just happened to be a yoga teacher and massage therapist ... so we exchanged massages last night under the stars and by the sea. Can it really get any better than that after the truly relaxing day I had already had? The correct answer: no.

They all left this morning though (bummer!) and the town was feeling a little empty. I was feeling lonely for a little while until I decided to hike up to the waterfalls. Ay de mi! Beautiful!!

The falls were a little crowded, but it didn't matter b/c everyone was just in a great mood. And while there, I met Daniel (from Toronto) who quit his job after 14 years to travel and Joyce, a lovely young dutch woman who I had seen all over town the day before. We sat around talking and watching people jump off the falls, went for swims and baked in the hot, tropical sun.

On the hike back to Montezuma, we found ourselves in the midst of a family of white-faced monkeys traveling through the trees. This was my first Costa Rican wildlife experience and it was truly amazing. Monkey's are so cool!

We stopped at the little trailside food stand at the base of the trail where they serve various grilled meats in banana leaves. As we were sitting there, the cutest tiny little puppy you ever did see crawled on my lap and got comfy. Joyce and I gave her some water and then she slept in my lap for a half an hour. Joyce asked Guierrmo (the owner) if she could take her home to Holland with her. He said yes and proceeded to hand her the dog food, her medicine (with instructions). He then handed his wife and friend a beer to toast the departure of their little one. Needless to say, we couldn't really take the puppy with us. Besides, Joyce would have to fight me for her! We called her Vida (after "Pura Vida" which is the Costa Rican saying - it means "Pure Life") and vowed to go visit her tomorrow.

Then, like every good day in Montezuma, we found ourselves drifting in the ocean and laying in the hot sand. It's so good to meet people I like so much. Quality people all around. Joyce works with autistic people back in Gouda (pronounced How-da) despite the fact that she doesn't like cheese. Her English is really good so that allowed us to talk in depth about things other than "Where are you from?", "How long are you travelling?", etc.

What's even better is that while lying on the beach, I look up and there is Steven (from the plane and San Jose) with his friend Melissa! They arrived from San Jose that afternoon. So great to see people I enjoy spending time with!!

At sunset, Joyce and I went for a drink (where I had the infamous non-margherita margherita) and talked about relatonships, religion, music, etc. and played some pool. Now we are taking a rest before dinner and a night on the town with our collective friends.

Really, folks, this is the vacation I needed. I could stay here for a long long time. (Though Joyce is convincing me to go north where I can do a small eco-tour to watch sea turtle mama's lay their eggs at night. That sounds pretty good ... I might have to take her advice, she said it was one of the best things she has ever done in her life). Only time will tell.

I hope you are all well. Life is good.