Monday 19 October

Today Ben and I woke up around 7am so we would be ready when Ben's friend would come. Eduardo came a good 4 hours later because he was running on tico (Costa Rican) time and didn’t think he was late. So we packed everything into the car and headed off for Puerto Viejo. The trip took about 2 and one half hours and wasn’t bad at all. When we arrived to the small town were everything was Rasta and laid back. I could tell that people really took it easy here because the roads were in horrible condition and no one took the time to fix them. It was impossible for the car to travel anything over 10MPH because there were so many pot holes that would have destroyed it. Eduardo knew everyone in town and waved to all of them with the surfer wave that all the Bro's do in California. Also he saw his cousin Adman and told him to hop on the car. So the rest of the ride to the house, Adman held on to the side of the jeep and also waved to everyone he knew. Once we got to the house, we unpacked and then got started on the house. We needed to dig a 7ft deep hole for a drain. The water from the bathroom would go through a pipe and into a machine that filters out the waste and then produces 90% waster without waste in it. The hole would be filled with tires and rocks to help the clean water go into the ground easier. The waste would be trapped in the machine and after two months on sitting in the machine, you can use the waste as fertilizer. After digging the hole, it was time for surfing. I was nervous but also really excited. We strapped all the surf boards on top of the car and then headed for Playa Grande. When we got there, the waves were a pretty good size and choppy. We first waxed our boards, stretched, and then jumped into the water. The first thing I needed to learn was how to get past the huge waves breaking on top of me when I was trying to get farther out into the ocean. The boys taught me how to push down on the surf board to go under the wave and then go through it. This made it easier to get out and saved you from being torn apart by the wave. Next they taught me about timing and when to start paddling like hell to catch the wave. It took me some time but soon I got the hang of it. We left after it started to get dark and went to the Grocery store to buy dinner. We made pasta on a small gas stove and heated up refried beans and chips for a snack. There was no electricity yet in the house so our only lights were candles. The food was great and tasted good after surfing and getting beat up by all the waves. After dinner we drove into town to a hippy hotel/bar. The hotel had two open floors and there we 50 tents that were the rooms of the hotel. Then farther in the back on the first floor were hammocks. In the front there was a pool table that we played some games at. We then decided to head back and go to bed because we were going to go surfing early the next morning when the waves were big.