May: all about the beach

So this month I am back to work, after a long respite and time to recuperate after a very wet week in Heredia with my last group.

Currently enjoying the beach at CPI Flamingo, with a group of grad students from Chicago, IL. I am constatly reminded of my best friend while listening to the group speak, as many of them have that typical Chicago accent, especially the professor of the group who has a slightly stronger accent. Missing my BFF!

This group has been wonderful so far, but it has only been 48 hours since I picked them up from LIR (Liberia's international airport). They are much more focused and mature which is a relief and a pleasure, often having to work with rambunctious high school groups or college students who tend to be very thirsty...!
Yesterday we made arroz con pollo for lunch and watched the sunset before coming back to our hotel for dinner.
That is right, I am in a hotel with this group during thier stay...a whole 2 weeks of AC! What a luxury! But I still shower with just the cool water, it is much too hot to turn on the hot water.
Here in this area the majority of homes do not have hot water, as there is no need for it! Hotels may, or newer rental homes, but most ordinary people would never dream of bathing with hot water in this environment. Right now it is very dusty here, as rainy season has not yet swept in to dampen everything and lessen the dust and dry dirt that is disturbed by bikes and cars and four-wheelers coming and going down the  unpaved streets. Life on the beach is not as glamourous as you may imagine...unless of course you are living in a hotel, haha!

While we were doing a walking tour of downtown Flamingo and looking at all of the high rise condominiums and hotels, one of the students commented that living here would probably cause the beach and the atmosphere to lose it's novelty...and asked me if living here had caused some of the novelty to wear off.
After reflecting I have to admit that yes...living in Costa Rica is lovely, but it is not always paradise. I often get frustrated at the system, not having reliable postal service, the potholes in the road and the prices of some items in the grocery store, not mention the lack of chocolate and peanut butter flavored candies and ice cream! When I have one of these moments I have to step back and take a deep breath.
I am living in a beautiful country on the whole, with an amazing person and I would not change that for the world. The most important thing to remember, coming from the USA is...
"Not better, not worse, just different." So true.