Do You Believe in Magic?

Day 9 5/7/12 Thursday Quote of the Day: "So, what about you and your family, like who's more hyperactive, your dad or your mom?" ~Annoyingly loud girl at the table within earshot of us. Seriously, what kind of question is that? Be with me. Well, if we awakened anyone after out "late" night last night, they certainly got their paybacks this morning. Loudly shutting the doors, talking, and rummaging through luggage. Alright, alright, I'll get up already... It's raining hard here this morning, so hopefully it'll burn off here soon, or at least just stop raining so we can enjoy our day at the hot springs. For now, we'll take care of some housekeeping business and head there this afternoon. We'll give La Fortuna a few more hours to prove itself... After another delicious meal *lunch* at Soda Viquez, we ched out something around the town. Important things like the chocolate shop and the ice cream shop. The chocolate shop actually was important because I thought there'd be a lot of Chocolate in Costa Rica, but it's like they're having a shortage or something. It's definitely a big delicacy here. We also looked at the church in the town square. It was a beautiful building and very big. I like how the churches are always open here. You can often find people inside praying. I think that's what happens when the doors are quite literally always open. People feel welcome to walk through the doors. After making our way back to the hostel, we had "Alan" at reception call us a taxi. Alan was responsible for the great American music last night, but today he is feeling the Rasta vibe. A lot of Rasta has been played today. Regardless, our taxi was here in minutes, and swept us off to the hot springs. I was slightly disillusioned by the fact that the hot springs exist at two main resorts here. I was thinking that they'd be more like in nature, not part of man made structures. I mean, that's how we roll in Oregon...Cougar Hot Springs anyone? But, when we arrived to Baldi Hot Springs Hotel and Resort, I knew it'd be a good day of leisurely fun. This massive compound consists of 25 swimming pools, 3 waterfalls, a giant jacuzzi, and an all natural sauna. In addition, there are restaurants and wet bars to enjoy, as well. It was quite impressive and all I could think of was, "Well, I found the place where Jeanine and I can come, next time I come to Costa Rica." This place is right up her alley. All of the water in the pools and waterfalls, is heated by the Arenal volcano. Oh and how could I forget there are 3 waterslides, as well? The slides are super fun but also super dangerous. Tow of the tree slides are completely enclosed, so we opted for the one that was not enclosed to get us started. Thinking, this would probably be the mildest one. We couldn't have been more wrong. The open air slide was the shortest, and super fast. You are literally catching air as you go off the bumps. It was easily the fastest waterslide I have ever been on. Well, that is until I went down the second slide. Jason took video down the first water slide, which is absolutely hilarious because the camera is going everywhere. He also got video footage of me coming down, screaming my head off. Unfortunately, he didn't get all the people laughing and watching me. That would have been entertainment! So, after debriefing the first slide, we head off for the next one. We decided to go down the second slide, because the third slide was the longest, and therefore, we equated that with possibly the scariest. I got a little nervous when the sign next to the slide said, "Caution: You may reach up to 45 Km per hour." Knowing nothing about this mode of measurement, I asked Jason, "Wait, what does that translate to?" Jason thought about that briefly then said, "I have no idea." We laughed, it's probably best we don't know. But, I was thinking, hmmmm, when we drive down the road, I see speed limit signs that say 40 Km/hr and I know that we are going at least that speed, if not more, in our taxi. This shall be interesting. Jason was going to go first, obviously. So, off he goes, when shortly after he leaves I hear a loud "THUNK!" on the slide. The staff person working at the top makes this horrendous face, and says, "UH OH!" I'm going, "Wait, what happened? Is he okay? What's going on?" and I'm trying to see down the side of the slide to where it enters the pool. I can see nothing. Next thing I know, the staff guy is saying, "Es ok. Go, Go." Um, I have very little faith that this is going to be very safe and I really, really don't know what I'm getting myself into, and I have no idea what happened to Jason. All I know is, I have to get down this slide. YOLO. So, off I go! This slide is probably twice as fast as the last one that I thought was fast...and before I know it, I'm spit out of the slide and greeted with a horrendous wedgie. Ow! Jason is awaiting me, laughing his head off. He says, "Dude, I totally whacked my heel on that thing!" I know. I heard it. I'm glad it wasn't his head, or he'd have been concussed for sure. At any rate, I'm sure his heel will bruise. The last slide was the tamest, in fact, there were moments where I didn't even have enough speed going and I thought I was going to get stuck in the slide. After that adventure, we walked through the tropical gardens. They were beautiful, of course, but I would have enjoyed them much more had I had some shoes on. The rocks were torture to my feet. At one point, Jason and I split up in the gardens because we were looking for a Mayan Pyramid. We saw all these signs advertising said pyramid, but we couldn't find it. I ended up just going round and round in the gardens. I began to feel like Katniss Everdeen in Catching Fire. Am I stuck in a circular arena? What are the dangers that exist here? We explored the 3 waterfalls, which were scalding hot. I mean, we were almost in pain passing through the water runoff. In the midst of these waterfalls, imagine a very petite Asian woman, wearing shorts, a straw hat, and a yellow rain slicker embroidered with a Tellatubbie. Now imagine this same woman, laying on the rocks under the waterfall, and letting the scalding water pour over her entire body. She looked like she was trying to take a nap! Now, even I could not sleep like that. Perhaps, she was meditating. Her pain tolerance is much higher than mine, that is all I know. We hung out at the pools all afternoon, and when it started thundering and lightning we decided it would be a good time for a drink. The drinks were at resort price but at least we were under a little cover at the swim up bar. Then, we went back to our lounge chairs and had a rest after such a taxing day. Ha ha. By this time, it was getting dark and pouring down rain. Nice and humid. Near perfect sleeping conditions. We got back to the hostel sleepy and ready for bed, except that it was only about 7 oclock. But the magic never ceases at a hostel, you see, because, I was thinking perhaps tonight I would get a chance to start reading my book that I bought specifically for this trip, but the Spanish rasta music is very distracting. I'd like to shower but someone in our room clogged the toilet. Do not ask me how this happens, when you are in a country that doesn't flush toilet paper. But it happened, nonetheless. I don't really want to think about it, actually. Simply, part of the magic of sharing a room with 6 strangers. This reminds me of the Real World television show, "What happens when you put 6 strangers in a house, and people stop being polite, and start getting real..." Yes, that could happen...soon... Tomorrow we will ride horses to La Fortuna waterfall. Keeping fingers crossed for good weather. Goodnight, goodnight wherever you are! Judy p.s. Jason is ridiculously good at impersonations!