We woke up in the morning in Dominical. I was frustrated early because both instructors left the room (I shared a room with them) and I had no idea where they went. they didnīt leave a note or the room key. the boys seemed to still be asleep in their room. I sat in my room for about an hour and a half waiting for people to come back or wake up.
Afterward, I found out that Dr. Flood and David Knowles went for breakfast early, and the boys left early to walk along the beach. I was pissed that they didnīt come get me, and told me they didnīt know if we were still asleep. so instead of doing something cool with the group, I sat in my room alone. I told them that they needed to start including me, and that it didnt matter if I was asleep or not.
After all that, we went to a central, well known resturaunt for breakfast. I had french toast and Costa Rican coffee, which was really good. Dominical is a much more welcoming place during the daytime. (we arrived late last night and it didnt seem so inviting) Its a pretty nice little town, but is largely populated by gringos (whites, either American, European or Austrailan) so it has a very familiar surfer vibe. Then, we all loaded up to go to TFI. The road to TFI is mostly paved, as we leave Dominical and travel north east on a paved road. The paved road is probably about a 30 min drive. Then, turn at Platanillo onto a dirt road, which is 10 km long and goes from Platanillo, through San Juan and into Tres Piedras which is the valley in which TFI is located. This road is pretty scary at times, very bumpy but very beautiful. You see mountains, valleys, tico homes, gringo villas, and lots of cows. We cross the Rio Guabo several times. There is one spot that is severely eroded and there is barely room for one vehhicle, with about a 30 foot drop on one side and a mountain on the other.
TFI is really off the beaten path, but that isnīt to say that there arenīt local ticos who live in the valley that donīt pass buy. TFI is along a remote valley road that connects everyone in that valley.
The main house has very few walls. You are constantly exposed to nature in the house. I will upload pictures in the states so you have an idea what its like. A gringa girl named Mary lives there and is the current head caretaker. She started coming to TFI a few years ago and fell in love with the place. Mamo is an older tico who lives in the house also and does most of the clearing and maintenance around TFI. Mary`s boyfriend Jiro (Hairo) lives with her in the main house and has been really instrumental in helping Mary. he does a lot of the building and does wonderful tile work and makes furniture.
I am sleeping in a two room cabin and have a room to myself. Its kinda weird because there are three sets of bunk beds in the room and only me sleeping there. Although the room is just for me, there are windows with mosquito nets and leuver doors to cover them. One of the windows I canīt close because a bunk bed is pushed up against the wall, holding the door open. So, although I have my own room, I donīt have much privacy. I need go into the bathroom to change clothes. We have an indoor bathroom (toilet) and a half indoor, half outdoor shower, and another indoor shower that is accessible from the opposite side of the cabin. The wash basin is not in the bathroom, but on the other side of the cabin, so you have to walk around the patio to get to it. We have a little deck area with a table and chairs, and a solar cltohes drying racks (several clothes lines with a roof over it that lets in some light. On the drive in, we saw a SUPER awesome swimming hole that we will definately be hitting up later.
|
