Some more photos from Costa Rica

For those of you who are interested....here are some more photos from my recent trip to Costa Rica. I'm back in Silver Spring now and trying to get in my final month (!) of tri training before my first race. May 18th is coming too soon.....


I can't figure out how to get this right side up...but a craftsman carves out a box at his workshop

Posing by the largest ox cart wheel....

Pointing to the lagoon in the background. Do you see it? We didn't either.

Two oxen get a reprieve from pulling their load while they pose.

The ox cart owner and I share a moment.....

Photos from Mexico and Costa Rica

Here are some photos from my recent trip to Mexico and my current (and on-going) trip to Costa Rica:

Mom gets a pedicure poolside in Mexico.

Mom and I pause at the top of the hill.

The main office of Rio Caliente.


I pose with one of the mascots of the Beijing Olympics at the arts fair in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The panorama of coffee fields as we drove out of San Jose to the Poas Volcano.

At Poas, our view of the crater was obstructed by clouds and rain. I hid under the viewing platform to escape the worst of it.

Alisia and I pretend to be oxen big enough to pull the world's largest ox cart. Seriously, even the Guinness Book of World Records says it's the biggest.

Buenos dias!

Greetings from Costa Rica. I'm here until Friday for work. Not a bad gig...and I rarely (seriously) get the "not bad" gigs. I'm here to do OFDA's NGO training for partners. It's a nice break from the Darfur routine.

Today was a national holiday (I think to celebrate a revolution) so my friend Alisia and I went on a little one day tour of a volcano crater, a town with a metal church and a town where they make the traditional ox carts. It was ok, but tiring. The problem is that it's the start of the rainy season so while we hiked up to the crater---nothing but clouds. Oh well. But it was good.

The main problem so far is food. I always think of Central America as having similar foods, but I'm much better off in Guatemala then here. But they are big meat eaters here. The other problem is options close to our hotel. There's a burger king, a chinese restaurant, a subway and a Houston-based chicken chain. Seriously? I just want some rice and beans. Fortunately there's fair nearby so we went to have some "street food".

Our hotel's a little ghetto on the outside but the room's are ok and there's cable (which I don't have at home) so it's a nice treat! Of course, the gym is under renovations...so I'm totally screwed. this is supposed to be one of my big training weeks and with my race at the end of May I've feeling the pressure!!!

Anyway--I've also been to Mexico for a vacation with my mom which was fantastic. I have some photos of both trips and will post more soon. I haven't been writing mostly becuase there's not a lot to say and I'm mostly just trying to get myself together.

Anyway--more soon. Cuidense!!