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Found this on the bathroom wall of the hostel. It's so true. Pelicans are pretty metal.


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My mother is a wonderful lady. I call her and we talk for a while about everything. I finally ask her about the weather mostly because a hurricane came through her area earlier in the week.  She tells me "It's raining out there! I can't go out and get a movie because it's raining." I laugh to myself because I bet it's only drizzling.  She can't begin to imagine the rain I've witnessed.

Ever since we came to Costa Rica, my entire perception of weather has completely changed. At home in NJ, when it drizzled it was interpreted as meaning it's just a crappy day.  In Costa Rica, drizzle is a blessing.  That old expression..."When it rains, it pours" comes to mind.  In San Jose, it literally rains every single day at the same time every day.  You know if you are going to work in the morning and you won't be coming home before noon, bring an umbrella. You also know that if the morning starts off beautiful with plenty of sunshine, chances are it is going to rain really really bad in the afternoon.  So DEFINITELY don't forget your umbrella. For that matter, bring an extra pair of shoes, socks and pants.  That is what they call an agua cera down here...or down pour.  What a vast understatement.

I went to work last week at noon. I brought my umbrella with me.  I also brought a pair of flip-flops in case the weather turned for the worse. The morning was glorious. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. I left work at 4pm.  It was still looking gorgeous out.  I waited an hour for my bus and by the time we got back into San Jose, it started drizzling. I said goodbye to my friend from work, slipped on my flip-flops and opened my umbrella. I decided that the rain might hold off for about 15 minutes so that I could walk across the park and back to my apartment. I usually cut through the park to save time. Bad idea.  The second I crossed the main highway from the bus stop, the heavens opened up and it rained so hard and for so long I couldn't see straight. I decided to push on.  I didn't want to be caught in the park in the dark in the rain.

The grass in the park filled up in huge heavy pools of water. The mud from the trails was everywhere. My flip-flops were getting stuck in the mud and the mud was over my pants. The streets were flooding and I marching through about ankle high water on a major highway to avoid the slippery mud sidewalk.  Finally I made it to the actual sidewalk through the park...or where it used to be before the mud blanketed it. I hopped through huge puddles of mud and water. The rain was coming down in thunderous sheets, toppling my umbrella. I was the only person I could see STUPID enough to be walking through the rain. The street through the park was a virtual lake. The actual lake had accumulated so much water it was at or above the grass level.  The rain was pounding down so hard, I couldn't hear anything else. Finally, after walking about 6 blocks in the agua cera, I made it home. My pants were soaked so badly. I was soaked up to my belt. My shirt was soaked. My purse was soaked.  It was so amazingly bad.  A sight I will never forget.

 No one could possibly understand the force of the rain in Costa Rica without having stomped through the thick mud and deep waters of a city park. I can only imagine what the rain is like in the actual rain forest or better yet, where there are no roads.  It must be hell.

-Anna