Ziplines, waterfalls, weed, and Costa Rican philosophy

Saturday was a great first full day in Montezuma.  We slept in a bit, grabbed some breakfast, and made our tentative "schedule" for the weekend.  First off we decided to do the canopy tour.  Canopy tours are basically a couple of hours of ziplining through the jungle. It was awesome! We had a blast, our guides were great, and we hiked down to a couple waterfalls and swam for a while. None of the boys had ever done a zipline before, so it was a totally new experience for them, and although I´ve done ziplines before, these ones were much higher, were in the jungle, and were really long.  Video and pictures to come!

Later in the afternoon we explored down the beach, then came back and headed out to dinner.  One of the rastafaris sold Valtteri some weed, so that happened before and after dinner.  I wasn´t thrilled about it going on, but took advantage of being able to get some much needed space and alone time.

Here´s an excerpt from my journal about an interesting and thought provoking encounter I had:
Today walking back from the beach I stopped to look at some jewelry and started talking to the lady, Triesta, who turned out to be from Portland and moved here 3 years ago. She´s totally a hippie, but had some really wise things to say.  We were talking about stereotypes, and dumb Americans who come down with no intention of integrating in the culture.  She said, "it´s this whole thing of colonialism.  it´s not just about the land.  it´s an idea, a way you carry yourself through life." She also said when talking about what it was like living here that it´s just so beautiful. "But it´s not just the beautiful that you see, you know? Life here is beautiful. It´s peaceful here."

While Montezuma is so hippie and I didn´t ever really feel totally comfortable or at ease while we were there, being there, talking with Triesta and others, experiencing the culture, it all helped open my eyes more. I saw my need to just chill out a bit and be more flexible.  Sometimes "The Agenda" won´t do the day justice.  This is life, not a hospital, and sometimes the best experiences, conversations, stories, and/or memories come in the times when we´re running on a total unscheduled schedule, unconcerned with an agenda and my Type A lists.  I still love my lists and schedules and forever will, but I´m learning more about the beauty of going with the flow.