Packing up - getting up

And now, the closing act. Our last night here in Costa Rica, well, really only half of a night. The parts we will play will be tricky. But first things first, what about today?

As with every morning outside of San Jose, howler monkeys woke us up. Granted, here in Playa Panama they gently rapped on our doors rather than hooting outside the window. No, just kidding! Here they were pretty obnoxious. Here on the Nacazcolo compound (our motto: if you can't get lost anywhere, you can get lost here) the howlers gathered in the mango trees right over the rooms - eating fruit and throwing the half-finished ones down on the roof. Bang! They must enjoy it, because they kept doing for a while.

Breakfast went smoothly and then, on the buses to the actual beach. One of the bus drivers got lost, generating a huge amount of phone calls back and forth and some real gnashing of teeth. It is only four kilometers from the hotel to the beach, so it isn't clear where the bus turned off. But lost he got, and sheepishly showed up 5 minutes later. We parked near the Nacazcolo outpost "Beach Club" about 100 yards off the beach. Here were restrooms and a pool and a place to spend money on soda - so we were good.

The beach is a black sand beach (nearby volcano) and has nearly flat water in a huge bay. The Pacific Ocean was visible through the rocks, and small boats went back and forth. A shrimper came through and parked - amazing with its nets up. The students threw down their towels and launched themselves into the water. It was cool and the bottom was flat.

This was a wonderful Costa Rican scene. Families gathered at the edge of the beach, in tents and under tarpaulins. Grandmothers, mothers, children all sat on blankets - with only the children running to the water. As the morning wore on, vendors set up shop nearby, carefully sopping up whatever money the students had left. A slice of pineapple was 200 colones (40 cents) but a whole pineapple was 700 colones ($1.40). Shiskebabs with tortillas perched on the tips; ice cream carts being pushed through the sand (of course, every Deal student had to have an ice cream cone), sodas and water, mangoes, it was all there.

Mr. Humes, Mr. Miller, and your correspondent found no takers for a 10-minute walk to some nearby tidal pools. Small sea urchins, sea slugs, sea worms, brittle stars, crabs, fish - beautiful. A gentleman waited patiently for us to finish poking the rocks before he took his single line and resumed fishing without a pole. Looking back towards our students there was little to no distinction in the beach public from far away - just happy people enjoying a gorgeous day on the water. Within half an hour we had reloaded the buses and returned for lunch.

Tonight will be a challenge. Lights out and then before you know it, up again. Breakfast is being brought to us, so we only have time to get up and then get going. We leave for the airport at 3:45 (it is 15 minutes away) and then have three hours to fill out papers and make sure no one has slipped out for one more mango. The students have asked why we have to be at the airport three hours early. I asked them to remember that when we arrived at National Airport only two hours early, did they remember sprinting to the gate from security to join the rest of the passengers who were loading the plane already? Our flight goes through Houston with an hour and a half layover (or dash to the gate) - I desperately hope for a smooth trip through customs and immigration.

When next you hear from us, it should be at the airport! Wish us all safe travels. Pura vida!