beaches

It is a known fact that if you grew up where I did you are a beach snob. Well that is certainly the case about the beaches in CR. Last night we returned from Cahuita on the Caribbean and were glad to get back. Again I will say, much of my negative opinion of this country is based on how horrible the roads are and how beaten up I feel when I get back. The beaches are another thing. I just don't have an appreciation for sand that looks like dirt and water that looks like water with dirt in it. I am a beach snob and did not even put a toe in the water at the beach this weekend. It just all looked dirty to me...the sand the water, the people and all the houses. Actually they weren't all houses, some of them were boxes of corrugated tin held together with bailing wire and who knows what else. I know I have an edge in my voice about this but I am mad at the marketing experts that had me believing this country was a swell place to visit. Well, the people are wonderful but they are all mostly poor and even some of the tourist areas are so dirty it amazes me that they got such good pictures for the ads. Maybe you will see the contrast in some of my pictures. One thing I will say: the place is lush with vegetation and animals. How about a cricket the size of a mouse that was so purple he looked like he had been dyed. And then there are monkeys and crabs walking down the roads and so many dirty stray dogs wondering everywhere in the country. All of this is with a background of flowers so beautiful they look fake. School is good; I have privates lessons because everybody in my class has gone home. I am really learning a lot.