Love Costa Rica Style

I once watched a strange movie called ‘Surf Nazis Must Die!’ The movie wasn’t quite as good as the title, but then, what movie could be? Still, I didn’t come here to do movie reviews, I came here to talk about a trip to Jaco, some people I met and what happened.

I had just finished breakfast when I got a call from Priscilla in Jaco. She was bored and wanted me to come down and hang out. I had just met Priscilla through her new boyfriend (and my relatively new friend) George. George had a job in San Jose and couldn’t visit Jaco more than a day or two at a time. I didn’t have anything else all that interesting to do, and I had only been to Jaco once before, so I said okay, what the hell.

She gave me directions to her place and said she’d be there at 2pm and wait for me. The bus wouldn’t get till around 3 so I figured no problem.

I packed a few things and took the local bus downtown, walked to the Coca Cola bus station and bought a ticket for Jaco. About 2 and a half hours later the bus pulled into Jaco and I got off at the edge of town, as Priscilla told me.

I found her apartment building without much too much trouble. It had been a motel at one time but was now functioning as cheap apartments. One thing she neglected to tell me about was the big wooden front gate, which I couldn’t get in.

Since I couldn’t get in, I couldn’t knock on the door of her apartment either. I tried shouting, but no luck. After annoying one of her neighbors, somebody inside was leaving so I was able to get in. Cool. I knocked on the apartment door. Long wait. Nothing. Now what? Knock again. Wait some more. The door opens and it’s her roommate, Marcela. Priscilla isn’t there.

Marcela doesn’t know where she is. She’ll make a phone calls from the neighbor’s (she doesn’t have a phone in the house. Priscilla had a cell phone).

Okay, we found Priscilla. She’s down at the Bohio and wants me to meet her there. I was a little irritated that she didn’t leave a note or even tell her roommate I was coming, but maybe I was just being too ‘gringo’ about such things.

I got to the Bohio around 4 and Priscilla was there along with a small crowd of others: some local girls and some obviously touristy gringos (like me). Priscilla introduced me to a couple of her friends, one of which was a small, hard-bodied girl with short bleached hair named Jessica. I took a good close look. Nice. Pretty face, nice suntan, flat stomach, nice butt, big eyes, nice smile. She was dressed in a bathing suit bottom and cut off halter top. Quite appealing.

I ordered a beer and sat at the table with the two of them. I couldn’t follow the conversation between them too well, but I was content to look out over the beach at the Pacific, sip my cold beer and ogle Jessica. I was lucky Priscilla spoke pretty good English or I would have been out of luck. I gathered, as we sat and drank, that Jessica was was a lesbian and had been Priscilla’s girlfriend not so long ago, also that she was a surfer and had won some competitions in Jaco. She pulled a picture out of her bag showing her standing next to a surf board. Proof enough for me.

Priscilla and I said goodbye to Jessica, who had some kind of errand to run. Or something. She said she’d see us later. Fine with me, I hadn’t quite had an eye full yet. In the meantime Priscilla and I went to the bar where Marcella was working as bartender. We played some pool and had another drink or two (three or four in her case. I think she was a graduate of some long forgotten speed-drinking program). To my dismay, I realized Priscilla was quite drunk. I was just a little buzzed and Priscilla was slurring her words and stumbling around. She was at the point where any sensible person would quit. Ah, but that would only apply to sensible people. Stupid me.

Read Part Two