Before you go to Costa Rica, you might be a bit cynical like me, thinking pura vida is a marketing slogan or a thing tourists pick up. But it’s not. Somehow those two words actually, adequately represent the embodiment of a country’s ethos. You can use it for hello, goodbye, ok, thank you, you’re welcome, no worries, all good, I love it, yes, no, maybe, good job, bad job, let’s go … the possibilities are endless. You can literally just say it almost any time and it just magically works!
I cannot truly convey my gratitude for Costa Rica.
These pictures don’t do justice to the beauty of the landscape. They don’t do justice to the beauty of the people we met, Ticos and tourists alike, some of the most open, friendly, hilarious people I’ve ever met. They don’t convey how delicious the comida tipica, casado, is, or how fun it was to hang out with the staff at Eco Arenal or the owners of Wabi Sabi. Nothing could possibly convey the beauty of the international beach party we created at the log, the hilarious podcast-that-wasn’t with our new new crew from OC, the joy of the grainy 1K draft in Spanish with our vacation boos. I can tell more stories—about chiliguaros and soda melania and the airport supervisor and the longest road trip of ever, how Jesus got us up hills he wasn’t wholly prepared for or what a fantastic navigator/dj my copilot was—but the trip is best summed up in two words: pura vida.
A release, an adventure, a relaxation, easy, ridiculous, fun. I only hope I can bring pura vida home to my life, to be Tica Lyssa as much as possible, with the same openness I so admired in the people we encountered in our travels.
More to come on Costa Rica.
In the meantime, EVEN MORE GRATITUDE for this week! How is this possible?! Life is so full!
- My pupper! Reunited and it feeeeels so good! The week away from her was hard, just because of her age and my worry, and I am so grateful she is healthy and happy and I get to snuggle her as much as she’ll let me.
- My fam! Tiny Boxwoods dinner was so much fun on one of the most beautiful weather nights in recent memory
- Cowboy Pools, Andy in particular, who walked me through fixing my pump before I backwashed my pool all by myself. I am an amazing poolboy.
- Sacks and the City podcast.
- MY AVOCADOS. They are growing. There a real, live avocados growing in my backyard!!
- Costco Liquors … found a new whiskey there that I’ve been wanting to try—thanks Bromance.
- Booked a trip to the Jersey Shore!
- Yoga at BFree yoga, love that place so much and miss it even after just a week. Aw.
- Austin Winery‘s 7th birthday party on Sunday was super fun, it’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown just since I’ve been back in Austin! Their newest can, Green Grapes, is excellent.
- My truck. I still just love it.
FGF Funny: this was the leading search term to my site today(???): +roles and responsibilities of ward councilors in a community social participation meeting
… I literally don’t know the answer, so I have no idea what or how that got optimized on this site … the internet is wild!