After I descended from the last tree like a monkey, I was ready to get back on those zip lines again. But it would have to wait until a future adventure, in a different place and at a different time.
With an hour to spare at Selvatura Park, we skipped through nine suspension bridges and a humming bird garden.
 |
| A fellow traveler had a good eye. Can you spot him??? |
 |
| How about this one? |
 |
| One of the girls and I were walking side by side comparing our teaching careers when she jumped and yelled. When I looked back, I saw the reason for her howl. She practically rubbed elbows with the thing, if he had a skeleton. |
 |
| This was the same snake stretching its way back to the neighboring tree. |
 |
| Hummingbird close up. |
 |
| How To Catch a Hummingbird, coming to theaters this spring. |
Because daytime walks and animals weren't enough, Jackie and I signed up for a night time hike with a few others. This activity confirmed our nerd status, not only on this trip, but in the world.
 |
| Another sloth sighting. |
 |
| Tarantula camouflaging. |
 |
| A viper! |
 |
| Snake, that is. |
 |
| Not a car. |
 |
| A giant walking stick. |
 |
| Freakishly big snail. |
 |
| Sleeping toucan. |
I'm exhausted just thinking about that day. Even now, I wish I could say I got to my hotel room, showered, and knocked out but it wasn't over. Our guide had promised us "the local experience" and to save time, I only washed the dirt off my body, not my hair. I put my tresses up, threw on a black and gold skirt, black racer-back and sandals. By ten, Jackie and I walked, yet again, under the drizzle and crossed a deserted shopping center towards the bustle of the town on the other side.
We were the first ones to arrive at the club. The rest of our group, those who didn't need hours to get ready for dinner like my sister, were doing just that at the restaurant next door. We paid the cover charge and found our guide and driver sitting near the bar past the dance floor. I asked for a menu as soon as I sat because I was famished. For some reason, I only ordered fries and a rum and coke. I assessed the place while I waited, giving it two thumbs up for music selection (it was playing my favorite: reggaeton, salsa, merengue, and some cumbias) and size (large, spacious dance floor). My eyes then landed on a black girl with short curly hair and a perky kadunkadunk. She moved her behind so sensually, seductively, and effortlessly to the rhythm of the music; it was as if her butt had its own brain. While her legs moved left and right, her buttocks went round and round like a ferris wheel, independently of its body. And she didn't crave the attention, she just attracted it. There she was minding her own business, dancing the night away, and there we were gravitating towards her, young and old, male and female. I turned to the guys to point them in the right direction but they were already entranced. The tour guide commented that she was most likely from Panama, the neighboring country to the south. Men were dreaming of bumping and grindin' with her while I sat completely envious of the gift and talent God had blessed her with.
Our group trickled in shortly after whilst I licked my fingers of the last of the fries (I know, equally sexy as the Panamanian girl). Most of them were buzzed which meant their courage meters were full. So they hit the dance floor until their tanks were empty. I waited for an invitation to join them when one of the girls bought me a shot out of the drunkenness of her heart. I think, though, she just wanted me to relax since I always (so I'm told) seem tense. Just then, another cool chick from our group came up to Jackie and me. Apparently, she had been watching us take shots throughout the trip. She claimed we downed tequila with a straight face and was dumbfounded by our lack of what I like to call, fuchi faces, or cringing. So she nicknamed us Classy Bitches.
I eventually strutted my stuff with our driver and tour guide doing salsa and bachata numbers and just plain goofing around with the group. Then it was I who ran out of gas around one in the morning. I went from being a Classy Bitch to simply a Bitch. I no longer wanted anything to do with a club or drunk people because they were acting and looking stupid. They were sweaty, with their hair stuck to their faces, and they slurred their words. I wanted to be tucked in my fluffy hotel bed. But I also didn't want to be the reason why Jackie left prematurely. One of the girls decided to leave at that moment and I wanted so badly to walk back with her. But I wanted to hang until closing time and close the party down like a true single American living The Dream. I watched the hands on my watch move for sixty minutes until it read 2am, which is typical closing time for US clubs, but the DJ kept playing. My anxiety level rose. I couldn't stay any longer. I had to leave. I looked for Jackie to conjure her to bounce with me when I saw her in the air. Stemming from a white guy's arms, he spun her around in circles as if she were a helicopter preparing for lift off. Initially, I was livid. How could she still want or have the energy to party? Didn't she, at some point, tell herself, Ok, this was fun but it's time to go? When it was obvious that she didn't, my heart sank. I knew I wasn't going to to get out of there just yet and that's how I reached maximum tiredly Angry Bitch status.
As I sat there with an invisible electronic
"Let me buy you a drink," he said in Spanish.
"No, thank you," I responded, also in my first language.
"Then why come to a club and not drink," he asked.
"I already had two cuba libres and a shot," I replied. "Who comes to the club at closing time to buy a girl a drink, anyway" I shot back.
But neither my attitude nor my raccoon eyes scared him away. He must've not gotten some in quite some time, perhaps a week, because he insisted I have one more drink with him. Just at that moment, Jackie walked past me towards the bar with the white boy and the rest of our gang. I still didn't foresee my hotel room in my immediate future so I caved.
Rico Suave was tall with dark hair, beady eyes, and a strong jaw that reminded me of one of my uncles'. He wore either a sweater or sweater vest, both of which were too formal for the club but made him stand out, nonetheless. He sat to my left after he brought the drinks and because I cannot stand a moment of silence, I asked him for his friends. He claimed they were sitting in the upper level but I didn't believe him. I assumed he had just arrived, maybe from a date or a late night business transaction, to scope out the scene and see how lucky he could get. I didn't call him out on my theory, though, there was no point. It was late, I would be gone soon, and I would never see him again. If his lies made him happy, who was I to bring him down?
I asked him what he did. He claimed to supervise one of Costa Rica's largest supermarket chains.
"The one with the chicken," I asked.
He might have clarified it was a rooster.
"I thought they were El Pollo Loco," I said. He looked at me dumbfounded so I explained. "I had no idea they were grocery stores."
Rico Suave supposedly also ran a few inns in town. He asked me where I was staying and said he knew the owners well. Then he wanted to know what I did and I confirmed his suspicion that I was a teacher. My seriousness and caution-centered self had given me away, he said. That's when Rico Suave started to grow on me. He was shedding the jerk label I had placed on him when he first came up to me because he understood and laughed at my jokes. That's how I knew he was smart, so smart, in fact, he met me head to head with his own dry humor.
I enjoyed his company, surprisingly, and even wished we were back in California so we could have a real chance of going out. But at the same time, knowing he was just a passerby in my life made it easy to talk to him because I would never see him again. Just then, Jackie decided it was time to go. Against my will, I got off the stool and walked behind her and another girl with Rico Suave by my side. It was still drizzling outside. The girls walked ahead of us, stopping short of turning the street while he and I stood feet from the club entrance. Rico Suave said he could walk me home so my friends wouldn't have to wait for me but I had seen enough movies to know what could happen to me: kidnapped, cut into pieces, raped, killed and buried in a remote place. I assured him they were fine waiting for me, at least Jackie would have to be since I'd done the same for her several times; it was standard girlfriend protocol. Sensing his time had run out, he asked if there was a way he could stay in contact with me. I wasn't going to give him my number but I sure as hell didn't mind a pen pal. Willing to give him my email, he took out his phone but couldn't work it so I jotted his address in mine. My heart beat fast thinking he was now going to try to kiss me. I didn't know what my instinct would be. Would I allow him to come in or would I block him with my hand to his chest? Would I meet him halfway with my head tilted? Or would I let him do all the work? I turned to Jackie and she gave me the same look I had given her an hour before. Knowing our time was up, Rico Suave moved towards me and threw his arms around me. Somewhat disappointed, I embraced him too. As we unlocked, I want to say I remember him kissing my cheek. I turned around and caught up to my sister.
No comments:
Post a Comment