On Wednesday, Jen and I booked our December vacation – the second in our series of Not So Brave Girls Doing Brave(ish) Things.
It all started in the fall of 2004 with a drunk idea that turned into stuffing our backpacks full of the essentials (walking shoes, headscarves, Imodium) and, after a day of lollygagging in Southern Spain, boarding a ferry for Morocco.
It was Stupid and Fancy meets Foreign and Scary.
Tangiers was beyond terrifying. Having lived abroad, I was hardly naïve about other cultures, but that place was alien (and thankfully unlike any of our other Moroccan experiences). The rest of the trip was real adventure. We slept on trains, squatted over bottomless holes to do our business, and got very, very sick from eating apricots in the open market. One of us, anyway. The other bravely wandered a foreign city at dawn, to the music of the Ramadan minarets, in search of an open pharmacy. God love the other one.
Costa Rica will be much less of all of that – especially the almost dying thing. It will be more bungalows and spa services and tropical drinks while soaking in hot springs. Some horseback riding, beach lounging and souvenir shopping. There will also be some canopy tours and zip lines and hours of driving a rented 4×4 on washed out roads. We figured we’d throw that in to keep things a little edgy.
Once the trip was booked, and our deposits deposited, Jen emailed me a P.S.
Jen: Can we call this trip our honeymoon?
Heather: Um… YES.
Jen: I doubt any real honeymoon I ever may or may not have will beat it. SO ROMANTIC.
Heather: I was just thinking that I might never get a real one, and so why shouldn’t this be my honeymoon? I mean, sure, lots, LOTS less sex but all sorts of mutual admiration and romantic settings.
Jen: Does that mean we get presents? A party?
Heather: Oh, dude. Let’s REGISTER!
Jen: It will weed out who our real friends are.
Heather: If we don’t get a KitchenAid mixer, we get new friends.
Jen: If they don’t support me in my decisions, I don’t need them in my life.
God, I can’t wait for December.
Hey, anyone know if there’s a way to download language courses for my iPod? While the language barrier will be less of an issue this time (though, seriously to our French teachers’ credit, we succeeded in getting everything we needed in Morocco), I should do a little brushing up on my Spanish. If it’s possible to estudiar my espanol on the subway? I’d so be down.
UPDATE: I graduated with a degree in Spanish, and so at one point (some five or six years ago) I was fluent. What I’m looking for is a refresher… maybe something a little higher level than what’s on iTunes.
Good luck on your “honeymoon”.
(From This Fish: McKenzie! You’re back! Man, a year and a half flies by.)
$20 buys you a language CD at Border’s. Download it to your comp and put it on your iPod. I did it with their Italian CD and it was fantastic. Have fun.
Have fun on your ‘honeymoon”. My friend and I have a trip in November with a spa treatment. So romantic
There is definitely a language category in the iTunes music store…
Hola
Costa Rica rocks! I love that place. I always go to remote areas to surf. It’s not primitive like your trip to Tangiers but it’s also not like the trip you’ve planned to CR. I don’t go to the resort, I prefer to stay away from the crowds in CR. I haven’t expereinced the canopy tour yet but it’s been on my to-do list every time I go
When you & I get married, we will register at Dylan’s Candy Bar.
Try http://www.audible.com – they have some language cd’s I think.
You can get together with me more often, I’ll help you practice, guapa!
Cuidate mucho, y llamame, me tienes avandonada!
Hey Heather – the vacation sounds great – i am jealous. I just got back from DR and it was a nice relaxing beach and pool vacation I actually ended up taking with a girlfriend because Steve can not bear to sit still that long. On the Ipod thing there is a thing on the webcast part of Itunes that has educational information and you can get all sorts of language lessons. I have not actually done it but most of the downloads are free. Next time you girls plan a trip let me know – maybe we can make it a threesome.
Ok, this might be the funniest thing I have ever read ONLY because I JUST had almost the EXACT SAME CONVERSATION with my best friend not even a month ago. I swear. It wasn’t Costa Rica, it was a cruise to Mexico but it had the same general idea and I think some of the exact same dialogue, I swear. Including the KitchenAid mixer that is so crazy, can you tell how excited I am by all my caps lock and runon sentences? I feel like I have found our BFF doppelgangers.
You should definitely register! A la Carrie in the SATC episode where her shoes are stolen. Sounds like a fun trip!!
There are definitely free language lessons on iTunes. I downloaded a whole set of French lessons earlier this spring. Actually listening to them – that’s a separate issue!
Why not register. There must be some hiking crap at REI you ladies would need. Boots for the horseback riding, etc.
INTERPRETER FOR HIRE!
No, really…..You don’t know me, but if there turns out to be no Kitchenaid mixer and you are looking for new friends – I work as a Spanish Interpreter/Translator, and would loooove to travel to Costa Rica and help you solve all of your communication worries!
Ok, maybe more seriously, as a person who works with languages, my favorite programs (found in Borders or Barnes&Noble) are from Living Language or Berlitz. But there are tons of audio resources available.
Have fun and Buena suerte!
Audible.com has language books, and you can get your chicklit fix as well. But you can always get spanish CDs at the public library, and that’s free!
And here I was also going to offer my interpreting skill. Hehe. I am so jealous. But I’d have to agree with Grisolita. I like Berlitz. And Vox has a really good Spanish/English dictionary, with lots of useful idioms. But really, the two most important things to know are how to order dos cervezas and how to ask where the bano is.
Well, I *did* graduate from college with a degree in Spanish. If I can read Don Quixote, I can probably order dinner and rent a car. But thank you so much for the offers.
Love the post and your blog! This story reminded me of a trip my best friend and I took to Hawaii a couple of years ago. Inredibly romantic and a whole lot of good, girlie, honeymooney type! Now I just wish we registered
Enjoy the vacation and take lots of pictures!
I believe there are free language lesson podcasts available online… not sure where though.
LoL! Fish, you remember me! Hey, I’m linking you once again. I’ve missed your blog.
I’m off to Spain in 5 days, and really loved the 15 Minute Spanish series. I did 5 years of Spainish between high school and college, but needed some brushing up on the basic conversational necessities — such as “Quiseria un vino tinto de la casa.”
My friend and I spent a week in Costa Rica in February — I highly recommend the Volcano Mud Wrap at Tabacon Springs!!
I think I saw free language class podcasts on iTunes just yesterday…
I second the Tabacon Hot Springs suggestion. And the zip lines in the Monteverde rain forests. But definitely Tabacon Springs. Especially if it’s a honeymoon. =^)
We’re staying at Tabacon for a couple nights. I can’t WAIT.
OOO I wanna come too! Hey if it’s an “open marriage” than there could be lots of sex.
I was just thinking that I might never get a real one, and so why shouldn’t this be my honeymoon? I mean, sure, lots, LOTS less sex but all sorts of mutual admiration and romantic settings.
Who says there has to be LOTS less sex? I’m a big fan of sexcapades on vacation. Or at weddings. Or at basically any other place where you probably never have to see the person again.
Pack condoms.
just hang a tie on the door, would ya?
On iTunes you can download language lessons and then just transfer them to your ipod! Costa Rica is fabulous… be sure to try the local food! It’s cheap and the exchange rate works in your favor. Also, if you have a chance… get over to the coast, any part! You won’t regret it:)
if you can make it to the Arenal Lodge (http://www.arenallodge.com/) the food is great, the spa is heaven, and the views from your really lovely room of an active volcano at night are once-in-a-lifetime. Plus, it’s not far from the best hot springs ever.
PURA VIDA!
Dear Fish…I haven’t thought of Tangiers in years, and for a reason. Then in January, when my brother came to visit he mentioned my trip a thousand years ago. I took the ferry with some friends that were studying abroad with me in Madrid. What a nightmare. I never even told my husband about this trip, and here was my brother talking about it in front of my son and husband. Now you mention Tangiers, with the innuendo that it wasn’t all that it was expected.
Now…I have decided to go through my things and find my pictures and finally laugh about the time I was strip searched. Thankfully, the only time. So…thank you for helping me laugh at what was once one of my most horrific memories. Whew!
BTW, have a great honeymoon!
The Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook is a great resource for those moments when the drinks have been flowing and the words won’t come to you.
Have a great time!
Go to the podcast section of the iTunes store. Look under the “education” category. There are lots of languages listed there. There are 2 classes offered for Spanish. They are both very different and user friendly. I recommend you take the elementary one first (female teacher, I forget her name) then take the one on Verb conjugation (male teacher, again I forget his name), it is a little more advanced, but it will all come back very quickly! From my searching, I have only found these 2 spanish classes, but they are free and very good.
Hmmmm… Six years ago, I was fluent. I don’t think I want to start with anything elementary.
iTunes has free spanish language podcasts. I subscibe to a few of them and they are really helpful if you are on a budget like me.
LOOOOVVEEE Costa Rica. I went to Tamarindo + learned to surf there (surfing is actually relatively easy + fun there bc its so consistent).
If you fly into San Juan… you should definitely eat at La Monasteria (or something like that). Its this old monastery on the top of the hill with a 360 degree view of the city. and you literally have monks serving you. a very fancy chi-chi meal for only about $50 (with wine, dessert, + all!).
Have a great time.
Ok, this has nothing to do with this post but I didn’t feel like going thru the archives. I just got home from a HEAVENLY mircodermabrasion facial. Love love loved it. Thanks for giving me the nudge. Now I’m saving for that vibrating face cleaning thingamajig.
And I’m so relaxed now that I can’t spell properly.
So Dora the Explorer is out then?
Just for listening practice (sorry, no course suggestions) I would recommend Personalidades de la Cultura Hispánica, which you can find on itunes.
Ah. Disculpeme. I am truly humbled and have no further suggestions other than talking to Sir Hal in Spanish for practice.
If you are going to CR in early Dec I know of a great party on the Peninsula near Mal Pais. Send me an email and I’ll give you the details.
Was in CR in Apr. I loved it.
If you make it to the North coast this was very cool http://www.ogphoto.com/slothrescuecenter/aboutus.htm
I was frustrated at how little Spanish I needed. Even when I spoke in Spanish, they responded in English. No bursh up needed.
I’m the same way, I was (almost) fluent a ways back. I need a refresher course, but I think I’m going to just try to start reading a spanish book and hope it comes back.
I bought a learning italian series on CD, and burned it to iTunes to put onto my iPod shuffle. It works great.
Kinda off-topic, but hysterically funny – this test will make your day:
http://www.naughtyamericahistory.com
You must go to Buena Vista Lodge!!
Zip lines, horsebackriding, the best part is the 425′ waterslide!! and the next best part, the mud bath and hot springs at the end! This day alone was worth it!!
Don’t worry about the spanish…just use body language, they’d understand…
Have a nice honeymoon!
I loved my trip to Costa Rica but be careful of the truck drivers and the narrow roads-deadly combo for sure! The truck drivers drive really quickly and ride your butt on winding, two lane roads so be really careful with that
where did you grow up?
Ironically, my husband and I just went to Costa Rica in August–and we too were freaked out by Tangier in 2004!
Costa Rica was GREAT, and we really didn’t encounter any language barriers–and we speak NO Spanish. I bet you’ll be absolutely fine! PS: We went to Nicaragua for the day, and it was fantastic! Have fun!
That’s sounds like so much fun…though if I was going I would want to throw in more “adventure” things…being pampered is great but there is just something about the rush of doing something dangerous…
I bet you are counting down the days…
I love the idea of ziplines and a canopy tour. sounds like a BLAST!
the tabacon hot springs are awesome, we were there in january. definitely the best way to get rid of the aches and pains you’ll have from horseback riding!
Seems strange that you reach out to people for help/suggestions/recommendations and then criticize everything that is offered up. Nothing is good enough. Why even ask since you obviously know it all anyway?
(This Fish: I think you’re reading something in my tone that is not there. I know I should have been more specific about what I was after — which is why I ammended my post. Don’t be a dick. I wasn’t.)
woohoo! I just passed the naughty america test. Thanks Joe
I too had a horrifying experience in Tangiers. As we approached the city on our bus, our local guide (with a very strong accent) kept pronouncing it “Danger.” “We are now in Dangers.”
Boy was he right.
I’m glad you picked a more hospitable spot for your “Honeymoon.”
Sounds like they could go to the island of Lesbos…
This sounds like a great idea! I do want to point out however that it seems like all best friends that have these notions (I had a best friend like this too but after I got married) tend to never get married. It’s like the friendship supercedes a relationship and that’s the only danger I see here. If you two however don’t let your friendship get in the way of a real relationship where in you rely upon your significant other and not your best friend for intimacy, companionship and everything else that goes along with it then by all means! Enjoy the honeymoon
I went to CR for New Years going into 2003, and spent the day at Tabacon (had the body polish – AMAZING!)…. let me tell you – there is NO better way to spend New Years than at a Swim Up Bar with a GORGEOUS male (name: Angel – with eyelashes to KILL for!) waiting on you! We stayed in La Fortuna, about 30 minutes from Tabacon for $10 US a night – because we got the rooms with AC….. we stayed in a little no-tell Motel called Las Grijalbas…. a tip – stay away from the tourist places on the main drag – go off the main drag like one block! We reserved a horseback ride to the waterfall at the base of Volcan Arenal (it’s the one in ALLLLLL the postcards) for $35 on the stip, then found out about going off the strip – and paid $7 for the EXACT SAME THING! And we also ate REALLY well – a filet mignon dinner for $5 per person (tip included!)