Random Post 1

There's a reason this first random post for our class is late, my apologies. Hopefully you'll understand why after reading.

On February 1st, my friend from high school called me out of the blue. I hadn't talked to her since my freshman year of college and I was wondering what she wanted to ask me. Tule is this awesome girl who I was close friends with in high school - we were in the same acoustic band, both loved to surf and ski, and would often go on outdoor adventures together - she's now a junior at Stanford, one year behind me after taking a gap year.

Tule called to ask if I'd want to meet her and a group of friends in Costa Rica for the rest of February. She had just arrived to their cabin on the beach and thought about how I'm someone who could appreciate the adventure and lifestyle they were experiencing. It was such a crazy phone call to receive, but I've been on the road recently and loved the idea of traveling to Costa Rica. Within a few hours, I booked my flight, purchased travel insurance and a visa. I booked on a Monday to leave that Saturday night and stay for two weeks. And like that, just six days later I was on a redeye to San Jose, Costa Rica.

I had to take a five-hour shuttle from San Jose to Playa Hermosa, about 15 minutes north of the popular Santa Teresa Beach on the Nicoya Peninsula. Tule and her four friends were staying at a beautiful property, 15 pristine jungled acres on the beach with a children's school and tennis court. Arriving there put me in such a different headspace than the concrete jungle we live at in South Central. Iguanas were running around as squirrels do at home, spiders hanging between trees the size of my hand, and stray dogs that would play along the shoreline just like humans do. It's the closest thing to paradise I've experienced. No wonder Tom Brady has a house down the street (we were hoping he would come after his win but we didn't run into him on the beach). 

La Pura Vida, as the locals say, is the best way to live. Since there's a two hour time difference between the pure life and LA, I'd wake up at 8 AM Costa Rican time, go for a run on the empty beach, cool off with a quick surf session in front of our bungalow, make breakfast, all before my 8 AM classes at USC. Sometimes as I would come back from my runs, the property staff would be cutting coconuts off the trees due to their safety hazard and chop one up for me - the perfect hydration prescription after a strenuous beach run.

I easily adjusted to life in Playa Hermosa. All of us had a full course-load of classes which meant that most of the day was spent indoors in the air conditioning on our computers. I also work 20 hours a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, so I couldn't enjoy my beach life then. But in between all the stresses of home life, there was an ocean 100 feet away. Have I mentioned that the ocean temperature was in the mid-80s? Sometimes the water was warmer than the air. We didn't go out into town much since we were a taxi-distance away from restaurants, so every night we stayed in and cooked meals together. We caught yellowfin and Spanish mackerel off of a reef point next to us which made great for great at-home ceviche and sashimi.

Our two weeks flew by fast and the next thing I knew I was in Santa Teresa getting tested for COVID as part of the new US Customs/CDC entry policies. I've been very lucky the past year and have not gotten COVID despite being in some unsafe circumstances. Little did I know that this would be the end of my luck. 

Yes, I tested positive the day before I was supposed to travel back to the United States. It made me feel horrible to think I had been reckless as to travel out of the country during a pandemic. However, we hadn't been out into town or in situations that had put us at risk. The rest of our group got tested after I was positive and all returned negative, which made me think I must have been exposed on my travels down to Costa Rica. 

A lot changed in a few hours. I had to find an isolated apartment and ending up spending a week in paradise in a room alone doing school and working from home - it felt a lot like my life in LA. A doctor from Santa Teresa cleared me from my quarantine on the Friday this post was due. After work, I took a shuttle back to San Jose in preparation for my delayed Sunday morning flight home.

My last day in Costa Rica was memorable. On Saturday, I rented a car and drove a couple of hours out of the capital to hike to a volcano. I was able to experience the lush jungle environment for the last time. It started raining on my hike, which made for a surreal walk through the jungle. The combination of all the birds chirping and raindrops making their way from the top of the trees down to the ground floor was overwhelmingly beautiful. Everything was such a lush green, more so than anything I've seen in the United States. 

I made it back to USC safely today and am now catching up on my schoolwork for this coming week. So much has happened in the past month for me and I'm still processing some of the natural body highs I felt in the incredible Costa Rican landscape. 

Learning to say yes to the little things in life has completely changed my personality and made me comfortable with the unknown. I'm frustrated with myself for catching COVID and putting others around me at risk, but I was incredibly lucky to be in such a beautiful place for my ten days of quarantine. Traveling alone and seeing how different the rest of the world is from our home is a rewarding experience that puts much of my life in perspective. As I approach the last months and weeks of my time at USC, it's becoming clear that I want to spend it with those I care about most. As much as I loved seeing Costa Rica for the first time, the thrill of traveling doesn't compare to the good times I have whenever I'm with my roommates at SC. Hopefully in the future I can return to Costa Rica when traveling is safer and share the Pura Vida with my friends.