Jobs and Thunderstorms

Every day I wake up here and I just feel more and more that it’s some sort of dream; that I couldn’t actually be here. There are so many things that I absolutely adore about Costa Rica. For instance, tonight while Sarah was making all of us dinner, I ran down to the supermercado to get some things to drink. I went to the counter and the man working asked me how I was doing, I said fine, then asked him how he was doing. He merely replied, “Pura Vida,” with a smile. I just smiled back. There was no need for any other words. “Pura Vida” is the phrase used down here, which translated literally means, “pure life.” I think this phrase more than any other reflects the attitude of the people down here. They just live day by day. I love it. I walked around town today looking for a job and one of the first places I went into, there was this man from South Africa talking on the phone. He motioned for me to sit down and we talked for a bit, I told him I was looking for a job, and after writing down my information and giving me his card, he told me that he had no openings in his office, but to sit and wait for a second. Once he got off the phone, he began calling all these other real estate offices where he knew people and asking them if they needed any help. There was no reason why he needed to do that – it was simply one person helping another. He then drove me over to another office where I talked to the owners and they said that if I e-mailed them my resume they would send it out to all the offices in Tamarindo to see if anyone needed any help. It was such a simple gesture, and yet, it will probably make a huge difference to me. It’s amazing how people here just take the time to help each other out in the little ways that they can. I absolutely love it. Today I got an e-mail from a lady at Century21, and I'm meeting with her on Tuesday to discuss my first project. So exciting!
Almost every night we can watch the lightning storm in the distance out across the ocean. The other night some friends and I walked out to the beach and just sat there watching the lightning make different colors in the sky. It’s probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I almost feel as if there’s something magical about this place. I haven’t figured it out, but I know when the time comes, I won’t want to come back to the states.