2:58pm
We've just arrived at our next hotel. It's a ranch-style place with horses and oxen and the like, up in the highlands near the volcanoes. Quite a change of scene from Samara Beach.
Yesterday was so unbelievably busy I don't know where to start, so I guess I'll go from the beginning. After breakfast we hit the beach and the water was still a beautiful temperature and the sun was hot and beating down at only 8 in the morning. I was in a second group for surfing, so I just spent some time swimming and walking on the beach. When my turn came for surfing, I found myself very keen. It's always been something I wanted to try, maybe even adopt as a regular hobby, but just never got around to it. During the 90 minutes on the water I managed to stand up nearly every time, which was a bit of a thrill. I had much less success the only other time in my life I tried surfing, so I ended on a bit on a high.
After a delicious lunch at a place on the beach, it was time for sea-kyaking. It was far more strenuous then I'd anticipated, and my arms got quite a workout. I think this adventure tour will be so jam-packed that any concerns I had about lack of exercise are long gone.
It was a long trek in the kayaks, and at that distance from the shore, I took some amazing photos. We spent a while swimming the the island we paddled to before heading home, and I'm happy to have a little more colour in my skin already. Maybe there's nothing healthy about a tan, but they sure are sexy.
I also went to an internet café to upload my photos, so I could free up some room to keep taking photos on the rest of the trip. However, I was mortified when I found droplets of water inside my supposedly waterproof camera. The camera still works, but the USB connection seems to have gotten wet/destroyed somehow. Luckily, one the girls has a spare memory card I can borrow, but I am still throughly unimpressed, and will have to suss out the extent of my warrant when I get home.
And then my night progressed from my previous post, involving pain, alcohol, and a very bruised toe. I'm glad to say that I did manage to get drunk, mostly by sampling other peoples drinks (Long Island Ice Teas over here are deadly) and from free shots courtesy of the girls. I'm however less glad to admit I did more things that I'm not at all proud of, and have caused another handful of moral dilemmas for when I return home. Even though there was no infidelity based on the technicality we're not "together", the promise to see him again when I come home alludes to some level of exclusivity.
People have been saying "You're partying in Costa Rica, what does he expect?" I honestly wish I knew the answer. I try to justify it to myself: I've been in the casual hook-up scene for a while now, going off it cold turkey is too much of a challenge, I miss him but I miss affection more, I was thinking of him the whole time... but it still feels a little bit wrong to him, and it still doesn't answer the question of whether or not I should tell him. Most people have said not to, but I know I probably will. I've been lied to enough in the past to know the true value on honesty, and hopefully he will too, and forgive me enough to start building on our relationship again. Because I honestly do miss him, more than just physically. Though I think I really am beginning to understand those gay man who don't believe in monogamy.
We're now heading off to dip in the natural thermal springs, a nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon after a night that I'd somehow rather forget.
