Bad Weekend

I went up north a few weekends ago and when my flight was delayed twice, I should've stuck with my gut instinct and just gone back home. Oh why didn't I just go back home?? Here is what happened...

1. Flight was delayed twice - the first time it was delayed I was able to get on an earlier flight even though it put me in group B and I was group A in my original flight. Then my new earlier flight got delayed EVEN LATER than my original flight! 

2. By the time I finally got to Oakland my sister did not even leave her house yet to pick me up. And when she finally came, we missed each other so I was standing in front of my terminal like an idiot and she was way down at the end. 

3. When I got in the car, she was drunk. (My brother was driving)

4. When I got out of the car, she was a hot mess. She had broken out in hives earlier in the week, so she was not a happy camper. 

5. The next day, we went to my sister in laws to eat some BBQ (even though it was freezing). We got there and didn't even see them b/c they had to go to the hospital - her father in law had collapsed (turns out he was OK). So me, my bro, and Dan were just milling around their condo and decided to just leave and get food elsewhere. 

6. Each night, I did not sleep well. Either my brother was watching TV too loud too late, or I could hear the clickity clack of the dog's nails on the floor... people going to the bathroom... 

Anyway, that was my weekend. I've had more fun serving food to homeless people. 

Traditional Foods, the NEW Organic

In an effort to be more health conscious, I saw a naturopath and got a food allergy test done. It's basically dropping 5 huge drops of blood on to this postcard and then waiting a few weeks for your results. The doctor had to prick 5 of my fingers because the dang blood would not come out. Ouch.

Got my results back and found out what I knew was inevitable. I am allergic to dairy - eggs, milk, yogurt, and cheese - coincidentally ALL the things I eat on almost a regular basis (except cheese, I gave that up months ago). I'm also allergic to asparagus and wheat or gluten. I was also eating wheat on a daily basis because it's good for you and it's a good source of fiber. It's now been almost 2 weeks that I have (almost) cut out wheat, gluten, dairy (except for raw milk - I'll get to that in a minute) yogurt, and eggs. I lost 2.5 lbs without changing my exercise habits and I feel lighter. My next challenge will be trying to really cut down on coffee (have at least 1.5 cups or less everyday).

I started reading this woman's blog recently (www.cheeseslave.com) and it has really shed some light on the kinds of foods we are putting in our bodies and the link to harmful and sometimes deadly diseases. She also has a lot of alternative recipes for people who are gluten intolerant - like using coconut flour to make muffins. Don't worry, I'm not turning into some granola eating, birkenstocks wearing, health psycho, but I have started to really believe that the source of many ailments and problems stems from the digestive tract - i.e. what you eat may be causing the sickness. This woman healed a lot of her issues on her own by making the switch to whole foods - not just organic, but traditional foods (think Little House on the Prairie) full fat cheeses, butter, wild fish, and yes, even raw milk.

Many people probably wouldn't think raw milk would be safe because it's not pasteurized. In the process of pasteurization however, a lot of good bacteria gets killed off. She also goes on to say that people who label themselves as lactose intolerant can actually drink raw milk and tolerate it better than the store bought kind. The chipped enamel on her tooth grew back 80-90% just by drinking raw milk. There were many anecdotal stories posted on her blog that lead me to want to at least try it. Especially since I LOVE milk. I went to Erewhon (a health food store) and bought some and I absolutely love it and it tastes wonderful. I've been drinking it all week, and so far I haven't had any digestive mishaps or headaches or anything weird happen. So I will continue to drink it despite my food allergy test saying I am allergic.

Now if I can only get my husband on board...

Pura Vida!

My sis and I went to Costa Rica in September for a week. We had planned for months via IM at work regarding activities, hotels, and transportation. It was mostly her sending me a million links and me not looking at any of them and then lying and saying I did and then saying yes to all of them.

We flew in to San Jose, the capital, and stayed only one night because we heard there isn't much to do or see there. The next day we were picked up by shuttle and taken to Fortuna/volcano area where it rained like a mother but wasn't so hot. Humid like a sauna, but not that hot. Our hotel was awesome. There was another door that lead to a backyard where you could see a view of the volcano with clouds hovering above it.

Activities we did here: canyoning and repelling down a waterfall.

Zip lining. Despite thinking it would be comparable to the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, it was NOT! We were 600 feet in the mountain high above the tree tops and the first zip was the scariest! I thought my fanny pack was going to fly off and I had tears coming out of my eyes because of the wind!

We went to Tamarindo, the beach area next. It was a 3 hour drive there doing up and down curvy roads in a shuttle. When we arrived it was HOT and humid. I was never one for the pageant style hair, but my hair experienced a new side of curly that I never knew existed.

This was our hotel. Nice huh?

The next few days in Tamarindo were chill. We just ate, drank, hung out by the pool, saw lots of stray dogs, cats, and even an iguana that I fed bananas to! We also met a lot of Americans who had moved down to CR in the last 1-10 years. They told us how much they loved CR and how they had fulfilled their dreams by moving there.

These are actually some shops owned by a woman from L.A. She used to live in Koreatown and now she has a jewelry shop in CR.

I highly recommend CR to anyone thinking about going to Central America. The people are very friendly, the food is so delicious and cheap, and as long as you go in the slow season you really don't need to plan too many things in advance. There were tons of hotels, inns, and hostels where we could've stayed an extra few days for a mere $30 bucks (average). Also, we never had to change any of our money to colones, which I saw as both good and bad. Good because we never had to step into a bank, bad because I wanted to experience CR in it's entirety. If you do end up going, be prepared to ONLY see fellow Americans. Everyone speaks English too, but of course everyone is encouraged to practice their Spanish no matter how foolish they sound.

We sadly said good-bye on September 4th to CR. Pura vida forever.