Hit me up... 2 times (San Jose, CR)

It is always interesting to return to places I have been to before. A general rule of thumb for me is not to do so, but I make an odd exception now and again. This past week, my buddy Chris from California and I went to a couple of beaches outside of San Jose.  After spending a week in the big city, it was nice to get some fresh air. Sadly though, because it is low season.... and have I mentioned yet that it is also rainy season, the beaches were not so busy.

The first place we went to was called Manuel Antonio, which also has a national park there.  We didn´t go to the national park though, it has a $10 entrance fee which neither of us were willing to pay.  Manuel Antonio, according to the Lonely Planet, and from other people I have met along the way, is known to be a gay friendly place, with two gay hotels, a gay bar, and a gay beach! Chris, the naive, bright eyed, gay Californian on his short vacation was hoping to find the gays in Manuel Antonio.  Fail.

The first night we arrived we walked, uphill, at night, in the rain, to get to Liquid, a gay bar that we read about. When we arrived... it was closed because it was Sunday. As well, they were closed on the Monday too. And we were not going to be around for Tuesday.

The following day, we actually met up with a friend I had made in Jaco a couple weeks prior, Emi from Austria and his boyfriend (Georg) who had just arrived from Europe on his two week vacation to visit Emi. So the four of us set out to find the so called gay beach called Playa Playitas. Chris and I had to meet Emi and Georg at 11am, but before then, I found a man who was working on the beach. As he swept away the trash that had been accumulated I asked him the time, and as well if he knew where ¨Playa Playitas¨ was. He gave us directions as he looked us up and down, which really gave us some hope that playitas really is a gay beach!

So, once we met up with the Austrians we headed for playitas. Manuel Antonio has a very long strip of beach with beautiful large rock formations in the distance on the ocean. We walked and walked for about 30 minutes to the end of the beach. We had to go where the beach ends and make a small climb over top these boulders and shale, supposedly too dangerous to cross during high tide, and tricky as well to cross over in slippery flip-flops.  As we made the trek, we kept joking around, saying that once we arrive we will be greeted with daiquiris served by drag queens, while singing ¨somewhere over the rainbow¨.  Well, that did not happen.  Once we got over the final hump, we found two couples (straight couples) on the beach and more followed later on. Behind the beach was a top notch hotel resort that had rooms starting at $340 per night! We felt more like we were at some kind of honeymoon resort rather than a gay beach. Fail.  Nonetheless, we swam there and made the most of the day. The walk back was somber, with less enthusiasm and anticipation. And once again, we walked back... in the rain.  Did I mention that it´s bloody rainy season here! Ugh!

Chris and I left Manuel Antonio the following day and went to Jaco. I had spent 3 days in Jaco with Cesar and his buddies probably 10 days prior.  This is when it gets interesting to return to places because you feel a sense of orientation and security. You know what to expect, you know where things are.  So when we arrived, I knew exactly where to get off on the bus and we even returned to the same hotel I had stayed at previously where the lady remembered me. There was even a couple restaurants where the servers remembered me as well, that´s kinda nice.  However, Jaco was not the same as it was ten days prior. It was dead. The night life was non-existent and the town seemed empty and deserted.  That first night in Jaco Chris and I said that we already missed San Jose, despite the pollution and the fact that there are no beaches there. We thought of returning the next day but remembered we had already paid for two nights at the hotel. Oh well.

And once again, when we finally returned to San Jose two days ago, it was like coming back to familiarity. We checked into our same hostel as before, each of us got our same dorm room and I even got my same bed as before. A creature of habbit I am.

So, as per my previous post, I am going to stay here just a little bit longer. I have friends here. My good friend Luis who I met last week, a local here from San Jose, and I are going to the Ricky Martin concert next Wednesday! It´s a big deal here, there are Ricky Martin Posters everywhere and I have seen news coverage of it as well. I guess he hasn´t been here in years. Well really, Ricky Martin hasn´t been performing anywhere in years. Too bad Ricky Martin is from Puerto Rico, it would´ve been cool to say that I saw Ricky in his home turf.