Que hora es?

TOOTH HURTY!

In an attempt to fill everyone in on the past two weeks, I neglected to mention I have been suffering a major toothache.

It all started upon my arrival in Santa Ana, a small mountain town in the Central Valley near San Jose.  In my first couple days, I was able to enjoy the cool breeze, lush green landscape, and the fresh water spring that ran through the property. The 13 acre lot is a former Tai Chi Sanctuary and to our luck, a Tai Chi Master was staying on the property as well.  Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning, we practiced Tai Chi with him and were able to learn the basics in a just a few lessons.  As I caressed my energy ball among surrounding mountains, sun on my face, and ants biting my ankles,  I was able to tap into my spirit for a few seconds; however, the moment was abruptly ruined due to an insatiable desire to itch my feet. Regardless of the fire that ran up and down my legs, Tai Chi was an amazing way to start my day.  It is a practice I would love to continue, but maybe only in an insect-free shala and without a boyfriend who laughs at you during the process.  How can someone be your true love and nemesis at the same time? :-)

After Tai Chi and for the remainder of the day, I beat-bopped around the property. We made regular visits to Trent's hanai (Hawaiian word for adopted) dog, "Pirate". This wasn't actually his name, but Trenton called him that as the dog was missing one leg.  He was a sweet, neglected dog that absolutely adored Trenton's daily visits, probably because Trent came bearing gifts of fresh avocados, fish, beef, rice and beans, bones, etc... All the left overs in the house were designated to "Pirate" as Trenton had a strong affection toward him and an overwhelming compassion for his situation.  The connection with "Pirate" was so strong, that we almost added "Pirate" to our travel party.  Fortunately, practicality set in and he realized bringing the dog along would not be the best idea, especially a dog that needed extra attention.  However, I could see it in both their eyes that they wanted to be friends forever, and I am sure they will be.

As the sun began to set, reality sunk in that soon it would be night, which meant no going outside unless I had on my Depends. This was the place I referred to in my earlier post that had the special green lights at night: the SPIDERS' EYES!  Muahahaha! Thankfully, Trenton's friend, Justin, would call us to come hang out with them at this nice, modern apartment just down the hill. This apartment was on a main road in Santa Ana, so the woods were not a problem.  Do not get me wrong, I love nature.  I love camping, hiking, being in the water, etc.... I am just from Hawaii where the cockroach is the evilest and dirtiest critter; snakes are not in Hawaii and to my knowledge neither are there human sized spiders.  I exaggerate, but seriously there was a white one that was as big as my hand.  FREAKY!!!   5 million points for Hawaii.

I digress- One night at their apartment, we had ice cream night and we ended up getting a bag of Oreos too. The label read: "America's favorite cookie"- you got that right.  Well, I decided to have twelve Oreos in one sitting (which I am not too proud), and suddenly my tooth began to experience excruciating pain! I didn't think it was anything to worry about as my teeth have always been a nuisance and particularly weak.  My mother used to call me "million dollar mouth" because of my need for regular dental procedures.  Moving along, over the next couple days, there was minor pain but again nothing an over the counter pain reliever couldn't manage.  But then, voila, like magic, my toothache had me curled over in the fetal position.  This was our second day at the beach. :)

Thank God for Trenton and his ability to get the job done.  I was completely satisfied with crying about it and loathing in self-pity;  I would have stayed in bed for a couple days and suffered.  But no, Trenton found a dentist, called a cab, and got me seen with the town's only dentist within the hour.  I am sure it was somewhat selfish on his part as he was tired of  waiting on me hand and foot.  I am sorry but guys are the worst when they are sick, so I was really just giving him a taste of his own medicine.  But en serio (really in espanol), he  pulled through and had this taken care of for me. Since the visit, I have been on antibiotics which have really made the biggest difference in the pain department, and I am getting set up with another appointment to have some work done.  Apparently the dental care in Costa Rica is exceptionally great (per many travelers and locals) and CHEAP.  I am now thankful that this happened abroad instead of the in the states where I recently ran out of my insurance.  It would have costed me my whole travel budget for dental work- screw that, I would have extracted the puppy! I may have looked like a toothless redneck, but I would be a toothless redneck in Costa Rica. So even though I am limited in what I can do, I am still in moderate pain, and I look like a squirrel, I am having a beautiful time in Santa Teresa.  I believe that says a lot about Costa Rica. This place puts a huge smile on my face even when it hurts.

Bueno!