Finale Costa Rica

Friday morning we got up super early for our all day fishing trip. Some although maybe not all of you know that I am not terrbibly fond of being out in open water, and sometimes get seasick although usually only if I am force into the cabin of a boat. It's something to do with the rocking and not being able to see the horizon.

Anyhow, the taxi picked us up and drove us over to the boating spot. we had to take a little motor boat out to vessel that were were going to be on the rest of the day. Our fishing boat was captained by two young guys probably between 18-25, they were nice enough but the boat was so small that in order to keep it from tipping there had to be a certain amount of weight distributed on either side. We started out close to shore but after about 30 - 45 minutes of not catching anything Igor suggested that we have them take us off shore and not bother with the snorkelling that we had planned.

So further off shore we went. Once we got the lines in the water it took about 20 minutes and we had something. Igor caught a Tuna and then it was my turn to reel in something. I tried but the fishy was stronger than me. I handed the pole back to Igor but shortly after that the line broke. about 20 minutes after our get away fish Igor caught this monster 30 lbs Wahoo and man was it a fighter, but nothing to what would come later.

Then it was my turn again. It's very difficult with strong fish to reel them in. I had to have Igor hold the pole for me while I reeled so that I could actually get the dang thing in, even with the help of the pole belt. But I did it and I even held the fish afterword. Here's my pretty Tuna (10 lbs)

We trolled around for a bit and then it was time for the fight of his life. It took near 45 minutes to reel in and man was Igor tired but we got him all the same. 80 lbs for fish fighting muscle against Igor the Conqueror. We threw him back of course, you aren't allowed to keep those ones.

Then one more for Katie a 15lbs fish which I can't remember the name of now. My face says it all. We threw this one back too, we already had more fishy than we could eat.

Part of the deal with the fish group was that if you caught something a local restaurant would cook it for you. Igor the master negotiator that he is got it so that we wouldn't have to pay the cover charge of $8 per person. So that night we had dinner in a beach front bar and ate our prize Wahoo, by far the best tasting fish I have ever eaten.

After dinner we walked along the beach front in the pouring rain and Igor decided to go play with the waves that would have been fine minus that it was dark and pouring rain so I couldn't see him at all and got a little scared that I might have just lost my new husband the the pacific ocean. I didn't however and he came back and we went back to the hotel.

On Saturday morning we had scheduled ourselves another little wedding gift of a couples massage with wine and chocolate covered strawberries. Except it was a bit too earlier in the morning for wine so we subbed that for coffee.

We went back to the resaurant from the night before and had them cook us the rest of our fish (tuna). What we didn't eat we had them box up for us so that we could snack on it on the way to and at the airport, which we did. Then we went back to our hotel checked out and got on the bus back to the airport.

And that folks pretty much sums up our wedding vacation.

Marry Costa Rica

Now is the big day. Thursday morning we woke up. Got dressed and headed out to the bus stop to go to Villa Caletas to get married. The bus dropped us off at the base of the hill and we walked the mile up to the hotel lobby. Once inside we let the people know we were the couple that was getting married in the morning and I asked if there way any place we could shower. The gentleman and the front desk looked unsure and I told him "even a pool shower would do." He said oh yes they definitely had one of those and pointed us in the direction. We walked over to where the pool showers were.

The pool showers were just these little square open air cubes with side wall that came up to about waist height with an open back. We grabbed some towels held them up for each other while the other one showered and then got dressed in our wedding gear in the little dressing room right next to the showers. Then it was back to the lobby to wait until they were ready for us. I went into the bathroom and did my hair pinning in a little purple flower that I had picked from one of the vines that was growing on the walk way to the hotel and did my make up as best I know how.

The photographer showed up first and so we got a little time with him to take some pictures while we waited for the Lawyer to show up.  In Costa Rica, it is compulsory to have a lawyer at the wedding to do all the legal readings and work. When the lawyer got there it was show time. Igor got to stand at the bottom of the amphitheatre and I descended from the top down some rather precariously narrow stairs, bouquet in one hand and railing in the other.

We had no idea that our lawyer was Antonio Banderas (no, not really but he sounded exactly like him). Complete with Latin enthusiasm and passion he recited the legal and spiritual lines with great emotion (imagine puss in boots saying something to the affect of "and you will love each other with all your heart, to the end of your days...").

And then 40 minutes later we were married. We ate lunch at the hotel and then the cab arrived to take us ziplining which Igor had arranged the day before. So 1.5 hours after getting married we were speeding through the jungle canopy.

Wedding Photos Here

I am sure that everyone thinks this about the person that they marry, but I truly have the best husband out there. He is always thinking of fun, new things for us to do and try, helping me continue to learn and grow. Pushing me to be my best and better. I hope that I in my own way do the same for him.

Costa Rica Dress

Villa Caletas was a bit on the expensive side for our taste as a place to stay so we headed over to Villa Lapas, which was only a couple of miles away. We put our stuff down in our room and decided to head to Jaco, the surf town.

When we arrived we found a tourist information place, with a very nice and helpful lady who would help us a couple more times during our stay. She pointed us in the direction of a small surf hotel (Hotel Zabmara) which Igor negotiated a super good rate to stay there from Wednesday until Saturday when we would have to head back to the airport.

We had dinner in Jaco and then caught the bus back to Villa Lapas. Igor decided we should get to hot tub since they had one and asked the staff (in spanish) to turn it on for us. unfortunately the temperature gauge or something like that was broken so it wouldn't so we settled for a swim in the pool (while it was raining outside) then playing pool and foosball with a large toad as our audience. FYI I lost every round of pool and foosball. Hard to when against this guy. I have better odds when we play backgammon at home though. :)

Wednesday Igor made a plan for himself to run all the way to Jaco from Villa Lapas. He put me on the bus to Jaco and then off he went in the mid day sun in 95% humidity and 90 degree heat.

I got to Jaco, checked us into the hotel and enjoyed to lovely air conditioned room. I waited for Igor and sure enough he showed up after running for about 2.5 - 3 hours. He had also gone and negotiated a fishing trip for us on Friday and I think had a little dip in the ocean as well.

As it was getting a little late Igor rested a bit and then we went in search of a wedding dress for me. I must have tried on every white or whitish dress in that town and finally ended up back where I had started with the first dress I tried on. It was a bit too big so after buying it I asked the girl in the shop if she knew where I could get a needle and thread.  we found a nice shirt for Igor, guys are soooo much easier to shop for when it comes to wedding stuff. Pick them out any beach button down and your done. I got the needle and threat and spend the better part of the evening pinning and sowing the dress to fit.

The remainder of our evening was spent eating half a rotisserie chicken and rice while watching Game of Thrones on Igor's laptop and sharing headphones to listen (one ear piece each). :)

Costa Rica Destination

Monday morning after setting up the wedding location, Igor and I headed back into San Jose for the day to walk around and explore, and maybe? find some wedding rings. We did and Igor is very proud of the fact that we spent under $5 for both of our rings lol

We played in the city almost all day, got a bit wet in the rain. Below are some fun pictures from exploring San Jose.

Tuesday morning I called Villa Caletas again, and asked if they could find a photographer for us. They said give them a few hours but yes they were pretty sure they could.

We left Michael's and headed back to San Jose to catch a bus to Jaco, a small surf town near where we were planning on getting married. We just missed the bus to Jaco and had to wait another 2 hours for the next one. No big deal really we just hung out in the bus station.

When it was time to go we asked the bus driver, at least as best we could, if they could drop us off at Villa Caletas, we thought maybe we would check out this place before getting married there. The driver responded yes he could drop us off and I kept the GPS running on my phone to make sure that we didn't miss the place.

When we got dropped off, one of the gentlemen on the bus told us that we had quite the hike ahead of us to get to the hotel from the road side where we were at. He was right. It's about a mile up a rather steep hill.

All the venue options at Villa Caletas are about equally lovely so when the price difference between them is $300 we decided to go with the Amphitheatre.

The Costa Rica Plan

So we bought the tickets to Costa Rica, and while I thought there was a chance I still wasn't sure if we would be able to pull off getting married in Costa Rica in a week, while we were there. I mean come on, who gets married in a foreign country within a week, with no planning? Us, apparently :)

We arrived on Sunday morning at 1am and had a gentleman who we met on the plane take us to a hotel that he knew of in down town San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The hotel was...not much, but it was enough, though the air conditioning units that were located just outside our window were a bit irritating to say the least.

On Sunday after waking up again we, and when I say we I mean Igor, figured out where to go to meet our couch surfing host Michael. We had some yummy breakfast, met some very nice people from the peace corp who recommended some places for us to go and check out.

While trying to locate our bus (rather unsuccessfully) which in San Jose is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack if you don't know where to look, we meet a nice guy with two little boys about the same ages as Elijah and Lucas. He helped us find where we needed to go (Granadilla) and had an old lady who was taking the same bus agree to tell us where to get off the bus.

When we got to Michael's we had him show us where the store was, bought some food and went back to Michaels and made dinner. We had a good conversation, asked him if he knew if it was possible for us to get married while in Costa Rica or if he could suggest anywhere for us to do it. He didn't. I called some hotels but being it Sunday non of the wedding coordinators where in I was told to call back the next day.

On Monday morning we got up I made a bunch of phone calls. Had one southern sounding gentleman laugh and tell me that Costa Rica is not Vegas and you can't just do that (wow, dude, you're wrong). Found a place called Villa Caletas who said, "absolutely what day and what do you need?"

Thursday sounded as good a day as any, which gave us time to find rings, a dress for me, a shirt of Igor, and get to where we needed to be.

Costa Rica Proposal

So as promised I am  going to detail our trip to Costa Rica and our getting married-ness in this little space.

On some random day of the week, while Igor and I were cleaning up our place Igor turns to me and say: "I have a question to ask you but I'm not really sure how to put it."

I look at him as I always do when he poses these type of question, some what quizzically and since with Igor there is rarely a time when I can anticipate the question about to be asked, I say: "ok, sure, what is it?"

He turns to me and says:"will you marry me?"

I am sure that the look on my face ready, (Shock), and I sort of nervously laughed and said: "Are you kidding, or are you being seriously?"

"I'm serious," he says

"You are sure your not joking?" (me)

"yes" (Igor)

"Of course I will marry you!" (me)

"Let's go to Vegas and get married." (Igor)

and since  Vegas is a place where people get married by Elvis, when they are drunk, I said no to that. Igor suggests Costa Rica, and I said sure sounds great!.

No don't get me wrong getting married and keeping it a secret from everyone, and when I say everyone I mean everyone as you all now know. But I promised and though it was difficult I didn't say a thing to anyone.

So like the sillies we are we ran off to Costa Rica 2 weeks later to see if we could get married and have a vacation at the same time.

Euro_Adventure - Belarus Baby

We finally made it to our destination, Belarus! The whole point of our trip, other than to have loads of fun and travel around Europe, was to make it to Belarus, surprise Igor's family and go to Igor's school reunion. We arrived in Minsk on Friday night and Igor's friend Serge picked us up. We were to stay at this place for the evening before heading to Zaslonovo , where Igor's parents live. When we arrive I greeted Serge's wife in Russian, my accent was so good that she thought I spoke Russian, boy was she shocked! hahaha

We had a lovely dinner with Serge and his wife, they made us fish and lots of other yummy food to eat. I had a nice conversation with Nastia (short for Anastasia) who wanted to practice her English. Igor showed Serge all the cool stuff that he had been working on (programming).

In the morning Serge took us quiet early to the bus station where we caught a bus to Zaslonovo. The ride was about 3 hour, at one point I really needed to go to the bathroom but there were no bathrooms for awhile, but don't worry I managed to be ok until we got to the bus station in Lepel ( the bi town near Igor's family).

We finally arrived in Zaslonovo in the late afternoon. Once there we encountered our first hurtle, the building has a locked front door and an intercom system. Not wanting to buz his parents flat and alter them, Igor enlisted the services of one young boy from the next building who called every flat until someone opened the door. I believe it was the lovely #19 who let us in.

look at this happy guy!

Once in the building we walked a bunch of flights of stairs to the top where his parents apartment is. Igor hit the door bell, placed his hand over the peep whole so anyone inside couldn't see outside. At first we didn't hear any movement, then the lock turned and the door opened very slowly.

It took Igor's father a few seconds to realize who Igor was, at first he says he thought that Igor was a sales man!

We had a good laugh put our bags down and then went to Igor's mother's work, she is a nurse at the military base hospital, not 5 minutes walk from Igor's house.

The video below is of the surprise, unfortunately not being well prepared or very familiar with my camera (major fail) the video I took is in ultra slow motion. As with many accidents in art, I actually like the ultra slow motion better as you can see ever expression as it crosses his mothers face.