Esperar lo Inesperado

Nov 9, 2023
4 min read

Updated: Nov 12, 2023

Things aren’t easy in Costa Rica. Things are slower. Much slower. More complicated. More difficult. But somehow, with all the unexpected surprises and obstacles, life now feels so… simple. So perfectly imperfect. It has been feeling a lot like a dream lately.

A very unfortunate turn of events that resulted in a beautiful 12 hours in a new place with my new closest friends reminded me of the beauty in expecting, and accepting, the unexpected. Me and 4 of my friends piled into a small rented sedan and headed towards Ostional at 11am on Saturday morning, in hopes of seeing a sea turtle arriba and hatching. We drove three hours on roads that don’t even deserve to be called “roads”, as they were about 95% pothole and 5% road. We strained and managed our way through the path of potholes without having to get out to push the car, to pick up our friend, Erin (Erin #3... we have three friends named Erin) in Nicoya. We had an hour drive ahead of us with 6 girls squeezed into one small car. And we thought that would be the most unfortunate part of the remainder of our trip… little did we know how much worse things were about to become.

The roads that led out of Nicoya were even worse than those coming in, which we didn't think could be possible. But we were too far in to turn around at this point... or so we thought... until we were only 30 minutes from our destination, and we came face to face with a river so deep, kids were cannonballing into it from a bridge. We sat and watched 4 wheelers and trucks manage their way through the most shallow part of the river, while locals waved their arms and warned us of the danger. We were never considering attempting to cross in the first place (don't worry mom, I'm smarter than that), but the idea of turning around after the journey we took to get to this point was so defeating. Per advice of the locals, the only way around this river was to turn around and return to Santa Cruz, adding another 4 or 5 hours to our trip. As a group, we decided to make our way towards Sámara, a beautiful beach town about an hour away. We booked a last minute hostel for $11 a bed and made our way through the potholed road in the dark.

By time we arrived to Sámara, we had spent 8 hours crammed in a small sedan, it was nearly 8pm, every restaurant in town was closed, and it was ghost town on a Saturday night. We managed to find an overpriced Italian restaurant with mid tier pizza and an incredible view of the ocean and night sky full of stars. Our friend Jas, the bougie one of the group, was absolutely mortified at her first hostel experience. To be fair, it was definitely not the nicest hostel I've been in, and she showed up with a silk nightgown and a silk pillowcase! So you can imagine her reaction when we walked into our 7 bed dorm. It'll take a lot of convincing to get her to join another weekend trip after this experience.

After all the struggles of our journey, we were blessed with a beautiful sunny morning at Sámara beach. The beach looked like it was straight out of a painting, a white sand shore lined with palm trees for miles and the crystal blue water that was perfectly, refreshingly crisp. With rainy season coming to an end, we haven't had many days of sunshine in Coco. So, we were soaking up all the warm rays that we could in the short amount of time we had there before our trek back.

Costa Rica's rainy season thunderstorms, inefficient banks (ask Delaney about that one...), unpaved, broken roads, and slow lifestyle that is occasionally unbearable have all been nothing short of blessings. Getting stuck in the pouring rain with no umbrella leads to dancing and swimming beneath the rain drops. Driving 4 hours to end up at a river you can’t cross and having to turn around lands you at the most stunning beach with your new friends. The lack of appliances, dishwasher, dryer, vacuum, teaches you practicality and the benefits of daily manual labor. Having no car reminds me to appreciate my able body. Being away from family and friends shows me how incredible technology is. I have learned to truly appreciate the little things. Even as our car was fighting for survival in the potholes, I still felt so much gratitude and love for this life and these experiences. I sat around the table with my incredible group of friends who all tackle life with the same positive, risk taking mindset and open heart, and we reflected on how lucky we are. Despite the inconveniences and the small frustrations, it feels like there are no real problems since moving here. Sure, we may stress about money, or drive 4 hours and have to turn around, or even lose access to water and electricity, but when you're discovering a new part of the world, a new part of life, and a new part of yourself, all the inconveniences are all negligible.

So, I'm learning to not only expect the unexpected, but to accept it and appreciate it. Life has so much to offer. Don't waste time worrying about the inconveniences. They're all experiences at the end of the day.