Liberi-UGH

I recommend Liberia to precisely none of you. On my travels I arrived late enough in Liberia that I planned to spend the night there. I stayed at Hotel Guanacaste, and as I entered my room for the first time I felt I was Tom Hanks in Big (I know you all get that reference because I'm not friends with people who haven't seen Big)

In my desperation, I sought comfort from the white-devil himself: McDonalds. Luckily my wonder drug (diet coke) was in full supply. A few more words on the Costa Rican Mickey D's, it's actually must nicer than in the States. All of the furniture had a modern feel to it, the food was not as greasy or as salty and the bathrooms were immaculate. This is especially notable because almost all public restrooms might as well be squat-toilets. They are always exceedingly filthy, without toilet seats, and 9 out of 10 times don't have soap. This does not bother the Ticans but I now carry hand sanitizer.

Back to the gilded land of the Golden Arches, they serve a McPinto for breakfast. Should I breakdown at another point in my trip and need my Western comfort, I plan on trying to corporate version of Costa Rica's national dish. Another Tican Twist, they have a pump of mayonaise right next to the *Fancy* Ketchup dispenser. (The dispense is not fancy but any true American should know that the packets of ketchup at McDonalds all claim to be fancy) Mayonaise is a staple here, in fact last night I went to Mexican with a mini-UN group (I am meaning to say we were all from different countries) and we were all perplexed by the zigzag of mayonaise running down our burritos.

In that airconditioned wonderland I plotted my escape from Liberia, which did not go without a hitch. I went to the bank to withdraw money and as my card was in the ATM the power went out. When the machine rebooted there was no sign of my card. I freaked a little, because my bus was due to leave in less than an hour for Tamarindo (I'm here not, so wonderful) I had to go inside and dig deep into my Spanish vocab because no one seemed to understand that my card was currently INSIDE of the machine. After an eternity in the waiting section (banks all have a grouping of chairs that the line waits in, it's a nice thought, no standing; there is also an express line for handicapped people, no sticker required!) they gave me my card back and I scurried off with no cash in hand, I was not risking their awful banking again.

Now I am in Tamarindo, arguably the most tourist place in Costa Rica. Beautiful beach, lots of funky restaurants and the locals get peeved when you speak Spanish, mostly because the majority of locals are not from Costa Rica. Due to the tourism there is a lot of theft, I witnessed it yesterday when some guy jumped my friend Nati and ran off with here camera. Not really a violent crime, just a grab and run. But due to this I am not bringing out my favorite camera, we all know how devestated I would be if I lost it.