School's Out for Summer (and Christmas)

This was the last week of the semester in school. We also had our party on Saturday night. Paul and Aidan have been joined by a third friend, Vin, and the four of us came down to Manuel Antonio, where we are now, on Sunday. The picture of the week shows myself, Susannah, Jackie Brown and Ron at the Christmas party.

Busy Week
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This week was very busy in school. We had to do progress reports for all the students. Because I didn't come back from Puerto Viejo until Monday I was on the back foot all week. I was so relieved when it got to Thursday and it was all over.

Pub Crawl
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The department decided they wanted a pub crawl to mark the end of the year. As they were full praise for the crawl I organised for Paddy's day I was coerced into organising this one too. We had a good night crawling the bars of Heredia. They have launched a new version of my favorite beer. It's called Pilsen 6.0. Unsurprisingly, it's called this because it's strength is 6.0. Because of this Friday was a total hangover day. I was supposed to go to the 30th birthday party of one of the teachers in the afternoon, and I never made it.

San Jose

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Paul and Aidan arrived back from Panama on Friday afternoon. We had arranged to go into San Jose that night, so off we went. The club we went to had an entrance fee of 4,000 colones (about Eur5.80). That's very expensive for here, but we realised when we were inside that there was a free bar until 1am. When you paid, you got a ticket. That got you your first drink. After that you just had to return your glass or bottle and you got another one. We'd arrived too late to really take advantage of it, but after 1am you could pay as normal and we stayed until after 4. When we got home we had 'one for the road' and didn't get to bed until after 7.

The extra visitor

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Aidan's friend Vin decided at the last minute to join Aidan and Paul for the last week of their holiday. He got a good fare and just hopped on a plane. He's the most casual visitor to Costa Rica ever. Aidan collected him at the airport on Saturday night, while I was off at the Christmas Party.

Christmas Party

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Our Christmas party this year was held up the mountains in a bar called La Puerta de Alcala. We had a lovely meal, but they were a bit stingy on the drinks this year. Last year we had a free bar, but this year we got four vouchers for free drink. However, it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. There was a latin band, and they played local songs and latino versions of international hits. It was a good laugh, and I danced nearly the entire night. Something I haven't done for years. After it was over, the bus dropped us back into town where we continued until about 4am.

Manuel Antonio

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The four of us took the bus down to Manuel Antonio on Sunday. We arrived Sunday evening, and spent yesterday on the beach. Their lack of luck with the weather continued. Although it didn't rain, it was overcast throughout the day. There was really torrential rain during the night, but it seems to have cleared up for today. They've headed off kayaking in the mangroves this morning, but I've decided to take it easy, catch up on email, and just laze on the beach. The weather is quite sunny today, but still with a little cloud.

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Well, that's it for this week. I'm going to head home on Thursday, for a quiet night before the lads are back on Friday. Aidan and Paul head home on Saturday, and Vin leaves Sunday. I'm hoping to go to Nicaragua on a visa run next week.

Until next week,

Pura Vida,

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Deputies from PLN, PUSC and ML will vote for the TLC