Just to record a few first for my posterity

In the two weeks we’ve been here Kelli and I haven’t done any real exercise other than a lot of walking and playing around in the pool. We’ve been looking for a yoga class to go to but evidently those don’t start until ‘high season,’ which begins about the second week of December. (Costa Rica’s tourist industry has brought back a lot of ‘owning a hotel in Nauvoo’ memories for me. I didn’t know it before hand, but the whole country is quiet for nine months and then gears up for the busy season – December through February. Everyone keeps on talking about the high season coming, how quiet things are right now, and how when high season comes it’ll get really busy. And some touristy things are closed waiting to open for the crowds that the next few months will bring. It brings back memories of all those times suffering through the dreadful dearth of a Midwest winter, getting ready for the busy season at the hotel and store, then hanging out in Nauvoo for the summer. So glad those days are in the past.)

So, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, no yoga right now. But we did find a hotel just down the road that offers a 2x per week water aerobics class. You know what that means. Yep. Picture it: Kelli, me, and a crowd of twenty or so over-75, overweight ladies. Honestly, I almost lost my nerve as we came around the corner and saw the crowd. I wondered if I could just walk by and pretend like I was dropping Kelli off on my way to catch some waves at the beach.  But heck, nobody knows me in Costa Rica, right? So I did it, pink water noodle and all.  I can no longer say that I have never done water aerobics. Here’s another thing I have to admit…it was hard! Honestly, I think I broke a sweat underneath the water.The teacher saw Kelli and me and never broke her gaze. She made us do three reps for everyone else’s one. She yelled at us at least a dozen times and even blew her whistle at me when I did something wrong. (The first time wasn’t even my fault. When we first got in the water one of the old ladies was telling me how cool it was that I came to the class and that her husband wasn’t secure enough in his manhood to do it. [That didn’t help.] And then I got in trouble for talking. Welcome to class school boy.)

To go along with that first, I also got my first sunburn on this trip. It was only a matter of time and was bound to happen sooner or later. But why didn’t I think to put on sunscreen before spending an hour in the pool with an equatorial sun directly over my head?

Here’s a funny one: we haven’t eaten any sugar at all since we’ve been down here (not super intentional, just hasn’t happened). Our snacks have been fruit and nuts. So at the grocery store tonight Kelli said, “Let’s buy some more nut snacks.” Say that one out loud once or twice and you’ll get it.

And another first: I’m actually considering purchasing a man purse. In Costa Rica you don’t get paper money until you get to 1000 colones, which is about two dollars. And their coin money is heavy! It’s a total pain to carry around in your pocket and try to keep track of.

Water aerobics and a man purse. I feel like I need to eat some meat and fart and belch in public tomorrow.

[Hey Kevin, I hear they have some cool coin purses over there in Australia, ones with no seams or anything. At least my man purse would have some testosterone in it. Hook a brother up.]