We Added Stars to The Sky

Bryton, Jackson, Liz, Jahsiah.

Last weekend marked the one year anniversary of our arrival to Puerto Viejo. We knew it had been one year because it was the second annual big surf competition in the 2014 Olympus National Surfing Circuit, this year sponsored by Lime Coral Surf Apparel. Last year, when we got to town, we were in the midst of moving into our jungle mansion, overlapping with the previous tenants by one night, so we spent the night in the house with Shai, and his friend Bobby, which was great since they were able to give us information about the house and a little bit of knowledge about what to expect as normal; bats flying into the house, hummingbirds saying good morning, snakes to watch out for, scorpions and ant encounters, things like that. We watched the surf competition with Shai and Bobby, Timmy, and the dogs last year, waiting for the house to be cleaned for our initial move in. This year, we watched the surf competition under shaded umbrellas, selling beers out of a cooler as part of the Tasty Waves Team.

Tasty Waves, the bar I work at, sponsors surfers in the Open Pro and National Circuit competitions. It is, after all, a surf bar. In fact, all of the front of the house employes, other than myself, are surfers. A fact that I should probably work on changing, but I'll give that another year or so of living in the Caribbean. On Saturday of the competition, our friend Jetsie invited us to a party that would be held that night at the Le NUMU Beach Club, part of the Le Cameleon Resort, one of, if not, the fanciest resorts in the Caribe Sur area. Jetsie was to be in a bikini contest held at the party and the winner would be chosen based on crowd support, so she was trying to round up as many supporters as possible to win the prize of $1,000, donated generously by Lime Coral, the sponsors of the surf competition. 

After the competition ended for the day, we cleaned up, sobered up a bit from all that day drinking, and evaluated who could attend based on work schedules. A small crew of us made our way down to Le NUMU, dressed to the nines, Caribbean style. We were a bit stunned to be hit with a $4 cover charge at the door, a phrase I had not heard since leaving the Bay Area. But, since we had already made the ten minute bike ride journey down to far end of Cocles, we decided to suck it up, pay the cover, support Jetsie and call it an early night. It was just after nine, and it didn't seem to be a promising start to the evening. Not many people were there, so myself, Jahsiah, Taylor, and Bryton banded together, drinking cans of Pilsen, waiting for the rumored bikini contest so we could return to our normal routine of hanging out at Tasty Waves, slighty uncomfortable in our fancy, and largely, empty setting.

The entrance to Le Cameleon, lit up at night.

Taylor and I decided to investigate the resort side of Le Cameleon, located across the street from Le NUMU Beach Club. We stumbled down the path, lit by lantern bags, and walked into the beautiful setting of what turned out to be the wedding of the Lime Coral owner to his Costa Rican wife. The place was lit up gorgeously and filled with Lime Coral employees, surfers from the days event, and good friends of the happy couple. Everyone was so friendly to us wedding crashers, offering us drinks from the open bar, birthday cake, and chatting our ears off about the weekend's success, their love of their jobs, and their gratefulness for having such an awesome boss. I could see why they were so happy. The set up was amazing, the open bar is always a win, and these people were happy with what they do for a living. Traveling around Costa Rica, sponsoring surf competitions and promoting good clothing and surf wear.

Taylor and I made ourselves at home, enjoying mojitos, while I felt guilty for having abandonned the boys back at the beach club. Just as I was finishing my all too delicious free mojito and preparing to walk back and tell Jahsiah and Bryton what they missed out on, Jahsiah appeared, looking a little unsure, as we first did, as to how welcome we were at a stranger's wedding. Again, he was instantly welcomed, and when Bryton came moments after, the crew was reunited. Turns out, Bryton knew the owner of Lime Coral, and had been invited to the party, but didn't realize Jetsie's invitation was one in the same. As we enjoyed our second round of open bar drinks, I made mention that we should get back across the street so as not to miss Jetsie's appearance. Some of the guys we were talking to laughed, and explained that the whole party across the street was the reception for the wedding, and nothing was going to start before the newly weds arrived, so we waited with the wedding party.

Ours weren't so big, and we didn't have as many, but you get the idea.

When the bride and groom did finally cross the street, it was no longer the empty, awkward scene that we had walked out on an hour prior, but a packed party. The band went on. Un Rojo, a Costa Rican reggae band from San Jose, equipped with a full drum set, 2 backup singers, and a trumpet! This was, hands down, one of the best shows I've seen since coming to Costa Rica. As the band rocked, and general drunken merriment followed, the night took on a magical feel. Taylor and Bryton came running up to us with paper lanterns for us to light and set afloat in the sky, a la Thailand full moon style. People gathered on the beach to send these floating wishes to the heavens and you could watch as your wish reached the highest height above the water before you could no longer discern your wish from the stars. There were a few close calls of lanterns almost going into the water, but Bryton saved the day by running into the waves and giving the lanterns a second chance.

Not only did we add stars to the sky and make wishes to send to the heavens, but the owner of Lime Coral also put on a fireworks show, that was so amazing, and really close to our faces, that I was laughing uncontrollably about how this night was the best night ever. In the States, this fireworks show would have been illegal, I'm sure. Embers were shooting rouge and hitting people in the stomach, and when it looked like a firework was about to shower down on your face, that's because it really was, but who cares, no one got hurt. The fireworks were beautiful, and standing on the shore of the Caribbean with mainly strangers, sharing in this communal joy, you could feel the happiness in the air mixed with the humidity, and the warm wind of the night.

When it finally came time to judge the bikini contest, our crew rallied together with some people we had eventually meet up with. Beez, Jetsie's boyfriend, our friend Ferguson, and one of his friends formed a cheering section as close to the stage as possible. Bryton, planning ahead as always, had brought whistles to help our volume reach new heights. We cheered till our throats were sore each time Jetsie advanced, and what do you know, she won!

They actually handed her a giant check! I've never really seen one in person, it was ridiculous!

A wedding, open bar, a fancy beach club, a cover charge, floating paper lanterns, fireworks, a $1,000 prize presented in the form of an over-sized check. Are you kidding me? Where the hell were we? The party began to wind down, but we were still enamored with our setting and weren't quite ready to leave. We hung around with the other straggles, listening to the DJ that had taken over for the band who was long gone. Our friend Josh, finally off of work, came to join us for one more beer, and we attempted to relay the nights events to him, sounding like children explaining all the toys they got on Christmas day.

Eventually the realities of the next day set in, and deciding not to steal too much more of tomorrow's happiness, we biked home. At 4 in the morning. So much for a quick night of supporting Jetsie. We all looked a little worse for the wear on Sunday, selling beers on the beach again, but the high from the party helped us through.

So, I just want to say thank you to Lime Coral, all of the surfers who participated in the competition, and Jetsie for inviting us to the party that we would have never gone to otherwise. While I know the events were not intended to celebrate mine and Jahsiah's one year anniversary in the Caribbean, I couldn't help but feel like that party was partly for us. I cannot think of a better way to have celebrated.