Conservacionistas of the Eternal Forrest

Ok, here we go. Day 1: I have been here at Monteverde for a few days now. Taking a few hours of Spanish a day and going out on cloudforest excursions. We hit "Bar Amigos" at night are conspiculously a large group of rowdy Americans. Derek, from Arizona, and myself manage to break away from the our group and speak with some Costa Rican 20-somethings. One is a receptionist at a hotel. The other two are conservacionists. "Cool, where do you work?" At the Bosque Eternal de los Ninos. (The Eternal Forest of the Children) Mysterious. Not much else, lets meet again here in 2 days. Day 2: I notice the sign for this Eternal Forest of the children, another sign for the eternal forest nightwalks, and a path which disappears into the jungle. I do some guidebook research on the place. Apparently some Swedish or Norwegian children decided to raise money and buy some rainforest to preserve. Other schools of children from around the world have chipped in as well. Im thinking... CULT. Day 3: We meet the Ticas at Bar Amigos. Unfortunatedly, with another group of drunk Americans. After they get too drunk and most peace out, Derek and I sit at the table with the conservation cuties. We talk, plan to go to the Taberna for the music and dance floor. Click..Lights go out. Apparently, all of the Santa Elena is without electricity. Lets drink the beer before it goes warm! yay. They give us a ride to the Taberna for a change of scenery. Uh oh, I would say there were 20-30 Costa Rican guys at this place and maybe 1 or 2 girls. Whatever, Derek and I manage to hold on to them with Conversation in broken spanish. Jericha is going to study archaeology. I think she just offered to give me the twilight tour at the preserve. BAM, lights on, music on. All downhill from here. "Mae (dude), what kind of dance is this?" I ask some guy. "Salsa" Great, I try to remember the basic step from Cotillion in 8th grade...While I am deciding if I lead with the right or the left foot, Rico Suave, has already taken Jericha to the dance floor. Ok. I ll watch the footwork and take the next dance. No problem. Whooaaa. This guy can move, very fancy footwork, too fast for me to detect a basic step. One spin, two spin, three spin, four. Did he just catch her hand behind his back and begin dancing backwards? Unspin. Shit. This guy would have more rhythm than me even if I broke his legs. I head to bar for a shot of Guaro and a Hail-Mary. So, the night goes on, I dance a bit, try to smile, and bump into her every once and awhile. Reggae-Tone goes a little better. Merengue goes a little worse. Time for byes. Asks me if I am coming to the reserve tomorrow night? "Es possible..." I walk home and think about how badly I just got schooled.
Day 4) Fuck it. I walk to the reserve. Down a very long, shady path. Into the small building. I chat with Jericha a bit in broken spanish. Ok, so tell me about this night walk. Probably will see bats, lots of insects, frogs, and sloths. $15 dollars and a guided tour with a 11 tourists. I pass. Nice to meet you. No secret cult of eternal children in the rainforest. No twilight walk with the conservacionista. I was disappointed. I am sure you are too. Lets all put on some heavy metal and cut down trees. haha, maybe not. Derek and I have decided to take the workshop offered at the university on popular dance. Thats all folks. Yesterday, was probably the best day I have spent here. I rode Tequila (a horse) down a mountain with a view of the ocean, into a coffee farm, delicious lunch and siesta, back up the mountain, through the jungle, etc. A bit sore, going to some hot springs tonight with an attached bar.
Pura Vida,
Rob