If You Mess With The Bull...You Get To Lay In Bed For 5 Days

Hello everyone! 

It's been an extremely busy week since I last posted. 

A week ago today we went horseback riding which was AMAZING. I rode a young "wild" horse named Santiago and Matty rode one named Palomo. This was hands down one of the greatest rides I've done - best ever for Matty. Our guide was this older lady named Beate from Germany who started this company with her husband called Boca Nosara Tours. We took a ride through the jungle, up to the river where we tried to find some crocs but failed, then rode over to the beach for sunset. This is my first time actually riding horses on the beach. Once we got there, Beate basically let us do whatever we wanted. It was like a horse race through the sand! Matty stayed on thank goodness but we were both sore the next day. I told Beate that I would volunteer to help with her horses anytime...hopefully that pans out. 

Last Thursday my friend Morgan went to the rodeo in Esperanza. Rodeos in Costa Rica are nothing like Rodeos in the states - there are literally no rules. Everyone down here knows that they are responsible for their own actions as opposed to wanting to sue everyone else for their problems. We woke up on Friday morning and Morgan wasn't home. Our initial thought was that he has stayed the night with some friends, which would've been great! We briefly touched on the subject that he might be dead or in jail but ruled those out as unlikely. I went to work like normal and didn't think much about it. Matty was going to check out a motorcycle to buy that morning so that was all I had on my mind. We exchanged a few emails (our only form of communication at the moment) about the motorcycle and BAM, it was ours! In his last email where he attached a picture of the bike he added a quick sentence stating - "Morgan still isn't back yet, but I did locate him, and he is ok." Later I found out that he was intentionally skipping details because Morgan was in the hospital in Nicoya after being gouged by a bull in the ring. We have the footage but haven't done anything with it yet :) I guess he jumped from the fence onto the bulls back and he didn't take too kindly to that. We're all still unsure of what totally happened, but he has some intense road rash on the top of his foot and his ribs are pretty banged up - nothing broken though. Matty and I went to the rodeo on Saturday and can confirm that this is one of the craziest events I have ever been to. ANYONE can jump into the ring at any time. We saw three people get taken out (we heard a local rumor that one died). Honestly with how much they were taunting the poor animal, I was kinda rooting for the bull....

Other exciting news: We bought a little Honda 125 motorcycle which is perfect for getting me to and from work! We've killed 3 scorpions in the last week (2 for Matty, 1 for our neighbor Barbara). Found the local pharmacy - where you can buy ANY medication, no prescription needed. Found a new gelato store! Matty ran into a chicken on the motorcycle (or this chicken ran into him). I meditated for the first time in my life at work (I don't think I did it right?). We learned a new local animal that we have seen 3 times now - Pizote or Coati - look it up, they're really cute. I almost ran over a Boa Constrictor on my bicycle - no joke, 4 feet long. And lastly... Matty ate a Cheeseburger with fries!!! 

Until next time...