Happy Holidays not from Costa Rica

One year ago, I was in Costa Rica sunning, sipping pina coladas, and swimming with sea turtles. It was more than a destination birthday, it was a paradise vacation. The fog of a year of memories and other events is laying heavy on the specifics of that time, but my niece Camille wrote an essay on a particular day in Costa Rica. She has given me permission to publish it here, so I share it with you below.

Costa Rica

I was underwater but breathing. I could hear my heavy-sounding breath echoing in my snorkel. I noticed a school of fish swimming in front of me. They were so small that I could have fit one in my hand. They were yellow with black polka dots, and to me they looked like a group of bees. I was snorkeling in Costa Rica where I was on vacation with family and friends. It was my Aunt Rozzi’s 50^th birthday. My family and I were celebrating with my cousin, Mikayla; my Uncle Scott; Mikayla’s friend, Leela; Aunt Rozzi’s friend Mary; Aunt Rozzi’s friend, Robyn, and her twin daughters, Lily and Shira; and other friends and family of my aunt.

The next day we decided to try to go snorkeling again. My mom, my dad, Mary, Lila, Lily, Shira, and I decided to walk to the beach instead of taking the shuttle like the others did. While we were walking along the beach, Mary asked, “Have you seen the fossils yet?” as she pointed to a tar black, flat stone jutting out sideways from the ocean. On it I saw hundreds of spiraled white shells.

A bit later we got to the swimming beach. It was beautiful and studded with palm trees. The water was warmer than a swimming pool, and the waves were gentle and small. I could hear people talking and children squealing. After about an hour of swimming my mom offered, “Why don’t we take our siesta now?”

We ordered our food and got a table on the hillside overlooking the beach. My food took about 45 minutes to come, and it seemed like an eternity I was so hungry. While we were waiting, we saw coatis, which look like orangish lemurs. They were scurrying around and peeking in trash cans for food, like raccoons do.

Once we had finished eating and were going to go snorkeling, it started to pour. We were lucky and got a table under the tent next to the café. There weren’t quite enough seats for everybody, so I stood. Mary, Leela, Shira, Lily and Mikayla played Yahtzee. I didn’t, but I had fun watching and taking pictures any way. Mary got three Yahtzees! I got some tasty nachos from the café. They were the perfect combination of melted cheese and beans.

On the shuttle ride back I thought about how fun it would have been to go snorkeling, but then I thought about the fun we had under the tent. I had had a good time with family and friends.