No one really knows what's at the bottom of ocean. But I do.... my cousin's Apple Watch. By now it could have been swallowed by a White Tip Reef Shark swimming the waters of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica or been overgrown with sea moss and nibbled on by Parrotfish. Maybe a scuba diver found it or.... it just kept sinking. And sinking. And sinking—plop. All. The. Way. Down.
Butttt, that's more of a her problem.
All I remember is that it was like paradise, that day out on the trimaran. It was sunny and warm. The white boat had a water slide that curved off the back and 'Lorelei' was painted in navy cursive writing on the side. Lorelei would take us out on the dark turquoise waters, the warmest I'd ever felt. I was surrounded by family, clothed in a teal dress printed with lime and white tropical leaves.
Out on the sea, my strawberry blonde hair, then lightened by the sun, whipped in in the wind. We slowed to a stop near a small reef which me and a few others would snorkel out to later. We ate the most delicious, perfectly ripe pineapple. Cut into strips and sprinkled with salt, it melted in my mouth. I scarfed down slice after slice until my tongue stung from the acidity. I took picture after picture, attempting to capture every part of the experience because I knew, that like my cousin’s apple watch, I would never get it back.
The the sun blanketed my skin as I unveiled my swimsuit. The warmth of the water swallowed my legs as I jumped from the boat. Back and forth my cousins and I went from sea to latter to slide. We laughed and splashed and screamed like we didn’t have a care in the world. And we didn’t.
Upside Down by Jack Johnson played from the trimaran’s speakers as I closed my eyes, laid on my back, and stretched my arms out like a starfish. Then I floated there… in the middle of I don’t even know what ocean in a country I never thought I’d visit. It was in this place that I felt the most alive I’d felt in over two years. I never wanted to go back.
In hindsight it’s funny because in the worst way possible I got my wish.
You see, we took this trip as an extended spring break in March/April of 2022. We rented a big, red house overlooking the ocean. At first, all I heard were the peaceful chirps of birds and monkeys, but they were soon masked by the pained screams coming from the second floor. It was my sister. In the past few days she’d gotten terribly sick and could barely eat or drink. It only got worse from there.
Since it had only been recently that Covid hit and we thought the world was ending, there were still many travel restrictions. We wore masks to go from place to place but it didn’t matter. Two days before we were due to leave, I found myself standing in the bathroom, holding a stick with two red lines, and thinking once again that the world was over.
The fantasy land I’d been living in collapsed around me. I wanted to disappear. It was my fault. I ruined everything. Tears streamed down my face in panic. I called my mom.
It was a frenzy after that. Everyone taking covid tests and frantically trying to figure out what to do. My cousins and I had been sharing the guest apartment that connected to the main house on the other side of the pool. Quaint with a kitchenette and two bedrooms separated only by a spiral staircase, that became the covid house.
I was first then my cousin, Jimmy, who was one year younger than me. My Grandma and my dad came next. Then my cousin’s mom (my aunt). Auntie Erika and Jimmy slept downstairs and my Grandma shared the upstairs with my dad, her youngest son. For two nights I slept below the microwave near my dad on a reclined pool chair we’d dragged inside.
After those last two nights at the house, those who didn’t have covid traveled to the airport and flew home. The five of us with covid, who were therefore unable to fly for ten days, took a van to San José to carry out our quarantine. Although, of course with our luck at the time it was not a smooth trip. At some point during our drive, the vehicle broke down on the side of the highway. There was nothing we could do and we all felt miserable. To make things worse, the fattest raindrops I’d ever seen were absolutely hammering down outside. Eventually a new van came and got us and we made it to the hotel.
But after that everything is a blurr. I remember playing endless amounts of card games, napping, and seeing my Dad working on his computer. I remember Jimmy and I half-watching TV while playing with Snapchat filters. I remember Auntie Erika taking Jimmy and I to the Starbucks across the street where we’d always split a cookie. The five of us never felt good all at the same time. If it wasn’t my Grandma then it was my Dad and so on. Eventually, towards the end of our stay we would walk around the plaza of which the hotel was apart of. Then finally when our ten days were up and we were negative, we hopped on our connecting flight to Houston, Texas and were off.
Yet, next thing we knew, Jimmy was throwing up on the floor of the Austin, Texas Airport. After our flight was diverted due to a thunder storm in Houston, we quickly tried getting on the next flight from Austin to Portland, Oregon. However, the flight was in nine hours and there were only four seats available. My aunt went on standby and if she didn’t get on she would have to stay until the next morning. It seemed like the Universe was against us. Every turn felt crushingly disappointing before dissolving into numbness. I got zero sleep all day.
Luckily, we were finally cut some slack. She was first on the list and got on the flight. We all flew back to Portland that night and touched down around 12:00am. My Grandma, Erika, and Jimmy all lived in the city and got home safely. My dad and I made the decision to drive to Eugene immediately rather then stay the night in Portland at my Grandma’s. After 25 days away we just wanted to be home. With a quick pitstop for some caffeine, we made it there around 2:00am. It’d never felt so good to sleep in my own bed.
Although our trip wasn’t perfect, it was unforgettable. I will always be grateful that I got to experience thirteen days in paradise and that magical day on the trimaran. It’s kind of amusing now isn’t it? Losing a watch would turn out to be the least of our worries.