Those of you who know me probably know that I am involved in several organizations in support of gay rights. The most recent being Marriage Equality Utah which has been involved in Equality Utah to launch the Common Ground's Initiative in Utah. The goal of the initiative is to give gay couples medical and housing rights. The first leg of the initiative got shot down at the legislature. It would have allowed a gay partner already on the will to sue in wrongful death cases.
What is this diatribe of mine coming down to? The Sutherland Institute (a right wing think tank) and the Eagle Forum have banned together to start their own campaign against the Common Ground Initiative. They claim that it is a ploy to eventually fight for gay marriage to be legalized in Utah or at least will pave a path in which it is possible. The Sutherland Institute was holding a press conference/meeting to launch its campaign. It was set to be open to the public as long as you reserved a seat. Casandra and I did so in hopes of listening to what they had to say. Granted it would not change our minds but we were still interested. We showed up only to be escorted out by security!!! We didn't even make it in the doors. Apparently they connected our names to the organizations we are involved in and black listed us from attending the event. To add to the humorous and slightly offensive action, the person at the door is someone I work with!
I am a little proud that I am involved in a group that is so well known that we can't attend our oppositions events. I am a little annoyed by their tactics. I could understand if we were to be disruptive and rude inside the event, but to not even let us in and claim it is a public event is a bit absurd. It only makes me strengthen my beliefs. It is clear that these people don't want anything to do with civil communication or even understanding where others are coming from. It was my hope to understand them a bit more but I leave with more of a biased opinion against them and their goals.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Costa Rica
After having been back from Costa Rica for over a month now, I have decided to post a blog about the trip. I recently realized that I post much less frequently than I used to. The primary reason for this is that now that I am not living abroad I have much less interesting experiences. If I post they are usually rants of mine which likely very few people even care about. For those of you who bug me to update my blog (Casandra) here you go. By the way, Casandra almost died following our trip because she caught a disease. The entire time we were in Costa Rica she kept having medical mishaps (mosquito bites and faulty ankle). 
We joked that she would catch something more serious…and low and behold she did. It was not really funny when it happened though!
Casandra and I started off on our adventure by arriving in San Jose.
San Jose was not that exciting aside from some of the clubbing and people we met. I am not going to go into lots of detail about the trip because people seem to respond better to pictures. I will say that while in San Jose we met Michelle from New York whom ended up backpacking with us for at least half of the trip. I had a random Rasta take a picture of me while I was sleeping on a hammock. I woke up and yelled at him. This was after he had made the rounds of hitting on Casandra, Michelle, and I. Casandra hooked me up with some guy (in a not so conscience state) whom followed me the entire evening we were clubbing. We went to the Arenal Volcano in which we didn’t actually see it because clouds covered the WHOLE things. Casandra was upset because we chose Costa Rica primarily because she has always wanted to see it. 
In that same day I discovered I get car sick, or rather bus sick. We also went on a canopy zip line tour through the jungle in which was a blast! We met a few friends from San Jose as well. 
After leaving San Jose we met up with another backpacker Charlie. He traveled with us to Manuel Antonio Park. We stayed at a hostel with a spectacular view.
We went on a hike through the park and saw a whole slew of wild life.
Casandra had a run in with two coconut guys. We went white water rafting and hiked through a spice garden in the jungle. The river rafting was fun, but nothing compared to the Nile. I found myself a little nervous every time I went through the rapids because of my experience on the Nile. 
We had a bonfire and party on the beach in which we went night swimming. Casandra lost her first pair of flip flops there. Her second pair of shoes (along with mine and Charlie’s) mysteriously disappeared from the balcony of our hostel. We hypothesis it was monkey’s because who would want soaking wet shoes? 
Casandra and I split up for a couple of days. She went to Mal Pais while I stayed with Michelle and lounged on the beach.
The next day Charlie, Babtist (another hostel friend) Michelle and I took two buses, a taxi, a speedboat, and two more buses to Mal Pais.
When we arrived it was a little surfing town and no one seemed to know where the hostel in which Casandra was staying was.
We spent at least an hour wandering on the dirt road looking for it. 
When we saw her she and this Austrian guy were walking bear foot up from the beach. This is where she had her third pair of shoes stolen!!! 
Oh yea, we also met a couple of Swedish guys that traveled with us there. Michelle and I left Charlie and Babtist in another town. Mal Pais was great. We spent most of our time surfing. I really love surfing now!! Casandra and I rented bikes one day and rode a couple of miles to find a hidden beach.
We almost got stuck on it because the tide came in. 
The guy whom owned the hostel we stayed on was a German Rasta. He was very cool and had a pit bull named Lilly whom did not like Michelle. 
Mal Pais is where we hypothesize Casandra caught her disease that hospitalized her for several days. 
When we flew home we almost missed our last leg of the flight in Vegas because we were drinking in the airport.
We were both very depressed to be coming home to snow. Plus, I only had my flip flops because my other pair of shoes got stolen! Over all it was a great trip and I would love to go live in Mal Pais for a summer and surf!
We joked that she would catch something more serious…and low and behold she did. It was not really funny when it happened though!
Casandra and I started off on our adventure by arriving in San Jose.
San Jose was not that exciting aside from some of the clubbing and people we met. I am not going to go into lots of detail about the trip because people seem to respond better to pictures. I will say that while in San Jose we met Michelle from New York whom ended up backpacking with us for at least half of the trip. I had a random Rasta take a picture of me while I was sleeping on a hammock. I woke up and yelled at him. This was after he had made the rounds of hitting on Casandra, Michelle, and I. Casandra hooked me up with some guy (in a not so conscience state) whom followed me the entire evening we were clubbing. We went to the Arenal Volcano in which we didn’t actually see it because clouds covered the WHOLE things. Casandra was upset because we chose Costa Rica primarily because she has always wanted to see it. 
In that same day I discovered I get car sick, or rather bus sick. We also went on a canopy zip line tour through the jungle in which was a blast! We met a few friends from San Jose as well. 
After leaving San Jose we met up with another backpacker Charlie. He traveled with us to Manuel Antonio Park. We stayed at a hostel with a spectacular view.
We went on a hike through the park and saw a whole slew of wild life.
Casandra had a run in with two coconut guys. We went white water rafting and hiked through a spice garden in the jungle. The river rafting was fun, but nothing compared to the Nile. I found myself a little nervous every time I went through the rapids because of my experience on the Nile. 
We had a bonfire and party on the beach in which we went night swimming. Casandra lost her first pair of flip flops there. Her second pair of shoes (along with mine and Charlie’s) mysteriously disappeared from the balcony of our hostel. We hypothesis it was monkey’s because who would want soaking wet shoes? 
Casandra and I split up for a couple of days. She went to Mal Pais while I stayed with Michelle and lounged on the beach.The next day Charlie, Babtist (another hostel friend) Michelle and I took two buses, a taxi, a speedboat, and two more buses to Mal Pais.
When we arrived it was a little surfing town and no one seemed to know where the hostel in which Casandra was staying was.
We spent at least an hour wandering on the dirt road looking for it. 
When we saw her she and this Austrian guy were walking bear foot up from the beach. This is where she had her third pair of shoes stolen!!! 
Oh yea, we also met a couple of Swedish guys that traveled with us there. Michelle and I left Charlie and Babtist in another town. Mal Pais was great. We spent most of our time surfing. I really love surfing now!! Casandra and I rented bikes one day and rode a couple of miles to find a hidden beach.
We almost got stuck on it because the tide came in. 
The guy whom owned the hostel we stayed on was a German Rasta. He was very cool and had a pit bull named Lilly whom did not like Michelle. 
Mal Pais is where we hypothesize Casandra caught her disease that hospitalized her for several days. 
When we flew home we almost missed our last leg of the flight in Vegas because we were drinking in the airport.
We were both very depressed to be coming home to snow. Plus, I only had my flip flops because my other pair of shoes got stolen! Over all it was a great trip and I would love to go live in Mal Pais for a summer and surf!
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