I guess I'm getting old. My idea of "fun" isn't what it used to be. I went out last night to a club in San Jose called "Club Oh!" for a Madonna tribute party. There were hundreds more people inside than what I consider to be safe. It was scortching hot and I had to wait in line for a minimum of 30 minutes every time I needed a drink. I had to ditch before the live show even started. But I ended up going back and staying until after 4am. Yikes! No wonder I feel like crap today.

The club itself is really great. Nice sound and light systems, separate VIP section and the owner, Martin, is a great guy. And Club Oh! offers open bar, which when there aren't so many people there, is a pretty cool thing. For somewhere between $6 and $12 depending on the night and if you're in the VIP section or not, you can drink 'till you drop between I think 9pm and 1am.

But watch out! "Open Bar" doesn't mean the same here in Costa Rica as it does anywhere else I've been in the world. Here you choose your poison when you arrive and you have to keep drinking the same thing all night. So you can't start out with (God forbid) a water, otherwise you'll be stuck drinking water all night! You merely hand your empty bottle or glass back to the bartender and you're served up another!

Isaac and I had the amazing privilege of attending the Carlos Santana concert here in Costa Rica last Wednesday. We went with a friend, Brett, from San Francisco. It was held in the Saprissa futbol (soccer) stadium a few blocks away from our house. To be honest, neither of us knew a whole lot about him or his music. Of course, we have been hearing his name for all our lives and we each could name about one song that we could attribute to Carlos.

It just so happens that last week I was reading a magazine interview with Santana (in “What Is Enlightenment” magazine from their March-May 2005 issue) that really gave me an idea about who this guy is as a person. It also made me really want to hear his music. So when I heard that he was going to be performing a couple blocks from here that same week, I took it as a sign that I needed to go!

In the interview, Santana talked about the goal of his music and purpose of his life. He said, “It’s not just to make people happy or make them dance. It’s to change things – so that we can have a clearer vision of our life and ourselves, so there won’t be so much disharmony in the world.”

It was clear from his music and from the brief time he took to speak to the crowd that he takes his purpose seriously. And the crowd took well to his messages of love, freedom, and non-violence. It was a fun-filled night for sure. If you ever have the chance to take in a concert, you won’t be disappointed!

In October we had the chance last-minute to go to a concert of Julieta Venegas. You may not recognize the name, but you have probably heard the song, “Lento,” (though you gringos may not recognize it by the name).

Of course, in order to get the tickets, Isaac leads me down a dark alley and has me give money (probably about the equivalent of $30) to this really tall, big, bouncer-looking guy who has a wooden crate turned on it’s end that he’s using as a desk. It was hilarious. Totally something out of a movie. He sells me a couple crazy pieces of paper that I would have never taken for a ticket, but Isaac instructs met hat it’s okay.

Someone then leads us further down the alley and through a partial opening in a fence. This was clearly the place as there were artsy-music types now appearing everywhere. It was muddy and dark. Someone with a flashlight checks our tickets and then frisks us. We get a stamp on our wrists and we’re free to go in.

The venue is actually quite interesting. It’s almost like a high school gym. There are bleachers on the sides that are clearly reserved for someone besides those of us buying tickets from Jose Fabio with the wooden box. And there are also two makeshift bars set up selling beer and cigarettes (oh yeah, welcome to Latin America…you can smoke everywhere).

Not long after we arrive, Julieta actually comes out and starts playing. The setting is really intimate. I don’t imagine there were more than 500 people. No opening act. Just Julieta and her band. And they were fantastic. The crowd went crazy!

She started singing all the favorites. And then she whips out the accordion – one of the trademarks which set her apart. She plays, dances and sings with such grace. Her smile can be seen from the back of the room.

But then something really awful and unexpected happened. The power went off! The whole place fell into almost complete darkness, except for a bit of light that was being splashed in from the back of the room. “That’s okay” I tell myself. It’ll come back on soon. But no. It never does. Julieta is so apologetic. We can’t hear a word she says. But we can see from her face, her hand gestures and the way she is carrying herself.

At one point, she even tried to grab a guitar, sit on a stool and play something solo. But the crowd went crazy with cheers and clapping, so it was completely impossible to hear anything. She gave up after about 45 seconds of playing, too realizing that nobody would hear one note of her heart-felt song.

Needless to say, we weren’t about to get our money back. Let’s face it. We’re in a 3rd world country. They just don’t do that kind of thing here. They just figure, “Oh well. Your loss.” And the crazy part is that the people here just go along with it like, “Yeah. I guess we lose out. Too bad for us.” I think it’s the interesting part of having a “peaceful” country. The people here haven’t had an army since 1948 and they just have a pretty non-confrontational attitude about everything. Where I think it hurts them is when they are being taken advantage of. They kind of just lay down and take it. I think there has to be a middle ground somewhere.