Fabulista De Costa Rica*

Team Sperone Wins Big at Chili Cook-off!

2012-02-14T15:36:00.000-06:00

Today I have much to celebrate. First of all, it's my son Damian's birthday. Layne and I are so proud of him. He's grown into a fine man, a dedicated and skillful firefighter and a wonderful, devoted father. Not only that, but he and my precious grandson Kai are scheduled to arrive this week for a most welcome visit. Layne and I are looking forward to their holiday with joyful anticipation of a fun trip.

I'm also celebrating my chili team's 2nd place victory on Sunday at the Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off. Composed of our inspiring team leader, Marcial Artavia of Italian Sausage fame, his adorable, hard-working wife Sadie, our dedicated neighbor Jackie and Yours Truly, along with some key help from our husbands Neil and Layne, our group claimed the runner-up spot on our first time in the competition. In fact, Marcial knew little about chili fixing when we began preparing for the contest a few weeks ago. As reported in a previous blog post, team members spent several evenings testing our various recipes, trying out different ingredients and sampling the delicious results. Team members and neighborhood supporters contributed chili powder, a tablecloth, a huge cook pot, a portable stove and emergency tape. We printed some cool business cards and Marcial had an excellent banner made to hang above our table, all with an eye to promoting his line of Italian Sausage, named Sperone, meaning "spur" in Italian in honor of his grandfather's nickname. At the end of the day, however, it was Marcial who served as the ultimate chef, cooking up a three-gallon batch of the chili on Saturday night with some sous chef assistance from Sadie. Little did we imagine coming so close to winning the top prize but that final pot of chili was really first-rate.

A big turnout for the event

Sunday's event was a festive and hugely successful affair with well over the expected 1000 people in attendance and some 30 teams competing for the top prize. No word yet on how much was raised for the charity, Hogar de Vida, the local orphanage, but I feel sure it will easily top last year's $3500 donation.

Sadie at work at the Sperone table

The Sperone Italian Sausage team had a good spot right by an open door, which helped keep us cool, but the strong wind occasionally disrupted our neat space. In fact, at one point a gust blew over and spilled the small box of silver beans that had been deposited by attendees voting for our chili as their People's Choice selection. Poor Sadie scrambled around under tables and across the ceramic tiles trying to recover every single bean!

The lovely 2012 Chili Queen, with Sadie and Marcial

As the day wore on, we began to get the idea that we might have a shot at winning. People were coming to our table commenting, "Everyone is saying yours is the best," and asking for their sample. One of the judges, our friend Jonathan of Vista Atenas B&B, even came back to our table for seconds. We ran out far too early and next year we'll be cooking twice as much.

Teams had gone all-out for the competition, with fancy aprons and matching hats, pots of flowers or other table decorations. Competitors included teams from the bomberos (firefighters), the Marine Corps, Pure Life Development real estate, the Hot Meat group from Guanacaste with their crazy hotdog logo, Jalapeño's restaurant from Alajuela and of course, Texas expats who claim that chili con carne originated in the Lone Star State. It was truly a great day with live music, some dancing, a silent auction and a raffle in which our team member Jackie won a huge basket of goodies from chocolate to coffee to cheese, plus two bottles of good wine. What a day!

Team Sperone takes 2nd Place!

Thanks to all the amazing volunteers who helped set up the tables and signs, sell beer, wine, sodas and hot dogs, solve electrical and other logistical problems, plus clean up afterwards; thanks also to vocalist Francis Jones, MC Tina Newton, the management and staff at Roma Vista resort and especially Kay and Tom Costello, whose love and inspiration brought this event into being. It was such fun and so satisfying to know our efforts contributed to the important work at Hogar de Vida, a loving home for local orphaned, abused or neglected children. Bravissimo!

Country Roads and Sugarcane

2012-02-10T14:20:00.000-06:00

First it was the cornfield next door and now it's the sugarcane. Harvest time in Costa Rica! All over our barrio are sugarcane fields with ripe stalks ready for the cutting. With machete in hand, the workers are steadily hacking them down, loading them on open wagons and hauling them off for processing. The slope next to our house, previously covered in agricultural bounty, is now a bare field covered only in the dry leaves from the cane. Even that will be used, it seems, as we have also noticed cattle in a nearby pasture munching on the brown foliage. It's full employment time for ag workers here as they move from finca to finca doing the hard manual labor of harvesting crops. Layne fantasizes "skiing" or "surfing" down the hillside but with trees and a rocky creek at the bottom, it seems ill advised. Besides, he sold his skis years ago and he doesn't know how to surf!

Cutting....

Carrying....

And hauling....

Right past our front gate!

Our almost-daily long walks take us along many of the cane fields and in our explorations we have discovered some beautiful countryside and charming pueblos. On a recent hike we determined to follow Calle Vanilla (imagine! a street with a name!) to see if it hooked up with the road to Palmares, which connects to our main road along the route into Atenas, in the opposite direction. Heading east, we climbed the long hill toward the distant cell tower and school, then took the left turn onto Calle Vanilla. Then it was downhill for a ways, past a very tiny settlement, and on into a shaded dirt road, the kind you read about in Costa Rica with a rocky surface and knee-deep potholes. Only one car passed us so clearly it's not a common route. At the bottom of the long hill, we passed two boys riding bikes and a small group of people on the side of the road. After the mandatory "Buenos dias!" greetings, I asked if we were heading toward San Jose Norte, a barrio on the road to Palmares. "Si, señora," they said. "¿Mucha distancia?" I asked. "Un poco mas." A little more. Hummm.

Pueblo Vanilla

And quite a "little more" it was. We walked and walked, and as the road headed uphill, we began to wonder if we should turn back or continue on. We trudged onward, confident that if our feet held out eventually we'd come to civilization again. As we emerged from the shady jungles, we came to a gated driveway advertising "Cabinas" for rent. But no one was in sight, so on we went. As the hill leveled out, we emerged into the Pueblo Vanilla, a quiet village of neat Tico homes and the occasional pulperia with bread, sodas, tortillas and eggs.

Stopping at a pulperia for water, we asked directions and again were told it was just ahead, about 800 meters, the woman said. Each 100 meters is supposedly one city block but the measurements are quite loose. Still, we hiked on and at the pinnacle of the next hill, we spied a bus stop on a main road -- the road to Palmares! Turning left we headed toward San Jose Sur (we hoped), walking through a quiet residential area with some spectacular trees along the street. At the next curve we found a restaurant and decided to stop for breakfast or lunch, as it was already past 11:00 a.m. Lucky for us, they had just opened and we scored a delicious meal to break our fast and renew our energies. It was the beautiful Mirador El Pueblo, a popular eatery well known for its excellent seafood and panoramic views of the countryside.

View from Mirador El Pueblo Restaurant

But after our two-hour hike, we had had enough walking for one day so when we finished our meal, we asked the waiter to call a taxi for the ride home. Tired but satisfied with our adventure, we returned to the comforts of a shower and a nap!

Charity Chili and All the Fixin's

2012-01-31T08:50:00.001-06:00

The 5th Annual Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off is almost upon us and it's all hands in the kitchen. Scheduled for Sunday, February 12, the event is expected to attract over 1000 people this year and raise much more than the $3500 they donated last year to the children's orphanage in Atenas, Hogar de Vida. Ordinarily, being the chili chef that I am, I would be joining in the cooking fray, hoping to win recognition for my mini-world-famous chili con carne. Instead I've been recruited to serve on our Tico friend Marcial's team, along with neighbor Jackie, another fine cook, to help promote Marcial's excellent Italian sausage. (Check out our new Facebook page, which I helped Marcial set up.) Needless to say, our recipe relies heavily on the wonderful flavors of that meat.

In preparation for the big day, we have had several "trial run" dinners lately where Jackie or I have prepared our favorite recipe using the sausage, with Marcial overseeing the process. He actually has virtually no experience cooking chili so he's relying heavily Jackie's and my expertise. As a result we have enjoyed some very tasty chili lately, along with the pleasure of the company of Marcial and Sadie and Jackie and Neil and occasionally our other local friend Marc.

Neil "rolls" a good one

At the dinner party last week here at our house, after the chili was consumed Layne turned on the Wii game console and set up a bowling tournament for the gang. It's amazing how realistic that system is. Other than the weight of the ball, it "feels" like bowling and requires all the same movements and adjustments as in the real game. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including Sadie who took her turn bowling with intense seriousness and in spite of her inexperience, compiled a respectable score. But the real contest was between Neil and Marcial, who as you can see, both got their game on. Although Layne and I remember the fun that night, we don't remember the winner!

Marcial bowls as Sadie looks on

On Saturday Layne and I joined our friends Leonard, Sally and Kevin for a bus trip into San Jose for a meeting of the Costa Rica Democrats Abroad group, which is affiliated with the overseas branch of the U.S. Democratic Party, Democrats Abroad. It seems there are enough United States expats living in various countries to comprise the population of a whole other state, some four to six million of us around the world with an estimated seventy thousand here in Costa Rica. I'm happy to report that Costa Rica's Dems Abroad group is one of the fastest growing clubs, according to the Democrats Abroad website. We met a number of new acquaintances who share our passion for progressive democratic values and learned some ways we may be of help to the group in social media marketing, voter registration and get-out-the-vote this year.

After the meeting, Layne and I walked from the Holiday Inn where the meeting was held a few blocks over to the National Theater, crossing through a lively city life scene on the plaza next to it. We wandered into an Apple store nearby where Layne bought a cable so we can watch movies through the computer, displayed on the television screen. Then we headed for the National Theater. A friend had recently given us an historical five thousand colones note, featuring beautiful artwork that is displayed full-size in the National Theater. I wanted a second copy so I could have the front and back framed together as an addition to our small Costa Rican artwork collection. We had been told there were street vendors selling them around the theater. And sure enough as we emerged from inside the theater, there was a young man with a handful of the notes, selling them for only 500 colones each, about a dollar.

With purchases in hand, we headed for Coca Cola, the large bus station from whence our Atenas bus departs. After asking directions from sales clerks in a shoe store, we found we were headed more or less the right direction. So we soldiered on and gradually the street scene became more like that around the bus staion, a bit rough and tumble with discount clothing stores all along the way. At a street vendor's stall, I asked again, Donde es Coca Cola, señor? One block down and one block over and there we were, just in time for the 2 p.m. bus. Another excellent adventure in our ongoing exploration of the land of Pura Vida!

High Times in the High Season

2012-01-18T14:43:00.000-06:00

Here we are, time for another Spanish/English dinner party with Marcial and Sadie tomorrow night, which means that almost two weeks have past since my last entry here. If I thought that “retirement” meant inactivity, boy, was I wrong! We scratch our heads at times wondering what keeps us so busy. In some ways, our schedule fills up with the luxuries of retirement: time to take long walks, time to correspond with friends, time for elaborate dinner preparations and dinner parties, and for Layne, that long-delayed novel is taking shape. Indeed, the man has over 150,000 words written and, he says, only a couple more chapters to go. Then we’ll have to learn what all is involved in self-publishing on the Internet.

The Aquacate Tree

But the dry season (or “high” season, referring to hotel rates) is definitely here. Suddenly the landscape has changed from lush greens everywhere to patches of dry, golden brown grasses on the hillsides. It’s somewhat reminiscent of those “golden hills” of California, but that would be in June, not in January! Our aquacate (avocado) tree is absolutely weighted down with blossoms and hundreds of tiny avocados. We can hardly wait till they ripen and we can enjoy guacamole every day.

Tiny avocados soon to be ripe!

Another plant in blossom right now is the orchid, my favorite. Waiting for the bus a few days ago, I noticed that the big cluster of orchid plants attached to the mango tree had suddenly burst into bloom. And what odd blooms they were! Orchids are known for the enormous diversity of flowers they produce and this was certainly one I had never seen before: curly, delicate purple petals around a pink-throated central core on a long spike coming out of the leaves. Quite beautiful and so unusual.

A most unusual Orchid

Orchids on the Mango tree

With the change of seasons, we are learning more about agricultural patterns here. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, we noticed some workers in the cornfield below us, chopping down the dry stalks with, of course, machetes. Just two guys to cut down the entire field! But labor is cheaper here than machinery and requires less maintenance, so to speak, so such heavy work is mostly man-powered.

Another example of labor-intensive work we recently encountered is making charcoal. On a trip back from PriceSmart with our friend Jeanette, we stopped off at a finca (farm) along the road to Santa Eulalia that Marcial had told us about where we could buy organic honey. While there we questioned the mustachioed gentleman in charge about the other products that he had in his large garden and learned that he also grows organic tomatoes, chili dulce (much like a green pepper), hydroponic lettuce and green onions. Part of the mixture in his hydroponic bins, we noticed, was bits of charcoal and since Layne and I had just purchased a small barbeque grill, we asked if he sold charcoal as well. Yes, he said, and proceeded to guide us further back in the garden to where two men were piling logs about 3-4 feet long into a deep gulley they had apparently dug.

Organic gardener with Chili Dulce

It seems that they will somehow set the wood on fire and then bury it in dirt so that it smolders without burning, turning the wood into charcoal. Amazing! Whether or not this charcoal would work for our grill, we are yet to determine but it was a fascinating how-to lesson for us Gringos.

Rough Road to a New Year's Bash

2012-01-08T18:55:00.000-06:00

Dennis & Gerardo

We’ve had a great start to the New Year, beginning with a festive New Year’s Eve party at the home of our friends, Dennis & Gerardo of Pure Life Development real estate. In the two years we’ve been here, they have been our go-to guys in finding great places to live in Atenas. They are building an “eco-development” up the mountain from our first apartment in Alto del Monte in an mountaintop area called Estanquillos and they are now living in one of the first homes they’ve built there, a magnificent hilltop villa with an indoor pool, out-of-this-world furnishings and fantastic panoramic views of the Central Valley and the surrounding mountains.

When Gerardo invited us to bring in the New Year with them, we were delighted. We so enjoy their sense of humor, zest for life and big smiles that we knew we’d have a great time. And indeed we did, AFTER we managed to get there!

In English, the directions to their house sounded easy enough: “Take the road to Estanquillos. Go up till you come to a pulperia on the left. At the next curve, turn right and go down the hill...Cross the bridge and then up the hill. Our entryway is on the left hand side (bright Orange)!” But the Spanish directions for the taxi driver were something else again: “200 metros norte del recibador de cafe, Calle Iris....Entrada naranja....” Unfortunately, they didn’t mean much to our cab driver, who was unfamiliar with Estanquillos. So after some hits and misses, we found the bridge and started uphill as instructed, only to encounter a road that embodied every dire description of Costa Rican streets you ever read. Rocks, dirt, gullies, washouts, big humps. And remember, it was after dark. Oh, and of course, there were no streetlights.

As we slowly eased up the steep slope, our taxi high-centered with a wham. “Oh no, señor!” I said to our driver. “Este es no correcto!” This can’t be right! He understood and began slowly backing down the rough roadway. I had already tried Dennis’ cell phone but there was no signal this far out. In desperation, we returned to the pulperia, a small grocery, to ask for directions.

Dennis & his mom, left; new friends Peggy & Rick, right

With the driver and Layne waiting in the car, I tried calling on the store’s landline but Dennis’ cell phone still didn’t respond. Then I described Dennis and Gerardo to the proprietor. Yes, she told me, pointing up the mountain to a lighted house at the top. That’s where those two gentlemen live and yes, that’s the right road. Unsure that I understood correctly, I sent our taxi driver in to discuss the situation with the grocers. Layne and I watched anxiously from the car as the animated conversation carried on. Finally, our driver returned and despite our protests that it would wreck his car, in true Tico style he headed back up the road, determined to transport his passengers to their destination.

Which he did, bless his heart, gunning his engine and banging his oil pan in order to make it up and over the rough spots. He totally earned the big tip I gave him. Finally, we arrived and hiked up the last steep slope of driveway to a festive atmosphere of music, laughter, salsa dancing, great food and new friends to boot. At midnight, we opened champagne then watched firework displays all across the nighttime vista. Thanks, Dennis and Gerardo, but maybe we’ll wait until that road is paved before we come for another visit!

Sadie and Marcial

Still, it was satisfying that my Spanish is improving enough to converse as I managed to do that night. But Layne and I have begun a new system for learning Spanish -- “language dinners” with our Tico friends Marcial and Sadie. Sadie wants to learn English so it seems a good fit for us to get together and speak our different languages over a good meal. Layne and I hosted our first evening “class” last Thursday and it was a grand success. Marcial served as our “teacher” due to his fluency in English gained from teaching physical education at an English-language school for some eight years. Over guacamole and big bowls of chili, we alternated English and Spanish, with Marcial correcting us and offering grammar rules here and there. Sadie made homemade tortillas in a matter of minutes that were so much better than the packaged kind. And Marcial, who plans to compete in the big Chili Cookoff next month, was impressed with my chili recipe, which I had adapted to incorporate his wonderful Italian Sausage as the meat. We plan to repeat these dinners every two weeks or so and “poco a poco,” little by little, I know our Spanish will improve even as we have a lot of fun learning it.

Christmas Day in Atenas

2011-12-26T12:47:00.000-06:00

With sunny blue skies and a light breeze blowing, Christmas Day in Atenas was celebrated by many families in the Central Park where the Fuerza Policia (local police) had set up their awning and were handing out food and gifts to the kids. There were trampolines and music and a clown to entertain. A totally festive scene with many smiling children running to and fro.

Meanwhile, Layne and I met up with friends for a relaxed afternoon at the lovely home of Glynn and Darlene, feasting on cheese and crackers, chips and dips, wine and some delicious chili made by Leonard. The hit of the day was Sally's outrageous chocolate drops made with Oreo cookies and cream cheese! Holy waistline!

Happy Holiday Party Time!

2011-12-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays to all my loyal readers! I hope your holidays are blessed with joy, good friends and beloved family and that the New Year brings you prosperity, peace and good health.

Flowers on our fence

We are in full-blown Christmas party mode here, imagining that the sunny skies and warm temperatures actually harbor snowflakes and icicles. If you delight in fall colors, winter snows and spring blossoms, Costa Rica may not be the place for you. Well, the spring flowers certainly burst forth, but oddly that happens here during what is North America’s winter season. Since the end of the rainy season a few weeks ago, colorful blooms have sprouted everywhere and the trees are neon green with new leaves and flowers, promising abundant fruit just weeks from now. So it’s Christmas in Springtime here in Costa Rica.

A beautiful couple, Sadie & Marcial

Daniel, Sadie, Marcial and David, neighbor dog Bean

This week has been party central for us. Thursday night we enjoyed grilled sausages at Marcial and Sadie’s home a few blocks from us, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. We sat around a small campfire they have in their yard and listened to their son Daniel play his guitar. It was a really fun evening and made Layne and I nostalgic for all the cozy wood fires we used to enjoy in California winters. On Friday afternoon there was a community party honoring senior citizens of Santa Eulalia and our neighbor had invited us. With a clown to entertain and some tasty pork stew for sustenance, the elderly crowd seemed to enjoy themselves. Layne and I were tested on our ability to follow instructions in Spanish as we got picked along with several other couples for one of the playful exercises on stage. We held hands, then let go, hugged then released, touched cheek-to-cheek then backed off and finally we danced. Everyone was gifted with a small picture frame and lotion for the women and socks for the men.

Daniel serenades us

Today it’s a pool party at our Japanese friend Hisano Bell’s bed and breakfast down the hill in barrio Rio Grande. I’ve made a big pot of Italian Sausage Spaghetti Sauce with Marcial’s great sausage (do you see a pattern in our food these days?) for the potluck and look forward to some relaxing at poolside. Then tomorrow we’re off to our friends Glynn and Darlene’s place in Turrucares with local pals Sally and Leonard, Neil and Jackie and our sidekick Marc. New Year’s Eve will find us partying with our favorite realtors, Dennis and Gerardo of Pure Life Development, an event we’re looking forward to enthusiastically. These two guys, along with their office helper Nelson, are some of the nicest people we know here and they have been so helpful to us in our long house-hunt before finally settling here in Santa Eulalia. We know they will host a kick-ass party!

So we hope your holidays are as full of fun as ours are and that 2012 brings Pura Vida to your doorstep!

Good Friends, Gourmet Food and Golf!

2011-12-15T15:58:00.000-06:00

Tico chefs

What a whirlwind of activity, travel and parties the last two weeks have been for us! It’s hard to know where to start on our various adventures. There was Francis and Brian’s excellent backyard party mentioned in my last post. We enjoyed dancing to the live music and nibbling on our friend Marcial’s delicious Italian sausages, grilled to perfection by a couple of happy Ticos, plus chicken, veggies, beer and wine. Lots and lots of wine! We met so many of our Santa Eulalia neighbors and several hours into the event, Daniel, my publisher from The Costa Rica News (TCRN), joined us at the festivities. After the music ended and we were satiated with food and wine, Daniel and Layne and I returned to our house for another hour of convivial chat. Oh, and more wine.

Earlier this week we joined a crowd of expats at Mark and Nancy’s lovely home in Guacimo where we enjoyed more good food and wine and made lots of new friends. Then last night we taxied into Atenas with Marcial and his lovely wife Sadie to Colinas del Sol for a wine tasting party featuring the excellent imports of our friends Shannon and Rolando along with delicious appetizers from the restaurant and Marcial’s great sausages again. We saw so many friends there, including our dear former landlords Odie and Eduardo and our former upstairs neighbor Linda. It was a festive evening!

But the high point of recent days was undoubtedly our visit to Hacienda Pinilla, a stunning 4500-acre beach resort and residential community near Tamarindo in Guanacaste province on the Pacific Coast. If you think the place looks nice on their website, you should see it in person. The long-time owner, a North American from Georgia, has developed the property with a commitment to keeping as much of the land and beaches natural and environmentally pristine as possible. They plant thousands of trees each year, preserve acres and acres of the land in its original condition and in many ways, encourage ecological practices in the hotel, the restaurants and in the building practices used in new construction.

The Beach Club

Our bedroom

Recycling at La Posada Hotel, Hacienda Pinilla

A mention of golf in my column in The Costa Rica News some months ago led to our visit. Their charming young sales director Cynthia apparently read my article, then contacted me and offered a complimentary stay so that we could experience their golf course and other amenities first-hand. How’s that for a stroke of good fortune?

Putting on the 15th hole

And speaking of strokes, I think the Adams Golf clubs that Hacienda Pinilla loaned us for our round took at least a stroke per hole off my game. I was hitting them long and straight. Although I prefer my own Cobra driver (which is, unfortunately, in a bag in Portland, Oregon, at the moment), I really liked the hybrid 5-iron for fairways shots. Over and over, I turned to that club for distance and accuracy. I was also pretty wowed by the putter, which helped me get a par three from a lie just off the green probably seven yards from the cup. Between the broad open fairways and smooth true greens of Hacienda Pinilla and those Adams clubs, I almost felt like a “real” golfer. And when we came to the spectacular oceanside 15th hole, we could imagine what it’s like to play Pebble Beach.

After golf we returned to our big, comfortable suite and were delighted to find a bottle of champagne and birthday greetings for Layne, courtesy of Cynthia, since Saturday the 10th was his big day. Later that evening we enjoyed sipping the bubbly as we gazed up at a full moon above. So romantic!

Then there was the food. Oh. My. Goodness. Gourmet hardly tells the tale. As usual when faced with a huge selection of appetizing options, making the decision of what to eat at each meal was the hard part. Although a tough choice, I’d say my favorite was the Herb-crusted Tuna with Ginger-Basil Aioli that I had at lunch at the Beach Club the first day. It was just delicious. Layne took the chef’s recommendation, Garlic Sea Bass, also excellent. We both so enjoyed the Fried Calamari appetizer with its delicate batter and spicy dip that we had it again the second day.

The Conchal Hotel pool

Simon and Hilda

When we reluctantly left Hacienda Pinilla, we drove north about forty-five minutes to the tiny beach town of Brasilito and spent the night at the Conchal Hotel, a charming little boutique lodge just a short walk from funky Playa Brasilito, Run by a delightfully low-key couple, Simon and Hilda, it was the perfect place to unwind and relax after the busy two days at the resort. And while we thought the food was good at Hacienda Pinilla, we were simply amazed at the fabulous fare at the Conchal’s cozy Papaya Restaurant. Chef Hilda serves a marvelous array of gourmet seafood and vegetarian dishes. Our one night there was not nearly enough to enjoy all the area offers; we certainly hope to go back soon for a longer visit.

So now we’re home and trying to settle back into our routine, with the feria tomorrow morning, the organic market on Saturday and my TCRN column due next week. But we made enough memories in the last week to sustain us for a while. Pura Vida!

December = Springtime in Costa Rica

2011-12-03T15:46:00.000-06:00

What a thrill! We had a Blue Morpho butterfly flutter through our backyard yesterday afternoon. What a gorgeous creature it is with its iridescent azul upper wings. A friend said that the butterflies are returning in force now that springtime is here and the rainy season is mostly over. That’s good news for us as we love watching the amazing variety of mariposas here in Costa Rica. Of course, the visiting Blue Morpho was gone so fast I had no time for a photo so I’ll just “borrow” one from the Internet.

There was no problem identifying the fellow as we recently visited the Butterfly Farm in La Guácimo when our friend Marcy was here and learned all about the Blue Morpho as well as many other types of butterflies and moths. Although there are numerous such facilities in Costa Rica, this particular location not only breeds and cares for butterflies, from caterpillar to chrysalis through their magical transformation into beautiful winged fliers, but they also export the embryonic form, the chrysalis, all over the world to botanical gardens, other butterfly farms and nature centers. It was extremely educational and quite a treat to have the lovely creatures light on our clothes or arms.

Another wonderful feature of our new neighborhood are the incredible sweet flower smells that arise in the late afternoon and evening. I have located the source of the odors, in the white flower boles of tall plants nearby but a Google search failed to turn up the name of this tree. Every evening lately at about five o’clock, the air is filled with a rose-and-jasmine fragrance that just takes your breath away it’s so sweet. I’m led to believe that the smell attracts nighttime pollinators, such as bats and moths.

We seem to be blessed with some of the best of Costa Rica’s flora and fauna here in Santa Eulalia, including a young raptor we spotted in a tree on our latest walk. Then there was the three-foot long iguana I spied waddling along across the street today as we waited on the bus with some of our neighbors. I pointed him out to the others but no one was concerned. Just part of the local color. Welcome to Costa Rica. Ho-hum.

December marks the one-year anniversary of my trip back to California last year to put my dear horse and good friend Mojave down. After a very intense and poignant dream about him a few days ago, I have appreciated even more some of the horses that live nearby, such as this little yearling colt. He lives alone, it appears, in a large pasture down the road from us, and when we approached his enclosure he trotted eagerly over to say hello. I think he’s a bit lonely as he was most appreciative of my brief affections and followed us along the fence line when we turned to go.

Coffee plant Christmas tree - click on to enlarge

Much of Santa Eulalia is agricultural with acres of edibles nearing maturity. The coffee plants seem primed for the Christmas season, ripe red berries suspended like so many ornaments. Papaya trees are heavy with fruit and the feathery flowers of the sugarcane dance in the wind. Peanuts are laid out on canvas tarps to dry in the sun and our own naranja (orange), mandarina and limon trees are filled with fruits.

Field of Papaya

Preparing peanuts for market

Add to that the many friends we have made here and you can understand our contentment. And if we needed anything more to please the senses, we got it on Thursday at new amigos Francis and Brian’s jam session. With Francis on keyboard and singing, local musician Barry on saxophone and young Daniel on guitar, Layne and I added our vocals on several songs as we all whiled the afternoon away.

Tomorrow we’ll visit them again for a huge neighborhood party they are hosting to celebrate the sale of their southern Indiana property. We’ve found a good spot here in Santa Eulalia! Pura Vida!

Green Parrots and Monkey Pee

2011-11-24T12:45:00.000-06:00

With the turkey in the oven, the broccoli ready to steam and the hors d’oveures all prepped except for deviling the eggs (which I can’t do early or Layne will eat them!), I’ll take a moment to bring you readers up to date on our latest adventures. Our friend Marcy from California left on Saturday happily sporting her new set of teeth, so the last few days have been filled with writing my column for TheCostaRicaNews.com and preparing for Thanksgiving. The guest list has ranged from a high of perhaps eleven people to the expected seven or so today. Our good friends Patricia and Kevin (featured in my last post’s Halloween report) were planning to join us but, sadly, their beautiful big (and I mean big!) dog Splash is gravely ill. In fact, they may face what Layne and I had to do two years ago with our sweet Emily and have to put him down here during the holidays, making a sad anniversary for the future. Our thoughts are with them today and with Splash.

Last week we enjoyed more festive times with Patricia and Kevin as we took Marcy along on another one of our group gatherings at Playa Doña Ana, the picturesque private beach we like near Puntareñas. Earlier than usual, the capuchin monkeys showed up almost as soon as we arrived, gamboling through the trees and cautiously snatching a piece of banana from our hands before scrambling back up the branches. Marcy was thrilled since seeing monkeys was on the “bucket list” for her Costa Rica trip. As we sat at one of the covered picnic tables, chatting and munching on our snacks, the monkeys boldly climbed on the top of the roof, looking around corners at us with their intense and nearly-human black eyes. Suddenly, a splatter of liquid fell on the table next to me. We looked up to see one of the monkeys recovering from taking a pee right on the concrete table! Layne’s sunglasses took the brunt of it, with my camera barely missing a baptism. All we could do was laugh. Pura Vida indeed!

Life in our new house is comfortable, with plenty of space for the entertaining we so enjoy. We had two dinner parties the first weekend and assorted other drop-bys since then as friends and neighbors are anxious to see our new place. The bus service into Atenas is great with frequent runs throughout the day that take about fifteen minutes; with our cedula and being “seniors,” we get to ride at no charge. By timing our shopping thoughtfully, we can ride into town, shop for an hour or so, then catch the next bus back up the hill to Santa Eulalia. Excellente!

The bird wildlife around here is phenomenal, with dozens of varieties flitting through the skies and singing their melodious songs. But the stars of the show are the gorgeous emerald green parrots that soar through the air in huge flocks of twenty or thirty, screeching loudly in a chorus as they move from feasting in the cornfield below us to perching high in nearby trees. I love them and delight in watching them jet across the backyard, their exuberance a feast for the eyes and a shock to the ears. In jest, Layne says, “Where’s my shotgun?!” He claims their loud cries are too much for him, disturbing his muy tranquilo world. My response: Get over it, buddy. They were here first!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope your life is filled with blessings. Mine certainly is. Pura Vida!

New Digs in the Land of Pura Vida

2011-11-10T16:08:00.001-06:00

Out for our first walk

We moved into our new place early last week and almost immediately had to vacate the premises so the new maid could do her work. (It’s awkward to hang around while someone is cleaning your house, you know? But her weekly services are included in the rent, so I’m not complaining!) The next day we had company over for dinner. Our friends Jackie and Neil just moved in down the road from us so we all enjoyed guacamole and hamburgers as we shared our adventures in moving. The day after that, we took the bus into San Jose to pick up our friend Marcy, here for dental work with my own dental implant hero, Dr. Alberto Meza. That weekend we had dinner guests both Saturday and Sunday evenings, meaning lots of work for the cook and dishwasher. That would be me and Layne, in that order. On Monday Layne escorted Marcy back to San Jose for more time with Dr. Meza and I began preparations (translation: liquid diet) for a routine colonoscopy while I worked on my column for The Costa Rica News, deadlined the day after that fun procedure. That would be today. Whew! Busy is a four-letter word.

So now the column is turned in and Marcy is still in the city so I’ll try to entertain you readers with our latest escapades. While we were packing to move, the annual Halloween party at Kay’s Gringo Postre rolled around and we simply had to go, albeit without much in the way of costumes. Layne did manage to stick a “Press” card in his hat, sling his fancy camera over his shoulders and tie a sign around his neck saying: “The Gringo Gazette -- Yesterday’s News Tomorrow!” I put my hair up in a sparkly butterfly clip, donned a short kimono-style jacket and called myself Madame Butterfly. Pretty lame but the best I could do in the midst of a move.

PSYCHO!!

It was a festive gathering with lots of great costumes. It’s amazing what people here can come up with. Some folks, like our friend Nancy, are so into Halloween that they brought costumes from the U.S. when they moved here. Nancy had a terrific Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz” outfit on -- pigtailed wig, checkered pinafore, carrying her small fluffy dog, dubbed Toto for the evening. She even had the perfect sequined red pumps to click her heels together and complete the picture. But the big winners of the costume contest were Patricia and Kevin, dressed up in elaborate “Psycho” garb, complete with a PVC pipe and tinsel “shower” atop Patricia’s head, “blood” dripping down her shoulders. Kevin topped off the scene dressed as the psychotic Anthony Perkins in dowdy dress and gray wig, totting a big gory knife. It was hilarious!

The move to the new house went smoothly enough, although we were shocked to need three pickup truck taxi trips to carry things up to Santa Eulalia. Shocked because, after all, we moved to Costa Rica less than two years ago in a couple of big suitcases. Where has all this “stuff” come from? Fortunately, our new place has an abundance of storage space, including a secure and dry concrete basement under the rancho so everything is now in its proper place and we still have a few empty drawers. It seems that, just like in our old apartment, we have gotten lucky here with some great landlords in Isaac and Sonia. They have been very solicitous in asking us if everything is to our satisfaction, adding a fire extinguisher, a bell on our gate to announce guests and trying to get the phone jack in our bedroom to work. Yesterday Sonia even brought over some delicious corn pancakes topped with natilla (sour cream) when we returned from the hospital. Their little dog Chispa (Spark), a sweet Miniature Pinscher, comes for a visit now and then, giving us the pleasures of a dog to pet without the responsibility. All in all, we’re very happy here so far.

Horses in the 'Hood

Flowering Sugarcane

Shade-grown Costa Rican Coffee

We are enjoying the beautiful country roads we have for our morning walks. Spotted with patches of sugarcane, peanuts, corn and coffee between charming Tico houses, the area is an agricultural cornucopia. Little did I know that sugarcane sprouts a huge feathery flower on top when ripening.

Se Vende = For Sale

If you’re interested in living next door to a peanut patch, then this lot for sale on one of the side roads might be just the one for you.

All the neighbors have been friendly, as are most Ticos, and we look forward to practicing our Spanish along the way. Already we’ve met and chatted with several Ticos as we were waiting at the bus stop for our “shuttle” into town. The bus drivers know us now so we no longer have to show our cedula (residency card) to ride for free. It seems to be a serious case of Pura Vida in Santa Eulalia de Atenas!

New House -- or Nueva Casa, in Español

2011-10-27T13:38:00.000-06:00

At last, it’s official: we are moving! In fact, we took the first couple of loads up Tuesday. After the on-again/off-again housing drama earlier this year, I’ve hesitated to mention finding a house for fear of queering the deal. But we’ve paid our rent and now have my plants and a few suitcases already in the place. The rest of our “stuff” will follow next Monday; on Tuesday we’ll help Cidia, our housekeeper here, finish the last big cleaning jobs and then we’ll be in our new home.

View of the rancho from back patio

Located just up the hill in the Tico community of Santa Eulalia, a barrio of Atenas, the house is the “two bedroom, two bath with a great kitchen” that we had hoped for. At the end of a short street, it sits right next to a huge cornfield and sugarcane field with a lovely view of the hillside beyond. It’s private, safe and very near to several of our friends. It was one of those friends, our sausage-making amigo Marcial, who served as our agent in securing the place.

Our friend Marcial on the sofa

"Our" cornfield and sugarcane field

Our new landlords seem very accommodating, relocating the washer and dryer (the dryer, a remarkable luxury here) out to the rancho so that the laundry room could be my office, putting up shelves for me and upgrading the Internet service for us as well. In that regard, we have some concerns because even with the upgrade, the Internet speed is not nearly what we are used to. Still, we hope it will be enough for those weekly Skype calls to my mom and Layne’s sister, even if not sufficient for streaming video.

Nice Kitchen!

The kitchen is all I could ask for (except perhaps a gas stove and a double-sink… spoiled Gringo that I am) -- with a big side-by-side refrigerator and even a working icemaker (again, quite a luxury), a modern electric stove and a big expanse of counter space. And although there is no swimming pool with the house, the small resort next door, El Cafetal Inn, is owned by a friend who said we could use their pool anytime. The bus line is only a block away and buses into Atenas run frequently. We learned from an older Tica neighbor, as we were waiting for a bus, that with our cedulas (residency cards) we could ride for free! Such a deal!

With our friend Marcy coming in early November for some dental work and a vacation, the move comes none too soon. Now we can anticipate being the “magnet” for friends that we had hoped to be. Although we don’t have the budget for many tourist activities, we can provide a home base, conveniently located for easy travel to many of those tourist attractions.

Cidia and her family

Cidia, our sweet Tica housekeeper who has really become a friend, had a sad look on her face last week to hear that we were moving. After cleaning this week she insisted on returning later that day as she said her 12-year-old daughter Melanie had a gift for us. We’ve gotten acquainted with Melanie over the months we’ve lived here because occasionally, when school was not in session or whatever, she would come to our apartment with Cidia and with Layne’s help in turning on the television, would watch TV or read while her mom worked. Also, I have given her a few of my jigsaw puzzles, which she and I both enjoy. So we’ve developed a friendly relationship with her.

Melanie's handiwork

As it turned out, Cidia and her husband and Melanie all had going-away presents for us: beaded earrings and necklace for me that Cidia had made, a lovely decorated wine bottle that Melanie had created in school and a colorful picture frame, purchased for Layne. They stayed and visited for over an hour, which definitely gave me some much-needed Spanish practice. Although I didn’t understand everything that was said, it was pretty amazing just how much we were able to communicate. We learned, for instance, that in 1948 during the armed uprising that resulted from a disputed presidential election, Cidia’s father and mother, pregnant with Cidia’s older brother at the time, had to flee the violence up into the mountains. It was after that last civil disturbance that Costa Rica abolished its army and turned its resources to public education, resulting in today’s high literacy rate. We talked about Cidia’s fourteen (!!) brothers and sisters and where they all live, Melanie’s school and dance classes, our new neighborhood in Santa Eulalia, a mutual friend’s new baby and precocious 5-year-old son and many other subjects as we sipped wine and laughed at my language struggles. It was very encouraging to me to actually carry on a conversation to that extent. Perhaps there is hope for my Spanish!

All's Well that Ends Well, Even If It Takes All Day

2011-10-13T13:09:00.000-06:00

It had to happen eventually. After all our months of successful bus and taxi trips traveling around the western part of the Central Valley of Costa Rica, the day had to come when our reliable transportation system just didn’t work. We hit that rough bump in the road last week when we tried to combine a trip to get our Costa Rican driver’s licenses with another run to Heredia to meet with the Partido Verde Ecologista (Green Political Party) guys and my publisher at The Costa Rica News. The meeting was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the license issuing office is open from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. so we weren’t entirely nuts to think we could do both in one day. But that logic failed to consider both the charmingly slow and inefficient Tico bureaucracy as well as the possibility of bad traffic. Add in for good measure the absence of street signs or numbers, a rainy day and a taxi driver that was clueless and I suppose it was inevitable that the day would be fouled up.

We planned to be among the first in line at Coseví, the driver’s license bureau located on the main road through Uruca, a suburb of San Jose, because we had been warned that the process could be slow. But surely, we thought, three hours would be enough and then we could easily get to Heredia in time for the meeting at 1:00 p.m. We had learned from the ARCR folks that we could catch a cab at the bus stop in front of Hospital Mexico, along the San Jose bus route that we use often, and be at Coseví within minutes. So we were up early to catch the 6:50 a.m. bus into the city, expecting to arrive at the Hospital Mexico stop well before 8:00 a.m. But traffic along the Panamerican highway at that hour was a bear, much worse than we expected, so it was already past 8 o’clock when Hospital Mexico came into view. OK, so we won’t be the first in line. Not that it mattered as we soon discovered.

Coseví is a big complex but we were quickly met by an English-speaking Tico in front who instructed us to walk to the last building on the right to apply for a first-time license. It was quite a distance and I was, unfortunately, not in comfortable walking shoes, but we hurried along anyway, still hoping for a place at the front of the line. When we reached the Coseví office, looking a little bewildered no doubt, as I was mentally formulating the needed Spanish phrases, a Tica was quick to offer help -- in English, thank goodness. She led us up to the official-looking fellow at the door who, after checking over our paperwork, informed us that although we had the right documents -- our California licenses, our Costa Rican cedulas (residency cards) and our medical forms, which had been completed by our local medic, Doctor Candy -- we also needed copies of these documents. The place to do that was all the way back at the main entrance where we had started.

We walked...

And walked...

And walked!

Finally... the Cosevi office!

We thanked our Tica Samaritan and began the hike back up the sidewalk to the front where the copy office was. Copies made, we hiked back to the Coseví office (our third trip, now) and were seated in the back row of a hospital-sterile room with five rows of perhaps 15 seats each. As we watched, persons in the first four rows quickly moved along, as lights came on above one of several cubicles where the first set of bureaucrats was waiting. But our row never moved at all. After a half hour of this, Layne and I looked at each other with concern. Were we in the lepers’ row or something? What was the deal? A young Nicaraguan man sitting next to me seemed to have the same question and when he asked the Tico next to him, we learned that foreigners wait until the locals file through. With a shrug of our shoulders, we settled in for a long wait.

So we waited. And waited. Until finally, at about 10:15 the uniformed official led the first four people from our row to the upstairs office. When it was our turn, Layne and I watched as a bored bureaucrat stamped our papers, then scrawled his very intricate and time-consuming signature.

But we were far from done. The next step involved our fourth walk back out to the main road to pay our 4000 colones, or about $8.00, at a bank. First we went to Banco de Costa Rica, but there we found all the windows closed for lunch. We hurried on to Banco Nacional, paid our fees, and once again, trudged back down the long sidewalk to the Coseví office, where we at last had our photos taken and got our new licenses.

But by now, it was after noon and we would be hard-pressed to make our 1 o’clock meeting. We hopped in a taxi for what we thought would be a quick trip to the Heredia bus station in San Jose. Silly us. Even at noon, traffic in the city was a nightmare. Our taxi driver turned down one street only to find a big truck blocking the entire street as it eased backwards into a driveway. Minutes ticked by, as did the taxi meter, while our driver tried to squeeze through the pile of cars. Finally, the truck moved enough for us to pass and on we went to the location we thought was the right one. But when we arrived, it was not the Herediana bus company so we urged our driver on, hoping to find the yellow buses, which would take us directly to our destination. We wandered aimlessly it seemed to us but eventually, the driver found the buses and finally we were on our way to Heredia.

We arrived at The Costa Rica News, amazingly only 25 minutes late, and spent a couple of hours discussing how to help the Green Party raise the money they need for an upcoming trip to Brazil, where they will be inducted into the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas, quite a big coup for them. As the meeting ended, torrential rains began. Oh great. Layne and I had not had lunch so huddled under our umbrellas, we scurried into the next-door restaurant for a bite to wait out the rains. Another big mistake.

By the time we caught our bus, it was rush hour and the bus was frequently delayed in our drive across the city to the Alajuela bus station, hoping to catch the 5:30 bus back to Atenas. Not a chance. In fact, with the rain storm, streets full of traffic and apparently an accident ahead that had us at a standstill for many long minutes, we were actually lucky to get to the station in time for the 6:30 bus. When we finally made it back to our cozy little apartment, we sighed in relief. At times like this, Pura Vida is an elusive concept.

Retirement Workshop Research

2011-10-02T13:38:00.002-06:00

George points out the view at one homesite

How I stay so busy that it’s been almost two weeks since I posted here is really beyond me! This time, however, I do have a good excuse: Layne and I were away for three days last week on a Retirement Tour with long-time Costa Rica resident and tour operator George Lundquist. When we returned home on Tuesday night, we were too tired to do much but fall into bed. Transcribing Layne’s voluminous notes and going through dozens of photos in the following days was also time-consuming. Add the fact that I was on deadline for my retirement column in TheCostaRicaNews.com, then the hike into town for Friday’s feria and you get the picture that the rest of our week was pretty hectic.

Attorney Roberto explains Costa Rican law

The bus trip with George and the other participants was dense with information, much of it not new to me and Layne, having lived here for almost two years now, but clearly valuable to newcomers Bob and Linda, a single woman named Jan and a single guy named Jay. For most of them it was their first trip to Costa Rica and they clearly gained many useful insights into what life is like here, how to rent, buy or build a home, weather patterns at different elevations in the western end of the Central Valley and expert advice from guest speakers, including an attorney, an accountant and an authority on shipping goods from the United States. Plus, George is a fountain of information, much of it conveyed in humorous anecdotes that kept us all in smiles as we traveled the roads of the country. But perhaps the best part of the trip, at least for us, was meeting so many knowledgeable expats who have learned many lessons, sometimes the hard way, but whose generosity in sharing their experiences with the group were not only educational but fun. We saw some beautiful homes and expansive views, enjoyed great food and wine at the two evening receptions and made some wonderful new friends.

Learning the features of George's "spec" house

Our purpose in taking the tour was related to our plans to conduct retirement workshops in the United States next summer. As we begin to gear up for those seminars, it seemed to us that participating in the tours that are available for potential retirees would be worthwhile research. How can we fairly recommend any of the various tours without experiencing them ourselves? Our good friends Sally and Leonard had taken George’s tour before their move to Costa Rica and they felt it was a beneficial part of their “due diligence,” so we thought we should give it a try as well. We’re very glad we did. (If you are interested in our workshops, please email me at pkwinkmedia@gmail.com and we’ll notify you of dates and locations.)

Another chunk of my time of late has been devoted to the volunteer work I’m doing with the Partido Verde Ecologista (PVE), or Green Ecological Party. When I first read about the group and their plans to campaign to get an environmentalist elected to the Assemblea Legislativa (Legislative Assembly) in 2014, I was intrigued and wondered if, given my extensive work in politics over the years, I might be of help to them. The magnificent Costa Rican environment is fragile and I see many instances where poor political choices now threaten the ecology of this small nation. I felt that if my experience could help them achieve their goals it would be gratifying to me and helpful in preserving Costa Rica’s stunning flora and fauna. A win-win proposition.

As volunteer work often is, it has already been far more rewarding than I had even hoped. As a first step, I introduced the key players in PVE to Daniel, my publisher at The Costa Rica News, who is also active in environmental issues. Together with Rodrigo J. Arias, the founder of PVE, and Carlos Arrieta, the chief of political action (and a former candidate for the Assemblea), we are working to increase public awareness of their platform and to attract funds and volunteers to their campaign. I would ask each of you to visit the Facebook page and hit “like” so we can generate a buzz of excitement about their efforts. In fact, if you appreciate the work they are doing, post a comment on your Facebook page with a link to theirs and help get the word out about this important undertaking. Thanks!

Kat and her new keyboard

And finally, I’m delighted to report that I have a keyboard again, an electronic piano to accompany Layne on guitar as we serenade one another in the balmy evenings. A friend here in Atenas had bought it for his wife last Christmas but she never learned to play, so it’s basically brand new. Another friend recently brought a sustain pedal back from the States for me so I’m all set to entertain. It’s great fun to have a piano available again, even if it’s only 60 keys instead of 88. I’ve been downloading sheet music and practicing scales to get my rusty fingers back in shape to tickle those ivories so lookout if you come for a visit. You may have to endure some musical entertainment!

Tico Kids' Parade and Jazz in the Jungle

2011-09-19T17:25:00.000-06:00

It’s 2:30 p.m. and the rain is pouring down, accompanied by flashes of lightning and loud thunderclaps uncomfortably close by. The computers are unplugged to protect against surges and the lights flicker now and then, but so far so good. In all likelihood, the storm cell will pass over and within an hour or so, the skies will clear. Such is life in the tropics.

We’ve had a busy few days, what with Independence Day celebrations last week and a Sunday afternoon luncheon in a trendy jungle hideaway with a jazz band over the weekend. My volunteer work with the Partido Verde Ecologista (Green Ecological Party) has also picked up steam, so all in all I’ve had little time for blogging lately. Still, I much prefer to be busy than bored so I’m not complaining, especially when the activities are so much fun.

On Independence Day last Thursday, Layne and I hadn’t planned to go into town for the parade but as we started out on our morning walk, we realized we’d probably hit downtown just about parade time. And sure enough, as we approached the Parque Central (Central Park), the youth groups, including drum and xylophone corps, twirlers and marching flag troupes, were circling past the Municipal Building where dignitaries sat. The entire parade is made up of children, it seems, all decked out in the red, blue and white of the Costa Rican flag. I was so pleased to see one large group of children carrying environmentally-oriented signs stating the value of medicinal plants, environmental education, “a tree for a child” and other messages regarding ecology. This year’s crowd was much larger than last year, with layers of people standing six or eight deep along the sidewalks, craning their necks to see the colorful procession. We wandered along and ended up on an elevated sidewalk with a good view alongside our good friend and beautician Mariana.

We watched and took photos for a few minutes before hiking on to our destination, a small Tico neighborhood on the backside of the cemetery. We had looked at a house for rent there recently and thought there might be others in the vicinity. Indeed, one newer Tico house tempted us as the price for a 2 bedroom, 1 bath was only about $300 per month. Once again, it was the kitchen that was inadequate for my spoiled Gringo tastes, but clearly you can find bargains if you look around.

That afternoon we taxied up the hill with Mariana for an Independence Day dance party at a lovely resort and event space called Roma Vista. Our friend Marcial, the sausage maker, was there grilling his fine meats and other Ticos were on hand with picadillo, a typical Costa Rican dish of well-seasoned potato hash folded into a tortilla.

Our festive table!

Although the rains kept the faint-hearted away, there was still a respectable crowd of about 200 people who braved the weather and enjoyed the festivities. We sat with our friend Melanie, who runs an excellent restaurant in Atenas, the Balcon Café (Balcony Café), and her husband and a couple of her Tica wait staff. Plus, we made new friends of Dennis and Suzanne, a charming couple from the States who have settled here in Atenas. It was a suitable way to celebrate Costa Rica’s 190th birthday.

Sunday morning found us heading up the hill once more, this time with our friends Sally and Leonard to take in some live music at Vista del Valle, a spectacular resort and restaurant between Grecia and Naranjo. A colorful Gringo friend named Joe is the drummer for an accomplished jazz band that plays at Vista del Valle the third Sunday of each month. Sitting there enjoying the beautiful mountain views, relishing the lively music, savoring good food and laughing with friends -- Sally said it best: “This is why we live in Costa Rica!”

I Am Curious Gecko

2011-09-09T16:31:00.000-06:00

Our driveway

Joy, oh joy! Layne is home! My heart went pitter-pat Wednesday night when at about 9:35 p.m. the lights of the taxi came shining down the driveway. Good grief! You’d think we were teenaged sweethearts heading for the prom instead of lovers for some 32 years now. And yes, we do know just how lucky we are to still be so happy together.

The best news about his return is that the medical prognosis for his sister, as the doctor reported to them on Tuesday, was much better than we had feared. At this point they are doing no treatment, just watching the situation to be sure she has no further problems.

Independence Day parade last year

So we are back to our Pura Vida life here in Costa Rica. Yesterday, after uncharacteristically sleeping in, we went out for our morning walk into town to pick up a few groceries and get our exercise. Along the way we saw a Tico friend Marciel, whose excellent Italian sausage (yes, I know - Italian?) is all the rave around town. After putting in our order for a half-kilo of the spicy version, we learned that Marciel is planning an Independence Day celebration at Roma Vista, reputed to be a beautiful resort up the mountain a few minutes out of Atenas. He showed us his flyer and asked for our help in spiffing it up a bit to attract more Gringos, adding a graphic and scanning in the map he had drawn. As former publishers/editors ourselves, Layne and I were only too happy to assist. And we’ll definitely be in attendance next Thursday, the 15th, to help celebrate the 190th year of independence here in Costa Rica.

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One of last year's little dancers

Well, the rest of yesterday got away from me so now it’s Friday afternoon and I’m trying to finish this little post. We met up with Marciel at the feria this morning and gave him our new and improved edit of his Independence Day flyer; he seemed quite happy with it. Now we’ll send around some emailed invitations and hope for a good crowd next week. It sounds like a festive afternoon with barbeque, ceviche, corn-on-the-cob and typical Tico comidas (foods). Plus, with DJ music and dancing, you know we’ll be there!

A gecko audience of one

As a dancer since the age of five, I love moving to the music. And I believe in stretching before any strenuous exercise. So one morning recently as I was doing my stretches prior to a walk, I looked up and noticed that I had an audience of one. A curious little gecko was perched on the top edge of a painting and was eyeing me closely as I stretched my arms overhead or dropped down to touch my toes. I stopped and looked at him; he cocked his head and looked back. I moved closer and picked up my camera; he took a few cautious steps along the picture frame but didn’t run away. Instead, he continued to observe my actions for a full ten minutes as I did my warm-up and took pictures of him. Needless to say, it gave me a giggle to think my athletic efforts were of such interest to the tiny creature.

Other creatures in our neighborhood are less impressed with human activities than the resident gecko. Wandering up the wooded hillside behind our apartment one day while Layne was still away, I noticed dramatic movement in the trees above me and suddenly realized there was a troop of white-faced monkeys leaping through the branches, unconcerned about the human on the ground below. As I watched and took pictures and videos, they balanced effortlessly on narrow limbs as they munched on some kind of fodder. It almost looked like corncobs with the husks hanging loose and perhaps it was since we have several cornfields nearby, all ready for harvest. Occasionally one more dominant monkey would push another away, hoping to keep the food to himself, but in general they appeared familial and gregarious, as they scurried from tree to tree. Having capuchin monkeys migrate through our backyard is one of the best things about living here. They are adorable! I just hope they don’t steal the ripening bananas from our front yard tree. I have plans for those myself!

A Beachside Visit from Scarlet Macaws

2011-08-30T17:05:00.000-06:00

If, like me, you were curious about the bird shown in the photo in last week’s post, wonder no longer. Readers Pat and John were kind enough to post a comment identifying the creature as a Laughing Falcon. A beautiful white-breasted raptor with a black mask in my backyard! Fabulous! It certainly earned its name with a very loud “laugh” just outside my office window.

On a trip to Herradura Beach yesterday with friends Jan and Tom, we had the good fortune of seeing a couple of other amazing Costa Rican birds: Scarlet Macaws! Only minutes after we arrived at this secluded playa a few miles up the road from the busy tourist town of Jaco, we looked up as two long-tailed birds screeched their arrival in the branches of a nearby tree. As we all craned our necks to see them high above us, one stuck its head into a hole far up on the tree trunk, while the other one stood guard on an adjacent limb. The first one then crawled further inside the hollow until only its long red tail could be seen flashing from the thick trunk. They were obviously feeding their nest of baby birds! What a thrill! We watched for long minutes while the one we assumed was the mother bird (though who knows?) tended to her young and the second bird continued his vigil nearby. Eventually they flew away, leaving their young unattended for several hours as we hung out on the beach below. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

The Macaw is a truly spectacular sight, with bright red and cobalt blue feathers and a length of close to three feet when fully grown. They can live for decades, up to 50 years in captivity and probably that long in the wild. They mate for life so you might guess the pair we saw were long-time lovers. Unfortunately, deforestation due to development, pesticide use and poaching for the pet trade has reduced the population significantly and narrowed the habitat from some 80% of Costa Rica’s territory to about 20% today. Their terrain now is restricted primarily to two areas of Costa Rica: the Carara Biological Reserve, only a few miles from Herradura Beach where my friends and I were relaxing, and the Osa Peninsula in the less developed southern region. Jan and I remarked with awestruck voices as to how truly lucky we were to have seen this pair in the wild.

Later in the day after the tide had come in, we watched with interest as several pelicans dive-bombed for dinner into the calm waters of Bahía Herradura.

Although not as colorful as the Macaws, the pelicans were fascinating to observe as they blasted straight down into the waters, then settled peacefully on the surface while they gulped down the catch. Then the bird would cruise about for a few minutes, apparently digesting the latest morsel, before taking off for the next course.

My view of Herradura Beach

Herradura is a long, tree-lined beach just down the coast from Los Suenos, a Marriott resort of hotel and condominiums that has dramatically changed the seaside communities nearby, prompting a swarm of new development in the area. Jan and Tom have been going to Herradura for several years and Jan recalled earlier days when the hillsides were pristine, the meadows full of white cattle and the local Tico neighborhood was serene. Now the upscale resort has brought in mega-bucks as evidenced by the hotel marina full of large white boats and the distant mountainside cluttered with condos. It is truly disconcerting to see the juxtaposition of modest Tico houses, populated with barefoot children and their working-class parents, across the road from the vast acreage of expensive homes, swimming pools and golf courses, fueled by affluent tourists.

Only my footprints

It was quite a treat for me to go on this outing with Jan and Tom, who are well known vendors at the Atenas and Grecia ferias for their outstanding organic breads and pastries. Although Jan tends the stall at the farmers markets, she is also quite an accomplished artist; their newly built home is chock-full of her gorgeous, unique artwork. Back in Pennsylvania Tom worked for years in the restaurant business, managing the bakery part of a “destination” restaurant and eventually expanding it to include a successful sandwich shop featuring his breads. Now he shares the delicious results of this expertise with Gringos and Ticos alike. His whole-wheat sourdough loaf is just to die for, especially toasted with lots of butter on it. Oh yum! And lucky me, he had prepared a picnic lunch for us of chicken breast, bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with horseradish mayo on his 5-grain bread. What a feast! And to top it off, on the way home we enjoyed his special cookies made with bananas, walnuts, raisins and his freshly made organic peanut butter. Diet? What diet?!

No Pura Vida for the Pit Bull

2011-08-23T16:25:00.000-06:00

Our sweet Roscoe gone again

This post will be a bit of a rant, I’m afraid. Our sweet neighbor pit bull Roscoe has disappeared once again and, unfortunately, I think I know why. He had not been neutered. That’s it in a nutshell. He’s a “teenager” now at almost one year of age and those hormones are raging. It’s only natural that he would head out looking for a girlfriend, and being such a pretty dog (and of a breed that for some inexplicable reason people seem to want), someone has taken him in and now has him restrained. It worries me so much that he’s chained up somewhere or being taught to be mean or otherwise being mistreated. Or perhaps he’s still running the streets, now hungry, lost, confused and wet here in the rainy season. And, of course, he’s no doubt out there making puppies that no one wants and that will end up as malnourished strays, themselves un-neutered and making still more unwanted pups. It’s a terrible vicious cycle.

Some Grande Cahonies

As fond as we are of our landlords and their adult son Estevan, whose dog this was, I have to say that they suffer from the all-too-common Tico attitude of negligence about having dogs spayed or neutered. In fact, sad to say that in this historically “macho” society, the idea of castrating male dogs is anathema to most men and even some women. When I suggested to Eduardo that the reason Roscoe had begun running off was because of his desire to mate, he discounted the idea completely, saying it’s only because they are not home all the time and the entire property has not been fenced. Such a span of fencing, however, would be prohibitively expensive, he said, shrugging his shoulders, resigned to the loss of Roscoe. Although there may be some truth in that, at least in terms of the benefit of full-time supervision for the dog, I have no doubt that the sex drive was much more of a motivation to roam than absent humans.

When Roscoe was still only a puppy himself, a young stray dog began hanging around here. He was a pathetic little guy, skinny and insecure, tail between his legs and a hangdog look in his eyes, but he and Roscoe became pals and spent hours playing happily together. One afternoon when I was up the hill in our community garden behind Odie and Eduardo’s house, I found Estavan there picking fleas or ticks off of Roscoe and scowling at the stray, trying to run him off. As we talked, I learned that he disliked having the homeless dog around as he was giving Roscoe fleas. “So,” I asked, “are you going to have Roscoe neutered?” “No,” he quickly replied. “Well, then,” I said, “you know Roscoe’s going to be out there making more strays just like this one.” No comment from Estevan. Clearly, he did not consider that to be his problem.

The plight of stray dogs and cats has troubled Layne and me the entire time we’ve been in Costa Rica. During our first spring here when we lived up the mountain in Alto del Monte, a couple of emaciated young dogs made their way into our fenced compound, obviously hungry and looking for a handout. Since our neighbors in the duplex owned a couple of small dogs themselves, we gave the puppies some dog food and tried to figure out what to do about them. Down the road from us was the Lighthouse, a wonderful animal rescue operation run by a dedicated Gringa named Frances and her long-suffering husband Bruce. With a phone call, we learned that Frances had a spay and neuter clinic scheduled that weekend and that, although her household was full of other homeless critters at the moment, we could bring the dogs there for neutering at least. Given that the dogs were too undernourished to walk down the road to the Lighthouse, we bummed a ride from our neighbors and took the dogs for care that Sunday. They were bathed, neutered and as far as we know, made a recovery from their sad condition. Though she didn’t really have room for them, Frances did agree to keep them and try to find homes for them. For some of the stories of Lighthouse rescues, check out Frances’ blog: http://mrbudbud.blogspot.com/.

But most stray dogs are not so lucky. The problem is massive and the answer is education, which is what Frances says she focuses on by teaching the children in the neighborhood how important it is to give proper care, food, exercise and medical attention - including neutering! - to their pets. Perhaps the next generation will have a more enlightened attitude about other living creatures and how unkind it is to leave pets with their reproductive capability intact instead of giving them a happier, more carefree life without that drive to procreate.

But to end on a lighter note, this amazing looking bird landed on a limb just outside our back patio today and let out a loud - and I mean loud! - series of screeches. I hurried out with my camera and caught this shot. It was large like a parrot but with a snow-white breast and a black mask. I wish I knew what kind of bird it was but have no idea. Just more of Costa Rica’s incredible fauna!

Don't Rain on Our Fiesta!

2011-08-14T18:38:00.001-06:00

The thunder has been growling down from the sky for the last two hours, like some huge angry lion, with occasional hazy lightening flashes through dark clouds, followed by more rumbling until it’s virtually a continual sound, rising and falling with the distance. The rain continues to come down in a steady hum through the leaves. It’s a very “tropical” afternoon.

The normally placid Concho River

My mom relayed to me in great excitement this morning on the phone that in West Texas they had finally had a gully-washer of a storm, with the Concho River carrying dead trees, blue trash cans, Styrofoam cups and coolers and all manner of stuff downstream, as it rose along the banks that run by the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center where she works. Total rainfall? According to the newspaper, about 1½ inches. Wowsa. Here in Costa Rica, I think we get more than that every afternoon lately. The rainy season seems to have moved in past veranillo, or little summer, when the weather dries up for a couple of weeks in July just in time for the kids’ summer break from school. Now we’re heading into the serious stuff that comes in September and October.

But the daily downpours don’t stop a fiesta, and since yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Costa Rica there were fiestas aplenty. I made my way to two of them, one Tico and one Gringo.

A few days ago my Tica housekeeper Cidia called and tried to communicate something to me about a fiesta for “Dia de Madre,” or Mother’s Day. I got that much. But the rest was … well, Spanish. Bad enough in person; impossible on the phone. So we finally agreed she’d have someone call back in English. When he did, I found that Cidia had paid for a ticket for me to come to a Mother’s Day dinner-dance at the community center behind the soccer field here in Barrio Los Angeles. When I learned that our friend Jeannette was coming as well, she and I made a plan to go together in her car in case of rain.

And of course, it was raining so off we went last evening, slogging our way through wet grass to the entrance of a long open hall with a stage at one end and a kitchen at the other, decorated in merry abandon with hundreds of red and white balloons, red hearts along the walls and red flowers on the tables. Loud music from the Latin band onstage was spilling out the windows as we parked and since Cidia’s table was in the front near the speakers, Jeannette and I suffered seriously numbed eardrums by the time we left.

But the only way to deal with loud music is to get up and dance. And dance we did. The entire crowd was women; the men were in the kitchen cooking, then serving us drinks and food. But the audience of women just ganged up on the dance floor and shook some booty, so to speak. It was a kick! One of the most enthusiastic dancers was a well-dressed grandmother who happily posed for my camera.

Cidia, in center, kickin' it!

Cidia's dancing shoes

Cidia, 2nd from right, and friends

Jeannette and the dancing grandma

After dinner of chicken, rice and salad, there was an apparently funny skit performed by four men, two dressed up as a mother and a daughter. I say “apparently” because Jeannette and I couldn’t follow the Spanish but the crowd would explode in laughter now and then. Finally, when the “daughter” turns up “pregnant” with her boyfriend, the “parents” go crazy but eventually forgive and all ended happily. The performers got a huge round of applause. When Jeannette and I finally left, Cidia and her friends gave me the carnation centerpiece, which now graces my coffee table. I’m honored that Cidia invited me. Hopefully, next year I’ll understand more Spanish!

Today was a fried chicken luncheon at Kay’s Gringo Postre, the gathering place for the Gringo community here in Atenas. With Layne in Oregon, it was just me in the taxi but once I got to Kay’s, there were lots of friends already seated and our buddy Marc was helping serve the food. After saying Hello to proprietors Kay and Tom, I found a seat by our friends Jackie and Neil, lately of Bend, Oregon. Although relative newcomers in town, the two have easily fit right in here in Atenas. We chatted about how they are enjoying life here and about other places to live in Costa Rica, all while being served a nice green salad, then a big plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a biscuit; iced cake for dessert. Buena comida! Good food!

The Ups and Downs of Pura Vida

2011-08-11T12:21:00.000-06:00

The beauty of the flowers on our walk this morning stands in stark contrast to the darkness of our mood. Yesterday we got word of another family member with a serious health crisis, prompting Layne to head for Oregon this Saturday for several weeks to help the family. We are quite worried and as a result of the uncertainty, we decided not to take the house I wrote about in my last post. Although we are disappointed, it would have been very difficult for me to pack and make the move without him here. Plus, the possibility of additional trips being necessary during the next few months means we need to conserve our funds; so all in all, it seemed like the best decision. As I’ve said before, we love where we live now, appreciate our wonderful landlords and other than wanting more space for parties and guests, we really are quite fine here. So here we’ll stay for now.

Roscoe returns!

The good news is that Roscoe, our pit bull pal reported missing in my last post, is back home! Eduardo went to the gentleman’s house who was holding the dog about a mile from here and, when he explained the situation, the man said, “Well, if he’s your dog he’ll know you.” And of course, when Roscoe saw Eduardo, he was beside himself with joy so the question was answered in the affirmative and home they came. When Roscoe came bounding down the hill to our apartment Tuesday morning, we were so happy to see him and clearly the feeling was mutual. The smile on his face was ear-to-ear!

Playa Dona Ana

Last week we went back to Playa Dona Ana with our friends Sally and Leonard where we rendezvous from time to time with Gringo and Tico friends from nearby communities. Often we meet someone new and this trip was no exception. In addition to acquaintances Paul and Gloria from San Ramon, who organize these beach outings, we met Kevin and Patricia, saw locals Jim and June and made a new friend named Joe. Layne had taken along his cool backpacker guitar, a gift from his son Jess, but when he found out that Joe was a “real” musician who plays local clubs with his band, Layne got stage fright and never took the guitar out of the case. However, when we learned that Joe would be playing here in Atenas this week, we decided we’d go watch the big boys play. So on Tuesday evening, we headed downtown to Don Tadeo’s bar and restaurant for dinner and a little live music in support of our new friend.

Musician Joe at the head of the table

Joe plays the drums, so with all his equipment he was the first band member to arrive and start setting up. But soon after he had begun to spread out the snares and cymbals, the manager approached him and as they talked, we could tell there was a problem. Joe soon came over to our table and explained to us there would be no music. After a few neighbors went to the city complaining about the noise and other problems, management had decided to end the live music. Unfortunately, they didn’t get in touch with the band members in time to avoid their making the trip to Atenas, in one case a three-hour drive from Cartago! To say we were all disappointed is an understatement. But when our Tica friend Leigh and her Gringo date arrived, we made the most of the evening with a few beers and some lively conversation. So, as we say, Pura Vida!

Angels and Pit Bulls and Saints! Oh My!

2011-08-07T16:29:00.000-06:00

With all the desperately bad news worldwide, it’s hard to muster up the energy or happy state of mind needed to write a blog post. Even here in Costa Rica we’ve had some troubling headlines: a recent 4-day strike by Caja (the national health care program) workers amid word that the Caja is in serious financial straits, and we’ve seen an uptick in crime in Atenas in the form of one home invasion of a Tico family at gunpoint and a few burglaries. Good grief!

Our new home!

But at least we have some good news personally. After weeks of searching, we have finally found the new home we’ve been seeking. We put down a deposit yesterday and will move in September 1st. We can hardly wait to begin enjoying a bigger space with two bedrooms and two baths, the modern open kitchen and great room and our own swimming pool! It’s only partially furnished so we will have to buy some “stuff,” but we got the house at well under market value so we feel pretty pleased with the decision. Best of all is the location: walking distance to town (mostly downhill), on a frequent bus route, slightly higher (i.e., cooler) elevation and friends who live nearby. And as you can see, the place looks like a Mediterranean villa!

It’s very hard to think of leaving our home here and our wonderful landlords -- who have become friends -- but I guess we are somewhat spoiled Gringos and need our “comforts.” More importantly, we very much want to be able to host dinner parties, cocktail get-togethers and pool parties and that’s not easy in our small apartment here. So it’s on to the next adventure.

One of the many things we knew we would miss in moving from here is Roscoe, the friendly pit bull neighbor who has been such a consistent visitor to our front porch during the late afternoon cocktail hour. Lately, we noticed that he had not been around and we have become concerned that he has run off and gotten lost, was stolen or worse. Two young men came by yesterday afternoon with their own pit bulls on leashes and called out to us asking if a dog was missing from here. I said yes and called Eduardo to come speak with them. They talked in animated Spanish about Roscoe for several minutes, although exactly what was said we don’t know. We expect to talk with Odie, our landlady, later today and find out what has befallen him. We are heartbroken to think something bad might have happened. He is such a sweetie. We miss him and hope he comes home soon.

We had quite a surprise last Tuesday as we headed out on our morning walk to town. As we turned the corner onto the main road here in Barrio Los Angeles, Layne and I were surprised to find the street festooned with tall plants and white flowers and energetic Ticas were laying a red carpet up the steps to the church, then further on blue and white angels on posts stretched as far as the eye could see.

We knew it was a holiday, a religious celebration honoring Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, also known as La Negrita, the patron saint of Costa Rica. On that day, thousands of devotees make a pilgrimage to visit the Basilica in Cartago dedicated to this religious figure, some walking barefoot carrying rosary beads, or even crawling for many miles to pay respects to their saint. What we didn’t know is that because our small barrio is named for this “Lady of the Angels,” local Ticos go all out in decorating the nearby church and entire neighborhood to welcome the faithful who come here for the holiday instead of trekking all the way to Cartago. And apparently many from Atenas do just that because as we continued into town, foot traffic was all going the other direction, heading to Barrio Los Angeles. In our typical Tico style, we greeted each one with a “Buenos Dias” and a smile, but soon the sheer number of the faithful coming our way made speaking to everyone a bit much. We persevered, however, in honor of Pura Vida, our patron saint. We hope Our Lady of Los Angeles appreciated the courtesy to her followers.

Update on Roscoe: We learned from Odie a few minutes ago that he ran off and, according to the two young men, is being held at a home nearby. We are hopeful that Eduardo will be able to rescue him when he goes there tomorrow.

Costa Rica Real Estate Challenge: Party House With a Pool

2011-07-31T17:05:00.000-06:00

The house-hunt goes on… and on… and on, or so it seems. For a while, there seemed to be few real estate choices or what was available didn’t have what we wanted or they were too expensive at more than $1000 a month, often plus utilities. Now we have a surfeit of options, all with most of what we are looking for -- extra bedroom, office space, a good kitchen, a swimming pool, close enough to walk to town or on a bus line and, of course, priced right. Not only are there now several to choose from, but also it seems that once the owners meet us or communicate enough by email or through a realtor to realize we are good tenants, they start courting us! We’ve had two homeowners offer to lower their price by $100 to entice us to rent their place.

Now THAT's a kitchen!

The first home is probably our favorite so far and if the owner -- a Russian, we’re told -- agrees to a few accommodations, such as paying for the gardener, we will likely take it. It’s a nicely furnished two bedroom, one a large master suite, with a gorgeous kitchen, an important feature for this semi-gourmet cook and enthusiastic party hostess. Plus, it’s in a great location, walking distance from town but with buses nearby as well. It has a swimming pool, which is shared with the other house in the compound, and a charming little “dipping” pool with a swim-up bar just off the patio. It even has an old basketball court in the front yard. Its main drawback is only one bathroom in the house, although there is a half bath off the big, shared rancho in the common area.

The Santa Eulalia "Tico" house

That's NOT a kitchen!

The main competitor to this house is an amazing Tico house in Barrio Santa Eulalia, a jungley, hilly Tico community about a 15-minute drive uphill or in our case, a 25-minute bus ride. That distance is one concern for us as we want to have parties and entertain, and although the house is perfect for such events, even sporting a pool table in the lower level and extra guest bathrooms (a total of four!), the distance from town makes it less than ideal. The really big problem with this house is the kitchen, or lack thereof. It’s a “tico” kitchen - meaning only one sink, no hot water (quite common here), no cabinets or drawers, although it does have a pantry. There’s not even a range with an oven, just a built-in counter cooktop. The owner really liked us and we liked him as well; he has agreed to several significant upgrades, including a new stove, trying to make us happy but I’m not sure our objections can be overcome. Still, the reduced price from $800 to $700 and several other features keep it in the running, as we mull our options.

Still another possibility is a temporary three-month rental in an area of Costa Rica several hours from here that we’ve been told is very nice, just up the Pacific slope from Dominical beach. We had turned this offer down a while back -- even though the place is a total mansion with views and a pool and a huge kitchen -- only because we don’t want to be house hunting so soon after a move. But when the owner had no other suitable applicants, he contacted us again recently saying he really would like us to take it and to help us out, he has been trying to locate a suitable place where we could move at the end of the three months. He and his wife have invited us to come for a visit and stay at their place to look around the area. It’s basically a house-sitting situation and he really wants us to look after his gorgeous home.

It’s so nice to be loved. ;-)

Of course, we aren’t sure we want to move away from Atenas. Having been here over a year now, we know our way around, have made lots of friends, Tico and Gringo alike, love the weather and appreciate the fact that we can bus into San Jose in just about a hour for about $3.00 total each way or to the beaches at Jaco in just over an hour and a half. We like having good health services here in town and value the friendliness of the local people.

But living in different areas of the country also has a certain appeal, as it would allow us to experience living in a beachside community or up in the mountains. And in fact, we have been told that Atenas, being such a desirable locale, has more expensive real estate and rentals than in other parts of the country so we might be able to save money by living elsewhere. Particularly now that the new highway is open between San Jose and Atenas, realtor friends tell us that well-to-do Ticos are relocating here and commuting to their jobs in the city, a pattern that is also driving up prices.

Even in the short time we’ve lived here, we have noticed an increase in the Gringo population (not counting ourselves!) and a trend of development of gated upscale communities such as Roca Verde, which covers a beautiful green hillside overlooking the town in a way that seems somewhat supercilious to us. We have looked at houses there but turned them all down, partly for the reason that I am just not comfortable in such an enclave.

But there remains a charming small town feel to Atenas, exemplified by such ironic scenes as these two horses grazing happily in a lot just a block from downtown, and with only a ragged excuse for a fence and that missing a gate, allowing them to walk out any time. But knowing horses, they would probably stay there so long as a green blade of grass remained.

So we continue to scour the real estate ads, websites and harass our local realtors in the hope of finding what we are looking for. We don’t want much: just the “perfect” place!

(Remember, you can click on a photo to enlarge it.)

Smile, Mr. Iguana -- You're on Candid Camera!

2011-07-23T16:36:00.001-06:00

By now I’ve probably seen dozens of Iguanas, large and small, in our year and a half here in Costa Rica but I never seem to tire of watching the prehistoric creatures. They look so fierce but are really quite timid, scurrying off into the brush as fast as their little legs will carry them whenever I catch one unaware. I’ve seen four or five different ones right here in our compound and I’m sure that’s only a fraction of the ones in our jungle outside the backdoor. When I caught this big guy having lunch on the steps just below our front patio, he seemed to know he was on Candid Camera and eyed me curiously as I shot this video before dashing up the stairs and away. I’m still working on holding the camera still but I think you’ll enjoy seeing his mealtime activities.

It seems that even here in the rainy season we can find ourselves water-less as we were a few months ago. (See that post here.) This happened again the other day and naturally, we had just put on a load of wash. Mind you, finding a day when doing laundry is possible during the rainy season is a challenge in itself. We have no dryer and must hang our clothes outside to dry but when the sky is cloudy and threatening a downpour, the better part of valor is to hold off on the washing. Well, this particular morning looked pretty good so we put on a load but when we went down to hang them up, we found the machine was stuck at the Rinse cycle with no water coming into the tub. Uh-oh. I called up to Layne to check whether we had water in the house and sure enough, the taps were dry.

And as luck would have it, we hadn’t yet had breakfast so rather than try to cook without water available, we headed off to town to one of our favorite breakfast places. Along we way, we came across these two gentlemen in the photo, hard at work on one of the pipes leading from our new water tank. After the de rigueur “Buenas dias,” I said to them: “Tenemos no agua en Los Angeles. ¿Es esta la razón?” (“We have no water in Los Angeles. Is this the reason?”) They smiled the affirmative. I asked how long the repairs might take and was told a couple more hours so we continued on our way to breakfast. Pura Vida!

Along the way we encountered a horseback rider, cruising alongside the busy main thoroughfare on his high-stepping Costa Rican pony.

As he came alongside us, I asked if he would let me take a photo and he was happy to pose although the horse was a bit nervous at the whole episode. When I mentioned that the horse had his ears laid back, the rider patted him on the neck and tried unsuccessfully to push the ear forward, saying “yes, fear.” Seeing the huge trucks and buses and speeding cars that were moving on the road next to the animal, you could understand his trepidation.

As mentioned in my last blog post, the local organic market is back in full swing. We walked to Nathalie’s, all the way on the far side of town, maybe 2 miles, last Saturday to pick up our first basket of food, which included beets, red lettuce, carrots, wonderfully tasty tomatoes, a big bunch of bok choy, a chile dulce, a small eggplant, some celery and a head of garlic. Not bad for about $10! When we arrived, her daughter was engaged in some pretty amazing artwork with a friend. They were painting flowers and butterflies on the seat and back of what will undoubtedly be a chair. Pretty creative and so typically Tico.

Layne and I have been house hunting in recent weeks in our search for a larger apartment or house so when visitors come, we have a suitable place for them to stay. On some of our recent walks we strolled down side streets to see if we might happen upon a rental offered by a Tico, which would be less expensive than those on Craigslist that are targeting more well-to-do Gringos. We’ve seen some nice homes in our trips out with local realtors but most seem expensive to us, almost U.S. prices. Ticos often don’t turn to professional real estate people to find tenants, relying instead on word-of-mouth, so we watch for rental signs and ask all our Tico friends for help. Wandering through those back streets, it’s often a surprise to find a small plot of land crowded in agriculture, mostly coffee plants but also citrus and banana trees, corn, mango and papaya. It may be the rainy season but the plants sure love it!

(Dear readers: Please let me know what you think of the little "Infolinks" that I've added. And remember, you can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.)

We Brake for Water Buffalo!

2011-07-14T17:38:00.001-06:00

Watch out for the water buffalo!

We’ve been back in Costa Rica just over a week now and it sure is good to be here. This is the first July we’ve spent in country and we can understand why it’s called the “green season.” In the six weeks we were gone, the trees have filled out in lush splendor, flowers are in bloom everywhere -- even more than usual -- and the air is alive with butterflies. On our first walk last week, we passed a large roadside patch of zinnias and the number of butterflies of every description, large and small, black and yellow, brown and orange, red and white, was just astounding! I recorded this video and hope that you can spy all the wings fluttering from blossom to blossom. The musical background is the neighbor’s radio. Talk about abundant flora and fauna!

A local cornfield

Local gardens are bursting with the bounty of fruits and vegetables as well. It seems like the corn stalks increase a foot or two every day and huge squash leaves spread wide across the ground. Banana trees are majestic with their large new leaves and still-green fruit. If this is the rainy season, it’s not too bad. Most days the rains don’t start until mid- to late afternoon and mornings are sunny and nice.

Of course, for our own pantry we hope to get back to buying from the local organic cooperative market, now run by our friend Nathalie on the model of community markets in her native France, offering small or large size baskets stuffed with the week’s best buys. In addition to the veggies and fruits, she sells organic goat cheeses, Swiss cheese, jams, chicken and fish, eggs and dark chocolates. Yum!

Atenas recycling in action

And while we’re on the subject of organic farming and other important environmental issues, I recently wrote a column for The Costa Rica News about a relatively new effort here in Atenas to collect and recycle tons of materials, such as plastics, glass, paper, cardboard, to prevent them from ending up in landfills. Señor Alfonso Quiros V, chief of operations of W. Recicladores, CR, S.A., has recruited dozens of local volunteers to help his small staff in gathering and sorting recyclables the first Wednesday of each month at the Central Park in Atenas. He’s providing the same service twice a month in Grecia, the larger town up the hill from us. Such efforts are so important in protecting the amazing biodiversity and beautiful ecology here in Costa Rica. As Señor Quiros said to me, “It will take some time to educate the public and our youth on how critical this is, but we will continue to work toward that goal.”

Such projects are extremely valuable in helping Ticos understand the long-term value of preserving their magnificent country’s fragile environment. But one of the most promising developments in ecological progress here is the creation of a new political party focused on protecting Costa Rica’s vast biodiversity and ready to move the battle into the political arena. Formed in 2004 by reporter Carlos Arrieta and retired English teacher Rodrigo Arias, the Green Ecological Party has set its sights on winning a seat in the National Assembly representing the Cartago province where they got their start and have their strongest support. The party has put Arrieta forward as a candidate for office twice before, in 2006 and again last year, but failed to win a seat. He and Arias are optimistic that as Ticos’ political awareness of environmental issues grows, voters will demand strong governmental policies to protect Costa Rica’s ecology; party members hope that 2014 will be their year for a win.

One of the main planks in the Green Ecological Party platform is banning plastics in certain Costa Rican industries in favor of biodegradable materials. They support mandatory environmental education programs in schools as well as the creation of an environmental “police force” to guard against litterers, polluters, illegal loggers and others whose activities degrade the environment.

On a lighter note in closing this post, I’ll mention a couple of funny animal incidents we observed lately. The second rider’s unusual mount is a water buffalo! As we were walking down the road, we saw this fellow along with two horseback riders jogging down the sidewalk then crossing the highway to continue along a side road. I’m sure my horse would have been freaked out to share the road with this creature but the Tico horses seemed less concerned with him than with a rough place in the sidewalk.

Roscoe and Layne socializing on the deck

Vicious Bassett Hound

And finally, meet Roscoe, the landlord’s young pit bull who often comes to visit us as we relax on the front deck in the late afternoon. He gives the breed a good reputation with his lovable nature. In fact, he’s so easy-going that a neighbor dog, an elderly Bassett hound that seemed an unlikely attacker, got the best of poor Roscoe on our back patio recently, biting him in the butt. Hard to imagine but the old guy gave the pit bull puppy a sore tail end!

Pura Vida!

Hot Golf, Cool Baseball, Green Dreams

2011-06-30T15:36:00.000-06:00

My mom's parched backyard

Only a few days remaining in our stateside travels before a most welcome return to Costa Rica. It’s amazing just how good the “green season” sounds, even with its promise of thunderstorms, after a couple of weeks of West Texas weather: bone dry, boiling hot days of 100+ temperatures and long, slow-roasting evenings in the 90’s. How do people live here, I ask myself over and over. In fact, I’ve asked a few residents and no one seems to have an answer. They get a silly grin on their faces, roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders.

But live here they do and incredibly, they even go outside during the day and survive -- grocery shopping, going to work, visiting the library, running errands. They even play golf!

Goodwill golf clubs

Which leads me to my topic for the day, my new golf clubs. Layne and I had transported our good clubs and bigheaded drivers from California to Portland last summer, thinking that with all the family golf players in Oregon, we’d probably get the most use out of them there. Climate change has made us re-think that notion since during most of our June visit this year, the weather was rainy and chilly -- not exactly my idea of good golf weather. We had a few nice days and managed to make the most of them with nine holes at King City one day and eighteen at Tri Mountain another. But we also had in mind putting together a set of clubs for use here in Texas so we could play when visiting my mom and perhaps even transporting some down to Costa Rica as well.

Since I’m not a terribly serious or skilled golfer, it had occurred to me that I might find an inexpensive set of clubs here in Texas on Craigslist. Indeed, there were some offered but none that fit the bill. I needed women’s clubs and didn’t want to spend much. But I never expected to find the clubs I needed at Goodwill.

Mother and I had gone to an enormous thrift store in town, Christians in Action. They had huge racks of clubs, organized only by size -- all 4 irons, 5 irons, etc. jammed together on stacked wooden frames. To figure out which were women’s clubs was a gargantuan project. Although the clubs were bargain-priced at $2.39 each, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of clubs and the undertaking I faced in finding what I wanted from the hundreds there.

So-called "fairway" on the 5th hole

So on we went to Goodwill to see what they might have. What a surprise to find only a small number of clubs, easy to sort through, standing in a large open box. I quickly noticed “First Lady” on an iron and realized it was a woman’s club. It looked in pretty good shape so I continued looking through the selection and found the entire set was there, from the driver to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 irons and a wedge -- all of the same brand, all in darned good condition. The price? Wait for it… 99 cents each! And if that wasn’t bonanza enough, I also found a nice bag, in better condition than my own, for $2.98. I got the whole set for about $12.

That’s the good news. The bad news was the condition of the municipal course I played on. Fairway? What fairway? Oh, you mean that dried out corridor with scraggly grass here and there and hard dirt everywhere else? Given the desperate drought conditions hereabouts, however, one could expect nothing else. So I’ve played twice now, early in the morning to avoid the heat, making the best of the course conditions and finding myself quite satisfied with my new irons. The driver leaves much to be desired but that may just be “operator error.”

It seems the secret to survival in this weather is to find something fun to do inside an air-conditioned building. To that end, Mother and I jumped in her air-conditioned car and drove a few blocks over to the air-conditioned Quartermaster Building at Fort Concho where a fascinating exhibit is on display depicting the history of women in baseball. Linedrives and Lipstick: The Untold Story of Women’s Baseball dispels the myth of women’s baseball as only a brief phenomenon of the 1940’s when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was in its heyday, later celebrated in the movie, “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Madonna and Geena Davis. Through photos, original posters, framed postcards, game programs and magazine articles, the exhibit reveals the birth of women’s ball in the mid-1800’s through the onset of the sport at women’s colleges, such as Vassar in 1866 and Smith College in 1879, and on to the present day crop of outstanding athletes swinging bats and hurling balls. Organized by Mid-America Arts Alliance, which takes their exhibitions into just 100 small and medium-sized communities each year, the exhibit in San Angelo is the only stop for the show in Texas. If Linedrives and Lipstick comes to your area, don’t miss it. It was well worth going out in the heat.

Now it’s on to Costa Rica and the luscious tropical weather I love. Pura Vida, here we come!