CIUDAD QUESADA

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP WAITING? DON'T SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR LIFE TO HAPPEN TO YOU.  HAVE A PLAN AND TAKE THE NEEDED STEPS TO CREATE WHAT YOU WANT." -  Steve Maraboli


Many of you have contacted me concerned with my well being since I haven’t been posting blogs lately.  I appreciate your concern and I want to let you know I am doing fine.  I apologize for the delay and any worry I caused you.  Life here, at least for me, either goes at the pace of a sea turtle crawling across the beach or the speed of a bat diving for insects in the night sky.  However, fast or slow, the adventure continues.

A little over a week ago E came to Nosara and stayed with us a few days.  He wanted to try harpooning some fish but the reefs here at Playa Pelada are too far out and too deep.  The water was also too turbulent and there was little visibility.  So like usual, Jacob, Jarred and I played in the waves.  The warm water, wave action, and exercise of swimming and jumping in the water is helping strengthen my hip immensely.  I still lack some strength but it is almost back to normal.  I have no pain in it.  I am so happy to have the ability to stretch my legs out in ways that I haven’t been able too for several years.  I am so grateful to the surgery techniques of today that helped me so much.

The next day we headed to Garza, to We found a little Italian pizzeria across the street from Playa Garza.  Uri, the young Italian who owns and runs the place had mischievious eyes with long, dark lashes.  He and his US girlfriend run it together.  His pizza wasn’t too good but we enjoyed talking with him.  I am constantly impressed by the people who come to live in Costa Rica and the adventure in their spirits.  Few US citizens I have met are willing to throw themselves into a life of this challenge and uncertainty.  Most likely because we have all become too comfortable with our lifestyles of excess and ease.  I can’t say I blame anyone for choosing that comfort.  I often find myself wishing I was still living it.  But once again, if having my whole world turned upside down taught me anything, it is that certainty is just an illusion.  We all grasp at it tightly as a security blanket against this cold world.  Most know how easily it is stripped away.  On the other side though, is truly living.  I have learned so much about myself, am growing so much.  I am having experiences that I could never have even imagined.  It is more than worth the trade off!

URI

 

After a couple days, Jacob and I headed back to Ciudad Quesada (San Carlos) with E to ch

check out that area and meet his family and some of his friends.  First we went to his Mom’s house to meet her but she was at work.  She is an accountant.  She lives near the city.  We met his youngest brother and his nephew.  E has 6 brothers and one sister.

 

We then headed out to meet his sister.  She and her husband have a house in the country by a creek.  E likes to walk along the river there and fish.  It is up in the mountains a ways and it is very beautiful there.  I felt so a home there, partly because of his family’s warmth and hospitality.  Those of you who know me from childhood will recognize the kind of weird, but awesome, familiarity of these pictures.  It looks just like the creek and swimming hole on the Little Washougal River where I grew up.  And just like Washougal all those years ago, the area around here is rural and agricultural, dotted with dairy cows and farms growing produce.  Sitting at his sister’s house with the warm breeze blowing through the house and listening to cicadas and frogs and watching butterfly was wonderful.

E called Angie, his good friend for many years.  He took us up a little farther in the mountains where she and her family have a small dairy farm.  They currently have 20 milk cows.  We came to their place just as they were finishing up the milking so we headed up the mountain a little further and E showed us more of the beautiful country side.  When we got back to Angie’s to watch her make cheese, which is one of the reasons E brought us there.  She makes it totally by hand.  They make it after the morning milking and the afternoon milking.   She gave us some without salt, that’s how E likes it.  I didn’t like that too much myself.  Then she salted some and gave it to me.  I liked it that way.  It is like mozzarella.  They sell it at markets in the area where others also sell their produce.  I am anxious to go to one of these markets.  Jacob and I liked Angie right away.  E said she was good people and she absolutely was. 

 

CHEESE!

 

Angie speaks pretty good English too.  Of course E speaks the best English because he spend many years in the US.  I am always surprised at how they keep saying they don’t speak it very well.  Well, ok, they don’t speak it as well as we native speakers of English but they are superstars speaking it compared to how well I speak Spanish.  I would love to fool myself that someday I could speak Spanish as well as they speak English but I know that will never happen.  But, I am learning a little, slowly and little by little.  And I love to hear them all speak, either Spanish or English.   

We stayed at E’s sister’s house that night.  The next day was his sister’s birthday. I was so happy because Jacob had grabbed some of the jewelry I made and brought it.  I picked out a beautiful cabochon that Ed Scott’s dad had made that I had wire wrapped in copper.  I was so happy to give her something I had made.  I know Ed will be happy to hear that a cabochon that his dad had gathered, cut and polished, was now being worn by a lovely woman in Costa Rica.

So we headed back to E’s moms house in San Carlos.  Jacob and E had some running around to do.  I went with his mom to her office and really enjoyed getting to know her better.  All families have their problems, hurt, anger, resentments but even though families let us down many times, they are still family.  Family is and always will be very important to me.  His mom invited me to a dance some of the family was going to.  I was very flattered to be included and welcomed to go, so of course I said we would probably go.  I talked to Jacob and if you know he and I, you know we were excited to go dancing. 

The dance was the next night though so tonight, E took us to a bar in town to drink and sing karaoke.  Ok, once again, those of you who know me understand that I don’t think I could ever drink enough to sing karaoke at a bar.  LOL  We walked into the bar and a soccer game was on the tvs so no karaoke yet.   But not just any soccer game!  Costa Rica v. Honduras a big, big rivalry.  A few minutes after we entered, Costa Rica scored a goal and won the game so the bar went wild for a bit.   Then karaoke started.  I don’t know if this is how they do it at every bar here or even the US, as I have to admit, I have only been to a karaoke place a couple times in my life, but here you don’t have to stand up on a stage in front of everyone.  They give you the microphone at your table and you sit there and sing.  So, hmmmmm, maybe, just maybe, I can drink enough one of these days to sing.  J   E likes to sing so he sang a few, some in Spanish and some in English.  He kept telling us the people would love it if we would sing in English. We were also joking about how funny it would be if Jacob tried to sing in Spanish.  Jacob is absolutely just learning the language and doesn’t know how to pronounce hardly anything.  I’m sure the crowd would have got a good chuckle about it but he wasn’t drunk enough for that either.

Next day we went back out to E’s sister’s house for awhile.  One of E’s brother was there too.  On our way back in to town E said there was a bar he wanted to take us to that was on the way.  It was a really great place!  Remember most of these places are open air.  Ciudad Quesada is much cooler than down at the beach where we have been staying but anywhere in Costa Rica is still quite warm for us.  The evenings are still warm but .just cool enough.  They are magical.  We had a few beers and E and I danced.  I am behind the others on drinking.  E’s brother commented to Jacob, “Slow drinker, smart woman.”  J     And oh yea, E is an awesome dancer.  And YES, I will always remember that night and that bar.

Then we went all the way into town and met up with the family and friends that were going to the dance.  We took a taxi there as taxi’s in the city are very inexpensive.  They had a live, band that played traditional music.  It was in a an area like a Grange dance would be held.  Many different ages of people were there, Many different latin dances were danced but my favorite is Bachata.  I fell in love with this romantic, sexy dance.  I soooo want to learn it better, though the basic step is easy to pick up.  Jacob wasn’t feeling real good so we went outside to get some air.  I forgot to mention that Jacob and I were the only gringos there, in the whole place.  I have more appreciation for those who are the token blacks, latins, whatever.  Of course we were quite a curiosity for the locals.  This is a fairly good sized city by Costa Rican standards but it is not a tourist city so not near the gringos around as tourist areas.  Another comparison to Washougal.  Like being the only black kid at the high school when I was there.  Some people talk to you, most are shy and intimidated and do not how they should/could relate to you, some probably resentful that we were there.  One pretty brave short, older guy came up and wanted to trade his hat for Jacob’s.  He was trying and trying to get this across although we pretty much got the gist of it right away.  Then he shook our hands and walked away so we thought that was that.  Nope, soon he had dragged a young man over to us and indicated to that guy that he should talk to us.  I asked the young man if he spoke English and he said a little.  The little short guy said something to the young man and the kid shook his head and started to walk away but the other guy grabbed his arm and made him talk to us.  So yes, the short older guy wanted to trade hats.  We FINALLY got him to take no for an answer.  It was fun though that someone had the nerve to come and talk to us.  Jacob and I were pretty worn out though so we decided to go home a little earlier than everyone else. 

 

JACOB and FANNY DANCING

Next day E’s mom is getting food and the house ready for a birthday party for E’s sister and aunt.  I went with her to the supermarket to get supplies.  I was trying to find ingredients for one of my favorite salads.  Greens, walnuts, apples, feta, cranberries.  Could not find feta or cranberries so I settled for mozzarella cheese and no cranberries.  I had no idea if E’s family would like this or not but they seemed to like it.  It was gone at the end of the night at least.  His mom made this kind of potato salad dish that they call Russian Salad.  It had beets in it.  Now I don’t normally like beets but this was delicious!!  I’m going to try to get the recipe from her.  We had also picked up two huge birthday cakes.  E brought some of the pig he had butchered the day before and made his kick ass tacos!!  A lot of other good food there too.  We got to meet some more members of the family and Angie and her partner came.  E and I danced and danced.  It was soooooo much fun!  I haven’t danced that much for years and years.  After everyone left the party, E and I stayed up and sang some karaoke.  And no, I didn’t even drink that night.  I was ok singing since it wasn’t in public. 

 

E was up and going the next day.  I have no idea how he keeps going and going. Jacob and I just hung out at his mom’s that day.  No one was there as they were all out working. I still don’t understand how people can say ticos are lazy.  Every single one that I have associated with work long and hard.  I guess the difference is that they do kind of keep their own hours.  And Mario at the school, who is tico, said they aren’t really lazy, just more laid back, don’t push themselves at the job as much as we North Americans do.  At any rate, I have seen only hard workers so far.

We were going to head back to Nosara that evening but E got held up so he didn’t get home till 1:00 am.  So we headed back then.  E drove us out of the city but then he got pretty tired so I took over driving.  As I am driving along, I can’t quite believe I am in Costa Rica, driving a truck in the middle of the night, grooving on some Bee Gees’ tunes.  Who scripted this life?  This is not even remotely the life I thought I would be living even a few months ago.  Don’t get me wrong!  Am I disappointed?  Hell no.  I’m just shocked as hell though.  A little bit proud of myself, very surprised at myself and yep, crazy as it seems, happy.  Very freakin happy!  I have no idea what tomorrow will bring but in this uncertainty I am alive.  Ok, yea, to be honest, sometimes I am also afraid but I just push the fear away because it is not going to help me in any way.  I see nothing now but the future and all the opportunities that lay ahead of me.  Some will work out, some won’t.  But they will all be good.

 BACK TO NOSARA-AGAIN

 About 5 hours later we are back in Nosara.  As we pass Nicoya, the sun is on the rise and dawn is here.  Soon we are looking at jungle foliage again.  It is funny that this already feels kind of like coming home.  We are going to move to Ciudad Quesada because we have a business opportunity, friends there now, things are cheaper and cooler but I will miss our little piece of jungle beach.  I will miss the ocean being so close.  I won’t miss the humidity, the bad roads, the multitude of bugs or the sand.

We have brought Chezko, E’s dog.  He is a big, gorgeous black pit bull.  He has an appetite for cats and some other dogs though so we have to be careful of Annie.  Jarred told us Annie got into a fight with a cat from the hood here.  J  Although she has no signs of injury, apparently Annie got her butt kicked.  She is a little skiddish about going outside now.  I wonder if it is the ass whooping or the monkeys Jarred let her watch, that keeps her inside now.  LOL

Jacob and I go to Super Nosara, one of the bigger local grocery stores to stock back up on supplies.  I spot Captain Morgan!  YES!!  If I can’t have Gosling Black Seal, Captain Morgan is always my second choice.   Head to the beach for awhile.  Chezko is so cute.  He likes the water but is a bit afraid of the incoming waves.  E takes him for a run down the beach and as usual, Jacob, Jarred and I ride and jump the waves in the ocean.

These last few days have kind of merged together.  No, not because of the rum!.  Well, ok, maybe partly because of the rum.  We had dinner. I can’t remember if E, Jacob or I cooked.  One night I definitely cooked dinner and made stir fry with homemade teriyaki sauce.  E Loved it.   One night I started on the rum.  Jarred, Jacob and E started drinking too.  E is drinking vodka.  I think Jarred and Jacob are too.  Drive down to Olga’s.  We all love that place.  Open, right on the beach, big concrete floor.  Jacob keeps saying he wishes he had some roller skates to skate around the bar.  Jarred and E start playing pool with some other guys.  They come over a couple times and say they are cheating the other guys and laugh.  I have no idea what is going on.  I am just enjoying the atmosphere and the music.  After awhile we decided to come back to the apartment and some of us go swimming in the pool.

Next day, which was yesterday.  I can remember that far back.  LOL.  E and I go to Super Nosara and even in this little place I get lost and we don’t find it.  We have to stop at a smaller super.  On the way, E sees mango trees and stops to ask the owner if we can get some out of the trees.  He gets a stick and knocks a bunch down.  I’m standing on the other side of the ditch and I asked him if he wanted me to help him.  He said yes, because there is a big ditch between where he and the mangos are and where the truck and I are at.  He says back up because if I drop one it will go in the ditch.  I told him he should have faith in me and I can catch them so he starts tossing them across and I catch them all except one that he throws badly.  LOL   He doesn’t know yet that I was a catcher in the softball league I was in.  We all relax, eat, swim in the pool.

 

E, Jarred and Jacob are going to head back to Ciudad Quesada but I am staying here in Nosara to take care of the cat and get the rest of the stuff organized and packed.  Hopefully they find a place we can rent back there soon.  I have talked with the property manager here and said they can try to rent this house out.  She agrees that if they rent it before our three months lease is up, we will get a refund for the amount of time they rent it.  I don’t really care about the money.  I am just ready to start our new life now that we have a solid plan.  I am very excited because even though staying in the country was always the plan, I’m not sure I thought it was really going to happen until this last week.  E doesn’t want to leave me here alone though.  We discuss it (hmmmm, more like argue about it)  ha ha.  I understand his point.  He feels responsible for us and especially me being a woman.  He is worried something might happen to me.  He doesn’t know how much of my life I’ve been alone, handling everything except the money making by myself.  The drives across the US and back with no man with me.  All the time living alone without my man.  I never thought at all about it at the time but I shouldn’t have had to do that.  My man SHOULD have been with me!  He should have loved me enough to be there for me.  Wow, have I been stupid.  Never again. 

Anyway, I am very torn.  I want to go back with them now.  I also want/need a little time alone.  I am working out the last little thread of the dying dream and the steel cable of my future.  So I convince him I will be fine for a few days by myself although I know every bit of the man that he is, is saying no. We went to the Guilded Iguana for dinner.   I had some amazing sea bass dish.  After that, we weren’t really ready to call it a night yet so we go to Olga’s again where the drinks are cheaper and we actually feel more comfortable.  We are just drinking and visiting with people.  There are three girls there that are from Wisconsin.  They are back packing through Central America.  They just got to Costa from Panama.  We’re out looking at the stars and a three piece band comes out of Olgas and starts playing La Bamba.  They have a guitar, a xylophone thing that is made of some wood so it sounds Carribean and the other guy has a metal thing that looks like a round cheese grater but I touch it and the bumps are smooth, they do not cut.  E starts dancing with me.  Another magical time and night in Costa Rica.  Pura Vida means so much more than just a good time saying.  I am learning that it means truly living life, every moment, every minute, every second.  It means much more to me than Pure Life. 

To me it means -  Pure=Totally  Vida=Alive.

We may not all be able to live Pura Vida every moment of our life but my wish for all my friends and family is that you are able to live Pura Vida, physically, mentally, and emotionally for at least some of your life.

 

 

CRITTERS

CRITTERS 

Since moving in here we have seen a menagerie of critters.  The second day here we saw Howler Monkeys in the trees just out our back door.  We saw a mom with a baby hanging on to her and a few other adults milling about in the trees.  We were unable to get any pictures of them yet but they hang around this area quite often so we will keep trying.

We also saw a squirrel/lumur like thing with red fur climbing around the trees out back.  Jarred got a picture but it was too far away.  We have seen many iguanas and a multitude of lizards. 

The other day a coatimundi came milling out around the back of our place and then came right up to our back door and looked in hoping for handouts.  Here is its picture.

A couple mornings ago Jacob picked up his shorts from the floor and something fell off them.  He looked at and it was a small scorpion.  He caught it in a cup and we released it outside.  I have been told by many people that small scorpions carry the most venom so I am really glad no one was stung by it.  Needless to say, we make our beds every morning so nothing crawls into our beds.  J 

We have seen a few of these colorful crabs here now.  They don’t live right on the beach.  They actually live back up in the bushes which is kind of weird.  They sure are cool looking.  Driving back from the beach today, Jarred and I saw one in a mud puddle.  He was a testy little bugger because as we drove by, he flipped his claws up and waved them around wildly.  Jarred and I got a laugh out of that.

 

Of course living in a jungle basically, we are inundated with all kinds of insects.  So far no really ugly spiders have made their way into the house but Jacob took a picture of a creepy one out in the carport area last night.  His phone has passed away though so we can't retrieve the picture.  We have two resident gecko’s which are very cute.  I hope they are the reason I have seen no creepy spiders.  There are also weird centipedes, ants, various beetles and such that routinely make their way into the house.  So far nothing too freaky or threatening.