Roads in the Rain

Thanks to Casey from a Dull Roar for posting the pics of the road to our house. It was a mess for weeks and really scarey to drive over! One day we were heading up the mountain behind a really heavy truck and I made Mario stay wayyyyy back because I was sure the truck wouldn't make it and the road would collapse with us right behind him! To see the pics and Casey's post - A Dull Roar: A road by any other name would smell as ...

COWS

This morning I was in the bedroom making the bed when Diego started barking towards the front balcony. I opened the door to see what he was upset about and to my surprise saw 4 cows coming down the driveway! They were calmly eating the grass along the edges. Diego went ballistic and started barking like crazy! The cows looked up and bolted away. I swear Diego puffed up to twice his size, lol, he was so proud that he scared those HUGE dogs off his property!

I can communicate!

After months of people asking if I am living in a tunnel I can finally drop Skype and make calls via a phone card! I have no idea why when I use Skype to call out it sounds like I am in a cavern, but it does. So my conversations consisted of what? what?! WHAT!!! OK I will call you back. ICE, the telephone/electricity company here is government owned and currently the only game in town. For some reason (read $$$ here) they do not let you use Skype on your cell phone to call out. You can forward incoming calls to your cell, but cannot make Skype calls that way. In both of the houses I have lived in there was no internet option save the data card over the airwaves. Because of their gross underestimation of how many people would want to actually use the internet, there is hardly enough bandwidth to have any kind of performance over these cards. I am able to work at a decent speed, well mostly, but trying to use VOIP and run anything else is virtually impossible. So I shut down every application with the exception of Skype and repeat myself incessantly. This makes teleconferencing for work virtually impossible. So if I had a phone meeting I was using an office at Mario's brother's shop or hoping I would not have to share a desktop while on the phone. The nicer folks would call me so I could let the call go to my cell and they would conference me in. Those days are gone - YIPPPPIE!

While we were at the feria I decided to stop at the used books stand in the back corner. I had seen the ad for it on Craigslist and really wanted to read some english. I do miss english here. So I stopped and there is this sign - phone calls to the US 6 cents! Woo hoo - now I had been looking on the internet for phone cards, but couldn't fins any that let you call from CR to the US - only the other way around. So I bought one to try out. I also bought books and cheese, yeah there's always a mixed bag at the feria. I spoke the vendor for a while, what a nice woman. Mario was laughing because he knew I was liking the english for a change of pace. But anyway the card is great! I got 200 minutes for $12 (she takes a little profit on the card). I used the whole 200 minutes over the weekend and in meetings today so I emailed her for more and asked for a card with more than 200 minutes. Within a few hours she had gotten me 2000, well I will have the codes tomorrow, but whew what a relief! Everyone I talked to asked why they could understand me, my dad's really happy cause he was the biggest complainer!

The info for anyone who is interested in these cards is:

http://puravidaconnections.com/
or email 6cents@puravidaconnections.com

I am not selling the cards, just passing the info along. It was a godsend for me so maybe someone else is having the same issues.

What a storm!

OK it was yesterday, but still the effects kind of freaked me out. We weathered it close to our old house in Los Angeles because we were at a soccer game again. It didn't feel that bad there, just a TON of rain and thunder and lightning. When we got home I thought we had been robbed! We had Mario's sister, Maria, and her family over in the morning. It's one of the things I have had to adjust to. She came at 8:30 AM. I don't know about you, but in the states if someone decided 8:30 was a good time to visit I would set them straight! Here we are usually up at 5:30 so it was no big deal.

Anyway, we showed them the house and must not have shut the doors well because we came home to Diego greeting us from the balcony! Both balcony doors had blown open, the 2 bedrooms had the screens wide open, and the trap door for the attic had blown off! It must have been a LOT of wind! All of our valuables were still intact so I am sure we weren't robbed lol. Mario assures me wind can do all of the opening we had experienced. Oh and the upstairs floors were all soaking wet so the wind came with rain. I am kind of glad we weren't home, but I am sure Diego was scared!

Las Quebradas Biological Center

Today we had planned to go to Wilson Biological Center in San Vito but it was POURING this morning and we decided against it. When the day turned out to be beautiful we wound up at Las Quebradas Biological Center across the river from our house. The drive there is pretty, and the gardens are OK. It was only $2 to get in, $2.50 if you don't live in Costa Rica, and you sort of get what you pay for. If you live close it's worth a trip. It seemed like maybe in the tourist season there was more because there were several buildings and a souvenier shop that were all closed. There was a class from Canada volunteering to fix up the butterfly exhibit so that was closed too. The man at the gate said in the morning there are monkeys, but we didn't see any. So these are the cows on the road to the place. I never tire of the cows in the road lol.

The really cool thing about the ride up was that we got to see our house from afar. Being bright orange it really stands out!

OK Maybe you don't find our Diego as cute as we do, but this is new hobby... we call him Señor Busybody.

Clouds for Breakfast

This is breakfast at our house, I wonder why we pay for TV?

Mario enjoying his first cup of Costa Rican coffee. (Johanna notice his FAVORITE mug, we can't believe how big Bianca is now!)

These 3 shots were taken within 15 minutes of each other, the clouds roll in and out in the morning.

Yippee Found the cord - Here's our new home sweet home!

This is the kitchen, we really are not fond of the green but Mario is all painted out since he painted our house in Pa to sell it and then his house in Los Angeles. He just can't face painting this house too and I don't blame him! I am trying to get some stuff for the walls to tone it down. The shelves and counters are all tiled.

The barn doors in the front of the living room go to the front of the house. The side doors go to the garage/car port.

This is the dining area. We finally got the chairs back today. They were easily chipped and it was driving us crazy so we sent them back to Katia and Carlos and they put a coat of poly on them. Lets hope it works.

This is the garage/car port. Mario was going crazy cleaning the orange mud off of the white tiles so we bought some rubber runners to keep it clean. Now the stones they put in are ripping the rubber so he washes the car before he puts it in. Way too much work if you ask me, but he is happy. See the mountains in the backround? That's what makes me happy!

We had bought this table for the other house. There is a place down the road that makes them too (it's not where we bought it). We stopped in to see if they made patio blocks. Not only do they make them but Cristian came to the house and laid them. I had seen the tables tiled at the Mirador restaurant near our house. Turns out Cristian did the work! So we went to the tile place and used some of our credit and he tiled the tops of the table and benches for us! I think it looks great! He also made me 6 hangers for the balcony so that I can hang the plants you see in the garage pic. Since we rent we can't make holes and this works great! He also made a sheppard's hook for the platanos I am using to attract birds. What an inventive guy!

Here some views from the balcony on the second floor. I really am loving it here!

This is a little building below us that the coffee farm in our backyard uses. I think it's kind of cute.

It's a small world after all ...

We are doing well settling in to the new house, spending money like we have it (though we don't lol) and loving every minute of it. Mario got himself a weedwhacker (note it is HIS cause I never want to whack) and is outside chopping everything down that looks unruly. Those of you that know my Mario know that almost everything is unruly (he is a tad bit OCD), so he is really happy. I still haven't found my cords, I have his awful feeling I tossed them into the tangled mess of cords I brought from the states "in case". It is on my to-do list to sort them out and organize them into neat little rolls ( a job for Mario? lol) but if my camera cord doesn't show up soon I will have to get to it.

So the other night about 7:30 - 8:00 I am inside on the computer when I hear Mario talking to someone outside. Now this is VERY strange since we live on the mountain and never see anyone when it is light out let alone in the pitch black, and it is pouring! Turns out our only neighbor, up the mountain about 300 feet, across the road, and down the mountain about 300 feet, decided to walk over and meet us. Well, not exactly meet us, since she already knew us! Remember the nurse that came out to see my leg and scheduled the rush appointment since it looked so bad? Well guess what?! She is our neighbor! What a small world! She said she had passed by and saw us and thought we looked like the couple that she had helped. Her husband laughed and said something along the lines that there are a lot of gringas and this couldn't possibly be the same one she helped. Then she saw the bandage on my leg and said HA! It is her!! lol. So we have a new friend, Patricia!

Off to look for my cords and work ... Pura Vida!

I'm back and boy have I been busy!

I got back on Sunday night. After the Spirit fiasco everything went smoothly. I got to the airport with plenty of time. I hit the first snagget when I tried to get a boarding pass. The gal at the check in said she couldn't find my return flight. I handed her my bus ticket and she was concerned because it was an open ticket, not for a specific date (lesson learned, next time I will pick a random date). The manager wasn't around and her coworker nicely explained to me that Americans can't leave the country without a return flight. Hmmm never heard of that law, but she said it with such authority. So finally they find the supervisor and she says my ticket is fine. They note it in the computer as the "authority" slunk away. I asked for an empty seat next to me because of my leg and the gal was really accommodating. I was on a flight to Orlando that continued onto Ft Lauderdale and apparently you need to keep the same seat on the whole trip. She found me a seat with tons of legroom right behind the Big Seat row and I had no one else in my row for both flights! I spent the extra for a Big Seat on the CR leg of the trip so that was no problem. So on to security, of course I am the random traveller to get searched, but then I think I have only flown once where I wasn't. The searchers were nice and the woman with the wand was really careful with my leg. The rest of the day was uneventful. I met a really nice Tica in the airport in Florida, we chatted for a bit and exchanged numbers. People are so friendly here. I got to San Jose at midnight and by 12:30 was in the car with Mario and his brother. Oldemar drives a taxi at night and we figured out it was cheaper to use him then rent a car and stay in a hotel. So off we go, they had borrowed someone's GPS because no one knew how to get home from the airport. Usually you go into San Jose and then grab the interamerican highway. This GPS however took us on the scenic route and we got to climb a mountain through some really dicey neighborhoods and traverse a rut filled dirt road. What fun at 1 AM, but we finally got home at 5:30 in the AM.

The next day we got up late, I even managed to sleep through the roosters and we looked for a doctor. Mario was convinced that I needed to go to the hospital so he never made the appointment (sigh). His dad recommended a clinic but they were booked, gee SOMEONE made appointments. They sent us to the next clinic 2 doors down. They also were booked, but the nurse came out to look at my leg (I had stayed int he car this time because it was bleeding and hurting). She looked at it and had Mario go back in with her. They fit me in later that day - not a good sign for me since that meant it was BAD. We went to the appointment and the doctor told me the skin had died and I was heading for gangrene. He had to cut all of the dead skin off and it would be a BIG open wound that will take months to heal. Oh joy. He said there was really no other way. So he opens this door in his office and there is an exam room. He did it right there. I was my usual big baby self and cried. It REALLY hurt! He gave me anesthetic, but still there were parts that he cut that felt like I had nothing. He also gave me more antibiotics and pain killers and explicit instructions on how to care for the wound. It is actually looking much better now so I am hopeful the worst is over. Oh yeah - cost? $80, and he apologized and said from now on it would be $60, but he had to charge for the operation.

The next day we signed our lease and Wednesday we moved to the new house. I said I have been busy lol. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it here! I will tell more about it in another post, when I find the damn cord to the camera and I can post pictures. But it is a dream come true, I never thought I would live somewhere so beautiful.

Today Mario brought the rest of our stuff. We got a late start because the cable guys were here. So he got here late and it started to rain before they could get the big truck out. To get to our house you need a 4x4. We couldn't find a 4x4 so Mario borrowed his brothers box truck and his dad helped it along by pulling with his 4x4. That worked great on the first trip on Wednesday. Today however, the rain made the clay/rock road slick. They decided that it had just started and they could make it out. So they tied the 2 trucks together and started out. Mario had problems from the start, they big truck had no traction, his dad started to pull it and we heard a horrible noise. They think it is the transmission on his dad's truck. Then the bumper snapped off on the big truck. So now we had 2 trucks that couldn't move stuck on our road. So Mario hiked up to the top of our road to see if anyone had a tractor (this is why I love it here). He called me from the highway, nobody could help us. He called Oldemar and he was going to take the taxi to his 4x4. I suggested a tow truck but the look on his father's face and Mario's reaction told me this wasn't gonna happen. I started dinner for everyone because I figured we would be stuck for a while. Mario left with Oldemar to go and get his car, but his dad got impatient and decided that he and his wife would walk to the highway too. Now I know where Mario gets it. So I called Mario and back he came, he got them safely, they are in their 70's and I was so worried that something would happen to them on the gravel mountain road. Hours went by and I called mario to see what happened. He said he was on the way with his dad, his brother, and a tractor. Sure enough a half an hour later the tractor pulled out his dad and the big truck. They can fix the bumper with 4 screws so it is not a big deal. His dad's car drives but they need to get the 4 wheel drive fixed.

Whew that's it! I'm heading to bed and can't wait to see the mountains in the morning!

Last Day in the States

Well this is it, I leave tomorrow. What an odd feeling, vacation in Pa and NJ and home to Costa Rica. I had a great time! A HUGE thanks to all the friends and family that gave me such a warm welcome, took me shopping, transported me from here to there and back again, and just made me feel sooo happy to come back! But I miss my Mario and Costa Rica so I am leaving with mixed emotions. My leg is awful. I am really worried, the wound is black and the skin around it is red. I went to an internist and he wouldn't even touch it. He wants me to go to a surgeon for a possible skin graft. I explained that I was leaving on Sunday so he put me on stronger antibiotics and advised me to get to a doctor soon in Costa Rica. Mario made an appointment for Monday so I will go then. I think it is looking pinker and I have been icing it so the redness is less. Who knows how much damage I will do tomorrow with all the planes.

I was supposed to fly out of Atlantic City to Ft Lauderdale and then on to Costa Rica. When I got the confirmation today I noticed that it said Atlanta and not Atlantic City. I am flying Spirit for the first time since a) they are cheaper and b) I could buy a one way ticket. Costa Rican law says you need a ticket out of the country within 90 days when you enter. When I came in April I had a round trip ticket. That's how I just got back. Now I don't want to commit to a date so I didn't want to buy a round trip ticket this time. I bought a bus ticket to Panama. I read that this is acceptable. It is an open ticket that needs to be used within 3 months. Let's see if I can get by with this $14 purchase.

Anyway, I called Spirit in a panic because obviously I cannot leave from Atlanta. They say no problem for a mere $270 I can switch my ticket to Atlantic City, but wait there are no flights tomorrow. So I look and there are 6 flights from AC to Ft Lauderdale. Oh but the flight from Ft Lauderdale to Costa Rica is full so I cannot reschedule for tomorrow. OK I am not a rocket scientist, but if I HAVE A TICKET from Ft Lauderdale to CR why would I not be able to get a seat? Well it seems that the ticket is from Atlanta so you cannot reschedule only 1 leg and the flight is booked to CR. So I try again - if I reschedule then my seat is not being used so therefore there is room on the plane. Again I get the same answer. I demand to speak to a manager. No luck she reads from the same script and cannot think on her own. She tells me to call the Spirit desk in Ft Lauderdale and see if they will let me board the plane if I fly there from AC without changing the reservation (which would cost $150). So I look up the number and call, there is no Spirit desk in Ft Lauderdale but I can have baggage. The woman there tries to help, but there is no one I can talk to. She directs me to someone else who is a supervisor but that woman tells me she is much too busy to talk to me, can I wait on hold? 20 minutes later I give up. So after this 2 hour stressful interaction with Spirit I decide fine I will pay the extra money and book the flight on Monday. So I get the next moron err customer service rep on the phone and he says he will be more than happy to rebook. He rebooks me for a Tuesday PM flight. While he is confirming etc. I check again online for a flight tomorrow and voila! Now there is a seat. So I have him look again and he tells me oh yes a seat has opened - DUH could it be MINE that you just switched???!!! You could hear the light bulb click as he realizes this is what I had been saying all along. He says but I just booked you for Tuesday. I practically reach through the phone to strangle him but say in my sweetest voice through clenched teeth - but I really want to go tomorrow. I am waiting for him to say he can reschedule for another $270 but to my relief he says OK hang on and books me on the f-ing flight I asked for 2 hours ago. But now I get to leave AC - fly to Orlando - fly to Ft Lauderdale and then fly to CR. I will be travelling for 12 hours but dammit I will be home tomorrow!

Needless to say I won't be travelling Spirit again.

Emergency Room Visit :(

I got to see the medical system in action yesterday. We went to Dominical to pickup some last minute gifts and I had to run to the sanitorios when we got there. I went up these rickety stairs to get there and when I came back down I managed to severely cut my leg on the rusted nails and rotted wood. The blood was gushing out and I had the sense to apply pressure quickly. Mario saw it happen and grabbed a paper towel from the little food stand that was right there. We got the bleeding to slow down and wrapped it with a rag (dirty of course). We opted to return to the hospital in San Isidro because we had Diego with us and it was too hot to leave him in the car. So we drove back and went to the emergency room.

What an experience! There were people everywhere in wheel chairs, on stretchers, in the hallways, wandering. As soon as I started walking I started to bleed again. A nice woman offered me her seat, another started talking to me to calm me down. I was scared and upset because I had no idea what was going to happen. Mario took my passport and went to fill out paperwork. He came back and grabbed a nurse and said I was bleeding and they had to help me. I never saw him so forceful! I didn't know he had it in him, but he was really worried about me. In about 15 minutes from the time we came in I was on the stretcher face down getting ready to be stitched up. Pretty impressive for a non-life threatening injury. I am sure I would have waited hours in Philly. They shot me full of Novocaine and stitched the wound, Mario said there were a lot of stitches and it was very neat. They put a bandage on and I was ready to leave when a doctor came in with the person that had stitched me up (I don't know if she was a doctor or a nurse) and asked them to remove the bandages so he could look at the wound. He said that I needed to be stitched again since she had only used one thread. Because the wound was so large he wanted the stitches tied off each time so that if there was infection they could remove a few and not all. So more Novocaine (man I hate needles) and out came the old stitches and she restitched. Now the wound looks kind of hairy but I guess it's better.

Next we were told that I would need antibiotics and pain killers and a tetanus shot. We had to pay first so we went to the caja (cashier). We expected the worst, but everything came to 36,000 colones or about $72. That's with no insurance because we procrastinated about looking into any here. Incredible.

The pharmacy is in the hospital so we got the medicine right there. I go the tetanus shot in the same emergency room. The people were really nice and they explained everything that they were doing and how I need to take care of the stitches. All in all I am really impressed. We stopped in a local pharmacy today to buy gauze and stuff to keep the wound clean. The pharmacist asked what they gave me for pain and then sold me something stronger than the Tylenol they had prescribed. I am not sure if I will take them, but I bought some because I will be on the plane all day tomorrow when I fly home so I wanted to have something in case it hurts. He also sold me a cream that is an antibiotic and will also help scarring. Pretty cool if it works.

Anyway I probably won't be updating for a few days as I am travelling to see friends and family. When I come back we are moving so stay tuned!

We may be nuts but we are moving!

So we have been working like crazy to fix up our house and it looks really nice, but I really wanted a house with a view. Our house is in a little town, filled with people, dogs, and chickens. It was starting to get to me waking up every morning a 3 to the song of the rooster that sleeps outside our window. This wasn't the tranquilo life I had imagined. But still I LOVE Costa Rica, I could live in our house for years and still be happy here. One day as I was looking through my favorite real estate site Chirripo Bienes Raices I saw this house. WOW what a beautiful house, and the view!

My sensible side said nooooo you are living rent free, no mortgage, why would you rent a house? Save save save and one day you can buy a house with a view. But my adventurous side said it can't hurt just to LOOK at the house. So we went, we looked, and we rented. Not without obstacles, apparently you need to have a 4x4 to get to the house. Our little Toyota couldn't handle the driveway. So we traded it in and poof we have a Suzuki Sidekick that can make it. So when I come back from the states we are moving in. Crazy I know, but you only live once. So if you know anyone looking for a really cute tico house in Barrio Los Angeles we are renting ours out for $200 a month! Rooster wake up calls are free!

So why do I want to live in the mountains? Well for one it is about 10 degrees cooler. I hear it is blistering in New Jersey and Pennsylvania right now. There is no escape. Here in Costa Rica, just drive up into the mountains and it gets cooler and cooler until you actually need a sweater. The other reason? These are some picture I shot from the restaurant on the way to Dominical:

This is the center of Perez Zeledon (San Isidro del General), the church is the same one in the header of my site.

So green! and the lofty clouds over the mountains are ever-changing.

Just loved the clouds that day, so peaceful.

So there is my dream, to wake up to views like this everyday. Let's hope this house is as perfect and peaceful as it seems....

Birds, Diego meets a Costa Rican Kitty, & Chicken Shit

Birds:

I FINALLY have birds wooo hoooo! After weeks of trying I started putting out platanos (big starchy bananas) and voila! they came. The pictures came out better than I expected so I will be taking more! These are red-legged honey creepers. The handsome blue bird is the male. The green one is the female and she is much braver than him because she always comes first. We have a bunch coming now and they chatter away in the trees waiting their turns!

He is really a beauty!!

This is a blue-gray tanager who also is coming by with friends. The shot is not the best I know - where are you Mary???!!! I need help! But still this is also a beautiful bird. It started raining, surprise, so this is all I got today :(.

This is a blurry pic of one of the hummers that visit every day. This plant is in a palm tree that Mario hollowed out for me.  I just love living here!

I have no pictures of Diego with this story but we are still laughing so I thought I would share it. Yesterday morning he went outside for his morning business and there was a CAT eating his food! Well Diego pretty much hated cats in the states, but here they all come into the yard to steal his food so now he REALLY hates them. He spends his day checking on his bowl and chasing any that come along. (I feed him outside because of the HUGE bugs here) Well this cat ran like all the others with D in hot pursuit. He cornered the cat near my lipstick palm and started barking madly. I don't know why the cats won't jump the chicken wire fence, but they all seem to think they can't and head for the gate. This cat couldn't get to the gate with Diego in front of him so he did what all cats do, puffed up to twice his size, hissed, and lashed out with his claws. We have no idea if he actually touched D but Diego started screaming like he was dying! Yelping and running and rolling on the ground heading right for me for protection! Mario started laughing hysterically and saying "how embarressing" over and over again. I am not sure if he was embarrassed for D or for us having such a wimpy dog. Well D must have been embarrassed because he recovered himself and went back for the cat. The cat meanwhile had a surprised, did-I-do-that look on his face, paused for a moment, we are sure he was also laughing, and then scurried out via the gate. Poor D, thank goodness none of his new doggy friends were around to witness his humiliation.

Chicken Shit:

We have it and it stinks! With all of the plants I have been putting in I have been looking for organic fertilizer. As all good gardeners know chicken shit is gold. Well I saw a sign for organic fertilizer and gallina something as we were heading out of town one day and Mario got all excited. His dad too! They also needed some. We called the number and for a mere 1250 colones per bag were the proud owners of chicken shit. These are not small bags! They are the big potato sacks so you can imagine how 4 of these smelled in transit. 1250 colones is roughly $2.50. So I put our 2 bags in my composter to ferment further, spread some around and hopefully my flowers will be even more beautiful!

When the cure is worse ...

The fumigated again today. I am assuming it was to kill any emerging mosquitoes. We missed the motorcycle guy yesterday but Mario's mom let us know so I was ready! I closed all the windows and curtains and made sure Diego and I were way out back. Well as way out as we can be in our little yard. We listened as the whine of the fumigators came closer and closer. Finally we saw the smog coming down the road. They stopped when they got to our house and since everything was closed up didn't shoot the smog in. Mario's mom came out to see how we fared since Mario had gone to check on our car in the shop. We saw the smoke approaching her house and she scurried off to check on things. I started to head into our house since most of the smoke had cleared, when I heard Mario's dad shouting "Where is my wife??". Turns out his mom went into the house thinking that they would not fumigate inside. His dad, who was out front, asked the guy to do inside the house. When his mom saw the house filling with smoke she ran into the back room thinking the smoke wouldn't reach her. So when the fumigator opened the last door there she was. He told her to run out of the house since the rooms were filled with the smog. She came over to our house to breathe. She was OK thank goodness! Hopefully this is the last round of spraying. There are at least 5 cases of dengue in our little town so they are doing everything they can to eliminate the mosquitoes that spread it. I hardly get bit around the house, but I know there are tons of mosquitoes in the woods behind us. I usually off myself before going there. Think I will stay clear for a while til this dies down a bit.

I got my hair cut pretty short today. I like it though! It was so hot with it long and strangely it seems to be growing fast here. She made it so I can still put it up. I brought my color with me and she applied it, color, cut, styling and eyebrows, $16 - just wow! Some things are really great here lol.

It's not easy being green ...

Yesterday a motorcycle screeched up our alley with the Minister of Health emblem on the side. The rider informed me that they would be fumigating the neighborhood today since there are reported cases of dengue. We have heard our next door neighbor has it. If you don't know what Dengue is here is the Wikipedia link: Dengue Fever. Anyway, he tells me that they will be by after 8:30 am and will fumigate the house and yard to kill any mosquitoes which carry the disease. Now I used to chase the mosquito trucks on my bike when I was younger and wondered what lasting affects this may have had on my health. For those of you youngins that never experienced mosquito trucks, they used to come through our development and fog the area with a pesticide that would kill off mosquitoes. The kids in the neighborhood would hop on bikes and ride in the smoke as the truck went through. It was tons of fun because it smelled cool and you couldn't see where you were going because of the thick smoke. This of course was back in the ignorance is bliss days when you were certain that the government would NEVER do anything harmful. As a side note, I went to a flower show in Philly as an adult and saw an exhibit on the natural ways they are controlling mosquitoes now. I asked the man at the booth if there were any long term affects for us bike riders from the pesticides the trucks were spraying. He looked at my son and told me not to worry about it since I had a healthy child. When I told him that my son was adopted he made a quick exit - hmmmm food for thought.

Back to Costa Rica ...

So I wake Mario up at the crack of dawn, ok the f-ing rooster woke us up before dawn, and I tell him we need to poison proof the house. We cleaned off all of the counters and put anything that food might touch into the cupboards. It was irking me that I had no say in this, it was going to happen no matter how I feel about indiscriminately killing every insect with poison, but at least I could reduce the amount of it that would enter my body. So everything away we waited for the fumigator. We heard the hum of an engine coming down the road, so I packed up my computers and put them in the desk. I went to the back of the house to use the bathroom and let Mario know they were coming. As I came out of the bathroom Mario was looking frantically for Diego. Apparently the men came down our alley and fumigated without telling anyone. The house was filled with choking smoke, they just pointed the apparatus into the front door and let it fill the house. Luckily Diego came running and we all got outside, but there was no escape since the air outside was also filled with the same smoke. I took a deep breath and went to the front of the house where I had Diego's leash. We got him on it and walked until we came to an area where the smoke was thinner. In about 5 minutes the air was clear outside. We hung around for about a half an hour and then went in and turned on all the fans to clear out the house. I really resent having this done, I understand the risk of dengue, but I also feel I should have some sort of a say in what I breathe.

A few hours later the motorcycle was back. He was checking each house for any standing water that could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I asked him what the fumigators used to kill the mosquitoes and he told me that it only affected mosquitoes. Oh and it might kill spiders and cockroaches too. I asked about the butterflies, since we saw one dying in the road and he said oh no, they are too tough, the poison doesn't affect them. Funny cause I thought cockroaches were pretty tough and it kills them. The woman across the street has lovebirds outside that survived the ordeal and we saw lots of other birds, including hummingbirds, and butterflies this afternoon so life goes on. He says that they will be back again to repeat the process. I have learned from this experience. I plan to completely close the house and take Diego on a day trip. I don't want to be around here when they come again.

We are tiled and I am coming back for a visit!!

The tiling is done and we finished painting, ok we still have the molding and a few doors, but we have the majority done!! So this is what we look like now!

See how cute Diego is without his rosey glow! We still want to paint the bars white to contrast with the blue.

This is the view from the front door.

The living room. I know the candles are REALLY orange. For some reason it is almost impossible to find decorative candles here. Most are the emergency white kind. These are manderine and didn't look sooo orange in the store.

The kitchen/dining room. Notice it is no longer yellow. After we picked the tile I realized the yellow doesn't really match it. Thank goodness we had only painted the primer coat and were able to put this beige over the top. We left our bedroom and the spare bedroom yellow (no pictures since they are still a work in progress). The daisys on the table are from the weekly market and cost me a whopping 2 bucks. I plan to have flowers in the house all the time!

This is my office. We got the drapes in Dominical from the cute gal Mary and I met last year on our trip. She remembered us! These are actually wraps to use over your bathing suit but I like them as drapes. Yes that is luggage behind the desk, storage is tight here. The desk is covered in glass. I looked all over for a desk pad since I was scratching the surface with the keyboard. We couldn't find any thing like a pad in our city. When I decided to use my trunk as the coffee table in the living room I wanted to get glass cut for the top. Mario though I meant the desk so he measured that instead. I told him to keep the measurements but that it would be way too expensive to get glass for the top. I had priced it for my desk in the states and it was over $150. So we went to the glass store, yeah they have a glass and mirror store, 2 in fact, and they charged $20 for both pieces of glass, amazing.

I am coming to Point Pleasant NJ July 9th through the 18th. I hope to make it around to see everyone. I am staying with my parents so give me a call if you want to get together!!

If you live in Costa Rica how do you know when you are on vacation?

We took a four day weekend since my work was slow and everyone in the states had off on Monday. What fun!! We rented a car and went up to San Jose. I had the I want to buy everything in sight frame of mind but was able to restrain myself! We are having the floors tiled in the house, all of them, so everything is topsy turvey once again and we were just in the way, a perfect excuse for a get-away. We took Diego with us just for the fun of it and because he has been looking so depressed since there are no dog parks here.

Mario had a problem getting to the rental place so they delivered the car here. We will be utilizing that service a lot I think! We decided to go to San Jose via the Costenera. They paved the whole thing since Mary and I were here in June! Funny enough they still ride horses there although it looks like a highway now. This is one of my favorite pics from the June trip:

This is a paved road now.

We decided to skip Dominical until the way back, and headed directly to Manuel Antonio. Mario hadn't been this way for many years and kept commenting on how much everything had changed. We stopped for a bit in Manuel Antonio and Diego got to take a dip in the ocean. He loves the beach here. He can run out really far because it doesn't get deep and lay down til the waves break over him. The he runs around in the surf like a nut. It was great to see him so happy. We ate in a restaurant on the beach and a guitar player came and played one of my favorite Spanish songs for us (Te Amo Demaciado by Koporacion). Diego decided it was a sing-along about half-way through and almost gave the guy a heart attack. I guess he didn't see D under the table lol. From there we went to San Jose. I really don't care for cities and I remembered why while we were there. I can't take the traffic! It really sets me on edge. We stayed at a hotel called Hemingways. Thanks Michael from Doin Costa Rica! He suggested it as a dog friendly spot and it was. The hotel is a block from a park where Diego could do his business, hard to find greenery in the city so that was a blessing. They have a cute cat there so D couldn't lounge around with us in the public places, but the room was HUGE so he was comfy. We ate right next door and the restaurant had a bar so we hung for a bit. It was an interesting night, we were talking with a guy from Belgium who had come to Costa Rica for a long weekend 5 years ago and was thinking it might be time to move on. There were also 2 young guys there, one from Spain that worked on a cruise ship and another from Sweden who had just arrived and was staying in a hostel. We all swapped "how do you say this in your languages" for a while and had a great time. Then 2 of the bartenders "friends" came by and sat with the young guys. After a while we figured out the "friends" were there to entertain the young guys. Interesting evening to say the least.

The next day we walked to the boulevard and shopped shopped shopped. I didn't get everything on my list, but I put a dent in it! We had paid an extra $10 to stay in the hotel past the noon checkout time, and by 10 am we were pooped and thinking about leaving San Jose. We went back to the room and Mario crashed so we wound up using the extra time for him and Diego to sleep.

After the death defying drive leaving San Jose we went to his sisters' houses. I think the Costa Rica maps I got from NavSat for my GPS were a great investment! We used it everywhere this weekend! Although it kind of spooked me that the closest landmark to his sister Zuly's house was the morgue and it was in the POIs. As with all of Mario's family, although we had eaten and asked only to have coffee, both sisters made us dinner. We had a great time and I got to speak a lot of English with Mario's niece's husband who is from North Carolina. We left way later than we should have and headed to San Ramon.

We had booked a cabin in San Ramon at a place called El Bosque Lodge. It was kind of strange because you had to pay for the room in 12 hour increments. Now if I had my US brain working I would have said hmmm hotel by the hour, wonder why that would be... But I didn't think about it until we were leaving. The cabin was really n ice and clean, but there was no phone, no restaurant nearby, nothing that would make a 2 night stay worth it. It was a nice place to sleep and that's what we used it for. It was relatively cheap also. It was REALLY hard to find and at the bottom of a mountain road, not a fun drive at 9:30 in the pitch black. Waking up was beautiful, no traffic sounds, no roosters, just tons of birds.

We went to visit Mario's other sister and her family. The views from their house were INCREDIBLE and of course I forgot to take pictures. They have a furniture business and we got to see where they make the furniture. Really cool and interesting. The wood here is beautiful! Oscar is going to make a table for our living room from the center of a tree, he had a slice of a tree there that looks like it will make a beautiful table but unfortunately it is sold, he is looking for one for me.

We went to some really beautiful places with them, first we went to Zarcero to see the topiaries.

Then they took us to see a spectacular waterfall.

It was a great day! The next day we took a spin through Sarchi on the way home. They are famous for the hand painted ox carts they produce. Here is Mario next to a wheel:

Exploring my new home is really a blast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHANA!!

Buenos Aires Costa Rica

Today we went to Buenos Aires and I saw some of the most incredible mountain views. Mary I miss you and your camera because these pictures don't do it justice!

Every trip here involves crossing a rickety bridge. Here is today's:

Buenos Aires is where Mario's older kids grew up. Here is their elementary school:

We stopped to see Buenos Aires' balls, I know they need a better name, even the town is called Balls, but it is really interesting. Here is a snippet from Wikipedia about the balls:

The stone spheres (or stone balls) of Costa Rica are an assortment of over three hundred petrospheres in Costa Rica, located on the Diquis Delta and on Isla del Caño. Known locally as Las Bolas, they are also called The Diquis Spheres. These are the best-known stone sculptures of the Isthmo-Colombian area.

The stones are believed to have been carved between 200 BC and 1500 AD.

Numerous myths surround the stones, such as they came from Atlantis, or that they were made as such by nature. Some local legends state that the native inhabitants had access to a potion able to soften the rock. Another claims that at the center of each sphere is a single coffee bean.

It has been claimed that the spheres are perfect, or very near perfect in roundness, although some spheres are known to vary by 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in diameter. Also the stones have been damaged and eroded over the years, and so is impossible to know exactly their original shape

Also from http://web.ku.edu/~hoopes/balls/intro.htm :

The stone balls of Costa Rica have been the object of pseudoscientific speculations since the publication of Erich von Däniken's Chariots of the Gods in 1971. More recently, they have gained renewed attention as the result of books such as Atlantis in America: Navigators of the Ancient World, by Ivar Zapp and George Erikson (Adventures Unlimited Press, 1998), and The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost Civilization, by Colin Wilson and Rand Flem-Ath (Delacorte Press, 2001). These authors have been featured on television, radio, magazines, and web pages, where they do an incredible disservice to the public by misrepresenting themselves and the state of actual knowledge about these objects.

Although some of these authors are often represented as having "discovered" these objects, the fact is that they have been known to scientists since they first came to light during agricultural activities by the United Fruit Company in 1940. Archaeological investigation of the stone balls began shortly thereafter, with the first scholarly publication about them appearing in 1943. They are hardly a new discovery, nor are they especially mysterious. In fact, archaeological excavations undertaken at sites with stone balls in the 1950s found them to be associated with pottery and other materials typical of the Pre-Columbian cultures of southern Costa Rica. Whatever "mystery" exists has more to do with loss of information due to the destruction of the balls and their archaeological contexts than lost continents, ancient astronauts, or transoceanic voyages.
Hundreds of stone balls have been documented in Costa Rica, ranging in size from a few centimeters to over two meters in diameter. Almost all of them are made of granodiorite, a hard, igneous stone. These objects are not natural in origin, unlike the stone balls in Jalisco, Mexico that were described in a 1965 National Geographic article. Rather, they are monolithic sculptures made by human hands.
The balls have been endangered since the moment of their discovery. Many have been destroyed, dynamited by treasure hunters or cracked and broken by agricultural activities. At the time of a major study undertaken in the 1950s, fifty balls were recorded as being in situ. Today, only a handful are known to be in their original locations

Whatever the official explanation is Mario tells me there were 3 of these balls at the school in Las Bolas but someone stole one (I have no idea how). They were moved here but he doesn't know from where. They are really impressive.

Mario is 6'2" tall. These are really big balls!