Thanksgiving 2005

CR Update November 22, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving

We are going to Gilded Iguana for Thanksgiving dinner tonight and plan to go to Marlin Bill’s for drinks later. It will be different being here for the holidays rather than with family and old friends. We are joining our new community here in Nosara.

Plans for the pub are coming along. We met with a distributor last week and ordered 4 cases of Guiness. We still have a lot of construction but John tells us that all will be completed in 2-3 weeks. Our newest setback is our furniture builder’s crew taking 2 weeks off at Xmas. Our target date for opening is now mid January. The pool and guest houses should be ready soon. We are getting rain every 2-3 days now, the sunny and dry season is coming. December is supposed to be a very good month, no rain and cool from the winds. Jan and Feb it does get hot and it will be great to swim mid-day. One of the guidebooks talks about Tropical apathy and I want to keep this at bay.

We finally figured out how to make international calls from home. Svea, our Spanish teacher, suggested we get a phone card. My previous dealings with phone cards had been problematic due to the language but I found a phone card with English instructions. Pricy—30 cents/minute to the US but I may find a way to use it to access my AT&T card which is more like 6 cents/minute. The problem with my borrowed cell phone is that there is a block on international calls which includes the internal Costa Rican 800 number. To get the block removed I have to pose as the owner and go to the company—I did pose as the owner and sent a fax and received a voice message in Spanish and will need someone to translate it for me.

For me the most frustrating part of being here is learning how to do things that I learned differently and mastered in the states. It is like jumping through hoops without really knowing the route. There are many things in this category. For example, we are trying to buy two concrete benches at the hardware store. Even with someone translating we get different stories about their availability. I think the strategy is to be persistent and as soon as someone agrees to sell them, to write the check and take them away immediately. To me it seems like the rules are hidden and I can’t always figure it out.

The cats are doing great. All three of the cats go outdoors though Mira less than the others. Mira hides under the bed in our guest room but she sleeps with us some nights and she does go out once in a while. We got a scare one time when she was out --we saw vultures down a hill and were concerned but it was a monkey they were eating—we are in the jungle after all. Joe eventually found her in the middle of the night vomiting grass so he was able to sneak up on her and bring her in. We kept her in for a few days but now are letting her out again. Trinka suns herself on the terrace and is happy walking around the grounds and she still hisses at Mira. And Ainsley continues to be more like a dog than a cat; he comes when called, eats cheese and yogurt and is a general good sport. Mira looks different—her coloring has lightened—she was dark brown, now she is lighter. For Mira and Trinka, I think the move improved the quality of their lives. For Ainsley, I am not sure. He used to like walking around the neighborhood going in people’s houses and there aren’t houses here. He does seem happy and of the three cats, seems the most attentive to all the sounds of nature.

Nature is what it is all about here. The winds have started. All night long and today the winds are swirling around us and they are strong enough to knock things over. It is not a warm wind—temperature is in the 70’s. The force causes the trees to bend back and forth. I think the winds continue through the dry season and the winds will get warmer.

Now that I have a phone card, I have started planning for my 13 week travel nurse stint in the states. Right now, my first choice, San Leandro, does not have openings. Other places that have psych openings now are Oakland or Bakersfied, CA, Alaska, Rutland Vt, Virginia and Colorado. The recruiter thinks it is likely there will be openings in San Leandro mid-Feb or later when I would like to go. I want to be back for Joe’s 60th birthday, May 21st.

Today was a historic event here. We used the first orange from our garden to make chicken a la orange, rice a la orange and carrots, asparagus and onions a la orange. By the way, Joe wants everyone to understand that despite the frustrations and the seemingly primitive conditions of the roads at times, we love it here. We had the worst rainy season in 5 years and it coincided with John repairing our roads.

Whenever things get a bit whacky, I just look at the view from my terrace -- The nature is astounding—the pictures cannot capture the air and the feel of the energy—Joe’s tropical English garden and our abode are fabulous AND we are in the midst of incredible natural beauty—the mountains, the trees, the ocean, the sky and now the winds. Our view of the mountains reminds Joe of the family farm in Virginia. By the way, Joe has lost over 30 pounds but he still bears a strong resemblance to himself—(he is on the 2 cigar per day diet.)

Come and visit. Love Helena and Joe