February 22, 2006 Update

Feb 22, 2006
Hello everybody
Here I am in the Bay area and Joe is in Nosara—not part of our original plan but it is actually fine. Joe and I talk on the telephone often so I am able to communicate how he is doing. His life is much easier to write about than mine. There are so many events!!

He is doing well with the pub. It is a lot of work and he is still getting set up, i.e. hanging pictures, etc. and also trying to keep everything going. He keeps finding people who want to work and then they can’t or they show up sporadically. Also things are done differently there and we are never prepared. For example, the cell phone de-charged and Joe was not able to remember the pin. After 3 tries, the phone was locked and now he has a temporary phone number while a new phone number comes through.

Joe had quite the adventure (or misadventure as he calls it) the other night. He was driving Natalie, our bartender home. The route took him through the river. He had forded the river several times with the Tracker but never at night. He crossed half of the distance and got stuck. He then tried to back up and the car shifted toward its side as if to tip over. As he told me, both he and Natalie (who does not speak English) together said “Oh shit”. Natalie then waded into the river to Rancho Tico and found help and people eventually pulled Joe and the Tracker out of the river. Water was up to and covering the seat but surprisingly there is no damage.

I have been in California two weeks and I love it—my job, my apartment and my friends. I love the American efficiency and doing business in English. I miss Costa Rica—all the things I have talked about before (Nature, the stillness, the air, etc) and now I miss Joe too!! Last weekend I stayed at my friend Anne’s house in Novato and Monday, I met Buck and Kay in San Francisco to go to the arboretum and to Magnolia’s Brew pub. Very different from the things I do in Costa Rica. Work is great, meeting people, etc. and the weather is in the 60’s which is a change from Costa Rica. And there will be a steady flow of money into our bank account.

Joe’s temporary phone number is 011-506-849-9010. Mine is 1-510-357-0247
Write or call when you can. We miss everybody and we want to keep in touch. Our friends, Mark and Cheryl from New Orleans are visiting Joe in March and we look forward to their visit. Come and visit Joe in Costa Rica—I am sure the temperature is in the 80’s or 90’s and you can now get draft beer on site. We will post pictures soon. Love, Helena and Joe