OCT 2008

Nosara Oct 2008

The rainy season is here--torrents of rain with many respites where we see the abundant foliage, an amazing array of shade of green, and clouds coming down forming rings around the mountains. Temperature is in the 70s’s but we are still wearing light tropical clothes-it is warm enough during the day to swim and at night we need a light blanket. Gunter is still here and we have another German friend, Helmut staying up here with us. Gunter, Joe and I are up early each morning having coffee and it is very pleasant.

Our car is at another mechanics and the new price for repairs is 1/3 of the first mechanics estimate. We continue to be stranded on the mountain dependent on rides and the occasional taxi. Last week, Ty drove me around on the back of his motorcycle to do some errands. And Gunter is a big help to get groceries. Joe and I are still considering getting a quad—it is steep coming up the mountain to our house with one very dangerous curve--a little scary—but no worse than riding on the back of a motorcycle. The car is supposed to be ready today or soon.

I went to San Jose last week for dental work. I also met the director of a woman’s organization there who is a feminist scholar and is supportive of our woman’s health efforts in Nosara. The treasurer of our group has taken the lead toward having us established as a legal entity which will make it possible for us to have a bank account. It is difficult to implement a woman’s program here because people don’t know they need one. We invited a perky 13 year old local girl to our meeting yesterday to get some ideas and she did not know the relationship between the menstrual cycle and making babies. Costa Rica stopped providing sex education in schools in 1998—the US has stopped too.

The pub is great. I have perfected my Cosmo recipe—the secret for me is fresh lime juice and to shake it at least 20 times so it is very cold. Our weekend business is low since the area becomes a ghost town in the rainy season. We open on request for small groups and last week we opened twice, once for a birthday party and once for a small group of Ty’s friends. While in the states, we bought a digital snapshot holder and we loaded all our good pub snapshots over the past 2 years—people love it—it is like our old wall at Arbor House.

We have new neighbors. Emily and Peter moved in earlier this month about 200 meters from us. It is great to have them. Our dogs are getting used to having dogs up the street. So far, Emily and I have gone to Nicoya on the bus and I have joined them in morning walks around the finca—it is interesting to visit John’s projects on foot and see his buildings in various states of completion. Emily is a recovery room nurse; Peter is a surfer and has started travel writing—and they are very nice people.

We have a private 60th birthday party here in early Nov. Private parties may be the way for us to go. It might be simpler and we like parties. Anyway, write when you can. Love Joe and Helena