Nosara January 2009

Nosara January 2009

Now that we have decided to move everything has a different focus. We looked at neighborhoods in the San Jose area and we are interested in Ciudad Colon. There are beautiful mountain lots and it is close enough to the city to make life easier—medical care, land-line telephone, internet, garbage pick-up, etc. We will build—it is cheaper, we will get closer to what we want including at least a ½ acre of land. We just listed our property —the market is flat –but you only need one buyer. Joe is working on designing the new house which will include an on-site pub. A commercial venture in Ciudad Colon will be step two—once we stabilize with our new house and private pub.

We finally got our car back with a new engine. Thanks to our neighbors, Emily and Peter who often helped us get to town, we survived 4 months without a car. My quad is here and I am challenging myself with riding it--there is more to it than I expected—maneuvering on rough terrain on inclines is scary. I went to town with a friend last week—she had her own quad—and did ok.

The pub continues to do well. We are open Fri and Sat and for small groups and private parties. It is easier for me to bartend on regular nights than to hire people—we had 40 people one night over a 7 hour period and I did fine—Joe helped with pouring beer when I made cocktails. Our New Years Eve party was great—about 175 people--smaller than last year but we made more money, we knew more of the people and someone had fireworks which they set off in the garden--it was great.

Our woman’s group, Mujeres Saludables de Nosara, (translated to Nosara Woman’s Health) continues to develop. We will soon be a NGO (non governmental organization) and have our own bank account. We raised a small amount of money which we are using to finance educational presentations and Xerox printed materials from the Our Bodies, Ourselves series. Our first talk last month went well and I am writing articles on birth control and sexually transmitted diseases for the Voice of Nosara. People recognize me from my picture.

Last week I was on the public bus with a teenager and her 2 day old baby. She was coming back from Nicoya, two hours away, alone, after delivering her baby at the Nicoya Hospital. When she got off the bus in Nosara, she had another 6 miles to go on foot. We saw her on the road nursing her baby and offered her a ride part-way. Evidently it is a common practice for girls to go to Nicoya alone to have their babies--the family not always having the means to send someone with them. The girl seemed very happy with her new baby; she told me it was her second.

Today, we look forward to Ginger and Mark and their family visiting from Boston. It is vacation for us when people visit because we get to enjoy the area too. The weather is beautiful, blue skies, warm breezes, always sunny, temperature in the 80’s. Write when you can. And visit!!—while we are still here! Love Helena and Joe