Falling Rain, Falling Mangos

May 2, 2010

(Click on photos to enlarge)

         Happy Birthday to both of my grandsons - Kai Josef is 12 today and Orion is 9! I look forward to seeing them both this summer. In fact, the prospect of some extended visits with family members is one of the redeeming features of leaving Costa Rica in only a week.

         The other positive aspect of our pending departure is the onslaught of the rainy season here. And what a dramatic change it has been! Not only is there predictable rain every afternoon and into the evening, but we’ve also learned something about our lovely mountain locale: There is a lot of fog up here and considerably more rain than down in the town of Atenas, some 500-600 feet below us.

         Last night we had occasion to go into Atenas for dinner with our duplex neighbors, Caroline and Cy, to try out a new restaurant, Antano’s, which had been touted as having good Mexican food. We drove out in a substantial shower but as we dropped down the hill, the rain began to slack off and had completely stopped by the time we reached downtown about five miles away. Perhaps it was that micro-climate of minimal rain even during the rainy season that prompted National Geographic to christen Atenas as having “the best climate in the world,” a motto emblazoned on every Atenas bus, an obvious public relations boon for the local community. In our experience here during the dry season, however, Layne and I found downtown Atenas to be too hot and occasionally too humid for our taste, lacking the refreshing ocean breezes that we enjoy at our chalet. Until these daily rains started, we felt that we had found the best spot here in Alto del Monte on the side of the mountain overlooking the Pacific. Now we wonder, particularly since most of these tropical storms include dramatic lightening bolts and massive booming thunder. But experiencing the rains reinforces our plan to become “snowbirds,” or perhaps more aptly “rainbirds,” as we expect to head north to the States when the euphemistically named “green season” arrives here in Costa Rica.

         This inevitable reversal of weather conditions is one reason Costa Ricans refer to the rainy season as invierno or winter, and verano, the dry season, as summer. Winter here spans the months of May through October while summer starts in November and runs through April. And indeed, local temperatures have dropped considerably since the rains began. Most mornings start out sunny and beautiful as always with clouds just visible on the ocean horizon but by early afternoon the fog rolls in off the Pacific like a grey wind, a palpable mist that quickly envelops the landscape and chills the air. It is so reliable here in Alto del Monte that a road sign just down the hill warns: Area de Neblina, i.e., area of fog. Now we know!

         Driving past that road sign last night we continued on through the fog and drizzle to El Mirador de Cafetal, the restaurant-cum-discotheque recently opened by our friend Ligia Cortes. A recent Latin dance class had added a few new steps to Layne’s and my repertoire and we enjoyed practicing our moves to the hot salsa music. The crowd at El Mirador is sociable and fun, including our vivacious waitress Rosie, who at one point dragged me to the dance floor to serve as partner for her sexy moves.

         But the sunny mornings still offer us a chance for our almost-daily walks down the side road into our local Tico community, a chain of houses along the ridgeline with kids playing soccer, riding bikes or climbing trees, dogs barking, clothes hanging on fences to dry and the local goat grazing by the roadside. Today as we came around the first big curve, we noticed that work had been done to prevent a mudslide, which could wash out part of the road. Although there is a large culvert that crosses underneath the road there, still the torrential rainfalls had already cut away part of the dirt slope dangerously close to the asphalt. Earlier efforts at retaining walls were evident, black plastic sheeting and big truck tires, but both had failed to contain the steady erosion. Now a concrete ridge had been installed at the edge of the road leading down to the new concrete drainage gutter. The gutter looks rather small to us but we hope that it does the trick. As we headed back up the hill to our house, we heard someone calling to us and turned to find a Tico hurrying to offer us a big bag of bananas from his yard. What a friendly community we live in!

         But with only a week remaining in Costa Rica, we are rushing to get some important tasks accomplished on our residency. Last Wednesday, our attorney Monika picked us up from the bus stop in La Garita and drove us to her office in Grecia to get some papers we need to open a bank account. We need the bank account so that we can pay for the Caja medical insurance online; we need the Caja membership in order to proceed with residency. Step one leads to step two leads to step three, et cetera, which we hope will eventually lead to legal status. When we walked out of Monika’s office, we found a friend from Atenas sitting in the reception area waiting to see Monika as well. Small world! After his brief meeting, Marc, Layne and I wandered around the central park of Grecia, gazing up at the unusual Gothic-style metal Catholic Church, then settled on a park bench to chat and nibble a cookie. Just as we were relaxing there, thinking we could hardly be in a safer place, a huge mango fell from the tree above us, flying by only inches from our heads, and splattered at Marc’s feet, splashing his pants and prompting us to move to a bench nearby without a mango tree above it. Which just goes to show, even tropical fruit can be dangerous!

         Only a few more days of our Costa Rican paradise before we return to the hustle and bustle of the States but at least we’ll get to see those two precious grandsons! 

Rigamarole Es Necessario!

Thursday, April 29, 2010
(Click on photos to enlarge)

         With our days here dwindling down, Layne and I look wistfully at our three-month sojourn in Costa Rica, appreciating the verdant beauty, ecological diversity and affability of this tropical land even as we face the continuing challenges of the residency process. The last two days have been filled with meetings with our attorney Monika, (in photo below) obtaining forms, faxing documents to the US, standing in lines, making phone calls. Achieving legal status is an intimidating ordeal but it has been made more manageable because of Monika’s organization, thoroughness, patience and generosity with her time. How many attorneys in the U.S. would stand in line with you for nearly an hour to resolve an issue? And at no additional hourly charge! Well, Monika did that this week as we awaited our turn in the crowded Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social Clinica lobby.

         Caja is the first-rate national medical system here in Costa Rica, a socialized program that covers everyone for everything. The new residency law requires foreigners applying for legal status to join Caja, paying a small monthly fee for coverage, a sliding scale based on income. In our case, Layne and I will both have medical insurance for $87 per month, no limit on pre-existing conditions, no annual maximums, and covering doctor visits, exams, hospitalization, dental and eyes. Of course, as we saw yesterday, lines can be long and we understand waits for appointments may be lengthy as well, which is why some people opt for the excellent private doctors also available. Still, for middle- and low-income people, the Caja is a wonderful national benefit.

         So last week, Layne and I set out to get signed up. First, we went to the medical clinic where we expected to obtain the proper forms. The first office sent us down a different sidewalk to another large waiting room. With limited Spanish, I tried to ask the clerk where to get the application. My communication failed but he snagged a nurse who led us down the hall to still another office. There I tried to convey my needs to a kind senora who also could not understand what we needed. Finally, she called a doctor over who spoke English and I learned that we were in the wrong building! Around the corner was the Seguro Social and it was there we could obtain the application form. Off we went, only to find the building with a “Seguro Social” sign apparently abandoned. Luckily, it was adjacent to a Ropa Americana (American clothing) store where I had just bought a blouse the day before. The friendly Tica shop owner noticed my confusion and pointed to the correct entrance, which was set back off the sidewalk and hard to spot. To my dismay, my Tica friend also told me they had just closed for the day only 15 minutes earlier. Patience, patience, patience, I reminded myself.

         The next day we returned and managed to acquire the right form. Alas, it was all in Spanish! But again Monika came to the rescue, patiently walking us through the application by phone. The following day, we returned to the Seguro Social offices to see Senor Sandoval, the inspector who would approve or deny our application. He looked over our papers - rental contract and electric bill proving we live here, a copy of our marriage certificate, Layne’s Social Security income statement which we had obtained from the U.S. Embassy, passports - then typed up a form with Layne’s Caja membership number on it and sent us on our way. No problema, we thought. But at the bank, as we inquired about opening a bank account, the English-speaking officer there noticed that Senor Sandoval had checked the wrong boxes -- one indicating Layne was a single man and another indicating we lived in a house we owned, instead of a rental! Back we went to see Senor Sandoval, and after only a short wait, we obtained a corrected Caja membership form. Still more patience required.

         Next we returned to the Caja Clinica where I was to apply as Layne’s dependent. But the clerk was behind glass and spoke Spanish too softly for me to hear what he said. Monika, help! And she did at our next meeting at few days later, translating the papers the man had given me and waiting in line with us to complete the process. As you can tell, this rigmarole is not for the faint of heart! Still, everyone we deal with is friendly and helpful, sympathetic and yes, patient. The residency process will continue while we’re in the States this summer as we must obtain mandatory documents and have them authenticated by state officials or the Costa Rican Consulate; we will keep you posted on that.

         But here in Costa Rica a sense of adventure seems to define our days, with some unexpected enchantment greeting us at every turn. Just recently, as we were entering the gate to our chalet, a few field workers walked by and we waved and said our “Buenas” greeting. One of the young men walked over to us and as he neared, we realized he had a large snake coiled around his neck and body. He and I chatted a moment in Spanish and I learned that it was perhaps a boa or a python and that the men planned to build a cage and keep it. We suspect these are Nicaraguan immigrant farm workers that we have seen camped in a dilapidated empty house nearby, their hand-washed clothes hanging on a line outside. We wished them “Buena suerte,” or good luck with their new pet. Sadly, we did not have the camera with us so the stunning exotic snake must remain in our memories only.

         There are many things we love here, from the warm climate and laid-back lifestyle to the lush foliage. It seems everything grows here. On our walks and throughout Costa Rica we find “living fences,” built of cuttings from a particular ubiquitous tree. Ticos simply cut branches from the bigger trees and stick them in the ground where they immediately take root, then they string wire from branch to branch creating a sturdy and growing fence line. Creative and effective!

         In our local Tico neighborhood, many animals roam free - chickens such as this beautiful rooster, dogs, cats, goats, even horses are sometimes let loose to graze along the roadside but more often are tied in a rich grazing spot. We often stop to pet these two as we take our daily hike. It’s all part of Pura Vida, a lifestyle that is pretty easy to adopt.