Don't Rain on Our Fiesta!

The thunder has been growling down from the sky for the last two hours, like some huge angry lion, with occasional hazy lightening flashes through dark clouds, followed by more rumbling until it’s virtually a continual sound, rising and falling with the distance. The rain continues to come down in a steady hum through the leaves. It’s a very “tropical” afternoon.

The normally placid Concho River

My mom relayed to me in great excitement this morning on the phone that in West Texas they had finally had a gully-washer of a storm, with the Concho River carrying dead trees, blue trash cans, Styrofoam cups and coolers and all manner of stuff downstream, as it rose along the banks that run by the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center where she works. Total rainfall? According to the newspaper, about 1½ inches. Wowsa. Here in Costa Rica, I think we get more than that every afternoon lately. The rainy season seems to have moved in past veranillo, or little summer, when the weather dries up for a couple of weeks in July just in time for the kids’ summer break from school. Now we’re heading into the serious stuff that comes in September and October.

But the daily downpours don’t stop a fiesta, and since yesterday was Mother’s Day here in Costa Rica there were fiestas aplenty. I made my way to two of them, one Tico and one Gringo.

A few days ago my Tica housekeeper Cidia called and tried to communicate something to me about a fiesta for “Dia de Madre,” or Mother’s Day. I got that much. But the rest was … well, Spanish. Bad enough in person; impossible on the phone. So we finally agreed she’d have someone call back in English. When he did, I found that Cidia had paid for a ticket for me to come to a Mother’s Day dinner-dance at the community center behind the soccer field here in Barrio Los Angeles. When I learned that our friend Jeannette was coming as well, she and I made a plan to go together in her car in case of rain.

And of course, it was raining so off we went last evening, slogging our way through wet grass to the entrance of a long open hall with a stage at one end and a kitchen at the other, decorated in merry abandon with hundreds of red and white balloons, red hearts along the walls and red flowers on the tables. Loud music from the Latin band onstage was spilling out the windows as we parked and since Cidia’s table was in the front near the speakers, Jeannette and I suffered seriously numbed eardrums by the time we left.

But the only way to deal with loud music is to get up and dance. And dance we did. The entire crowd was women; the men were in the kitchen cooking, then serving us drinks and food. But the audience of women just ganged up on the dance floor and shook some booty, so to speak. It was a kick! One of the most enthusiastic dancers was a well-dressed grandmother who happily posed for my camera.

Cidia, in center, kickin' it!

Cidia's dancing shoes

Cidia, 2nd from right, and friends

Jeannette and the dancing grandma

After dinner of chicken, rice and salad, there was an apparently funny skit performed by four men, two dressed up as a mother and a daughter. I say “apparently” because Jeannette and I couldn’t follow the Spanish but the crowd would explode in laughter now and then. Finally, when the “daughter” turns up “pregnant” with her boyfriend, the “parents” go crazy but eventually forgive and all ended happily. The performers got a huge round of applause. When Jeannette and I finally left, Cidia and her friends gave me the carnation centerpiece, which now graces my coffee table. I’m honored that Cidia invited me. Hopefully, next year I’ll understand more Spanish!

Today was a fried chicken luncheon at Kay’s Gringo Postre, the gathering place for the Gringo community here in Atenas. With Layne in Oregon, it was just me in the taxi but once I got to Kay’s, there were lots of friends already seated and our buddy Marc was helping serve the food. After saying Hello to proprietors Kay and Tom, I found a seat by our friends Jackie and Neil, lately of Bend, Oregon. Although relative newcomers in town, the two have easily fit right in here in Atenas. We chatted about how they are enjoying life here and about other places to live in Costa Rica, all while being served a nice green salad, then a big plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a biscuit; iced cake for dessert. Buena comida! Good food! 

Angels and Pit Bulls and Saints! Oh My!

With all the desperately bad news worldwide, it’s hard to muster up the energy or happy state of mind needed to write a blog post. Even here in Costa Rica we’ve had some troubling headlines: a recent 4-day strike by Caja (the national health care program) workers amid word that the Caja is in serious financial straits, and we’ve seen an uptick in crime in Atenas in the form of one home invasion of a Tico family at gunpoint and a few burglaries. Good grief!

Our new home!

But at least we have some good news personally. After weeks of searching, we have finally found the new home we’ve been seeking. We put down a deposit yesterday and will move in September 1st. We can hardly wait to begin enjoying a bigger space with two bedrooms and two baths, the modern open kitchen and great room and our own swimming pool! It’s only partially furnished so we will have to buy some “stuff,” but we got the house at well under market value so we feel pretty pleased with the decision. Best of all is the location: walking distance to town (mostly downhill), on a frequent bus route, slightly higher (i.e., cooler) elevation and friends who live nearby. And as you can see, the place looks like a Mediterranean villa!

It’s very hard to think of leaving our home here and our wonderful landlords -- who have become friends -- but I guess we are somewhat spoiled Gringos and need our “comforts.” More importantly, we very much want to be able to host dinner parties, cocktail get-togethers and pool parties and that’s not easy in our small apartment here. So it’s on to the next adventure.

One of the many things we knew we would miss in moving from here is Roscoe, the friendly pit bull neighbor who has been such a consistent visitor to our front porch during the late afternoon cocktail hour. Lately, we noticed that he had not been around and we have become concerned that he has run off and gotten lost, was stolen or worse. Two young men came by yesterday afternoon with their own pit bulls on leashes and called out to us asking if a dog was missing from here. I said yes and called Eduardo to come speak with them. They talked in animated Spanish about Roscoe for several minutes, although exactly what was said we don’t know. We expect to talk with Odie, our landlady, later today and find out what has befallen him. We are heartbroken to think something bad might have happened. He is such a sweetie. We miss him and hope he comes home soon.

We had quite a surprise last Tuesday as we headed out on our morning walk to town. As we turned the corner onto the main road here in Barrio Los Angeles, Layne and I were surprised to find the street festooned with tall plants and white flowers and energetic Ticas were laying a red carpet up the steps to the church, then further on blue and white angels on posts stretched as far as the eye could see. 

We knew it was a holiday, a religious celebration honoring Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, also known as La Negrita, the patron saint of Costa Rica. On that day, thousands of devotees make a pilgrimage to visit the Basilica in Cartago dedicated to this religious figure, some walking barefoot carrying rosary beads, or even crawling for many miles to pay respects to their saint. What we didn’t know is that because our small barrio is named for this “Lady of the Angels,” local Ticos go all out in decorating the nearby church and entire neighborhood to welcome the faithful who come here for the holiday instead of trekking all the way to Cartago. And apparently many from Atenas do just that because as we continued into town, foot traffic was all going the other direction, heading to Barrio Los Angeles. In our typical Tico style, we greeted each one with a “Buenos Dias” and a smile, but soon the sheer number of the faithful coming our way made speaking to everyone a bit much. We persevered, however, in honor of Pura Vida, our patron saint. We hope Our Lady of Los Angeles appreciated the courtesy to her followers. 

Update on Roscoe: We learned from Odie a few minutes ago that he ran off and, according to the two young men, is being held at a home nearby. We are hopeful that Eduardo will be able to rescue him when he goes there tomorrow. 

Zen and the Art of Pura Vida!

When they warn you to have “patience, patience, patience” here in Costa Rica, they aren’t kidding. We’ve had a couple of object lessons on this motto lately and at least one of the slow-moving problems is still unresolved.

Manual labor builds roads

In a previous post, I wrote about the water problems here in Barrio Los Angeles: low and sporadic water pressure, then no water at all. We struggled through several days of having to lug containers of water down from the rancho to the apartment, eating out since food preparation and dish washing were difficult, unable to wash clothes and, worst of all, forced to take cold showers up in the rancho baño. For a few days, we assumed that the problems were related to roadwork on Calle Capre Verde, with gutters and pipes being installed in preparation for paving our little dirt lane. But additional research by our landlady Odie revealed that the city’s construction of a new water tower on the primary road leading to Los Angeles had disrupted water mains and service would probably not be restored until that work was done. Oh, great.

Our new water tower! 

Then, miraculously the water came back on, but only for a few precious days. Once again, last Saturday we were suddenly without water, except for a trickle sometimes at night. On Sunday evening, Odie informed us she had learned that the next day, water would be off in the morning but should be restored for good by mid-day. It seems that the new water tower had to fill up enough for sufficient pressure to push the liquid to us, but as people used what there was, the pressure dropped again. Welcome to the dry season. For a country with so much water falling from the sky, it doesn’t seem to be managed very well.

Another saga that tested our patience involved the television remote control for our cable service called SKY TV, a company that serves all of Central America. A few weeks ago, our clicker stopped clicking. When new batteries didn’t bring it back to life, I called the SKY TV phone number and was pleased to be connected quickly to an English-speaker in Customer Service who, after guiding me through a short test, offered to send out a new one. He said the replacement should arrive at the local post office in five days, perhaps less. We would need a copy of our landlord’s identification since the account is in his name. No problem there as Eduardo and Odie are always so responsive to our needs.

Always the optimists, we went to the post office on the fourth day and in my best Spanish, I asked if there was a caja (box) or paquete (package) from SKY TV for Eduardo Alexis Calderon. No, sorry. Check back in a few days.

After several more unsuccessful trips, I called SKY TV again and was assured that their records definitely showed the package had been delivered to the Atenas post office. Since there is only one post office in this small town, we knew we weren’t going to the wrong building. Take a deep breath and seek your Zen.

But after drawing still another blank at the post office, I called SKY TV and once more and spoke with a fellow who gave me a tracking number. This should do it, I thought. On our next trip, we were greeted with a knowing smile by Mario the postal clerk.  He checked in his computer for the number, but with a sad shake of his head informed me that it was not in his system.

Through all this, we had been able to use the television manually but suddenly, the picture froze and nothing worked. On the next call to SKY, I talked with Tech Support not Customer Service and guess what? By phone, they managed to fix not only the picture problem but the remote control as well! All the weeks of patience surely built character at least.

But hey! Things could be worse. Our friends from Central Oregon who were scheduled to arrive here last Sunday called early that morning to inform us that after driving to the Redmond airport at 4:00 a.m. in a snow flurry, they learned their flight to Costa Rica had been canceled! Now there’s a disappointment that would really challenge your patience. At least here the skies are blue, the breeze is warm and we have television and water! Hallelujah and Pura Vida!  

Domingo (Sunday) Exercise Plan: Walk, Swim, Eat

       With the dawning of another beautiful day here - five in the last week - we’re beginning to think that we may have seen the worst of the rainy season. Of course, we’ve been told that October can be the nastiest month so we’ll see. Meanwhile, it’s definitely a day for the swimming pool so this post will either be brief or will be interrupted with a swim.

         We do deserve a day of rest since yesterday found us lugging bags of supplies and foodstuff downtown for the Atenas Cultura International Food Festival, then serving bowls of Texas Chili to dozens of appreciative attendees, Tico and Gringo alike. One thing about these local events: they are ever so festive with lots of adorable children and friendly adults, colorful costumes, loud Latin music and traditional Costa Rican dances. This free two-hour festival was no exception as representatives from some of the many countries or regions of the world who reside here in Atenas took the opportunity to offer a native dish for visitors to sample. There was sushi from Japan, eggplant from Iran, lemon curd from the Napa Valley, wines from Argentina, cheese and bread from France, salmon dip from Indiana, barbequed pulled pork from the Midwest, my own Texas dish and, of course, Costa Rican dishes such as ayote custard desert made from pumpkin. Since this was the first time the event had been staged here in Atenas, organizers had no idea how many people might attend but we were all pleasantly surprised at the large turnout. My pot of chili with optional toppings of grated cheese, red onion, cilantro and hot jalapenos was a big hit, with many tasters returning to my table to tell me both in English and Spanish how much they had enjoyed it. In fact, I was encouraged by several to enter the chili cook-off, which will be held in February. But I didn’t get a rave review from everyone. As one little boy who had tried the chili earlier wandered back by our table, I asked if he had liked it. With the painful honesty of a four-year-old, he shook his head slowly side to side, his cute face turning to a frown. Oh well, I guess you can’t win them all!

         On Friday night we experienced a 5.9 earthquake here in Atenas, and from the U.S.Geological Survey report, the epicenter was located not far away, although about sixty miles deep. It’s the first quake we’ve had since moving to Atenas but having lived through several major temblors in my life, I knew immediately what it was as the house started slowly rocking. The first sway was quite minor and I thought it was over but then another wave pushed it up the scale a bit and the shaking continued for a few seconds longer. At that particular moment, I was typing a comment on Facebook; I just kept on typing, adding to my note the fact that we were right then in a quake. Perhaps that’s too nonchalant, eh? The funny thing is we had just had a conversation with a local Tico who bragged that Atenas is particularly safe from earthquakes or volcanoes because it is located some distance from any of the active volcanoes in Costa Rica. So much for that theory!

         An hour in the sun and a few laps in the pool later, I can now continue. Layne and I took such a long hour-and-a-half walk this morning, I had little energy left for swimming but the sunshine felt wonderful.

         Our Sunday morning walk was strenuous as we covered probably 4 miles or more. Once I had called my mother and Layne his sister, we took off down the main street here in Barrio Los Angeles, heading away from town this time, instead of uphill toward the main part of Atenas. We recently learned of a Center for Sustainable Development Studies out that way, a school which offers environmental studies abroad, here in Atenas as well as in Australia, Mexico, Kenya and Turks and Caicos (wherever that is!). We set out thinking perhaps we could find the school if we just kept walking. And indeed, we almost made it. Just as we decided we had gone far enough since we still had a return hike to go, I asked a couple walking along the road where the school was and learned it was less than a kilometer further. Perhaps next time we’ll make it all the way.

         We have a few friends who live here in Barrio Los Angeles so we thought we might see one of them. At the Food Festival yesterday we learned that French couple who offered homemade cheese and breads also lives near us. In their business, they provide a “personalized gastronomic menu” in which they prepare a gourmet French meal in your home.  It turns out that the woman, whose name is Nathalie, taught sustainable agriculture in college in Paris, France, so she shared our interest in the local school on sustainability.

         On our lengthy walk, we spied a stunning green lizard along the side of the road. I snapped this picture just before a car drove by and scared him away into the bushes. There were some beautiful homes along the road as well, most hidden from view in gated estates, a few for sale or rent. As we passed a rushing creek alongside the road, I spied a limb with several bromeliads still attached, which had fallen into the water. My intrepid darling Layne stepped carefully down onto the rocks and retrieved a couple of the wet plants for me. We’ll see if I can revive them. Apparently they grow almost anywhere: Check out these growing on telephone lines above the road. I guess that’s the tropics for you!