Eat, Drink & Be Merry...

... For tomorrow, It's Eat, Drink & Be Merry Again!

Iguana Bread

Happy St. Paddy's Day to all, with or without green beer on your menu. Our day started with a not-so-Irish brunch at the home of our friends Jan and Tom, bakers of some of the finest bread in all of Costa Rica. Most every week at the feria we pick up a loaf of Tom's whole wheat French or Layne's favorite Iguana Bread, so named not because it includes iguana in its ingredients (thank goodness!) but for the seed-encrusted and carved brown top reminiscent of that reptile's crested and craggy back.

St. Paddy's Day Brunch 

Another of Tom's fabulous recipes is Almond Sticky Buns. Oh, wow! They are beyond decadent. And happily today they were on our brunch menu, but sliced and grilled, of all things. Along with papaya, mango and blueberry fruit salad, perfect home fried potatoes, breakfast burritos with guacamole, salsa and natilla (sour cream), coffee and fresh juice, it was a banquet fit for royalty. 

The view toward Grecia... looks chilly to me!

Enjoying the feast along with us was a couple from Grecia, which is up the mountain we can see from our house. With a home at the 4200' level, Dave and Marsha enjoy the cooler weather found at that elevation. It's too chilly for me but they come from Michigan so it probably feels downright tropical up there to them.

Today was the third installment of what has been another party-filled weekend. On Friday we feted our dear friends Sally and Leonard who have decided to head back to the States soon to embark on their next adventure: traveling in a new hotrod RV (complete with a fireplace!) and volunteering as hosts at national parks around the country. So along with Marcial and Seidy, who spend most every Friday evening with us, we enjoyed lively conversation, a few bottles of wine and a nice sautéed veggie dish with browned butter and Parmesan cheese over angel hair pasta. We will certainly miss Sally and Leonard who have been buenos amigos but we wish them well as they take off for a new life and exciting times ahead.

Yesterday was party time around the pool at Bonnie and Stephen's home in honor of Stephen's childhood friend Seth who just arrived from San Francisco for a visit. Hail, hail, the Santa Eulalia gang was all there: Marcial and Seidy and two of their sons, Felipe and Daniel (only David, who works on weekends, was missing), their friend Johan, Chris and Sue, Marc and Eroca, me and Layne and the newest members of our posse, Carmen and Roberto. Beginning with Carmen's excellent mango ceviche, huge fruit salad and her now-famous salsa verde, the food just kept coming: slow-cooked beans and pork loin, potato/bean salad, sweet coconut couscous salad and finally Chris' incredible stuffed chicken. Naturally, Eroca brought one of her outrageous desserts, this time a banana-chocolate chip cake that was muy rico. The sunny weather was perfect and Sue even improvised a net for volleyball, giving some of the group a chance to splash each other like kids at camp. Quite a day!

Volleyball in the pool

What a cake!

It hasn't been all food and parties this week, however, as we did get in a rather energetic hike last weekend as well. Following the same route we took a few weeks back along Calle Vanilla, we came again to the residence where on our previous visit the Tico family had just killed a large snake that was guilty of poaching their chickens. Our indefatigable guide Marcial had pre-hiked our road the day before and made arrangements with the sweet Tica there to have some cool drinks ready for us when we arrived. Her homemade lemonade hit the spot for us tired hikers and the throng of orchids in bloom was a feast for the eyes. (Click on these photos to enlarge; they are worth a closer look!)

Hikers Layne and Stephen take a break

Most of these are the spectacular Guaria Morada, the national flower of Costa Rica, whose rich purple tones and shimmering petals bloom from January through April. The yard was absolutely filled with their blossoms along with other varieties, all hugging the trees and spilling out from every corner. As we learned from Marcial, the elderly lady had been born in this house and, she said, she expected to be there when she "goes home to God."

Gabriel and Alu 

Although fortunately not heading home to God just yet, last Monday night we did have to say goodbye to Marcial's son Gabriel and his family as they prepared to head back to their home in Germany. Marcial's backyard, where the fire pit makes an inviting setting for good friends to gather, was the scene for our farewell get-together. After five months here in Costa Rica, I know they found it hard to face a return to work and the obligations of "normal" life. As a fitting finale to our fiesta, Gabriel and Alu serenaded the group with German and Spanish songs, a nostalgic ending to their visit and an evening we will all long remember with pleasure. Bon voyage, amigos, y regresan muy pronto!

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A Beachside Visit from Scarlet Macaws

If, like me, you were curious about the bird shown in the photo in last week’s post, wonder no longer. Readers Pat and John were kind enough to post a comment identifying the creature as a Laughing Falcon. A beautiful white-breasted raptor with a black mask in my backyard! Fabulous! It certainly earned its name with a very loud “laugh” just outside my office window.

On a trip to Herradura Beach yesterday with friends Jan and Tom, we had the good fortune of seeing a couple of other amazing Costa Rican birds: Scarlet Macaws! Only minutes after we arrived at this secluded playa a few miles up the road from the busy tourist town of Jaco, we looked up as two long-tailed birds screeched their arrival in the branches of a nearby tree. As we all craned our necks to see them high above us, one stuck its head into a hole far up on the tree trunk, while the other one stood guard on an adjacent limb. The first one then crawled further inside the hollow until only its long red tail could be seen flashing from the thick trunk. They were obviously feeding their nest of baby birds! What a thrill! We watched for long minutes while the one we assumed was the mother bird (though who knows?) tended to her young and the second bird continued his vigil nearby. Eventually they flew away, leaving their young unattended for several hours as we hung out on the beach below. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

 

The Macaw is a truly spectacular sight, with bright red and cobalt blue feathers and a length of close to three feet when fully grown. They can live for decades, up to 50 years in captivity and probably that long in the wild. They mate for life so you might guess the pair we saw were long-time lovers. Unfortunately, deforestation due to development, pesticide use and poaching for the pet trade has reduced the population significantly and narrowed the habitat from some 80% of Costa Rica’s territory to about 20% today. Their terrain now is restricted primarily to two areas of Costa Rica: the Carara Biological Reserve, only a few miles from Herradura Beach where my friends and I were relaxing, and the Osa Peninsula in the less developed southern region. Jan and I remarked with awestruck voices as to how truly lucky we were to have seen this pair in the wild.

Later in the day after the tide had come in, we watched with interest as several pelicans dive-bombed for dinner into the calm waters of Bahía Herradura. 

Although not as colorful as the Macaws, the pelicans were fascinating to observe as they blasted straight down into the waters, then settled peacefully on the surface while they gulped down the catch. Then the bird would cruise about for a few minutes, apparently digesting the latest morsel, before taking off for the next course. 

My view of Herradura Beach

Herradura is a long, tree-lined beach just down the coast from Los Suenos, a Marriott resort of hotel and condominiums that has dramatically changed the seaside communities nearby, prompting a swarm of new development in the area. Jan and Tom have been going to Herradura for several years and Jan recalled earlier days when the hillsides were pristine, the meadows full of white cattle and the local Tico neighborhood was serene. Now the upscale resort has brought in mega-bucks as evidenced by the hotel marina full of large white boats and the distant mountainside cluttered with condos. It is truly disconcerting to see the juxtaposition of modest Tico houses, populated with barefoot children and their working-class parents, across the road from the vast acreage of expensive homes, swimming pools and golf courses, fueled by affluent tourists.

Only my footprints

It was quite a treat for me to go on this outing with Jan and Tom, who are well known vendors at the Atenas and Grecia ferias for their outstanding organic breads and pastries. Although Jan tends the stall at the farmers markets, she is also quite an accomplished artist; their newly built home is chock-full of her gorgeous, unique artwork. Back in Pennsylvania Tom worked for years in the restaurant business, managing the bakery part of a “destination” restaurant and eventually expanding it to include a successful sandwich shop featuring his breads. Now he shares the delicious results of this expertise with Gringos and Ticos alike. His whole-wheat sourdough loaf is just to die for, especially toasted with lots of butter on it. Oh yum! And lucky me, he had prepared a picnic lunch for us of chicken breast, bacon, cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with horseradish mayo on his 5-grain bread. What a feast! And to top it off, on the way home we enjoyed his special cookies made with bananas, walnuts, raisins and his freshly made organic peanut butter. Diet? What diet?!

We Brake for Water Buffalo!

Watch out for the water buffalo!

We’ve been back in Costa Rica just over a week now and it sure is good to be here. This is the first July we’ve spent in country and we can understand why it’s called the “green season.” In the six weeks we were gone, the trees have filled out in lush splendor, flowers are in bloom everywhere -- even more than usual -- and the air is alive with butterflies. On our first walk last week, we passed a large roadside patch of zinnias and the number of butterflies of every description, large and small, black and yellow, brown and orange, red and white, was just astounding! I recorded this video and hope that you can spy all the wings fluttering from blossom to blossom. The musical background is the neighbor’s radio. Talk about abundant flora and fauna!

A local cornfield

Local gardens are bursting with the bounty of fruits and vegetables as well. It seems like the corn stalks increase a foot or two every day and huge squash leaves spread wide across the ground. Banana trees are majestic with their large new leaves and still-green fruit. If this is the rainy season, it’s not too bad. Most days the rains don’t start until mid- to late afternoon and mornings are sunny and nice.

Of course, for our own pantry we hope to get back to buying from the local organic cooperative market, now run by our friend Nathalie on the model of community markets in her native France, offering small or large size baskets stuffed with the week’s best buys. In addition to the veggies and fruits, she sells organic goat cheeses, Swiss cheese, jams, chicken and fish, eggs and dark chocolates. Yum!

Atenas recycling in action

And while we’re on the subject of organic farming and other important environmental issues, I recently wrote a column for The Costa Rica News about a relatively new effort here in Atenas to collect and recycle tons of materials, such as plastics, glass, paper, cardboard, to prevent them from ending up in landfills. Señor Alfonso Quiros V, chief of operations of W. Recicladores, CR, S.A., has recruited dozens of local volunteers to help his small staff in gathering and sorting recyclables the first Wednesday of each month at the Central Park in Atenas. He’s providing the same service twice a month in Grecia, the larger town up the hill from us. Such efforts are so important in protecting the amazing biodiversity and beautiful ecology here in Costa Rica. As Señor Quiros said to me, “It will take some time to educate the public and our youth on how critical this is, but we will continue to work toward that goal.”

Such projects are extremely valuable in helping Ticos understand the long-term value of preserving their magnificent country’s fragile environment. But one of the most promising developments in ecological progress here is the creation of a new political party focused on protecting Costa Rica’s vast biodiversity and ready to move the battle into the political arena. Formed in 2004 by reporter Carlos Arrieta and retired English teacher Rodrigo Arias, the Green Ecological Party has set its sights on winning a seat in the National Assembly representing the Cartago province where they got their start and have their strongest support. The party has put Arrieta forward as a candidate for office twice before, in 2006 and again last year, but failed to win a seat. He and Arias are optimistic that as Ticos’ political awareness of environmental issues grows, voters will demand strong governmental policies to protect Costa Rica’s ecology; party members hope that 2014 will be their year for a win. 

One of the main planks in the Green Ecological Party platform is banning plastics in certain Costa Rican industries in favor of biodegradable materials. They support mandatory environmental education programs in schools as well as the creation of an environmental “police force” to guard against litterers, polluters, illegal loggers and others whose activities degrade the environment.

 

On a lighter note in closing this post, I’ll mention a couple of funny animal incidents we observed lately. The second rider’s unusual mount is a water buffalo! As we were walking down the road, we saw this fellow along with two horseback riders jogging down the sidewalk then crossing the highway to continue along a side road. I’m sure my horse would have been freaked out to share the road with this creature but the Tico horses seemed less concerned with him than with a rough place in the sidewalk.

Roscoe and Layne socializing on the deck

Vicious Bassett Hound

And finally, meet Roscoe, the landlord’s young pit bull who often comes to visit us as we relax on the front deck in the late afternoon. He gives the breed a good reputation with his lovable nature. In fact, he’s so easy-going that a neighbor dog, an elderly Bassett hound that seemed an unlikely attacker, got the best of poor Roscoe on our back patio recently, biting him in the butt. Hard to imagine but the old guy gave the pit bull puppy a sore tail end!

Pura Vida!

Lusty Iguana Love!

The old saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” sure seems to fit our lives here. Or at least that’s the excuse I’ll give for my limited posts of late. The days seem to whiz by, full of big and little adventures. Take this morning’s walk, for instance. As we strolled along a side street of modest Tico houses, just ahead of us I saw a large crested iguana apparently basking in the sunlight on a concrete driveway. We had stopped so I could snap a photo when I noticed another smaller iguana in the culvert beside the driveway looking up at him. Quietly we moved to the other side of the street so as not to disturb them. As we stood watching, we noticed the big guy exhibiting unusual behavior: bobbing his head and seeming to preen himself. Suddenly we got it! It was “iguana love” in action. His movements were clearly directed at his lady friend below, who eyed him adoringly, if such an emotion can be attributed to iguanas. I started to take a video of their activities but a Tico on a bicycle rode by and scared them into the gutter beneath the drive.

 

Another reason I’ve been blogging less is that much of my writing time and energy has been devoted to a weekly column on retirement in Costa Rica which I started doing for an English-language website, http://TheCostaRicaNews.com. Although unpaid, the project does provide me with motivation to research some of the issues facing expats who are considering relocating here. In addition, I am compiling information for seminars Layne and I hope to offer next summer when we are in the United States. At least we plan to do a few “pilot project” versions of workshops on “Retiring in Costa Rica on Social Security,” which, of course, is what we ourselves have done. If you or someone you know might be interested in coming to a seminar, drop me an email and we’ll notify you of the schedule when we figure it out. You can find my email at the top of this blog page.

One of my recent columns in The Costa Rica News was on the numerous micro-climates in Costa Rica. We feel like Atenas has just about the perfect one for us -- warm enough to welcome a swim or to sunbathe but breezy enough to be refreshing. If we get out early for our walks, the air is invigorating and pleasant and the evenings cool down so that I often need a light jacket if we stargaze from the front patio. But just up the mountain from us are several other towns with sizeable expat communities. Grecia, Sarchi, Naranjo and San Ramon are larger cities that are only a thirty-minute to an hour drive away from Atenas but all have considerably cooler climates. Some friends here in Atenas moved from San Ramon for just that reason; they found it to be much too chilly, cloudy and during the rainy season they felt utterly drowned by the heavy downpours. Even now, looking from our front yard up the hill toward these towns, there are clouds hanging over the higher elevations while here we are enjoying gorgeous blue skies.

Yesterday I had occasion to travel up the mountain to Grecia, the closest to Atenas, where a meeting of expats was being held. The U.S. Consul General Paul Birdsall was scheduled to appear to answer questions and explain what the U.S. Embassy does and what services it offers to Americans living here. Our friends Sally and Leonard were interested in attending and they have a car so off I went with them to listen and take notes for possible use in my TheCostaRicaNews.com column. It was being held at the Galeria Restaurant, a few blocks from downtown, and a place well known for fine food. Some thirty-five to forty Gringos were present, including several of us from Atenas. Although Mr. Birdsall’s prepared remarks on the structure of the Embassy, numbers of personnel, services offered and such, were somewhat dry, the discussion livened up once he opened the floor to questions. From complaints about the grammatically-challenged signage at the Embassy and questions regarding the new Costa Rican immigration law, to uncertainties about the effect of the U.S. health care reform legislation on citizens living abroad, queries about changes in the tax law and concerns about the dispute with Nicaragua over the northern border of Costa Rica, the dialogue ranged over many issues of interest to expats. We were glad we went!

On the return trip, Leonard stopped the car so I could take pictures of the gorgeous orange and yellow trees now in bloom around the countryside. We are told the orange-blossomed plants are not native to Costa Rica but they have certainly made themselves at home as we can see acres of them in bloom across our distant view.

Not only is the weather perfect here today but we are also being serenaded by some live and lively Latin music from up the hill at the pool and rancho. Our landlords are having a little party and the bongo drums and enthusiastic male voices are a delightful accompaniment to our sunny afternoon. Although I’m sure we are welcome to join them, so far we are staying down in our apartment to allow them the undisturbed use of their entertainment area. However, since Eduardo did extend the invitation this morning as he gathered limons for the fiesta, perhaps later in the afternoon we’ll grab a beer and join the festivities. Pura Vida!

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! 

Happy Costa Ricans!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

         So check this out: in the last blog post I talked about Irazu Volcano, right? The sleeping giant just a few thousand feet up the slope from us. And I bragged, perhaps prematurely, that it has been quiet since 1996. Well, in the last couple of days, local residents in towns on the flanks of Irazu have felt a series of small earthquakes! Now that could mean nothing or it could mean … Dum, ta dum dum … Something!

         Of course, none of these tremors have been more than 3.0 on the Richter scale, so likely it’s just the Goddess of Irazu sighing or shaking her hair a bit. But it does make for a little drama in Costa Rican life.

         We took another trip to the mall today, still searching for clothes for me better suited to the climate. (On our next trip, I’ll pack heavy on loose-fitting cotton shorts and lighter on jeans and jackets.) Once again we needed help in selecting the right bus. The red and white one that pulled up to the stop had signs in the window for locations we never heard of, with nothing about central Heredia, our destination. But as we shook our heads and backed away from the door, a woman from the nearby shop asked where we were going and when we said “Heredia,” she urged us onto the bus, saying it would get us there. And indeed it did, leaving us unclear as to the meaning of the window signs. Obviously, we still have a lot to learn about the bus system.

         While waiting on a bench for the bus, a woman and her little girl walked up. I moved over and said to the child, who was perhaps five years old, “Sentado?” offering her a seat by me. Like many Costa Rican children we’ve seen, she was stunningly beautiful, big dark eyes, straight black hair, exotic olive complexion. But oh, so shy. Still, she took the seat by me and now and then looked up to meet my ready smile. After we were seated on the bus, in what were very tight seats (one of the major differences in the various buses is comfort level), another woman and her little girl sat down in front of us. Perhaps four years old, this nina had dark brown curly hair, pulled up into little ponytails on each side of her head, sparkling (could they be diamonds?) earrings decorating her small pierced ears. Sitting in her mother’s lap, she would peek over her mom’s shoulder to flirt with Layne, a bashful smile animating her pretty face. With saucy Latin music wafting through the bus for a change, and our timid little friend flashing those pretty eyes our way, our ride into Heredia was most entertaining.

         Layne and I theorized that these happy children could explain the January 7^th New York Times report that Costa Ricans are the happiest people in the world, according to three different surveys in recent months. (See story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/opinion/07kristof.html. The US came in 20^th on one, just for comparison.) If children are loved, as these clearly were, are well-fed and comfortably housed, as most Costa Rican children are, have the security of government-sponsored, excellent health care, as they do, enjoy the benefits of free education, as Costa Ricans have, and live in a country without warfare since they abolished their army in 1948, there is every chance they will grow up to be happy adults. This is not to say, of course, that all Costa Ricans are happy nor that there is not poverty in this beautiful land. We see the shantytown below the bridge on the way into San Jose and it’s not a pretty sight. But fortunately, it is a rare sight.

         Here in San Rafael de Heredia, we see parents walking children to school and back home every day. The kids are in uniform, dark pants and white shirt, a policy Americans could learn from since it eliminates the kind of competitiveness over clothing - of all things! - that we see in the USA. As we stroll along residential streets here, the houses are not fancy but they are secure. The kids are not inside watching TV or playing video games so much as they are outside playing soccer, a national obsession.

         The young adults we have met have generally been in college or working as was Roy, the pleasant young man who sold us our GPS device at the mall. His efforts to practice English and mine to practice Spanish resulted in some humorous exchanges but we did communicate, due more to his advanced English than my pathetic Spanish, I must say. At one point as I was struggling with a Spanish phrase, Layne said to me: “He speaks English, you know.”

         “Yes,” I answered, with Roy smiling in agreement, “but I’m trying to practice my Spanish on him and he’s practicing English on me!”

          We’ve lusted after a GPS unit ever since riding with Jean-Pierre, our real estate friend, out to Grecia. (See post http://fabulistadecr.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-search-of-perfect-rental.html) As I’ve mentioned before, Costa Rican streets generally have no identification, no numbers and no names. But Jean-Pierre drove through the maze of San Jose streets using his dashboard-mounted GPS, confidently following the pathways delineated by the device. We were pretty wowed and realized that, despite the price, a GPS would be invaluable to us in this unfamiliar country.

         So we now have our GPS, I have a new pair of shorts, and my Spanish is improving every day. (Can’t say the same for Layne’s, however!) We’re still evaluating Costa Rica as a permanent residence, but if measured by the happiness of the people here, it’s a big winner.

In Search of the Perfect Rental

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Another day, another adventure. But today’s outing had a built-in safety feature: our dear friend and real estate expert, Jean-Pierre Pfleuger, was driving.

We first met Jean-Pierre four years ago on our initial trip to Costa Rica when we hired him as a guide to look at property in various areas of the country. At the time, we hoped to sell our California ranchette and buy here in CR, having read enough about the advantages of retirement in this tropical nation to have us hoping for a quick sale and relocation to this land of Pura Vida. Instead, the California real estate market took a plunge and our hopes for a prompt sale evaporated. In spring of 2007, we put the house on the market once more and made a second trip to CR, again retaining Jean-Pierre’s services to check out areas that might offer the combination of climate, culture, location and Gringo and Tico population that we were looking for. But with the economy still mired in the doldrums, no offers came in on our house even at a reduced price. At that point we decided to sit back and wait on the market to recover some. When in late 2009, the pieces fell into place for us to make this extended visit to Costa Rica, we got in touch with Jean-Pierre once again.

At 10 a.m. today, JP, as he sometimes calls himself, arrived in his Mercedes SUV, ready to cart us around the countryside. He has the Tico driving style down pat: go like hell and “trust the force.” On one of our earlier visits, we had occasion to see JP’s driving proficiency in a crisis. Heading back into San Jose on one of the major freeways, we entered a torrential rainstorm such as you only see in the tropics. Water was pouring down in a deluge even as traffic was hurtling along on all sides. With the windows up, the inside air steamed up and the windshield fogged to the point of utter blindness. In the front seat, Layne struggled to engage the defroster by turning up the heat, as we would in our own wintertime conditions. But that only made it worse! In the back seat, I’m in a full-blown panic attack urging caution in driving and speed in defrosting, neither of which was happening. Jean-Pierre continued on at about 50 mph as though nothing was amiss while Layne fumbled with dials on the heater. We began laughing, out of desperation I suppose, urging Jean-Pierre to “trust the force, Luke!” Eventually, Jean-Pierre calmly told Layne that he needed to take the opposite approach: engage the air conditioning to cool down the inside and thus reduce the fogging. As the window began to clear, Layne and I took a deep breath while Jean-Pierre remained fresh as a tropical breeze, still plunging through the downpour at the same pace!

So we have come to have great confidence in JP’s driving skills, but today’s outing lacked any such excitement. As we headed across the top of the city, JP moved easily in and out of traffic, guided through the maze of streets by his German-made Garmin GPS device mounted on the dashboard. It seemed nothing less than a miracle to us that this electronic gadget could actually make sense of the unnamed and look-alike roads. Not only that, but it talked to him… in German and in a sexy female voice! We simply must invest in one of these little marvels for our own peace of mind when heading into the labyrinth that is Costa Rican roadways. We just hope we don’t have to learn German as well as Spanish!

As we entered Alajuela province, the landscape opened onto the lush green mountain vistas that are so much a part of this magnificent land. We were heading for a house in the town of Grecia which had sounded like exactly what we were hoping for; but the things that it lacked were too important to us to ignore: not enough ventilation for Layne’s comfort (hearing aides are a bitch!), a “suicide shower,” which meant no hot water elsewhere, even the kitchen sink, a minimal half bath, a bed that didn’t seem quite comfortable enough to us and overall, a very small house. The price was good and it was hard to turn it down because the neighborhood seemed ideal with the house situated almost at the end of a dead-end street, so no bus fumes or traffic noise, yet close enough to shops for walking. We met an absolutely charming elderly Tica across the street who apparently owns the place but employs Gringo property managers. Virginia was enchanting with her sparkling brown eyes and vibrant energy and fascinating to talk with as her background included some years as nanny to the children of the Fleishmann family. That would be the Fleishmann’s of margarine and yeast fame! Mega-rich! She had lived in New York, Washington, D.C. and parts of Europe in her colorful career, only returning to Costa Rica at age 65. She explained with justified pride that she had saved her money and built her own house and the one next door, as well as owning the rental across the street. She sent us for lunch to her cousin’s restaurant just a few blocks away where we enjoyed enormous and delicious plate lunches for only a few dollars each. We hope we didn’t make a bad decision in turning this place down but since we have almost three weeks remaining in our current villa, we figure we have time to find something that will be just right.

As we left Grecia, Jean-Pierre headed northwest to the small town of Sarchi, made famous by the hand-crafted natural wood furniture and colorful oxcarts created by the local artisans there. JP drove us to the central park where a huge oxcart is displayed just across from the local church. It seemed

like a photo op so we parked and played tourist for a few minutes, with Jean-Pierre and I posing before the oxcart, then Layne and I standing before the church. Good memories are made this way and good friendships can be the result. We consider ourselves very lucky to know Jean-Pierre and fortunate indeed to count him as our amigo.