Horses on Parade! San Jose, Costa Rica

Ready for the Tope

The day after Christmas is the date of a major event here in Costa Rica. That's the day hundreds of horses and their riders converge on the capital city of San Jose for the huge annual tope or horse parade down Paseo Colon, the broad boulevard that runs through the middle of the city. This year the day was a little cloudy and cool for what is, after all, summer here in Central America but I'm sure the horses liked it. With silver-concho'd saddles on their backs and fancy bridles on their heads, their silky manes and tails flowing, the handsome steeds were ready to prance down the main street to receive the adoration of the Tico masses.

Reading the headlines in A.M. Costa Rica that morning, I learned that the tope was being held that day and, according to the report, would start at 10:00 a.m. Being the inveterate horse lover that I am, I decided Layne and I should bus into San Jose and join in the excitement of watching all those horses do their thing. Taking the 9:00 a.m. San Jose bus would get us into the town right at 10:00 a.m., which should be time enough, given how these sort of things tend to run on "Tico time," i.e., as much as an hour late.

Female policia patrol the street

Ha! Little did we know the news report was wrong. After exiting the bus, we discovered the parade was not actually scheduled to begin until 12:30 p.m. So with some time to kill, we wandered down Paseo Colon where people were already beginning to reserve spots along the street. Ticos love to party and this kind of event is a great excuse to bring out the lawn chairs, a cooler full of drinks and settle down for a festive day of socializing with friends and family.

Large elevated platforms filled with chairs were located in front of some businesses along the street. We stopped at one such place to ask if the chairs could be rented. Yes, indeed, we were told. Only $50 per person for the seating -- but that included alcohol! We said no, thanks, and walked on, thinking, "that's a lot of alcohol!"

Enterprising salesmen were hawking plastic chairs or folding stools up and down the street, while others carried big stacks of cowboy hats for sale, the de rigueur wardrobe for the day. We passed on the sombreros but decided a couple of plastic stools might be a good investment: it was going to be a longer day than we had expected. We parked ourselves in a shady spot right by the retaining rope along the boulevard, bought a sandwich and a few beers and proceeded to people-watch for a couple of hours.

As the crowd grew it became clear that this is a popular event, one Ticos plan for carefully. Some pickup trucks were parked on the sidewalks end-to-end, tailgates almost touching and young people spilling out laughing and flirting and taking pictures of one another. Music blared from boom boxes or car stereos, each musical offering loud enough to drown out the next one a half a block away. Entire families settled down on blankets spread out on the avenue, toddlers crawling into the street, young couples dancing impromptu and moms offering food to all.

Abrazos Gratis!

A group of young women dressed in t-shirts with the words "Abrazos Gratis" emblazoned across the back created quite a stir as they generously offered free hugs then sprayed a hand sanitizer on the lucky recipient. Later a group of handsome and studly young men came along with the same routine: a hug or a photo with one of them and you got a quick spray of the hand cleanser. A clever marketing technique for the sanitizer company.

Just as the policia had cleared the roadway and it seemed the parade might be imminent, an single older gentleman dressed in Mexican garb and toting his guitar came boogieing down the middle of the street, offering the crowd some low-energy Latin dance, apparently hoping for donations to his basket.

Eventually the parade began and the street soon filled with horse clubs and other organized groups of riders. Many different breeds were represented. Large and small, paints, greys, sorrels, bays and chestnuts, with high-stepping Paso Finos making up the largest group.

There were singing cowboys who slowly urged their horses along while they serenaded the crowd, followed closely by vans carrying their sound equipment. As they were well received by the audience, we guessed they might be famous singers here in Costa Rica.

But for whatever reason, there were huge gaps between the groups of horses, long empty spaces with nothing going on. With our bottoms getting tired of the hard plastic seats, we wondered just how long this parade might take. By now it was nearing 2:30 in the afternoon and we were hoping to catch the 3:00 p.m. bus back to Atenas. So even through there was more parade to come, we picked up our chairs and slowly made our way through the throng of people toward the big bus station known as Coca Cola, where the Atenas bus departs.

Next year we'll plan to spend the day. We already have our stools!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

(PS - As a holiday gift to my readers, Layne's novel MORAL TURPITUDE is available for FREE through January 31st. (NC-17 but not erotica.) To download it, click HERE to go directly to the book page; then click Add to Cart. You will have to register but it's very simple and you will get no spam. At the Cart page, enter Coupon Code QN77G, then click Update. The price will change to $0.00. Enjoy!)

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! 

Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Wild Monkeys Roam!

September 4, 2010

It’s Saturday and we’ve been invited to our new landlord’s birthday party up by the swimming pool in the shelter of the rancho. We’re all settled in with bags unpacked, groceries bought and our complex address memorized for use in calling taxis. Try this on for size: Barrio Los Angeles, Calle Capre Verde, tres cientos metros norte, mano izquierda. It translates something like: Los Angeles neighborhood, Capre Verde Street, 300 meters north, on the left. For us it translates into a resort-like home with a friendly neighbor upstairs and helpful and generous owners up the hill.

         Moving day on Wednesday was an adventure from beginning to end. Our friends from Pure Life Development, Gerardo and Nelson, picked us up and somehow stuffed all our bags into the back of their SUV. Upon our arrival, landlady Odie met us and provided the important information: our new phone number, garbage days, the cleaning lady’s name, schedule and cost ($10) and her own phone numbers. Odie is a highly educated woman who speaks fluent English and runs a Spanish language school in Atenas called Spanish Immersion. Her husband Eduardo is a charming Tico who is working on his English as we are working on our Spanish. We’re told he loves to sing and dance so we look forward to his birthday fiesta later today.

         Wednesday afternoon Odie kindly offered to drive us in to San Jose to PriceSmart, a Costco-type membership store, where we could purchase a few things we needed to set up house-keeping. At the last minute, our Texan neighbor Linda decided to join us and in a light rain, we all set off, chattering as we got acquainted. Shopping went well until Odie ran up to us, with alarm on her face, saying she had just discovered that somehow in all the bustle of our arrival there, she had not only locked her keys in the car but had left the car motor running! After a few phone calls and an hour or so wait, we were on our way back home, laughing at the small calamity. That evening, Linda fueled a celebration in our new home with a bottle of Spanish champagne and lively conversation.

         On Thursday, Layne and I set out to test the theory that we were within walking distance of town. It turned out to be a half-hour hike each way but we made it to the large grocery, Coopeatenas, and picked up a few things before heading back down the gentle slope to Los Angeles. Not too bad. The biggest challenge is our own street, Calle Capre Verde, a muddy, rocky lane with trenches cut across it by rain runoff. On our trip to PriceSmart, we learned from Odie that neighbors had chipped in to do the necessary gutter work along the sides of the road in preparation for the city to come in and lay down caliche topping to improve the street. But in a scenario all too typical of Central America, after the pipe work was done, they were informed by the authorities that the city had no money, so the road remains unimproved.

         There are other challenges to life here. One rather delicate issue is that of the septic systems and the disposal of toilet tissue. In hotels we’ve stayed at including the recent Vista Atenas B&B, many restaurants and even our current modern abode, visitors are asked to refrain from flushing toilet tissue. We have been told that the septic systems can’t handle the paper. Instead, we must dispose of tissue in a trashcan, a habit that takes some getting used to. We find it hard to understand such a limitation in septics, but nonetheless, when in Costa Rica, we do as the Costa Ricans do.

         Still the pleasures far outweigh the difficulties, in our opinion. On Thursday evening sitting on our front porch, Layne noticed a large odd-looking bird moving in the tall grasses below. With its long pointed beak, blue-grey feathers and stubby tail, to us the creature resembled a wild chicken. A Google search suggested we were not far off. The fellow is a Great Tinamou or Tinamus Major, also called a Mountain Hen. According to Wikipedia, it lives in tropical and subtropical jungles, rain forests and cloud forests, making its nest at the base of a tree where it lays beautiful blue-green eggs. According to Linda, these are the creatures that make a noisy ruckus in the jungle just downhill from our apartment.

         But Friday night’s nature presentation exceeded our imagination as to what this new home might offer. Not only were there fireflies flitting about (how long since you’ve seen a firefly?), but out in the big trees just yards from our porch we watched a half a dozen or more capuchin monkeys frolicking in the branches, stopping here and there to nibble on some tidbit and leaping across huge swaths of air from tree to tree. Often hidden by large leaves and limbs and moving fast, they were difficult to capture photographically. Still, even at twelve-time zoom with my hands shaking from eager excitement, my new Panasonic did a good job of snapping a usable shot. What a thrill to watch those creatures in their own environment and to know we can look forward to many more evenings of such wildlife entertainment.

         It’s now Sunday and I’m only just returning to this post after a wonderful afternoon yesterday at Eduardo’s festive birthday party. We had a fine time meeting new Tico amigos, learning new Spanish words and dancing to Eduardo’s hot DJ music. Too bad he was unable to dance because of minor knee surgery on Friday, but it didn’t stop him from entertaining us with his vibrant karaoke songs. What a great voice he has! The group included Jennifer, Odie’s business partner in Spanish Immersion, and her husband Rob, and several of Odie and Eduardo’s long-time amigos, Anna, Roseanna, Memo and his wife Annie. Proving himself to be a karaoke pro, Layne even chimed in on the Elvis Presley song, “It’s Now or Never” in English, joined by Memo on the mike.

         To finish off the evening, we “crashed” Linda’s family get-together upstairs, meeting her simpatico son Dillon and daughter-in-law Anna who live here in Atenas with their two young children, as well as her visiting sister and cousin. What an excellent end to a fine day of Costa Rican Pura Vida.

         Now the thunder is booming around us and heavy afternoon rains have begun, but not before I had time for a lovely swim in our pool under sunny and warm noontime skies. As the steady downpour rustles the trees and lightening flashes across the valley, we understand why the “green season” here is so very green. 

(Just a reminder: You can click on photos to enlarge them.) 

Storm Clouds, Coffee Silos and New Amigos

Monday, March 22, 2010

Happy First Day of Spring! Here in Costa Rica we are apparently heading into the rainy season already. Last night we sat out on our patio sharing a bottle of Chilean wine with our Gringo neighbor, watching the lightning flash across the nearby mountains and hearing the thunder roll. When the rains arrived, it was pretty torrential for a while so we moved indoors. Of course, I actually like the dramatic weather and with the overhang covering part of our terrace, we can enjoy these tropical downpours without getting wet. As we head into late afternoon here today, the distant thunder has begun again and clouds are moving in so more showers are likely tonight.

         When we rented this place some four miles outside the town of Atenas, we thought we were at some distance from any real neighborhood. But it turns out that we reside in a small community known as Alto del Monte (loosely translated as “high on the mountain”), a Tico area with a few long-time Gringos residents scattered about. On Saturday as we headed out for our walk, we met the same tall, lanky American with whom we had shared a taxi on our Friday trip to town, walking up the steep driveway of our next door neighbor’s beautiful estate. It turns out Bob works as a gardener for the Gringo/Tico family that has this elegant home adjoining our more modest property. Bob and his Tica wife Ellie and their two charming young daughters have a lovely small home on the slope just above the road along which we take our almost-daily stroll. An interesting feature of this street is the old coffee silo along the side of the road located just below the ubiquitous rows of coffee plants on the hillsides. 

         As we stopped to chat, Bob invited us to a neighborhood event that night, a party with music and dancing and chicharrones (a barbequed pork dish) being held as a benefit for the local school. We had often walked by the tiny schoolhouse without realizing what it was, although it sports a Costa Rican flag out front and has a sign up for Bingo on Sundays. According to Bob, who volunteers at the school teaching English one day a week, there are only 16 students in the single classroom, ranging from first through sixth grades. He tells us that they have six students graduating this year and only two new pupils next year. Small, indeed!

         Later that day, we headed to town to pick up a few items and as we wandered along, I noticed a darling dress in a store window. I’ve been hoping to find some light-weight cotton dresses like I see on so many attractive Ticas so in we went and with some strategic encouragement by the salesgirls, we bought two vestidos, one in denim and another in a turquoise blue and light purple print with a plunging neckline that seemed perfect for the party. We’ve noticed how much cleavage Costa Rican women tend to display, young and old, so I felt like I’d fit right in! As my great-grandmother always said, if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

         That evening, as we made our way down the road toward the schoolyard, we could hear the Latin rhythms and the sound of laughter ahead. The luscious smell of roasting pork greeted us, along with a group of smiling Ticos. We soon found Bob and his daughters eating dinner at a picnic table and were delighted with his kids’ excellent English and gregarious manner. Seated along with Bob was a young Gringo named Dan who is working for an international program that will be sending volunteers soon. His job is to scout out the communities and determine what the most pressing needs are. Dan is living at the estate next door to us and it has been his daily swims in the pool that we’ve observed, including his signature back flip dive. 

         It would have been bad form for us to take photos so you’ll just have to take my word that the evening had the feel of a classic Tico fiesta with the cerveza flowing and much good cheer all around. We met numbers of our neighbors, such as Norma, a beautiful woman with curly black hair who remembered us from a chance meeting on the road a few days earlier when she was carrying her small nino in a sling on her chest. We also met her handsome 20’ish son Miguel, illustrating the range of her children's ages. Later I got into a conversation in Spanish (if you can call my limited vocabulary a “conversation”) with Carlos, an older gentleman whose nice home we pass on our walks down the road. Some kind of flowers in his yard give off a most enchanting fragrance but we have no idea what they are. He called his sister over and we enjoyed a few laughs as I struggled to understand their patient efforts to communicate. They were delightful!

         Among the Gringos present at the party were Kitty and Bruce, who own a fabulous big red-roofed house at the end of the road, which we can see from our hilltop chalet. We were thrilled to learn that they do animal rescue here and provide dog and cat immunizations and spay and neuter clinics virtually free to local residents. In fact, they have some 22 animals in their care at present. They also provide services to horses and cattle.

         According to Kitty, it has been a slow but steady educational process, aimed mostly at the children, to sensitize them to the need for better care of their companion animals. “I tell them,” she said, “just as you feel bad when you get sick, so does your dog. And your mom takes you to the doctor, right? Well, you need to take your dog to the doctor, too.”

         The number of strays we’ve seen here in Costa Rica and their poor condition has been of deep concern to Layne and me, especially back in San Rafael de Heredia, where homeless dogs wandered the streets. I look forward to working with Kitty in her ongoing efforts to improve the lives of the animals here. The next clinic is April 4th and I expect to be there, holding doggy paws and comforting kittens.