Turkey and Tequila with The 10:27 Club

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a joyful observance of whatever you celebrate during this season with family, friends, pets and any others near and dear to you. After a party-filled weekend, Layne and I have chosen to spend today muy tranquilo. We took a nice walk this morning but otherwise, it's all quiet on the home front.

Our big celebration was Friday night when we hosted a holiday dinner with turkey, cornbread dressing and all the trimmings. And just to be sure we had enough food for the crowd of 14 or so that we expected, Marc and Eroca added a ham and sweet potatoes, plus gift cookies for all. 

Marc strings lights with "supervision" from Layne 

Merry Christmas to the Santa Eulalia "gang"

"Very successful!"

With the holiday lights up in our mandarin orange tree, the back patio was quite festive. We can't get the wonderful free-range turkeys here as we did in California, but the Butterball we had bought (actually, for Thanksgiving, but that's another story) turned out quite good. As our good friend Joel might have said, "Very successful."

After the pumpkin pie and eggnog, the last of us sat around and listened as Daniel serenaded us on Layne's Martin backpacker guitar. It was so wonderful to hear such magical sounds coming out of that miniature guitar with the full-size quality. Daniel has been taking lessons and it showed as he strummed some beautiful classical songs. He has improved so much, it was truly a joy to listen to him.

Enjoying the music and the festive lights 

Daniel serenades

 After a recuperative day on Saturday, we were back to our old tricks on Sunday morning with a hike down to the small rushing stream that runs below the ridge we all live on, then a strenuous climb back up on the other side. It was a beautiful setting but a bit treacherous as Bonnie took a fall while crossing the slippery rocks. But her skill in falling "correctly" (tuck and roll) is phenomenal and she hopped back up with no damage done. Marcial showed his bravado by standing on the edge of the waterfall, Stephen and I cringing at the danger.

A beautiful day for a hike!

Seidy ready to cross the creek

Marcial gives us a heart attack!

With Marcial leading the way, we proceeded along side roads then cut through a sugarcane field, exiting on the other side at a hillside simply bursting with stunning yellow flowers. 

Our Tico guides pointed out Vanilla trees, which also sported yellow blossoms and for which the small Calle Vanilla (Vanilla Road) is named. Although not what vanilla flavoring is made from, the long seedpod is reminiscent of that plant and thus the name.

Vanilla Tree

As a little energy boost, Marcial cut down a stalk of sugarcane, stripped the skin with his machete and gave us each a piece of the sweet, juicy fibrous cane to chew on. Boy, was it delicious! 

"Costa Rica Dundee" and his machete

And as it turned out, we soon needed the extra energy when we realized we were a tad lost. We climbed through a barbed wire fence and while Seidy reconnoitered ahead, Marcial located some cherry tomatoes as another treat. 

A long trek up through the grasses

Seidy's report: dead-end. So it was back through the fence, then through another one at which point Stephen boldly struck out leading the way up a steep hill across a thick cushiony layer of tall grasses. At the top we could see there was a road, but no houses. Where are we? Who knows? It's an adventure!

Undaunted by our momentary confusion and Pura Vida being our motto (plus Marcial and Seidy coming well prepared with a whole pineapple), we stopped for a picnic and the machete again came into play. That thing sure is handy. In fact, we christened Marcial "Costa Rica Dundee," the hero always ready with the right weapon to turn a "crocodile crisis" into a pineapple picnic!

Soon we "found" ourselves again - there was never any doubt! -- and hiked our way on up the main road to Marcial's favorite hangout, Yeyo's Bar, where we arrived at exactly 10:27 a.m. Perfect timing! Well, almost. Cantinas here technically don't open until 11:00 a.m. but Yeyo was willing to make an exception for us, keeping the doors closed and the bottles open. You may recall it was 10:27 a.m. on a Sunday some weeks back when we had our first tequila shots on our trip to Zarcero, thus launching "The 10:27 Club." 

Bonnie & her "new best friend" Tomas

So in keeping with tradition, a few shots of tequila had us dancing behind the bar and laughing with local Ticos as they joined in our antics. Everyone here becomes your friend -- indeed family! -- at the slightest provocation.

Just another fabulous fun day in Pura Vida-land! We count ourselves enormously lucky to have such friends, to be healthy enough to take such hikes and fortunate to be able to enjoy this life in Costa Rica. On this Christmas Day, I feel blessed indeed.

(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!)

Country Roads and Sugarcane

First it was the cornfield next door and now it's the sugarcane. Harvest time in Costa Rica! All over our barrio are sugarcane fields with ripe stalks ready for the cutting. With machete in hand, the workers are steadily hacking them down, loading them on open wagons and hauling them off for processing. The slope next to our house, previously covered in agricultural bounty, is now a bare field covered only in the dry leaves from the cane. Even that will be used, it seems, as we have also noticed cattle in a nearby pasture munching on the brown foliage. It's full employment time for ag workers here as they move from finca to finca doing the hard manual labor of harvesting crops. Layne fantasizes "skiing" or "surfing" down the hillside but with trees and a rocky creek at the bottom, it seems ill advised. Besides, he sold his skis years ago and he doesn't know how to surf!

Cutting....

Carrying....

And hauling....

Right past our front gate!

Our almost-daily long walks take us along many of the cane fields and in our explorations we have discovered some beautiful countryside and charming pueblos. On a recent hike we determined to follow Calle Vanilla (imagine! a street with a name!) to see if it hooked up with the road to Palmares, which connects to our main road along the route into Atenas, in the opposite direction. Heading east, we climbed the long hill toward the distant cell tower and school, then took the left turn onto Calle Vanilla. Then it was downhill for a ways, past a very tiny settlement, and on into a shaded dirt road, the kind you read about in Costa Rica with a rocky surface and knee-deep potholes. Only one car passed us so clearly it's not a common route. At the bottom of the long hill, we passed two boys riding bikes and a small group of people on the side of the road. After the mandatory "Buenos dias!" greetings, I asked if we were heading toward San Jose Norte, a barrio on the road to Palmares. "Si, señora," they said. "¿Mucha distancia?" I asked. "Un poco mas." A little more. Hummm.

Pueblo Vanilla

And quite a "little more" it was. We walked and walked, and as the road headed uphill, we began to wonder if we should turn back or continue on. We trudged onward, confident that if our feet held out eventually we'd come to civilization again. As we emerged from the shady jungles, we came to a gated driveway advertising "Cabinas" for rent. But no one was in sight, so on we went. As the hill leveled out, we emerged into the Pueblo Vanilla, a quiet village of neat Tico homes and the occasional pulperia with bread, sodas, tortillas and eggs.

Stopping at a pulperia for water, we asked directions and again were told it was just ahead, about 800 meters, the woman said. Each 100 meters is supposedly one city block but the measurements are quite loose. Still, we hiked on and at the pinnacle of the next hill, we spied a bus stop on a main road -- the road to Palmares! Turning left we headed toward San Jose Sur (we hoped), walking through a quiet residential area with some spectacular trees along the street. At the next curve we found a restaurant and decided to stop for breakfast or lunch, as it was already past 11:00 a.m. Lucky for us, they had just opened and we scored a delicious meal to break our fast and renew our energies. It was the beautiful Mirador El Pueblo, a popular eatery well known for its excellent seafood and panoramic views of the countryside.

View from Mirador El Pueblo Restaurant

But after our two-hour hike, we had had enough walking for one day so when we finished our meal, we asked the waiter to call a taxi for the ride home. Tired but satisfied with our adventure, we returned to the comforts of a shower and a nap!

Leaf-Cutter Ants and a Machete-wielding Carpenter

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

(Click on photos to enlarge)

         What a hodge-podge of leftover details I have to write about today. We have spent some time this afternoon cleaning our small chalet since our housekeeper called yesterday to say she was “muy inferma” or very sick, and couldn’t come today. Dunia suffers from asthma so in preparation for the arrival of our good friends, Penny & Joel, we were left with the housecleaning, a minor task really. Penny and Joel, aka P & J, are on final approach to Juan Santamaria International Airport as I write this, heading for some quality time tonight with their family in San Jose. Penny’s nephew Greg and his wife Amanda have just had their first baby, a little boy named Lincoln, who must be about three weeks old now. Penny’s sister Karen and her husband, Greg’s parents, are also here on a visit and we have plans to join all of them in San Jose tomorrow for what promises to be a festive evening together. And since Amanda is the Assistant Director of the Peace Corps here in Costa Rica, I hope to get some ideas from her on worthwhile volunteer opportunities.

         On Thursday, P & J will come out to Atenas to overnight here before they head up to Monteverde for a night in the cloud forest and then on to the beaches in the northwest province of Guanacaste. Ah, the life of the tourista!

         For us Gringo locals, life goes on as usual in our little paradise. In my last post, I mentioned the green mangos that Dunia had brought to us. Not knowing just how to use an unripe fruit, I turned to the Internet, of course, and learned that in Nicaragua they use these mangos for a “refresco,” a drink similar to what Gilberto prepared for us using the tangy citrus fruit in our front yard. With the mangos, the drink is more frothy but it has a delightful tart freshness that really quenches the thirst. We plan to try adding a little rum tonight, just for flavor!

         A week or so ago, our thoughtful landlady Hazel (with Kat above) surprised us with two fine-looking wooden slab tables for our patio and a large piece of the same wood to serve as another table top out in the yard on top of a tree stump. The wood is the beautifully grained madera called Guanacaste and for which Guanacaste province is named. Hazel was so cute telling us, with a devilish smile, that she knew we needed something to put our drinks on in the evening. And she also thought we might like to take our tall bar stools out to the tree stump table so as to have a different angle on our ocean vista and sunset. She had arranged for her friend Manual to come by after work to affix the wood slab to the stump. Exactly on schedule, I heard a voice at the gate and quickly went to let Manual in. Using his handy machete, Manual carved shims and nailed them on to level the wood and soon we had a new table.

         As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Costa Rica definitely has a large insect population and we recently had occasion to meet one of the most destructive of the pests. While Kate and Gilberto were here last week, they observed that a few plants in our garden showed damage caused by leaf-cutter ants and cautioned us that the little beasts could devastate foliage overnight. Sitting out at dusk the other night, we noticed a brigade (well, Layne thinks it was a full division!) of the creatures marching along the path just beneath our long patio bench, each of them carrying a chunk of leaf much larger than themselves. They were clearly on a mission! Using the flashlight, we followed them along the incredibly long trail they traced, across our lawn, around the palm tree, over the driveway, across the other yard and down to the bottom of a concrete abutment where they apparently have their nest. While we regret the damage they are doing to our plants, primarily a poinsettia bush, you have to be impressed with their industry, their teamwork and their determination.

         Kate had recommended a product called Mirex, which we found at a local garden shop, but when Layne looked it up online, he found that it is such a toxic poison, it has been banned in most countries around the world. Again, we have to shake our heads in dismay at the pesticides that are used in Costa Rica. Could the use of such products be connected to Dunia’s asthma? One might suspect as much. We plan to return the Mirex and hopefully substitute a more organic product to discourage our leaf-cutter friends.

         And finally, let me tell you about some of the birds we have here. You’ll recall the four Toucans, which served as a greeting party for us on our first night. Since then, although the Toucans have not returned, we have enjoyed watching several stunning yellow-breasted birds that come around each evening. A clay-colored robin-type bird, the national bird of Costa Rica named the Yigüirro, is also a familiar sight and sound. It was given status as the official bird in 1977 due to its strong and melodious calls that signal the start of the rainy season and because it lives so close to Costa Rican homes and is so familiar to Ticos. This little guy has such a loud voice that my mother can even hear its song during our Sunday Magic Jack telephone calls. Then there is the striking orange-breasted bird, an Oriole look-alike, which sits high in a nearby tree but is too shy to land on our fence. So it was a pair of the yellow guys that agreed to “pose” for a portrait for the blog. Hope you enjoy!