Don't Cry for Me, Costa Rica!

Our Santa Eulalia neighborhood

Just as we are feeling comfortably settled into our Santa Eulalia neighborhood, we've been hit with a wild pitch: We must return to our home in California! It has been a stressful two weeks since we got the news that the tenant renting our house had broken the lease. On top of that, our property manager said we probably needed to reduce the rent in order to lease it again. Given the small margins we have had between the mortgage and the rental income, we've decided our best course of action is to return to our Pilot Hill ranchette to live for a while as we look for ways to cut our expenses there. If we manage to do that, hopefully we will be able to return to Costa Rica one of these days.

At least it's springtime there so we won't be heading from tropical balmy days to frigid wintry weather. But it's also "springtime" here with many fruits and vegetables coming into season. Our avocado tree in front has bulbous green fruit all over it but they probably won't ripen before we depart on April 11th. Likewise, our mango tree in the backyard has fruit ripening but still too green to pick. 

Avocados about to ripen

Still-green mangos

We have so many mandarinas (like a tangerine), they are falling on the ground in abundance. Even our landlords came over recently to ask if they could pick a few. They filled two big bags and we still have so many I'm beginning to add them to salads just to try and use them.

Sadly, my brand new orchids, which I just bought a few weeks ago, cannot travel with me. I plan to offer them to Seidy (finally, this IS the correct spelling of her name!). She has a yard full of wild orchids of all kinds so I'm sure they''ll have a good home. Likewise, my "kitchen garden" of herbs will be parceled out to friends nearby. Bonnie wants the basil and I'm sure Jackie will take the oregano and rosemary. Hopefully, someone will take the big Aloe Vera plant. Sigh.

Goodbye to my herb garden

Of course, we had planned to go back to the States later this year to see family and friends, as we have every year, so this just pushed those plans forward a bit. We will now have time to deal with some of the "stuff" still in the barn. I worry that between the heat and the moisture that some things of value are being ruined. Long-time readers will recall what a hectic dash out of our home we had to make in December of 2009 when we decided to rent the house and head for Costa Rica. The prospective renters were being pushed out of their home due to a foreclosure. To paraphrase an old saying: Manure rolls downhill, so we had to get out of our house of over 14 years in less than six weeks. A lot of our stuff just ended up in our large storage barn. This return to residency there will give us a chance to clear it out.

We also look forward with joy to the opportunity to spend time with old friends again. Dinner parties with Ruth, chats over the fence with our neighbor Susan, time to drive into San Francisco to see our son Damian and grandson Kai and other friends there. We will make our pilgrimage to Portland to visit family there this summer and on to Spokane to see Layne's son Jess and his family. I will have a chance to fly to Texas and spend some time with my mom.

Still it's a bittersweet pill to have to leave Costa Rica, our adopted homeland that has welcomed us so warmly. As time allows, I'll continue to post reports on our activities as we settle back into life in California. And as circumstances allow, we hope to return to Costa Rica, at least for visits if not for good. Pura Vida!!

Costa Rica Fun, Food and Friendship

Our community of fun and fun things to do just keeps growing here in Santa Eulalia. Nowhere else in our two years in Costa Rica have we lived in a neighborhood in which we found so many kindred spirits, new friends, both Tico and Gringo and entertaining things to see and do around every corner. Even our almost-daily walks offer new vistas in recent days as cornfields and sugarcane fields have been  harvested and left bare, opening up distant views. One day this week we hiked down a side road toward the waterfall, passing empty cane fields that revealed trees standing tall above sheer canyon walls. In the distance we could see Barrio Los Angeles, where we used to live, and even spied our former landlords Odie and Eduardo's red roof.

But today was special for me. I just returned from a truly magical experience: riding a beautiful Paso Fino mare in an arena about a 15-minute walk down the road from us. A shiny bay with a luxurious long black mane and large, dark intelligent eyes, she was spirited, but responsive and obedient and attentive to every shift of my weight in the saddle or slight adjustment on the reins. Controlled only with a rope halter, she easily stopped, backed up, turned and picked up her incredible quick-step Paso gait with only subtle signals from me. That gait is so different from what I'm used to; no posting to the trot, you just sit quietly as the horse moves smoothly beneath your seat. It was an absolute joy to be on horseback again. I was so excited to be riding such an exquisite animal, I forgot all about taking pictures. But Talia looked much like the bay Paso pictured here.

Photo courtesy of ParadisePasoFinos.com

Equally wonderful was the new Tico friend I made in horse owner Francisco, thanks again to our estimado amigo Marcial, who had arranged this ride for me. After watching me ride awhile, Francisco complimented me on my riding skills then announced I could come ride anytime I wanted. Smiling, he said, "this is your house now," basically offering me the opportunity to ride his horse like it was my own. As we talked more, he also invited me join him and some of his friends on a trail ride soon. It is a dream come true for this horselover, as I miss being around horses and especially my own sweet Mojave, rest his horsy soul.

This introductory ride was arranged by Marcial after he had mentioned to me the possibility of my riding in an upcoming "tope" here in Atenas. As I understand it, a tope is a horse parade, usually part of a bigger festival, in which riders come from all over the country to show off their beautiful steeds and prance down the streets of town in colorful traditional finery. A Tico friend of Marcial's was looking for ways to involve some of the Gringo community in Atenas in the planned tope and since Marcial knew I had owned a horse in the United States, he asked if I'd be interested in participating. Would I?!! You bet! Just get me a horse, I said, and I'm there. But I also asked if he thought I could do some riding before the parade to get my "seat" back, and from this conversation came the ride today at Francisco's barn. We feel very lucky to be friends with such good-hearted and generous people.

Last night was another good time, this one a pool party and dinner at Bonnie & Stephen's house just down the hill from the horse barn where I rode today. I threw together a big salad made from organic lettuces, arugula, tomatoes, beets, cucumber, green onion and chili dulce before Layne and I hiked down the road in time for a leisurely swim in their incredible "pool with a view." As Bonnie said while we gazed out over the edge of the pool at the verdant jungle scenery, "I sometimes wonder if I'm at the Beverly Hilton or maybe I just died and this is heaven." It was pretty heavenly and lucky us, Bonnie & Stephen have thrown the door open to us as well, inviting us to use their pool anytime we want. 

Felipe, aspiring photographer

The handsome young Felipe, Marcial and Saedi's 23-year-old son was there, continuing his lessons in photography from the former instructor and accomplished videographer Stephen, as was Bonnie & Stephen's charming Filipino landlord Dave. When Marcial and Saedi joined us at the swimming pool a little later, we all stared in awe as the magnificent full moon rose over the treetops and highlighted the blue water in the pool. We left the periquitos del amor, as we laughingly called the "lovebirds" Marcial and Saedi, to their evening swim as the rest of us headed down to the house for a glass of wine. When they joined us in a while, we enjoyed a dinner of salads, mine and a yummy fruit, black beans, rice and more of that addictive Italian sausage. A most pleasant way to spend an evening!

Oceans of Fun!

Papaya con leche in Playa Jaco

Kai as "Tiger Woods"

Just coming up for air after a couple of very busy weeks -- preparing for the Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off, celebrating our 2nd place victory afterwards then quickly getting final plans in place for a visit from my son Damian and grandson Kai coming in from San Francisco. And of course, the week of their trip was hectic enough with outings to Playa Jaco, Sámara and Hacienda Pinilla in Guanacaste -- much of it in search of "the perfect wave" for Damian's surfing fun. We did find some good waves here and there but never quite as robust as he had hoped. Still it was a very good visit with lots of fun times playing Wii games, from bowling to tennis to Tiger Woods' golf. Like many teenagers, Kai is virtually an expert at most electronic games of skill and he took particular delight in "whuppin'" his grandma. But I didn't mind because it was such a joy to have them around. Kai is still the wonderful sweet child he has always been, loving to us and courteous to all. He even struck up a good friendship with our landlords' son Isaac next door, spending several hours playing soccer with him.

David, Damian, Marc and Eroca

Our first evening's entertainment was a big outdoor dinner party at Marcial and Saedi's house (I've been mis-spelling Saedi's name all this time!). The potluck food was great and Grandpa Layne, followed by the talented Daniel, serenaded the group on guitar. the next day we headed out for the Guanacaste beaches, taking the small Puntareñas - Playa Naranjo ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya, enjoying watching the seagulls flitting around the upper deck to catch crumbs thrown by passengers. Then we drove up the Nicoya Peninsula and across to beautiful Playa Sámara, where we stayed at a comfortable hotel with spectacular views, the Apartotel Mirador de Sámara. The Mirador is situated high up on a hillside and our spacious two-bedroom apartment faced the ocean, providing us some stunning sunset views from our balcony that afternoon. Although the Mirador is not as fancy as some places we have stayed, such as Hacienda Pinilla, it was a good value for the money and would really be an excellent choice for a longer-term stay. In fact, we met two young women from Poland who had stayed there a week earlier in their travels and had now returned for a three-week stint. That's long enough to stock up the kitchen and save money on meals by cooking in the apartment.

Mirador de Samara

Layne and I took a romantic sunset stroll that afternoon along the sweeping half-moon Playa Sámara since it was my birthday, then we all headed out for a festive birthday dinner: a really delicious pizza and red wine. Because we liked the small beach town feel of Sámara, with street vendors selling t-shirts, sundresses and wooden knickknacks and a delightful organic restaurant nearby, Layne and I are considering a return visit for a few nights at the Mirador de Sámara to allow more time to explore the beach and local area.

Birthday dinner

Then it was off to Hacienda Pinilla where we had high hopes for good waves since the Avellanes Beach in front of the elegant Beach Club has a reputation as "Little Hawai'i" and nearby Langosta Beach is likewise well known for surfing. Alas, it was not to be. Not that Damian didn't get in some pretty good surfing but with no Pacific "swell," the waves never got very big. With some lessons from his dad, Kai enjoyed boogie boarding on the smaller waves. Although we had been given a good discount on our suite, the food prices hit our pocketbooks pretty hard so after a couple of days, we were ready to head home for some of my own good cooking.

Nerf-ball in the pool 

Grandpa Layne at the Beach Club

Kai catches a wave!

The rest of the week seemed to whiz by as Damian made a day trip down to Jaco and Playa Hermosa and Kai played with his new friend next door. Before we knew it, the time had come to deliver them back to the airport and turn in the ridiculously overpriced and incredibly small Suzuki Jimmy to Payless Car Rental in Alajuela. A word to the wise: never rent from these guys because the hidden cost is in their daily insurance rate, which was easily twice what most places charge.

As any mother (or grandmother) knows, seeing your child is always a joy and getting to spend these fun days with our family was indeed a blessing which we will long remember and forever treasure. 

Team Sperone Wins Big at Chili Cook-off!

Today I have much to celebrate. First of all, it's my son Damian's birthday. Layne and I are so proud of him. He's grown into a fine man, a dedicated and skillful firefighter and a wonderful, devoted father. Not only that, but he and my precious grandson Kai are scheduled to arrive this week for a most welcome visit. Layne and I are looking forward to their holiday with joyful anticipation of a fun trip.

I'm also celebrating my chili team's 2nd place victory on Sunday at the Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off. Composed of our inspiring team leader, Marcial Artavia of Italian Sausage fame, his adorable, hard-working wife Sadie, our dedicated neighbor Jackie and Yours Truly, along with some key help from our husbands Neil and Layne, our group claimed the runner-up spot on our first time in the competition. In fact, Marcial knew little about chili fixing when we began preparing for the contest a few weeks ago. As reported in a previous blog post, team members spent several evenings testing our various recipes, trying out different ingredients and sampling the delicious results. Team members and neighborhood supporters contributed chili powder, a tablecloth, a huge cook pot, a portable stove and emergency tape. We printed some cool business cards and Marcial had an excellent banner made to hang above our table, all with an eye to promoting his line of Italian Sausage, named Sperone, meaning "spur" in Italian in honor of his grandfather's nickname. At the end of the day, however, it was Marcial who served as the ultimate chef, cooking up a three-gallon batch of the chili on Saturday night with some sous chef assistance from Sadie. Little did we imagine coming so close to winning the top prize but that final pot of chili was really first-rate.

A big turnout for the event

Sunday's event was a festive and hugely successful affair with well over the expected 1000 people in attendance and some 30 teams competing for the top prize. No word yet on how much was raised for the charity, Hogar de Vida, the local orphanage, but I feel sure it will easily top last year's $3500 donation.

Sadie at work at the Sperone table

The Sperone Italian Sausage team had a good spot right by an open door, which helped keep us cool, but the strong wind occasionally disrupted our neat space. In fact, at one point a gust blew over and spilled the small box of silver beans that had been deposited by attendees voting for our chili as their People's Choice selection. Poor Sadie scrambled around under tables and across the ceramic tiles trying to recover every single bean!

The lovely 2012 Chili Queen, with Sadie and Marcial

As the day wore on, we began to get the idea that we might have a shot at winning. People were coming to our table commenting, "Everyone is saying yours is the best," and asking for their sample. One of the judges, our friend Jonathan of Vista Atenas B&B, even came back to our table for seconds. We ran out far too early and next year we'll be cooking twice as much.

Teams had gone all-out for the competition, with fancy aprons and matching hats, pots of flowers or other table decorations. Competitors included teams from the bomberos (firefighters), the Marine Corps, Pure Life Development real estate, the Hot Meat group from Guanacaste with their crazy hotdog logo, Jalapeño's restaurant from Alajuela and of course, Texas expats who claim that chili con carne originated in the Lone Star State. It was truly a great day with live music, some dancing, a silent auction and a raffle in which our team member Jackie won a huge basket of goodies from chocolate to coffee to cheese, plus two bottles of good wine. What a day!

Team Sperone takes 2nd Place!

Thanks to all the amazing volunteers who helped set up the tables and signs, sell beer, wine, sodas and hot dogs, solve electrical and other logistical problems, plus clean up afterwards; thanks also to vocalist Francis Jones, MC Tina Newton, the management and staff at Roma Vista resort and especially Kay and Tom Costello, whose love and inspiration brought this event into being. It was such fun and so satisfying to know our efforts contributed to the important work at Hogar de Vida, a loving home for local orphaned, abused or neglected children. Bravissimo! 

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!

Charity Chili and All the Fixin's

The 5th Annual Atenas Charity Chili Cook-off is almost upon us and it's all hands in the kitchen. Scheduled for Sunday, February 12, the event is expected to attract over 1000 people this year and raise much more than the $3500 they donated last year to the children's orphanage in Atenas, Hogar de Vida. Ordinarily, being the chili chef that I am, I would be joining in the cooking fray, hoping to win recognition for my mini-world-famous chili con carne. Instead I've been recruited to serve on our Tico friend Marcial's team, along with neighbor Jackie, another fine cook, to help promote Marcial's excellent Italian sausage. (Check out our new Facebook page, which I helped Marcial set up.) Needless to say, our recipe relies heavily on the wonderful flavors of that meat.

In preparation for the big day, we have had several "trial run" dinners lately where Jackie or I have prepared our favorite recipe using the sausage, with Marcial overseeing the process. He actually has virtually no experience cooking chili so he's relying heavily Jackie's and my expertise. As a result we have enjoyed some very tasty chili lately, along with the pleasure of the company of Marcial and Sadie and Jackie and Neil and occasionally our other local friend Marc.

Neil "rolls" a good one

At the dinner party last week here at our house, after the chili was consumed Layne turned on the Wii game console and set up a bowling tournament for the gang. It's amazing how realistic that system is. Other than the weight of the ball, it "feels" like bowling and requires all the same movements and adjustments as in the real game. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, including Sadie who took her turn bowling with intense seriousness and in spite of her inexperience, compiled a respectable score. But the real contest was between Neil and Marcial, who as you can see, both got their game on. Although Layne and I remember the fun that night, we don't remember the winner!

Marcial bowls as Sadie looks on

On Saturday Layne and I joined our friends Leonard, Sally and Kevin for a bus trip into San Jose for a meeting of the Costa Rica Democrats Abroad group, which is affiliated with the overseas branch of the U.S. Democratic Party, Democrats Abroad. It seems there are enough United States expats living in various countries to comprise the population of a whole other state, some four to six million of us around the world with an estimated seventy thousand here in Costa Rica. I'm happy to report that Costa Rica's Dems Abroad group is one of the fastest growing clubs, according to the Democrats Abroad website. We met a number of new acquaintances who share our passion for progressive democratic values and learned some ways we may be of help to the group in social media marketing, voter registration and get-out-the-vote this year.

After the meeting, Layne and I walked from the Holiday Inn where the meeting was held a few blocks over to the National Theater, crossing through a lively city life scene on the plaza next to it. We wandered into an Apple store nearby where Layne bought a cable so we can watch movies through the computer, displayed on the television screen. Then we headed for the National Theater. A friend had recently given us an historical five thousand colones note, featuring beautiful artwork that is displayed full-size in the National Theater. I wanted a second copy so I could have the front and back framed together as an addition to our small Costa Rican artwork collection. We had been told there were street vendors selling them around the theater. And sure enough as we emerged from inside the theater, there was a young man with a handful of the notes, selling them for only 500 colones each, about a dollar.

With purchases in hand, we headed for Coca Cola, the large bus station from whence our Atenas bus departs. After asking directions from sales clerks in a shoe store, we found we were headed more or less the right direction. So we soldiered on and gradually the street scene became more like that around the bus staion, a bit rough and tumble with discount clothing stores all along the way. At a street vendor's stall, I asked again, Donde es Coca Cola, señor? One block down and one block over and there we were, just in time for the 2 p.m. bus. Another excellent adventure in our ongoing exploration of the land of Pura Vida! 

High Times in the High Season

Here we are, time for another Spanish/English dinner party with Marcial and Sadie tomorrow night, which means that almost two weeks have past since my last entry here. If I thought that “retirement” meant inactivity, boy, was I wrong! We scratch our heads at times wondering what keeps us so busy. In some ways, our schedule fills up with the luxuries of retirement: time to take long walks, time to correspond with friends, time for elaborate dinner preparations and dinner parties, and for Layne, that long-delayed novel is taking shape. Indeed, the man has over 150,000 words written and, he says, only a couple more chapters to go. Then we’ll have to learn what all is involved in self-publishing on the Internet.

The Aquacate Tree

But the dry season (or “high” season, referring to hotel rates) is definitely here. Suddenly the landscape has changed from lush greens everywhere to patches of dry, golden brown grasses on the hillsides. It’s somewhat reminiscent of those “golden hills” of California, but that would be in June, not in January! Our aquacate (avocado) tree is absolutely weighted down with blossoms and hundreds of tiny avocados. We can hardly wait till they ripen and we can enjoy guacamole every day.

Tiny avocados soon to be ripe!

Another plant in blossom right now is the orchid, my favorite. Waiting for the bus a few days ago, I noticed that the big cluster of orchid plants attached to the mango tree had suddenly burst into bloom. And what odd blooms they were! Orchids are known for the enormous diversity of flowers they produce and this was certainly one I had never seen before: curly, delicate purple petals around a pink-throated central core on a long spike coming out of the leaves. Quite beautiful and so unusual.

A most unusual Orchid

Orchids on the Mango tree

With the change of seasons, we are learning more about agricultural patterns here. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, we noticed some workers in the cornfield below us, chopping down the dry stalks with, of course, machetes. Just two guys to cut down the entire field! But labor is cheaper here than machinery and requires less maintenance, so to speak, so such heavy work is mostly man-powered.

Another example of labor-intensive work we recently encountered is making charcoal. On a trip back from PriceSmart with our friend Jeanette, we stopped off at a finca (farm) along the road to Santa Eulalia that Marcial had told us about where we could buy organic honey. While there we questioned the mustachioed gentleman in charge about the other products that he had in his large garden and learned that he also grows organic tomatoes, chili dulce (much like a green pepper), hydroponic lettuce and green onions. Part of the mixture in his hydroponic bins, we noticed, was bits of charcoal and since Layne and I had just purchased a small barbeque grill, we asked if he sold charcoal as well. Yes, he said, and proceeded to guide us further back in the garden to where two men were piling logs about 3-4 feet long into a deep gulley they had apparently dug. 

Organic gardener with Chili Dulce

It seems that they will somehow set the wood on fire and then bury it in dirt so that it smolders without burning, turning the wood into charcoal. Amazing! Whether or not this charcoal would work for our grill, we are yet to determine but it was a fascinating how-to lesson for us Gringos.