My move from New Mexico to Costa Rica is an ongoing adventure and a major life change. I'm Starting Over. Here on this page are my plans, my outreaches, my on going travels and travails as well as my thoughts along the way...

Jan's Ongoing Chapters of the ongoing process ...

Starting Over at 66 - From northern New Mexico to southern Costa Rica ©Jan Hart

Now all 28 of the Chapters are available in an E-Book

 

 

Artist/Retreat Mariposa Cabinas where you can come stay, inexpensively - to paint, to write, to play, to be (The Cabinas will be opening in September, 2009)

Photos and information coming very soon....

 

 

Time Share Painting/Adventures for a 5 day immersion adventure into this place, into painting, into Costa Rican magic - whatever you choose... YOU get to make the plans!

 

Morning view over the city

Sunset

From a participant....

This was by far the best art adventure I have been on.  I was able to concentrate on painting and learning new things because meals and lodging was taken care of.  It was helpful having you paint along side me. Thank you for demonstrating and talking about each step in detail. What I forget, I should be able to get from reading through your wonderful book.
 
It was fun getting a peek on your life there in Costa Rica, seeing the progress being made on the artist cabins and meeting some of your neighbors.  I was impressed by their friendliness and care.  I felt very welcomed.
 
The food was excellent.  Full of fresh vegetables and fruits of such a variety.  It was nice of you to take me to your favorite restaurants in town.  I took home some wonderful Costa Rican coffee and mango sauce and today I wasted no time in sharing them with my husband.  Not only did I get painting lessons, but a lesson on the local cuisine.  
 
The view from your front window was spectacular.  I especially enjoyed looking out over the valley and seeing different birds and watching them glide through the air.  There was never a dull moment.  The clouds and mist over the mountains were continually changing.  
 
I would recommend this art adventure to anyone who would enjoy painting in a beautiful tropical paradise.  Thank you, Jan, for being the most wonderful hostess.  I felt very pampered and well taken care of.  
 
Thank you, Jan, for getting me painting again.

Margaret Bucholz, May, 2009
 

Jan's Ongoing Chapters of the ongoing process ...

Transplanting My Life to Costa Rica

 

Chapter 1

Beginning

December 29, 2008

Here is the beginning of my chapters about my new life adventure – and if you would rather not receive these emails, please let me know and I’ll take you off the list!  I am “using you” as a diary in one sense – writing down the little things that are happening....

Boy, what an adventure this is...

We spent two nights at the Osa with friends, Mike and Rebecca (where I will teach in just about a month) The treehouse is completely unimaginable -  7 levels with at least one species of bird that no one can figure out because humans rarely get to live in the canopy! The monkeys come by, the scarlet macaws and howler monkeys wake you at dawn and since it is the beginning of mating season for the macaws – all 4 macaw (lapa) couples that live in the trees are busy playing, mating and carousing.  Mike and Rebecca are finding it tough to come down to the ground – but they do – for pineapples, coconuts, flowers etc. We stayed in the guest house (which is owned by a neighbor who isn’t there very often). We took the dogs with us – and they LOVE the jungle! In a day they knew where they were and just roamed and were able to climb the stairs to the top of the treehouse.  Mike and Rebecca have three dogs – so it was canine heaven high in the canopy. Seurat loved just sitting near the edge watching birds. In the late afternoon we hiked down through the jungle to a place that Mike created – a tub lined with river rocks and filled with the water from the river. It was very cold water – but once I was in it was heavenly.  Mike and Rebecca are some of the most creative people I have even met.  Their treehouse is completely unique with vines that become handrails, teak stairs, and Rebecca brought back from the states some linear lighting (12 watt) that is their ambient lighting – winding down the stairs and up into the levels at roof height. The guanacaste tree has orchids growing on it and they have made it so that water from the top can come in and down the main trunks to water the roots of the tree as well as the orchids along the way. This is a beautiful beautiful way to live in balance with nature.  You can look up the treehouse on their web site.  Sombra de la Lapa is the name of the place.

 The 3 hour trip over Cerro Muerte was winding and tedious – and the 3 plus drive to the Osa is winding, tedious and on a partly dirt ‘highway’.  We took a wrong turn on the way back and wound up at a river...  But, just as we’re ready to begin cursing the Costa Rican roads - we can always stop at a mirador along the way and have a bite to eat – always with vegetables and fruit and batidos (a drink of fresh fruit blended with ice and milk if you want milk) for about $1.50.  My favorite so far is guanabana – so sweet.  Papaya is prettier and mango is good but a bit too bland.  

Both dogs want to sleep with me on the Wal Mart air mattress, which I must replace soon.  The mattress not the dogs. Today I hope to get to MaxiBodega (Wal Mart) to get a towel, sheets, hose, sprinkler (yes the dry season is here and it is dry!!!!) and ceiling fan. Alberto, my neighbor says he can install it and will open up the switches and plugs that have been painted shut. My friend and neighbor Anita, Albert’s sister, has adopted me as her mother, since her mother died about a year ago. I don’t yet know what is entailed with mothering here – but she and her family are wonderful. My son, Tim brought gifts for the kids and that was a huge success!  

This morning there was no water. Hm. I told Anita and she is checking into it. I desperately want a warm shower and will look for a suicide shower head, too, when I go to town.  I really like my house location – only 4 miles from town with the incredible view and just off the Pan American highway over Cerro Muerte. At night, the lights from the city way below create a warm light that fills my little house.  I must find a way to get rid of the “no seeums” though.  I have a few bugs here to entice into moving out and away. This house has been vacant for over a year and the bugs have the upper hand so far. We’re making progress. Seurat has begun to eat ants.

I had one major meltdown when I found that I had arrived without keys to my house. Good going, Jan. My kids wouldn’t let me sleep in the car with the dogs but we were able to get a room at La Princessa which was most comfortable.  Now I am sleeping in my house and this morning it was very nice to wake up slowly with the sun and listening to the sounds...and watching the birds fly into my mango tree.

I don’t think it has sunk in yet that I am here in a foreign country and in a couple days my kids will all leave. I’m hoping to set up getting my car when they leave, which wasn’t ready only because they had discovered that the timing belt was just about ready to go. So I still need to do that!  Then I will be doing my first solo drive over Cerro Muerte!  With the dogs, of course!  Oh, dios mio.

Almost time to go down to La Princessa to wake up my kids and drive down to the café to use WiFi and have a great breakfast. Last night we ate at Bazookas, one of my favorite places – with the best fish and shrimp cooked in garlic and real french fries cut from a potato. Heaven. Alethea had chicken parmesan, believe it or not, that she said was the best she’d ever tasted.

Well – how is this for an update?  

I know that I will be having ups and downs as the days ahead begin to bring the good surprises along with the not so good. I really hope I’ll be able to face them with grace and patience. I’m very lucky to have Mike and Jane, who will help me – and my Tico family just down the road. And Mike and Rebecca on the Osa!!!
I feel fortunate and except for missing all of you, am doing well so far.

Chapter 2

A New Year in a New Land

January 2, 2009

Here I am parked on the street in front of the Diamante Hotel where it looks like I can get a faint signal for the internet.  Other than a few beggars coming by, who are very polite, not much is going on in downtown San Isidro this New Year’s morning. Last night they had a huge celebration in town but I decided to stay at home and view the scattered fireworks from my front porch.  I heard what sounded like gun shots at midnight – and thought I was back in Espanola!

Yesterday my family left so now I am alone with my doggies.  Thank goodness that I have them. And thank goodness they went to Cartago with me yesterday to get my “new” car.  Yesterday my sons had it all organized. I was to drive my rental car down to La Princessa at 6:45 so that we could eat at Bazookas at 7 and be on the “Highway of Death” or the pa n am highway over Cerro Muerte by 8, arriving near Cartago where we would find Car Doc, where my car would be waiting. I decided to take my dogs since Livvie is so fearful of firecrackers and no one here has even heard of a dog door.  So  we arrived at Bazookas, which was closed until 8. Plan B. Off to Café de la Casa, my favorite internet café for Desayuno del Dia for $1500 colones or about $2.50 each – coffee, rice and  beans, 2 eggs any way you want them, tortillas and juice.  Not at all  bad and only about 4 miles from my place.  Over and over I am so happy with my house location. The house could use some help for sure. Anyway – we got off and up into the mountains and into the cloud forest. It is actually pretty cold there – but so beautiful. At the highest place we are even above the tree line!  They say that there are places where on a clear day you can see both the Pacific and the Carribean!  We arrived at Car Doc at precisely 11 and met Jacqui there. She is the person I have been emailing for months looking for just the right car – a 4-Runner under $10,000, under 100,000 miles with 4 wheel drive and a step up to get in. She found the perfect car. After saying goodbye to the kids and daughter in law and daughter in law to be, I tried to understand what Jacqui was trying to tell me about when the plates would arrive, where the title is, etc. etc. Konrad was there, who is the head mechanic for Car Doc – and that was terrific. He really went over this car – and other than the issue of the very worn timing belt that needed to be replaced – all went smoothly. In some ways I’m glad I didn’t have my new car with me earlier, as planned,  because the day  before I managed to back my rental Hyundai into a ditch at ˆLa Princessa’ - my favorite little hotel just at the bottom of my hill in San Rafael. Ditches here are deep. Lots of water to contend with. I bottomed it out and we decided to leave it for the morning. In the morning Charlie, the owner, who looks kind of like George Carlin, said – “don’t worry – we’ll get it out. You are not the first.”  I wondered how we’d get it out and if I should call a tow truck, to which he replied, “Naw – they’ll get stuck going down the drive. Tranquilo. We’ll get it out.” And, between Billy the gardener and general fix it man and Mike, my friend, and some nylon rope – we got it out. Funny sound though coming from underneath somewhere when going uphill.  I wonder what happened when Jay turned it in at the car rental...  At least we had full coverage.  So – back to the 3 hour drive  back to San Isidro yesterday.  After gassing up, the dogs and I headed out over the winding, Pan Am highway. What a trip! And what a way to learn about one’s new car. But – it performed pretty well. A lot less power than my turbo suburu – but slow and steady with pretty much all I need. Has overdrive, ECT (which I don’t understand) and a Pioneer radio that only knows how to play very romantic hispanic songs!  I arrived home exhausted from the slow going through the cloud forest, put ‘er in 4 wheel drive and managed to climb into my car port.  The dogs and I took a nap and then I went out to join some folks who are looking over the area with Jane and Mike.  Back home and asleep by 9.

Today is a perfect day to investigate the town. No one is out and if I go down a 1-way road the wrong way it is relatively safe. All the shops are closed. Beautiful white puffy clouds are dotting the sky. I fixed myself my usual breakfast of fruits and coffee and am beginning to think about the building of the aviary. Apparently, MAG won’t allow the parrots in until they approve my place for them. That means either an aviary or 4 cages. So far the only cages I’ve seen are something a mild mannered canary might  approve of but definitely not parrots. Alberto, my neighbor, may be able to build it if he can accompany me to the lumber yard...  
We’ll see.

Must run. My battery is running low, it appears.

So – for now, please do write and please excuse the “mass mailing”.  I miss you and welcome your calls. I did get a message from Paula and from my brother, Tom and am so sorry I missed the actual calls!  The phone works!

Couldn’t send the email from Diamonte’s WiFi  and since nothing is open today I decided to stop by Charlie’s place to see if I could sit on his deck and steal wifi from the house next door. So here I am again. Perfect location!

I was met at the door by Flora, Charlie’s “woman” or “wife” - not sure which. I took off my sandals so I wouldn’t walk on her very clean white tile floor. She admonished me in the same way Anita had, when I take off my shoes. She went on to explain in spanish that (I think) it is very bad for me to walk barefoot because I might slip and fall!  Muy malo!!!! Okay – now I get it. Even though the Costa Ricans clean everything every day and I don’t want to track in any mud, I need to keep my shoes on so I won’t fall. You should see my floors. My house is very very simple but Anita wants the floors to be nice and clean and she definitely does not approve of the dogs going inside with me and sleeping on my bed.  So – the polished concrete floor always has dog prints.  One day next week I am going to talk with Anita with Jane and we will figure out how much $/month I owe Anita – for cleaning the house once/week (though she wants to do it daily), doing the laundry, the gardener who mows and tends the grass, my phone, electricity and water....   For me, it is so nice to have it all paid by Anita for now.  I hope it will be affordable on my social security amount.  Gotta figure that one out, too – how to transfer $ from my Account at Wells Fargo to here...   Lots and lots to figure out as I settle in to this beautiful place.  Wish I could get internet access at my house – but I think it will happen eventually.

Much love from Jan from Costa Rica!  Next time I’ll send some photos!

Livvie, wondering where it is that she has found herself...

 

Chapter 3

On Vacation?

January 3, 2009

So I woke up this morning – again at 6 with the sun – and realized “I’m on Vacation!”  I have few contacts here so I have plenty of leisure time. I have no students yet – so I have plenty of leisure time. I don’t have my paints and supplies yet – so what am I to do?  Be leisurely.  Those of you who have been close by during the last year know that I have not had a very leisurely life in Española – with trying to make enough money to move, pack and pack a nd pack, the garage sales (5 total) and just the entire business of closing up one place and moving to another – in a foreign country.  So – I decided upon a few priorities today:

1. Find some foam to put on top of my very uncomfortable Wal-Mart air mattress to make it comfortable while I wait for my belongings to arrive, including my Numbers bed.
2. Start figuring out how to get some help to build an aviary. I heard from Angela, my pet transport person, that the MAG needs to inspect my place before allowing the parrots to come. It seems to make sense to build and aviary outdoors rather than find big cages (none in San Isidro) that will cost a lot.
3. Get a plastic table and a few chairs so that I have the basics off the floor.
4. Find a light blanket since it really does get cool just before dawn and Seurat keeps trying to crawl under the sheets.
5. Get a microwave and electric skillet, which should just about do it all until my rice maker gets here.
   

But first, I stop by La Princessa to see Charlie and have a cup of coffee. A new woman is sitting talking with Charlie. She ius from England and wanting to live a very simple life and do organic gardening. She has about 6 acres and needs help finding someone who can help her partially clear the land. Charlie is the resource, of course. He points me in the direction of  Boston Lumber and I think I know where it is. First I stop at the Coffee Stop at the base of my road to check my emails and sample the egg sandwich – perfect! While sitting there I am surprised by a skype call from my son, Jay!  Do you know about Skype? Since Jay and I both have computers with cameras built in, we downloaded skype for free and can occasionally get a strong enough signal so that we can see each other and talk! It is soooo cool – but a little “over the top” for the Internet Café. Luckily the connection is lost before I’m asked to leave.  I meet Casey and Tamara, who are a young couple building their home nearby. He is from the US and she is from Russia.  He gives me the directions about how to order a cell phone. It is about a 7 step process requiring patience, tenacity and some stamps that are hard to find.  I jot it down in my yellow notebook and wonder if anything is easy here.

On to the Boston Lumber yard. What a resource! It has everything if you know how to say what you want. Finally I got to Santiago, a darling young man with an easy laugh I find in so many of the Ticos and Ticas.  Hardware cloth was some word he’d never heard of – but we found some very sturdy wire and I drew out what I wanted. Santiago says he has a friend, Cesar, who could build it in steel, which would be nice and strong and I ask him to send Cesar up to my house – the green one 1 Km oeste de la escuela en San Rafael.  Meanwhile, I find that the lumber yard has one old piece of foam that will fit my needs!  Hooray!  I need to remember Santiago – at least so far.  The admonition here is not to get “Ticoed”. The Ticos are such a beautiful people but a high paying labor rate is $4/hour and most work for $2/hnour. If they ask for more, look elsewhere, I’m told.

Next stop Gallo Mas Gallo, which is the name of a huge appliance and everything else store where I first bought a hot plate last July.  No super deals on microwaves and electric skillets. Everything is imported here and the prices are about the same as in the US.  Then, a leisurely drive down the busy street to stop at Casa  Blanca – a wonderful store filled with everything you might need inside your house from plastic bags and dishes to plastic furniture — my choice for the day!  I bought a table and two chairs. The two chairs are bright turquoise and I really wanted the red-orange one plus another but they only had one. They kept trying to include a red chair and I kept trying to explain that the two colors were not el mismo!  They looked bewildered.

My last stop was at my favorite Super Mercado – San Luis, which is very close to my house. Other than some bread, mayonaise, tuna and black beans, I just bought some more fruit – papaya, bananas, avocados and grapes and a pineapple. All the fruit is very inexpensive and next week I’ll make a point of going to the market on Thursday morning. I’m told that if you get there by noon you can find organic fruits and vegetables in one area but it is usually sold out by noon.  I’ll tell you that the tuna sandwich I fixed myself this evening was one of the most delicious I’ve ever had. And have I mentioned the Tico cheese? This is pure delicacy. I permit myself a slice in the afternoon and maybe before bed.

Now I am exhausted.
Returning home I unpack the car and put my new foam “topper” on my air mattress. Voila!  It is SOOOO comfortable that I am asleep in seconds. Cesar never showed up but called later to say he will be by tomorrow at noon.   Day by day I am getting my Anglo-Tica feet wet. And day by day I am b eginning to realize that I have really done it. I’ve moved to a 3rd world country. I’m so grateful for the 15 years I had in New Mexico where I learned to feel comfortable being a minority in a hispanic culture.

Saturday morning.
I’m at the Coffee Stop at the base of my road and am meeting two new people who came to start an Ashram. They are deeply spiritual and just who I needed to talk with this morning while I am feeling a little low. I know that things will open and new people will come into my life and I will be fine.  I just miss all of you right now.  I think I will go back up and talk with Charlie, Billie and Alberto about the aviary.  

It is another beautiful day in Paradise!

Chapter 4

Checking Out the Services

January 5, 2009

It is Monday morning and I’m getting eager to get going after a day long rest yesterday.  Saturday day seemed more and more difficult as the day progressed – coughing a lot and pain on the surface of my skin.... Hm. Maybe it is the flu.  I can imagine that my poor body is just trying to rest up after the exhaustion I’ve put it through for the past weeks and weeks.  Kathy Houlihan called, whose husband, Holt is a physician, and he said he thought I ought to go to see a doctor.  So it must be time to check out the resources even though it is Saturday night. I drove down to Anita’s, my dear neighbor and friend and explained what I needed in my halting Spanish and she said she would come with me. So off we went to the Medicos Urgencias – open 24 hours.  No one else was in the waiting room and I went in to a consultation room with the Dr, who spoke good english, as most of them do.  He checked my throat, ears, blood pressure, and found that I had a slight fever. He thought my lungs sounded clear but wanted to get an X-ray to be sure.  He also ordered a blood test which would amount to calling the Hematologist who would arrive on a motor cycle, prick my finger, collect blood and then analyze it for all its attributes. While we waited, he told me that he would give me something for the pain – what a concept?  Something for the pain while you wait to be x-rayed and blood tested?  A nurse injected something IV into my arm that nearly instantly erased the pain and the soreness all over that I had been experiencing.  I wasn’t high, but I was next door to it – and I felt much better.  So we waited. Another family came in and was seen. Then, we were told to cross the highway to get an x-ray, which we did and then returned. The completed X-rays arrived in a big orange envelope and were placed on the table. I wondered why the doctor didn’t look at them and I was told that he preferred to have all the information together – the blood test results and X-ray before he decided what to prescribe.  Makes sense to me.  Finally the Hematologist arrived and quickly went to work on my finger. She was very good and very efficient.  Back in the waiting room we watched the Doctor examine my X-rays and look at the blood results before we again went in to the consultation room with him. He believes that my pneumonia of 3 weeks ago may have almost been cleared up but that perhaps a few bacteria remained. He showed me the X-ray which showed my left lung quite opaque with congestion that he called inflammation. He prescribed an antibiotic which I would take for 5 days, an analgesic to help with pain and fever and some cough medicine and told me that if I had any questions I was to come by or call.  We thanked him and went to the 24 hour pharmacy next door.  All in all the total amount came to $150, which I thought was pretty goodl. At home I dropped into bed and slept well.  All day Sunday I stayed in bed watching the sky change from the beautiful morning yellows and oranges to the evening glow of peach light over everything. I listened to music from my I-Tunes and thought how incredibly lucky I am in this very very simple place to have a computer that plays music, a fairly comfortable bed, two wonderful dogs, tuna sandwiches, fruit and pineapple juice. Anita and Melanie (Anita’s beautiful 8 year old daughter) walked up to see me around 4 and sat to “chat” for awhile. We chat in Spanish, which means there are long long pauses while I try to remember my spanish vocabulary.  It’ll all come, I’m sure.  Nothing quite like total immersion.

This morning I am waiting for Jane and Mike to come by so that we can plan the things I need to get done.   Jane just called to say she had been delayed and would call later. Luckily, I am fairly used to changed plans from living in New Mexico for 15 years. As Mike and Charlie would say, Tranquilo, Jan.  Anita and Melanie have arrived to clean my house and I feel so very grateful. Anita brought a curtain rod for my curtains, which I brought with me. She immediately hammered in two nails and put up the rod she brought to hold the floor length sheer. It feels good to have a little finish note in my bedroom. I tie it in a knot, Tico style, and off to one side to let the consistent soft breeze  to flow into the room. At night I will close the curtains, which will help with bugs as well as a bit of privacy.  From what, you ask?  I have no idea. I cannot see any house close up to where I live. This is truly the sweetest house with the million dollar view.  Anita finishes and my house again looks beautiful – and she takes my considerable laundry which she will wash and hang to dry for me.  

You know – I think that I can get on to this life very well if I can just figure out how to make a living.   

More rest today I think.  I must take some action to get my birds here. Saturday afernoon, before I went to see the doctor, I had two young workmen come to take a look at the job.   Cesar is a young man with his own company of 10 workers who primarily do iron work. He is an artist in steel and iron and I will eventually have him do the front fence in iron with a “logo” I design – probably of the bird of paradise...  He has a quick mind and easy smile and explained that he could build the aviary for me however I want it at the lowest price. He is eager to get more work and knows that the way to do it is to make me good deals. His “right hand man” is Isaac who speaks english quite well. The only problem is that he cannot start work on it until next Friday or Saturday.  I’ll need to decide if I can wait. Meanwhile I will talk with another person who has brought birds into the country and had to build an aviary for the MAG approval and see what he suggests.  Cesar asked if he could bring his wife to see the place. She arrived with their baby who has the greatest smile I have ever seen!  What a beautiful family. I had to bring Gabriella a sweater because she felt cold with the breeze.  

The clouds roll in and then out with the day. Always a different sky. I must find my binoculars to watch the birds in the big trees  below. I have seen toucans there before but not yet since I’ve been living here. I saw kites circling this morning and some very large hawk – and of course the vultures. They are the omnipresent cleaning brigade. With so much life here there is also so much death. Personally, I like vultures and even find them quite beautiful in their own way. Lucky for me there are not many animals, if any, that I don’t like. Even the spiders that come out of their hiding places in the evening don’t bother me much. Small price to pay for living in a paradise to be sure.   

I am told that my belongings are still sitting in Española. We knew that nothing goes on between Christmas and the New Year and so maybe, just maybe things will start to move today. I hope so.  It is soooo hard not to have my paints and supplies here. At least I have my computer and camera – and I think a TV is next. I don’t know what is happening in the world – which is mystifyingly calming....

Take good care and remember,

Pura Vida!

From my bed....

 Looking out my open front door. Seurat, on guard as usual. And there sits the coconut, on top of the fence. I bought it for Alethea but she forgot to take it.

I call them Sleeping Angels. These clouds that come in during the night to hover over the city and then to silently drift off as the sun comes up.

Chapter 5

After Two Weeks

January 7, 2009

This morning I am in town at Casa de Café, the sweetest café you'll ever see and I have ordered El Desayuno Del Dia – my all time favorite of two eggs, tortillas, coffee with milk, orange juice and rice and beans. Someone just arrived with fresh eggs and my mind immediately goes to my sweet chickens that I gave away in NM.  Changes.  So many many changes.  Finally the congestion in my lungs is appearing to clear and I feel better.  I'm having an early breakfast in town and meeting Juan Marco here.

What have I noticed that is so nice here?

• I love that the waitresses now recognize me and ask me how I am.

• I love the softness of paper here. The moisture in the air makies the paper feel soft – like the air. Everything, from the  breezes to the very air I breathe – is softer.

• I love the 20 minutes of rain we got last night – the first rain I have listened to in 2 weeks, since I arrived. This is the dry season – and it is dry. This is summer.  As I lay in my bed I listened to the sound and was thankful for the gentle rain my plants are receiving. I have tried two springklers but neither work. The rainbird technology seems to center upon high water pressure and here in rural Costa Rica all the systems are natural drain down systems from a water container on the top of the hill. Another kind of sprinkler is in order.

• I love the Sleeping Angel clouds that come in during the night. They are long, soft horizontal clouds that appear to "sleep" just above the city.  I see them most nights if I look out and they remain in the early morning. Then they drift away for the morning sunshine.
  
  

Today I am working on my residency here. I want to have a Pensionada residency status so that, after the required amount of time, I can apply for Caja Medical plan.  There is a low monthly fee and everything else is covered if you use the Caja hospital, etc. It is said to be slow, but very good medical care and pharmaceutical plan which I can currently qualify for with the following documents.

• Proof that I  bring in over $600/month.  My social security just qualifies.
• Proof that I have a clear police record in the U.S and from Española, NM.
• Proof that I have been legally divorced.
• Proof that I have been legally born in the U.S.
• Etc.
  

So, my attorney, Ana Borges' son, Juan Marco is to meet me at the Café de la Casa at 8:30 to show me how to get to the office.  I cannot for the life of me find the names of streets in San Isidro, but I know they must be there.   I get to the café a half hour early so I can have breakfast and right on time I see Marcos enter the front of the café.  After paying my bill of $1500 colones (about $2.75 + or -) Juan Marco and I leave for Ana's office. We decide to drive part of the way and park near Ana's office, which is also near R & T  Trust solutions, where I have what is left of my meager amount of money here in Costa Rica. We walk past store after store – open and crammed with just about anything you can imagine. Just a tiny doorway marks the entrance among the streetfront businesses and we enter through a narrow reception room, down some stairs and then up some more stairs to finally come to their office. Juan Marco wanted to be an artist but is following his mother's occupational direction. Ana is a vivacious and beautiful Costa Rican woman who wears tight jeans and hip outfits. And – she is very very smart. She has attained the position of Notaria, which is above that of Attorney in Costa Rica. This means she handles corporations, land and house sales and Residency applications.  She explains to me that we are in a great hurry. The Costa Rican government is already planning to change the residency requirements from $600/month to a higher number like $2000/month – I guess because they are responding to the huge number of wealthy immigrants?  I don't know.  Ana explains that once we have begun the process I can be "grandfathered" into the numbers as they are now – but we must act fast. She asks when I am planning to return to the U.S. So that I can present my notorized and authenticated documents to the Costa Rican Consulate in Houston.  Because of departure time at Christmas, I was unable to get an appointment.  Since I have no other plans yet, she suggests Plan B.  Panama. Apparently the Costa Rican government neglected to specify the "country of origin" when one presents documents.  They just said that the documents must be presented "out of Costa Rica" to a Costa Rican consulate.  So – for a person like me, who has all the documents ready, it makes sense to go to the nearest out of country consulate in Panama.  She has a friend, Eduardo who can lead me through it for $150 plus expenses. The bus leaves at 6:30 a.m. And she'll be calling me at 5 to be sure I'm on it.  Whoa.  I'm still recuperating ftom my respiratory illness. Do you think we could make it next week?  After conversing with Eduardo, we agree that we'll do the Panama trip next Wednesday...  Now – the next thing is getting  fingerprinted in San Jose. It will be best for me to get them this week. Whoa again – another trip over Cerro Muerte and the chance to get lost in San Jose?  She explains that it is best to take the bus, which leaves every 1/2 hour, costs only $4 each way and then I can take a taxi to the place I need to go.  Okay, that sounds better.  I'd better rest up this week for next!  With the remaining 2 hours, Ana describes in intricate detail all that will go into this process of achieving Pensionado residency.  Juan Marco occasionally offers some corrections in her English but I am understanding pretty well.  The total fee of a bit over $2000 is for everything. She will need to go to San Jose at least twice for various parts of the process and will be acting as my representative throughout. The process generally takes about 4 – 5 months.


When I return home, I pass Anita's house and see Alberto and Brian there for a lunch break. They see me go by and walk up to meet me. They have been working in the house while I have been in town and I'm delighted with the results. The main fan, which is a ceiling mounted affair that looks something like propellers from an airplane swirl through my living area creating a augmented breeze in my bedroom and kitchen!  The moving air cools the afternoon  and generally takes care of most of the little flying insects. Talk about pulling out the "big gun" to discourage the one lonely mosquito that has interfered with two nights of rest.  And – they have finished my triangular shelves in my bedroom!  I love it! The shelves are a simple response to my clothing dilemma – i.e. Where to put it. Slats of 1 x 2's and a face plate of 1x3 create enough support for the clothes while still allowing air to circulate.  Anita has been here, too – and the house is clean and all of my clothes are stacked nicely on the new shelves. My bedroom is definitely looking great to me. Considering its small size – 8' x 7', it feels plenty roomy now
.     
It is raining tonight and the gentle noise is quieting and peaceful. Still a bit lonely, I yearn for internet access to my house and for a television.  



My Initial budget estimate - $610/month bare bones

• $75/month to Anita – to clean my house three times a week, take care of my house and dogs when I am away and do the laundry as necessary
• $25/month to the "lawn guy" who will do all my gardening – cutting, hauling away, lawn mowing, etc. - comes by twice/ month
• $60/month phone based on Jane's estimate for herself, using her phone a lot
• $60/month cell phone (once I get one)
• $10/month water
• $30/month electrical
• $200/month food
• $150/month gas for car
  

Well, this morning I have enjoyed just poking around feeling comfortable in the house.  I tried to set up a transfer of money from Wells Fargo in the states to here and am finding that I need some help. I guess the next time I'm in the states I'll have to set it all up....Meanwhile, it'll be ATM's.  Now – where is an ATM?  I'll find it I'm sure.  Everything I need is out there somewhere....

Just spoke to my crew who will be doing the Aviary this weekend! We are ON!  YAY!  Soon, I hope, I will have my 4 parrots here with me in addition to my two dogs.  I don't know what I would do without them.

Chapter 6

Tying Up Some Loose Ends

January 12, 2009

First of all, thanks to those of you who asked about the Costa Rican terremoto 6.2 earthquake.  I honestly did not feel it here in the south but I know that it was devastating for people farther in the north with 17 confirmed dead yesterday and many many more missing. I saw a video report on a tv while at lunch yesterday and it looked like the earth just opened up creating what appears like a mini grand canyon. So many in one town were lost, the village devastated. Highways are a mess, etc. I’m told that Costa Rica experiences earthquakes quite often but in recent memory nothing has been as devastating as this one. Today I should be getting TV installed!  Then  I will know more, I’m sure.

Today my house will be a busy place!  The Cesar Mora crew is coming to start the aviary, Anita is coming to clean the house and Sky TV is coming to install the dish that will get me reception!  YES!

Meanwhile – some good news!  I have a job!
OK, so it doesn’t pay – but who knows what it will lead to. I contacted Scott Oliver who writes/publishes We Love Costa Rica.com and asked if he might be interested in some of my writings – from the perspective of a 66 year old woman moving here alone to start over. He immediately replied yes. So – I’ll send him what I have and see what comes of it. Here, without my paints I can at least be doing some creative writing and photography!  I went all of 2 weeks without “working” and it’ll be good to write what I see and feel.

Tying up Loose Ends:
Friday, January 9.  Today is an important day

Finally I feel well enough to run errands most of the day and Jane and Mike have outlined some things for us and me to do. At 9 a.m. I’m at Casa de la Cafê with breakfast and internet, feeling comfortable in the morning doings. Mike arrives at 9:30. He and Jane work together as realtors, etc. and are also a couple. If feels good to sit talking with someone I feel is an “old friend” even though in total days I haven’t known either Mike or Jane for longer than 11 months.  Still – lots of emails and it feels wonderful to have someone explain the “ins” and “outs”....  And in English!!!  I’m finding that I am actually beginning to think in spanish but I have very far to go.  Ir – to go.  

I have a list.  

• ___buy tv.  I know. It is a luxury I “should” be able to do without. But I so want to have the option of watching CNN occasionally and the inauguration for sure.  Jane has begun the process for me to get Sky TV, which will be a disk on my house for $31/month.  I think that a TV that is less than 40 cm high will fit on my top triangle shelf! I’m beginning to think in the metric system....
• ___Find a better ATM. I used one at Banco de Nacional but the line was long and even though I asked for directions in English, all the info was in Spanish. I did get the colones, but I’m not sure how. Mike tells me there is a good ATM at MacDonalds! I won’t stoop to a Big Mac, but I’ll sure use the ATM since I know where MacDonalds is and there is good parking.  Since I haven’t yet been able to transfer money from the US to here, I am relying on ATM withdrawals.  Soon the transfer should work....All in good time.
• ___Find the DHL office.  Jane thinks she knows where it is and will show me. I can send the documents that Jacqui Monacel, my “relocation services” person and the one who negotiated for my 4-runner (bless her) needs to get me my plates for my car.  The DHL office is a pleasure – no one waiting and very nice people working there. Off goes my envelope for $10.  I could have sent it on the bus, which would have been cheaper, but Jacqui was a little nervous about having the documents I had laying around at the bus station she said.  Good to know about DHL  
• ___Go to the E&T Escrow company to get an authorization form so that the guys coming to build the aviary can get paid. After they finish. I don’t yet have a bank account but that is on the list, too.  The account is open but only Jane’s name is on it. Next I need to add myself and then take her off.  Hm.
• ___Go to pay a down payment to Ana Borges, my attorney, to begin the process for the residency.  
  

I’m pleased to find that I am recognizing some shops and starting to get my directional bearings. Finishing at Ana’s and E&T, I rejoin Jane and Mike. I’ve even remembered to get more copies of my passport face page since it seems that every office wants it. And some want to see the last page showing the most recent date one came into the country;  If a person wanted to be anonymous here, he/she better not apply for Sky TV, a post office box, bank account or any other governmentally involved service.

We stop by the post office so I can get a post office box. It’ll be about $25 for the year.  More forms, more passport photos, and I have an address!  YAY!  Here it is!  He writes it on the back of my receipt.  I am told that it takes 8 days for something to get from here to the US or vice versa – but most people saying this also roll their eyes.....  But Kenneth Mora, the post office worker does not.

Jan Hart
PO Box 595-8000
San Jose, Perez Zeledon, San Isidro
11901 – Costa Rica

We stop for lunch at Brazilia, which is an unassuming bar with a very dark interior. Their specialty, though, is rotisseried chicken served hot with corn tortillas, a pico de gallo mix and black refried beans. It tastes terrific.  Now I know where I can go to get a rotisseried chicken to have for salads, sandwiches, etc. And – it is right across the street from Maxi Bodega!  This is one of the names that Wal-Mart goes by in Central America.  I resist it mightily since it was almost my only choice in Española, where I came from.

My last stop on my own is at Gallo Mas Gallo, to buy a small tv. There is only one that fits my size requirements so the choice is easy.  Heading for home I wonder about how I will have Anita take care of my dogs while I go to Panama. Costa Ricans are truly baffled by the way we Americans bring our dogs into the house and onto our beds. Their dogs are always outdoors. But then, in a country where the temperature outdoors is always comfortable, I can better understand the reasoning. Anita will come to clean my house tomorrow, which really means that she is coming to clean my floors. And again she’ll be shocked by the dog prints. I’m thinking about the possibility of doing a floor on which the design is abstracted dog prints.  I’m not at all sure....

Better get to bed. It is 7 p.m. And morning comes early...

• ---

Transitions
Saturday, January 10, 2009

I awoke  before sunrise eager for the day. Anita came up to clean and told me that Sky TV called to say they would not be here today but would come tomorrow.  Sunday?  Can you believe that they’ll come out on a Sunday?  I’ll believe it when I see it.

One of the curious things about living here are the transitions.  I’ve always thought that I have a difficult time with transitions. I recall finding it difficult, even when feeling very warm to suddenly jump into cooler water. Getting to sleep has often been difficult as is waking up. It isn’t that I resist change so much. It is that I resist the actual act of changing. I am fine once over the transition.  I am finding that transitions here are soft, like the air. The day gently submits to night while I  hardly notice the change until I see the lights of the city.  Now that I’ve mastered the “suicide shower” and can find the perfect flow which in turn creates the perfect faintly warm temperature, getting in and out of the shower is  easy. The temperature stays the same and all that changes is the moisture!  At the beach the water temperature is so perfect that there is no sharp intake of breath as I plunge myself into the sea.

Diurnal Transitions

Night
I woke in the night. Fully awake I could hear the whir of my fan but everything else was quiet – my two dogs soundly asleep on half my bed.  The sky and silhoutted trees and bushes are bluish black. I think the moon is full but I haven’t seen it. I lie awake and look at the dark shapes of the mango tree when suddenly a bright green pinpoint light!  A firefly!  It stays where it is  flashing intermittantly.  Suddenly my yard assumes the image of a fairy land.  Then, just as suddenly I catch the quick flight of a bat zig zagging through the night air catching little insects on the fly.  As I watch I see more – silent and so quick that I can only catch the movement.  The night is as alive as the day!  One night as I walked to the bathroom I caught the quick flutter of a bat returning to its home – through my open eaves to the area above the ceiling under the tin roof.  I’ll bet I have a complete colony there.  Fine by me as they are the insect abaters and we are usually on different schedules....I’m ever grateful for my Zoology undergrad degree.  I love the biological diversity here!  I haven’t yet had time to sit on my porch and study the birds with my binoculars. But I’ve heard the joyful squawking of the white fronted parrots flying over and have seen the toucans and the tanagers, kites and hawks. And my best bird book is packed and I image it slowly lumbering across the US to Miami – and then it will board a cargo ship for Costa Rica.  

Morning
I awake as I do each morning - suddenly. Eyes open I don’t experience the grogginess of the sleep transitions that I was accustomed to in New Mexico. During the winter I often found it difficult to wake up and waited until I felt the effects of the forced air furnace warming the air.  Here the sun has not yet crested the hills but the morning sunrise is lovely with peach and pink and gold. And the temperature is the same as it was during the night and is the same inside as outside.  Charlie says it is 78 degrees here all the time. I don’t believe it and will try to find a thermometer. The air is cool enough at night to require a sheet covering and sometimes a bit more and the air is warm during the day, sometimes requiring the benefit of the breeze or a fan.   The best thing is that the transitions are soft.  I am grateful for small pleasures as I age....

Seasonal Transitions  There are two seasons in Costa Rica. Summer and Winter. OR Dry and Wet.  The dry season lasts from roughly December through May and then the wet season gradually builds to climax at its wettest in October and November, I’m told. I have not yet experienced the true wet season since I arrived just as the dry season began and can look forward to several more months of predominantly dry weather. We’ve had a few rain showers, but nothing like the days of rain that some of my friends have told about.  I probably should pay attention to the leak in my roof before the wet season begins.  When it rains here it really rains!  Buckets pour down and the noise on my tin roof is really loud. On the Osa Penninsula I watched a passing rain storm pelt the jungle. It stopped as quickly as it started and the sun came out to dry all of the animals that had taken shelter under leaf umbrellas. Suddenly there were all the birds – macaws, trogons, toucans – all preening and straightening their feathers after their showers.  I am wondering how I will handle the rainy season in my little house and I should probably do something about my leaky roof in the kitchen.  

Summer
Some say that summer began this year on December 13. Suddenly the rain stopped.  Just stopped.  I would think that there would be a more gradual transition.  

Winter
Before I moved here I asked several who lived here which was their favorite season. All said Winter. The air is freshened by the rain and the roads are not dusty to drive on.  Of course my road could be difficult with mud if the rocks wash out. We’ll see if my mountain goat car can handle it.  If any can, it can I’m sure.

Language Transitions  My new language is definitely spanish and I’m immersed into it. When Anita comes to clean the house she brings Melanie, who sits with me and talks in spanish and tells me new words. My workers doing the aviary just arrived with all the materials and we talk in spanish as well as some english. Everywhere is another opportunity to learn. I’m grateful for the spanish courses I took in high school and college – and a little in Española. I carry my dictionary with me in my car and don’t have to worry about keeping my mind active. Overactivity may be another problem.....

Transitions in Trust  Moving to a new place with a new culture requires building new trusts in people.  I am sure that I will have my ups and downs in this one.  I know that I have often been called a “Polyanna” and that I trust easily. I know I can trust Anita and her family, who are the caretakers for my place when I am not around. They illustrate the beautiful openness and generosity that is legendary among the Ticos. Fortunately, here in rural San Isidro, most people have not yet met “the ugly American” or suffered indignities brought on by outsiders who forget that we are guests in this country - definitely not in charge.  Cesar and Isaac, my worker crew for the aviary trusted me and bought all the materials without a deposit on my part. I trusted them that they would arrive when they said and call if they couldn’t. So far so good.  I’ve been told about the “blue eyed discount” that adds to the amount you pay for things and I’ve been warned to be careful not to get “Ticoed” - i.e. taken advantage of.  Many foreigners with money come here to live. Many Ticos may have the wrongful impression that all foreigners have money.  I try to explain to those I work with or hire that I do not have much money. I think that living in a Tico house also helps to prove the point.  The best thing I am working on is that all interactions are “win win”.  And Isaac always says, when we talk about the project, “Jan – if you are happy, we are happy!” Now that’s what I like to hear!  And I love listening to them as they work – laughing together, working things out. A congenial crew.

And here is what they’ve done in 2 hours!  These guys work hard!  Imagine the outdoor shower off to the right......

 

Much more mas tarde,

Morning softly creeps through my east window.

The lights in the city below

Chapter 7

Getting to Know a few Folks
Saturday, January 10, 2009

They arrive around 10 with smiles all around. Apologizing for their late arrival, Isaac explained that they had to wait 3 hours for the 4x4’s at the lumber yard. But here they are to build my aviary! Cesar Mora is the construction business owner with his bright smile and easy good naturedness. His english is halting but Isaac, his “right hand man” makes up for any lack there. Isaac is slight and wiry with a nice air of confidence and quick, intelligent eyes that seem to miss little. He appears always to be in a hurry. Oscar is a big man with a somber, perhaps shy countenance. He says very little but during the project I see that he is a master at many tasks such as concrete finishing, etc. and he smiles when I complement him on his work. Together they make a great crew – efficient and cooperative while carrying on a nearly consistent stream of laughter and teasing.  Isaac tells me that these men are his #2 family.  Before they begin, I am asked to review the plans we jotted down a week before. A 1 meter by 3 meters footprint, height to about here as Cesar strikes a mark on the exterior wall, and a slope like this as we communicate with our hands.  I remind them that I want the tin roof to extend 3/4 of the way but that the last 1/4 should be wire – so the parrots can elect to be in the rain if they choose. We talk about the door and how it should open. I ask about the slope on the concrete to be sure that it allows for hose cleaning.  Other things will come up but I am fairly confident that we are in agreement.  They begin while I make myself busy in the house. It is pleasant to listen to their amicable banter as they work. By the end of the day they have it all framed and the rough concrete in. Oscar listens to my idea for the door and then executes it perfectly. I’ll use the motif I’ve created elsewhere on the property and I am pretty sure I want this crew to do the work!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The aviary crew arrives at 7, as promised and gets to work.  From time to time I walk out to see the progress and answer or ask questions. I explain that I would like to have some perches for the birds and wonder if some of the tree branches lying up in the wooded embankment can be used. Cesar is interested! I can see the artist in this man who loves to work in wrought iron as well as wood. I bring out some stainless steel dishes that I will be using for the parrots’ food and water and wonder how they can be installed without using the standard screwed holder. Smiling broadly, Cesar announces that he is “off to the mountains!” and he climbs up the sloped embankment behind to look for what he needs. We all laugh.  What emerges is truly art. From a cut tree root he fashions a holder for the large bowl making sure that there is easy access to it from one of the other perches.  The bowl nestles securely but is easily removable. I am now definitely impressed and I ask him about the possibility of doing the sleeping cabinas that I want on the back slope.  He follows me into the house where we sit at my plastic table with a tablet and two pens. He draws what he is thinking about and I make amendments or changes to the drawing. I draw and he makes changes or asks questions. We deal with issues of access, materials and privacy.  Then we walk out to the embankment and visualize where the cabinas will be. I explain that I don’t want to cut down the trees and Cesar agrees that it is best to work around the trees and to save them!  My kind of builder for sure!  He asks if I would  like to have stone steps up to the cabinas and I exclaim “Yes!”. He smiles and says that it is “more cheap, too!”  Si!!! By 3 they are finished and proud to show me how strong it is and how there are no openings for birds to escape or snakes to get in!!!  I ask to take their pictures and promise to transfer the payment to Cesar’s account in the morning.  Before they leave they clean everything up – even the cigarette butts! I ask them to leave the leftover wood materials in the wood shed – for the next project!  Job well done.

Sky TV never showed. I finally negotiated calls to the company to find out when they would  be coming. While congratulating myself that I got through several Spanish speaking people using my very broken spanish, I finally gave up when I couldn’t understand the installer’s phone message. Mañana.  In New Mexico the understood meaning of mañana was -  it doesn’t mean tomorrow; it means not today.  Perhaps that is true here too.  

Near sundown I drove down to Charlie’s to see if I could sit on his deck and steal some internet from his neighbor. Charlie’s brother is care taking the motel while Charlie is in LA visiting his mother.  I get a clearer signal here than at either Internet café but I want to be sure that I’m not overdoing my welcome.  When I finish it is dark and I head back up the winding dirt road toward my house. I must find out what the birds are that sit in the road at dusk and fly away just in front of the car. As I approach Anita’s house I see several cars parked in front and remember that I need to pick up my laundry. The door is open but I know that it is considered impolite to enter a home without being invited. I see several women down the hallway in the kitchen and I call out for Anita.  She arrives with her arms open and gives me a kiss while welcoming me in. In the kitchen are about six women of varying ages, three or four children and a couple men, one of whom is another of Anita’s brothers. I’m told this is a family gathering and asked if I would like to eat. I nod and realize that I’ve not been introduced. Just invited in and welcomed. Anita brings me a small tidbit on a napkin and everyone watches as I pick it up and take a bite. Chicharon! I exclaim to the apparent delight of all, who were quietly waiting to see my reaction. Again I am grateful for my New Mexico culinary experiences. Deep fried pork rinds are a specialty there, too. I am brought a plate with a pork chop and shown the preferred method of eating pork – with fresh cut sweet lemons squeezed over each bite. As I try to cut the pork chop with my fork, Anita demonstrates the preferred method here, too. Use your hands. Now this is my kind of eating! The lemon looks more like an orange inside, but has a bright green rind – and is sweetly sour. I find it delicious. As I eat the animated conversations in the room continue – with much apparent teasing and affection. Outside in back I can hear the men talking and laughing. One brings me a beer, which I accept. Imperial. Costa Rica’s own beer – and a very good one!  Anita brings me a small plate with vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage are the ones I recognize. There are several I don’t recognize. “Salad”, she exclaims.  I accept way too much food and try to eat it all. The vegetables are lightly cooked and “dressed” in mostly vinegar. It all tastes very good.  Finally one young woman tells me she is learning English – and introduces me to her mother and her sister. She explains that her sister, a beautiful and very quiet woman who stands off to the side with her face turned partly away, is very shy and does not like to talk to people.  But she listens to everything and I see her smile now and then. Another woman introduces her mother and her son, who is sitting next to me at the kitchen bar watching and listening with a big smile. Melanie, Anita’s 8 year old daughter announces that she is helping her mother teach me spanish. And Anita explains that she is my cuidador – care taker for my house – and that she cleans it and washes my clothes. Then she surprises me with a statement I’ll never forget. She says that I am her second mother. All appear approving and I reply that Anita is mi hija. They exclaim that this group is now my family!  I’m overwhelmed with good feelings and gratitude. Someone says that my car is a good car. In spanish I try to describe it as a “mountain goat” but have forgotten the word for goat. What ensues is a form of 20 questions with each person suggesting an animal and me replying mas pequeño or mas grande (smaller or bigger). No – not a cow, not a sheep, not a chicken, not a dog. I ask for a piece of paper and a pen and draw a goat. Now I have everyone’s attention! Even the men come in for approving looks! Anita explains that I am an artist and I see immediately that art is a way I can safely approach in this new country!  Cabra!  Yes!  I say that my car is like a cabra de la montaña and everyone laughs.  Then I make a mistake and say that my car is un cabron – and everyone laughs harder. I’m trying to remember what cabron means – and I think it is not something to say in public. Be more careful, Jan.  As I make motions to leave, Melanie asks for more pictures. I oblige by drawing a picture of Sage, my African Grey parrot and explain that he only speaks english but that he will be learning spanish!  Along with me, of course.  Hasta luego!  Anita walks me to the door and embraces me with a kiss good bye. What a wonderful experience this has been!  I’m moved almost to tears as my cabra de la montaño carries me up my steep climb home.  

Monday, January 12
Waiting for Sky TV.....

They are supposed to arrive today and Anita calls to say that she called them and they are on their way.  Ahorita? I ask. Ahorita, she replies – which I hope means right now as opposed to ahora – now.  It didn’t. Two hours later I receive a call from someone I cannot understand but I manage to hear “sky TV”.  After asking him to repeat more slowly several times I finally understand that he wants me to come down to the school to lead him to my house. Addresses here are even more difficult than in New Mexico, which used numbers to identify houses.  Here they use colors – and woe be to you if your neighbor paints his house the same color as yours....  I drive down hoping that I understood correctly. In front of the school are two very young men in a truck looking like they are asleep.  I drive up and ask if they are from Sky TV. Si!  Follow me...and off I go to show them the way up the hill – uno kilometro de las escuela de San Rafael Norte en la casa verde. They get to work unpacking and while one climbs onto my roof with the dish, the other works inside.  No english at all and not really very polite. The inside guy lounges on my bed as he yells to the other on the roof. OK – so there isn’t any room to sit anywhere else in my bedroom – but I’d rather see him sitting upright there and not looking so comfortable. He sees some trail mix I have on a shelf and asks if he can have it, explaining that he feels sick. I offer him water and fruit instead and he accepts. I get the impression that these young men are very poor and very tired – and possibly sick, too. When they leave I am relieved but I still cannot turn on my tv until I have another extension cord. I must get Alberto to install some more outlets. I pick up the trash and tossed cigarette butts that they have left behind and think how grateful I am for the others I’ve met so far. And, I am hoping that the fear they expressed at the sight of my dogs continues.  I must remember to get some signs that say Beware of Dogs in spanish! I think it is Perro Bravo!

 

Chapter 8

 Traveling About on Public Transportation -  Panama and San Jose
January 14,15, 2009

My Panama adventure began at my attorney’s suggestion that it might be less expensive to just go to Panama to present my papers. Ana explained that my documents for my residency application as a Pensionada must be presented to a Costa Rican consul not in Costa Rica. Since I had no plans to go to the US until March, she suggested Panama – just 4 hours by bus! Sounds just right. She went on to say that she had never sent anyone there before but she knew of others and she knew a young man who could accompany me and had taken others from Costa Rica to the Panamanian Costa Rica Consulate.  The price was certainly right. $150 plus all expenses.  The bus would leave at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14.  On Tuesday I meet Estevan who will accompany me. Young, intelligent and energetic, Estevan is Panamanian and attending his last year in law school in Costa Rica. He speaks no english.

I am up at 4:30 – just to be sure I make it and Ana calls me at 5:15, just to be sure I make it.  Ana’s attorney services extend far beyond what I am accustomed to – and I so appreciate her attentiveness to this timely situation. I must get my pensionada process started so that I can beat the Costa Rican government’s change in the minimum income requirement from $600 to $2000/month. With my social security at $750, time is of the essence.  

Saying good-bye to my sweet dogs, I carry my one bag of necessities with my documents and camera. Around my neck is my much too small purse with money, passport and credit card. I drive down to Anita’s house where I will leave my car, at their suggestion so that they can watch it. Anita will take care of my dogs as part of her curidora (care taker) duties.  When I get there Anita suggests that she drive me to the bus. I gratefully accept and we drive down to town just as it is getting light. As we pull in to the bus station I realize I don’t have my purse! Panic!  Anita calmly pulls out her cell phone and calls her brother at home who says that my purse is there. Tranquila, Jan says Anita as we drive back to the house and retrieve the purse. Back to the bus station I am right on time to wait for Estevan, who arrives a few minutes later. And so begins our adventure and another complete immersion into Spanish conversation and cultural nuances.

Our assigned seats in the bus are #1 and 2. I am grateful for the window so that I can see out a little. The seats are high backed and don’t permit any view other than the side window.  We’re off on time and I realize that I forgot to eat anything before I left. For two hours Estevan and I talk clumsily in Spanish about the terrible earthquake that just happened in the north, our mutual sun signs of Saggitarius (no wonder that we are both on a bus, traveling), his family in Panama, my family in the US, etc. I’m very grateful when the bus stops for a 15 minute break at a restaurant. We hastily gulp our breakfasts of rice and beans and meat with coffee – and hurry back to the bus.  
   
Multi colored bougainvilla....                                              Pineapple fields

Traveling through the southern Costa Rican countryside is a visual extravaganza. Every shade and hue of green, gold and blue in the lush vegetation with flowers of all the warm colors – reds, magentas, pinks, yellows and oranges. The pineapple fields of dusky blue green with earth in complimentary orange extend for miles along with sugar cane, palm plantations and numerous others I don’t yet recognize. Here and there are the Tico houses – always in bright colors like the flowers.  I decide to take note of the house color combinations that please me most and note that cool yellow, almost yellow green with a warmer yellow is very exciting. But then there are shades of orange that remind me of papayas with trim in a warmer orange. So many choices!  

 Even the poorest Tico houses are colored brightly and always the morning’s wash is hanging out to dry in a myriad of more colors. And the setting? It is definitely humble in paradise!

Our four hour ride finally ends at what is called the frontera – or frontier, which is an area near the border with Panama. We hail a taxi to the border, where we have our passports checked and stamped. Estevan says that I will need to have my colones changed to dollars. In Panama they don’t accept Costa Rican colones.  At a nearby bank I wait my turn and just as my number is called Estevan receives a call on his cell phone – from Ana. He hands the phone to me. Ana explains that I need to have my colones changed to dollars. She really meant it when she said she would be taking the trip with me! Talk about full service!!!! I reply in the affirmative and another taxi gets us to a bus stop where we get on a Panamanian bus headed for David – another hour away.  

My first impressions of Panama are settling in. The terrain flattens out – with mountains in the distance. The country’s economy shows in the roads. Paved, wider and well marked – a stark contrast to the patched and worn roads of Costa Rica. We pass several gated enclaves with large, tile roofed homes and Estevan says that they are American. The US presence and influence in Panama is easy to see. From the ubiquitous dollar to an army, armed police and even yellow taxis. In David we again get off the bus and into a taxi which takes us to the hotel Estevan has selected – located upstairs from a casino. I’d love to take a nap but we have no time. We must get to the consulate. After dropping off a few clothes and freshening up we taxi to the consulate. If I was on my own I’d never find my way I’m sure. The building is home to several consulate offices – Spanish, Mexican, etc. At the end of a long hall we come to a door marked Costa Rican Consulate. Estevan says that I must go in alone. I enter a very small room filled with six people, all waiting. I explain in Spanish to the receptionist that I wish to present my papers. She indicates a chair for me and I sit. It is hot and the air is still. Everyone stares away from others’ eyes. And we wait.  After about 45 minutes the door opens quickly and a large man enters while talking or mumbling in Spanish – very fast.  I don’t understand a word. He brushes past and stands next to his secretary. He takes care of all the waiting people quickly and in apparent good humor. Then he scowls and looks at me and motions for me to follow him into his adjoining office – flooded with afternoon sun. As he steps behind his desk he  doesn’t sit and says something to me that I cannot quite hear or understand. Nothing quite like being hard of hearing in a foreign language! He seems impatient and glances at his watch. The office hours on the door said 10 to 3 and I’m pretty sure it is after 3. He turns to his computer and telephone and back again to the desk. He reminds me of a Sumo wrestler shifting his weight and preparing for the fight. I know that Ana talked with him yesterday and he knew I was coming and I wonder what is going on in his mind.  Still standing he goes through my stamped and official documents page by page. I wait and watch and wonder at the fact that he has not once smiled or slowed his rapid spanish to try to accommodate mine. There is nothing I can do but sit there and wait to see what’s next. I want to remind him of Ana and I carefully extend my page of important numbers and point to Ana’s. He picks up his phone and punches out the numbers to her cell phone. He doesn’t get her. I suggest the office number and he tries it and asks for her to call back. We wait. I pray that Ana calls. She does. The next ten minutes are in rapid fire spanish and he’s doing most of the talking. My heart sinks. Then – I watch him listening and saying, “Si,....si.....si....si” and it looks, from my spectator seat that Ana has taken the offensive!  Soon after I am dismissed, with my papers and I walk back out into the hallway where I find Estevan leaning against a column.  I have no real idea what has happened but am delighted when Estevan’s cell phone rings and it is Ana. He hands the phone to me and she says not to worry. She and the consul will work together and get this done. She says that all he really needed was to see me in person with my passport.  Again I am so thankful for Ana!  And I am exhausted and very hungry.

Estevan suggests that we meet a friend of his for dinner. Octavio is another abogado – attorney. There seem to be a lot of them around. We enter an air conditioned restaurant and I am grateful for the respite from the heat. Octavio speaks just a few words of english but we converse mostly in my fragmented spanish.  The dinner reminds me more of American food with french fries that are uniform sizes composed of some pulverized potato instead of the Costa Rican style of actual cut potatoes. Still, it tastes good to me.  Octavio suggests that we take the 1/2 hour drive to Boquete, where the norte americanos live. He says it is beautiful there, and cooler. I decline because I am tired. I’ll save a Boquete trip for another time when the sun is not low in the sky.  Instead we drive to the one high spot in David where I can look out over the Panamanian landscape and city.  The sky is beautiful and I take several pictures, which seems to please both of them. Back at the hotel I drop into bed with the air conditioner blowing cool air toward the ceiling and I’m asleep before I can watch any TV.

In the morning Estevan knocks on my door at 7 and I take a very quick cold shower and get dressed. No hot water here. We go to breakfast at a nearby restaurant and I see that the Panamanian fare is very different from Costa Rican. The cafeteria style glassed counter presents several forms of meat and types of bread. And I see a couple of boiled eggs. Estevan suggests a particular combination and I follow suit. The only fruit I see is at the end next to the cash register and consists of a few papaya slices, a few grapes and some apples. I ask for orange juice after Estevan indicates that it is fresh squeezed. So delicious!  We sit at a small table and I notice that there are no utensils. Estevan shows me how to use the fried bread to pick up the meat to eat. I am reminded of New Mexico sopaipillas and Native American fry bread. I wonder if it is common practice to omit utensils. The orange juice is unbelievably wonderful and the café con leche better than any I can recall. After breakfast Estevan takes me to the central park where he wants me to take pictures. I really see nothing I want to photograph but finally snap a few of some interesting plants to satisfy his tour guide inclination. How can anyone think they know what someone else wants to photograph?  Then we walk across the street to a shoe store. Estevan explains that he needs new shoes and this is a discount store. I take the opportunity to find some open sturdy sandals that will be good for walking in the jungle, etc. Only $15 and I’m happy!  Estevan buys some leather tennis shoes and we leave the store. I’m just following along as we start walking through a neighborhood. I’m wondering where we are going now. He smiles as we stop at a little house where he calls out. A lovely old woman appears – Estevan’s grandmother. She invites us in and we sit for all of 5 minutes before he kisses her goodbye and we’re on our way again –through taxis and buses to the frontera. On one bus we are picked up even though there appear to be no seats available. Then the bus helper magically produces a new seat folded down from another. A boy gives me his seat and takes the new one. A woman with two small children gets on and she takes yet another magically produced seat, while holding her baby. The other little boy of about 3 crawls up beside the bus driver, who wraps a protective arm around him. When the bus slows I watch other passengers reach out to make sure the child is safely protected.  The village caring for the child.  I smile at the group congeniality I find here. Passports stamped, checked and checked again we hurry to get the 10:00 bus for the ride back to San Isidro where I hug Estevan, pay him his fee and grab a taxi to Anita’s house and home. Again I am so grateful for where I live – just a $4 taxi ride from town!

The next morning – Friday - I drop by Ana’s office at 9 and she asks me about my Panamanian trip and assures me that she will be working with the Panamanian Consul. “You can go to San Jose on Monday to get fingerprinted.  Yes?  Then you can rest up from both trips”, she says. Okay. Monday it is. She fills out several pages of documents in spanish and staples them to my photocopied passport pages. I watch as she pulls out a little box of stamps and proceeds to place three individual stamps of different colors on each page. Then the stamps are stamped with an ink stamp. She finishes this tedious process by signing each stamped stamp!  I am completely amazed and so grateful for her attention to all this detail!

Bus Trip to San Jose  
January 19, 2009

 On Monday I miss the 9:30  San Isidro to San Jose bus and wait with two American surfers for the next one at 10:30. My assigned  seat number is #2. I was late in arrival but  I guess they save the front seats for those who look old.  I’m happy to have the window seat and my companion is a pleasant Nicaraguan man who, of course, speaks only spanish.  So, I get more practice!  The bus ride to San Jose costs just $4 and takes a little over 3 hours over the Pan American highway – over Cerro Muerte mountains from my elevation of 3000 ft to 10,000 ft at the highest point. Taking a bus is a lot like flying. I put all my faith in the driver as we speed along, passing trucks and slower cars on the narrow two lane highway. Ricardo explains that he grew up in Nicaragua but has lived in Costa Rica for 16 years. He sells clothing and souvenirs to tourists on the beaches. Today he is going to San Jose where he will pick up the items to sell and then head for the beach. He is also going to meet one of his brothers who is visiting San Jose. Because it is the day before Obama is inaugurated, we talk about some politics and I am no longer surprised to find that everyone I meet is most interested in and hopeful for the Obama presidency!  Ricardo says there has been too much war and he is hopeful for peace.  I concur.  At the comfort stop two hours into the trip, we hurry to the cafeteria style line and he orders some rice and chicken for $2 – which I follow. We hurry back to the bus and are on our way.  Arriving in San Jose, Ricardo insists on helping me find the Ministry of Public Security, Department of Fingerprint Archives where I intend to be fingerprinted for my Pensionada application. I have been told that it’ll take just a few minutes and that no one will be there. So much for heresay. We take a taxi to the specified location and pass through security. The police guard is jovial and asks me very lightheartedly if I have any weapons in my bag – and then points the way to a crowd of people – all waiting. I walk up to the open half door and hand the woman my passport and papers. She says that I need another passport photo even though the information says just two are needed. What to do? Ricardo talks with her and then tells me we are going across the street to get photos at Quick Photos.  In just five minutes the photos are done and I’m back to the fingerprint station.  There are more than 50 people waiting on steps, leaning against cars and sitting on low concrete walls.  Waiting. I am the only gringa. People from all over Latin America must come here if they are looking for work or residency. Ricardo bids me farewell and I make myself comfortable on a low wall. Arriving at 2:00, I wonder if I’ll be seen by closing time at 3.  Carlos, a jovial Costa Rican man sits down next to me at 3:30 and asks me how long I have been waiting. We both wonder if we’ll be seen today. I ask Carlos if he knows where I can find a restroom and he takes me through a parking lot and between some buildings to a park where there are public restrooms. There always appear to be public restrooms available in this country and I am grateful. And – they are clean. When I return Carlos tells me that my name has been called and I hurry to the half door and peer in. I’m motioned inside to take a seat. Now that it is closing time, more agents have been put to work to finish up.  A woman comes to get me and I sit next to her desk computer and answer questions mostly having to do with my identifying features – scars on my body, height, weight, etc.  I imagine that they’ll need to have all this information in case I wash up on some beach someday....Nice thought, Jan.  After each of my fingers and even my four fingers together on both hands are printed I am done. I receive a copy with the all important number assigned that I will take back to Ana so she can proceed with the residency.  I wave to Carlos and catch a taxi to the bus station just in time for the 4:30 bus back to San Isidro.  As the bus nears San Isidro I find my heart leaping at the first sight of the distant city lights of San Isidro. My friend, Mike said that his mother used to tell him the distant city lights were really pirate jewels. Treasure. And a treasure describes perfectly my feelings about this city in the southern part of Costa Rica. San Isidro de El General or Perez Zeledon (the old name for the city). Another successful venture on Costa Rica’s very affordable public transportation.  I’m home by 8 p.m, asleep by 9. The pirate treasure twinkles into the night below my house. All is well.

at

Chapter 9

The Cabinas Begin and My Emergency Plan
February 27, 2009

Hi, Everyone!

Next Tuesday I am off to Florida to do a workshop there in the Keys and I’m very excited!  I’ve never been there and am eager to paint the aqua water and beautiful flowers! And reflections!!!!

The crew has started the land work for the cabinas and some trees have had to go – sadly. But the work is going well. Cesar was here to pick them up last night after dark. These workers are incredible.  Just two guys for 12 hours with machetes and shovels!  When I return after the workshop the construction of the cabina base will be underway!  More on that mas tarde.

My Emergency Plan

Up until last night I hadn’t given it much thought. If any.
What would I do if I couldn’t use the phone or my car and had to get help? My immediate answer is that I would go down to Anita’s house. Of course Anita’s house, while visible from my house, is not easily accessible on foot. It is considerably lower and only accessed by a pretty steep and rocky dirt road. At least Anita’s house is down hill. Perhaps no more than a bit over a football field away, it is daunting to walk to for someone with nerve damaged legs that sometimes don’t perform as anticipated.
So last night I tried out my plan.

I didn’t intend to.

It was 7 p.m and dark outside. I was lying down on my bed watching CNN and thinking about changing into my nightgown and about how nice it felt to lie on my bed and relax. Suddenly the dogs raced into the studio room and out the dog door, barking ferociously as they only do when something or someone is near. I got up and walked out the front door and onto the porch. There, just beyond my fence was a young woman and a young man on a motorcycle. She held an envelope and was looking for someone named Rodriguez. I told her who I was and that I didn’t know who she was looking for. She thanked me and they left.

I turned around to go inside and my emergency plan was initiated.

My front door had closed and locked. I had no way to get back inside.

Immediately I thought about the last time this had happened and my response had been to break a small window in my bedroom where I wanted to install a jalousie window. Pretty easy. But now there were no more small windows to break. Then I remembered that after that experience I had duplicated the key for the front door and hidden it behind the house. Carefully I walked barefoot around the dark side of the house to the hiding place I remembered. Without a flashlight I had to feel around, hoping that I wouldn’t run into any unfriendly spiders or other critters. If the key was there I couldn’t find it.  Back to the front porch. I would have to find another way into my house. The dog door. I tried but soon discovered that it was too small and then worried that I’d have to spend the night stuck in a dog door until my workers arrived in the morning. Embarrassing and not to mention uncomfortable. Okay. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I would have to walk barefoot down to Anita’s house in the dark to get the extra key from her. And so I began, step by painful step.

    
Zoom lens View of Anita’s house from my yard – day and simulated moonlit night.
 and how it really looks at night without a zoom lens

My neighbors have been trying to find a way to improve the road that suddenly gets very steep right below my house. Large, jagged rocks were brought in – which might have made a good base in the wet season, but mostly have laid on top creating bumps and spins and slips. With no street lights to help me find my way I slowly chose my steps and wished I had a walking stick. The rocks hurt my tender feet and my cadence was...step - “ouch” - step “ouch”.... These feet had not walked bare except on sand for at least 20 years. I was half way there and past the most difficult area when the motorcycle couple reappeared, still looking for Rodriguez.
    “Puede de ayudarme?” Can you help me?  I emplored.
They stopped immediately and asked what they could do. Seeing my bare feet, they looked alarmed.  I explained as best I could that my friend, Anita lived just below in the orange house and that she had a key to my house. The woman stayed with me while the man rode his motorcycle down to Anita’s. I wonder what he said to her.

“There is a crazy woman walking barefoot down this road who says you are her friend and that you have a key to her house.”

I saw Anita and her family come out on their porch to look up towards me, way below.

The motorcyclist returned with the key and the woman handed me a piece of paper with her name on it in case I needed more help. Alicia. I thanked them, wishing that I could somehow get a ride back up the incline – but then deciding that riding on the back of a motorcycle on a steep, slippery road was not something I wanted to add to the saga.  They left saying, “Poco a poco.”  Yes. Little by little I started back up the road feeling the security of the extra key in my left hand. It was easier going up and the last steepest part was best done on all fours. Walking across my grass front yard felt sooo good. And feeling the click of the opening door felt even better.

Today I plan to go to town to get at least 3 extra door keys that I plan to stash in 3 separate places around my yard and in my car. And, I’ll put an extra car key with one of them. And, I’ll put a flashlight, walking stick and extra shoes in my car!  Then I’ll have my emergency plan ready!

And I did it! I now have an extra car key and house key somewhere inside the skull hanging on my front porch. If you get to Costa Rica and to San Isidro and to San Rafael Norte and up the road to my house and I’m not here - you know where the key is!  Come on in and make yourself comfortable.

Chapter 10

Work Continues
End of February.  

The Cabinas....The cabinas are beginning.  Thanks to all the folks who sent in $ for the Time Share Intensive with me, the work on the cabinas can proceed. I have only two more spaces available for anyone who would like to take advantage – and the first person is coming next month!!!  YAY, Kathy!

No one knows how far I’ll get beyond the cabinas – but I’m secretly hoping that the outdoor studio can be started. My job is not to worry about the outcome but to make the process as good as it can be in whatever way I can.

So...about two weeks ago I met with Cesar and Isaac to make sure we understand each other. I give them 50,000 colones to begin with, which is nearly $1,000 so that they can get the materials and Cesar says they’ll be starting on Thursday. On Thursday morning he arrives with two young men who begin the work on the earth. Because I can’t really climb up the embankment easily or without some help, I wait for Cesar to return in the evening to check the work. We have an agreement that the base will be constructed of steel and that the measurements of each cabina will be 10’ x 16’ with an additional 3’ of deck around two sides of the cabins – front and sides.  We will likely scoot the cabina back a foot to allow for a larger deck in front for each cabina.  We agreed that for $5,700 the land work will be done and all the base steel will be in place along with the steel skeleton and hip roof with eaves that extend out over the decks. Also, there needs to be some landscape work done so that I am able to walk up – i.e. Some stone steps....  I can see the guys working hard as I work at my desk. I see – through the aviary.  When Cesar arrives, it is already dark so he is unable to see the work that has been done. While he was gone I sketched up a new plan that allows for the bed area of the cabina to be extended out to the edge of the deck, giving more room to the cabina itself. Also – a shower and toilet together with the sink in the main cabina area – to serve as a kitchenette area along the common wall. I’ll have a small refrigerator in each cabina, too – for crema and/or maybe ice cream! It is sounding better and better and I may want to do as Cesar and Isaac said, move up to one of the cabinas and rent my house out!

On Friday morning I am eager to see Cesar and the two workers and am hoping to get a hand up so that I can go up to see the work so far.  It is steep.  Cesar helps me up the slope and I am able to see the place they are clearing. I ask about various trees and understand how they are seeing the clearing progress. By Friday evening the young men have cleared and leveled most of the area as well as created some steps for me to get up the incline.  I’m delighted.

While I am gone to teach in Florida they say that the work will continue.....

Beginning of March....

Teaching.  With a workshop in Florida looming my teaching has sort of begun in my house!  My first two students are Anita’s daughter, Melanie (8) and son, Ronaldo (11). I gave Ronaldo a little palette with some paints in it and a brush when Anita told me he was beginning watercolor in his school and was very excited. I asked him to bring me the brush and palette the next time he came up with Anita – and this morning he did – along with Melanie. I had Melanie painting at one end of the table and Ronaldo on the other. I demonstrated some of the paints but they were mostly interested in using paints in a traditional manner – more and more on top of more. When I demonstrated wet in wet they yawned. Ronaldo prefers his spindly 50 cent brush to my good 1” brush and Melanie hates to go outside of lines. Much work to do!  Still – Anita and I were delighted!  I will be teaching Anita, too – one of these days...

Workshop in Marathon, Florida! The workshop in Marathon, Florida was completely organized by my friend and student, Diane Middlesworth and her husband, Ned. And what a wonderful workshop it was!  Tropical breezes, beautiful flowers, exotic plants and now I understand why the water is so very turquoise. The Florida Keys are limestone. White limestone!  Wow. What a treasure for me to see and paint the reflected light everywhere, including under the clear water.  Having always wanted to see the Keys, I can say now that I love them!  I even found a little trailer park where I’m sure I’d be very happy if I need to leave Costa Rica – which at this point I cannot even begin to imagine.  I had fresh seared tuna twice – and that is a big favorite for me!  Meanwhile, in Diane’s shaded car pavilion – we painted and critiqued and laughed a lot!  You know -  I have been to many places to paint. But the incredible shots that I was able to get in Marathon are certainly some of my best. I will be painting them in the near future as so many of the plants and ecology are similar to those found in Costa Rica.

 We all took this one on and I’ll share my progress ....

     First washes leaving plenty of white spaces – horizontal on the ground to
make sure the earth lies flat. Yellow painted for the reflected light!  My palette?  A tetrad including Quin Sienna, Ultramarine Turquoise, Cobalt Blue and Quin Magenta (and Rose Madder Genuine).  I under painted in Aureolin as usual and then insisted on using a bit of Aureolin in the reflected light. So...I cheated a bit.
         Work on some of the background –making definite shapes with darker
mixes and some negative painting.  A little yellow in the background creates an illusion of light
    Some more glazes - cobalt blue and Rose Madder Genuine (RMG) for the
trunk and shadow work and some smaller shapes in the foreground with RMG and Aureolin. I begin to add in some cast shadows....


Not done yet. There is still plenty to do but I may just leave the lower right empty.  If you would like to paint along with me I can send you a good original photo that you can print!  Just let me know.  I’m excited about this one!  And – I’ll be happy to offer a quick critique if you send me a jpeg.

March 10.
It was finally time to bid farewell to the Keys paradise and head back home to another!  I flew out of Miami at 12:45 and arrived at 1:30 p.m. But in reality I spent almost 3 hours in the air.  Costa Rica is not at all far from Florida!  My car was safely maintained by a friend near the airport and I thought I’d find my way home just as easily as I found my way from home over the Cerro Muerte mountains past San Jose to Alajuela and the airport. The only glitch was that I couldn’t find the map that my friend, Mike had drawn for me. But I thought I could remember it. And so began my two hours of driving all over the San Jose area looking for the road to Cartago....  I was so lost. Little streets, traffic jams, one way streets, difficult to navigate rotundas (roundabouts), rush hour traffic,  difficult turns. My strategy finally became to find gas stations and then to ask how to get to Cartago which would at least get me into the vicinity of the road over the mountains..  After 5 stops at 5 gas stations and in evening traffic, I followed a kind gentleman who said he would show me the way. We went along an impossible route that I’d never be able to explain or find again. At last he pulled over, bid me goodbye and pointed in the direction I should take. And once again I was confronted with entering a very familiar rotunda roundabout that I’d passed through at least three times before. I decided  to take an exit that felt right. It was!  Hallelujah! And I was off toward Cartago at last. I edged my car onto the Cerro Muerte highway at 5 p.m. knowing I’d have only about an hour of light left but deciding to go on ahead. Wonderfully, it was a full moon night and the drive was mesmerizing!  Higher and higher into the cloud forest with mist on my windshield dimming the view ahead and finally up above the clouds!  At the peak I saw the soft pastel clouds lit by the sunset below on my right, over the Pacific and the moon lighted white clouds below on my left, over the Carribean. I was certainly on top of the world and it was beautiful – ghostly, eerie at 11,000 ft. along the two lane Pan Am highway with semi-trucks and buses and cars all sharing and maneuvering the winding road. The entire length of highway is marked with a no pass double line which no one ever regards. We wait for our turns to pass a slower truck chugging along and take the opportunity when and if it arises. Usually the truck ahead will announce that it is safe to pass with a left turn signal and you had better take your turn when it is offered. If you don’t there are lots of horns honking!  My plan was to follow a slow truck as soon as it got dark but I found myself in lead position on the way down the mountain towards San Isidro de El General. Switching from high beams to low, I used gears to slow my descent and kept my eyes on the road ahead. The ghost like clouds appeared often like snow and great billows of shapes in the moon light. Finally I passed the white statue of Christ on the rocks to my right and I was just about to San Rafael Norte.  I pulled into Anita’s driveway at about 7:30 – so glad to be home. She and the kids greeted me excitedly and told me they knew that my dogs would be very happy to see me. We all three (two dogs and me) tumbled into bed shortly after I got home and slept soundly in the quiet soft Costa Rica moonlight.  While my preference is not to drive Cerro Muerte at night, I know I can. And while my preference is not to get lost in San Jose, I also know that I can find my way. These are like notches in my belt, making me feel a little safer on my own -  a little more confident that I can handle whatever comes along.

Next morning I got up early to see the progress on the cabinas.  I climbed up the slope to disappointment that nothing much had been done while I was away. There was a nice pile of cipressa rustica for the walls and tongue and groove for the floor – but the underlying steel was nowhere to be seen.  I called Isaac and he explained  that they would be up soon to talk with me. They didn’t come. In the evening I called again and Cesar assured me that they would come up the next morning with the steel and talk with me.  I felt a little nervous about it but knew that there was nothing to do until we all talked.  Sure enough, Thursday morning they lumbered up the hill in Cesar’s truck loaded with heavy beams of steel.  One by one they stacked the steel and said that now they could begin ..... just as soon as they finished up another job....  And so it goes...    Livvie looks over the staging area below....

One thing I am discovering about these beautiful people, the Ticos.  They really hate to disappoint and they really hate to confront. They’ll do nearly everything to avoid saying “no” or “I don’t know”.  They’ll even avoid an appointment if they know they have to say something that you won’t like.  In San Jose I stopped to ask a young man for directions. He paused and pointed back the other way.  I turned my car around but just to be certain I stopped again and asked another who enthusiastically pointed in the opposite direction. I’m pretty sure that the first young man gave me any direction just to avoid disappointing me by saying he didn’t know.  So – my job is to try to avoid situations where I confront or ask difficult questions. It seems that if I ask a lot of questions that permit my crew to answer enthusiastically and positively I can slip in one uneasy question and it’ll be okay.  If I keep the atmosphere positive I am hoping hoping that it’ll pay off. After all – I only have a sheet of paper with the monetary figure written on it along with Cesar’s and my signatures and our verbal agreement about what that figure exactly includes.  Oh boy.....  The good news?  Two guys are here this morning at 7! The best news? I have thought ahead and have an extra hose that will reach up the slope for mixing the concrete!

And life in Costa Rica continues...
My plans for the day?  I plan to drive down to the Coffee Stop to check my email with a cup of coffee and then head into town to the market, where I’ll stock up on vegetables and fruits. I’ll stop at the fish market and get some fresh dorado since I now know it is mahi mahi! Then, I’ll stop by the Libreria to see if the file cabinet that I think I ordered has actually come in. Then I think I’ll stop by the post office (if I can find it) to see if I’ve received anything. Then, I’ll pull over on a corner I found in town where I can check my emails again and come on home. If I see that Anita is home I’ll ask her again when she thinks her cousin will come to town so that the three of us can go to ICE and transfer the phone that is in her cousin’s name to mine so that I can start the process to get a cell phone!  Whew.  Maybe I’ll paint this afternoon!  If not this afternoon, I’ll paint tomorrow!  I must get beyond this difficulty of painting by myself!!!!  And – maybe I’ll unpack another box!!!  

 

2010

All 28 of my chapters are available now as an E-book, which has been published on the popular website, welovecostarica.com. You can order a copy there or directly through me for $20 by emailing me for directions. The title is

What Do You Mean I Can't Move To Costa Rica?

Email jan here.