I am finally getting it!

I think I am finally getting it. Slow down, slow down, slow down!!!! I live in the bedroom community of Playa Hermosa. Unlike other bedroom communities like Richmond Hill, there are no stores, no libraries, no theatres and certainly no malls. There is one beach and lots of big houses overlooking the ocean. That’s it! If there was a main street, I could shoot a canon down it and not hit anyone.

In fact, it does not even meet my conception of a beach, except thinking of it in terms of Plato’s “beachness” . In other words, when I think of ‘beach’ I think of Cancun or Veradero with white hot sand, big waves , and the movie movie”10” with the star jumping on the burning sand. This sand is darkish, hardpacked and not ‘pretty’. However, now that I have my head around it, it is even better because it is not hot, you can walk or run on it and the water is great to swim in. I have to buy myself a mask so I can see who I am swimming with…not the people, because there aren’t any, but the fish.

It is Sunday afternoon and I just came back from the beach having written this before I went out. I want to take back the hot comment. Yes, volcanic beaches are just as hot…I just did not realize it because it is cool at 5:30 am or pm when I am usually there.

Last night, I swam in the morning, at 5:30 and again at night. I really enjoyed lying on the water and seeing the sun melt into the water at sundown ( I believe about 6). When I saw Josh’s pictures of a Thai beach I realized that we have the same thing here…the island or two with rock sticking up out of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful green forest except without the spicy food.

We also have volcanoes! Yesterday, after a school picnic, I drove to Liberia, a cattle town which National Geographic calls “the most colonial of Costa Rican cities, redolent in its own charm.” Not quite what Irving said about it, and now I tend to agree with the Frisch viewpoint. Like every Costa Rican town, there is the city square with the church on one side and not much else.

After touring Liberia ( in about 5 minutes), I decided to drive north on the main highway- a two lane road. On the east you see giant peaks ( which I guess are volcanoes) enveloped by clouds. I took a right turn on one of the dirt roads and headed towards the mountains. Yes, I still have my rented car more or less intact, but it was an adventure. My pictures do not capture the beauty in any way. I had no time to set up the pictures or fool around with angles because I was afraid to keep the car in the middle of the single lane road ( or lane and a half) in case some other car was crazy enough to come by. In fact, some horses with riders did come by, but the horse could make it by my car, barely. I saw one boy on the horse with a big bag of something going home the other way and I presume the mother, walking behind. I wanted to offer her a lift but could never have turned the car around at that juncture because I was high up in the mountains and if I turned and did not quite make it, I could end up in the valley below quite easily. Putting the car in reverse is not so easy.

I spent this afternoon working and in spite of the Frisch suggestion otherwise, went to visit Filedephia. It was actually very picturesque with the river running through it.
One more thing. If you are ever in a toilet stall and the door does not lock properly-don’t force it. I assure you it is less embarrassing having someone walk in than having to yell over the noises of a casino to let you out of a toilet stall!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

O.K. so not so ugly. It is Costa Rica after all! I am now an expert on Costa Rica, having been here for one week. The good is that the beaches are empty, the bad is, how am I supposed to meet anyone? The good is that the water is warm, I do not need a towel when I come out for my instant dry; the bad is my floor is covered in sand as I have nowhere to rinse off as I cross the street back to my house.

My house is spectacular, as you can probably see from the pictures. It is the ground floor of a duplex which has a full kitchen complement ( still virginal I may add), two bedrooms, a porch to sit on as well as dine and greenery all around. The bad is to get to the house you have to take your life in your hands. To get down to the beach, you drive down a narrow winding road for nine kilometers which in Canada would probably be about a one lane road but here is two lanes. Try navigating that at night ( in gearshift!) Once you are near the house, assuming you find the turn, you have to navigate through potholes the size of the moon and when you finally reach the house put the car in first gear to even get up the driveway because it is so steep. The first night I had the car I had to find my way home from the school in the dark and even though Playa Hermosa is about the size of a postage stamp I somehow missed the turnoff to my street. Not a surprise, really, if you know anything about me! Luckily, I saw about three guys talking in the middle of the road and when I spoke to them in Thai got no response. This time, it was not because they were Thai, but because they were Spanish. Switching to my non-existent Spanish I asked where the Hotel Finistere was, which is on the road to my house. Taking pity on me, one of them got into the car and drove with me for one block. He then asked for a propina ( see how fast I am learning) and when I offered him 2,000 colones, about four dollars, he saw the 5,000 in my wallet and asked for it. I did not feel I was in a very good bargaining position, frankly, and gave it to him, thankful that I found my house, actually had a key, and could finally get some sleep.

School is engaging, to say the least. I am up at six, just when I normally fall asleep. I am wakened by the gorillas in the trees near the house; at least they sound like gorillas although they are probably howler monkeys. I blindly pour my breakfast cereal and get ready for school. The good is I do not have to wear a tie. The bad is there is a reason for it. It is very hot ( supposedly) and I end up playing in the mud with the kids, as you can see from the pictures. The kids are doing phenomenal things as you can see…visiting our fish farm, looking through microscopes, putting on an art show, putting computers together and so on. The good is that the school is on a farm, the owners are amazing and passionate and dedicated to learning and the bad is all of the above. Because the school is so new, there are only 50 kids and about 10 teachers. I think running a school of 1000 kids and 90 teachers would be a breeze but when you have a small size you actually have to work…it does not run itself.

My challenge for to-night is to find the Coco-Palm restaurant where all the expatriates I met at the beach are hanging out having a fish fry with the fish my ‘new’ friends caught to-day. There is Allan the business person from Baltimore, Dave who owns the golf course and Garth the Canadian. Should be an adventure.