Really manual labour!!!

This morning we heard "hola!" and looked out to see a man standing outside our gate. Our long-awaited gardener!! Our landlady had set up services in advance but some had failed to show up...Today, Miguel checked under the house for comejen (termites) who build a "tunnel" or "road" up the wood to eat it-fascinating! We'd already found and destroyed these and filled the "troughs" around the posts that hold up the house with oil and water to keep them and ants out. Miguel cleaned the roof and canoa (pipes), cut the grass and overgrown vegetation in the garden, front and the path leading down to our house him. His tools: a machete, a broom, and a rake. No power tools here...and what a great job he did in three hours! All for $2.00-$3.00 an hour.
It was an extremely hot day and he'd ridden his bike from who knows where. We wanted to give him a drink, but  mindful of social etiquette, knew he wouldn't feel comfortable coming into our living area. We were unsure about offering so decided to send Gabriel with a tall glass of juice. It was accepted with a bit of embarrassment but he eventually drank and brought the glass back, waiting outside, until Gabriel took it from him.

Gabriel was quite taken with Miguel's prowess with a machete, so we weren't too surprised to see him dressed in big rubber boots slinging a machete in the empty lot next to ours, to cut the grass for them. Did a good job too!
Michael and Gabriel went for a bike ride after school and ended  up at Pamela's for a fruit smoothie. She was not letting anyone in because the "cleaner" (army) ants were at her house and she didn't want them disturbed. They had the very special privilege of being admitted and watched the ants come in a long line up the entrance and through the restaurant. This is so absolutely fascinating! They come up to a million strong, long, long lines of ants marching in formation about six inches wide, "cleaning" as they go. They will pick up (killing first if need be) dead flies, spiders, cockroaches, even scorpions as they make their systematic and methodical way. At their sides are the "kamikaze's" who will attack whatever threatens the  cleaners. You do not want to get in their way-they bite painfully!! They stay in formation by scent and if their scent is disturbed, will become confused and chaotic and in quite a stir until they are organized again. I can't believe it myself, but when Michael and Gabriel came home to excitedly recount their experience, I found  myself hoping to witness it too. So miraculous!
Later we went to our neighbours new restaurant-Alice's- for supper and to give Gabriel a chance to visit with his new friends, Jackson and Cole.Jon sat with us and regaled us with entertaining, enlightening, and thought provoking descriptions from their life and perspectives. Jon and Allison, unable to philosophically support the United States govern-ment and systems, have researched for six years lifestyles to expatriate to. Jon has been here a few months and Allison a few more. She came with the kids while Jonathan wrapped up their life in the States. San Jose and other areas didn't feel right to Allison as she looked for a place to settle. When she came to Puerto Viejo, she knew this is where they were to live. They bought the restaurant and are now building a living space and studio behind it. Allison is an artist who works in oils in an expressionistic style. She's also a midwife and lactation consultant who had home births with the same, her second, Cole's, a water birth.
Her claim to fame, other than her art, is her placenta, which her husband posted with pride on the Internet and was picked up by Wikipedia to illustrate the definition. I hope she's not offended to have this discloses, except that she wasn't surprised Jon had shared it with us-apparently he shares it with everyone...lol...Check out her work at:  Allison CS Lewis
Jon has developed websites for some pretty major companies. One of his own is: Quit Your Job Day
A very enjoyable evening all around!
We came home once again by flashlight illuminating our path into the jungle, only to discover...Cleaner Ants!! They made a path from the top of the kids' bedroom wall down to the edge of the doors in the hallway- took a tiny jut into our bedroom under the door (someone must have gotten confused there...) -and around the corner into the kitchen. Some came down the wall from the kitchen ceiling, as well. How excited I was to have my hope realized! What a phenomena to experience! While Michael read a story to Gabriel, I watched as they continued to come down the wall and make their steady path toward the kitchen-all in formation and hardly a stray... By the time the kids were tucked in they were finished the bedroom, and we watched as they finished their excavation of our floor and walls and marched away...WOW! Talk about manual labour!!!

The Marvel's of Technology...

Happy Birthday, Beautiful!!

It's our Granddaughter Cadence's third birthday today. She has been missing us fiercely and doesn't quite understand what happened to us... The other day, Mikaira sent us a voicenote on bbm from Cadence...oh my, I was in tears hearing her sweet little voice telling us she loves and misses us. We figured out how to send one back. When Cadence got it, she exclaimed "We found Grandma!!!"


Today we went to Pamela's and tried Skypeing. Took some technical adjustments in which Mikaira wrote us instructions and held them up to her webcam and texting back and forth-little strange when you can see each other texting but can't hear ... Finally figured out a connection with sound...WOW!
We're fifteen hours away by plane, yet we can visit her in her living room. How amazing is that?! Got to share in opening her birthday gifts and sing Happy Birthday to her.What joy! Not quite like being there but will celebrate upon our return.

It was wonderful to see Aria growing so big as well. The hardest part of being away is not being close enough to share in the everyday milestones of our grandchildren, especially Aria and Sophia, still in their first year, and growing and changing so much!
It was very exciting, as well, to walk with the EE pad and show Mikaira and Josh our "world" here in Costa Rica. Pamela has strong wifi, so we were able to go out onto the road and show them the jungle-the trees and plants and wildlife sounds, the people walking and riding and driving down the very narrow road, the produce truck that comes around and blares out of speakers at the top of his cab what his wares for the day are: "pinas, tomates, lechuga, papaya, papas..." The rhythm of our life here... Most wonderful though, was being able to share it and today with those we love...

               A garden of Love grows in a Grandmother's heart.  ~Author Unknown

A la Playa

If you have an ocean in your "backyard", lovely warm weather, and nothing pressing to attend to, why not go to the beach? This is what we do almost every sunny afternoon, and we do not take this gift for granted!

Today we met Miley and McKenna, friends of Allie and Gabriel, (and daughters of Barrett and Amy, who founded the skate park), for a picnic lunch and fun in the sea...

They played in  the waves, while michael snorkeled and I wrote while enjoying the sun.

 A little cold today, we are definitely acclimatized-while back home they are experiencing temperatures in the minus 30s, we are chilled at +25!  Last night went down to maybe 17 and we were freezing-had to sleep in our jackets! I know..."boo hoo..
I thouroughly enjoyed lazily watching a Tico family playing soccer. When the ball was kicked toward me and when I threw it back the abuela (grandmother) asked if Id like to join-I declined...Had a snooze on my beach mat instead...

While the girls went down to swing into the river (like Tarzan; theres a rope set up), Michael and Gabriel joined the soccer game.





We love it when Gabriel plays soccer, pura alegria (pure joy or happiness) just lights him up whenever that ball comes near him. The family he was playing with obviously enjoyed him as well. They finally got so played out (does anyone know Michael doesnt ever play any sport lightly) they all called it a day with smiles and gestures and some Espanol mixed in-shared experiences, shared "family".

There is a tangible sense of "family" in the Costa Rican culture.We were honoured to be included...
When we had rounded up the girls and were leaving, our new friends heartily waved us off. One woman stopped me and offered a bag with oranges in it-I was thrilled and reached for one. She shook her head "non" and gave me the whole bag-a gift greater than it may have seemed!

Did you say SALE?

Got a text message this morning from Amy saying there was a fund raising sale at the skateboard park. It promised books, and, since they home school in English, we were excited! Gabriel is zooming through his Language Arts curriculum and will be done within days. Way ahead of "schedule" and all we brought. Perfect timing, of course...we are getting used to these milagros in the every day...
Gabriel was not zooming through anything today and it was 2:00 before he finally finished his schoolwork. Told us he "couldn't focus" because the howler monkeys kept him up all night...
How we arrived an hour early is amazing given this "unfocused" young mans doddering along...We stopped in at Ola! to see if Coco could come fro a treat. Aldo was minding the store. Gabriel bugs for a tee-shirt every time we go to their shop. He loves the surf shirts bearing Aldo's artwork. Today was no exception and without exception we told him he'd get one when leaving for Canada. Aldo went into the back and brought out a tee-shirt in Gabriel's size. He then went looking for one for Allie. Aldo's gift. Aldo is a gift, to all of us!
Stopped in at Pan Pay Bakery, just along the coast. Wow! Had cream and chocolate filled pastries that melt in your mouth! And really inexpensive. A definite experience to have in Puerto Viejo.
Arriving at the fundraiser, we realised it was Tuesday: skate day. Bonus! Gabriel has been waiting for them to reopen for weeks! So while Allie and I were happily perusing the books, Michael and Gabriel hit the ramps. This was Gabriel's first time on them an pretty soon he  could take the half pipe. His tenacity is something to behold-it teaches us every time! No focus problem here-he kept at it until he got  where he wanted to be. The little engine that could...
I darted off to the grocery store while Gabriel was skating and Allie was hanging out with Miley, Barrett and Amy's daughter. Got to be on the road before dusk-there are not a lot of street lights...Rats! Coming out of the grocery store it was raining...soaked before I got back to the skate park...guess where I left my raincoat...Our choices: ride home in the rain, ride home in the dark, maybe do both... We decided to wait it out. We were glad we did. Barrett mentioned most Tuesdays after skating everyone goes to Tasty Waves, along the road to Cocles, for tacos. }: half-price Tuesdays-2 for 2000 Colones ($2.00 each)...Now we know...
Half-price Tuesdays is popular. Nick and Janet came along in their golf cart  They knew...Really nice to see them there.! They joined us and Barrett and Amy. Nick was very concerned about us riding home in the dark. Yeah, we know...it is really not a good idea and this is the second time we've found ourselves in this situation-it is pretty scary. Janet and Nick followed us home in their golf cart. They clocked us at 20mph. We so appreciated them taking the time to do that for us...especially when my bike chain came off and they loaded my bike and me into their cart for the rest of the drive home.
We think 2 for 2 Tuesdays after skateboarding could become tradition, one that will be planned with a cab ride home! 

Friends, food, fun!

"The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters." - Thomas Jefferson 

Today we went to the beach Aldo, mar, and Coco. They picked us up in their old Volkswagon van equipped with pipas (coconuts) still on the vine, and a machete with which to open them. To enjoy pipas you slice a bit off the top, insert a straw, and sip away. Refreshing, a little bit sweet, and packed so full of vitamins you could survive on them if lost in the jungle (hopefully with a machete-makes things much easier). When you have finished the juice, you slice them in two and use the straw to pick away at the meat or you can cut a piece of the shell to use as a spoon if the straw is too finicky for you (it is for me, I get too bored).
Mar and Aldo prefer Playa Grande, on the other side of Punta Uva, because it is less populated and breezier. We didn't feel so comfortable there-the waves are higher and it is deeper closer to the shore. Our kids are not really strong swimmers yet. So Mar and Aldo graciously settled for Punta Uva.
Aldo went out with body boards with Andrea (Coco) and Gabriel for a bit. He is well known in these parts as a surfer. He also knows everyone, it seems. He and Michael had a grreat time fellowshipping (Aldo is a super story-teller) while mar sent me with Andrea to rent a kayak. She asked if I would go with her so she could enjoy the sea.  



 So, with Gabriel and I in tow, this very capable and precocious ten-year-old went to transact the business of negotiating a rental. I learned to ask for the "local" price-almost half what they'd charge for a tourist....now you know...I will try in the future and hope a lack of Spanish isn't a deterrent...For $15.00 we had a kayak for three hours. Lots of fun.

Not trusting the waves on the ocean, we opted for the river, so, as with every other mode of transport in our Caribbean home, we piled three into a one-person kayak. Worked fine-good thing we were all wearing life jackets though-sat a little low in the water.
Of course, the fact that Coco and Gabriel thought it was fun to jump off didn't help matters...eeeewww, silty, dirty river mud. There had been a sighting of a crocodile in the river the day before. 
 
The fellow said it was a "small one" and we would be safe... We had a lovely, lovely time paddling down the river-absolutely beautiful!

Later, the kids got out and swung from the Tarzan rope into the river. Twice the rope went flying up into a tree and two older boys climbed up to get it down again. This is a really high tree that looks more and more unstable the higher you go and the branches reach out into the river.


We have gotten more used to seeing children here riding sometimes three on bicycles too large for them, no helmets, no adult supervision, babies perched on a lap with a mom and a dad on a motorcycle, or hanging out the window of a vehicle, zooming by; little children climbing high, high trees, getting themselves where their going to play in the rivers and the sea, or on the one road that leads through the jungle, not quite wide enough for two cars to pass comfortably, especially when cyclists and pedestrians inhabit it as well... The contrast between our safety conscious society back home, where the biggest struggle is to convince your kid of the importance of wearing a helmet (or your husband to put on his seat belt...), and the "make do and enjoy life" outlook here is so huge! When riding in a vehicle, you are hard pressed to find a working seat belt-except in vehicles that travel on the main highway between Puerto Viejo and San Jose-if you're going to Hone Creek or Limon, the driver will request you wear a seat belt-not because you drive faster, but because the highway policia are patrolling...
Yet contrasting this lack of safety-consciousness so ingrained in us (we don't realise how much until we experience it differently) is a deeply felt sense of freedom, adventure, and self-sufficiency that reminds  us of our own childhoods...playing for hours out of sight of adults, riding our bicycles wherever we went, exploring and being outdoors, using our imaginations and discovering our skills. Something maybe kids don't have so much of now with our ever expanding perception of danger for them. 

Being mindful of this has given us a gentle reminder to trust our children's innate "self-ability" and their need to have freedom within limits...In it, we also see a parallel to our adult lives and this journey we are on to experience and live to the fullest. We have and are intentionally challenged our perceptions of "safety"...to us it looks like not risking "financial security", always close proximity to loved ones, huge (and misplaced) sense of responsibility to "everybody", caring about what "others' think" (me, Michael's more enlightened there), and of course, all the "what if's", among many others, I'm sure, we have yet to uncover in ourselves.    
 

 It is so wonderful to spend time with Aldo and Mar just soaking this same perspective of taking everything in stride and celebrating it as it comes with faith, and joy, and gratitude. So much, we are taught by these  two very beautiful people who live and love simply and freely...

Later, we went to Miraflores for a bite to eat and a visit with Pamela; a warm and loving woman who is a wealth of fascinating stories and life experience! She talked of being a young girl in New York and moving to Panama when her dad was stationed there with Citibank. As a teen, she went to boarding school, making the passage by herself and travelling widely during those years. She came to Costa Rica due to political unrest in Panama, and settled to raise her kids here. Pamela applied for a grant from the United States government to research flowering plant-life in the jungle. She has discovered rhizomes she is too humble to have named after herself. She gives Spanish classes, Caribbean cooking classes, has conducted workshops in PET and Transactional Analysis, among others, and was a Montessori teacher. We are so privileged to have her share each fascinating layer of herself. She is getting tired of "doing it all" and would like to sell the business part of it so she can be free to do the things she wants to do... We just feel so contented at her place. She says she learned as a Montessori teacher if you structure the environment to be warm and welcoming, people will feel good there. We certainly do!
Life is very GOOD!