22 June, 2003
To all those who
accused us of being unpatriotic back in April
because we dared question the motives of the Bush administration
by claiming that they were lying to advance the war, we ask a
now common question:
WELL,
WHERE ARE THOSE WMDs?
Perhaps those horrible, obstructionist French people WERE right
after all!
Happy Birthday Maya!!!
On May 7th, Maya Soleil turned 4 years old (how time flies). We
had a small celebration at home with a birthday cake and some
gifts from her cousins, grandparents and parents. But the big
event was that following weekend, when Maya celebrated with many
of her friends at a pool party. Approximately 20+ of her friends
came over, and had a blast at the pool. Part of ANY birthday party
here is the traditional piñata. No birthday party is a
party without the piñata - so we followed the custom. Everyone
got a good whack at it until all the goodies fell out and the
kids rushed to get a handful. At the end, Maya got lots of presents
and had a great 4th birthday.
A visit from Francois and Erin
Our good friends Francois and Erin from Miami decided to avoid
the Memorial Day craziness and hop on a plane to give us a quick
3 day visit here in our land of PURA VIDA. Although the weather
was not great, it cooperated and they had a good time. We went
to the beach, did some awesome body surfing, played frisbee on
Dave's lawn, relaxed at the finca - where Francois tuned up his
landscaping skills, enjoyed late night Boggle sessions, tried
out a few local restaurants, and otherwise hung out - enjoying
each other's presence! Francois and Erin brought us house warming
present - an old railway bell that we will be putting at the entrance
to the property by the bridge.
We were very happy to have Francois and Erin share our new life
here in Punta Uva and can't wait for their return shortly!
House
still under construction
The house was timed to be completed sometime in late May, but
we ARE in Costa Rica and as I have previously said - here nothing
happens as expected! (It's part of that PURA VIDA thing!)
The big stuff is all out of the way. We have plumbed and wired
the house, tiled the bathrooms, kitchen and ground floor, painted
the walls, put in the windows and begun to put some of the finishing
touches. We now hope for a late June, early July termination and
to move in sometime in mid July.
We also had hoped that the power would be brought in from the
main road, but that as well as not happened! It has been several
weeks that we are told that the work would begin 'tomorrow', but
it seems that tomorrow never comes. So as of this writing, we
have again been told that the contractor is coming TOMORROW to
begin the installation. We have cut down a few trees to allow
the poles and cables to go through and are eagerly awaiting ELECTRICITY!
In
the meantime, we continue to spend most of our days at the finca
doing landscaping, road construction, running water to different
parts of the finca, and overlooking the construction.
Manuel
built a small bird feeder house from scrap and drift wood - and
we are now waiting for the birds to discover it.
The
monkeys have become familiar with us, and this past week, have
been spending quite a bit of time just next to the house. Everyday,
there is a family of about 10 monkeys that have been living just
a few meters from us next the house. They are not very shy, and
very curious, so they just hang out, make noise and watch us -
in the same way that we watch them!
Generator
Down
Since we do not and have not had electricity,
we have done the entire construction process using a 4400 Watt
gasoline powered generator - a going away gift of our friends
Jonathan and Nia in Miami. This generator has obviously been a
life saver and we could not have done without it. However, last
week we got a big scare as the electrical outlets melted into
one solid piece of plastic and metal. Luckily, we found a local
'mechanic' who was able to reconstruct the electrical outlets
and internal wiring. After a huge relief, we got 2 more days of
power until - BOOM BANG BOOM and....silence! The silence was nice
- but it's cause was another scary event. This time, the internal
mechanics of the electrical genearator basically disintergrated.
We took it apart and realized that this was no job for any local
mechanic. So...emergency trip to San Jose!!! Luck has it that
there is a HOMELITE dealer in that wonderful city who happened
to have the broken part. We got it fixed in 48 hrs and rushed
it back to the construction site where the workers were for the
first time able to sing, talk and whistle while they worked on
projects not requiring power tools! We are back in business!!
Many have asked us what the gas consumption of this beast is.
The answer is: 2.5 gallons per 9 hr day!
Marley and Ziggy
Marley and Ziggy are both doing well. They are now about 5 months
old and enjoying their lives here with us. Everyday, we take them
to the finca - where they are taking possession and guarding it
against 'intruders'. Yes, they are becoming 2 little guard dogs!
Maya likes to take care of them, brush them and feed them (although
Papi is responsible for their chef-style pate every night).
Maya
and school
Maya continues to enjoy her school. She now officially speaks
3 languages - basically fluently! To say the least - we are impressed!
Many afternoons, she goes to friends' house, or vice versa. She
is definitely a happy camper!
We
cannot wait anymore
We hope this turns out to be true, but hopefully, the next time
you receive an e-mail from us, it will be to tell you that we
have moved in - and our Life in Punta Uva - has really
begun. We can't wait!!!
| Archived
Writings: |
| April
22, 2003 |
House
Update
The Endless Road
Fruits of Labor
Charlotte's Web
Music Festival
Marley and Ziggy
Real Estate |
| February
12, 2003 |
House
taking shape
Maya in Miami
Getaway in San Jose
Maya begins school |
| January
11, 2003 |
Happy
New Year
Tree Trimming
Waterfall Adventure
Beginnings of a Garden
OUI OUI Update
Moved Again |
| January
10, 2003 |
Construction
Full Speed Ahead |
| November
28, 2002 |
Maya's
Graduation Day |
| November
22, 2002 |
Jake
visits Maya |
| November
05, 2002 |
Well
Well Well - the well is well
We have a road - or does it have us?
Home construction begins
OUI OUI Update |
| October
30, 2002 |
Gisele
and Marlene's Vacation |
| October
4, 2002 |
Building
plans are in
Snake in the yard
OUI OUI Update
Welcome Christain
New Wheels
Manuel in Miami |
| September
21, 2002 |
The
trucks are rolling in
OUI OUI Update
Where's the water? |
| September
14, 2002 |
Bridge
is finished |
| September
7, 2002 |
Jeep
birthday
A
new Arrival
A
day on the waters
|
| September
4, 2002 |
The
NONI plant |
| September
1, 2002 |
August
in a Flash |
| August
10, 2002 |
Tornadoes and Earthquakes |
| July
11, 2002 |
The
Road Begins....and ends |
| July
9, 2002 |
The
Container |
| July
1, 2002 |
We
Made It |
| June
1, 2002 |
We're
Moving! |
|
