(506)
759-9138
We know that everyone now believes that we have fallen off the
face of the earth - getting in touch with us has been difficult
- but we are slowly climbing back on, and are happy to announce
that the progress of the month comes in the form of a new phone
line...one that works - sometimes!
For those of you who have been following
our adventures, you are now understanding that in Costa Rica NOTHING
happens as planned. The phone situation is just another example.
Two months ago, we stated that 'next week' our land (telephone)
line would finally be in place and hence we might have Internet
service in our home. We are now 2 months later and we only got
it installed yesterday - and BARELY!
It was ONLY a short 16 months ago that we 'signed up' for a telephone
line. The line became available 2 months ago, when the phone company
informed us that everything was set and we should expect service
within 1-2 weeks. Those weeks and a third one passed by and nothing
happened. No phone line. The daily trips to the Internet cafe
continued. Frustrated family and friends trying to call us on
Costa Rica's state of the art GSM cell phone service seemed to
have given up - unable to connect! So, I got in touch with THE
guy in charge for the entire province to find out what was up!
They answered "Oh, well, we have to come out and due a survey,
inspection, etc. Give us another week or two" Does that last
part sound familiar?
Two
weeks later, they came and did their 'inspection'. Apparently
everything went well, I called the supervisor and he informed
me it was all set. They were going to have to pull a cable ~1000
yards from the nearest junction box all the way to our house.
He asked us to wait another week or two (imagine that!).
Yesterday
comes along and Leo called us from a pole to tell us he was having
lunch and would be over within the next hour to do the installation.
An hour later, Leo arrives with his partner to inform us that
he just measured the distance and in fact it would be ~1000 yards,
but that the inspector did not account for the slack in the line,
which would require another 200 yards - something he apparently
had no authority to approve and therefore could NOT perform the
installation that day! He told us that another inspection was
required and that everything would be all set in 1 or 2 weeks.
The
above scenario that has taken place is applicable to everything
here in Costa Rica....it just seems to happen that way! And it's
not us, that is just the way things happen. You eventually accept
it and move on. People here in Costa Rica NEVER lose their patience...everything
is always very 'tranquillo' and PURA VIDA.
Well,
this time we tried everything to convince the guy that those 200
yards were no big deal and that he should go ahead and do the
install. Nothing seemed to work - including a small bribe (which
often works but not this time), a few beers, some spicy guacamole
and chips and a little female charming ala Emmanuelle. When it
appeared that we were finally doomed to wait several more weeks,
Manuel remembered that he had purchased 300 yards worth of exterior
phone cable in San Jose. They now could not say no....we were
'donating' our own cable to the installation process. Two hours
later, we had a signal and a very difficult to remove smile on
our faces!
Conclusions:
- If
you think you MIGHT want to live in Costa Rica, order your line
at least 1 year prior to moving here!
- After
more than a year living here, we have been transformed into
learning to have extreme patience. This is a MAJOR change from
the fast paced life that we knew in the US.
- Losing
your patience and using aggression in this country will get
you NOWHERE. We've learned that and are beginning to master
the art of staying calm.
- Anyone
can call us at the above number to say hi. We do not yet have
an answering machine (that would be very high tech) and have
to share this phone line for Internet access. We are working
out these minor issues by looking into some software packages
that would let the computer take care of everything. Any suggestions
are welcome. Also, any suggestions (compression software?) to
increase the Internet download speeds are greatly appreciated!
Patient
and Lazy Sloths
Speaking of patience, we thought we'd let you know that the local
sloths have also mastered the art of patience and laziness - certainly
laziness. The sloth at the top of this page was photographed by
Emmanuelle. He often comes to a tree VERY near our house (about
8 yards away) to hang out on the edge of the rainforest and eat
leaves. He is a 3-toed sloth, one of two types of sloths in the
region, the other being the 2-toed sloth. Sloths are very common
here on the Caribbean coast. It is said that they actually outnumber
the monkeys (of which there are plenty!). They spend their entire
time in tree tops hanging out, sleeping and eating leaves. They
only come down every few days to 'go to the bathroom'. Tourists
often do not see them very much, because they are somewhat camouflaged
in the trees and don't move much, but with a trained eye, you
see them all over the place!
I just took a quick break from writing and went outside to take
a look at the tree where the sloth often comes and sure enough...he
is in the process of climbing up! The thrill of seeing these animals
in nature never diminishes!
A Visit from Josiane - E's Mom
This September, we had the pleasure of having Josiane, Emmanuelle's
mother visit us all the way from France. We took the opportunity
to go on several road trips and hikes. Of course, we took her
to the waterfall in BriBri, snorkeling in the many coral reefs
on the beaches nearby, and an exciting day trip to Cahuita National
Park - which is only 15-20 minutes from us! At Cahuita, we saw
ran into several groups of white faced capuchin monkeys - on of
which apparently was not afraid of humans and came right up to
us! The beaches of Cahuita are of course spectacular and simply
add to the long list of gorgeous beaches we have here in this
region! Maya spent most of the day in the water snorkeling for
the first time!
Another day trip we took Josiane on was a trip to the wonderful
city of Limon (not really nice city, but if you look hard enough,
some charm can be found). In Limon, we went to the Saturday morning
market, where a wide wide of tropical fruits and vegetables are
on display for sale - for almost for free. For less then 20 dollars,
we filed up the car with a stock of fruits and vegetables, many
of which we cooked / bagged / processed / froze for future use.
The rest we ate over the next few days. The market alone is well
worth the 1 hour car ride to Limon.
Maya was very happy to see her grandmother. She sang a lot of
songs (one of her favorite activities) for Josiane and also did
a lot of drawing and painting pictures.
Her
other grandmother, Regine (Manuel's Mom), is planning on visiting
sometime this winter.
Banananana
This month we have had two new fruits start
to produce for us: Bananas and Maracuja (passion fruit).
Passion fruit: We planted several plants about 6 months ago, near
the base of a dead tree. This week, the plant started producing
yummy yummy yummy fruits! Several fruits fall off almost everyday.
In the inside if the thick skin is a pocket of seeds and within
a juicy jelly. There is maybe a bit more than a soup spoon per
fruit, but it is so concentrated that one fruit can perfume an
entire desert or make a large fruit juice! So, we've been experimenting
all sorts of recipes and juices and deserts incorporating maracuja
which we have discovered to be one of the most wonderful fruits
that exists! We often find ourselves walking to the maracuja plant
several times a day hoping another one fell! Theoretically, the
plant should now continue to produce almost continuously for the
next 3 years. We have planted a bunch more elsewhere and hope
to make jams and other storable foods.
Bananas: We are all familiar with bananas. Usually when we go
to the store we purchase perhaps 10 at a time. But when you grow
them, you get up to 100+ at a time! Well that's great - for the
first 10-20 bananas . After a while, you can only eat so many
bananas in so many different ways! They ripen quickly so we do
not have much time to eat them all. So with bananas as well, we've
been 'inventing' foods and deserts. We've made ice cream, banana
rice pudding, banana juices (awesome with passion fruit as well!),
banana flambe - with a touch of rum, and much more.
Finally,
a quick political point of view:
since it is now OK to recall an elected official, why not
RECALL
G.W. BUSH?
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