Wheel Time

There was a time when I couldn't imagine life without a car.  In fact, at one time we owned five of them - one for each of us and three that got our houseful of teenagers to high school/college and after school jobs.  The fleet gradually declined as the kids moved out on their own.  Even in retirement, though, we enjoyed the luxury of a two-car household.  Or maybe more accurately a one and a half-car household, since one of the two was a GEM golf car/neighborhood electric vehicle that we used to tool around... well, the neighborhood.

Then came the big move.  We sold our one and a half cars, landed in Costa Rica, and embraced public transportation. Life was perfect and we thought we would never, ever own a car again.  

We enjoy taking the bus because it gives us a chance to visit with our neighbors.  It's more relaxing than driving.  And you never have to worry about finding a parking space.  

We also enjoy walking - something we found we rarely did when we had a car parked in our garage.

Truth be told, we truly did not want to own another car.

But gradually over the past three years it became clear, that due to time lost to connecting routes, we simply couldn't realistically get to some places without a car.  After all, every time we leave the house we have two dogs waiting anxiously for us to return home and give them relief and reassurance that they had not been abandoned. 

Plus, we're not getting any younger.  What we can haul on our backs today might become impossible one of these days.  

So we decided to take the plunge and start looking for a car and embark on another phase of our education.  

We started the process with a lot of research to determine exactly what kind of a car we wanted and ended up with:

• Toyota (dependable)
• Corolla (most common here)
• Station wagon (carries cargo)
• Older model (cheaper)
• Standard transmission (reliable).

Finding the right older Toyota Corolla station wagon posed some linguistic and logistical challenges.  The process began with Vic combing the online car listings daily for suitable candidates.  When he found one or two or three, it was time for me to put my Spanish to the test.  On the phone, no less, which without the help of body language and gesticulation to help fill in the blanks, is the absolute most difficult for me.  Lucky for us, the owners of almost every car we looked at had a friend or relative who spoke at least a little English to go along with my little bit of Spanish.  So, with a little aspirin, a healthy sense of adventure and good sense of humor, we managed to both understand and be understood.

Once we established a time and place to view a car (typically at the central park in the hometown of the seller), we boarded a bus early in the morning to allow for the necessary connections and still arrive on time.  On two occasions, that meant eleven hours start to finish and taking four buses each direction.

It also meant that we got to visit some really interesting towns for the first time, so the trips did have an up side.

Cartago - old church ruins

Church in Tibas

Church in Santa Ana

Regardless of the language, negotiating doesn't change much from one country to another.  The same cannot be said for the process of paying for the car and securing a title.  And this is where the process gets really interesting.

In the U.S., once the buyer and seller agree on a price, money changes hands - either the full amount or a deposit and a promise to return with the balance due.  When the car is paid for, the seller turns the keys and a signed, notarized title over to the buyer, who drives the car home and later takes the title to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register the vehicle.   Not here.

Rewind the tape, please, to the point where the buyer and seller have agreed on a price.

Now instead of handing over any money at all - even a deposit - the buyer simply returns home with nothing more than the license plate number, which is then given to an attorney.  The attorney checks the title through the National Registry to make sure that there are no liens on the vehicle or outstanding tickets.  He or she then prepares a contract transferring ownership of the vehicle to the buyer.  All of this is generally completed in a day, after which both the buyer and the seller meet at the attorney's office, present identification, and sign the documents.  Once the seller is paid, the buyer is given the keys and everybody goes their separate ways.  Some time in the next few days, the attorney records the transfer of ownership with the National Registry and about a week later the buyers receives the executed contract and title to the car. 

In our case, the attorney's fee was about $50 and the transfer fees were about $240. 

Our "new" Toyota

(Note:  Our car search took us about three months.  We looked at cars as close as downtown Palmares and as far away as Cartago.  We visited a few car lots, but mostly looked at cars for sale by their owners. Ultimately, we found our car in Tibas, which is an easy bus ride from San Jose centro.)

So how did we celebrate our new status as car owners?  With a trip to Price Smart, of course!  Just in time, I might add, as I was almost out of laundry detergent and we were really dreading having to haul a big jug of Tide home from Alajuela on the bus!

Until next time...
Pura Vida 

Wow! Where has the time gone?  I truly am the world's most accomplished procrastinator, but I've outdone myself this time, as it actually has been a year since reporting in.  With luck, that grand hiatus is history and you'll be hearing from me in a more timely manner "hence, forth and from here on out," as my mother liked to say.  Or in 21st-Century business speak, going forward.

We had a few visitors over this morning... so that would seem like a good place to begin filling in the blanks since my last post.

If you ever wondered what a whole platoon of army ants looks like as it converges on your house, wonder no more.

  It's really tough to take meaningful photos of a bazillion tiny creatures (actually we estimate that there were at least hundreds of thousands of them!), but this should give you a general idea.  Luckily, they opted to dine outside, sparing us the trouble of scurrying for higher ground with the dogs while they cleaned out the house.  I'm happy to report that they've since moved on after no doubt carrying off countless creepy crawlies that might have ultimately sought refuge under our baseboards - or worse yet, under our bed.

Vic's gardening efforts are finally paying off.  Even though we lost his first crop of Roma tomatoes and sweet corn to fungus, we harvested a bumper crop of squash over the course of about 6 months.  Bumper crop in this context equates to something in the order of a half-ton - literally!  

 This monster ended up in the freezer and one about half this size found its way onto our Thanksgiving table, crowned with a delicious sage stuffing.

Right now we're eating kale, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and herbs from the garden and hope to be enjoying Brussels sprouts in a few weeks.  What a treat that will be... assuming that the bugs don't get to them first, of  course.

We were equally blessed with what might have been hundreds of delicious chayotes (aka mirlitons), which I learned can be thinly sliced and pickled for use in salads and on sandwiches. 

 

We enjoyed these three moras (something akin to a blackberry) from Vic's 15-month old mora bush.  The birds got the rest.

In January we spent a wonderful day with friends at the tope (horse parade), the centerpiece of the annual Fiesta de Palmares.  Apparently half of Costa Rica was there that day, as well.

Don't let these innocent faces fool you. Shortly before Christmas the big-eared guy in front (that would be Yoda) had a close encounter of the smelly sort with a skunk.  His sister, Chiquita, got close enough to acquire light dusting of the smell of nature, but didn't take the direct hit in the face that Yoda got.  It took a few days and a lot of baths with a half-dozen different home remedies (none of which worked particularly well) before they regained their house privileges.  And as a result of their proclivity for trying to return to the scene of the assault, they both lost their freedom and are now leash dogs.

Every now and then a banana, plantain, or quadrado tree bows under the weight of the fruit and Vic gets to haul home the goods.  

Believe it or not, there truly is a difference in taste between a fresh banana and a store bought one.

In August, Vic and some friends took a one-day fishing trip to Puntarenas.  The fishing was a bust, but they enjoyed a nice day on the water.  And, of course, you know what any fisherman worth his bait says... "A bad day fishing is better than a good day working."

And of course, we continue to be entertained by all manner of interesting insects, like this guy.  

And then there are the not so interesting or entertaining ones that nibble at our ankles and buzz around our heads while we're trying to sleep.  We recently draped our bed in a mosquito net, which has eliminated the latter problem, but we do have to leave our little cocoon every morning, so find ourselves swatting and scratching with annoying regularity.

For those who might be wondering if we're still on that crazy diet, the answer is an emphatic yes.  I saw a fabulous epithet for our plant-based diet the other day and I think it sums it up nicely:  PB4L - or Plant Based For Life.

Since becoming no-added fat, whole food, vegans last year (yeah, that's a mouthful), we have each dropped 45 pounds and continue to lose weight, though a bit more slowly than in the beginning.  Just as importantly, all of our bio markers - cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and blood sugar - have returned to normal, or near-normal.  

We feel great, have lots of energy.  I haven't taken a Prilosec since one week after giving up animal products!  As a consequence, we have no interest in going back to the Standard American Diet (SAD). 

And me?  I've rediscovered the joy of cooking.  In fact, I feel that  have finally learned to do real cooking, from real ingredients.  How to create textures and flavors without relying on meats, dairy, eggs, fat and off-the-shelf products.  Cooking from scratch requires more time and some days can feel like a chore, but  the time I spend in the kitchen definitely belong on the plus side of my balance sheet.

And there it is, folks.  One year - or at least most of the highlights of it.  Look for more soon.

Pura Vida

Mangosteen pod before opening.  

Can't you just see two little eyes and a button nose on this guy?

Fresh Off The Turnip Truck

It’s been about 2 weeks since we ended our lacto-ovo transition to a completely vegan diet and I’ve spent much of it feeling as if I just fell off the turnip truck. The adjustment has gone surprisingly smoothly as we’ve figured out what ingredients we have at our disposal and, from that, what we like – which is pretty much everything. What we’ve also been figuring out is how this new way of eating measures up nutritionally.

Before I get into that, however, let me take a moment to note that we have not once craved animal proteins. The vegetable protein we’re getting from legumes, vegetables, and a few nuts leaves us feeling full and satisfied. The food is tasty. Probably more tasty than our old diet because I’m forced to be creative and try new things. I, personally, have felt a small urge (far less than could be called a craving) for a little more fat in our diets, which is a complete no no, for reasons that I will explain shortly. I am assured that this urge will be gone within another week or so, once my body and taste buds adjust to the lower fat level in our diets.

Now here's where the turnip truck comes into play. Am I the only person on the planet who had not heard about the book "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell Ph.D. and the documentary "Forks Over Knives," which is based on the book. I'm sure we're not, but it surely does feel like it, as I've learned since beginning the book and watching the documentary (Thanks, Paula, for suggesting them!!) that although this information is new to us it's actually been around for a few years. As I write this post, I am on the final chapters of “The China Study” and have to recommend it to anyone who is curious about a diet that does not include animal products and has any reservations about the healthfulness of it.

From further reading, we have also learned that a number of highly respected doctors have been successfully using a vegan diet to treat patients who are plagued with a host of chronic illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. (That thump, thump, thump you're hearing is me taking another tumble...) While there are minor differences in how they apply the nutritional principles detailed in “The China Study” and other research, they are all plant-based diets structured on whole foods, rather than processed ones, and tight controls on fat content.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Center, advocates this type of diet with absolutely no added fats. That’s the one we have chosen to follow, partly because he has had excellent results using it to reverse heart disease in his patients and because his dietary rules are clear and unambiguous – something we felt would make it easier to follow in spite of its restrictiveness.

For clarify, we’re not talking about a weight loss diet that will be replaced by the typical American diet when we shed a certain number of pounds. This is a permanent change in the manner in which we meet our nutritional needs and enjoy the pleasure of eating. So the fat is gone and gone for good, right along with almost all processed foods. As far as I am aware, we don’t have to start making our own mustard and tomato sauce, but just about everything else will arrive straight from the garden to our fridge.

A challenge? For sure. Difficult? Not at all… aside from needing to round up a few more basic ingredients.

Now that I think about it, the hardest part just might be finding enough room in our tummies for the daily recommended amount of fruits and veggies. I mean think about it. Here’s the MINIMUM amount of food we eat every single day.

2 cups of greens
1 cup of various other veggies
1 cup of legumes
2 cups of grains
2 cups of fruit
¼ cup of nuts or seeds (or 2 tablespoons of nut butter)
8 glasses of water

That’s a whole lot of food and it’s only the start, as the diet does not require calorie counting, carb counting, or portion controls (except for nuts, avocado, & olives, which are high fat). One thing we won’t be doing is going to bed hungry.

Eating all those greens can be problematic, however, without a nice oily salad dressing. Here's how I solved the problem. Bear in mind that I was creating on the fly without measuring, so the proportions are estimates.

Not Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

4 tablespoons deli mustard
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 inch fresh ginger (grated)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons soft tofu
1 tablespoon cane sugar syrup (probably not available where you are. Try agave nectar or maple syrup.)
pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a narrow bowl and mix with a stick blender.

You don't need to be vegan to enjoy this one on your salad.

Pura Vida

On Finding Ourselves Where We Never Thought We'd Be... The Unintentional Vegans

So we have decided to go vegan. Low fat vegans, at that. Come to think of it, maybe I should say that we decided to stop eating animal products – meat (red, white & fish), dairy and even eggs – and adopt a very low fat, strict vegetarian diet to address some health issues. In my mind, vegans embrace a philosophy that, while I respect and feel some affinity to, goes beyond both our motivations and our goals, which have more to do with health than ideology. More on that later, though, as the reasons behind our decision are complex and require a lengthy explanation. But since the focus of this blog is to share our thoughts and experiences about living in Costa Rica, I will focus for now on how we’re making that adjustment in a country void of most of the commercial vegetarian products available in the U.S.

The short answer is that it’s a challenge. In fact, foregoing all animal products and slashing dietary fat is challenging anywhere, but it presents especially tall hurdles here.

The typical Costa Rican diet is relatively light in meat, compared to the typical American diet and includes lots of rice and beans. On the one hand, that might make this seem like a perfect environment for this transition. On the other hand, while Costa Ricans eat small quantities of meat and dairy and local recipes mix up ingredients in traditional Costa Rican ways, virtually every meal typically includes some sort of meat, dairy or eggs. Fried chicken is a favorite, as is beef stew, hamburgers, and the always popular arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Soups are frequently eaten here, but even the vegetable-based soups often have milk added. Needless to say, the supermarkets match their products to the demand.



Fortunately, we have an abundance of fresh, local produce available to us. While they can be bought at the supermarket, we prefer to shop for them at the ferias (farmers markets). In fact, today I brought home a week’s worth of fruits and veggies for a little less than $10. My shopping list included:
3 papayas
2 mangos
1 cantaloupe
2 large hands of bananas
tomatoes
chayote
cucumbers
3 kinds of lettuce
beets with their greens attached
carrots
camote (sweet potatoes)
onion
sweet red peppers

Left over from last week’s shopping trip: plantains, celery, tomatoes, garlic, red potatoes, and more red sweet peppers.

If only it was that simple! Or as quick as dropping by the local Whole Foods store or Trader Joe’s or Sprouts. Nope. No way. Nada.

It took us a little more than a week to use up the last of our non-vegan supplies. (I’m far too frugal to toss perfectly good food.) But once they were gone, I spent four full days in the kitchen preparing some staples and specialty dishes to get this ball on a roll. Last night I made a big pot of lentil soup that I hope will buy me a couple of days to get caught up on my housework and do a little more recipe/nutrition research.

Clearly, food preparation is going to command an even bigger piece of each day!

I’ve always preferred to bake our bread, but if I ran out, the panaderías in town offer an acceptable alternative. That was then. This is now. And now means that making our own bread is no longer optional. It’s essential. Luckily I recently found an easy 5 minute, no-kneed process that will be a lifesaver. Mix it up tonight, let it sit overnight on the counter and bake it up in the morning.

Finding vegan protein sources here is particularly difficult. That is, if you want more than beans and whole wheat bread. And we do! Our local grocery stores, even the small ones here in Palmares, offer textured vegetable protein. That’s a start (and comes with a learning curve). But I want more! Variety is the spice of life, after all, and is also very likely the key to not becoming bored with this new way of eating.

I had hoped that macrobioticas – a type of health food store that sells dietary supplements and organic personal care products – would be a help. Every town has one or two or more small ones. The bigger cities have larger ones. In my naïve imagination I thought that perhaps they might carry at least tofu – if not some yummy vegetarian sausage. Huh! I asked about it in one of our macrobioticas and the proprietor told me there simply isn’t a market for it. He suggested Alajuela.

In fact, we visited a half-dozen grocery stores and macrobioticas in Palmares and San Ramon before we finally found all three varieties (soft, firm, and extra firm) in an Asian market in San Jose. The Automercado (an upscale grocery store that carries some hard-to-find American products) also had it – but just the firm.

For the record, there are still two larger grocery stores to be checked in San Ramon [20 minutes away] and it is highly probable that we can buy it at the Automercado in Alajuela [40 minutes away]. Although we intend to keep our soy consumption on the sparse side, I am hoping we will get lucky a bit closer to home. We just happened to find it in San Jose first.

On the same trip to San Jose, we found kelp, sesame oil, and paid a pretty price for red quinoa ($8 for 12 ounces!) and a better (e.g. less expensive and with more information on the label) source for brewer’s yeast than what we’ve found locally.

Given that backdrop, what are the odds of finding some soy sausage or vegan cheese? Slim and none, is my guess.

For me the hardest part will be living without cow’s milk. I love my milk. I love my coffee. I love milk in my coffee. Truth be told, milk might be the main reason I drink coffee.

I’ve read on the Internet that some people swear by almond milk for their coffee. Just try to find that in Costa Rica! Right. My daughter suggests that I try soy milk in my coffee, but my crystal ball is hinting that I might have to learn to drink my coffee black – or give it up entirely. (Sob, sob)

On a more optimistic note, don’t you just love those moments when you find yourself facing a challenge and realize that the little bits and pieces of knowledge, experience, and skills you’ve picked up over the years are just what you need to bail you out? Well, this is the mother of those preparedness meets opportunity moments, as many of the staple products we would probably end up buying ready-made in the States will have to concocted right here in our own Costa Rican kitchen. Out of the somewhat limited products available to us in Costa Rican markets. Almond milk. Vegan cheese. Nut butters. Meatless burgers. Vegan salad dressing – a particularly tough one for this ranch-dressing addicted gringa.


My first batch of homemade peanut butter

On an even more optimistic note, in addition to providing another creative outlet, the extra work also transfers more control over what goes into our bodies to us.

What about the products we’re giving up? So far we’re not feeling like we’re giving up a whole lot beyond convenience. We used to eat eggs virtually every day, but we’re not exactly craving them. This week I made a yummy frittata with tofu for a change up from oatmeal. An old favorite of mine - corn meal mush - is on the soon-to-happen list, too.

Beef, poultry, and fish? The loss is no big deal. Perhaps because we had already reduced our consumption to one kilo per week. That works out to a total of about 2.5 ounces per day (for each of us) on average, using it primarily to flavor soups and casseroles.

I can see that cheese and ice cream could eventually be a problem. I’ve found recipes for vegan cheese made with almonds or cashews and when we absolutely have to have some ice cream, we’ll be patting ourselves on the back for having the wisdom to bring the ice cream machine with us!

We certainly did not see this turn in the road coming back when we were packing for the move. But we knew there would be surprises. And lots of changes. We tried to equip ourselves to deal with them. Some changes are not only impossible to foresee, they’re impossible to prepare for – except to learn to be flexible and open to new ideas.

The Back Story – How we got from there to here.

Sometimes events happen and we find ourselves in that very uncomfortable situation where awareness and preparation meet and we realize this is the time and we have both the motivation and the means to make a big change, which is precisely where we found ourselves a couple of weeks ago.

We’ve known for a long time that we needed to shed a few pounds. Okay, maybe more than a few. We knew that the methods we’ve tried in the past didn’t take. We also knew that in spite of sporadic attempts in the past to go organic and kick our bad for us/bad for the world food habits, we simply weren’t motivated enough to make the changes. Then came along a news about Hormel doing away with gestation cages What?!?

I didn't know there was such a thing. I don't know who dreamed up that insanity, but I knew instinctively that it was far from the worst of what I could learn if I had the guts to dig deeper - which I didn't.

Nor did I need to. With that one story all of my self-serving and self-preserving attempts to ignore what I knew to be true about the inhumane treatment of the animals that give their lives for our nourishment evaporated. Digging deeper, I learned that that Costa Rica imports pork from the U.S., so I couldn’t even shrug it off as just a U.S. issue. It had followed us here! That really ticked me off! A little more research revealed some unsettling slaughter practices both here and abroad.

I was devastated. I liked my comfy little world where I could call pork my favorite meat and brag that our beef here is lean and healthy.

The humanitarian issue, however, was just the kick in the pants that got us moving toward a decision we ultimately made primarily for health reasons.

Outraged and heartsick at what I had learned, I turned to my friend Google for healthy dietary alternatives to eating meat. I meant, we were already eating very little meat. The idea of giving it up completely was not out of the question. We could still have our milk, cheese, and eggs, right?

It didn’t take long before that dream shattered, as well. This time it was an article from the American Diabetes Association that acknowledged that a low fat vegetarian diet is healthy and can be better for blood sugar control than a a diet that includes animal protein. It was time for another… What?!? Like, what about counting carbs? And complete proteins? And anemia? And calcium from milk for strong bones? Could it be true that my vegan daughter was not destined to develop osteoporosis? And was my son right when he argued that cow’s milk was not the best source for calcium? Evidently, the answer was yes on both counts, as additional research confirmed the claims. This article by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cinched the deal for us.

In case you’re wondering, no, I do not have diabetes – yet. But I do have some of the risk factors, including out of whack lipid numbers and family members with diabetes, which has meant that I have simply assumed that sooner or later my number would be called and I would take the drugs and finally be forced to eat differently and perhaps face some of the complications that go hand in hand with the diagnosis.

The writing was on the wall and finally we were willing to put on our glasses and read it. I wish I could say that we were excited to know that we had another option, but the truth is we didn’t feel that continuing the status quo was even a choice. There was really only one option and we were ready to embrace it.

We’re new at this and have a lot to learn. Hopefully we also have a lot to gain. Just as importantly, we feel good knowing that we are doing our part for the planet by eating lower on the food chain. And, of course, a load of guilt has been lifted now that have taken a stand and are voting with our forks for more humane treatment of animals in our food supply.

Pura Vida

Las Fiestas de Palmares

As life here unfolds on a day to day basis, I must tell myself a dozen times a week that this or that needs to go into the next blog post. Later, when I sit down to write all those moments fade into the landscape of our new normalcy and seem hardly worthy of mention. That said, there was one major event I have to report on.

This, of course, was our first January in Costa Rica, which translates into our first Las Fiestas de Palmares – the biggest party of the year in a country that loves big parties. To put the enormity of this event into perspective, keep in mind these two facts:

Beer: According to some reports, the Palmares Fiesta ranks #2 in beer consumption world-wide… second only to the Oktoberfest in Munich. That’s a lot of beer when you consider this…

Size: Palmares has a population of just over 4,000 (not counting the canton's other six districts). Of course, the 500,000 or so visitors that the town hosts over the course of 13 hot days and fun-filled nights need a lot of refreshment, so the locals aren't actually walking around in a drunken stupor for two weeks.

Where does all this fun take place? And what exactly is the draw (aside from beer, that is)?



During the fiesta, the main road (pictured above) that runs from the International Highway through downtown (and is the primary bus route in and out of town) is converted into a parade route and party central. Virtually every property along the route rents out their front lawn, parking lot, and even the space above their buildings, in the case of single-story structures lacking open space in the front, where scaffolding is erected and overlaid with flooring to support ad-hoc restaurants, super bars, dance floors – and prime parade viewing. Tickets for those venues run around $60 per person for the biggest single event of the fiesta, the tope or horse parade. In case you're wondering, the price of admission gets you more than a look at beautiful horses. It also includes all your food and drinks, so some might consider it a bargain.

The real fun, though, just might be curbside, where regular folks tote in ice chests filled with beer and strut about in their plaid shirts, boots and cowboy hats, and proceed to enjoy one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, tailgate parties known to man.



We walked down one residential street along parade route that was lined with folding chairs and ice chests. Inside the iron gates of the homes behind them, residents were setting up for their own little fiestas, complete with flat screen TVs on the porch for watching the parade coverage, as well.

There's one thing Costa Ricans love as much as a party and that is their horses! Beautiful, well-bred, well-trained horses, at that. The numbers I’m hearing are that about 5,000 horses prance along the parade route during the tope. Although we can’t report much first hand info (the parade took place during the heat of a very hot day and we’re whimps when it comes to hot), we did make a brief visit to the fairgrounds a couple of hours before the parade began, walked the parade route, indulged in some luscious traditional food, and were ready to make our way home and out of the heat about the time the parade got into full swing. On our way to the bus we captured a couple of good horse pictures. The best is at the top of this post. The other parade photos here are made possible only because one of our neighbors was brave enough to stick around for most of it. (Thanks, Donna!)






Like all festivals, carnivals, and county fairs we’re familiar with in the U.S., this one had rides for the little ones and the daring, food stands for everyone, arts & crafts and souvenir vendors. Unlike most of them 'at home,' this one starts with a children's parade in which the little ones carry handmade lanterns, illuminated by candles. And just exactly where in the States are you going to find a no-kill bullfight? Or any bullfight, for that matter?! I’ll refrain from commenting on the wisdom of hopping into an arena and going head to head with any animal with horns and more than a 100 to 1 weight advantage over a large man, but this is where it happens. Every January.

Weekends during the fiesta are dominated by open air concerts by big-name performers. There’s a 13.5 kilometer foot race and a 37 kilometer bike race. Pretty much something for everybody.

The one event I would love to see (at least once in my life) is the Carnival parade. My impression of it is that it’s similar to Mardi Gras (New Orleans) or Carnival (Buenos Aires Argentina), but toned down a bit. This year, Vic was nursing an ankle injury so we kept our walking to a minimum. Maybe next year.

What makes all this fun even more fun, is that January is the definitely the driest month of the year (that would be weather, not in alcohol consumption, of course) in Palmares. So while it was truly hot, with temps tipping to the 90s and higher in the sun, the humidity was low, without a threat of rain during the festivities.

Most Palmareñans skip the party, which is perceived by some as a gross annoyance. Some even leave town to avoid the craziness. But for anyone who loves a party - this is definitely where the action is.

All in all, I can sum up the fiesta this way: Muchos gente (a lot of people); Mucho sol (a lot of sun); and MUCHAS cerveza (an incredible amount of beer).

If you decide to visit us next January and join the fun, remember we've got just one extra bedroom, so reserve your spot early!

*Palmares is a canton (the equivalent of a county in the U.S.) that is comprised of seven districts (not quite a town, but more than a neighborhood). We live in the district of Buenos Aires. The district of Palmares is also the ‘capital’ (or the equivalent of a county seat in the U.S.) of the canton.

Pura Vida

Unseen and Unheard

We have a monkey. Or more precisely, we saw a howler monkey in a tree near our house.

The sighting should not have been completely unexpected. When we rented this house, the owners told us that previous renters in the cabina that shares the property with us claimed to have seen two of them. And toucans, too! Only the promise of a visit from a resident lapis (parrot) could have made the prospects more exciting.

As the months rolled by with no monkey or toucan visits, we concluded that the reports were either ancient history or cases of mistaken identity. Maybe even wishful thinking.

Then a few months ago a chestnut mandibled toucan paid us his first visit. He comes by now and then, stays long enough to send us scurrying for cameras, though never long enough for a photo shoot.

But, alas, no monkeys.

Until yesterday when this handsome guy decided to show his face and... well, the other end, too.




(Now, in case you're tempted to think I have needlessly compromised this fella's modesty, it's worth noting that, according to Wikipedia, the color of his ... private parts ... is actually a point of identification because the scrotum of a male howler monkey turns white when he reaches maturity. Consequently, if all one glimpses is the south end of a north-bound adult male monkey, there should be no question as to whether or not it's a howler.)

When morning came and our monkey did not return, we decided to take a walk down the nature trail in the hope that he might have simply moved to a different tree and that we might be lucky enough to get another glimpse of him.

No luck. The forest was full of birds and squirrels and ants and flying, biting insects, but not a monkey -- or toucan, for that matter -- to be seen.

Then at about noon, we looked up and discovered that he was back. Taking a nap. In the same spot. So we had to name him. After all, he just might be our new neighbor!

We decided on Howie. Howie the Howler.

Eventually naptime was over and Howie was on the move again, climbing to the very top of the tree and disappearing into a thin layer of leaves.

No way! Surely, the leaves weren't dense enough to conceal a 3-foot long monkey with a tail just about that long trailing behind him!

About the time we had convinced ourselves that he had pulled a fast one on us - that we must have looked away for a moment, giving him the briefest opportunity to climbed down and make an escape - Howie popped his head out above the canopy, reached for a twig of tender, young leaves and vanished again. Yes, way!

A few minutes later he climbed back down and returned to his perch, where we continued to watch him and he continued to watch us until he tired of the game or grew hungry again, descended into the forest and disappeared once more.

Although we don't know exactly where Howie is tonight, we know that he is a master at disappearing into the forest, so he might not be far away at all. Maybe he'll return to his perch tomorrow. Maybe he won't. But his visit has been an important reminder of how foolish it is to think we know what is out there in the forest based solely on what we see and what we hear.

Pura Vida

Of Snakes, Spiders, And Christmas From Afar

We won't have snow this Christmas, but we will have morning glories! With the coming of summer, these gorgeous wild vines and flowers of just about every color are in full bloom. I'll take that over snow any year.


As I think about celebrating Christmas in a new country this year, I'm also thinking about how tough our immigrating ancestors had it, especially during the holidays. To be sure, we’ve had our fair share of speed bumps (and pot holes) getting settled here, but thanks to technology, we have been spared the heart-wrenching need to break virtually all ties with our past to do it.

Lucky for us, it’s a different world now.

The Internet makes managing the practical side of life - managing our finances and renting out our home 2,000 miles away - a piece of cake.

It's an important tool for finding answers that make the adjustment more manageable. We use it to help us improve our Spanish skills (a word I use loosely), to learn local recipes and answer questions about Costa Rican culture and traditions. More than ever, Google has become one of my closest friends.

On a personal level, the Internet provides a window we can look through to ‘see’ that our kids, grandkids, and friends are okay and busy with their lives. We see photos of birthday parties, school dances, slumber parties (called sleepovers, these days), Christmas-tree shopping, first snows, and trees down -- and sometimes even what’s for dinner. We get news about new jobs, promotions, golf scores, missing kitties and trips to the dog park.

Skype let us talk face-to-face.

By contrast, when my great-great grandfather came to America from Germany in about 1850, I’m sure he was lucky to get a letter from ‘home’ once or twice a year – if ever. What courage he and all the others like him had!

These are the thoughts that run through my mind just about every morning, when I reach for my computer over the my first cup of coffee and take a peek into life ‘back home’ and reassure my heart that all is well with the people I love.

Likewise, technology lets me share our experiences with all of you. Through Facebook, email, and this blog we can report on close encounters of the creepy-crawly type and … Oh yes! That’s what I’m supposed to be talking about. Creepy crawlies.

Here's a photo of the coral snake that got ticked off when a little grass-cutting in the front yard disturbed him. After we snapped a few pictures of him, Vic carefully transported him (on the tines of a leaf rake) to the forest while I used Google to confirm his identity – and learn that coral snakes are indeed quite poisonous, but rarely bite humans. Their mouths are too small and, theoretically, the smart ones realize that they need to save their venom for prey they can actually eat. The question is, of course, is it possible to tell if you’ve encountered a smart one if you take a really close look?



That was on a Saturday. The next day, Vic walked into a large spider web. Although he didn’t feel anything bite him, within minutes his lips began to swell. Then his cheeks. Not knowing how bad it might get, we prepared to leave for the emergency room in San Ramon, but decided to call a friend first to find out if there was an alternative to spending the day in the ER waiting room. Together we decided that the ER was probably over-kill, as there are no truly deadly spiders in Costa Rica, and a trip to the pharmacy (farmacía) doctor made a lot more sense.

Yes, pharmacy doctor. Just one more difference between the U.S. and Costa Rica. Most medications are available here without a prescription; antibiotics, narcotics and a few other meds that require medical supervision, being the exceptions. To help consumers make smart medical decision, all farmacías are required to have a doctor on duty during business hours. And most farmacías are open on Sunday.

So off to the doctor we went. A half hour later we paid our bill: $8 for a topical antihistamine. No charge for the doctor, whose services are considered overhead for the farmacía.

Within 24 hours, he was back to normal with a new story to tell. Have I mentioned lately just how much we love our new home - spiders, snakes, morning glories, and all?

Pura Vida