Interesting Plant

I found this interesting seed on the beach a week or so ago (left photo) and realized it was a work in progress.  The next two photos show the progression of this seed as it turns from seed, to a kidney looking thing into a plant.  Just thought it was interesting and quite beautiful.

Cows on the beach

Taking a lil' beach stroll with my doggie Lola, and encountered a group of cows...doing the same.  Lola was like "what the...??"

From here to there....

Just about 40 minutes outside of town and the landscape changes to beautiful farmland and countryside.

El Sabor de Guanacaste Festival

Last Friday, July 25, my girl Lydia and I attended a local art festival named El Sabor de Guanacaste (The Flavor of Guanacaste) in Flamingo Beach.  Guanacaste is the province of Costa Rica that I live in and July 25 is Guanacaste Day, celebrating the independence of the zone from Nicaragua - making it a part of Costa Rica in 1824. 

We've attended a handful of fairs in Flamingo over the past few years, but honestly, they've always been a little disappointing.  There was always very little foot traffic or community/tourist interest.   So when we heard about this one, initially we were kinda' on the fence as to whether or not we wanted to close our shops for the day and head over there.  In the past, it just hasn't been worth it.  However, after a few conversations with one of the organizers, Raquel (who we would soon discover was on her "A" game), we decided that the event seemed like it would be well promoted and attended.  We really liked the fact that there would be live music and that there were a decent amount of confirmed artists.  

The space that the artists were in was a covered patio with lots of natural light and fresh air.  (Although it was like a 100000 degrees that day so even the breezy air felt like you were standing in front of an open oven!)  The day started with a parade with kids from the local schools, some dressed up in traditional clothing, others marching in a band that pounded out a beat that made even the least rhythmic person want to move.  

Right after the parade, people started milling around and soon after, the bands started to perform.  There was a good turnout -- lots of locals and tourists, which is always a nice mix.

The Lovely Ms. Lydia 

My table

Traditional Chorotega/Guaitil Pottery from Jesus and Susan 

Paintings by Jose Jackson

I love photography.  It's one of my favorite art forms, so I really enjoyed the photography by photographer Royden Alvaro.  His photographs tell stories of life in Guanacaste.  Fiestas, bull riding, borrachos (drunks) dancing in the street, really capturing the moment.  You gotta check out his website and see his photos from Costa Rica, Cuba and the rest of his portfolio.

Of course, I have to include at least one photo of a dog!! :)

A staple of culinary culture here in Guanacaste is corn tortillas so of course there were ladies making them from scratch and cooking them over a wood fire.  If you've never had tortillas fresh off the griddle, you've missed out on one of life's finest pleasures.

The music was awesome.  A great mix of electronic, traditional, rock and reggae bands.  Tamarindo's own Glass Eye performed.   These guys rock.

One of the big things of this festival was the different workshops available for the kids to participate in.  Lydia hostessed a painting class and I hostessed a beading class.  It's always fun to see what the kids come up with when left to their own creative devices.

My Beading Class

Lyd's painting class.

What kid doesn't like drawing on the cement with chalk. Heck, I still like to draw on the cement!!

In the late afternoon, a traditional dance troupe named Colpachi performed.  Being from the States, one thing I really love here is seeing young people enjoying their rich heritage.  In the States, we just don't have any thing traditional like folk dancing, so seeing "kids" immersed in their traditions that have been handed down over and over, is something that I always love to watch.

The festival lasted until much later, but we left for home and cold showers (!!!) around 5ish.  I think I speak for us both that we were glad that we went.  It was fun, productive, entertaining, and best of all we got to spend the day together.  Awwwww.

Critters

Lots of big, strange scary critters here.  I've learned never to say things like "that spider was huge" because there is always one that will prove to you that the prior was not all that big at all. 

While doing a little random cleaning the other day I discovered this guy.  Thankfully he had already met his demise by the time we encountered each other, that is one big ol' stinger he's got there.  I thought it was a bee, you know, black/yellow and a stinger?  But apparently this a fly.  Now, that's just gross.

Funny story while taking the following photo.  I propped the guy up (with a pliers of course!) and got veeerrrry close up with the camera trying to capture him in all his glory.  Just as my camera lense got right up in his pointer, he fell over, scaring me half to death.  

Parking Attendants

Out in the country and at the beaches, if there are places to park, there is also a man  wearing some sort of fluorescent safety  vest, strap, tape, etc., who is the “Parking Attendant.”   Considering the auto break-in rate in most areas, paying someone to watch your car while you’re away, in theory, is an excellent idea.

The problem I have with this is that these **ahem** “Parking Attendants” always seem to look an awful lot like the person I think I want my car guarded from.   Your nice and friendly crack addict with rotted front teeth.   The eerie looking man who plucks his beard hairs in a broken piece of mirror and that all of my dogs seem to want to kill??  The drunken sailor who I think may be an American who I believe has the beginning stages of gangrene in his feet due to diabetes angry because of years of alcohol ingestion. 

It’s a strange lil’ business.  They don’t work for anyone, no one hires them.  They just show up and charge what they think they can get.  This is a pretty good deal because in reality, they do watch your car and it is how they buy their drugs and alcohol….so…that’s sort of an honest living…at least from one perspective.  And really, if you think about it, you have to appreciate the honesty in it all.  “Look, I could just break in your car and steal your crap, but why don’t you pay me not to.”

Usually they’re harmless but there have been a few strange ones.  There was the ridiculously unconvincing 50'ish transvestite that liked to wear cut off t-shirts that showed his (eerrr..) her pot potbelly.  Or the super eerie, deep set eyed, red faced man who turned out to be the world’s best mariachi singer.  Who knew!?!?  And my personal favorite, the 12 year old juvenile hall escapee that kept saying  “Mmmmm mamacita” every time I walked by.

Yeah, thanks kid.  I’m flattered.  Really.

While walking around a local city this week doing some errands, I noticed a very intoxicated Parking Attendant teetering, loudly negotiating a “surveillance” deal with a European looking man.  I came across the same Parking Attendant about 20 minutes later on the way back…executing an excellent visual of himself hard at work.

Monkey Business

There's lots of monkeys that live and pass through the trees in my backyard every day.  The dogs go totally nutso watching them cross overhead.

Recently, one monkey decided to venture down a tree branch to sample the flowers on our blossoming papaya tree.  (Yummy!)  He suspended himself by his tail and nibbled the flowers while keeping a close eye on the dogs who were watching intently below.

After a few minutes, the monkey seemed to lose interest in the flowers and allowed himself to start bouncing and hanging like he was bungee jumping directly above a completely mesmerized Merlin.

The dangling monkey above head was just too much to take and the monkey knew it!!

He bounced himself lower and lower and lower over Merlin's head teasing and taunting him.

The other dogs got really excited, and were barking and running circles around Merlin until he just couldn't take the teasing any longer.

For being such a large dog, Merlin is able to jump amazingly high.  In fact, it's one of his favorite pastimes!

With a huge jump, Merlin lunged upward toward the monkey.  Just in time, the monkey tugged the branch with his tail and sent himself high up into the tree.

Maybe next time Merlin.  For the monkey's sake, let's hope not.

Lions and tigers and....baby crocs?

Crocodiles are semi-common around here.  Recently, two dogs were eaten by crocodiles (on separate occasions) in an area close by that is known to have crocodiles.  In other words, uhhhh, don't take your dog over there.  Seems obvious enough, right?  But that's another topic.

Anyhow, usually you associate crocs with water, but we were up in the hills behind town yesterday and lookie-lookie what we found!

Ta-dah!

He was a small little fellow, about 4 1/2 feet long.

But ya' know, I'm sure despite his size, it would be better that he doesn't get ahold of an arm or anything else you want to keep intact.

After the croc so politely posed for his photo shoot, the guys took him to the "area known for crocodiles" and released him.  ;)

Homemade Traditional Pastries

One of the best parts of traveling any where should be the food.  Especially pastries!  A typical (seasonal) pastry in this area of the country are tasty little cracker/cookies named "roquillas" (pronounced "roskeeyuz") which are made during Semana Santa, the week before Easter. 

Each year, my mother-in-law ("Dona A") makes about 1000 of these little yummy pastries along with other corn flour morsels, packages them up, sells them to neighbors and gifts them as long anticipated munchies to her kids and grandkids. 

Talk about homemade.

The whole process starts in her nearby corn field where the corn is grown, picked and de-cobbed.  The kernels are put into a hand grinder and ground over and over to create organic corn flour, the main ingredient in rosquillas.

A portion of this is separated and put aside for sweet pastries, and the remaining flour is for the rosquillas.  The flour is again put through the grinder with water, salt and a dry cheese from a neighbor's cow to form a dough.

Usually Dona A has a friend helping and the two women sit across from each other, sharing a huge tray of this mixture.  For hours, they sit there kneading, gossiping and talking with people that stop by to see how things are going.

They knead the dough over and over and form little rings around their finger, pinching the ends together.  It sounds easy, but it takes a lot of practice to get the right amount of dough and the right form.  I guess a 1000 or more of these a year for the past 50 or so years is enough practice.  Being unpracticed, I wasn't so great.

 

The flour that was set aside is mixed with sugar to create a sweet dough.

From half of this dough, Dona A makes amaaaazing homemade papaya jam stuffed empanas.  The papayas, which are grown outside in her yard, are cut and cooked with a little sugar to make a delicious, sweet pulp.

The other portion is mixed with a milk similar to buttermilk and put into a pan, making a sort of semi-sweet cornbread

Using all of the flour takes them from about 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The raw creations are stacked up all over the kitchen table and counters.  Let's cook these babies!!

It's time to turn on the oven.

But, not as in "Hey honey, can you put the oven on 450 for me?"   This is an outdoor wood burning oven normally used for cooking pottery.   Filled with just enough wood to heat up to about 450, about an hour later the trays are put into the oven and the cooking begins.

People continue to stop by and chit chat.  Someone goes to get some beers and everyone sits around the yard watching the trays loaded in and out of the oven.

Dona A starts to get worried because she's always so afraid that a tray will get dropped or that the oven is not the right temperature.  I suggest she come and sit down with me on the stoop and finish her beer.  She complies and keeps putting her head on my shoulder saying "I can't look" when a tray is lifted into the oven.  (In her opinion, the guys aren't using the right spatula to pick them up and they are going to tumble!)

In the end, it all works out and everything makes it safely from the oven.

My favorites are the papaya filled empanas and an afternoon cup of coffee.  Yes please!!

Tree Trimming

I have learned a ton about how much behind the scenes maintenance goes into operating a large, over populated 1st world city like Los Angeles, where I'm from.  There are so many things that are the responsibility of your local municipality.  Everyone pays their taxes and so for the most part, things are maintained.  I didn't learn this by living in the city, I learned this by living in the country...in the country of a country of a developing 2nd world country.  (That's a mouthful!!) 

By living in a place like this, it has becomes painfully apparent that it's necessary that I put everything I've learned in my "other life" (i.e., city dwelling) regarding basic safety -- behind me -- and embrace other ways of doing things.  Because let me assure you, there are ways of fixing things that you never in your wildest dreams would have imagined.

Like tree trimming.

When a very large tree went through a growing spurt and extended it's oh so heavy branches up, over and beyond the stores that make up my "corner of the planet", my husband inquired around town about who might be good with a chain saw.  I know, "chain saw" - it sounds pretty creepy, however, (another lesson learned) apparently knowing a guy that's good with a chain saw (or a machete!) is someone you want in your inner circle.  

I had no idea what it took to trim down a large tree -- I'd lived in a large city in an apartment for most of my life, I never had to worry about these things.

So, my husband located a friend of a friend of a cousin of a neighbor's nephew's daughter's second husband's father's, neighbor's second wife's brother's, ex-neighbor, who not only was known to be good with a chainsaw (I prefer not to inquire further into this "skill" nor how he gained this reputation), but was small and limber enough to take on this tree trimming job with the help of 2 other guys.

It went like this.....

Like a monkey, he scaled the tree, chainsaw in hand, and tied a rope around himself and then to the tree.  Another very long rope was then tied to the tree up where he was perched right above the portion that needed to be executed.  The free end of the rope was tossed over a strong branch of a neighboring tree and the end of the rope held securely by a faithful friend on the ground.

The concept was, Chainsaw Guy, gripping the trunk with his legs, revs up the chainsaw and cuts the trunk (ahem, minus any safety goggles) about a foot below where the rope is tied around it.  Then the large, heavy newly cut piece of trunk swings down top speed while Faithful Friend holding the rope which is looped over the other tree branch, tries to control this flying tree trunk like a giant pinata. 

Try to picture this, the momentum of an extremely heavy, solid object free falling out of a tall tree. Seriously.  It's horrifying to watch.

After this - I noticed tree maintenance more often.  Most times I just have to look away - terrified that I'm about to witness a tragedy.  

Look at how high up this guy is - - a bit above the bar's sign.

 Yikes, watch those fingers!!

I'm getting  used to things like this, slowly but surely just accepting what IS.  I'm learning to chuckle at the things that sometimes seem ridiculous and realize it's these things that make me love living here.

Give Thanks Where Thanks Is Deserved

On a local news show a few nights ago, they spotlighted (among other very important stories **ahem**) the 2012 Hooters Costa Rica Bikini Contest.  

As the lucky lady pranced down the runway, jiggling in all the right places, she looked up to the heavens and made the mark of the cross (like a good Catholic girl) across her inflated chest.

Classic.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!!!

Coming from Southern California, I'd say that I've experienced my fair share of Mother Nature realigning her tectonic plates from time to time.  From a small kid on, you're taught that when the ground gets ta' shaking, get under a doorway or preferably under a large sturdy table until the shaking subsides. Growing up, there were always rumblers here and there that were unnerving - but for the most part it was just part of life living where I lived.  Usually the ground would lightly tremble, you'd stop, take note (waiting to see if it's just a little one or it's going to get stronger) and then went about your business.

However, when Ms. Mother Nature decided to shift things around this past Wednesday (Sept. 5) at 8:42 a.m., I was totally caught off guard.  Standing in my kitchen cooking breakfast, it took a few milliseconds for it to register what exactly was happening.  I guess my earthquake sensors are a bit out of practice and I didn't register "earthquake" nearly as quickly as I would have living in LA.

I had just returned from a hike when I felt what I interpreted to be dizziness, but then realized that there was a rumbling noise all around me.  Suddenly the mental hiccup passed and it registered "EARTHQUAKE!!!!!" and I went into auto mode of looking for a a sturdy table (uhhhh...don't own one) or doorway....(uhhhhh.....questionable Costa Rican construction) to seek shelter under.

But in Costa Rica - that's not the proper game plan.  See here, there are no large sky rises showering glass down, nor high power lines, or billboards, however there is some rather shady construction at times so the outside is exxxacccctly where you want to get.  Lucky me, my knight in shining armor Costa Rican hubby responded more accurately and pulled me out of the house.

As we ran out the front door, the roof of our patio was trembling and clanking and there was this loud rumbling noise from all directions. (SCARY!!!)   As we reached the front gate the ground was absolutely rattling and it was difficult to stand up -- and still the noise.  The shaking kept getting stronger and at that point all I could do was pray "Oh God, please keep us safe!"  It really began to seem feasible that it was going to keep getting stronger.  It was surreal and I thought "could this really be happening???" But then, the shaking stopped and we looked at each other and ran to get the car keys and get to higher ground.

We live about 1/4 mile from the beach and having no idea where this large quake was epicentered - we had to get up and fast.  For all we knew it was epicentered directly in front of where we were and a wave was headed our way.  Our town is 21 feet above sea level.  Not a good place to be had this huge jolt generated any large wave action.

Luckily, we live at the base of a good size hill which is probably the best place to get to quickly in situations like these.  So off we went - quickly -- tuned the radio to the news and sat above the town overlooking the ocean.  Slowly the hilltop starting filling up with other residents of town after a tsunami alert was issued for the entire Central American Pacific coast.

As news started coming in we learned that the earthquake measured 7.6 - epicentered less than 40 miles from my home. Ah-ha.  No wonder I felt that sucker so hard.

It really was quite a shaker!!  As I recall other quakes I've experienced I'd say the only one that would really qualify as "large quake" would be the 1994 Northridge quake which measured 6.7 -- significantly smaller than what I felt with this shaker.  This was by far the largest, strongest earthquake I've ever felt and let me just say ....whoa!

Experiencing something like this in a place that is so "off the map" really does make one think about things like emergency preparedness.  Had this been something more serious, where I live (out in "the country")  help would not be coming anytime soon.  This has really impressed on me (and hopefully others) the importance of putting some thought into what it means to be prepared and to immediately get those items together.

There have been lots and lots of aftershocks in the past 3 days.  We keep getting jolted awake by shakers like this morning's aftershock which registered 5.6 -- still a good size quake. I'm hoping things mellow out soon.  My nerves are a bit rattled....literally.