Casa Tranquillo12/25/07
In the past three months I have seen more rain and eaten more fruit than I have in the past three years! De veras (it’s true)!
I left San Jose at the end of the Central Valley’s rainy season, only to plunge into the full on rainy season of the Caribbean. You have not seen rain until you have lived here during the rainy season. I am writing this on Christmas day, the fourth straight day of pouring rain. And I mean pouring! Just when you think the sound of the water blasting the tin roof is going to drive you nuts and it can’t possible rain any harder, it rains harder!
And fruit - I have become absolutely enchanted with papaya. I have to have it every day. Put it in the blender with milk and you have a really good liquado - papaya con leche. Add honey to that and chill. It congeals into a pudding-like dessert. And of course when you cut it up and eat it plain, it just about melts in your mount. Mangos are my second favorite.
It is all part of life in the amazingly beautiful rain forest. In spite of the initial adversities and psychological challenges of this huge change I have made in life, I love living here! Every time I walk out of my cozy little cabina, I take in a deep, moist breath of the jungle and feel thankful to be here.
Here is a link to a You Tube film so you can see and hear them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV22Ua3zwN4
They start, from off in the distance, with “ou ou” sounds which progress into growls and barks that turn into lion roars! Other closer groups join in, then the ones right above my head are in the chorus and it moves on, like a wave. It reminds me of wolves. First a solitary howl calls to the others and soon they all join in. It starts softly, works into a clamor and then fades. A few minutes later it starts again. It usually happens at dawn and dusk but it can be any time of the day. I love to watch the monkeys play. They chase each other through the tree tops, running up the trunks and then literally falling, catching onto the branches and then dropping again.
I start each day with morning chores. Living in the jungle requires extra time for maintenance, as the humidity, the bugs and the breeze blown dirt and dust are pervasive. Nothing ever dries. Clothes, pillows and linens have to be put in the dryer (if you are fortunate enough to have one) once every two weeks to prevent bacteria and mold growth. Windows have no glass (many people have no screens). Dust blows in daily and leaves find their way in, too.
And bugs, well they are everywhere and you just have to live with them. Some, like mosquitos, are annoying and the ones that carry dengue are dangerous, but they only bite in the day time and are easy to identify - big flouncy things with white feet. Most are weird, interesting and totally benign. I am always saving the two inch black beetles that land on their backs and can’t turn over. Cute little geckos (in the States we call them chameleons) are everywhere and I see the beautiful Blue Morpho butterfly several times a day. I have decided that the four inch diameter spider that I saw in the rafters of my cabina is my friend. He is up there catching bugs while I sleep peacefully under my mosquito net!
One morning after breakfast in the main house, I went back to my cabina to find a frantic Toucan inside! It had blown right through the screen and was flying and shitting (sweet smelling purple fruit stuff) all over the place, trying to find a way out. i got some good photos before I guided him out the door.
My plans for the day are always a bit vague and loose as they are often changed by circumstance. While working on my current job of re painting an old sign for the Gaia Center, on the main beach road, people walking by often stop and talk to me. This time it was a sloth. He didn’t have much to say but he sure was cute!
Interesting people come into the Gaia Center.Cura and Sam are the sweetest couple. He is from Ireland and she from Brazil. They met and fell in love while traveling in Central America and have joined forces for the past three months. Sam is studying Permaculture. I was so impressed when with them on a jungle retreat, there were 20 hungry people and the food order had not arrived. Sam found food for us in the wild - roots and herbs and along with some rice, made a delicious meal for us all!
This couple is from Spain. She has been studying botany in San Jose and now the two of them are on a four month trip, camping their way through Central and South America. They pick up money here and there by juggling with fire!
The Gaia Center, which has yoga, martial arts and meditation, is owned by Silvio, a 42 year old, independently wealthy, Italian with two beautiful blue eyed, blond teenagers. Working with people in the Gaia Center is Silvio’s way to make the world a better place. I went up to his farm, several miles back into the mountains, for a winter solstice ceremony. It was rainy and really muddy, with some cool young kids (20’s and 30’s) from all over and some Indigenous (that’s what they call the Indians here) guys from Panama, who were there to work but joined us for music, meals and ceremony. I got to walk on muddy paths in the dark jungle and skinny dip in the river in the warm rain. At meals there was always someone playing guitar, joined by drums, flutes and conk shells. I danced, of course.
One of my favorite friends is a girl, my son Christian’s age. I won’t tell you her name because she is hiding here in Costa Rica. She has been through a lot in her young life. She is from the middle east, of Kurdish decent. Escape from racial prejudice brought her family to Europe, where she grew up. When they wanted to send her back to their native country to marry someone she did not even know, she rebelled and ran away. Her people are violent. Her parents have not forgiven her after several years and her wealthy father has had private investigators after her. She is afraid for her life. But this beautiful and very intelligent girl is happy here in Costa Rica.
Julio is another interesting character. 27 I met him at the party Renzo, Gina’s friend, threw for his son, who came to visit from New Jersey. Renzo is from Peru, but he and his extended family all moved to New Jersey to work in shipping at the port of Newark. Julio was the singer in the calypso band, hired for the party. This 66 year old guy has had 40 children! I know, I didn’t believe it either. Then he started telling me about them and about his life and I think it is really true! He used to be an amateur baseball player who was the top catcher in Central America for six years. Then he sang professionally, traveling with an orchestra. He loved telling me the story of how five girls fought over him when he was a 15 year old baseball player.
Julio, doing some yard work.
Costa Rica attracts so many different kinds of weird and interesting characters. Some say it is the place for the “wanted (as in wanted by the law) and the unwanted.” There are definitely some shady types to be avoided but for the most part, the people I have met have been sweet, kind, friendly and most entertaining.
My life here is the Caribbean is low key, relaxing but before I have a chance to get bored, something altogether unexpected happens. My favorite part of the day is coming home, stripping and jumping into the lovely little pool at Casa Tranquillo.
I end this journal entry now, on the day after Christmas. For Christmas I made no plans, as I have learned that the best is to just see what happens. I stopped to visit Gina, who was waiting for her family to arrive from San Jose. Cura and Sam came by to spend some time. Then I went to a pot luck party that I have been invited to and had so much fun! It was a “greed party” where people are allowed to steal each other’s gifts and I have not laughed so much in a long time. At then end of the evening I was surprised with a sweet gift and card from Zarah, the young girl who runs the Gaia Center. I was touched by her kindness. I have had a lovely Christmas and am so grateful for the abundance in my life. Now the sun has come out after four days of rain, so I am off to the beach!
