Day 61: No pool for us.

A coati. Similar to a raccoon. Found anywhere there's food.

The pool was supposed to be completed and ready for a swim yesterday. Seeing as it looks no different than the picture that was posted a month ago, we won’t waste the space posting another one. There has been very little progress made. After talking to our landlord, he informed me that his employee called him and said the weather had been bad for several weeks and he couldn’t work. We’ve lived here for a month and I’ve seen him a total of five times. Sure it rained for a while, but 25 days? No way. I kept my mouth shut though.


Our landlord, Gary, is a talkative surfer dude in his mid-forties who lives someplace in Costa Rica with his Tica wife and baby. He told me he was going to be starting the deck and tiling for the pool while he was here for a week but after several days of lounging on the hammock, I think he really just came to collect rent, catch a few waves and take a break from life. Other than a few pieces of wood tossed next to the pool, there’s no sign of any type of deck being built or any tile laid.

Mike was proud of his electricity monitoring skills when Gary congratulated us on having a power bill half as much as a normal one. He didn’t know how we did it but we must really be conserving electricity somehow. Here’s the trick - after Matt or I leave a room Mike walks checks it to make sure we’ve turned off the fan and light. If he goes upstairs after one of us has come down and we hear our name called out, we know we left something on. We’ve nicknamed him the Light Nazi.

I’ve resigned to the fact that we won’t be swimming steps from our house. Now I’m working on convincing Mike and Matt to go to a breakfast buffet at the resort next to us. I could care less about the eggs…they let you use their in ground pool after you eat for as long as you want. That’s my kind of breakfast.

Day 60: Could it be?!?!

When Matt landed amid buckets of rain, he asked if we knew when the rainy season is supposed to end. I pulled a date out of my butt and said November 15, 2010. Seeing as today is that day and we spent the majority of it bathing in lots of sun under cloudless skies, I’m thinking I might be psychic. Welcome dry season, glad to finally meet you.



But when we got back from the beach, our landlord warned us that storms are brewing in the Caribbean again which means we’ll get dumped on for a few days. That is not good news. Our road is still a muddy mess no matter how dry it is and they just re-secured our power lines and cable. The trees have been cleared and the river is back to green. After the kind of day we had today, it just wouldn’t be right.


From what we’ve been told, certain roads are still not repaired from the last storm and I’m sure plenty of people are still displaced. After we became aware of the flooding of our first town, Parrita, we contacted Clint to extend an invitation to stay at our place if needed. He responded today, after several days of waiting, to thank us for the offer but he had gotten rid of the 20 inches of water in his home. His mattresses are no longer floating and the house is finally dry. His mom also told us that they couldn’t risk leaving their home for an extended period of time as theft has increased drastically due to the condition of the neighborhood. For several days, Parrita was without electricity, water and was severely flooded.


We haven’t often wondered if moving was a good thing. We knew it was. Now we know for sure that we made the right decision. And are so thankful we did.

Day 59: Daydreaming about our first day back...

Today marks one month until we are back in the United States. We’ll be landing in Atlanta, GA on December 14th and will be staying at Matt’s until the 17th when we begin our drive to CT. Here’s a preview of what I plan to do on my first day back.


After waking up in a nice, comfortable king size bed (Matt graciously offered his) I’ll shower with familiar products and scrub my face no less than four times to rid my pores of any mold residue. Then, I’m going to dry my hair. I brought mine here but I have no desire to blow hot air on my head for ten minutes. It's been used once as a clothes dryer.  Not only am I going to dry my hair, I’m going to actually DO it. Here, I have two hairstyles; up and up, either in a bun or in a ponytail. Then I’ll apply makeup. Not much. Just the normal routine that I had to abandon here for fear I’d end up looking like Gene Simmons after my mascara mixes with sweat.

Then I’m going to get into my car and drive to a coffee shop. Sure we’ve spent hours in internet cafes. And yes, we’re in the land where coffee began. But they don’t share it as much as we do at home. They don’t do big coffees here and they don’t do takeout. For avid coffee drinkers like us, it takes all of three minutes to finish our teacups (they can’t even be described as mugs). Matt attempted to get a coffee to go and got a small amount poured in a plastic white solo cup set in a Styrofoam cup used as the sleeve. So I’m going to drive to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or both and get a giant coffee to go.

And then maybe I’ll get a little lost driving…just to be able to drive again. (Although, I’m sure that I’ll have enough about four hours into our seventeen hour drive home.)

During coffee runs and driving around, I’ll still be relishing in the fact that I’m wearing jeans. I have yet to wear pants for fear that I’ll never be able to peel them off or I’ll pass out from overheating. Even though it’ll be unnecessary, I think I might even wear my high heeled ankle boots (after I scrape the mold off of them). I’ve been only able to wear functional, destructible shoes since we’ve been here and I plan to functionally destroy them before we leave.

From there, I’ll make a stop at the Red Box and rent a new release. Repeats of Conspiracy Theory just aren’t cutting it. And last night’s new HBO movie, Ghost of Girlfriends Past, prompted a more amusing debate about the demise of Matthew McConaughey’s career than it entertained us.

With enough coffee in my cup to keep me happy, I’ll call Verizon and finally get off this ridiculous international plan and reactivate our internet card. And I will immediately call someone and talk for as long as I want without a delay and without being interrupted by calling card robots counting down minutes before it abruptly disconnects. Of course, I’ll be stationed on the couch for the duration of this call, only to move to take off my heels - maybe.

Before starting the movie, I’ll flip through the channels, all of which I can understand. I’ll even use the digital cable guide and trust it’s telling the truth. And I will open my laptop and go online without being forced to eat or drink at the same time. I’ll check my email, scroll through some Facebook statuses. I’ll even look for a job. All without being rushed by a draining battery and no power source.

And then we’ll go to the mall to most likely start and finish Christmas shopping. I’ll get my fill of the decorations and the songs and the Christmas cheer that I'm already starting to miss. But after a half hour of shoving through stores and standing in lines, i'm sure I’ll be satisfied until next year so we’ll head to the grocery store. I promised Matt I would attempt to make sushi while at his house so I’ll need ingredients. I’ll spend way too much time in each aisle, not because it’ll be like a scavenger hunt, but because there will be so many options I won’t know which to get.

We'll return home, mud-free, with full grocery bags carried only a few feet from the car to the house which is a good thing because I’ll probably have to juggle my second coffee of the day. I’ll be able to put the grocery bags on the counter without stretching and start cooking without standing on my tiptoes.

And while I’ll be excited that I made it through the day without breaking a sweat or swatting a bug, I’m sure I’ll be reminiscing about the beach that was once 10 minutes from my house and missing the warmth that was always breathing down my neck. I’ll be wishing my tan wouldn’t fade so fast and that the sun was around to help it stay a little bit longer. And I’m sure, while dozing on the couch watching a second movie, that I’ll be wondering what happened. How did the vacation I once considered endless come to an end so quick…

Day 58: Matt's sixty mile joyride.

Hopefully Matt’s butt will heal in time for his return flight in two weeks so he can sit on the airplane seat without wincing. About 15 years since his last bike ride, he decided to hop on today and go for a little joyride that got a little too ambitious – a sixty mile journey to and from Quepos - without sunscreen (on the sunniest day he’s seen yet) and without remembering how painful several hours on a bike can be.


Having a few bike rides of our own under our belts, we knew Matt was in for a rough night. We clearly remembered the ache of our legs, the bruised buttocks, the inability to sit comfortably and the overwhelming exhaustion. We’ve also had our share of moments forgetting sunblock. Combine both, and we bet he’d be in bed by 5pm and in pain until Monday.


He first set off at 6:30am with my bike. Even though it’s a boy’s bike, it doesn’t have the same problems as Mike’s loose handlebars, perpetual leaky tire and overall poor construction that made everything break. After getting about five minutes down the road, he turned around and came back. He couldn’t take his knees hitting the handlebars every time he pedaled. He might not be as tall as Mike but he’s definitely not as short as me. He decided to push his luck with the lemon.


He returned around 1pm, and we found him shirtless, groaning after each sentence and sleepy. While we were discussing one of my infamous rides, I was pretty sure he fell asleep standing mid conversation. The tan he was working on, well….it’s now going to need some creative work with sunblock in order to even him out since he was smart enough to protect himself with the only thing he had and kept his t-shirt on. Now he looks like he’s wearing a flesh colored t-shirt. The back of his neck, his forearms and face have lots of color – tinted towards the red hue which I’m sure will deepen through the night. He put a hurtin’ on himself.


Fortunately for him, next week marks one week until we get another rental car to take us exploring. We’re planning on going to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica where the beaches, people and food are supposed to be very different from what we’ve grown accustomed to here in the Central Pacific. In the meantime, we’ll stick to what we’ve been doing: lounging on the beach and around the house while Matt explores himself into exhaustion daily.

Day 57: No escaping the creatures

The three of us are each struggling with our share of creatures that irritate or freak us out. I’m definitely not the only one. This was apparent today when Mike did a nice little jig in the living room after he found a spider swinging from his shorts. He claimed it was “giant” but it was actually smaller than his fingernail. He explained that it seemed much bigger dangling very near his unmentionables. His pictures look much more intimidating than the itsy bitsy spider did in real life. We learned another valuable lesson here though: check not only your shoes but your shorts as well. Never know where these buggers decide to build their homes.

Matt has been prohibited from a few areas of the house due to the creatures that are annoying him. An army of wasps have taken over the balcony adjacent to us – directly aligned with Matt’s. Swinging in his hammock results in two things: the ssssssssss of the Raid can followed by footsteps to the stairwell asking if he can use our hammock.

Since his balcony is not an option and the back steps are in the path of worker ants that could care less if you’re in their way as they walk on you, around you and over you, Matt has resigned to the front steps for his smoking breaks. But the creature that annoys him the most rests there: The Puppy. His visits are daily now, probably encouraged by Mike’s afternoon treats of crackers and fresh water (of which he takes two laps, dumps the bowl and uses it as a chewtoy). Matt’s attempts at relaxing have now been interrupted by keeping The Puppy from eating his cig.

I, on the other hand, have now been haunted by dead creatures. A few days ago, I was the lucky one whose eye spied a mud covered carcass that I refuse to admit looked very much like a cat. I was inches from stepping on it (and in it). Today, I happened to come across a much less cuddly looking giant bullfrog that appeared to have thrown up his insides. Again, seconds before I stomped on it. I’ve done a decent job at remembering where these creature shells are and change my route on the way back to avoid any mishaps. That’s if the vultures don’t relocate them to the other side of the road, as they did with the cat-like creature. Each scream lets Mike and Matt know where not to step.

And even The Puppy has been annoyed by a snake that slithered up to our steps. He’s of the opinion that barking incessantly in the snakes face will get it to leave. It didn’t appear to be working.

Fortunately, there was one visitor that wasn’t annoying but nice to look at. A large butterfly that doubles as an owl's face landed on our kitchen window screen and hung out for a while. We all let that one stay. No swats, no dances, no slaps, no shivers, no screams, no Raid…for once.

Day 56: Sushi fix found

Matt finally got his sushi craving satisfied and I’m happy to say it was a surprising treat. I’m tentative about sushi from an unknown place. I need my sushi to be recommended by someone. I’ll only try a new place if I’ve heard from a valid source that it got their stamp of approval. We can’t really do that here, so we had to wing it.


To Matt’s relief, Dominical Sushi wasn’t closed for the rainy season as some other places are. It’s always been closed because we’ve been checking at the wrong times. It’s only open for dinner starting at 6pm. We’ve determined this must be because it’s owned by a young Costa Rican couple with day jobs. Their sushi was pricy but I doubted it could support them and their eight year old son (I was proud of my ability to understand the Spanish exchange between the owner and a customer that asked his age). They might be able to swing it had their restaurant been able to hold more than eight customers at a time.


We liked the intimate, cozy atmosphere though. It was the size of a sunroom in a house in the US and had a purple velvet cushioned bench that lined two walls accessorized by throw pillows and tree trunk tables. They set the mood with table tea lights and a few funky hanging lamps. It had a small bar area behind which was their kitchen with a regular four burner stove, countertop and cabinets that housed sushi plates and sake sets. They played background music from their cell phone. Our server, a pretty young Costa Rican woman, was also our chef. Now I was even more skeptical. I realized I’m kind of a sushi snob and expect that sushi should be made only by those of the same culture in which it originated.

I was extremely glad to find that I was very wrong. She made large rolls of sweet rice and tender seaweed filled with fresh salmon and tuna, cream cheese and cucumbers. Her sushi not only mirrored that of any Japanese sushi chef’s skills I’ve sampled, she also added a flare of Costa Rica with some unique extras like jalapeno and mango. Let’s just say it not only satisfied our desire for sushi but made us immediately want to eat there again tomorrow. And the day after. And the next day.

In the meantime, I’m still working on perfecting some more Costa Rican cuisine. Patacones (fried unsweetened plantains) are coming out alright – they taste exactly like the ones we've ordered at various restaurants but aren’t as pretty…kind of deformed. Mike attributes it to not having the right cooking utensils. When it calls for a rolling pin to flatten them, I’m smooshing 'em with an empty wine bottle. Hey, I do what I can.

The most recent house favorite is a rice mixture with palmito (Heart of Palm). This rice blend of mushroom soup, seasoned white rice, heart of palm and a few other ingredients make the best rice dish we’ve had here (and it wasn’t even served in a restaurant). As Matt said, it’s “banging.” His stamp of approval has been on every meal so far seeing as he hasn’t thrown up once, not even a gag, and he’s actually finished everything on his plate, even going back for seconds.

My next attempt is ambitious – homemade sushi. I was inspired by this Tica. She made me realize that I don’t have to be of Asian descent to be able to make a mean roll. I may have found the inspiration but I’m not sure I’ll be able to find the ingredients. Now that’s gonna be the real challenge.

Day 55: National Emergency Update

Figured I’d provide an update on the National Emergency that devastated an area of San Jose last week. The nasty weather has finally stopped. It’s been nice, breezy and dry with periods of sun (of which Matt is sure to be standing in after more than one probably equally as pale New Englanders have commented on his pastiness).


On a sad note, the death toll has totaled 23, ranging from 18 to 80 year old victims, with 1 still missing. Newspapers printed memorials to the victims and showed coverage of the funerals that took place over the weekend, during the two designated Days of Mourning the President announced. We didn’t need to understand the language to grasp the devastation to the community. Over 10,000 are still displaced and roads in almost all directions are still closed. One of our favorite and first locations we visited in Costa Rica, Manuel Antonio, is in severe danger of collapse as it residents and businesses are built on mountainside threatening to crumble. They have been encouraged to evacuate until a geologist can confirm the mountain’s safety.


We ran into our rental agent last night and he informed us that he’s bringing his wife and toddler to his home country of Canada for a month as they’ve been without water and electricity since the storms. They live only 10 minutes from us. I guess we’ve been very lucky. And we were complaining about no cable.


Our road has been cleared of the power lines, trees and debris that covered it last week. The river has returned to a low level and the current speed has slowed. The ocean has also returned to normal with the exception of some extra branches washing up on the shore. I doubt our road will look the same again though. It was relatively smooth as clay-like dirt grouted the rocks into a sort of pavement. Now it’s just the bottom of an aquarium with the water dumped out which makes walking without twisting an ankle a chore. Areas where our views were once blocked by giant palms and trees are now completely open. I’d say in a few years, this road won’t exist. A few more seasons of rain like that and it wash into the ocean along with the rest of the chunks it just stole.

Note to anyone interested in purchasing property in Costa Rica: visit first during the rainiest months of the year. Only then will you really know what you’re buying. A land or swamp? House or submarine?  And if you think that you’ll save yourself from the floods by purchasing in the mountains, be prepared to vacation one year and search for your home the next.

Day 54: Our new houseguest - The Puppy

The crotch nipping puppy has found out where we live. He no longer stalks the bushes waiting to attack with his curious needle teeth. He just sits on our steps and waits.


Matt got to meet him for the first time the other day. Mike forewarned him to pick up a stick, which The Puppy continued to chew all the way to our house. That night, he slept on our steps, guarding our door like a watchdog. He had a few scraps with some neighborhood dogs. The bigger one made him yelp for a minute straight which made me not want to see what he looked like when he got back. He got braver when the little yipper stepped approached him. He tried to scare the yipper off, but he forgot whose territory he was in.

Mike played with him a little bit before we went to bed. Which looked an awful lot like an attack as he snapped his jaws at Mike’s face (I think he didn’t like the beard either) and pawed his shoulders while Mike cowered and protected himself. After the playful abuse, we went to bed while he remained on our steps for who knows how long.


We didn’t see him the next day so I guessed he was grounded for staying the night without telling his parents. That was until this morning when he followed Matt, not equipped with a stick, and nibbled his toes all the way home. He attempted to come in the house to find his new chewtoy, Mike, but we didn’t allow that. He was welcome on the stairs, we even moved our shoes and umbrellas for him, but he could do some damage in the house.

After a couple of hours at the internet café, we came home to find him still waiting, laying on the steps. He hurried to greet us and got some love from Mike. I’m not particularly afraid of him anymore. Although he plays viciously, he’s still just playing. There’s more strength behind his large paws and prickly teeth than I like but there doesn’t seem to be any intent to do damage. I’m still a little concerned that he’ll get a little overexcited though.


Fortunately, he’s wearing a collar and even though it doesn’t have information, it does mean that he belongs to someone. Thank goodness. Especially since Mike admitted today that he’s pretty sure he loves puppies more than basketball. If he wasn’t already taken, there’s a good chance he’d end up being Marley’s much bigger little brother.

Day 53: The surf is over...

I’m pretty sure Mike knew he wasn’t ever going to be a professional surfer. He only recently came to the realization that he probably isn’t going to be an avid recreational surfer either…at least not in Costa Rica. The waves won. I’m not sure if he ever had a real chance seeing as he and his board didn’t make the best team. With that, he traded his Wave Magnet in for a body board – a sport he’s good at and enjoys a whole heck of a lot more than a hobby that resembles wrestling an alligator more than riding waves.

It was a good decision anyways now that he has an ocean buddy to hang out with. Not being the strongest swimmer, I haven’t really played around much in the ocean due to dangerous rip currents and intimidating waves. I go in as necessary – either to cool off or to pee (we all do it, come on now).  I never hang out in water above my waist. I’m more interested in 1) keeping my bathing suit on 2) not getting sucked out to sea 3) not breaking bones after being slammed by a wave and 4) staying alive.

Now that Matt’s here, Mike has someone to hang out with in the water and it would probably be kind of boring for Matt to watch as Mike's board tosses him into the ocean repeatedly. Seeing as the river’s mouth empties in the ocean, after a week of storms, the ocean now resembles a massive river with a rocky floor, brown waters and little salt (the only perk). Matt even admitted that he's never been thrown around by an ocean this much before. His day in the water ended when a wave bullied him out by picking him up by his trunks and slamming him on the ground face first. His big toe was also beginning to bruise from kicking a boulder beneath the water and his pinky toe was bleeding after a crab locked onto it. 

While Mike was riding waves and Matt was getting abused, I stayed behind to finish up the laundry that was started at 7am with the sight of sun. With dry breezes and only a few clouds in the sky, every inch of our balcony rails and clothes lines were filled with much-needed freshly washed towels, sheets, and undies.

We were also happy to have the return of cable along with the sun. While the NFL games didn't come in great, we couldn't complain after several nights of card games and downloaded reruns. Matt's vacation is finally on track. There's only one more thing he needs - sushi. We turned him on to the raw rolls before we left and he's been craving more ever since. He'd be in luck if the chef at Dominical Sushi ever decides to work...

Day 52: No more rain but we're still wet.

After a full week of rain, the entirety of Matt’s trip so far, the rain finally stopped. We awoke to mist that lingered for a few hours and then it finally ran out. It decided to leave the humidity behind though and we still have yet to see the sun.


I’m not sure if the stickiness has gotten worse, or if a few days in the fresh mountain air reminded me of how easy it is to breathe. Or maybe it has gotten worse. We’re noticing effects that we hadn’t seen before. It’s not only smothering us but it’s wrecking our things. Mike’s belt has turned from brown leather to green and blue fuzz. My sneakers are no longer black felt, but gray. At first glance, it appears to be dust (which would make sense since they’ve only been used once since we’ve been here) but it’s not, it’s the first stage on its way to looking like Mike’s belt. The jeans and pants I brought that have sat in the closet are now accessorized by spots and the couch’s cover is developing new patterns on the back of it.

Not only does it look gross, it feels worse. Imagine laying on bed sheets that feel like they were prematurely taken out of the dryer a good 15 minutes too soon. Our pillows are moist sponges – one of which was already victimized by mold and had to get tossed. Last night, Matt slept in a sweatshirt, with the hood on, just to keep his head and body dry. Did I mention that it’s really gross?


We can’t do laundry in this type of weather either seeing as our dry clothes can’t even be considered dry anymore. There aren’t any Laundromats here but there are laundry services that will do it for you. We’ve contemplated using one but are hesitant since I read most charge per piece of laundry, not load. That could get pretty expensive. So, the washing machine is preloaded and ready to go at the sight of sun.

My skin hasn’t enjoyed this constant clamminess either. I have some sort of breakout that’s dormant under my skin from my forehead to my neck. You can’t see it unless you get up close but I can feel it – hundreds of little bumps just sitting there. Heat rash? Humidity induced acne? I don’t know. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if my forehead erupts in mold…