Life in Costa Rica: I know my two followers can't wait to hear about the last 10 days.

I promise it won't be a minute by minute report. but it was a busy 10 days. I had a little accident as it started so I was moving slow. It had been raining a little and I headed to get clothes off the line. There is a white tiled area near my house that slants down to the courtyard. As I stepped on it I went down really hard on my tailbone. Ana happened to be watching me and she moved a piece of carpet on the tiles but when Gerardo came he switched it for rubber mats so I should be good. I didn't pull any muscles, just bruised really hard. Otto worked on it today and it doesn't seem to be as sore. I had also just been to the pharmacy for drops for an ear infection. That is gone now.

Jose got a different car so we picked Kaye and Harvey Richard up in style. She came with lots of luggage for 48 canning jars, lots of checked gingham for the craft ladies, cocoa butter oil and 4 big bags of chocolate, ham and bacon. At least going back she was able to consolidate but she still had to make room for a basket she bought from a man along the road, a statue carved from coffee roots, lots of coffee and lots of crochet items and hand stitched pieces.

It turns out Harvey Richard had never had a massage so we told Otto that. He really enjoyed it, as did Kaye. She gets them all the time but said he was very good. Jose was here at 1:45 and the ladies at 1:50 and off they went. We headed for the bus stop and wouldn't you know it, nothing went right. The bus was really late and although it is never full because it is starting out, it was. Others had to give up their seats for us old people but with people standing in the aisle you couldn't see much of the scenery. We connected with Jose in front of the church and headed for the finca. There were a good number of ladies there and several of them and my ladies had their things out for sale. Emilio was there to help with translating. The ladies had made several traditional foods for them to try and we all had a good time. Kaye has Ligia and Jeanette making her some tops and Anita making her dish towels with crocheted edges. Whatever is done I will take with me in June. For the trip home we managed to all get in the car with two ladies sitting in the back luggage area. One of them kept falling off whatever she was sitting on so we did a lot of laughing.

We did a little switching and at 9:00am Gerardo was here to head to the finca. We went vía his other properties first. It had done a lot of heavy raining Thursday night so we were a little concerned about the ride up the mountain on the tiny road, straight up. WE HAD GOOD REASON TO BE CONCERNED. At one point we started sliding towards the dropoff. No problem, you just back up and go faster. We were concerned about Harvey Richard and his pacemaker but we all made it. Kaye was on the dropoff side so she was a bit of a wreck. I just sat and laughed. I knew Gerardo knew his road. He was grinning like mad and enjoying the whole process. We made it up and down and had him drop us off at the hammock bridge so we could walk to lunch and home. We changed Jose and the coffee tour to 3:00 but by then it was starting to rain so we made changes in what we did. There is a new place just outside Orosi he showed us that will be fabulous when it is finished. Hot mineral pools, beautiful landscaping, covered eating area and a full house with 6 bedrooms. Hacienda Orosi. The pools and eating area are available now, just not the house. Wonderful spot for a group of 12.

Saturday morning we left at 9:00 for Puerto Viejo and the Bird House. We made it to Puerto Viejo for a late lunch after a stop for beverages at another gorgeous small resort. Puerto Viejo has wonderful fish dishes. Jose's was a whole fish - a big fish, Kaye and I had snapper and Harvey Richard had shrimp. The Bird House is farther from Puerto Viejo than where Emilio and I stayed and farther back from the beach. A nice spot in the jungle. Upstairs were 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and living area. Main floor has a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen/living area. Mosquito netting on all the beds. My main complaint was both living areas were completely open so as soon as it got dark the bugs moved in. We ended up moving the table into our bedroom so we could play Quiddler and have a late snack. If it were mine I would put mosquito netting around the living area. It would be easy enough to do.

Sunday morning we met Alex, our guide, at 8:30am. He is Bribri, one of the indigenous tribes and has a talent for languages. He speaks Bribri, Spanish, English and French and is studying two others. I think Mandarin is one of them and maybe German. We had many options for what we wanted to do for the day in the Talamanca area. We rode thru the area where Costa Rica is on one side of the river and Panama on the other. We learned about the people and what they do and how they live. We stopped and visited on the river where boats take people to different places. Boats or walking are the main means of transportation. The main occupations are working in the fields and doing jobs others don't want to do like coffee picking. We also paid a very interesting visit to a Shaman in a traditional hut and learned about what they go through to become a Shaman. They are trained from ages 4-22 and must past tests to be able to continue. At the end he performed a blessing.

It was very hot so we returned to Puerto Viejo for lunch with Alex - more fish - and ended about 2:00. A nap or a walk or read a book or time by the pool. It was decided we would leave early and spend some time in San Jose before taking them to their airport hotel. The ham, bread, my pickles, chips, fruit, peanut butter and jelly came in very handy for our late snacks. Harvey Richard decided he really liked the yogurt and granola I brought along for breakfast and the last morning we finished up almost everything.

We left about 8:15 and made it to San Jose for a late lunch at a really good spot, The Patio. It is right
near the Gold Museum with an extensive display of PreColumbian Gold. We spent time there and then headed to the airport area. Traffic is terrible and it took us 3 hours to get to Orosi. All in all a good time.

This week was back to normal with 2 of the crochet ladies here on Tuesday, Otto here this morning and the craft ladies this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I can get more planting done. No sign of bugs.

This was one of my first purchases 2 years ago. it has done nothing but look droopy for 2 years. a couple days ago I noticed lots of buds. This was today.