of main events)
The afternoon sun slants through the clouds, every flower is in bloom. A variety of insects scurry about on the ground and through the moist, humid air, a rainbow of butterflies float by – blue ones, especially, which are the most popular, orange ones, white ones, and green. There is the color green everywhere. As I step out of the Mitsubishi SUV, a canopy of ruby and forest green trees of different kinds, palms and ferns and plants I’ve never seen before, crouch together above my head, fine grass and moss rest beneath my feet, and all around me bugs are buzzing. I am in Atenas, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is rolling hills full of life – human, plant, and animal. Chickens, goats, and stray dogs meander alongside the windy roads we traversed to get to our various destinations, driving over bridges and rivers, past fields of pineapple, coffee beans, rice, sugar cane and other agricultural exports. Cows, bulls, and horses were often spotted grazing behind fences. Thick vegetation abounds. There are only two seasons in Costa Rica – winter and summer, Patty’s father explained to me as we drove along. Winter is in June, July, August and September and is typically humid, between 75 and 90 degrees, depending on what part of the country you’re in. So you can imagine what summer must be like in December, January, February, and March. I was grateful we chose to visit during the winter.
Our flight was late but after roughly 10 hours of traveling from start to finish, with a delay in L.A. and a stop in Houston, we finally arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica where my friend Patty and her parents picked us up. We drove to the nearby town of Atenas, where Patty's great aunt and uncle live. Juan V (short for Juan Vicente and usually heard as “Wonbee”) and his cheerful wife who Patty says reminds her of Mrs. Claus, live in a house that “Mrs. Claus’s” parents built more than 70 years ago. It’s a modest home on a large piece of land which is shared by their adult son and daughter, living in three separate peach colored houses. All of the homes are situated behind a concrete wall and a solid metal gate that opens from the street to a tiny bridge, built by Patty's uncle. The sweet smell of cast fruit (pronounced "cahst"), permeates the air there, and ninja bunnies hop around the jungly landscape. Ariel, Patty's 9 year old cousin, calls his bunnies "ninjas" because of the way they hop high into the air before smashing into one another in battle. The newborn bunnies were tucked safely away in a makeshift cage that sits atop a pole to protect them from ground predators. They sniffed our hands and gently nibbled our fingers through the cage feeder opening.
Where everybody knows your name…and how to find you
In town, everybody knows everybody. The homes and businesses in Costa Rica have no addresses. I’m not kidding. The mailman locates you by using coordinates and landmarks (i.e., “Go 100 kilometers north from the bank, 500 meters east...next to the hair salon…”). They were advertising and selling GPS systems but I’m not at all sure how they’d work and I didn’t get a chance to ask. But everyone seemed to know just where they were going, including Patty’s dad who drove us all over the place. It was as though he knew Costa Rica like the back of his hand.
The radio station played Return of the Mac a lot, but mostly they played a mix of reggae/reggaeton (in both English and Spanish), American/English rap, and songs in Spanish. Lots of people get around on bikes. Mausoleums at the cemeteries are above ground. Sort of like New Orleans, they don't bury their dead because of the rain. (In N.O., the land is too low to bury without hitting water, I’m told). There is a lady who goes around creating art on rocks. She paints beautiful landscapes on random rocks alongside the roads there. We drove around looking for them like we were on an Easter egg hunt. Many of the homes have tin roofs, and are made of concrete, sitting flat on the ground without a foundation. And tile. Carpet is out, tile flooring is in style in Costa Rica. Everywhere we dined, Patty and her mom ordered fresh cast juice and Miles and I ordered pina (pineapple juice). Freshly squeezed fruit juices aren’t hard to come by and were quite the treat for us, but the locals prefer sodas (ie, "eSprite").
• Flying over islands and other unidentified land masses
• Watching novellas with shirtless, grave digging men (lol. Miles couldn’t understand why they had to be shirtless digging a grave at night. So Patty explained to him that it was to please the soap-opera watching audience – mainly women. Sort of like how unrealistic it is that busty, teenaged girls sit around pillow fighting in furry lingerie and panties for hours on end to entertain an audience of men. That doesn’t happen but lots of men like to watch it on T.V., nevertheless)
• Ariel and Miles playing Halo, so excited and happy about life
• Iguanas everywhere
• The water pressure in Juan Jose’s (Juan “Ho’s”) house dictates temperature in the shower. A blast, and it’s cold water you get. A trickle and it’s warm. Worst shower experience ever. I later learned by watching House Hunters International, that it’s called a “suicide shower” because it could electrocute you if you’re not careful :( Supposedly, they’re common in Central America.
A Simple Kind of Life
Not just a life of practicality, Patty's aunt and uncle seem to tie their lives to the land their house was built on, the beautiful oasis sanctuary that her aunt’s family had claimed and maintained for decades, secluded from the rigor of the small town behind a wall and a gate. They clearly don’t need many worldly things to find pleasure in their lives. Once a week they take painting lessons on the veranda of their home with a local painter who visits them. And they’re getting pretty good! The day we returned from La Fortuna (I’ll get to that adventure in a bit) they were all on the veranda painting beautiful landscapes that appeared to be coming alive before our eyes. They don’t sit in front of the television or the computer for long hours at a time every day, nor do they spend all of their time and money in shopping malls on materialistic crap. They go to work every day, paint in their spare time, and eat well and read the paper over a home cooked breakfast every morning, and entertain visiting family members and friends with jokes and stories from the old days. No rush, no fuss, no stress, just living. Making life.
As we sat outside listening to Juan V tell us funny stories about his days as a mannish alter boy, the black and white spotted dog, Oreo, strolled from person to person happily wagging his bushy tail, nudging his soft wet nose in palms and being petted and rubbed with affection. The ninja bunnies stealthily hopped about in the garden, being as mischievous as bunnies could be.
Barcelo Tambor – the all-inclusive resort
On our second day in Costa Rica, we got up early and had breakfast outside with Juan V and his wife. Black beans and rice, scrambled eggs, and bread with homemade guava jam, coffee (of course, it’s a staple in Costa Rica and what it’s most popular for) orange juice, and cast juice. Belly’s full, we packed up the Mitsubishi and set off to catch the ferry headed to Tambor Beach in Puntarenas (meaning “point”).
On our second day in Costa Rica, we got up early and had breakfast outside with Juan V and his wife. Black beans and rice, scrambled eggs, and bread with homemade guava jam, coffee (of course, it’s a staple in Costa Rica and what it’s most popular for) orange juice, and cast juice. Belly’s full, we packed up the Mitsubishi and set off to catch the ferry headed to Tambor Beach in Puntarenas (meaning “point”).
On our way through the city, it rained, making the drive feel so serene mixed with the bright green tapestry along the way. And even though there was overcast and no sunshine when we boarded the ferry, the humidity was thick enough to choke on. As though there was a big humidifier plugged in somewhere emitting steamy moisture into the air. I stood on the top deck, bare shoulders, legs, chest and neck clammy with sweat, then suddenly it would start to rain again; fat drops of warm water that blended in with my sweat. And, as suddenly as it would start to rain, it would stop. Then like clockwork, a breeze would sweep through and cool us down just a taste. A breeze so soft it was like the last drop of cool water in a cup, just barely satisfying, a tease, causing me to silently pray for more. Then, maybe, if we were lucky, a more substantial breeze would blow through, relaxing the senses a bit. When we exited the ferry in the Mitsubishi SUV, maneuvering around potholes up and down windy roads, we drove over several rivers and creeks whose banks were snuggled tightly against lush vegetation. It was a breathtaking sight but a difficult one to capture with my camera while in a moving vehicle, unfortunately.
Me vs the Sea – It was a draw?
I ended up having a good time, too. But on the second day, the ocean had swelled up a bit. The waves were taller and angrier and had pulled many rocks from the shore, so our steps on the second day were no longer cushioned by soft brown sand. Instead, we were stepping on a fierce combination of sand and awfully hard rocks. But mostly rocks. I jumped over a wave to keep my hea
d above water and landed painfully on a bevy of rocks. My old feet and knees were done after that. So I moved over a bit, and then a bit more, but I couldn’t find a spot where there were no rocks. And as each wave built up, it would suck me in, drawing me into its belly. That is how people get swept away, I figured. It must have taken me almost fifteen minutes just to get out of that water and back on dry land. And I wasn’t even far out there like the rest of them! I was just feet away from the shoreline. What an awfully funny sight it must have been, watching me fall and stumble on rocks in my bikini, crawling and being knocked around by the oceans fist. At one point, I couldn’t even stand up. Wave after wave just clobbered me. When I finally made it out, I fixed my hair and headed for the pool and a daiquiri. I’d had more than enough of the ocean. Thankfully, no pictures exist of this debacle.
Patty's mom, Alicia, told me there are several types of beaches in Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio beach has soft white sand, Playa Conchal (meaning “shell”) is made up of billions of crushed seashells, another (I forget the name) has black sand and clear water. I wished I could see them all but there wasn't enough time.
“Oh, Moto…”
As we wound down for bed that night, I loved the drumming of the rain falling on our patio mixed with the acoustics of the waves crashing onto the beach.
La Romeria – The Pilgrimage to La Negrita, our reason for being there
We checked out of Barcelo Tambor at 1130am and began our quick trek back to Atenas to pick up more luggage, and then on to San Jose, where Patty's grandmother lives and where we were meeting the rest of her family for the pilgrimage to pay homage to the Virgen de Los Angeles, the black Madonna, in the church in Cartago. We made a quick pit stop for lunch at Las Cazuelas de mi Tierra. Delicious food! Handmade tortillas, rice, beans, chicken, plantains, salad, and freshly squeezed juice! I could eat that meal every day for lunch for a month and not complain.
Our pilgrimage began at 630pm from Patty’s grandmothers house in San Jose, and ended at 1110pm, close to 5 hours later at the old church in Cartago. My knees hurt from bending with every step, my shoulder blades hurt, my back hurt from climbing up hill, my hips hurt, and, of course, my feet hurt, but they hurt the least of all, ironically. Thousands of people started walking days before us, and many thousands walked for days after us. By the time we had finally reached the church and stood in the crowd to enter the church, my body gave out. 10 minutes after reaching the church I stopped moving after 5 consecutive hours of steady movement, and I couldn’t go any farther. I needed to sit down and rest. To LIE down and rest. I was with Patty and Miles and Patty’s uncle, Carlos, standing in the crowd at the foot of the church, about 50 feet away from its entrance, being shoved and squished by dozens of people when, suddenly, I couldn’t hear out of my left ear. I began to feel extremely hot and my head started to spin, my knees were buckling, and my breathing became shallow. I used all the strength that I could muster and yelled over the loud music to Patty, Miles, and Carlos that I couldn't make it. "You're not going inside?!" Patty yelled back to me, sounding perplexed. "I can't" I replied. I had come all that way, from California to Houston to Costa Rica, and then by foot from San Jose to Cartago, and my body would not allow me to stand up any longer or go any further. I pushed my way back through the crowd in frantic search of somewhere to sit before I collapsed. People would not budge to let me through, no one wanted to give up even an inch of space as they all crowded to get into the church so I had to force my way out. Then, at last, I found an empty seat on the steps next to a bunch of other people and I sat down to rest. But I desperately needed to lie down. So I rested my head in my hand and my stomach started to swirl and tighten up. And thats when I began to vomit water and little pieces of rice. Thankfully, my last meal had been at 2pm and was long ago digested. Save for a few kernels of rice. It was my luck that I happened to be sitting directly beneath Patty's cousin, Jose Mario and his dad, Juan Mario. They flagged down two Red Cross workers who took my blood pleasure, which was 110/70 (normal by then, after I had vomited), and my pulse. I declined their offer to be carried to the infirmary. Then the two Mario’s helped me up from the steps and lead me by the hand through the enormous crowd, down a few blocks and to Patty's fathers’ SUV where I could lay down. But no sooner had I began to doze off did Miles come frantically knocking on the window to see about me. Jose Mario had called Carlos, who was with Miles and Patty at the church, to tell them that I was sick. Carlos told Patty and Patty told Miles, aka "Owen," who loves his mama (see: Throw Mama from the Train, starring Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito). At 16 years old, he'd made the pilgrimage, gone inside the historic old church, saw "La Negrita" face to face, and prayed. I was so proud of him. He'd witnessed a piece of religious history that is more than 400 years old. What an experience!
My not going inside the church was indeed a disappointment, but I had made the long pilgrimage and my heart had good intentions, so I was also proud of myself for having walked for five hours straight, up hills and down hills, alongside thousands of people with the intent to pay my respects and show my faith. I think I succeeded in doing that. And I brought my kid along and he did it, too. It was definitely an experience I will never forget.
(see pictures of us walking at the top of this post)
By day 6, August 3rd, Patty and I were pretty tired and sore from the pilgrimage to Cartago. All I could think about was getting a massage for my aching legs because it hurt to walk. The hotel even offered a “tired leg” massage. Instead, though, we all soaked in the Tabacón thermal hot springs pool at our hotel in La Fortuna. And it was pure bliss! Pura Vida! You could see the steam rising off the warm water as we floated around in the pool sipping on pineapples filled with pina coladas. It rained on us the first night we got in the pool, so we got both a shower and a warm bath. The soft, naturally heated, sulfur-infused water from the volcano is tunneled from a spring near the volcano, into a pool and cooled just enough for people to stand it the heat. It was just what we needed to relax and sooth our tired muscles. In fact, the water worked so well that the following day Patty and I hiked down 180 stairs into a forest near the volcano to reach a waterfall!
(see pictures of us walking at the top of this post)
La Fortuna de San Carlos – the active Arenal Volcano
Oh, and according to the local newspaper, Will Smith was in town visiting La Fortuna around the same time we were there. He was looking for a location to film a movie with the director of the Sixth Sense.
(Newspaper photo of Will also up above)
Hasta luego - Going home, after 7.5 days
Periodically, black clouds would gather overhead and threaten rain. A few times they made good on those threats, other times they cried wolf and moved on to someplace else. But mostly we had great weather during our stay. On our final day we met up for the last time on the veranda for breakfast. Stepping off the side of Juan V’s porch I am surrounded by flora and fauna; luscious greenery everywhere you look. And, of course bugs. I left Costa Rica with my share of itchy bites the size of quarters. I also left Costa Rica smarter than I arrived. I practiced and learned a bit of Spanish, though my biggest regret is that I didn’t know more before I arrived so that I could better understand and communicate with my gracious hosts. But I also learned that we, humankind, are much more connected to nature than we think. We’re not only connected, we ARE nature. I knew this, to an extent, of course. But having grown up surrounded by so little of it in a city chock full of brick and mortar, where the nearest glimpse of nature is at a bug-sanitized park, I had forgotten that we aren't necessarily separate from it. We are it. And everything, every single unnatural thing that we do to nature, to our environment, we do to ourselves. So now my resolve to recycle and save water and waste less has increased.
In Costa Rica, I felt more American than I have ever felt while living my American life. I felt ignorant and ashamed of the things I'd never experienced for myself but had only read about or seen on T.V. and thought because I’d seen it on TV or read about it somewhere that I knew enough. Now I truly understand the importance of traveling and expanding your worldview beyond the television set. You see so much more, the view isn’t edited by whoever is feeding it to you through your television set. It’s first-hand. I’m glad that my son got to see that the world is much too immense to think that it resides in our respective "backyards," and to think that we've seen all there is to see by simply watching TV. During our flight, he looked out the window and marveled at the real-life “globe” and geography lesson we got from seeing all the land masses below. We have to remember that what happens on the rest of this gigantic blue marble does, indeed, affect us. And we are polluting the world. I saw the influence American’s have on other cultures for the first time and I shook my head at the stain my culture is leaving on other cultures. Every time Patty ordered cast juice at a restaurant, the server would look at her strangely and one of them even asked her, in so many words, why she didn’t want “e-Sprite.” As though soda is a treat and a novelty. It's good that you can only find cast fruit in Costa Rica. I hope it remains that way - special and unique. In this world, the whole is far more important than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, I can't change the whole world; I can only work on fixing what’s in my backyard, and what’s in front of me. But every little bit adds up and counts.
"I'm talking abt u enjoying the things God gave you. The things God put on this earth to be enjoyed: silks, satins, good food, beautiful, real scenery with beautiful sunrises and sunsets...and remember, u are for yourself to enjoy, as well as others. Live, child, live. Lift those worries off your mouth and smile."
(Newspaper photo of Will also up above)
Hasta luego - Going home, after 7.5 days
Periodically, black clouds would gather overhead and threaten rain. A few times they made good on those threats, other times they cried wolf and moved on to someplace else. But mostly we had great weather during our stay. On our final day we met up for the last time on the veranda for breakfast. Stepping off the side of Juan V’s porch I am surrounded by flora and fauna; luscious greenery everywhere you look. And, of course bugs. I left Costa Rica with my share of itchy bites the size of quarters. I also left Costa Rica smarter than I arrived. I practiced and learned a bit of Spanish, though my biggest regret is that I didn’t know more before I arrived so that I could better understand and communicate with my gracious hosts. But I also learned that we, humankind, are much more connected to nature than we think. We’re not only connected, we ARE nature. I knew this, to an extent, of course. But having grown up surrounded by so little of it in a city chock full of brick and mortar, where the nearest glimpse of nature is at a bug-sanitized park, I had forgotten that we aren't necessarily separate from it. We are it. And everything, every single unnatural thing that we do to nature, to our environment, we do to ourselves. So now my resolve to recycle and save water and waste less has increased.
In Costa Rica, I felt more American than I have ever felt while living my American life. I felt ignorant and ashamed of the things I'd never experienced for myself but had only read about or seen on T.V. and thought because I’d seen it on TV or read about it somewhere that I knew enough. Now I truly understand the importance of traveling and expanding your worldview beyond the television set. You see so much more, the view isn’t edited by whoever is feeding it to you through your television set. It’s first-hand. I’m glad that my son got to see that the world is much too immense to think that it resides in our respective "backyards," and to think that we've seen all there is to see by simply watching TV. During our flight, he looked out the window and marveled at the real-life “globe” and geography lesson we got from seeing all the land masses below. We have to remember that what happens on the rest of this gigantic blue marble does, indeed, affect us. And we are polluting the world. I saw the influence American’s have on other cultures for the first time and I shook my head at the stain my culture is leaving on other cultures. Every time Patty ordered cast juice at a restaurant, the server would look at her strangely and one of them even asked her, in so many words, why she didn’t want “e-Sprite.” As though soda is a treat and a novelty. It's good that you can only find cast fruit in Costa Rica. I hope it remains that way - special and unique. In this world, the whole is far more important than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, I can't change the whole world; I can only work on fixing what’s in my backyard, and what’s in front of me. But every little bit adds up and counts.
"I'm talking abt u enjoying the things God gave you. The things God put on this earth to be enjoyed: silks, satins, good food, beautiful, real scenery with beautiful sunrises and sunsets...and remember, u are for yourself to enjoy, as well as others. Live, child, live. Lift those worries off your mouth and smile."
"Oh, aunt Tante. U make life sound wonderful"
That is what u have to do; make life. And we need to get up and get started on making this day a good one. Now. "
(Excerpt from J California Coopers book 'Life is Short but Wide')
2 comments:
I'm so glad you had a wonderful time :)
It was an experience I will never forget :)
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