TheEdgeClinger & TheTallGuy

February 27, 2007

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February 14, 2007

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February 11, 2007

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Late Night Breakfast at Denny's!

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February 09, 2007

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An Afternoon with Old & New Friends

One of the luxuries included in our retired in Costa Rica lifestyle is having the time to visit with friends. We had been wanting to get back to the Spanish restaurant that we recently "discovered." So we called a few friends who agreed that spending Friday afternoon consuming tapas and paellas and sangria would be a great idea. Then Jim (of Jim & Flora in the mountains) decided we should post a message on Costa Rica Living in case anyone else wanted to join us. What a great idea. Loyd (Zendude) showed up. We hadn't seen him in ages. He says one thing he loves about living in Costa Rica is that he can go dancing almost every night of the week. He's buying a house back in Texas and planning to spend part of his time back there in order to help out his Mom. The trouble with traveling, he says, is that he always needs an extra suitcase for all of his footwear for various types of dancing! What a guy! Jim's post also got noticed by Charlotte and David, which was a real bonus. We had been meaning to call and make arrangements to meet these new imports from Texas ever since David had posted a message on CRL which had got us involved with volunteering at the orphanage. Then we had heard that they had spent last month on the Caribbean, where they had met our friends Judy and Bob (who deserted all of us in the central valley last year and decided to live in a tropical jungle beach area.) So now instead of hearing about this new immigrant couple from the sidelines, we have acquired them as new friends. Our buddies Emma and Jon had given us (Gene and me and our good friend Dale) a ride to the restaurant, so we drove to their house after the lunch, with Charlotte & David following. After some more conversation and another glass of wine at their house (OK, some of us had Emma's delicious fruit drink!), Charlotte & David dropped us off at our house so they'll know how to get here next Friday when we do a follow up afternoon at our house. As usual we got so busy having fun that we forgot to take photos 'til the end. So here you have Gene & me and then Flora and Jim, followed by Loyd and then Dale. Some people claim that we never stop partying around here! I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but we certainly have a good time!

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Where Are We From?

It's always interesting to note where everyone is from when a group of our friends get together. At today's lunch, everyone in attendance lives in Costa Rica. There were 4 people from Texas (I tried to add myself but they all said that 10 years residence there did not a Texan make!), 1 originally from Washington state, 1 from Maine, 1 from Michigan, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Boliva and 1 from Costa Rica. It's interesting that there is always some confusion over the question of "Where are you from?" Although many people answer this by saying where they were born, others refer to where they grew up or where they've spent most of their lives. My friend Emma says she's from Bolivia, although I happen to know that she has spent most of her adult life in Virginia. I think her husband Jon usually says he's from Virginia, where he spent most of his adult years, although he grew up in Washington state. I'm still trying to figure out how to answer this question. It's true I was born in Maine, but since my family moved to New Hampshire before I was a year old, it seems kind of weird to claim it as my "home." New Hampshire makes a little more sense since I grew up there, but I haven't lived there since I was 17 and that doesn't feel like home, either. At times I seem to be a New Englander and at others, not. Some people here seem to think I should say I'm from Florida because that's where we lived immediately before moving to Costa Rica, but I never felt a part of Florida. I'd like to claim Seattle, just because it's one of my 2 favorite cities in the United States, but I didn't really live there long enough to earn it (1 year) or San Juan Island, off the coast of Washington State, where I lived for 4 years. In my adult life, I've also lived in Japan, the Philippines, Mississippi, Texas. "Home is where you hang your hat," they used to say before we all started going bare-headed. I certainly feel like this is my home, but when I try to get away with saying I am "from" Costa Rica, I am always told that I have to be "from" somewhere in the United States. Now if I could just figure out where.

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Flowers for my Birthday

January 22, 2007

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Happy Birthday, Gene!

January 21, 2007

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San Jose de la Montana - 6000 Feet Up

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Friends in the Mountains

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Happy Birthday to All of Our Children

January 09, 2007

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El Parque en Santo Domingo

January 04, 2007

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Baile de los Diablitos

Our New Year this year was spent in the wonderful indigenous village of Boruca, where each year the villagers have a 4 day festival that celebrates the fact that the Boruca people were never conquered by the Spanish conquistadores. Many of the men dress up as diablitos (in this case best translated as spirits) and fight against a bull (who represents the Spaniards). At
the beginning it seems like the bull might win, but in the end the diablitos prevail! There are sometimes over a thousand spectators (both extranjeros and locals) to this festival but only local men who have carved their own masks are allowed to participate.

Our entire trip was arranged and led by a marvelous couple, Sarah Joy and Julio. Anyone who knows us knows that we do not do tours. This trip was definitely the exception to the rule. Thanks to Sarah and Julio, we felt like honored invited guests for the entire 6 day trip. This was not a fancy resort, eat in the hotel kind of "tour." This was a trip with friends, where we were invited into peoples' homes and made to feel like a part of the family.
We met the van at 6 am on Friday for the 6 hour trip to Boruca. After lunch and getting settled into our various accomodations in private homes or the "hotel," we relaxed a while and met up with our group again for dinner at the home of Doña Rosa

, who indeed fed our entire group 3 meals a day the entire time we were there. She prepared all our wonderful meals on her wood stove, and she was always smiling! After dinner that first night, the local "story teller" arrived to tell us some Boruca stories and legends. Like most of the villagers, this community elder speaks the Boruca language as well as Spanish. He told his stories in Spanish - and Julio and Sarah translated for those of us who don't understand Spanish well.
On the second day we were taken by truck and car to the top of Mount Cuasrán, from where we could take photos of the incredible views and hike through the wilderness, either the short hike or the long. The mountain is a holy mountain

in the Boruca tradition and the home of one of the most important gods of the Brunka, Cuasrán. In the afternoon we were invited to the home of the "mayor," where we were allowed to watch the creation of the "bull." We were then told about the rules for visitors, which involved staying out of the way, understanding that we were guests and not to get in the way of the ceremonies.

The main thing was to not use flash cameras and to keep a reasonable distance with cameras. The actual ceremonies were to begin at midnight.
By morning of the third day (Sunday, New Year's Eve), the "game" was in full force. We awoke to the sound of the diablitos shouting, horns blowing and more fireworks, which we had already learned the night before sound more like bombs than any fireworks I had ever heard. There was a "battle" on the corner by the hotel - before breakfast even! The excitement begins! After breakfast, which didn't begin until 10 since some of us had actually attended the opening "ceremonies" the night before, we visited some of the artisan's homes. At our first stop, at

the master carver's home, we saw the mask that I should have bought. It was an incredible "traditional" mask, made of natural cedro wood - not painted. Although it was amazing, I made the mistake of wanting to see others before deciding what to buy. So of course it was sold by the time I went back. Nevertheless we had a great time viewing the masks of various carvers as well as the homes of the weavers (the women). These women are amazing.

They grow and harvest and process the cotton, dye it, spin it, weave it - everything. Beautiful stuff. And when you look at what they sell their weavings for (based on hours required to create them) compared to what the men sell the masks for, you have to start thinking again about the perceived value of "women's work." Eventually I bought a mask - one of the painted ones - carved from balsa wood. It is truly beautiful. I also bought a woven bag (purse). The diablitos paraded about the village all day, stopping to stage a battle and then continuing to another location in the village for another battle. It was an ongoing process throughout the day.

In the evening our group gathered at the local bar to drink beer until close to midnight, when we had been invited back to Doña Rosa's to see the new year in. There was a large crowd of locals and visitors gathered at her house - and every sort of booze was offered on a big table. Interestingly, there were no "mixers" offered - until Sara went back to the bar and bought some.

I guess if you're accustomed to drinking "chi cha," (an evil corn liquor thing) which many of the participants seemed to drink throughout the 4 days, you might not find mixers to be a necessary part of drinking alcoholic beverages! All of us had a blast. I think it was the most fun New Year's Eve I've ever had.
Monday, Day 4 - New Year's Day - We wandered about most of the day - watching the diablitos do battle and looking at weavings and masks. Some of the group had planned to go horseback riding, but the horses never showed up. We think that the horses were ok, but that their owners perhaps had had too much chi cha!

Tuesday, Day 5 - This was really the big day for the "game," with major battles going on throughout the day, and the bull eventually being defeated at day's end. In the evening, the bull was burned (fortunately just the "costume," not the human being inside!
I wish I could do a better job of describing this 4 day event, but it's definitely one of those things where you "had to be there." The next morning, leaving the village, I wished that we could stay longer. We had to leave, but have already decided we want to go to the Baile de los Diablitos again next year - and we definitely want to go with Sarah & Julio. I hope the photos will give you a feeling of this awesome event. For even more photos, go to our group's photo site