News from the Jungle

Greetings from our little piece of Costa Rica! Gary and I hope you had a wonderful holiday and wish you all a Feliz Ano Nuevo. We spent each holiday swimming on our beach with our Oregon neighbors, Donna & Leonard who live less than 5 miles from us here. Wonderful days and topped off with a meal prepared by Donna, an awesome cook.

I've written a few very brief notes to some of you, but haven't had the time to really sit down and compose something until tonight. I am planning to visit the one Internet Café tomorrow that I have seen with wireless connection available. So I can write this letter ahead of time and will cut and paste it in your message tomorrow. It'll be the first time I've been able to use my computer for e-mail since I arrived. So here's an update of our adventures so far. . .

Flight to Paradise
Life has been a roller coaster here to say the least. We all made it here safe and sound – Sydney had the worst of it. I was a nervous wreck with him in the baggage section and having to make 2 plane changes during the trip. Does a dog even know or have any concept that they are flying?  They're in the baggage area with no windows and the only time they see anything is on the ground when they open the doors. HMM.

But he quickly bounced back and was happy to see us once we landed in CR!!

We spent 2 nights in San Jose to attend to some business and then drove to our property. We didn't arrive until after 4:00 and decided to stay at the nearby Suital Lodge instead of hiking into the campsite at dusk. We had Syd of course and they wouldn't allow dogs in their cabins so he sat out on the small deck and listened to (or freaked out at) the night jungle sounds. I can't even imagine what he was thinking then, except maybe "okay mom and dad, this was fun, now can we go home?" He now has a jungle buzz haircut and is making lots of friends with all the neighbor dogs (not one of which is neutered or spayed). He also has to live with a cat named Menino and a 3 month old puppy named Huisa. Feeding them all 'real' pet food is a self-imposed activity. Most pets are lucky if they get a bowl of rice to eat.

A Defining Night
After staying at Suital, we spent the next couple of days with a man of who had a truck for us to buy. Even that process takes far longer than one might think. But we returned to our property 2 days later , with a '98 Mazda 4WD, 4 door diesel pickup truck that should suit our needs nicely. It's very economical but needs all new tires and a few other typical "used car" replacement items. (We've already beaten the heck out of it on these roads – but that's for a later paragraph). Upon return with our 'new' truck (late again) we decided to go ahead and hike into the campsite, where Henry, our caretaker, had supposedly set up the tent etc.
That night was a defining moment. It challenged our commitment in coming and will be a night to laugh about someday. Just not yet.

We arrived to a tent that looked more like a spider web than a tent and spent the next couple of hours figuring out how to take it apart and then put it back together. Sydney sat on the sidelines with a look of shear disgust! This being the end of the rainy season, every spot of dirt or earth was MUD, so all this was done in the dark, sweating and slopping around in the mud. Once finally successful with the tent, we both headed to our outdoor shower, which Henry had (again) supposedly made sure to have the water tank filled. Well yes the tank was indeed full, but a few large sized wild animal bite marks in the pipe to the campsite, made for zero opportunity at taking a shower. We settled for at least washing the mud off our arms and legs by filling up a pan with water from one of the 'larger' bite holes. Good improvising if I say so myself!

By then it was starting to rain pretty good, so we passed on making dinner, and dove into the tent. Two sweaty, still dirty humans, a duffel with a nest of large black ants, and a very muddy, wet, long-haired dog don't make great tent mates. Syd was beyond disgusted at this point and I didn't blame him. Without our sleeping sheets, we settled into our foam pad 'bed' and Gary went right to sleep. How he can do that is a mystery. Is it a guy thing?

So that night I laid there uncomfortably in as close to an anxiety attack as I think I've ever been. Finally I just told myself "self you gotta think out of the box here and come up with some better options than the current one." After an unknown number of hours of contemplation, I had a few choices for Gary and I to consider at sunrise. We chose the following:

• Staying in the tent was not a viable option
• We asked Henry if we can share his 2 bedroom house with him for an unknown amount of time (he quickly agreed)
• We'd build a bigger storage structure to hold the items coming in the shipping container already on the boat (they were going to be stored in our present bedroom)
• Starting on the cabin by the beach would come later

Pretty reasonable options and so far so good.
Since our first night here we have really accomplished a lot. (Photo-Henry's house and our new digs).

Projects
We've built a truck parking pad, have almost completed the storage 'bodega' and bought a cell phone. Don't have a signal at our property, but we gotta phone. Can't seem to call out International with it yet, though the phone company says they've authorized me to. One of many unexplained mysteries. And one of these days I'll be able to do the Internet thru the phone line too. Gary has been busy making much appreciated improvements to Henry's house – the microwave house as some of you will know it by. Shelves, shower improvements, and a rain gutter are such simple things, but make a nice difference. It'll also be nice to finally get our shipped items too.

Building a bodega has been quite an adventure too. It's a good-sized concrete block building we lovingly refer to as the 'bomb shelter'. Who needs homeland security? Materials are about the same prices as in the US, but the labor is embarrassingly cheap. We have hired 5 guys (two skilled concrete guys) working 8 hours of hard work each day, 6 days of the week and their pay comes to $375 total. For all 5 of them! I don't see how they can live – even simply on those wages. Oh, and they get fed lunch each day. I try to make a nice, hearty lunch each day that will appeal to Ticos (Costa Ricans). I'm spending the majority of my day prepping for, serving and then cleaning up after feeding the work crew. I'm learning how to cook their dishes and use their ingredients. Today I learned how to make tamale dulce, or sweet tamale bread.

We have a vegetable/fruit truck that passes by each week, selling to the locals, are buying eggs from our neighbor, bread from a woman down the road and now fish from local fishermen. Being remote is getting a little easier. If we just didn't have to drive the roads at all!

Ah, The Roads, If You Can Call Them That
Yes, the roads!!! Hideous, potholes you could get lost in, washouts, you name it. You can't enjoy the scenery and drive at the same time. The current administration has had an abysmal record at supporting infrastructure and it shows. The next election is this month and every candidate is promising the roads in CR will be repaired. We'll see. And speaking of politics, I haven't seen or heard anything about US politics. Can't say I'm missing it but I'll have to visit a news site next. Gosh Bush could be history by now. I know wishful thinking.

We should be done with the bodega by next week, just in time for the shipping container to arrive. Then it'll be time for a break for Gary and I. We've been running on all cylinders for a month now. Maybe we can decide what we'll do next. Again a few options are available and we've become pretty darn flexible. So, we'll figure it out as we need to.

We're sure appreciative for all of you who have enriched our lives in so many ways.
We feel like we have brought the good wishes and karma from you along with us and it helps to keep us going.
We wish you to very best and look forward to hearing or seeing you again in the future.
We are really enjoying being here, regardless of the frustrations and little challenges.
We learn more about ourselves each day too.

Con mucho gusto!
Terri y Gary y Sydney