Mi tiempo : Tilarán, land of wind and water

It was the night before my birthday and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even...oh well except for an iguana running back and forth on the roof, oh and the bats, and lets not leave out the mosquitoes. (I traded tights for bites)

Back from Tilarán and I had a wonderful time celebrating my birthday and others. The size of Tilarán made me realize, I am a small town girl. I loved the atmosphere and the tranquility of the town, even though there just so happened to be lot of excitement this last weekend.
http://www.govisitcostarica.com/region/city.asp?cID=63


This is the bus that took me to Tilarán from San Jose on the old highway, it took 4 hours. I left at 7:30 am and was still sticking to the seat from the heat.

Mildred met me at the bus stop and took me to her Ita's house. (grandma's) This was the first time meeting Mildred, who is my Uncle Lyman's wife. She is the contact I had to get down to Costa Rica solo. I am very thankful for her and it was great spending the weekend getting to know her and a lot of her family.

Vanity in Ita's room. Ita is in San Jose right now, I met her and she said she wants me to come back to her house in Tilaran when she's there. She also kept making me eat more and more. Grandma's can be universal.

Ceramic mushroom mugs and a beer shot in the back. Pilsen is one of CR's cerveza.

Ita's backyard.

The bar.


The sitting room.

Mildred's son Roberto lives here as well. I also met Cecilia and her daughter Corina. Cecilia had prepared lunch which was rice and beans. Siempre Siempre always always, rice and beans are a part of the dish. Muy delicioso. Also served was choyate, simliar to squash, chopped, steamed and served with meat. Me gusta!

La cruz. My hometown of Heppner also has a cross looking over the town. Probably another reason I fell in love with Tilaran.

Arbol de Aguacate. My view from la casa de Palma Rodriguez. !!! I am hoping next time I visit I can have one!

Cafe. I had been off coffee for the last four months. But it was my birthday weekend and I was saying Si!


Here I am! Gringa alta. This is the main plaza/parque in Tilaran. You will find these in most towns at the center. A plaza is a place where you can play futbol. If there is not room, then it is called a parque.

Another view shot with my cafe indulgence. Jealous yet? ;)

Un parte de lago Arenal

Nini and Mildred y cervezas. My wonderful hosts took me to Puerto San Luis, lodge and yacht Club, for my birthday outing.

Birthday beers! Pictured here la cerveza de Costa Rica, Imperial

Taxi!

A lot of the trees lean like this due to the wind.

This was a centerpiece at Beeka Bar at Puerto San Luis. They put color in the water and it shows up on the plant! Que Incredible!


This was Mildred's teacher when she attended school, here he is shown serenading me on my birthday. (I LOVE SMALL TOWNS)

And as most of you know, I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY. I like to celebrate it for a week, (or more). I also like to know other Aries and share my birthday month. ;)
I could not have asked for a better birthday partner than I had for this year.
Dona Josephina, called Otama, (otra mama) celebrated her 108th birthday. !!! NOT A TYPO.
One hundred and 8 years old. Now that is a first for me, I have never been to an 108 birthday party, I feel honored to have been welcomed to the grand family affair!

I can understand why they chose birthday candle numbers vs. 108 candles.

Nini and Otama

Serenade

Elsa and Miguel. Otama is Elsa's mother. Miguel is Mildred's uncle. I love to watch the people here dance. Elsa was gracious enough to ask me to dance as well. :)

After Otama's fiesta we walked a few blocks to get ready for the horse parade. When I first heard horse parade I asked, Will there be candy? Which I thought was a fair parade question. When the response was no there won't be, I grew concerned. Then my concern turned to fear, then that fear turned into beer!

What started as a parade, turned into a line for the participants to get a beverage. Parades are hard, I get it.

Mildred and a horse. We kept backing away during the parade, but we thought we should face our fears and capture a photo.


Me and a horse of course. I didn't catch the cowboys name.

Before we left downtown to go to the fair (which conveniently was right below the house, and not so conveniently at 5 am) I decided it would be a good idea to get some puppy in the bar pictures with my favorite bartender Chino and also to sing "Believe"-Cher. It's really not a birthday weekend unless someone sings Cher.


I can tell I am a little homesick because every time I see a puppy or a baby I really want to hold them. ( don't get excited mom)

On my fourth and final day, Mildred had planned to see her sister in a nearby town (an hour and a half) of Guayabo. She asked if I wanted to go and I said Si! Mildred failed to mention there would be a VOLCANO to view, but it was very cool surprise. We took a bus most of the way, and then decided to hitchhike the 22 km instead of waiting for the next bus. First time hitchhiking, check!