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! 

Baby watermelon, sandia !!! Seeds were thrown in Nella's yard while eating watermelon and then one day, THIS!

There was also a fair in Guayabo. I think it's fair season in CR.

Candy apples to the extreme. Add marshmallow to stick.

Nella and her bowl of fruit to the extreme. Add ice cream and jello.

 I don't think this will be the last you hear of Tilaran, Guanacaste area! Me encanta!

PURA VIDA

Mis primeras impresiones.

 Today is my third day in San Jose. I feel comfortable now letting you in on some of my first impressions. I have taken some photos, but will wait to post when I have more than just food photos.

Las personas- Ticos (masculine) and Ticas (feminine) is what Costa Ricans call themselves and so far they have been warm and welcoming to me, the tall gringa! I especially am so grateful for my new room mate Marco and his girlfriend Alicia. Marco speaks English and Spanish. He was a big help in getting me here and offering me a room to stay and has been an incredible resource on the ins and outs of San Jose and making sure I am safe! (Someone show this blog to Grandma Bev)
Alicia speaks very little English which is perfect for me to practice my Spanish. She cooked a wonderful meal my first evening here and said it was her first time! It was a traditional Costa Rican meal with rice, beans, vegetables and chicken. La comida era deliciosa!
I also met Marco's 8 year old daughter Emily. She was very sweet and earlier in the day, when we woke up from the early flight, early pick-up exhaustion, she shared her hash brown with me. It really is the little acts of kindness that mean so much when you've left all your family and friends behind.

Ay! The driving! Unless it's an absolute emergency and I am the only able body to drive the vehicle, I will not be getting behind the wheel. It's crazy! People drive in and out, it seems there are very little rules and it includes honking codes. There are stop signs, but  they should be replaced with a yield sign or a "maybe if there's a pedestrian you should stop" but just maybe. There are so rules about jay-walking so Ticos cross the road whenever, as where I am looking and searching for a cross-walk. The rules have changed. When I was younger I was told to look both ways and hold someone's hand...San Jose rule "Don't get hit by a car." 

The house is located in Sabanilla, San Jose, Costa Rica. If I were to take a cab I would tell the cab driver that my house is 200mts para parque de Sabanilla. (200 meters from Sabanilla Park) Physical number addresses here in San Jose, perhaps in Costa Rica in total, are not common, and definitely not used. This is will an interesting aspect for me, as I feel like I am already directionally challenged...but I am up for the task. It also helps me to ask for directions, then I am using my Spanish and listening. 
No complaints on my house! It is different from what I am used to sure, but there is hot water and internet! You can also drink the water here in the city.
The bus stop is close to the house and yesterday Alicia accompanied me on my first San Jose bus ride. She took me to Mall San Pedro where I bought my new nokia phone for 10,000 colones (about $20).
We also stopped and met her friend who is a street vendor. He does hair wraps and bracelets and other crafts. Impressive items. I plan on going back and treating myself and he offered I could come by and practice my Spanish whenever. I also had the pleasure of meeting SOME of Alicia's family. Two of her Aunt's and cousins. They went in for hugs right away and again, so warm and welcoming!
 Alicia is very kind and whenever we had trouble understanding each other, we just laughed, which is comforting.  At one point I waved to a group of workers who had said hello. Alicia lost it and  starting laughing and said "No no no no! You can't wave to just anybody! If he's handsome sure. But not those guys!" She really got a kick out of it. I told her in Heppner, you wave to everybody. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. ;) 

Today I ventured out on my own to meet Ali who is from southern England and has lived all over and seems to really enjoy Costa Rica. He showed me this reasonably priced restaurant and we ate there. My plate included rice, cabbage and french fries? I didn't want the fries, luckily Ali did! He is promoting a drop-in study lounge for people to come and learn English. I hope it works out! I did some promoting today on campus for it and that was helpful because it forced me to speak to strangers and not feel so much as an outsider. 

I am enjoying myself. I know I will feel better once I find some solid work, so I know I will be able to explore and learn here longer.

“Home is the nicest word there is.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder

It is my last evening home. I have spent the last 3 months here in Heppner, in a time I like to refer to as
"transitioning".   I moved back home to save money and figure out my next move. And now I am here, my next move, heading to Costa Rica.*

Well, I didn't save as much money as I would have liked, and my momentum kind of fell into a wintery blanket blur. What I did find, is home can be really too comfortable. I don't want to dwell on the woulda, shoulda, couldas, so I'll tell you what I know.


The perks on being home:
HOME COOKED MEALS- no longer was I living on tuna-fish, kale, quinoa, cereal and an occasional hot dog. My dad is an exceptional cook.
 
Sidebar---this list is in no particular order, which I felt the need to mention as the first item I covered was food.

GRANDMA'S HOUSE- my papa lives there too, but grandma runs the house. These two are a riot! They have been married for 60 years and still so in love!  I leave the house with smiley face rocks in my pockets and purse from my papa after every visit. This time spent has been extra special with my grandma because I took the opportunity to learn some of her baking skills, kitchen magic if you will.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE- You sleep in until 11 and watch Law and Order SVU all day? Your parents still love you. Your parents don't care if you become a recluse...until you actually become one, luckily it didn't get to that.



























*correction from first post, and first international travel lesson, you can't buy a one-way ticket to Costa Rica. But more on that later...